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Arcade Castle: A Gaming Podcast

Welcome! You've reached the home of the Arcade Castle Podcast, a podcast that looks a little at video games, a little at board games, and those things that got a little bit of both. While most podcasts tend to look at the latest and greatest, we have opted for a far darker path through the sprawling realms of digital and analog games. For lying between the two genres is a pile of games few dare to play, games that often defy categorization. Bizarre chimeric creations and licensed games abound here. Found in thrift stores and online, studying these games will be a global effort a countries across the planet send these objects to the Arcade Castle for examination. Why do we do this? To determine how well these board games capture the essence of their parent franchise. To see how the strategies, gameplay, game mechanics, player challenges, and player roles are translated from the digital realm of video games to the analog base of the board game. Can we learn anything about design and gameplay by comparing how a single franchise is represented in two different mediums? Can one inform the other? That, and who doesn't love board games and video games?
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Now displaying: September, 2018
Sep 1, 2018

In Episode 15 of the podcast, The Arcade Castle finds itself, once again, on a journey through another oregon trail licensed board game by Pressman in the form of The Oregon Trail Board Game: Journey to Willamette Valley. Having played The Oregon Trail Card Game and The Oregon Trail Hunt For Food Card Game in prior years (and on Episode 04 and Episode 08, respectively), The Arcade Castle has mixed expectations when bringing this game to the table.

 

In The Oregon Trail Board Game, players are uncovering the trail from Independence, MO to Willamette Valley, OR. As they traverse the wilderness of 1800s America, players will find hunting grounds, ford rivers, locate forts and towns, and brave the elements as they attempt to successfully reach Oregon. However, the trail is full of hazards and, as supplies dwindle in their covered wagons, will they best the calamities that befall them, or end their trip in a shallow grave on the roadside?

 

As players play the Oregon Trail Game they will place trail tiles onto the board as they attempt to get to Willamette Valley, OR. As they proceed along the trail, they will need to hunt, trade, buy, sell, and more as they attempt to ensure their family has the supplies it needs to make the journey, but also survive the calamities they encounter upon it. 

 

Will this latest entry in the Oregon Trail franchise deliver like a delicious pizza? Or end up being only peperony and chease?

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Webpage: www.arcadecastle.com
 
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You can contact us at: contactarcadecastle@gmail.com

Also, if you like the new theme song, check out Tony Robot at: www.facebook.com/louisvilletonyrobot/


 
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Episode Outline:

00:00-20:00: Arcade Castle talks about the Oregon Trail franchise as developed by Pressman over the years and how that can inform the player on how this latest entry was developed and published. 

20:00-40:00: Arcade Castle talks about the gameplay of the Oregon Trail, and its contents.

40:00-60:00: Arcade Castle takes an in-depth look at the strategies inherent to the Oregon Trail Board Game, what the players can bring to the table to have a better chance at winning the game.

60:00-72:00: Arcade Castle compares this third entry in the franchise to the first two to see how the success, or failure, of them defined how the third game was developed and how the strategies reflect that development.

Apollo Approved!

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