Gaia Project Leads Roll Dice Take Names’ First Show of 2018

The first Roll Dice Take Names show of 2018 puts Gaia Project at its center, with a report shaped by the hosts’ familiarity with Terra Mystica. That comparison sets up the episode’s main point of interest: hearing the hosts approach a new game that already has a personal reference point for Marty. The show also makes room for a short look at Topiary, a review of listener feedback and a long list of other games and hobby topics.

The opening section moves quickly across its subjects. After the intro at 1:01, the rundown reaches Algot at 5:21 and Codenames games at 9:12, then turns to Pandemic Legacy Season 2 at 14:05 and Games Workshop at 16:05. The topics suggest a conversational episode rather than a single-game review: listeners get several short stops before the hosts settle into the longer features.

Algot appears as a named segment, while the Codenames discussion is listed broadly as “Codenames Games.” The schedule doesn’t spell out the substance of either conversation, so the useful guide here is the sequence itself. Anyone tuning in for one subject can use the timestamps to find it, while listeners who enjoy the hosts’ informal topic-hopping can follow the full route.

A short look at Topiary

At 44:50, Vanessa joins Marty for a “5 Minute Initiative” on Renegade’s Topiary. The format promises a compact discussion, making it a different sort of feature from the extended Gaia Project report later in the show. The source doesn’t provide a description of the game’s rules or the hosts’ verdict, so this is best approached as a brief introduction rather than a full review.

That distinction matters for listeners deciding where to spend their time. A short segment can offer a quick sense of what caught the hosts’ attention, while a longer report can give a game more room for discussion. Here, the episode’s structure offers both: a focused five-minute feature on Topiary and a substantially longer visit with Gaia Project.

The schedule also includes Heaven & Ale at 24:00 and Civilization: New Dawn at 25:02. Their close placement makes this part of the episode a useful stretch for listeners tracking several tabletop releases and discussions in one sitting. The listed links lead to each game’s BoardGameGeek entry, giving listeners a place to identify the titles while they follow along.

Listener feedback and the show’s wider interests

The 2017 survey review begins at 50:23. The hosts share what they heard from listeners, including a request for “less cowbell,” which they suspect may have been a joke. It’s a small exchange, but it gives the episode a bit of personality: the show is taking stock of audience responses and bringing at least one memorable comment into the conversation.

At 32:48, “Baseball Cards and Board Games” introduces another topic outside the central game reports. The rundown also lists Passport to Culture at 19:45 and Portal Games at 43:29. These entries signal the breadth of the show’s interests, although the short source description doesn’t provide enough detail to summarize the discussions or attribute opinions to the hosts.

Two segments use the show’s “squirrel” label. The First Squirrel of 2018 appears at 29:43, and “And the Second Squirrel” follows at 1:06:29, just before the main Gaia Project report. The listing doesn’t explain the label, but it does show how the episode moves between its planned game features and looser diversions. That rhythm can be part of the appeal for regular listeners: the itinerary is broad, and the hosts leave space for side conversations.

Gaia Project gets the longest feature

The Scurry Report on Gaia Project begins at 1:09:13 and runs to the next listed segment at 1:35:50. The opening description explains why the hosts were keen to hear about the game: they had been anticipating it since 2017, and Marty counts Terra Mystica among his favorites. That connection gives the report a clear lens, while also reminding listeners that the discussion comes from hosts with an established point of comparison.

The source doesn’t outline Gaia Project’s mechanics, player count, play time, price or the hosts’ final assessment. Rather than guess at those details, the most reliable takeaway is where the episode puts its attention: this is the main feature, with far more time allocated to it than to Topiary. Listeners interested in the game can jump straight to the report, then hear the shorter features and other discussions around it.

The remaining entries include The Broken Token at 1:35:50, the outro at 1:36:38, a Gaia contest at 1:41:12 and Funagain at 1:44:32. The episode runs beyond the outro in the supplied schedule, so listeners looking for the contest or Funagain segment should use those later timestamps.

For a first show of the year, this is a packed itinerary: a substantial Gaia Project discussion, a quick Topiary feature, listener survey feedback and several shorter stops across the hobby. The clearest place to start is the report on Gaia Project; the surrounding segments give returning listeners a broader snapshot of what the show is talking about in 2018.

Topiary · Gaia Project · Heaven & Ale · Civilization: New Dawn

Other listed links: Baseball Cards and Board Games, And the Second Squirrel and Gaia Contest.