Sometimes, a show bites off more than it can chew, which seems to be the case on this week’s episode of TableTop. The game for this episode is Flying Frog’s Fortune and Glory, which is a great game but not the type usually seen on TableTop. It’s rule heavy and time intensive, with average games running an hour and a half or more
So when Wil, Brandon Routh, Felicia Day, and her brother, Ryon Day, sit down to play the game, they are facing a bit of an uphill battle — playing the game quickly, to try and fit in the show’s ordinary 30 minute time slot — but also to remember the game’s ruleset. They missed the mark on both counts.
At least they’re up front about it, admitting they botched the rules pretty badly and played the game with a lot of “house rules”. But, in a way, that only makes the show more endearing. How many nights have you sat down with your game group and a new game and just sort of played your way through, interpreting rules and building on your mistakes as you went, only to end up laughing and smiling over a really fun night of gaming?
That, too, is the outcome here. It’s a fun episode, made better by good chemistry between the players. Brandon Routh gets to punch a bunch of Nazis in the face and Felicia Day, well, let’s just say her heart grew three sizes this day.
Watch the episode and then look forward to the last episode of TableTop, featuring the game Lords of Vegas and Wil’s guests, Miracle Laurie and Angela and Aubrey from the Double Clicks. That episode will air February 18.
I will say that I was personally disappointed by the rules non-compliance. Tabletop is great in that it transcends being simply a taped play-through of a game, providing entertaining dialogue and great editing, but I know that I, at least, also use it as a way of discovering new board games and seeing how they work. The episode was still entertaining, but I missed getting a look at the real rules.
Andrew, I did a hefty post about it back in November, if you want more information about how the game works: http://geekdad.com/2013/11/fortune-glory/ Personally I think it shines as a cooperative game; the competitive game can be a bit unbalanced and more luck-driven. Definitely not the sort of game that’s easy to explain AND play in a half-hour (or even an hour) episode.