Lucky Paper Radio

Andy, Anthony, and Parker tackle C. Thi Nguyen’s The Score in their fourth episode of “Book Club.” Nguyen’s book compares how metrics apply to and effect games and social structures. He argues that while metrics are a defining construct that allow games to exist and be fun, when applied to social situations and optimized they are often destructive. Our hosts discuss this theses and other arguments presented in the book.
Discussed in this episode:
The Score by C. Thi Nguyen
Merlin Bird I.D App
Episode 206: The Joy of Gaming with Richard Garfield
Games and the Art of Agency by C. Thi Nguyen
A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, and Murray Silverstein
How to do Nothing by Jenny Odell
End Times Fascism by by Naomi Klein, Astra Taylor
The Nerd Reich by Gil Durán
If you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.
Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.
You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:
Andy’s “Bun Magic” Cube
Anthony’s “Regular” Cube
You can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:
Lucky Paper
PO Box 4855
Baltimore, MD 21211
Musical production by DJ James Nasty.
Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
5;30 - Birds and Value Capture
15:35 - Stakes and Metrics
19:24 - Andy Doesn’t Like Books
23:40 - The Art of Decision Making
32:27 - How to Stop Playing Someone Elses Game
38:12 - Lecturing
46:05 - Neologisms
53:54 - Cube Design and Events
1:02:28 - Big Tech

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Andy and Anthony talk with Gabor about their Obscura Cube designed from the prompt “Legacy,” a very loaded term in the Cube space. Skipping past the obvious interpretation, Gabor chose to look to legacy board games for inspiration — games that permanently change across a series of play sessions. Starting with a nostalgic list of iconic cards, Gabor altered the Cube over the course of the weekend, swapping in cards from an second list with input from players. Drafters made choices about host the cube changed and also altered cards from their decks. At the end of the weekend, the cube was left more powerful and marked by each player.
Discussed in this episode:
Gabor’s Cube: “Legacy”
C4AC Obscura
Legacy Board Games
Oath, Board Game by Cole Wehrle
“King Me”: A Defense of King-Making in Board Game Design, talk by Cole Wehrle
Sisterhood of the Traveling Cube
Roguelike Celebration
If you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.
Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.
You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:
Andy’s “Bun Magic” Cube
Anthony’s “Regular” Cube
You can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:
Lucky Paper
PO Box 4855
Baltimore, MD 21211
Musical production by DJ James Nasty.
Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
1:29 - Legacy
12:03 - The List
17:16 - Goals
22:10 - Predictions
26:32 - Postgame and Top 8
28:43 - Mystery
33:33 - Sharpies and Stickers
42:48 - Trust

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Andy recaps his experience at the second annual Inland Northwest Cube Fest to Anthony. He talks through each of his four drafts at the event, recounting how he handled novel Cube environments and gameplay highlights. He talks about the overall experience of the event including the printed cube companion guides, hosting a draft of 100 Ornithopters, and other extra-curricular activities.
Discussed in this episode:
Inland Northwest Cube Fest
Sliverhome
Bridges Over Troubled Waters
The Second Hand
Middle Child
DSB Tokens
The Shepard Cube
Take Five
If you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.
Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.
You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:
Andy’s “Bun Magic” Cube
Anthony’s “Regular” Cube
You can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:
Lucky Paper
PO Box 4855
Baltimore, MD 21211
Musical production by DJ James Nasty.
Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
2:29 - Inland Northwest Cube Fest II
7:15 - Bridges Over Troubled Water
20:20 - Secondhand
29:46 - 100 Ornithopters
32:47 - Middle Child
41:47 - The Shepard Cube
52:47 - Magic is Hard
53:25 - Extras

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Andy, Jane, and Anthony talk about Andy’s Obscura cube, prompted with the word ”feudal.” His attempted to capture the experience of feudalism in gameplay by putting the powerful cards in certain spots that would force players to build decks a certain way. Powerful, high devotion lords, as much as possible represented by sinister human creatures, motivate players into mono colored decks. Players have no option but to fill out their decks with individually weak, under-rate creatures. As a foil, players eschew the high devotion lords and unite the individually weak cards multi-color deck rewarded by domain payoffs.
The talk about Andy’s design process. Then looking at the decks drafted at the event, they reflect on how successful these specific design goals were.
Discussed in this episode:
Andy’s Feudal Obscura Cube
Cabbages and Kings
INW Cube Fest
The Ball Pit
If you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.
Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.
You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:
Andy’s “Bun Magic” Cube
Anthony’s “Regular” Cube
You can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:
Lucky Paper
PO Box 4855
Baltimore, MD 21211
Musical production by DJ James Nasty.
Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
4:12 - Feudal
9:06 - Monocolored Decks
12:28 - Flavor
16:56 - Multicolor Decks
24:30 - Scarecrows
30:25 - Predictions
37:17 - Metagame Breakdown
46:49 - Changes
51:53 - Manabases
58:09 - Balance
1:00:30 - Does any of this Matter

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What makes a cube “balanced”? When a card or deck performs very differently in the hands of especially skilled players, are they using their greater knowledge of the game to exploit a balance issue that others can’t see? Or are they just having the predictable success you would expect from a more skilled player? Is the experience of strong players a better indicator of a cube’s balance because they use cards optimally? Or are they exploiting the cards in a way that, if balanced for, would negatively impact the play experience of the average player?
We sure as hell don’t know, but you can listen to us try to figure it out for an hour if you want.
Discussed in this episode:
Episode 322 With Ryan Overturf
100 Ornithopters
The Fire Swamp
The Red Terror
Anthony’s Obscura Cube Anti-War
Regular Cube
Monocolored Starter Decks
If you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.
Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.
You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:
Andy’s “Bun Magic” Cube
Anthony’s “Regular” Cube
You can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:
Lucky Paper
PO Box 4855
Baltimore, MD 21211
Musical production by DJ James Nasty.
Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
3:30 - Balance
14:56 - Fun
19:45 - Expectations
23:14 - 100 Ornithopters Balance
28:10 - Metagame Development
37:47 - Smash Ultimate
49:33 - Starter Decks