Episode 104 - Lukas Eggen Interview AND Quilts and Cats of Calico Review

We have a special episode this week hosted by Ben and Norah!  After dispensing with the formalities, Ben has a great interview with journalist Lukas Eggen from the Las Vegas Review-Journal to share.  Lukas has a new Kickstarter project that he is working on that will hopefully reinvigorate games journalism by going back to a traditional investigative reporting philosophy… “Game On!”  Ben’s interview style is very conversational, but he does have a couple of thought provoking questions up his sleeve.  Following that, Ben and Norah talk about their experiences with the game Quilts and Cats of Calico from Monster Couch (available now on Steam for the PC and Mac).  Please be patient with Ben as he is still workshopping his “on air” review style.

00:00:02 - Tucson is just okay according to Norah, defending Ben, and on to the interview! 00:02:09 - A warmup conversation with Lukas, and what we are playing or looking forward to 00:06:18 - Lukas’ first review code, thoughts on KtJL, and what gamers really want 00:09:23 - Ben’s first review code, PopCap beta testing, and Lukas’ disappointment sets in  00:12:06 - Lukas’ start in journalism, gaming trajectory, and current position at LVR-J 00:17:29 - Journalistic integrity past and present, cable TV, entertainment, and bias in news 00:20:18 - Talking about the “Game On!” mission statement and what it means to Lukas 00:24:00 - Physical vs. online news pipelines, doing the work, and old fashioned news views  00:27:05 - Hat choices, Lukas’ beat, game industry focus, and gaming news diversity 00:28:54 - Does Lukas consider himself a member of the video games industry? 00:30:40 - Ben’s suggestion to sell magazine subscriptions, and Lukas on meeting Greg Miller 00:33:19 - Go to Kickstarter for more information on Lukas’ not so secret project “Game On!” 00:35:01 - Norah’s thoughts, interview styles, and Ben thanks David Letterman  00:36:02 - The embargo has lifted, Ben’s review formula, and the audiovisuals of QaCoC 00:39:02 - Cat behaviors, taco costume, creating cats, and the Calico game mechanics 00:41:10 - Quilt tessellations, game pieces, gameplay loop, and ways to score points in Calico 00:45:40 - No smallpox, 10-15 minutes per, playing online, and story mode is underwhelming 00:49:41 - QUILT WAR, “Pass and Play,” easy to learn difficult to master, and game complexity 00:52:23 - How life works, text size can’t be changed, and Norah asks about the age to play 00:57:32 - Norah’s thoughts on the tutorial, thank you to Monster Couch, and closing remarks

Check out the “LAN Parties” podcast on your favorite podcast service or listen to it here… https://www.reviewjournal.com/podcasts/lan-parties/

To help Lukas get his “Game On!” magazine fully funded go here... https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2103037101/game-on-2 As of the publishing date of this podcast there are only 26 more days to go, so if you are interested in supporting a fresh perspective in games journalism, please consider supporting Lukas in his endeavor! 

For all of Lukas Eggen’s social media and journalism stuff…  https://linktr.ee/LukasEggen

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A BIG thank you to Krzysiek for Monster Couch for providing us with our FIRST review code! 

Ben’s Review of “Quilts and Cats of Calico”

The FORMULA… Audiovisuals (AV) + Game Mechanics (GM) + Story and Narrative (SN) = a video game experience

Ben’s importance percentages = 20% AV + 35% GM + 45% SN

AV - Audiovisuals - (8) - The game is very cute and definitely fits into the cosy, country home category of graphic design which absolutely compliments the game perfectly.  Likewise, the top notch quality songs and background music fit the theme and mood, but I would have liked more than 3-4 songs total.  The cats that roam around and fall asleep at the top of the screen, but they will sometimes intersect with decorative items placed around the game board.  It would have been neat if the cats would knock stuff down like “normal” cats do.  You can also create and DRESS UP your own cats which was the FIRST thing I did with my review copy. Mango and/or Bash will join me in game while they are likely napping in real life.  This may sound ridiculous to a non