Sierra Madre Games Appreciation Thread - Best Boardgames You Haven't Played

[Toma]

Sierra Madre Games: https://www.sierra-madre-games.com

This thread is a long time coming and since I just got to play 2 more SMG games, they are fresh enough in my mind to write up some recommendations and descriptions. So this thread is about several boardgames by Sierra Madre Games, a rather small boardgame publisher that buried its way deep into my gamey heart and considering they usually sell only a couple thousands of their games, you should really, really get to know them. So let me introduce you to the games that stole my heart. In the first post, you'll find some reasons why you should care, and in the following posts some more input on the individual games.

Disclaimer up front. You will like these games if any of the following is you:
- You like complex stuff
- You enjoy exploring different mechanics, that includes more confrontational ones
- You marvel at smart game design
- You are a scientific or historic nerd
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1. These games are smart, like really, really smart.

I own about 150 boardgames, have the luxury to be in company of dedicated boardgames players that I can throw any complex game at and these games are still a cut above most of the rest. On Boardgamegeek, these games are listed in the 4-,5/5 complexity range, which makes them rather daunting for most people, considering they are in the same difficulty range as the majority of war games (The crazy games that let you maneuver dozens of tanks in complicated tactics across battlefields.)

I am not going to sugarcoat this: You need to put your thinking cap on if you want to play these games.

At the same time, a big part of their "complexity" comes from the manuals, which are design to give you every information you need at any point in the game, but they are not really structured in a way that eases you into learning the games. Often times I found that these games are much less daunting (and much easier to explain) once I had a basic understanding of the structure, so that every mechanic you learn actually feeds into your own design making right from the start, instead of learning 10 possibilities without a clear goal in your mind.

If I get around to it, I'll try to see about setting up or searching for mini guides to learning the games to get you started more quickly.

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2. Absolutely fascinating exploration of core mechanics and varied optional mechanics across different game series

Sierra Madre Games are publishing several different game series with multiple games per series. That might not sound too interesting at first, but that assumption is very, very wrong. Every one of those games has a base set of ideas that makes it rather easy to relearn basic concepts of gameplay, but at the same time, the game designers are carefully evaluating the historic or scientific backgrounds to add mechanics to these games are are entirely unique and give each game not only an interesting "twist", but its own mechanical identity. Dabbling into game design myself, this is utterly fascinating and if you find a single game in one of these series that is appealing to you, there are basically already more amazing "sequels" with more variations waiting for you to be discovered.

Oh also, some games even allow you to track progress from one game to the next, which blew my mind when I figured that out. This considers the Bios series and the Neanderthal series.

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3. Size does matter

This might be a small thing (ha!), but those games are tiny. SMG are a very niche boardgame developer, so they try to take care of their worldwide audience, including making sure most of these games stick to a 500gram weight and small shipping size so that shipping costs are feasible for everyone worldwide. Not only is that admirable, its also utterly baffling how some of the most complex games I know fit into some of the smallest boxes I own.

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4. Historical & Scientific background

One of the guys behind those games is an honest to god rocket scientist, so naturally he made a huge and complex game about shooting rockets into space.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get my hand on that yet, as I am still waiting for a reprint, but their methodical historical and scientific approach goes far beyond rockets and every time I play these games I marvel at the design process and how they translated these concepts into game design, such as slavery being really hard to eradicate in Pax Emancipation, and societal change not only bringing improvements, but also the occasional step backwards because society is not particularly fond of change. (I am looking at you, intercontinental system) The pax games also contain very interesting pieces of background information on any card affecting the gameplay, so you can really do a topical deep dive, once a certain general saves your butt for the nth time in a game.

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Overview of the game series and their historical or scientific context in case a particular topic interests you

Pax Games:

• Pax Porfiriana - The 33-year reign of dictator Porfirio Díaz, who ruled Mexico with an iron hand until toppled by the 1910 Revolution.
• Pax Pamir - Afghan tribal leaders navigate the treacherous depths of "The Great game", between Russia and Great Britain in 19th century Central Asia
• Pax Renaissance - As a Renaissance banker, you will finance kings or republics, sponsor voyages of discovery, join secret cabals, or unleash jihads and inquisitions.
• Pax Emancipation - Use the Underground Railroad and all other means at your disposal to abolish slavery worldwide
• Pax Transhumanity (2019 release) - You control humanities future by demolishing the barriers of age, disease, suffering, and physical confinement to this planet

Bios Games (progress can carry over):

• Bios: Genesis - From cell to simple organism
• Bios: Megafauna - From simple organism to flying dolphins
• Bios: Origins - From flying dolphins to human

Neanderthal games (progress can carry over):

• Neanderthal - 43,000 BC in Ice Age Europe, the dawn of modern man
• Greenland - You control tribes inhabiting Greenland from the 11th to the 15th centuries.

Notable other releases:

• High Frontier - ...rocket science game by rocket science guy.
• John Company - The story of the British East India Company from the inside out.

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5. Replayability

Its probably fair to say that the sizable amount of mechanics and different game events make every single game vary enough to give them plenty of replayability. There is a small caveat to this as some games are going far beyond the call of duty on this one, where others really need the add-on to shine. I'll elaborate further on that in the individual game category. All games are interesting to play and all are worth several plays AND several plays in different player counts, though, so you'll get enough playtime out of any of these. Disclaimer: Repeated plays might or might not turn you into a Luchador.

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6. Output & Kickstarter

If these games swallow your heart as they did mine, this is the best timeline to read this thread. When I stumbled over these games a few years ago, almost none of these games was available to buy. They usually do a very small print run, as they don't earn enough money to have huge print runs waiting in store houses. Due to Kickstarter, they have been more flexible in the past year to get the projects out that the fans are interested in, which is about 2-3 new games per year right now and several reprints and new editions. As such this thread doubles as a recommendation guide which games to get.

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7. It is actually possible to buy these games right now... and yes that is a plus.

Part of the reason that I wanted to make this thread is to make people aware of these games, while they can actually buy some of them. As mentioned before, they have rather small print runs and some of the older games that are out of print tend to break the 100-200€ price tag easily. So consider this a PSA, that right now you can actually preorder/buy some of the most interesting games these guys have published!

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[Toma]

Pax Games

These games are strategy games that revolve around positioning your own nation/faction in the most favorable way by buying/accessing cards from a shared market. This adds a very interesting layer of complex options that both players need to constantly evaluate. These market mechanics change the available options for every game, while allowing you to hatch plans for several turns, making them very flexible but still playable.

So lets get into the games:

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Pax Porfiriana

State: 2nd print of the collectors edition can currently be preordered
Link: https://www.sierra-madre-games.com/pax-porfiriana-available-for-pre-order-from-nov-17.html

What is it about?
The goal is to overthrow Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz, who reigned from 1877 to 1910. Different parties were trying to gain power to wait for the best time to topple his dictatorship. With your actions per turn, you buy and play cards, building up your capabilities and actions, while at the same time trying to keeping the potential of your opponents in check. As you can also get advantages from other players cards, its worth keeping an eye on the expanding possibilities how to gain money, which in turn affects how fast you can build up your influence.


What is special about it?
It is probably the most "straight forward" of the Pax games, with mechanics that you probably already are familiar with from other board and video games, namely "empire building" aspects, where you buy cards that add to the actions at your disposal and increase your economic output (Buy goldmines to get more money to invest into other stuff, etc). That is not how the other games work, where even the economic aspects have more complex mechanics to consider. The card design is very unique too, giving it a very unique look, which to be fair, can be rather distracting for newcomers just learning the game, especially since some of the info is not necessarily in the same place for every related card. Once you managed to wrap your head around the structure and symbols, it is the easiest to play of all the Pax games however.


What do I think about it?
Much of what you want from these very niche games depends on what type of game you want to play, but as for my personal opinion:
It ranks as 3rd in my Pax ranking, mostly because its not as complex as the other games. It is very fun and varied, but when I get around to getting to play these type of games, I usually prefer going all out. Plus, even though I don't mind it, it is a bit harder to get people to understand the card layouts, which is much easier in the other games.


So in short: Why should you play Pax Porfiriana instead of the other games?
- It is the "easiest" Pax game and the most "traditional" game
- It is the first game, in case you want to grow accustomed to new mechanics in all other games later on
- You want to play it with up to 5 or even 6 players
- You want to dress up as a luchador while overthrowing a Mexican dictator

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Pax Pamir

State: 2nd edition coming 2019
Link: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/155255/pax-pamir

What is it about?
Pax Pamir is set during "The Great War", where you play an Afghan leader, affecting the actions of the major powers (Russia, Great Britain and native forces) in a way that positions you as the most influential person of the major power that eventually takes reign over the region. As such, you build up your own network represented by cards, but also influence political pieces on the map that everyone else can access as well.


What is special about it?
Pax Pamir is less about building your own empire, than affecting whats happening around you. You might win if Great Britain wins, but the political situation can change any moment, where it might be more effective to switch your allegiance to Russia or having to keep in mind that other players can influence the balance between the powers at any time. On top of this, Pamir is also more confrontational than Porfiriana where ability cards getting stabbed, taken over, or used for enemy influence is a common occurrence. It also has a unique currency mechanic, which adds its own twist to proceedings as the overall money cannot be increased easily and only gets shuffled around. As such, you need to constantly reevaluate the current power struggle, economic possibilities and abilities other players have, as danger lurks around every corner.

There is also an add-on called Khyber Knives, which I consider an extraordinarily great addition to the game. Pax Pamir is a very good game on its own, but an excellent game with its add-on, as it multiplies the amount of possible scenarios that you encounter with unique empire abilities, increasing its replayability to insane heights.


What do I think about it?
Much of what you want from these very niche games depends on what type of game you want to play, but as for my personal opinion:
I would probably tie it without the expansion with Pax Porfiriana, but with the expansion its my 2nd favourite Pax game, because it really adds that much to it. Pax Pamir + Expansion is a game I would play at any time again and its still relatively easy to understand and quick to explain (relatively at least, 30-45minutes is still needed to explain if you know what you are doing). If introducing new players to Pax, I would likely tend towards Pax Pamir.


So in short: Why should you play Pax Pamir instead of the other games?
- It is the easiest of the Pax games with a map component
- It is the most confrontational Pax games, where you shouldn't get too attached to your cards
- It is more complex than Pax Renaissance
- You want to play with up to 5 players

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Pax Renaissance

State: can buy
Link: https://www.sierra-madre-games.com/pax-renaissance.html

What is it about?
You are a renaissance banker, trying to figure out the best way to increase your wealth and use your power for your own gain. You finance kings or republics, sponsor voyages of discovery, join secret cabals, or unleash jihads and inquisitions. Your choices determine whether Europe is elevated into the bright modern era or remains festering in dark feudalism.


What is special about it?
Pax Renaissance is the most complex Pax game with the most intricate options and possibilities. You will likely need to reference the rule book quite a bit, just based on the amount of options at your disposal and its results. There are some other aspects that expand on what has been introduced in the previous pax games, such as the more developed map interactions, more important reversible map elements, much more diverse actions you can gain through cards and more. It is also a game that you will need to develop your skills at over multiple games. It took me 3 games to get a decent idea of what strategy means here, while I usually (even in the other Pax games) have at least an inkling of what to do.

Pax Renaissance also has an add-on, which I do recommend. However, it is not as crucial to the base experience as Khyber Knives is to Pax Pamir. It expands on elements in a more subtle way and adds more options without drastically altering the flow of the game. Still, more variety and more replayability is a good thing in my book.


What do I think about it?
Much of what you want from these very niche games depends on what type of game you want to play, but as for my personal opinion:
Third time's the charm! The third pax release is my favourite of the Pax games so far, not only because it is the most complex and varied one, but also because every aspect and mechanic gels into a perfect blend of an intricate puzzle that will light up your brain cells like a Christmas tree. I also prefer card design and setting, but that is obviously just a personal preference.


So in short: Why should you play Pax Renaissance instead of the other games?
- A perfect 2 player game, but 3-4 players offers an insane amount of possible game scenarios
- You want the most overall complexity with highly varied map situations
- You want to deep-fry the brains of your board game friends

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Pax Emancipation

State: can buy
Link: https://www.sierra-madre-games.com/pax-emancipation-ships-in-sept-2018.html

What is it about?
Pax Emancipation is about you trying to overcome conservative forces and abolishing slave trade world wide. It is also a cooperative or semi cooperative game, which means this is the only Pax game in which you can try to plan and scheme your way to victory with other players.


What is special about it?
It is a cooperative or semi cooperative game, which means this is the only Pax game in which you can try to plan and scheme your way to victory with other players. It also puts a new spin on the map mechanics, as they are more focussed on things happening to you that you need to control (think Pandemic) instead of you subtly influencing the balance of the powers at work. This creates the most luck based danger situations out of all the Pax games, as the other Pax games usually allow you to take into account what other people might be able to throw at you. Through that element of luck, you do feel very, very tense moments when a dice throw doesn't go your way, which for a cooperative experience is as usual a rather fun affair. On top of an already rather intense base game, there is also an advanced version that throws some more mechanics at you, making it one of the most complex Sierra Madre titles.

Out of all the Pax games, the market mechanic has the least impact on this one, so it plays out mostly on your own tableau and the map state. It is still important to keep in mind, but you'll find yourself less brooding over all the market cards each turn.


What do I think about it?
Much of what you want from these very niche games depends on what type of game you want to play, but as for my personal opinion:
It was a fun way to engage with such a game in a cooperative fashion and worth the price of admission. I do miss the impact of some of the other Pax mechanics however. The lessened impact of the market cards being the biggest "offender" as those elements are basically the reason why I love these games as much as I do. The added threats in the map mechanics are amazing however and I would love to see some slightly randomized threats (maybe as optional rules?) for other Pax games as well.

I still enjoyed my time with it, but to be completely honest, its likely the game that I will end up playing the least, mainly because I feel other games fill a similar niche (Pandemic), while I am missing some parts of the other Pax games that made me enjoy them as much as I did, putting this at 4th in my Pax ranking.


So in short: Why should you play Pax Emancipation instead of the other games?
- A great single player puzzle
- If you want cooperate brain destruction

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Pax Transhumanity

State: can currently be preordered
Link: https://www.sierra-madre-games.com/pax-transhumanity-available-for-pre-order-from-nov.html

What is it about?
What if Hollywood and the doomsters are wrong and the future is non-dystopian? No pandemic, zombies, or post-apocalyptic rubble? A more likely future is one in which free-market fortuneers explore the fringes of the achievable, in which scientists and technocrats rewrite the human condition by expanding into new spheres — the developing world, the cloud, and space — in doing so, demolishing the barriers of age, disease, suffering, and physical confinement to this planet. As control over our surroundings expands, technology will become more of a intimate part of who we are — or acquire a mind of its own, incorporated into our transhuman state.


What is special about it?
Its not out yet, I have no clue!


What do I think about it?
The future sounds sexy.

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[Toma]

Bios Games

I played Bios:Genesis a lot, but haven't given Bios Megafauna a proper play yet. Will update this eventually once I find some time. In short: Bios Genesis is a sweet game.

 

[Toma]

Neanderthal Games

I have not yet played these, but they are on their way to me. Will update this eventually.

 

[Toma]

Other Games

I have not yet played these. Will update this eventually.

 

[butzopower]

These look very cool. I've got quite a backlog of things to still play with coworkers, but maybe I'll look into getting one.

 

[Toma]

These look very cool. I've got quite a backlog of things to still play with coworkers, but maybe I'll look into getting one.

Click to shrink...

2nd post may or may not contain actual words now. I put some info in on the different Pax games and how they differ from another. I figured that might be a useful piece of information if you want to decide to get one to try them out. :)

 

[Toma]

Alriiight, so basic info in that I wanted to start the thread with (Info on SMG and Pax games).

I do also own John Power, played Bios Genesis and the 2 Neanderthal games are on their way to me, so I'll add some more info to this thread over the coming months/years and bump it occasionally once I have more input. You might want to subscribe to the thread as I fully expect it to be dormant for quite some time , due to its niche nature.

 

[butzopower]

Bio: Genesis sounds like such a crazy idea, just not sure I could get my friends on board with the theme, since it's so micro-level.

I'm definitely the one of our group who likes to learn the mechanics, but I'm not sure if everyone is as in to it as I am. We played Terra Mystica a few months ago, and that was awesome, but not sure if everyone fully cared towards the end. These games seems waaay more complex than that.

Have you played Bio:Genesis in all three modes (solo, coop, competitive)?

These games really remind me of Vic Davis / Cryptic Comet strategy games on PC from back around 2009, specifically Armageddon Empires and very much Solieum Infernum.

 

[Toma]

Bio: Genesis sounds like such a crazy idea, just not sure I could get my friends on board with the theme, since it's so micro-level.

I'm definitely the one of our group who likes to learn the mechanics, but I'm not sure if everyone is as in to it as I am. We played Terra Mystica a few months ago, and that was awesome, but not sure if everyone fully cared towards the end. These games seems waaay more complex than that.

Have you played Bio:Genesis in all three modes (solo, coop, competitive)?

These games really remind me of Vic Davis / Cryptic Comet strategy games on PC from back around 2009, specifically Armageddon Empires and very much Solieum Infernum.

Click to shrink...

I played Bios in all 3 modes but not the full extent. My solo game was mostly the tutorial stuff and coop and competetive are not majorly different. Bios is also the easiest game to learn for yourself and then have a good enough grip on the rules that you can explain the basic structure of the game in 15 minutes, so they know what kind of game decisions are open to them, while you need to make sure that every game decision and roll they do is pulled off correctly.

To a certain extent all Sierra Madre Games are much harder to learn for the first player, who can save the others huge amounts of time to explain them the "logic" of the concept. Work yourself backwards by explaining how they win a game, how they reach that, how they fail, and which actions they have to reach these goals, and you are set. But yeah, I did not have any extra Boardgamegeek/Online/Youtube resources when trying to learn it, so I was mostly stuck with the first version of the rule book. I think it took me around 4-6 hours to wrap my head around the rules. But then I could easily explain the rules within 15 minutes, so we could start playing, as long as I kept track of the proper execution of the roll effects. Should also be much easier to pick up for you with the current version of the rule book and some online resources.

Also just tell your friends that they can develop a bacterium to a snail with 2 hearts or die from a meteoric impact trying to survive the struggle of evolution. Guiding simple organisms through their development to gain awesome powers was quite the fun roleplaying. ;)

 

[Froyo Love]

It's worth mentioning here that the head of Sierra Madre Games is Phil Eklund, a gentleman with some extremely shitty ideological views he seeds into his games. Eklund sincerely believes that British colonialism was a great civilizing force for good that hugely improved the world by spreading noble western values to replace tribal despotism, and literally wrote a piece in the rulebook for Pax Pamir titled "A Defense of British Colonialism".

From this piece examining the assumptions behind the simulation elements of Pax Renaissance:

Several footnotes in the Pax Renaissance rulebook also call attention to cultural differences that allegedly preclude Islamic societies from benefiting from Renaissance innovations in the West. He argues, for instance, that Islamic merchants relied on status hierarchies for trade while Western merchants developed "sophisticated" systems like double-entry bookkeeping and letters of credit to usurp such feudalistic norms and expand the possibilities of economic exchange. Western cultures began to "uphold the value of the individual," while Eastern counterparts began to increasingly "suborn individuals to group and collectivist thinking." As a result, he claims, "the Eastern idea of individuals sacrificing themselves for their society" continues to linger on in "today's Muslim ideological war targeting Western values." In the diary post, Eklund concludes that "in order to fight, those who believe in Western values must acknowledge we are at war."

Click to shrink...

His games are clearly interesting. However, I do not believe he is a man who deserves anyone's money.

 

[jon bones]

i am slooowlllyyy getting my colleagues into heavier board games

we are getting bored of pandemic /carcassone / etc and need something a little crunchier, but my newborn means im not doing board game nights for a looong time

 

[Toma]

It's worth mentioning here that the head of Sierra Madre Games is Phil Eklund, a gentleman with some extremely shitty ideological views he seeds into his games. Eklund sincerely believes that British colonialism was a great civilizing force for good that hugely improved the world by spreading noble western values to replace tribal despotism, and literally wrote a piece in the rulebook for Pax Pamir titled "A Defense of British Colonialism".

From this piece examining the assumptions behind the simulation elements of Pax Renaissance:


His games are clearly interesting. However, I do not believe he is a man who deserves anyone's money.

Click to shrink...

I am having this debate occasionally with some friends, concerning how products of art should or shouldn't be viewed in light of the creators own ideology, but tbh I think this goes a bit beyond the purpose of this thread, as I wouldn't even have noticed any particularly difficult "message" through the games alone compared to other boardgames focussing on the same eras. That comment is rather shitty, though, I agree.

And to be fair, not all games are Phil Eklund games either, as for example the main designer for Pamir and John Company was Cole Wehrle. It is certainly a point to be made, but I don't necessarily think it should be the main criteria these games should be judged on.

Easy example are the Bios Games, which do not even touch these topics at all.

 

[Toma]

i am slooowlllyyy getting my colleagues into heavier board games

we are getting bored of pandemic /carcassone / etc and need something a little crunchier, but my newborn means im not doing board game nights for a looong time

Click to shrink...

These are definitely not a particularly easy choice for the slow transition to heavier stuff. I found cooperative games like Dead of Winter a good entry point so that players can discuss "heavier" mechanics with each other or ramping up the difficulty for strategy games, such as Concordia.

 

[Morfeo]

That Pax Renaissance game looks amazing. I need to get on that!

 

[Froyo Love]

Easy example are the Bios Games, which do not even dabble into these topics at all.

Click to shrink...

Actually, even there. From the footnotes of the rulebook of Bios: Megafauna, 2nd Edition:

aboriginal humans (sometimes misnamed "native Americans", even though they were an invasive species)

Click to shrink...

For the last 15,000 years, the climate has been thankfully climbing out of the last deep freeze. But if it follows the last dozen cycles, it will soon peak and fall into the next deep freeze. Anthropogenic carbon releases from the industrial era are sometimes said to prevent this from happening, but this may be a false hope. First, climate records clearly show brief Ice Ages occurring even with carbon dioxide levels 15X today's (e.g. in the Jurassic and Cretaceous). Second, over the long run the loss of Earth's precious carbon dioxide is inexorable, and the small increases due to cars and factories will not change this. The situation is like a brisk September morning. In the short run it will get hotter as midday approaches, yet over the longer run it will get colder as winter sets in.

Click to shrink...

He provides a helpful graph to illustrate how contemporary global warming is an overblown hoax, then explains why climate scientists are in fact in conspiracy to mislead the public:

The objectivity of science is threatened by its funding source, whether this source is oil companies or the government. And the "carbon only" researchers are funded hugely by politicians whose regulatory careers and revenues depend on created crises. There are trillions at stake, and the politicians have absolute control over their employees. Even with no overt threats, the pressure to please the boss is tremendous, with fame and fortune coming to those who support carbon only, and loss of grants, telescope time, and careers to those opposed.

And the threats are not always so covert, as the 2009 climate-gate proves. These leaked emails showed a collaboration to withhold data, prevent papers being published, get journal editors sacked, and evade freedom-of-information requests. And the extremely short-ranged climate graphs are so easy to manipulate, as I discovered when considering various versions of the hockey stick while I was collaborating on a book on the planet Earth in 1998. Just give a different weight to some data, and you can bend it wherever way you like. The National Academy of Sciences in the USA has discredited the hockey stick as a deliberate distortion. The high-level whistleblower John Bates of the NOAA has shown how the pause-buster data was falsified. And the IPCC has adopted the shabby tactic of increasing the error bands on their prediction, in effect presenting their data as more certain by making it less certain. Politics and science do not mix.

Click to shrink...

This is in a board game rulebook.

Phil Eklund pushes his ideology everywhere he can, and it's a reprehensible one.

 

[Masoyama]

It's worth mentioning here that the head of Sierra Madre Games is Phil Eklund, a gentleman with some extremely shitty ideological views he seeds into his games. Eklund sincerely believes that British colonialism was a great civilizing force for good that hugely improved the world by spreading noble western values to replace tribal despotism, and literally wrote a piece in the rulebook for Pax Pamir titled "A Defense of British Colonialism".

From this piece examining the assumptions behind the simulation elements of Pax Renaissance:


His games are clearly interesting. However, I do not believe he is a man who deserves anyone's money.

Click to shrink...

Ohh. Ok instant nope for me. Love complex board games but not supporting colonialist douches

 

[Toma]

Actually, even there. From the footnotes of the rulebook of Bios: Megafauna, 2nd Edition:


He provides a helpful graph to illustrate how contemporary global warming is an overblown hoax, then explains why climate scientists are in fact in conspiracy to mislead the public:

This is in a board game rulebook.

Phil Eklund pushes his ideology everywhere he can, and it's a reprehensible one.

Click to shrink...

Alright, point taken. I can only add to that that I did not get any of these impressions from the games themselves, so everybody needs to be his own judge how much of a deal breaker this is for them, considering none of my other her liberal friends took any note of this whatsoever after getting rules explained by me.

Unfortunate that these great experiences have that baggage attached to it and if it kills this thread, so be it, but the games are still amazing games. ;)

 

[Deleted member 733]

Pax Ren is great but has been out of stock and out of print forever. Toma, you should join the board game discord and play Pax games with us sometimes.

I made the official TTS mod for the 2nd edition of Pax Pamir which is shaping up to be pretty cool, and for what it's worth, the designer of the 2nd edition isn't as...unique...as Phil Eklund. :P

I'd like to get Pax Porfiriana but the shipping is massive.

 

[Rover]

I think in order to discuss the games you gotta discuss the politics attached to them . They are intrinsically political games, and I think it's warranted if he's pasting short essays about stuff in the rulebook.

For me, it's not that I divorce the creator from the game. I would actually prefer to know his views upfront and consider how they are being presented in the game. The interesting thing about a board game is that it's hard to attach a specific 'agenda' to them, because people interact with the game in unexpected ways.

For example, Monopoly was explicitly designed as a political thought experiment to demonstrate that land-owning was bad economics and destructive. Nobody read the footnotes. The game exploded in popularity as a fun game about being a filthy capitalist.

So I think there is something interesting to explore in some of these games, even as I side-eye the weird ramblings in the manual. The point about giving people like this money is fair, but the margins on board game sales are apparently pretty thin.

 

[Morfeo]

This thread took a turn for the unexpected, sucks to see potentially interesting games ruined by its designer in this way :(

 

[Deleted member 4452]

It's worth mentioning here that the head of Sierra Madre Games is Phil Eklund, a gentleman with some extremely shitty ideological views he seeds into his games. Eklund sincerely believes that British colonialism was a great civilizing force for good that hugely improved the world by spreading noble western values to replace tribal despotism, and literally wrote a piece in the rulebook for Pax Pamir titled "A Defense of British Colonialism".

From this piece examining the assumptions behind the simulation elements of Pax Renaissance:


His games are clearly interesting. However, I do not believe he is a man who deserves anyone's money.

Click to shrink...

Actually, even there. From the footnotes of the rulebook of Bios: Megafauna, 2nd Edition:


He provides a helpful graph to illustrate how contemporary global warming is an overblown hoax, then explains why climate scientists are in fact in conspiracy to mislead the public:

This is in a board game rulebook.

Phil Eklund pushes his ideology everywhere he can, and it's a reprehensible one.

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Thanks for pointing this out. I've looked at Bios Genesis and Megafauna in the past, but now I can safely ignore them

 

[OhSatan]

It's worth mentioning here that the head of Sierra Madre Games is Phil Eklund, a gentleman with some extremely shitty ideological views he seeds into his games. Eklund sincerely believes that British colonialism was a great civilizing force for good that hugely improved the world by spreading noble western values to replace tribal despotism, and literally wrote a piece in the rulebook for Pax Pamir titled "A Defense of British Colonialism".

From this piece examining the assumptions behind the simulation elements of Pax Renaissance:


His games are clearly interesting. However, I do not believe he is a man who deserves anyone's money.

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Actually, even there. From the footnotes of the rulebook of Bios: Megafauna, 2nd Edition:


He provides a helpful graph to illustrate how contemporary global warming is an overblown hoax, then explains why climate scientists are in fact in conspiracy to mislead the public:

This is in a board game rulebook.

Phil Eklund pushes his ideology everywhere he can, and it's a reprehensible one.

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Thanks froyo, my love for Pax Porfiriana is not big enough to ignore this. I will stop singing praises and try to get everyone to buy it.

I remember reading some of the things he wrote to justify his gamex but I don't remember something so damning.

 

[Ohnonono]

If I play COIN games and A Feast for Odin and GMT stuff is it similar in complexity?

 

[Toma]

If I play COIN games and A Feast for Odin and GMT stuff is it similar in complexity?

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Pax Renaissance is more complex than Feast of Odin but about similar to the more complex war game stuff from GMT, I'd say. Pretty sure you should be fine.

 

[4Tran]

I'd like to get into some of these games, but it feels like the barrier to actually acquire them is pretty high. It doesn't seem that they're very available through retail channels, so it's hard to commit to them sight unseen. Another knock is that most of my energy for heavy boardgames is being consumed by wargames, and the Sierra Madre games aren't going to be able to scratch that itch.

I think in order to discuss the games you gotta discuss the politics attached to them . They are intrinsically political games, and I think it's warranted if he's pasting short essays about stuff in the rulebook.

For me, it's not that I divorce the creator from the game. I would actually prefer to know his views upfront and consider how they are being presented in the game. The interesting thing about a board game is that it's hard to attach a specific 'agenda' to them, because people interact with the game in unexpected ways.

For example, Monopoly was explicitly designed as a political thought experiment to demonstrate that land-owning was bad economics and destructive. Nobody read the footnotes. The game exploded in popularity as a fun game about being a filthy capitalist.

So I think there is something interesting to explore in some of these games, even as I side-eye the weird ramblings in the manual. The point about giving people like this money is fair, but the margins on board game sales are apparently pretty thin.

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From what I know, Eklund's games tend to run counter to his politics, particularly when it comes to his Pax games. I've heard of people who are against his political tendencies who actually like what his games actually say (as opposed to his designer notes).

 

[Phil Eklund]

This is Phil Eklund. I am a bit obsessive about trying to maintain factual statements in my games and essays, so if anyone sees an error, I will correct it in the next edition. Please be rather precise: (1) point out the statement that is wrong (game & page number), (2) why it is wrong, (3) what the correct answer is, (4) evidence for the correction, and (5) the relevant definitions for your terms. This last is necessary because in a game I must have all terms defined.

 

[Toma]

This is Phil Eklund. I am a bit obsessive about trying to maintain factual statements in my games and essays, so if anyone sees an error, I will correct it in the next edition. Please be rather precise: (1) point out the statement that is wrong (game & page number), (2) why it is wrong, (3) what the correct answer is, (4) evidence for the correction, and (5) the relevant definitions for your terms. This last is necessary because in a game I must have all terms defined.

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Well, that is a surprise post :-o
Thanks again for making these games. I am really enjoying playing through the different scenarios with my friends and especially Pax Ren is a masterpiece in (complex) gamedesign in my eyes. Still waiting for the Neanderthal games to arrive currently.

I have no idea which turn this thread/discussion will take now after you posted in here, but I highly respect you entering the public discourse yourself. However, I don't think the issue lies in facts, but in the way these facts are framed or how much they might be tainted/used by a certain political view.

For my part, I understand that people can have differing political views, but some topics are a bit touchy indeed that I find hard to defend, even though it might technically be true, so that its more a matter of how a certain aspect is viewed in the current political and ethical discourse. I would agree that adding an article about the "Defense of Colonialism" could be in a bit of bad taste, as these type of headlines are also usually referenced a lot on the right wing political spectrum, which makes it a hard pill for people to swallow, who for ethical reasons do not want to agree with anything that might be tainted in a racist/race superiority way. I am on the political left spectrum myself and due to that, I tend to agree, that these type of comments, usually found on the right, also personally make me uneasy.

Sure, it might be true, that colonialism might have improved living standards, but at the same time, who are we to judge that their culture wanted that? Or that every country who was subjected to colonial rule preferred that over living their life unintruded/without foreign reign? Objectively it might be true, that "standards" improved by building roads, importing goods from the UK, but its still "our" standards that the western world imposed and continues to impose on the rest of the world.

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Wikipedia has a good first paragraph about that:

Colonialism is the policy of a foreign polity seeking to extend or retain its authority over other people or territories, generally with the aim of opening trade opportunities. The colonizing country seeks to benefit from the colonized country or land mass. Many of the colonized countries were not countries at all prior to colonization. In the process, colonizers imposed their religion, economics, and medicinal practices on the natives. Some argue this was a positive move toward modernization, while other scholars refute this theory as being biased and Eurocentric, noting that modernization is a concept introduced by Europeans. Colonialism is largely regarded as a relationship of domination of an indigenous majority by a minority of foreign invaders where the latter rule in pursuit of its interests.
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Due to that, its not as simple as saying "Some aspects have improved the life of the people!", as its still tainted by what we, as the western world, subjectively consider an improvement and even if we might agree on a certain aspect being an improvement, its still part of colonialism, which is not generally lauded for its peaceful and unintrusive exploration of the world, making a "defense" in any sort of way reflect in a rather negative way.

I guess it comes down to this: Stating how many roads have been built in certain years are facts, but using those aspects to illustrate why a widely negatively regarded concept should be "defended", makes it an opinion, heavily tainted and usually referenced by the right wing end of the political spectrum.

Just for clarity, I do not intend to insult you and hope that my novel here doesn't read as such. I would love for the discussion of these absolutely fantastic games be independent of any political discourse, which currently is rather unpleasant. I merely agree that facts and opinions are still 2 different concepts about which people, especially in the current political climate, are very sensitive.

 

[Monkey Gland Sauce]

I've bought quite a few SMG games, but the shipping costs on the site have become way too high for me for the larger games (more than the game itself), and a number of them have been revised in a relatively short time period (on top of the living rules). Since these get to the table so infrequently, it just feels like a waste to buy the new games straight away, and instead better to wait for the reprint/minor revision to find its way to a supplier that I can get for a decent price, since the games are now well-known enough for for this to happen.

 

[Phil Eklund]

Well, that is a surprise post :-o
Thanks again for making these games. I am really enjoying playing through the different scenarios with my friends and especially Pax Ren is a masterpiece in (complex) gamedesign in my eyes. Still waiting for the Neanderthal games to arrive currently.

.

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Thanks for the civilized reply. The beauty of games is that they allow a game designer to present the facts of a situation, and the players make of this what they will, using their own value systems.

When is it morally acceptable to intervene in the affairs of a foreign land? I asked this question to my neighbor, a retired farmer and former soldier: "Does it bother you that enemy soldiers from my culture of birth invaded your land, toppled your government, set up an occupation force that imposed their own values, while demanding tribute?" The answer, in essence, was "no. we were insane. I am grateful that the Allies invaded us, and am ashamed that I fought again them. Germany was saved by your people."

I go heavily into the politics and morality of colonization and intervention in my game "Pax Emancipation." For instance the colonization views of Dr. Livingstone, whose missionary work in Africa convinced him it must be colonized, on humanitarian grounds. His view of colonization was settlements of dedicated Christian Europeans who would live among the people to help them work out ways of living that did not involve slavery. At the time Africa was uncolonized, illiterate, and beset by rampant slavery of weaker peoples by stronger peoples. Africa was not alone, at the time the entire world was enmeshed in slavery, the norm and considered essential for civilization, excepting only Britain and British colonies who alone had abolished it. Here is what I say in footnote 60 of "Pax Emancipation":

60 THE PRIME DIRECTIVE prohibits interference in the internal development of alien civilizations in the Star Trek universe. In 19th century Africa, two such "Captain Kirks" who violated the prime directive were Stanley (a reporter) and Livingstone (a missionary), as immortalized by "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?". The problem they faced was that slavery in Africa was commonplace for millennia, and colonization seemed to be the only alternative to letting the natives figure out literacy and Enlightenment values themselves. To bring abolition to Africa, Dr. Livingstone favored a chain of Peace Corps style missions (i.e. Player White), while Stanley collaborated with the king of Belgium to bring indirect civilized rule to the Congo Free State (i.e. Player Red), a collaboration which would tragically utilize existing enslavements for export of blood products.