Episode 29 – Gaming Ruts

Summary: Do you ever find yourself rolling up the same character archetype time after time?  Are dungeon crawls that end with fighting a dragon the crux of your Saturday night?  Do you play the same game so much that you could get a perfect score blindfolded and asleep?  Don't worry, you are not alone!  Join us this week as we discuss our personal gaming ruts and attempt to sort out the reasons behind them.  Whether it's lack of focus, obsessive desire to win, or simply being too timid to step out of the comfort zone, we do some soul searching that is inspiring, informative, and a little disturbing.  Switch sides of the table, swap that sword for a wand, and attempt diplomacy rather than thievery as you listen to this weeks brand new episode of Monkey in the Cage. (01:08) - Listen as Matt stutters and fumbles his way through his geeky week! - The Walking Dead: A New Day, Abe Sapien #2, and X-Men: First Class. (06:21) - Ramses reveals that the rest of the world wants to be just like the US... fat.  He also paves the way for Robert to get hate mail sent to Matt. - Pizza Hut Middle East and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. (11:49) - Robert aka "Missy Four Teeth," had his wisdom teeth removed, so he spent time reading and inciting rage amongst the group. - Daniel Suarez's Daemon, texting in movie theaters, and Canada hates Yertle the Turtle. (20:01) - Karen is a full blown addict and may need a comic book intervention! - Batman, Batman and Robin, The Dark Knight, The Court of Owls, Battle for the Cowl, and Animal Man. One of these things is not like the other... (27:36) - It's topic time!  Get ready for Round 1 - Ramses is controlled by the dice, Robert and Matt have trouble taking the lead, and Karen points out one of our greatest problems as a group... or is it? (32:40) - Round 2 - Matt is buried by details, Robert has GMing ADD, and Karen has spent too much time behind the screen (and she likes it that way, because we say so!). We also discuss some of the ways we've attempted to break free of the routine. (45:27) - Round 3 - Ruts aren't exclusive to tabletop gaming. Robert and Karen are obsessive, Matt is a very bad man, and if it wasn't made in Japan, Ramses didn't touch it. (52:36) - We discuss some ways to help breaking out of our gaming ruts.  Remember kids, the first step to recovery is recognizing you have a problem! Closing Song - Stuck in the Middle With You - written and performed by Stealers Wheel . . . . .