Head to Head Games

Beth and Jeanne Wake
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Married hosts Beth and Jeanne play lots of games, often together, but rarely agree about what makes a game fun, enjoyable, or successful. This podcast features their analysis of board games, video games, and tabletop games from the perspectives of a talented hardcore gamer and a game creator with a Master's degree in arts and games. Theme song is "Where Is It" by Jon Worthy Music.

  1. JAN 27 · BONUS

    12b. Geist: The Sin-Eaters One-Shot

    Beth GMs an introduction one-shot for Jeanne, intended to be a potential intro session for a larger campaign. Beth uses basic events to introduce the main narrative beats of a game of Geist and provide Jeanne with a quick introduction to the game's magic system. Jeanne adjusts to the rules and makes intriguing roleplaying choices.  The episode analyzing this one-shot

    1h 30m

  2. JAN 27

    12. Geist: The Sin-Eaters

    Beth presents Geist: The Sin-Eaters, a 2009 game and 2020 remaster of a tabletop game about ghosts by White Wolf Gaming Studio. Beth and Jeanne describe the rules of the game in conversation and then analyze the gameplay of a one-shot of the game. They agree that the game is complicated and that they would like to play a campaign with the system. The one-shot analyzed in this episode

    59 min

  3. 12/14/2025

    11. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide

    Jeanne presents Warhammer 40,000: Darktide (2022), a squad combat game by Fatshark Studios based on the properties of Games Workshop, describing its class system and the role of lore in the game. Beth discusses her takes on the game as a newcomer to the series and a veteran of the genre. Together, Beth and Jeanne agree that Darktide is a fundamentally fun game, but find that their reasons for reaching that conclusion differ. (When don't they?-J)

    1h 10m

  4. 06/14/2025

    10. Banished

    Beth presents Banished (by Shining Rock Studios, 2014) and describes its blend of resource management, town building, and survival, as well as what kinds of decisions the player has to make. Jeanne describes her experience as a beginner Banished player, and Beth talks about what makes Banished special among her favorite games. Beth and Jeanne are in rare agreement that Banished is a well-made and compelling game.

    1h 2m

  5. 04/06/2025

    9: Sheriff of Nottingham

    Jeanne presents Sheriff of Nottingham (by Sérgio Halaban, André Zatz, and Arcane Wonders) and discusses its strategic elements, and Beth describes what the social dynamics are in this simple bluffing game. Our discussion of what type of game Sheriff of Nottingham really is leads us to question whether we even agree what the point of playing games is.

    47 min

  6. 02/02/2025

    8. Tak

    Beth and Jeanne discuss the board game Tak, a simple game conceived of by writer Patrick Rothfuss and designed by James Ernest with CheapAss Games. We describe the elegant rules and strategies together, with Beth focusing on the book's context, the atmosphere of the game, and observations from playing against many opponents while Jeanne discusses her favorite strategies and her observations based on a game between Beth and Jeanne's father. Together, we talk about our strategies and indulge in a lot of teasing.

    1h 1m

  7. 01/20/2025

    7. Palworld

    Jeanne leads us in telling us about Palworld by Pocket Pair games, the strenghths and weaknesses of its broad gameplay, and the legal controversy surrounding it. Beth evaluates what about the game is enjoyable and not from the perspective of a casual player of this type of game. We together navigate the sticky issue of putting a solid review on a game so expansive and complex.

    1h 35m

  8. 12/29/2024 · BONUS

    6b. Don't Rest Your Head One-Shot

    Beth GMs a one-shot of Don't Rest Your Head (by Fred Hicks and Evil Hat Productions) for Jeanne to introduce her to the game. Beth uses content from the rulebook and extrapolated from the rulebook to give Jeanne a normal Don't Rest Your Head experience with canon NPCs and a simple and quick story; Jeanne adjusts to the rules and makes interesting choices and uses of her player character abilities. The full episode analyzing Don't Rest Your Head as a game and this one-shot

    1h 53m
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About

Married hosts Beth and Jeanne play lots of games, often together, but rarely agree about what makes a game fun, enjoyable, or successful. This podcast features their analysis of board games, video games, and tabletop games from the perspectives of a talented hardcore gamer and a game creator with a Master's degree in arts and games. Theme song is "Where Is It" by Jon Worthy Music.

Information

  • Creator
    Beth and Jeanne Wake
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2024
  • Show Website
    Head to Head Games