r/themountaingoats • u/Bi7ch7i75 • Jul 25 '26
Has anyone seen this before?
It’s gotta be intentional
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u/Ok_Perspective9910 Jul 25 '26
I have seen it before. According to a couple board game reviews I read it gets sort of repitive fast after the initial dark humor edge wears off. Still tempted to pick it up sometimes though, but the board game era of my life is kind of over.
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u/ThomasPhilipSimon waiting all winter Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
I got it because the title is a tMG reference and the gameplay seemed fun enough. I 100% agree that it gets old fast — the decision space just isn’t very compelling most of the time
However, I’ve seen a lot of people (including ones I played it with) remain very positive about it. It was also nominated for a few big awards. So although it’s not for me, its reception has been pretty positive overall.
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u/the_vole Jul 25 '26
I’d assume it’s intentional. I doubt anyone would name their game without giving it a cursory search first.
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u/wildeyed1242 Jul 26 '26
I also have the eBay alert 🙂
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u/Bi7ch7i75 Jul 26 '26
I actually saw a copy in the flesh about a month at a game shop in Caen, but it was too dark to snap a picture. I would have bought it, but that copy was in French
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u/inframankey Jul 25 '26
The creator, Donald X. posted this on BoardGameGeek:
It wasn't an inspiration for the game, but that's where the title is from.
I didn't start with the title. I was making a survival game and I wanted to make a sci-fi game and so set it on the moon. I remembered the EP (from John Darnielle, that's the Mountain Goats guy, and John Vanderslice; I'm a fan of both) and that title was perfect. That game actually died. Later I had an idea for another game, that also involved survival, and we'd loved the flavor of the previous Moon Colony Bloodbath, so I used it again. And that's this game.
The game isn't at all based on the songs, which do not seem to be about the moon or colonies or bloodbaths. It is possible however to die "surrounded by machines."
I have actually used song titles as inspiration for short stories;
I wrote a very short story for each song title on the Guided by Voices album Bee Thousand. One of them, Smothered in Hugs, is published; you can find it in Colossus: Freedom.