Almost Bedtime Theater

Exquisite Biome: Review, Actual Play (Ep 22)

Dan & Rachael Season 3 Episode 22

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A transcript of this episode is available via the episode page on Buzzsprout.

In this episode, we review and play the tabletop roleplaying game Exquisite Biome.

  • 04:40 - Actual play

Exquisite Biome was written by Caro Aserscion with illustrations by Si F. Sweetman. It is available through itch.io and Plus One EXP.

Our intro and outro theme music are by McRoMusic, who can be found on Patreon at patreon.com/mcromusic. Their piece “Melodies of the Past” was used in this episode.

The following tracks were also used and are by Michael Ghelfi Studios https://michaelghelfistudios.com/

  • Mysterious Jungle (RPG Ambiences Vol 1)

How to reach us:

Rachael

Hi, I'm Rachael

Dan

And I'm Dan, Rachael's dad

Rachael

And this is Almost Bedtime Theater, a podcast where we play family-friendly role playing games. In this episode, we are reviewing and playing Exquisite Biome, a game about creating strange and wonderful animals.

Dan

Exquisite Biome was written by Caro Aserscion with illustrations by Si F. Sweetman. It's 18 half-sheet pages, and it's designed to be played either as a solo game or as a GM-less game for a group.

Rachael

In this game, you draw cards from a standard playing card deck, and you use the prompts from those cards to build creatures and explore how they live.

Dan

And in addition to the base version of the game, there are five variations that are offered at the end of the book to let you play in other ways, like exploring more locations, creating creatures that are designed to meet specific requirements is another option, especially if you've got a group. So like each person then tries to make a creature that's the best at scaring off predators or the best at surviving in an urban setting, for example. Exquisite Biome is available digitally through Itch.io for $10 or you can pick up a physical copy for $19 from the Plus One EXP website. So let's talk a little bit about what we thought of the game.

Rachael

On a scale of simple, moderate, or complex, we would say it's pretty simple to play. I mean, all you're really doing is drawing cards and using the prompts from the booklet.

Dan

Yeah. And I thought that the prompts were sufficient to really get you going. I liked the questions. I liked the little

Rachael

questions, yeah.

Dan

Yeah, definitely Speaking of questions, what was your favorite part of the game?

Rachael

George and Marcus.

Dan

Those are these characters that just kind of evolved doing a documentary about these animals when we were playing.

Rachael

Okay. Like, actually- I liked how, like, when you switch around the cards when you're moving them, to create another animal. I was worried that since we were gonna be using, like, the same cards, I was worried they were gonna be too similar. And they were a little similar. Like, we had two apex predators. But It wasn't like you're getting basic carbon copies of everything. There were a lot of different prompts.

Dan

And I liked, just, like, even in the beginning when you use cards to come up with your biome pieces, there are combinations there that feel like they don't make sense at first glance.

Rachael

Mm-hmm.

Dan

Um, I really enjoy the part of these games where you come up with reasons to make them make sense. Especially if you're doing- Mm-hmm like, kind of a fantasy thing or something, you, you, you get a lot of leeway you can work with there. Mm-hmm. But it's, it's always just that, that aha moment when you're like, I have an idea that'll take these two concepts and actually bring them together in a way that works." Mm-hmm. And then you get these results that are stuff that you'd never come up with, or at least I don't think I would ever come up with- Yeah if I was just trying to imagine a new animal. Then it's like, "Wow, here we go."

Rachael

Mm-hmm.

Dan

I'm a big fan of that.

Rachael

What are suggestions that you would have for somebody playing this game for the first time?

Dan

I was very tempted to start off by just picking concepts that I liked. It's like when we were picking out the biomes, like, oh, could we do a jungle? That sounds good. I am glad that we just worked that into what we actually pulled on the card. Mm-hmm. So I think my suggestion is go with the cards. Let it be random and see what you get. 'Cause that's a lot of fun. Do you have any suggestions for playing?

Rachael

No, I agree. I think, like you said earlier, it's fun to try and make things make sense. We came up with stuff that I never would've thought of.

Dan

Let it work its magic.

Rachael

Yeah.

Dan

Awesome. Next up, we usually cover any suggestions for someone who's running this game for the first time. This was us just playing it and reading it and kind of running it all at the same time the first time. Since you don't have a GM that runs it, it's just read through it. It is, a short read.

Rachael

Most of it is tables

Dan

if you read through it once before you play, you can easily be in a place where you can, I guess, host it for a group if you wanted to. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Maybe you're not the GM, but you're just making sure everybody knows how it's played. Do you have any other thoughts about the game?

Rachael

I liked playing it with somebody. It was so much more fun playing it together than it would've- been playing it by myself.

Dan

I agree. Uh, George and Marcus were a lot of

Rachael

fun. Yeah. And that's our review. If you would like to get in touch with us with a question, comment, or suggestion, you can email us at AlmostBedtimeTheater@gmail.com, or find our current social media links at bio.link/almostbedtimetheater.

Dan

And if you enjoy our show, please consider leaving a rating or review wherever you get your podcasts. It means a lot, and it does help other folks find us. Thank you.

Rachael

And now, let the adventure begin.

Dan

Do you want like, a real world set of animals or a fantasy set of animals or sci-fi or

Rachael

I wanna go more fantasy.

Dan

Okay. So let's kick it off. Step one, we need to establish our environment. And that means drawing cards that are going to tell us what kind of environment we're working with. Ready for the first card? Oh.

Rachael

I forgot which one that is. That's a three of clovers. Clubs. It's a three of clubs. It's

Dan

a three of clubs. Scrub or grassland. What is

Rachael

that?

Dan

I was hoping for jungle. Do we need to shuffle? I think we need to shuffle

Rachael

broski, did you not shuffle?

Dan

I didn't shuffle.

Rachael

Okay, there's a jack I figured we shuffled Coastline or shore. That's like a jungle.

Dan

That's, yeah, like, like- That's like a jungle a jungle of the sea.

Rachael

That's seaweed.

Dan

There could be seaweed in this jun- Okay, coastline or shore. I like it. Okay. Okay. I like it. Okay. Cool, cool, cool.

Rachael

Okay.

Dan

And we have a heart.

Rachael

Oh.

Dan

Which means cool No, heart. Warm and

Rachael

wet. Warm and wet. Uh, so like j- jungle.

Dan

It's like a jungle

Rachael

coastline. It's like a

Dan

jungle coastline. It's like an island, coastline- Yes warm, tropical.

Rachael

Okay.

Dan

Okay.

Rachael

Oh. Oh, canyon or a valley. At the coastline. Wait. Hear me out. Hear me out, okay? You got the shore. You got the waters, and then, like, in the waters there's like like in the water and then it woof, and then there's a- An

Dan

underwater canyon?

Rachael

Yeah. Ooh. Just like that.

Dan

So we've got afternoon or twilight in an underwater canyon. Cool, cool. No,

Rachael

it's warm.

Dan

It's a warm, wet underwater canyon. We get to just draw three cards from the deck, place them in a row, and those are our creature cards, so we'll use those to describe an animal that lives in this warm underwater canyon next to the coast.

Rachael

That is secretly a jungle.

Dan

Yes.

Rachael

I mean, nobody underwater knows it's a jungle.

Dan

Unless, unless they're amphibious.

Rachael

Well, that's their problem.

Dan

Then, then they're in on the secret.

Rachael

Two of...

Dan

Clubs

Rachael

clubs.

Dan

We need three cards.

Rachael

Oh. King of diamonds. King of not diamonds. It's the curved diamond.

Dan

The spade.

Rachael

Yeah. Okay

Dan

Sweet.

Rachael

Okay Two of clubs, king of diamonds, king of spades

Dan

Okay, so the first is our creature card general description. A two of clubs, which means we have a grain or seed eater who is a reptile or amphibian

Rachael

Or

Dan

amphibian. They know the secret.

Rachael

Okay, so it's an amphibian.

Dan

An amphibian seed eater.

Rachael

Okay, hear me out. Okay, again, you remember Project Hail Mary and the astrophage, and how they would, like, go one place to eat, and then they'd go somewhere else to have babies?

Dan

Uh-huh.

Rachael

What if this thing goes up to eat in the jungle, and then it comes back to, like, sleep and live and have babies?

Dan

Like an amphibian.

Rachael

I genuinely forgot that's a thing You just invented amphibians i'm so smart.

Dan

You're science.

Rachael

That did not cross my mind at all, and I was like-

Dan

our second card... Let's see. Our second card-

Rachael

Camouflage or mimic. That's cool. Octopus.

Dan

It's an octopus?

Rachael

It's a, it's an amphibian octopus-like thing.

Dan

Okay.

Rachael

It blends... 'Cause don't octopi, like,

Dan

they can- Octopuses?

Rachael

Okay, so these octopices

Dan

Which is like an octopus and a fish. It's an octopices.

Rachael

Yeah.

Dan

We're inventing animals. Let's do it. Mm-hmm. And then our third creature card is about its habits and personality. Sedentary lifestyle on a king of spades.

Rachael

It does not move often. And dozens, hundreds, or thousands- of this species live together. What is the collective name for this creature? Whoa. And what is enough to stir its attention?

Dan

That's

Rachael

cool. So they're all just, like, sitting there, hear me out again. They, like, move as a collective- Okay like, all of them go up on land to eat at the same time, and that's, like, part of their protectiveness, and they also all, like, camouflage. They all mimicry themselves to look like another kind of animal. What if when they go out on land to eat, they all mimicry to be different parts of this, like, huge snake, so they all look like a snake moving together- Ooh to go feed.

Dan

That's so awesome

Rachael

And nobody messes with it 'cause it's a huge snake

Dan

It, it's a big snake

Rachael

Yeah

Dan

Which just happens to have lots of tiny little mouths that are eating seeds- Yeah, yeah because it's actually a whole bunch of these little octopus fish

Rachael

It's an herbivore, yeah.

Dan

That is so cool. I'm envisioning, like, this 30-foot long-

Rachael

Yeah

Dan

like, eight inches around, quote-unquote, "snake" cruising through the jungle

Rachael

And it's really just a bunch of, like, really cute

Dan

little octopices It's all these little

Rachael

tiny

Dan

octopices thousands of them-

Rachael

Yeah

Dan

going up to get seeds, and then swiggling their way back down into

Rachael

the water Yeah, maybe they, like, crawl around trees to, like, reach the top of the tree Sure.

Dan

And the, the sedentary part, maybe they don't do a whole lot underwater.

Rachael

Mm-mm.

Dan

They wear themselves out on land. But the

Rachael

water, the water's, like, protective for them.

Dan

do they stay as a group underwater, or do they scatter underwater?

Rachael

I want them to, like, make a huge net out of themselves-

Dan

Ooh

Rachael

when they're on the water, and so, like, they're like this huge net of things.

Dan

It's almost like a floating canopy of them.

Rachael

Yeah, a floating canopy.

Dan

Ooh.

Rachael

The wind brings the seeds from the jungle onto the water- and then they all make these huge rafts of whatever, octopices, okay?

Dan

Uh-huh.

Rachael

And they, like, join together. Maybe they've got, like, claws or something they hold together, and they all just like- Tentacles. Yes, tentacles, and they all float.

Dan

That's awesome.

Rachael

Like, hundreds and thousands of them.

Dan

So they must not get very big.

Rachael

But I'm thinking they must have some kind of shell on the back so that nothing can, like, get them from above.

Dan

Or the camouflage.

Rachael

They're colored to look like the sea.

Dan

So they're, like, light colored underneath, so if something underneath looks up, it looks like the top of the water and the sky- Mm-hmm and they're dark on top, so if something's looking down it looks like they're part of the ocean.

Rachael

Mm-hmm. Okay. I don't know about the snake thing, then.

Dan

The snake thing was pretty wild. I mean-

Rachael

Maybe they lay their eggs, instead of on the water, they lay their eggs on the trees.

Dan

Oh.

Rachael

So they go like a snake.

Dan

Okay, What is the collective noun for these creatures? 'Cause there's so many of

Rachael

them in- Octopus.

Dan

well, I mean, like, like a flock of something, or a- A

Rachael

flock of octopus.

Dan

A flock of octopices. I mean, they could be called all kinds of things. You can have like,

Rachael

a chameleon of octopices?

Dan

I like that one. Excellent. All right. So now that we have answered all of those prompts associated with our cards, we get to have a scene where we get to see these animals. So we're gonna pick a lens through which we are watching this creature's life. Suggestions are, is this like a nature documentary that we're watching? Is it that we're field biologists and we've got research notes that we're documenting this with? Or is it something where it's being watched through the creature's point of view?

Rachael

I like the idea of a nature documentary.

Dan

I really do too.

Rachael

What if it was just you and me, and we came over here, and we're, like, freelance YouTubers or whatever, and we're d-

Dan

Oh,

Rachael

my goodness

Dan

we're pretending to be a documentary crew

Rachael

okay. You encounter one of these octopuses in the wild.

Dan

Here

Rachael

we do- No you

Dan

don't. No you don't. You encounter thousands.

Rachael

Shut up, George.

Dan

There's never just one.

Rachael

George, mute your microphone, George.

Dan

There's not one.

Rachael

George!

Dan

Okay, nature documentary it is. There is a list of prompts here that we can get one by- I'm

Rachael

gonna draw a card.

Dan

A nine.

Rachael

Risk and reward.

Dan

Hmm.

Rachael

Hmm. Welcome everyone to planet Erf. My name is Marcus Grump, and I am your leading documentarierer in this-

Dan

Says who?

Rachael

Shut up, George. It's not your turn yet.

Dan

I'm George.

Rachael

George, shut up. I,

Dan

I'm George.

Rachael

No. That's Anyway, so here we will be, um, investiga- ig- in-

Dan

You, you tell them, Marcus. Yeah, you tell them.

Rachael

We will be investigating the risk and reward in the life of these octopices that we have found on

Dan

This island.

Rachael

This island. In a sea.

Dan

Next to the island.

Rachael

Next to the island. Thank you, George.

Dan

You're welcome.

Rachael

I will- passing it over to George, who will talk about the life cycle of the, of Pisces o- birds.

Dan

Birds? These are not birds, Marcus. These are octopices, the most, the most extravagantly, wildly impressive creatures of this very small part of the ocean. This fascinating thing about the octopices is that thousands of them will gather together in a flotilla that we call a chameleon. And then they, they float along and they're eating all of the little seeds that Marcus has, uh, uh, that- that's me, has, has invented. I mean, discovered. Totally discovered. And then-

Rachael

Get it together, George

Dan

wait, I'm, I'm George. Oh, no.

Rachael

George. I,

Dan

I have a-

Rachael

I don't... Yeah, so I will be taking over now since George is having- There's risks George.

Dan

The risk is you'll get ate.

Rachael

This is not

Dan

your- You're gonna get ate the herbivores.

Rachael

George, take a five-minute break. Okay, so, so these... these octopices-

Dan

Yes

Rachael

uh, they, uh, there's risk in living on the high seas by an island, and that risk is always danger-

Dan

And getting eaten

Rachael

and getting eaten.

Dan

Oh, man, these things, they get eaten like popcorn. That's why there's thousands. Not by me. I don't eat them. I would never.

Rachael

George.

Dan

I would

Rachael

never. Take a swim. Take a swim.

Dan

I'm going swimming.

Rachael

So the risk is that there's, uh, when, um, when these octopices, they come on land to, to, to eggs, and then there's, there's fake trees, man. These trees, they're actually giraffes, but here we call them gi-trees.

Dan

Wait, wait, wait. I, I go take a swim. Now, now you have invented giraffe trees.

Rachael

I no invent. I no know.

Dan

You discovered.

Rachael

I-

Dan

You discovered the giraffe

Rachael

trees I discovered the sh- You know what this sounds like to me? Actually, we're gonna patent the name as G- J- Jamarcus trees

Dan

J- George. It r- just rolls off the tongue so much better

Rachael

Okay. take a walk, George.

Dan

You'll never believe what I discovered when I went and took that swim- What? out there.

Rachael

What, George?

Dan

Well, let's find out. Oh. Okay.

Rachael

We gotta talk about reward first. Th- th- The reward is that they have babies

Dan

And survive.

Rachael

And survive.

Dan

Yes.

Rachael

That's a reward.

Dan

Just like popcorn.

Rachael

Um, what-

Dan

Okay. Now-

Rachael

kind of popcorn are you eating?

Dan

Okay. George. George. All right. So now we shift the cards that we drew before. Like DNA transcription. The three animal cards. Yes. so now we can work through the table once more.

Rachael

Oh, for evolution?

Dan

Well, it's not the same animal evolving, although there is a version of the game that does that. This is, because we've shifted them, now we'll get completely different answers- Oh, all right on the creature tables.

Rachael

Okay.

Dan

Um, so that we

Rachael

can- An apex predator.

Dan

We've-

Rachael

That's what eats our popcorn.

Dan

It is. It's a bird or a fish, including sharks, eels, and rays, and it is an apex predator. So now the second creature card.

Rachael

Vivid coloration.

Dan

To warn or to entice. It's an apex predator. What's it warning off?

Rachael

Others of its kind, saying, "This is mine." Ooh.

Dan

Is it like a, like a poison arrow frog, where it's got some splashes of black, but then there's bright blue and bright orange and bright reds and-

Rachael

Yes.

Dan

It's not an ambush predator.

Rachael

No.

Dan

Cause it's not sneaking up on anybody.

Rachael

No.

Dan

All right. Time for the third creature card. Habits and personality, it's endangered. And it lives in groups of a dozen or more

Rachael

Maybe the vivid colors, like that's what they use to have social hierarchy.

Dan

Oh, I like that idea let's see. Endangered, this creature's species is at risk of extinction. What forces endanger its livelihood?

Rachael

George.

Dan

I am not a force of extinction for apex predators

Rachael

invasive disease.

Dan

So we've got an apex predator. It's vividly colored. It is endangered by the recent introduction of a disease. It goes around in groups of a dozen or more. What's that hierarchy like that it tracks with its coloration? Do the colors change?

Rachael

Maybe as they get older it changes.

Dan

It's a, it's a slow coloration shift. Mm-hmm. And then does that mean that its hierarchy, or its place in the hierarchy changes as it gets older?

Rachael

Mm-hmm.

Dan

Interesting. Now, we have not decided what kind of animal this is. Is it, like, a shark, or is it, like, an eel, or is it, like, a-

Rachael

fish? Like a big old shark, or maybe just, like, a medium-sized shark, and they, like... maybe they can see a much wider range of colors and light than the octopices can, and that means that, like, they can see differences between the octopices and the actual, like, surface of the sea?

Dan

What if they see, into temperature ranges?

Rachael

Oh, okay.

Dan

And so if you're going along and you look up, and all of a sudden there's this part where the water is a slightly different temperature because the octopices are- Mm-hmm making a cover there.

Rachael

Unless octopices are amphibians and they're cold-blooded. Are amphibians cold-blooded, or is that just reptiles?

Dan

Amphibians are cold-blooded.

Rachael

That's why frogs sunbathe, right?

Dan

Yeah. What are you gonna call it, Marcus? You gonna call it a- fish Marcus?

Rachael

You're pretty smart, George, I'll give you that.

Dan

It's a Marcus fish.

Rachael

I don't think that was funny. Try again, try again, try again, George.

Dan

No, no, that's fine. That's fine. Try again,

Rachael

George.

Dan

You don't think I'm funny. George. It's okay you don't think I'm funny. George. Eh. George. Nope, nope.

Rachael

George, no, don't leave me, George. Stay, George. Don't go on a walk, George.

Dan

I gotta go for a swim and find another animal.

Rachael

Don't go for a swim, George.

Dan

Something I can name a George.

Rachael

I'll call it a

Dan

A George and Marcus?

Rachael

A George and Marcus fish?

Dan

A George and Marcus fish.

Rachael

Yeah.

Dan

Okay, okay, i'm back in.

Rachael

Copyrighted. Since now.

Dan

Let's, let's, uh, let's, let's find ourselves one more animal so we can go home. All right.

Rachael

All

Dan

right. Shifting the cards one more time.

Rachael

Ooh.

Dan

first creature card.

Rachael

It is-

Dan

King of spades

Rachael

another apex predator. You sure you did that right?

Dan

I did. The, we had two kings, so it-

Rachael

It's an invertebrate.

Dan

It is. Like a giant squid, or an arachnid, or a mollusk. A mollusk.

Rachael

It's a huge clam.

Dan

A huge clam is the apex predator at the bottom of the canyon.

Rachael

The canyon is the clam.

Dan

Oh. Okay, we gotta find out about this thing. This thing-

Rachael

Watch it say there's thousands of them

Dan

that's gonna be freaky. They're gonna be spread out across the entire ocean if there are.

Rachael

What if they open up, like, 180 degrees so it's, like, all the clams make up the ca- Maybe not. Okay. Small, flat feet. This canyon has feet.

Dan

It has very, very tiny feet. They are so tiny. Uh, they, they are so tiny, the, the canyon does not move. The feet were good when it was very small, and it had to get to- Yes, George a new place. Yes. And then it grew and made a canyon. Yes, George. And now it doesn't u- it doesn't use the feet.

Rachael

Good job, George. We'll name this one George.

Dan

It's a George gorge. Yes. It's a George gorge. All right. Third card.

Rachael

Good job, George.

Dan

Thank you. Thank you very much. Uh, third card.

Rachael

His accent.

Dan

They're all over the place. Yes. They are, they have gone more places than George and Marcus. Okay. the third creature card- It's another s- king of diamonds

Rachael

sed- sedentary lifestyle.

Dan

Obviously. I mean-

Rachael

Obviously.

Dan

Obviously.

Rachael

And it's, lives in very small groups.

Dan

Very small.

Rachael

Maybe it's like a mom and a kid.

Dan

like this one has, a parent that is part of its group, but the parent is like around the side of- Oh the island. There's another canyon.

Rachael

Okay, so their groups just span much larger distances than we're used to 'cause we're smaller.

Dan

Yeah.

Rachael

Oh, I mean, they must be there forever, though- Right 'cause, like, they don't move. So it's really just- Yeah. Well, it's probably, like, a mated pair 'cause their children would go off somewhere else. You know what

Dan

I'm realizing? What?

Rachael

They could be so old to the point where, like, one of them is underground, and it's like an underground cave- Ooh that another one that's up higher opens up to the top so that you can, like, go through one and get to the other. But, like, you don't realize it 'cause they're so big. They look like they're just caves.

Dan

Whoa. That's Do they periodically go clomp and close?

Rachael

Earthquakes.

Dan

And the whole canyon, like, shifts closed and digests and then opens back up.

Rachael

Yeah.

Dan

Uh- George Marcus, I j- I just figured out something about the- George I am feeling much less comfortable about my excursions into the George Gorge. I wanna go home.

Rachael

I got you, George. Vroom. It's, they're on, like, a jet ski. They-

Dan

Eee.

Rachael

The tank might be empty, George. Ah.

Dan

Ah. And cut. Wow. All right. All right, so, ending the game. After you've described all three species with your creature cards- Mm-hmm oh, you can do one final scene if you want of these creatures coexisting together. Followed by a smaller chomp. Followed by a much bigger chomp. That's the story. Yeah. Okay. And then, we can end the game by thanking our fellow players. Thank you, Marcus.

Rachael

Thanks, George.

Dan

And, wrapping up by sharing a contribution from another player that delighted or surprised you. I was surprised by so many things. I thought that the, frame of these YouTube streamer documentarists- was really fun. Yeah.

Rachael

Thanks, George.

Dan

You're welcome, Marcus.

Rachael

George Gorge. George Gorge. So we've got the Octopices copyrighted.

Dan

Uh-huh

Rachael

And we've got the-

Dan

Giraffetrees Germarcus Trees.

Rachael

Ger-

Dan

Germarcus Trees. Sorry, yes.

Rachael

Patented.

Dan

That was just a side project, not official.

Rachael

And the George Gorge's-

Dan

Yeah

Rachael

patented.

Dan

And then also the- Patent pending apex predator that is the sharks.

Rachael

Marcus Fish? The, the Marcus- George and

Dan

Marcus Fish?

Rachael

The Mar- George and Marcus Fish.

Dan

George and Marcus Fish, yes. We're gonna be famous, Marcus. We're gonna be famous.

Rachael

Famous, George.

Dan

And that's our show on Exquisite Biome. If it sounded like fun, remember that you can find it at Itch.io and Plus One EXP. Our intro and outro themes were created by McRoMusic. This episode also features music from Michael Ghelfi Studios. A list of specific tracks and links to their work are available in our show notes. Thanks again for listening, and have a good night.

George Gorge? George Gorge. George Gorge.