Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

---

🎙️Welcome to the Lens and Veil podcast, join Shem, Sam and Zach as they discuss games they've played together, specifically focusing on game design elements.


In this episode they discuss Underwater Cities by Vladimír Suchý. In Underwater Cities, players represent the most powerful brains in the world, brains nominated due to the overpopulation of Earth to establish the best and most livable underwater areas possible. Players take worker placement actions, trying to combine the action with correctly coloured cards in order to gain both bonuses. The game is made up of 10 rounds but with production only occurring 3 times during the game.


📜Chapters:
0:00:00 - Which would you prefer?
0:06:12 - Intro
0:06:29 - Overview of Underwater Cities
0:10:12 - Discussion of Underwater Cities
0:54:43 - Questions for audience
0:55:11 - Top 200 Draft: 21-30


⭐About the Cast


Shem Phillips is the owner of Garphill Games and has designed a fair few board games, notably Raiders of the North Sea (Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee) and Legacy of Yu (Golden Geek, Dice Tower Award, Origins Award for Best Solo Game of 2023).


Sam Macdonald is a Game Designer and Developer at Garphill Games, bursting onto the scene with his co-design together with Shem, Architects of the West Kingdom. He has gone on to design a number of other games, most notable among them is Paladins of the West Kingdom which is currently in the top 100 games on BGG.


Zach Smith works for Garphill Games as Marketing and Media Manager, but is also a credited designer, having co-designed Circadians: Chaos Order together with Sam. They also have another game together under development.


🎵 Music licenced from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jessy Ribordy Studios⁠ (jessyribordystudios.com/)