Lens and Veil Podcast

Garphill Games
  • 5.0 (3)
  • GAMES
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. - ⭐About the Cast - Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games. - Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. - Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam.

  1. FEB 3

    EP #30: First Rat

    🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss First Rat by by Gabriele Ausiello and Virginio Gigli. In First Rat, players take on the role of rats trying to build a rocket and take over the cheese moon. They do this by moving their rat meeples up the board (junkyard) and collecting junk which they can turn into rocket parts. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:04:27 - Intro0:04:43 - Overview of First Rat0:11:33 - Discussion of First Rat0:102:53 - Questions for audience0:103:15 - Top 200 Draft: 121-130 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

    1h 13m

  2. JAN 17

    EP #29: Spirited

    🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss Spirited, their first co-design all together. Spirited is a fast card driven game with push your luck elements where players must build wonders or forge allegiances with the numerous clans of the world. Featuring real historic civilisations interpreted by anthropomorphic animal characters. Spirited is live on Kickstarter now 👉🏽 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shem/spirited?ref=apmko7 📜Chapters: 0:00:00 - Which would you prefer? 0:07:08 - Intro 0:07:24 - Overview of Spirited 0:10:53 - Discussion of Spirited 1:07:26 - Questions for audience 1:07:44 - Top 200 Draft: 111-120 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

    1h 13m

  3. 12/17/2025

    EP #28: Top Ten Games Part 2

    🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this second part of the countdown of their top 10 games, they cover games 5-1. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:04:06 - Intro0:04:21 - Preamble0:04:37 - Games 5-10:41:28 - Questions for audience0:41:45 - Top 200 Draft: 101-110 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

    48 min

  4. 12/11/2025

    EP #27: Top Ten Games Part 1

    🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they count down their top ten games, starting with games 10-6. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:05:16 - Intro0:05:31 - Preamble, Criteria and Crossover Predictions0:12:57 - Games 10-60:48:14 - Questions for audience0:48:30 - Top 200 Draft: 91-100 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited and Skute with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

    54 min

  5. 12/03/2025

    EP #26: Fate of the Fellowship

    🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship by Matt Leacock. Fate of the Fellowship is a co-operative game in which each player controls two characters, lending their unique abilities to protect Frodo, battle enemies in pivotal locations, and evade the menacing Nazgûl and Sauron's searching Eye. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:07:34 - Intro0:07:51 - Overview of Fate of the Fellowship0:10:40 - Discussion of Fate of the Fellowship0:55:05 - Questions for audience0:55:28 - Top 200 Draft: 81-90 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order and The Great Sea together with Sam, and Spirited with both Shem and Sam. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

    1h 4m

  6. 11/19/2025

    EP #25: Through the Ages

    🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss Through the Ages by Vlaada Chvátil. Through the Ages is a civilisation building game. Each player attempts to build the best civilisation through careful resource management, and by: discovering new technologies, electing competent leaders, building wonders and maintaining a strong military. Weakness in any area can be exploited by your opponents. The game takes place throughout the ages, beginning in the age of antiquity and ending in the modern age. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:04:35 - Intro0:04:52 - Overview of Through the Ages0:09:33 - Discussion of Through the Ages1:07:05 - Questions for audience1:07:25 - Top 200 Draft: 71-80 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

    1h 14m

  7. 11/07/2025

    EP #24: Slay the Spire

    🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss Slay the Spire by Gary Dworetsky, Anthony Giovannetti and Casey Yano. Slay the Spire: The Board Game is a co-operative deck-building, dungeon-crawling adventure based on the video game of the same name. Each player starts with a character with unique abilities and a simple deck of cards that they can improve by adding and removing cards during the game. Slay the Spire is also a rogue-like. That means that when you die you start over from the beginning. The game is divided into Acts. At the end of an Act you can continue, stop and end the adventure there, or save and continue another time! If players defeat the final Boss, they win the game! 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:05:17 - Intro0:05:34 - Overview of Slay the Spire0:09:56 - Discussion of Slay the Spire1:04:45 - Questions for audience1:05:04 - Top 200 Draft: 61-70 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

    1h 15m

  8. 10/08/2025

    EP #23: Secret Societies

    🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. In this episode they discuss Secret Societies by S J Macdonald. This is Sam's second ever solo design after Circadians: First Light. The aim of Secret Societies is to gain the most Power by outbidding and outsmarting your opponents to establish your institute as the one most deserving of total governance. Players step into the role of a highly unique Secret Society, equipped with various tools and abilities to help give them the edge over the competition. Over 7 Rounds you will gain Income, Bid for Deeds, deploy Agents, start Projects, make Investments, and seek to control the all-important Conferences. Secret Societies is currently live on Kickstarter here. 📜Chapters:0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?0:06:16 - Intro0:06:31 - Overview of Secret Societies0:07:56 - Discussion of Secret Societies1:05:03 - Questions for audience1:13:35 - Top 200 Draft: 51-60 ⭐About the Cast Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023). Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG. Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development. 🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠

    1h 22m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements. - ⭐About the Cast - Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games. - Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. - Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam.

Information

  • Creator
    Garphill Games
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    30
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Garphill Games
  • Show Website
    Lens and Veil Podcast

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