This week's episode takes our intrepid players to Mordor and back again. Join Aaron & Liz as they embark on an unexpected journey through Middle-Earth with their pals Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and some made up residents of Mirkwood in Fantasy Flight's new Lord Of The Rings game.

TIMESTAMPS

• 0:00 - DC character, or LOTR thing?
• 6:10 - Our relationship with The Tolkien-verse.
• 13:01 - The beauty of using an app for campaign management and gameplay + the story of the game.
• 19:35 - This LOTR uses a pretty near hex-based tile system. We're gonna discuss it.
• 23:05 - The thematic tie-ins of LOTR, and how it doesn't always quite work.
• 27:35 - "There are elements of a really great deck builder in here."
• 32:45 - The (meta) co-operative nature of app-based games.
• 40:20 - "OK, but did you have FUN playing this game?"
• 41:30 - House rules, the human element, and how to determine the difficulty in an app-based game.
• 51:30 - "Would you recommend this more than Mansions Of Madness?"

--- Journeys In Middle-Earth is designed by Nathan Hajek and Grace Holdinghaus

--- Aaron acknowledges that he's a big fan of The Lord Of The Rings, but really wants people to know that Faramir is the only good man in Middle-Earth.

--- Donate to our Patreon at www.patreon.com/VStheUNIVERSE! Even $1 goes a *LONG* way, and helps the show grow!

--- Reach out to The Co-Operatives by tweeting to @CoOperativesPod on Twitter or e-mailing us at CoOperativesPod@gmail.com. Got a game you'd like us to try? LET US KNOW! You can also 'like' us on Facebook by heading to www.facebook.com/CoOperativesPod.

--- If you feel like being super nice, leave us a review on iTunes! It would mean the world to us! Every review lets others know you enjoyed the episode and helps the show grow! Want more Co-Operatives? Then check out our archives for a bunch of episodes that cover cooperative board and video games, dating, and definitely not being robots.

Aaron & Liz embark on a discussion about E3 2019! There's no time to lose so we'll just get into it! Watch Dogs Legion! DOOM Eternal! Cyberpunk 2077! Final Fantasy 7 Remake! Jedi Fallen Order! Nintendo! Bethesda! Microsoft! VIDEO GAMES! HYPE! MADNESS! Keywords for searching!

TIMESTAMPS!

• 0:00 - ODE TO JOY FOR E3!
• 1:30 - What is E3, and how do we celebrate it?
• 6:30 -"I'm A Doomboy, Baby!"
• 12:40 - Watch Dogs Legion, and a tale of an elderly assassin
• 17:55 - A call to arms and responsibility
• 23:44 - Final Fantasy 7, Square-Enix, and updating a classic...
• 30:30 - A brief excursion on Cyberpunk 2077
• 33:38 - Let's discuss Stadia and whether or not it will actually work
• 37:00 - The madness of Devolver Digital and a game called Carrion
• 41:15 - Three indie games Aaron wants to highlight: Skatebird, Monster Prom 2, and 12 Minutes
• 45:36 - Liz does the outro! 

Follow Aaron on Twitter at @ImAaronJ

Follow Liz on Twitter at @PaperbackLizard

--- Check out Skatebird on Kickstarter here! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/meganfox/skatebird-be-a-skateboarding-bird

--- Check out Monster Prom 2 on Kickstarter here! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/corintio/monster-prom-2-holiday-season?ref=discovery&term=monster%20prom%202

--- Check out 12 Minutes here! https://www.polygon.com/e3/2019/6/9/18658930/microsoft-xbox-e3-2019-twelve-minutes-trailer-12

--- Read more about One Night Stand here: https://venturebeat.com/2019/06/10/awkward-visual-novel-one-night-stand-is-coming-to-consoles-this-summer/

--- Donate to our Patreon at www.patreon.com/VStheUNIVERSE! Even $1 goes a *LONG* way, and helps the show grow!

--- Reach out to The Co-Operatives by tweeting to @CoOperativesPod on Twitter or e-mailing us at CoOperativesPod@gmail.com. Got a game you'd like us to try? LET US KNOW! You can also 'like' us on Facebook by heading to www.facebook.com/CoOperativesPod.

--- If you feel like being super nice, leave us a review on iTunes! It would mean the world to us! Every review lets others know you enjoyed the episode and helps the show grow! Want more Co-Operatives? Then check out our archives for a bunch of episodes that cover cooperative board and video games, dating, and definitely not being robots.

Every try mind-melding? It's new and hip and not in rural areas yet. Only the coolest gamers mind-meld. Don't you want to be a cool kid? Liz & Aaron becomes cool-kids on this episode about The Mind. 

TIMESTAMPS:

• 0:00 - Which movie characters do we think we are?
• 4:30 - Today we're covering The Mind + A SONG! + How it's played.
• 11:15 - Bunnies + ninjas stars? We're not mad about that, but why is the bunny a ninja? WHY AREN'T *WE* NINJAS?
• 13:45 - What do we think of this game?
• 19:10 - Questions from the Discourse!
• 27:00 - The lasting appeal of The Mind.
• 32:20 - AUDIENCE QUESTION: What co-op announcement do we want to see come out of E3? + Outro!

--- The Mind is designed by Wolfgang Warsch and illustrated by Oliver Freudenreich. The game is published by Pandasaurus Games.

--- Donate to our Patreon at www.patreon.com/VStheUNIVERSE! Even $1 goes a *LONG* way, and helps the show grow!

--- Reach out to The Co-Operatives by tweeting to @CoOperativesPod on Twitter or e-mailing us at CoOperativesPod@gmail.com. Got a game you'd like us to try? LET US KNOW! You can also 'like' us on Facebook by heading to www.facebook.com/CoOperativesPod.

--- If you feel like being super nice, leave us a review on iTunes! It would mean the world to us! Every review lets others know you enjoyed the episode and helps the show grow! Want more Co-Operatives? Then check out our archives for a bunch of episodes that cover cooperative board and video games, dating, and definitely not being robots.