Space-Cast! #29. Enduring Snake-Eyes
What’s the commonality between Shackleton’s voyage to the Antarctic, brain hemorrhages, and the virtue of watching R-rated movies? Today, it’s Amabel Holland’s Endurance, a board game about the strength of the human spirit in the face of abject misery. Join Dan and Amabel as we chat about this game’s difficult development, throwing out historical determinism, and why not every game should have a victory condition.
Listen here or download here. Timestamps can be found after the jump.
TIMESTAMPS
2:29 — is Endurance our favorite of Amabel’s designs?
5:12 — finding the necessary missing pieces to create Endurance
12:17 — throwing out historical determinism
24:15 — representing “feet in boots” history through abstraction
41:21 — the lifeboat sequence
47:27 — why is there no win condition?
55:08 — hope in the face of despair: Amabel’s story
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Posted on May 17, 2023, in Board Game and tagged Amabel Holland, Board Games, Endurance, Hollandspiele, The Space-Biff! Space-Cast!. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
SPACE-BIFF! 
Omigod, the amount of times I thought, “are you me!?” when Amabel was talking about her experiences regarding HRT and coming out to herself. Thanks for allowing her space to speak about her journey, Dan. Feeling very seen right now, which I really needed.
teaspoonC, I am so happy to hear you felt seen listening to this episode! Thank you for sharing.
This was a beautiful episode and I’m really glad to have listened to it.
Thanks for saying so, Stephen.
Hi Dan and Amabel, Thank for this interview. The end reminded me of a line from an old interview with Jeff Tweedy that I think about a lot. Jeff’s answer to a question about the value of dark or sad songs was that simply making art is an inherently hopeful act because it puts you “squarely on the side of things existing.” Or, as I think of it, trying to be on the side of creation, as opposed to the side of destruction. Thank you Dan and Amabel both.
Thank you for listening, Bob, and for the kind words.