Board Game Barrage: Recent Episodes
Board Game Barrage
Join Kellen, Neilan, Mark, and Christina for a podcast about board games, the latest hotness, and how to have fun with your friends even when you're losing.
We're back to collaborate (and listen) to figure out together what the best games of 2017 were. Are? It's a collaborative draft, and if you haven't heard one of these before, get ready for an honest to goodness mess. Before we draw up treaties, we talk about Prosciutto and Melon Game, and Steel Driver.
03:00 - Prosciutto and Melon Game 12:24 - Steel Driver 22:26 - Best games of 2017 25:35 - Calimala 30:48 - Ethnos 34:15 - The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 39:37 - Nusfjord 42:39 - Sidereal Confluence 46:35 - Startups 48:44 - Codenames: Duet 51:12 - Heaven & Ale 52:51 - The Quest for El Dorado 56:15 - Rumble Nation 58:09 - Azul 1:03:03 - Iberian Gauge 1:04:21 - Cursed Court
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Gen Con is Gen Coming, so we're looking in our wizard's glasses to tell you what's what. Whether you're going or not, you're gonna want to know what the hot games are, and we've got you covered. Before we Indianapolize, we talk about Koinobori, Compania, and Mood Swings.
02:32 - Koinobori 09:50 - Compania 19:52 - Mood Swings 25:39 - Gen Con preview 24:57 - Prague Unseen 28:27 - Triangulation 30:24 - All Mine! 32:25 - Hell of a Deal 34:51 - Night at the Zoo 36:22 - Stonk Market 39:45 - Bullseye 41:57 - Jibber Jabble 44:38 - The Lord of the Rings: Circle of Conflict 46:05 - Revenant 48:11 - FaeKin 49:32 - Mythologies 50:18 - World Order 52:28 - Greylune 57:22 - Corps of Discovery Duo
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There are two board game mechanisms you just can't escape, they're on everyone's mind, flooding the discourse. That's combat, and card draw mitigation. Everyone won't stop talking about them. So we had to weigh in too, not just with what we feel are the best examples of games that have done them best, but some other quirky takes on them too. Before we mitigate our card draws, we talk about Rolling Deep, Eureka!, dnup, and Grinivil.
03:59 - Rolling Deep 15:12 - Eureka! 16:48 - dnup 24:48 - Grinivil 40:10 - Combat mechanisms 41:07 - Kemet 45:00 - Dune 48:40 - Shogun 52:42 - Forbidden Stars 53:51 - Dead Reckoning 54:48 - Gloomhaven 55:12 - Card draw mitigation 56:09 - Dark Pact 57:19 - La Granja 58:26 - Glory to Rome 59:58 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization 1:02:07 - Race for the Galaxy 1:02:57 - 7 Wonders Duel 1:06:28 - The Vale of Eternity
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It's been a while since we've plumbed the depths of the bottomless chasm we call "fanmail", so this week we're reaching our hands as far as we can and pulling out some questions that have yet to see the light of say. Before we dig too greedily and too deep, we talk about Politrickers, Marvel Champions: The Card Game, and Banana Governance.
02:19 - Politrickers 10:47 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game 19:13 - Banana Governance 30:33 - Minimum expectations with new players? 40:59 - "Late to the Party" games? 47:19 - Stuff that we're looking forward to! 47:45 - The Danes 56:57 - Purple Haze
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The people demand takes, so get 'em while they're hot. We're weighing in on some possibly bad, certainly edgy opinions, and deciding where we land (spoiler: we're always right). Before we get heated, we talk about Diplomacy: The Golden Blade, and Cozy Stickerville.
01:46 - Diplomacy: The Golden Blade 12:33 - Cozy Stickerville 25:41 - Hot takes! 26:11 - Co-op games are just single player games with an audience 32:01 - Catch Up mechanics ruin competitive integrity 37:39 - Legacy games are a predatory waste of money 41:22 - If a game takes more than 30 minutes to teach, it's a bad design 45:56 - Player elimination is actually a good mechanism 47:36 - Hidden victory points are a cowardly design choice 51:38 - Gateway games Like Catan or Monopoly should be actively avoided 52:44 - House ruling a game means you bought the wrong game 53:10 - Theme is a myth 54:13 - Kickstarter deluxe editions are actively ruining the hobby
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We had such fun collaboratively coming up with our definitive Top 50 list back in December, that we've decided to do it again. In the spirit of award season, we're celebrating the games of yesteryear, or yester-ten-years to be precise. It's the definitive best games of 2016, as decided cooperatively by us! Before we come together, we talk about Shady Lady, In the Shadows: Resistance in France 1943 - 1944, and Duel for Cardia.
03:02 - Shady Lady 09:58 - In the Shadows: Resistance in France 1943 - 1944 20:25 - Duel for Cardia 27:12 - Games of 2016 32:28 - Krazy Wordz 35:00 - New Angeles 37:20 - The Oracle of Delphi 39:50 - Great Western Trail 42:06 - Scythe 44:40 - Fuji Flush 46:38 - A Feast for Odin 51:42 - Insider 53:48 - Inis 55:57 - SiXeS
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It's long been said that we're the foremost experts in knowing which way the awards winds blow, so we're putting our talents to use guessing, nay, predicting, nay, deciding who the winners in the Golden Geeks are going to be. Before we geek out, we talk about Chronicles of Crime: 2400, Quarto, and Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon.
04:07 - Chronicles of Crime: 2400 12:00 - Quarto 16:13 - Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon 30:16 - Golden Geeks 2025
Travel Games UK: https://www.travel-games.co.uk/
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There are big spiky moments that happen in the meta that is the board game hobby, and the Brass: Pittsburgh crowdfunding campaign feels like one of them. It is after all, a successor to the #1 ranked game on BGG. That's something! Enough so that it sent Mark into a bit of an existential spiral, and we're here to talk him down. Before we catch a falling Wallace, we talk about Hummingbirds, Fendo, and Soothsayers.
06:59 - Hummingbirds 14:44 - Fendo 18:53 - Soothsayers 29:23 - Brass: Pittsburgh crowdfunding
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Oh man, oh man, it's time that we ask you (yes, you) to tell us (yes, us) what your favourite games are, because for one time a year, it doesn't matter what we think about games, but you better be ready to tell us what you think about games. A lot of you did, so here it is, the listener top 20! Before we ask you to do all the work, we talk about Emberheart, Gods & Mortals, and Feya's Swamp.
01:30 - Emberheart 14:11 - Gods & Mortals 23:46 - Feya's Swamp 37:14 - A Feast for Odin 37:55 - Agricola 38:32 - Terraforming Mars 39:17 - Guards of Atlantis II 40:09 - Concordia 42:05 - Tigris & Euphrates 43:16 - Blood on the Clocktower 44:00 - El Grande 44:47 - The Castles of Burgundy 46:12 - Inis 47:38 - Race for the Galaxy 48:06 - Arcs 49:08 - Ark Nova 49:30 - Root 50:06 - Innovation 51:11 - Spirit Island 52:05 - Ra 52:51 - Brass: Birmingham 53:26 - Dune: Imperium 54:04 - Hansa Teutonica
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We made it back in one piece, and all told I think we did pretty well! We got through a heck of a lot of what we wanted to play, and we're here to tell you all about it - including Dark Pact, Totally Human, and Banana Governance, and more!
02:36 - Totally Human 14:04 - Dark Pact 20:56 - Gold Country 28:21 - Staked! 32:58 - Secret Tribe 41:34 - Habemus Papam 50:11 - 3 Chapters 55:22 - Banana Governance 01:02:29 - Hellapagos Submit your games for the Listener Top 20 at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/top20
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By the time you're listening to this, we're probably already in Vegas for Dice Tower West! We're going to hang about all day playing games - which naturally leads to the question of what we're going to play? These are the games we came up with! Before we bite off more than we can chew, we talk about Ghost Lift, Cities, and I, Napoleon.
02:31 - Ghost Lift 08:13 - Cities 14:06 - I, Napoleon 24:40 - Dice Tower West anticipated games 26:05 - Biblios 27:04 - Feya's Swamp / Kaivai 28:26 - Cheese Thief 29:03 - Habemus Papam 31:15 - Wroth 33:33 - Greed Incorporated 35:39 - Dark Pact 38:45 - Secret Tribe 39:52 - Eternal Decks 41:03 - All In: Predictions 42:04 - Cthulhu: Dark Providence 44:14 - Robo Rally Dice Submit your games for the Listener Top 20 at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/top20
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I think it's fair to say that we crushed this last year (although some of us better than others), so it's only correct and right that we should return to do it again. What are the best games of 2026 going to be? Well, only we know, but we're willing to part with that information. Get your fat stacks ready. Before we set ourselves up for failure, we talk about Alibis, Mosaic: A Story of Civilization, and Cyclades: Legendary Edition.
03:02 - Alibis 09:18 - Mosaic: A Story of Civilization 23:25 - Cyclades: Legendary Edition 36:27 - Anticipation Auction 2026 41:18 - The Game Makers 44:25 - Cozy Stickerville 46:39 - Brass: Pittsburgh 50:35 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Trick-taking Game 54:04 - Revenant 56:21 - World Order 59:31 - Dark Pact 1:02:28 - The Great Library 1:03:56 - Spirited 1:05:25 - Realm of Reckoning 1:08:55 - Avalon: The Riven Veil 1:12:57 - La Pâtisserie Rococo 1:14:24 - Nippon: Zaibatsu 1:17:24 - Rewild: South America 1:18:44 - Movers & Shakers Submit your games for the Listener Top 20 at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/top20
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All of this has happened before and will happen again. Everything comes back around, including games you could swear you've played before. Whether they're remakes, reimplimentations, or rejuvenations, we're tackling the world of board game revivals. Before what's old is new, we talk about Agent Avenue, 7 Empires, and Stellar Ventures.
02:24 - Agent Avenue 07:25 - 7 Empires 18:26 - Stellar Ventures 33:52 - Remakes 39:01 - Blood on the Clocktower 40:55 - Zoo Vadis 48:03 - Dune: Imperium - Uprising 54:14 - A Feast for Odin
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Sometimes you know the type of game you want to play, just not exactly which game quite fits the bill. Is that heavy Euro too heavy? That deck builder not builder-y enough? Before we sit down with Goldilocks, we talk about Rise and Fall, and JOYRIDE: Survival of the Fastest.
01:09 - Rise and Fall 12:53 - JOYRIDE: Survival of the Fastest 25:08 - Games that are Just Right 29:30 - Hanabi 29:57 - Wilmot's Warehouse 30:13 - Bomb Busters 33:25 - Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne 37:59 - Lisboa 38:55 - SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence 42:58 - Dominion
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Well, we started this thing, so I guess we ought to finish it, as ill-advised as that might be. This is where all the chickens come home to roost, where we learn how badly we've set ourselves up to fail - but you never know, it might just all work out! It's the top ten greatest board games ... of all-time!
06:29 - #10 - Codenames 13:56 - #9 - The Resistance 18:15 - #8 - Age of Steam 23:09 - #7 - Troyes 27:52 - #6 - Hansa Teutonica 32:39 - #5 - Cthulhu Wars 33:48 - #4 - Hundreds of Horses 40:27 - #3 - Brass: Birmingham 44:40 - #2 - A Question of Scruples 52:05 - #1 - Time's Up!
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Happy new year! We're back to continue the very peaceful, collaborative, kind endeavour that is coming together to harmoniously assemble our top 50 games. It's been nothing but chill, friendly vibes, and we expect that to continue into 2026. It's the next twenty games on our definitive top 50 board games... of all-time!
01:20 - #30 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar 06:43 - #29 - Dominion 09:36 - #28 - Fuji Flush 11:13 - #27 - Innovation 12:53 - #26 - Blue Lagoon 14:27 - #25 - El Grande 15:11 - #24 - Dune 16:17 - #23 - Inis 19:16 - #22 - Decrypto 21:27 - #21 - The Estates 23:24 - #20 - Yellow & Yangtze 26:08 - #19 - Archipelago 27:34 - #18 - Agricola 30:04 - #17 - Guards of Atlantis II 31:33 - #16 - Taj Mahal 33:03 - #15 - The Voyages of Marco Polo 35:08 - #14 - I'm the Boss! 37:00 - #13 - Lords of Vegas 38:05 - #12 - A Feast for Odin 41:32 - #11 - Telestrations
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Okay, things are a bit different this year. In honour of our 350th episode (a very important milestone), we're going to combine forces, like ... Voltron. I'm the head, and my left and right feet are here with me to collaboratively (yes, you heard right) compile Board Game Barrage's definitive (definitely definitive) top 50 board games... of all-time!
06:27 - #50 - Zoo Vadis 08:32 - #49 - Splendor 11:45 - #48 - Azul 14:51 - #47 - Imperial 2030 17:13 - #46 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant 19:15 - #45 - Pictomania 25:50 - #44 - Stationfall 32:35 - #43 - Ra 34:20 - #42 - Food Chain Magnate 39:31 - #41 - Diplomacy 41:41 - #40 - Dune: Imperium - Uprising 43:33 - #39 - Race for the Galaxy 47:40 - #38 - Caylus 1303 50:59 - #37 - Root 54:34 - #36 - Cosmic Encounter 56:40 - #35 - Blood on the Clocktower 59:03 - #34 - Glory to Rome 1:01:04 - #33 - Fresh Fish 1:05:01 - #32 - Biblios 1:06:23 - #31 - So Clover!
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Remember way back at the beginning of the year when we took some bets on what we thought the games of the year were gonna be? Well, all those good and bad decisions are back to help or haunt us, as we tally up where things stand with the end of the year results. Before we find a winner, we talk about Wriggle Roulette, Whale Street, and Scales of Fate.
04:45 - Wriggle Roulette 11:32 - Whale Street 19:12 - Scales of Fate 29:45 - Anticipation auction results
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Somehow Ghost Turkey returned. And you never saw it coming! That might be because we forgot to remind people that it's Thanksgiving, but never mind that, the important thing is you're fools. Not us though, we're back with yet another juicy, cranberry soaked list of bird gaming goodness. Gobble gobble!
00:00 - ???
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BGBBOB is back, and it's been long enough that you might need a reminder. Ten game designers enter the ring, and through the arduous process of one vs one battles, we arrive at our (and not just our, but the) definitive ranked list of ... these particular designers. It's science. Before we fight it out, we talk about Iliad, The Old King's Crown, and Franchise.
03:29 - Iliad 13:56 - The Old King's Crown 34:01 - Franchise 42:04 - BGBBOB: Game designers
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This episode is not about Bananagrams (at least, I don't think so), but it is about the price of things (though not Bananagrams specifically, shut up about Bananagrams). In a world where everything costs more, we're talking about the value of games, and how far a game has to go to justify its price. Before we decide if the price is right, we talk about The Presence, and River of Gold.
02:08 - The Presence 17:32 - River of Gold 27:03 - Board Game Pricing 27:59 - Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition - Thunder's Edge 33:20 - Biblios 34:15 - Agricola
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Not perturbed by Kellen's trip to Germany, we're all daydreaming about the motherlode of board game conventions, Essen SPIEL. There's a lot of games coming to the show, and because we're not going, and presumably you aren't either, we'll just tell you what's going to be there instead! The good stuff, anyway. Before we Germinate, we talk about Calimala, Tír na nÓg, and Typewriter.
02:42 - Calimala 09:42 - Tír na nÓg 16:15 - Typewriter 26:15 - Essen SPIEL 2025 Preview 28:49 - Mission: Red Planet (Third Edition) 31:18 - The Other Side of the Hill 33:29 - Severton 36:12 - Harvest Valley 38:11 - Pulitzer 39:26 - Echoes of Time 41:14 - Oopsie 42:55 - Feya's Swamp 43:46 - Baghdad: The City of Peace 45:25 - Ghost Lift 48:07 - Coming of Age 49:33 - The Presence 51:50 - Carnival of Sins 53:37 - The Republic of Rome: Remastered 55:22 - Theocratia Register for this year's Ghost Turkey at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
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Dreaded continuity! We're following up Episode 41 from seven years ago about the games that started our love for board games! After those first loves, what really got our hearts aflutter with the joy that the hobby had to offer? Before we yearn, we talk about Der Fliegende Holländer, and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.
02:52 - Der Fliegende Holländer 16:03 - The Hobbit: There and Back Again 27:14 - The games that made us 29:11 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong 32:54 - Mage Knight Board Game 36:33 - Francis Drake 39:33 - Two Rooms and a Boom 42:44 - Survive: Escape from Atlantis! 46:46 - Grand Austria Hotel 49:53 - Dead Last 55:26 - Rising Sun
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The draft's back! This time it's card games, and we're picking the bestof what ought to be a staple of any good collection. We love card games, we love drafting games, and you love winning money, so be sure to vote for whoever you think drafted the best set, and you could win a $100 gift card! Before deal everyone in, we talk about Money!, Venture, and Fishing. 03:02 - Money! 12:43 - Venture 20:27 - Fishing 28:39 - Card Games Draft 31:15 - Innovation 32:38 - Race for the Galaxy 34:20 - Hanabi 35:27 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game 36:21 - Dominion 37:47 - SCOUT 39:28 - Glory to Rome 40:58 - The Crew: Mission Deep Sea 41:50 - Arboretum 42:12 - Lost Cities 42:57 - Bohnanza 43:57 - Tichu 45:06 - Skull King 47:00 - Res Arcana 48:07 - That's Not a Hat
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There's any number of subtle innuendoes we could've gone with, but this is what we're doing I guess. If you haven't got there yet, we're talking about games that aren't just slow rides, but instead leave you gasping for more right as they climax. Before we finish, we talk about No Loose Ends, Eselsbrücke, and The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship. 01:24 - No Loose Ends 09:08 - Eselsbrücke 19:33 - The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship 33:52 - Comings and Goings 37:44 - Games that finish strong 40:17 - Agricola 40:44 - Splendor 41:14 - Voyages of Marco Polo 44:03 - Terraforming Mars 45:28 - Blood on the Clocktower 46:57 - Innovation 47:49 - Rumble Nation 49:50 - Moon Colony Bloodbath 52:12 - Dominion
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One, two, three, four, five, everybody in the car so come on let's ride ... to the mailbag! We're answering your pressing questions - and oh how they press - about all manner of things: Crowdfunding ads! Narrative games! Getting jaded about board games! You wrote in because you had to know what we thought, and who are we to say no. Before we get covered in papercuts, we talk about Wheedle, Dune: War for Arrakis, and Transgalactica. 02:05 - Wheedle 09:31 - Dune: War for Arrakis 19:52 - Transgalactica 34:00 - Mailbag 34:39 - Kickstarter red and green flags? 43:36 - Narrative in board games? 51:23 - Do we get jaded?
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Are board games best played multiplayer? Who can say, but whether it's because you can't get people together at the appropriate time, or you're just itching to play something on your lonesome, there's a burgeoning scene of solo games out there waiting to be played, and we're going to talk about them. Well, some of us are, anyway. Before we go it alone, we talk about Hunted: Kobayashi Tower, Corps of Discovery, and Senji.
01:56 - Hunted: Kobayashi Tower 12:51 - Corps of Discovery: A Game Set in the World of Manifest Destiny 26:30 - Senji 43:50 - Solo games 46:08 - For Northwood! A Solo Trick-Taking Game 48:09 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game 50:22 - Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 53:49 - Guilty: Houston 2015 55:13 - Vantage 55:51 - Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood
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Sometimes once is enough, you know? Doesn't mean it was bad, but it might just be that you can have too much of a good thing. We're talking about board games that we'd recommend everyone play once, but only once. Before we hit and run, we talk about Kaivai, East India Companies, and Vantage.
01:44 - Kaivai 10:58 - Feya's Swamp 13:15 - East India Companies 21:31 - Vantage 39:41 - Games to play only once 41:22 - War of the Ring: Second Edition 41:47 - Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition 43:44 - Sidereal Confluence 44:08 - Blood on the Clocktower 44:19 - Two Rooms and a Boom 45:19 - Mister Diamond 45:40 - Hearts of AttrAction 46:51 - Catan 49:21 - Sanctum 49:37 - Deal with the Devil 50:08 - Nemesis
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Gen Con! Where all the cool games are, before you even know they're cool. Or hot! We've got you covered, if you want to know what all the best stuff coming out of Indianapolis is going to before before anyone else, then look no further than this episode. Five games each that we're excited to hear more about at the show! Before we face the heat, we talk about Line of Fire: Burnt Moon, and Rise.
02:51 - Line of Fire: Burnt Moon 11:57 - Rise 21:46 - Gen Con Preview 23:53 - Party Panda Pirates 26:09 - Tabriz 27:33 - The Last Command 28:53 - Llama Llama 31:25 - Tearable Quest 33:22 - Furnace Duel 35:59 - Koinobori 37:58 - Galileo Galilei 39:59 - Merchants of Andromeda 42:02 - Ruins 45:03 - Slam Throne 47:34 - Lightning Train 48:40 - Guessocracy: Roll & Vote 51:22 - Habemus Papam 52:34 - Into the Machine
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It's time again to turn the tables and get your take, to feel out the collective tastes of you, the listeners of the show. It's the annual Listener Top 20! You've been sending in all of your lists (thank you!), I've been compiling all of the data (you're welcome!) - and here it is, in a convenient list format. Before we ask the audience, we talk about Flip 7, Hot Streak, and Kolejka.
02:37 - Flip 7 10:40 - Hot Streak 19:47 - Kolejka 27:42 - Listener Top 20 29:05 - Agricola 29:55 - Gloomhaven 31:26 - Guards of Atlantis II 32:20 - Blood on the Clocktower 33:20 - Arcs 34:40 - Tigris & Euphrates 35:21 - Terraforming Mars 35:54 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game 36:42 - Inis 37:24 - Innovation 38:13 - Race for the Galaxy 39:02 - Root 40:04 - Concordia 41:00 - The Castles of Burgundy 41:41 - Ark Nova 42:03 - Dune: Imperium 43:19 - Ra 43:35 - Brass: Birmingham 45:11 - Spirit Island 46:27 - Hansa Teutonica
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When playing games it's easy to fall into the trap of over-anaylsing turns, or questioning whether the move we made was the right one, or even allowing people to roll back whole turns - so we're asking if maybe we've been wrong this whole time, and we should just ... embrace it? Are mistakes interesting? Before we have any regrets, we talk about Apiary, Wizards Cup, and Wroth.
02:43 - Apiary 13:43 - Wizards Cup 20:41 - Wroth 31:37 - Mistakes are fun?
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A dazzling place you never knew ... until now that is! We're diving deep on beloved designer Cole Wehrle in another designer spotlight. We dig back into his Roots, and explore the many Arcs that led to his Oath to revolutionize thematic board games. Before our traffic gets infamous, we talk about Toy Battle, Subjective, and Wild Tiled West.
03:43 - Toy Battle 13:51 - Subjective 22:11 - Wild Tiled West 30:43 - Designer Spotlight: Cole Wehrle 34:13 - Pax Porfiriana 40:03 - Root 46:21 - Oath 47:45 - Arcs 50:27 - John Company: Second Edition 56:49 - Molly House
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Well, we finally did it. We played CATAN, and it was ... good! And then we started wondering, is there anything that's done quite the same thing that that game is doing? And then that got us wondering how many games there are like that, where it's genuinely hard to say that nothing has done it better since. And then that got us wondering if, instead of all this wondering, we should record a podcast episode. Before we wander, we talk about Box Two, Catan: Cities & Knights, and An Infamous Traffic.
02:47 - Box Two 09:18 - Catan: Cities & Knights 19:50 - An Infamous Traffic 31:58 - Has anyone done it better? 32:26 - Catan 35:55 - Concordia 36:17 - Rise of Tribes 37:31 - Space Base 39:26 - Archipelago 40:38 - Dominion 41:17 - Aeon's End 42:22 - Star Realms 42:32 - Shards of Infinity 44:43 - Diplomacy 44:59 - Dune 46:48 - Battle for Rokugan 47:04 - A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (Second Edition)
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Happy 333! In honour of our three hundred and thirty third episode, BoardGameGeek has decided to host an emergency session of the Golden Geek Awards, and we're here to tell you about all the nominees that satisfy the crucial conditions of being (1) good games (2) we played (3) last year. Before we open our third eye, we also talk about Einfach Genial 3D, Gazebo, and Stalk Exchange.
02:28 - Einfach Genial 3D 11:48 - Gazebo 19:08 - Stalk Exchange 28:43 - 2025 Golden Geek Awards 30:34 - Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth 31:09 - A Gest of Robin Hood 32:45 - Ironwood 33:09 - Compile: Main 1 39:45 - Arcs: The Blighted Reach Expansion 41:08 - Monkey Palace 42:10 - City of Six Moons 43:43 - Flip 7 45:26 - Endeavor: Deep Sea 46:07 - Fromage 48:21 - Civolution 49:26 - Hister Bingo 50:57 - Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs
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I would say that, for the most part, there's very little we won't play - but we also know what we like, and especially what we don't like. Every so often a game gets suggested that we have to say "literally anything but" to. Before we pass hard, we talk about TRICKTAKERs, Iquazú, and Hubworld: Aidalon.
02:49 - TRICKTAKERs 11:52 - Iquazú 21:47 - Hubworld: Aidalon 31:03 - Hard pass games 32:11 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant 33:29 - Captain Sonar 34:04 - Citadels 35:19 - 7 Wonders 40:03 - Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition 41:03 - Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game 42:51 - Welcome To... 46:08 - Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island
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We've spent a lot of time over the years singing the praises of the games we love, but they can't be perfect right? Surely there's something, one little thing, that bugs us - a small blemish in our otherwise most beloved games? Before we come clean, we talk about Classified Information, Starline Hill, Panda Spin, and SHASN: AZADI.
03:13 - Classified Information 11:54 - Starline Hill 13:35 - Panda Spin 25:32 - SHASN: AZADI 41:56 - Things we hate about games we love 42:39 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization 44:14 - Tigris & Euphrates 44:36 - Archipelago 45:09 - Cthulhu Wars 45:17 - Cosmic Encounter 45:57 - Diplomacy 46:09 - Innovation 48:28 - El Grande 49:26 - Age of Steam 49:26 - Arboretum 49:26 - The Estates 49:26 - Fresh Fish 50:28 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game 51:22 - Brass: Lancashire 51:30 - Barrage 51:38 - Agricola 53:57 - Blood on the Clocktower 54:08 - A Feast for Odin 56:22 - Sidereal Confluence 56:22 - Stationfall 56:22 - Alchemists 57:30 - Yellow & Yangtze Please check out the Kickstarter for Starline Hill: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/automagarden/starline-hill
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We just got back from Dice Tower West, so you know what that means ... bunches and bunches of games! Between the convention, and the meetup, and just hanging out at Mark's place, we got a lot of great stuff played, and we're going to give you all the highlights, with such treats as Moon Colony Bloodbath, Out of Sorts, and Feierabend.
04:16 - Corporate America 12:19 - Acquire 18:09 - Inside Job 23:12 - Feierabend / Finishing Time 33:13 - Moon Colony Bloodbath 44:44 - Family Dinner: More or Less 52:00 - Mister Diamond 57:21 - Out of Sorts 1:07:16 - Dragon's Gold 1:08:13 - Carrom 1:11:15 - The Gang
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I'm not sure why you'd make a hall of fame that's not also a sidewalk, but that's exactly what BoardGameGeek have gone and done - they've curated 25 games into their hall of fame, and we're here to judge them for their choices. It's weird that they didn't come to us first, honestly. Before we deck the halls, we talk about Arborea, Beyond the Horizon, and Taiwan Night Market.
02:49 - Arborea 10:32 - Beyond the Horizon 20:43 - Taiwan Night Market 32:00 - BGG Hall of Fame 38:57 - Diplomacy 40:35 - Acquire 41:55 - Cosmic Encounter 43:25 - Civilization 45:05 - 1830: Railways & Robber Barons 45:46 - Magic: The Gathering 48:02 - Catan 49:03 - El Grande 49:58 - Tigris & Euphrates 51:04 - Ra 52:07 - Carcassonne 53:29 - Power Grid 53:49 - Ticket to Ride 54:16 - Caylus 55:26 - Twilight Struggle 56:26 - Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization 58:17 - Agricola 59:35 - Brass 1:00:25 - Race for the Galaxy 1:01:53 - Dominion 1:02:38 - Pandemic 1:03:39 - 7 Wonders 1:04:51 - The Castles of Burgundy 1:05:14 - Terra Mystica 1:06:54 - Concordia
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Okay, pay attention, this is gonna be different! We're looking at the rest of 2025, deciding what we think the most well received games of the year are going to be - but then we're going to be bidding on them, auction style. Whoever's slate ends up performing best in their categories at the end of the year gets all the glory ... and if you vote on who you think is going to win, you could get $50! Before we're going, going, gone, we talk about Nyakuza, Hooky, and Altay: Dawn of Civilization.
03:26 - Nyakuza 10:26 - Hooky 16:15 - Altay: Dawn of Civilization 27:16 - Anticipation Auction 2025 32:52 - Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread 38:12 - Puerto Rico 1897: Special Edition 41:10 - Molly House 45:03 - Nemesis: Retaliation 47:09 - Finspan 49:59 - Luthier 51:24 - The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era 55:23 - Transgalactica 59:18 - The Witcher: Path Of Destiny 1:01:56 - The Old King's Crown 1:04:07 - Star Trek: Captain's Chair 1:06:32 - Dune: Imperium – Bloodlines 1:08:38 - Zenith 1:10:26 - Galactic Cruise 1:12:10 - Speakeasy
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It's finally time to cap it all off with the cream of the cream, Mark and Neilan's final set of ten games each! These are the games that we think are the pinnacle of our respective tastes, that we'd never turn down, that any person ought to try at least once. It's the Top 10 Games of All-Time!
01:48 - Mark's #10 - Age of Steam 08:17 - Neilan's #10 - Brass: Birmingham 11:21 - Mark's #9 - Arboretum 17:35 - Neilan's #9 - Time's Up! 20:15 - Mark's #8 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game 23:48 - Neilan's #8 - The Oracle of Delphi 28:35 - Mark's #7 - The Estates 33:44 - Neilan's #7 - Pictomania 35:14 - Mark's #6 - Time's Up! 38:26 - Neilan's #6 - The Search for Planet X 42:09 - Mark's #5 - Brass: Lancashire 45:59 - Neilan's #5 - Alchemists 48:49 - Mark's #4 - Fresh Fish 52:56 - Neilan's #4 - Sidereal Confluence 57:33 - Mark's #3 - Barrage 1:03:52 - Neilan's #3 - A Feast for Odin 1:09:03 - Mark's #2 - Agricola 1:14:01 - Neilan's #2 - Blood on the Clocktower 1:20:27 - Mark's #1 - Biblios 1:23:04 - Neilan's #1 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
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Neilan's back to continue the journey down the lazy river of cardboard that is his top 50 board games of all time. It's games 30 through 11! I just counted, and that's twenty amazing games that I can't wait to tell you all about! 00:59 - #30 - Gloomhaven 02:58 - #29 - War Story: Occupied France 07:35 - #28 - Gaia Project 10:17 - #27 - Ark Nova 12:26 - #26 - Kemet 14:55 - #25 - Yellow & Yangtze 17:09 - #24 - Undaunted: Stalingrad 19:51 - #23 - War of the Ring: Second Edition 22:39 - #22 - Guards of Atlantis II 25:14 - #21 - The Quest for El Dorado 26:49 - #20 - Hansa Teutonica 28:33 - #19 - Exit: The Game 31:23 - #18 - Taj Mahal 34:05 - #17 - Cthulhu Wars 35:24 - #16 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar 38:23 - #15 - The Resistance 41:28 - #14 - Patchwork 43:16 - #13 - Ra 44:58 - #12 - Stationfall 49:44 - #11 - Blue Lagoon
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And back to Mark! It's the soggy middle of his top 50, or as he insists on calling it, his numbers 30 through 11. That is twenty more delicious games, and he's here to tell you all about them while we continue to berate and praise him for his choices. 01:20 - #30 - Anomia 05:12 - #29 - Sidereal Confluence 08:47 - #28 - Chicago Express 11:46 - #27 - Rise & Fall 16:34 - #26 - Tigris & Euphrates 19:14 - #25 - Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory 22:29 - #24 - Blue Lagoon 25:37 - #23 - Lancaster 28:07 - #22 - El Grande 30:57 - #21 - Modern Art 33:54 - #20 - Pictomania 36:58 - #19 - Ark Nova 40:19 - #18 - Stationfall 41:59 - #17 - Stephenson’s Rocket 43:36 - #16 - Cascadero 45:19 - #15 - Ra 48:45 - #14 - Bus 50:49 - #13 - Tramways 52:40 - #12 - Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 57:05 - #11 - Caylus 1303
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It's meeeeeeeeeee! So if you care to find my top 50 list, look right here. The first twenty incredible games on the list that early critics are calling "surprisingly tasteful" and "delightfully roomy" is finally yours to consume. It's the greatest board games of all-time, Neilan edition! 01:10 - #50 - Anachrony 03:56 - #49 - The Vale of Eternity 05:47 - #48 - Arcs 09:05 - #47 - Bus 11:26 - #46 - Wilmot's Warehouse 13:03 - #45 - Spectral 15:57 - #44 - Innovation 18:12 - #43 - Codenames 20:12 - #42 - In the Year of the Dragon 21:17 - #41 - Decrypto 23:50 - #40 - Werewords 27:27 - #39 - Challengers! 31:03 - #38 - Inis 33:39 - #37 - Watson & Holmes 35:17 - #36 - Twice as Clever! 36:17 - #35 - Scythe 39:45 - #34 - Iberian Gauge 41:47 - #33 - Cascadero 47:04 - #32 - Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy 49:19 - #31 - Dune: Imperium - Uprising
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It's time! The grand spectacle that is our greatest games of all time is here at last! We're breaking things out a bit differently this year, so Mark's taking center stage while Kellen & Neilan mock his choices. It's the first twenty games from his list, so games 50 through 31. LET'S GOOOO! 01:53 - #50 - Cthulhu Wars 03:23 - #49 - Ricochet Robots 05:21 - #48 - The Voyages of Marco Polo 08:22 - #47 - Zoo Vadis 10:53 - #46 - Wilmot's Warehouse 12:45 - #45 - Tycoon: India 1981 15:17 - #44 - Dogs of War 17:30 - #43 - Dune: Imperium 20:42 - #42 - Decrypto 22:30 - #41 - Amalfi: Renaissance 25:33 - #40 - German Railways 28:44 - #39 - The Vale of Eternity 32:00 - #38 - Kutná Hora: The City of Silver 34:58 - #37 - Hansa Teutonica 37:12 - #36 - Cuba Libre 39:28 - #35 - 1830: Railways & Robber Barons 42:00 - #34 - La Granja 44:27 - #33 - Karvi 48:52 - #32 - Container 51:21 - #31 - Dungeon Fighter
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As we approach the end of 2024, it's about time we stop, take stock, and dare I say look back at the year that's been. The highs, the lows, the mids - all the stars are here, and we're going to break them down for you with some of our favourite games, and biggest moments, and general assessment of the year that's been. Before we reflect, we talk about Let's Go! To Japan, Mombasa, and The Gang. 01:52 - Let's Go! To Japan 10:17 - Mombasa 15:05 - The Gang 21:00 - Looking back on 2024 22:01 - Arcs 27:54 - Cascadero 29:29 - Slay the Spire: The Board Game 31:17 - Wilmot's Warehouse
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Gobble Bobble, here comes trouble in the form of a pairing we never thought we'd see - Bob and the Ghost Turkey have delivered us another holiday nightmare. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Before we tuck in, we talk about Tapple, Mini Rails, and Naishi. 05:48 - Tapple 11:07 - Mini Rails 17:45 - Naishi 22:56 - BGBBOB Bird Games 24:45 - ICECOOL 24:52 - Root 26:17 - Rook 26:26 - Songbirds 28:05 - Fancy Feathers 28:15 - The Bird Told Me to Do It 29:09 - Piepmatz 32:17 - Wingspan 32:28 - Penguin Party 33:44 - Angry Birds: Star Wars - Jenga Rise of Darth Vader Game
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We've been to Las Vegas and back for the very unofficial recurring gathering we like to call BarrageCon (which is really just all of us hanging out at Mark's place). We had a lot of games lined up to play, and I daresay we did a pretty good job of getting through them. Here's our report back, just a bunch of impressions of a bunch of games - including Rise & Fall, Fractured Sky, and Wilmot's Warehouse! 02:26 - Harvest 07:18 - Fractured Sky 18:13 - Penguin Party 22:10 - San Marco 27:14 - EGO 31:45 - Barony 37:30 - Rise & Fall 49:49 - Wilmot's Warehouse 56:45 - Tiny Laser Heist 01:01:32 - Nekojima 01:02:45 - Bottle Imp 01:07:45 - The Vale of Eternity 01:11:53 - Shogun
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I think it's fair to say at this point, that we've pretty firmly established each of our respective tastes when it comes to board games, whether it's for genre, theme, mechanic, whatever. There's always something, though, right? Something that flies in the face of those rules and boldly proclaims, "I like this, even though..." Before we prove the rule, we talk about Andromeda's Edge, and Karvi. 03:05 - Andromeda's Edge 13:15 - Karvi 23:32 - Exceptions to our Gaming Tastes 24:47 - Through the Ages 26:41 - Ark Nova 30:57 - Stationfall 34:04 - Thunder Road: Vendetta 35:35 - Terra Mystica
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The Fandango Tank returns! The ever wonderful Mike DiLisio joins us again, this time to collectively cast our minds forward to some things we'd like to manifest into the board game future. We've got a mess of ideas, a veritable mixtape of miscellany that we either want to play, or hope to see more of as the hobby progresses. Before we unspool, we talk about Fishing, EGO, The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth, and Key Market (Second Edition). 02:57 - Fishing 03:03 - I Made You a Mixtape 11:31 - EGO 21:00 - The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth 27:46 - Key Market (Second Edition) 40:49 - Things we'd like to see Please check out the Kickstarter for Mike and Dan's game, I Made You a Mixtape: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cabbagedan/i-made-you-a-mixtape
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So we've done a lot of these drafts before, but I don't think we've done one quite like this. This time we're each trying to draft a set of five games that we think you might agree are incredibly overrated. What does that mean exactly? Well that's up for debate too. What isn't up for debate is that you could win $100 just by voting! Before we widen our delta, we talk about Undaunted 2200: Callisto, Nature, and Barcelona. 03:37 - Undaunted 2200: Callisto 13:10 - Nature 23:00 - Barcelona 31:22 - Overrated Games Draft 37:07 - Nemesis 39:10 - Frosthaven 41:15 - Star Wars: Rebellion 45:19 - Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition 47:37 - Earth 48:45 - Wingspan 51:19 - 7 Wonders Duel 52:24 - Mechs vs. Minions 53:17 - Everdell 55:43 - Crokinole 58:52 - Caverna: The Cave Farmers 59:55 - Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon 1:01:24 - On Mars 1:02:45 - Lost Ruins of Arnak 1:04:13 - Catan
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I'm in a bit of a quandary here, because Mark told me not to tell you what this episode is even about, but I want this description to be, well, descriptive but he's glaring at me really hard, and making a throat slitting gesture so I daren't risk it. It's about ... board games? Before we get ahead of ourselves, we talk about Binho, Stamp Swap, and First Rat. 03:33 - Binho 07:24 - Stamp Swap 17:04 - First Rat 30:16 - ??? 34:47 - Agricola 34:47 - Bohnanza 36:28 - Patchwork 37:05 - A Feast for Odin 39:02 - Power Grid 39:43 - Friday 40:06 - Fearsome Floors 41:25 - 504 42:40 - Fast Sloths 43:03 - Fresh Fish 44:44 - Ra 45:28 - Tigris & Euphrates 46:45 - Lost Cities 46:52 - Yellow & Yangtze 47:23 - Blue Lagoon 47:43 - The Quest for El Dorado 48:22 - My City 49:13 - Through the Desert 49:28 - Ingenious 50:59 - Schotten Totten
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We may or may not be going to Germany (who can say), but that's where all the good gaming is gonna be, so that's what we're gonna talk about. It's almost Essen SPIEL! That sure is a lot of games debuting there though, so which ones should you care about? Don't worry, we've done the hard work for you. Before you go back to being eine faule socke, we talk about Nekojima, We're Sinking!, Hues and Cues, and Colorful.
02:46 - Nekojima 09:01 - We're Sinking! 15:31 - Hues and Cues 15:31 - Colorful 22:09 - Essen SPIEL 2023 Preview 22:57 - Æterna 25:32 - Babylon 27:17 - Bus & Stop 28:55 - COSCA: Take Over the Mafia 31:54 - Galileo Galilei 33:41 - SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence 34:39 - Fishing 37:19 - AI Space Puzzle 38:59 - Zero to Hero 40:51 - The Gang 42:46 - Golden Cup 45:09 - Black Forest 50:02 - Battalion: War of the Ancients 53:01 - Beyond the Horizon 56:10 - Asian Tigers: A Story of Prosperity 58:16 - Skull Queen 58:38 - King of Tokyo: Origins 59:15 - Penguin Airlines 1:00:18 - Dungeon Exit
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It's about people, right? Below all the mechanics, after all the rules explanations, beyond every crushing loss and glorious win, what really matters is people we're playing with. Some games make that more apparent than others, and we're here to celebrate that. Before we realize it's about the friends we made along the way, we talk about Arcs, and Luthier.
03:02 - Arcs 19:26 - Luthier 37:11 - Games that make you feel good about people 41:11 - Codenames 42:05 - Decrypto 43:09 - Time's Up! 43:38 - Telestrations 43:56 - Fuji Flush 44:04 - Mino Dice 46:01 - Word Slam 47:00 - Krazy Wordz 47:43 - Just One 48:16 - Pictures 48:44 - Stationfall 51:12 - The Estates 51:37 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant 52:16 - The Resistance 52:16 - Blood on the Clocktower 52:55 - The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31
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The only thing worse than coming away from a first game with a really bad impression, is when it takes a really long time to shake. Imagine all the amazing games you're not playing because of one bad first game! Whether we saw the error of our ways or not, we're reflecting on the times that games left a mark that took a long time to fade. Before we make our impression, we talk about Things in Rings, Yedo: Deluxe Master Set, and Harmonies.
01:51 - Things in Rings 10:29 - Yedo: Deluxe Master Set 24:03 - Harmonies 30:05 - Draft winner! 32:48 - Bad first impressions 33:49 - Brass: Birmingham 33:49 - Hansa Teutonica 34:49 - Agricola 37:25 - Race for the Galaxy 37:37 - Tigris & Euphrates 39:04 - The Great Zimbabwe 39:51 - Ark Nova 41:25 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization 42:43 - 7 Wonders Duel 45:29 - Ginkgopolis 46:51 - Arcane Academy 49:24 - Century: Spice Road 50:37 - John Company: Second Edition 52:27 - Stationfall 53:58 - Hanabi 56:10 - Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra
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It's awards season, which means that Germany's back to tell us what games are popping off over there. And that also means we're back to tell you what we think about what they think. More than that - we're looking through the annals of Spiel des Jahres history to drafting the winningest games of all the winners! Which means you too can be a winner of $100! Just vote! Before everyone's a winner, we talk about Chess, Vabanque, The Mandalorian: Adventures, and Path of Civilization.
04:06 - Chess 10:27 - Vabanque 14:06 - The Mandalorian: Adventures 20:14 - Path of Civilization 31:00 - Spiel des Jahres 2024 Review 36:19 - Spiel des Jahres Fantasy Draft 38:43 - El Grande 39:33 - Codenames 41:12 - Azul 42:29 - Dominion 43:02 - Wingspan 44:36 - The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine 45:22 - The Quacks of Quedlinburg 45:46 - Hanabi 46:21 - Cascadia 47:26 - Just One 49:52 - Camel Up 50:49 - Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King 51:58 - Sky Team 53:04 - Dixit 53:33 - Challengers!
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Feel Better Walker!!
We've all been travelling about so much recently (some of us may or may not still be) that we often find ourselves asking, "what games should I pack?" Some games are better suited for playing on the go than others, and we're going to get to the heart of what makes a good travel game. Before our arms get tired, we also talk about Regicide, Golem, In the Shadow of Atlas, and DroPolter.
03:56 - Regicide 11:40 - Travel Games 15:47 - Pit 16:13 - Incan Gold 16:24 - For Sale 16:51 - Azul Mini 18:31 - Chess 19:19 - Scrabble Keychain 21:48 - Skull 23:18 - Linkee! 25:32 - Pickomino 32:26 - Marabunta 33:30 - DroPolter 37:38 - In the Shadow of Atlas 42:00 - Golem
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Feel Better Walker!!
Bob's back from his trip to 2014, and oh the wonders he's seen - games that not only were amazing back then, but somehow we're still talking about today! The counterpoint to our draft of games to last a decade, we're arguing about the games from ten years ago that are still relevant - BGBBOB style. Before we yearn for our youth, we talk about Cyberion, The Plum Island Horror, and Marabunta.
02:33 - Cyberion 09:18 - The Plum Island Horror 28:01 - Marabunta 38:17 - BGBBOB: Games from 2014 39:41 - Deep Sea Adventure 41:43 - Orleans 43:43 - Istanbul 44:47 - Star Realms 47:06 - Patchwork 47:38 - Kanban Driver's Edition 50:35 - Evolution 51:26 - One Night Ultimate Werewolf 53:49 - Splendor 54:49 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong 56:07 - Imperial Settlers 58:10 - Camel Up 59:31 - Alchemists 01:00:23 - La Granja 01:03:09 - Dogs of War
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More isn't always better, but that's sometimes a hard lesson to learn in the world of board games - we dig into an intriguing listener suggestion about how games (and gamers) can often fall into this trap. Also ... I guess we've got to plan some games for our funerals? It's a double hit of listener questions! Before we dress in black, we talk about Keydom's Dragons, Sagrada Artisans, and Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory.
01:49 - Keydom's Dragons 11:30 - Sagrada Artisans 18:51 - Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory 30:57 - Draft winner 33:56 - More isn't always better 35:25 - Rising Sun 39:18 - A Feast for Odin 39:24 - Patchwork 46:02 - Games for funerals 46:38 - Biblios 46:53 - Time's Up! 47:54 - True Colors 48:18 - Fuji Flush
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It's back, and it's spicier, more harrowing, and more lucrative than ever before! It's the Fantasy Draft, and this time we're changing things up by asking you not to vote for favourite games, but for the set that you think will still be relevant ten years from now (AKA the far flung future). Vote to stand a chance to win a gift card for one hundred dollars! Before we say things we'll regret in a decade, we also talk about London (Second Edition), and Spectral.
02:58 - London (Second Edition) 12:51 - Spectral 22:10 - Drafting games to last a decade 26:05 - Ark Nova 28:08 - Dune: Imperium – Uprising 29:34 - Cascadia 30:55 - Blood on the Clocktower 32:18 - Heat: Pedal to the Metal 33:56 - Sea Salt & Paper 35:26 - John Company: Second Edition 35:53 - So Clover! 37:08 - Zoo Vadis 38:39 - Stationfall 39:50 - Age of Innovation 42:16 - Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes! 43:11 - The White Castle 44:11 - Guards of Atlantis II 46:52 - Sky Team
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And by guess, I of course mean predict. Okay, you all know whether we're right or not by now, but cast your imagination back to a time where we had only the nominees for the 2023 Golden Geeks, and had to use nothing but our wits to determine the winners. How naïve/prescient we were! Before we divine the future, we talk about Ironwood, Kutná Hora: The City of Silver, and Slay the Spire: The Board Game.
02:41 - Ironwood 10:39 - Kutná Hora: The City of Silver 22:07 - Slay the Spire: The Board Game 37:52 - Golden Geek Awards for 2023
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What? Your podcasters are evolving! While we're certainly steadfast in some of our opinions (ahem, Biblios) we were curious to reflect on how we've changed - nay, grown - in the years since we started. What do we feel differently about with regards to the games we like, and how we approach the hobby? Before we moult, we also talk about Twinkle Starship, Pirates of Maracaibo, and Skyrise.
01:45 - Twinkle Starship 12:42 - Pirates of Maracaibo 23:16 - Skyrise 35:23 - How we've changed 39:42 - Diplomacy 47:43 - Nucleum
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Sometimes a game has a conceit so good, that it's the only description you need to sell someone on it. Let's call it the hook. Do all games have them, or is it something that only a certain subcategory of game can get away with - and why don't they all just print that on the box cover? Before we get the hook, we talk about Havalandi, Courtisans, 12 Chip Trick, and Dune Imperium: Uprising.
02:55 - Havalandi 11:25 - Courtisans 18:59 - 12 Chip Trick 26:10 - Dune: Imperium - Uprising 41:09 - Games with a hook 41:34 - Of What's Left 45:05 - Everdell 47:09 - QE 47:28 - 12 Chip Trick 48:09 - A Feast for Odin 52:25 - Skull
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Oh man, oh man, I always love this one. It's the latest edition of the Listener Top 20! We asked you all to submit your lists of your favourite board games, and we collected, collated, and compiled all of that beautiful beautiful data using a magical formula to get THIS: The definitive rankings of your collective taste in board games. Before we throw it to you, we talk about Shuffle and Swing, Mythwind, and Cat Blues: The Big Gig!
02:17 - Shuffle and Swing 14:11 - Mythwind 27:07 - Cat Blues: The Big Gig 35:46 - Listener Top 20 2024 38:00 - The Quest for El Dorado 39:00 - Azul 39:14 - Tigris & Euphrates 40:51 - A Feast for Odin 41:26 - Terraforming Mars 42:05 - Agricola 42:13 - El Grande 42:37 - Pax Pamir: Second Edition 43:56 - Inis 44:30 - Race for the Galaxy 44:46 - Dune: Imperium 46:16 - Concordia 46:53 - The Castles of Burgundy 47:25 - Ark Nova 47:50 - Innovation 48:39 - Ra 51:05 - Spirit Island 51:35 - Root 51:46 - Hansa Teutonica 52:00 - Brass: Birmingham
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We made it all the way to Dice Tower West in Las Vegas (and some of us made it out), and we're ready to talk about all of the amazing games we played over there, between outings for pinball and sushi. If you were there, thanks for hanging out with us! Stick around for talk about Faraway, MLEM: Space Agency, ito, Cascadero, and more!
01:08 - Faraway 12:20 - Medici 19:33 - MLEM: Space Agency 26:48 - ito 35:24 - Cascadero 44:09 - Mino Dice 49:54 - Unboxed 54:36 - Beowulf 55:55 - Of What's Left 59:53 - Hold Your Horses
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We're back with the terrible acronym and the branding nightmare that is BGBDOG - I don't even know what it stands for to be honest, but this week we're turning the spotlight on an incredible force in the industry, Vlaada Chvátil, touring his incredible games all the way through to the true modern classic that is Codenames. Before we check in on our favourite Czech, we talk about Wyrmspan, 3 Ring Circus, and La Famiglia: The Great Mafia War.
02:01 - Wyrmspan 12:29 - 3 Ring Circus 23:29 - La Famiglia: The Great Mafia War 39:39 - Vlaada Chvátil 42:32 - Arena: Morituri te salutant 47:47 - Prophecy 50:09 - Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization 52:58 - Galaxy Trucker 54:44 - Mage Knight 56:13 - Codenames 57:26 - Space Alert 58:03 - Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game
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We're in the thick of 2024 now, but there's still plenty more to come - and with that vast undiscovered country (as my father called it) ahead of us, we have loads of games to look forward to. But not all hype is made equally, so here are the ones we're most excited about. Before we mark our calendars, we talk about Savage Bowl: Trick Taking Game, Rear Window, and Cuba.
01:44 - Savage Bowl: Trick Taking Game 10:19 - Rear Window 17:42 - Cuba 27:48 - Most Anticipated Games of 2024 28:42 - Cities 32:41 - The Same Game 38:00 - We're Sinking! 40:50 - Keyside 42:45 - Arcs 45:00 - Mordred 47:34 - Civolution 48:55 - Undaunted 2200: Callisto 49:48 - Spectral 50:26 - Cysmic 50:58 - Red Dust Rebellion 51:22 - A Gest of Robin Hood 51:48 - Congress of Vienna 52:09 - Cthulhu: Dark Providence 52:47 - Slay the Spire: The Board Game 54:14 - RoboMon 54:58 - Cascadero
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Three hundredth episode! But no time to celebrate, we're deep in the new year now, which means it's back to your regularly scheduled podcast, and it's time to reflect on the year past, and contemplate what lays ahead for us in a post-300 world. That's right, we're paying for the crimes of last year's resolutions. Before we look a little back, but mostly forward, we talk about Orichalcum, Mino Dice, and Last Light.
01:46 - Orichalcum 12:42 - Mino Dice 20:08 - Last Light 34:34 - Revisiting Mark's 2023 Resolutions 39:24 - Revisiting Neilan's 2023 Resolutions 42:11 - Revisiting Kellen's 2023 Resolutions 45:59 - Mark's 2024 Resolutions 48:50 - Neilan's 2024 Resolutions 42:20 - Kellen's 2024 Resolutions 56:32 - BGB in 2024?
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We made it! We've arrived at last at the final ten(-ish) games, in fact, our TOP TEN (or so?) favourite games of all time. Thanks for joining us again on this yearly pilgrimage, as always it's the journey that's the important thing - but that's not to say that there isn't some exciting moving and shaking to happen at the destination. That said, it's time to pass out on the couch.
01:34 - Neilan #10 - The Resistance 05:00 - Mark #11 - Caylus 1303 05:51 - Mark #10 - Arboretum 07:39 - Kellen #10 - Dominion 11:11 - Neilan #9 - The Oracle of Delphi 12:35 - Mark #9 - Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 16:33 - Kellen #9 - Telestrations 18:38 - Neilan #8 - The Search for Planet X 20:40 - Mark #8 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game 23:14 - Kellen #8 - Inis 24:37 - Neilan #7 - Pictomania 26:17 - Mark #7 - Time's Up! 27:33 - Kellen #7 - El Grande 30:06 - Neilan #6 - Alchemists 32:42 - Mark #6 - Fresh Fish 35:07 - Kellen #6 - Wizard 39:14 - Neilan #5 - Time's Up! 40:11 - Kellen #5 - Time's Up! 41:39 - Mark #5 - Brass: Lancashire 43:30 - Neilan #4 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant 48:34 - Mark #4 - Bus 50:55 - Kellen #4 - Archipelago 54:52 - Neilan #3 - Blood on the Clocktower 57:04 - Mark #3 - The Estates 1:00:02 - Kellen #3 - Dune 1:03:50 - Neilan #2 - A Feast for Odin 1:05:55 - Mark #2 - Agricola 1:08:52 - Kellen #2 - Cthulhu Wars 1:11:50 - Neilan #1 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization 1:14:57 - Mark #1 - Biblios 1:16:03 - Kellen #1 - Innovation
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We're almost bursting at the seams, but there's room for a little more. It's the penultimate episode of our five part series, the Top 50 games of all-time! We're moving on to our 20th to 11th favourite games, which means it's time for some big risers and dramatic falls. Make yourself a coffee (sugar's over there in the corner), it's not time to sleep just yet.
03:45 - Kellen #20 - Cosmic Encounter 06:25 - Neilan #20 - Ra 08:09 - Mark #20 - Stationfall 11:25 - Kellen #19 - Lords of Vegas 13:18 - Neilan #19 - Patchwork 15:51 - Mark #19 - Glen More II: Chronicles 19:16 - Kellen #18 - Omen: A Reign of War 21:45 - Neilan #18 - Stationfall 24:05 - Mark #18 - Tigris & Euphrates 26:10 - Kellen #17 - Insider 29:45 - Neilan #17 - Taj Mahal 31:45 - Mark #17 - El Grande 33:33 - Kellen #16 - Fuji Flush 35:01 - Neilan #16 - Guards of Atlantis II 36:26 - Mark #16 - Chicago Express 38:13 - Kellen #15 - Maskmen 40:39 - Neilan #15 - Exit: The Game 42:31 - Mark #15 - Imperial 2030 44:22 - Kellen #14 - Babylonia 46:22 - Neilan #14 - Blue Lagoon 47:57 - Mark #14 - Lancaster 50:14 - Kellen #13 - The Resistance: Avalon 51:01 - Neilan #13 - Cthulhu Wars 51:46 - Mark #13 - Ra 53:06 - Kellen #12 - A Study in Emerald (Second Edition) 55:50 - Neilan #12 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar 57:54 - Mark #12 - Age of Steam 59:52 - Kellen #11 - Troyes 1:03:06 - Neilan #11 - Brass: Birmingham 1:05:58 - Mark #11 - Race for the Galaxy
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It's a new year which is an awkward time to be right in the middle of something, but we're doing a thing here. It's part three of our Top 50 games of all-time! This week it's our 30th to 21st favourite games, and this is where things start to get spicy. This is like five chilis next to the menu item hotness we're talking. Grab a bib and join us for another course!
03:45 - Mark #30 - Cuba Libre 04:08 - Kellen #30 - Coloretto 05:58 - Neilan #30 - Watson & Holmes 07:28 - Mark #29 - Stephenson's Rocket 09:06 - Kellen #29 - So Clover! 10:22 - Neilan #29 - Undaunted: Stalingrad 12:18 - Mark #28 - 1830: Railways & Robber Barons 13:59 - Kellen #28 - Keyflower 15:34 - Neilan #28 - Gaia Project 16:55 - Mark #27 - Tramways 18:47 - Kellen #27 - Hansa Teutonica 20:06 - Neilan #27 - War of the Ring: Second Edition 22:09 - Mark #26 - Modern Art 23:38 - Kellen #26 - SCOUT 25:06 - Neilan #26 - Yellow & Yangtze 26:09 - Mark #25 - Hansa Teutonica 28:01 - Kellen #25 - Glory to Rome 29:39 - Neilan #25 - Scythe 31:39 - Mark #24 - Container 32:50 - Kellen #24 - American Bookshop 34:34 - Neilan #24 - Decrypto 35:54 - Mark #23 - La Granja 37:36 - Kellen #23 - I'm the Boss! 39:32 - Neilan #23 - The Quest for El Dorado 40:26 - Mark #22 - Pax Pamir: Second Edition 43:09 - Kellen #22 - Diplomacy 44:17 - Neilan #22 - Gloomhaven 45:43 - Mark #21 - Pictomania 47:39 - Kellen #21 - Decrypto 49:30 - Neilan #21 - Hansa Teutonica
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It's the second leg of the grand tour that is the top fifty. This week, we're doing our 40th to 31st favourite games ... of all time! It's almost like Christmas just keeps going! Grab a glass of sherry and join us by the fire, we're not about to stop any time soon.
01:21 - Neilan #40 - Bus 03:52 - Mark #40 - Panic on Wall Street! 05:38 - Kellen #40 - Pax Porfiriana 08:56 - Neilan #39 - In the Year of the Dragon 10:33 - Mark #39 - Ark Nova 12:04 - Kellen #39 - Seas of Strife 14:55 - Neilan #38 - Inis 16:29 - Mark #38 - Hanabi 18:19 - Kellen #38 - Codenames 19:59 - Neilan #37 - Iberian Gauge 21:43 - Mark #37 - Anomia 24:26 - Kellen #37 - Food Chain Magnate 26:33 - Neilan #36 - Codenames 27:32 - Mark #36 - Lords of Vegas 28:53 - Kellen #36 - Rumble Nation 30:26 - Neilan #35 - Azul 31:19 - Mark #35 - Dungeon Fighter 33:35 - Kellen #35 - Wind the Film! / Photograph 35:47 - Neilan #34 - Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy 38:01 - Mark #34 - Tycoon: India 1981 40:39 - Kellen #34 - Square on Sale 42:26 - Neilan #33 - Werewords 44:06 - Mark #33 - Genoa 45:29 - Kellen #33 - Imperial 2030 47:19 - Neilan #32 - Twice as Clever! 48:35 - Mark #32 - Merkator 50:55 - Kellen #32 - Cockroach Poker 52:33 - Neilan #31 - Kemet 53:29 - Mark #31 - Blue Lagoon 54:56 - Kellen #31 - Bruges
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It's tiiiiiiime! It's the top fifty! That's right, the much anticipated, much celebrated, much imitated (we definitely did it first) event of the season is here. We're counting down each of our favourite fifty games of all time! Or at least, for right now! It's a beautiful, beautiful thing, and we'd love if you pulled up a chair and joined us for it.
06:36 - Kellen #50 - Santiago 07:59 - Neilan #50 - Jaipur 09:30 - Mark #50 - Findorff 11:22 - Kellen #49 - Genoa 12:37 - Neilan #49 - The Great Zimbabwe 14:32 - Mark #49 - Jump Drive 16:02 - Kellen #48 - 6 nimmt! 17:31 - Neilan #48 - Fun Facts 19:09 - Mark #48 - Cthulhu Wars 20:43 - Kellen #47 - Balderdash 22:24 - Neilan #47 - Splendor & Splendor Duel 24:38 - Mark #47 - Dominant Species 26:35 - Kellen #46 - Race for the Galaxy 27:45 - Neilan #46 - Cuzco 29:43 - Mark #46 - Ricochet Robots 31:57 - Kellen #45 - Feed the Kraken 33:57 - Neilan #45 - Mille Fiori 35:24 - Mark #45 - Splendor 37:38 - Kellen #44 - Root 39:22 - Neilan #44 - Challengers! 42:03 - Mark #44 - German Railways 43:24 - Kellen #43 - Acquire 45:11 - Neilan #43 - Anachrony 46:54 - Mark #43 - Signorie 48:33 - Kellen #42 - Brass: Lancashire 50:23 - Neilan #42 - Innovation 51:44 - Mark #42 - Smartphone Inc. 53:13 - Kellen #41 - Startups 54:48 - Neilan #41 - Ark Nova 56:00 - Mark #41 - Dune: Imperium
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PAX Unplugged was a blast, and we played so much stuff that we're dying to tell you about - many of them with our beloved listeners. We braved the cold and the rain of Philadelphia, on the other side of the country, to bring you this episode jam-packed with games - so there's no room for any dilly dallying. Hits include Forest Shuffle, Arcs, Findorff ... and loads more!
02:14 - 5 Towers 06:57 - Nigoichi 11:01 - Cabanga! 15:00 - Age of Steam 17:33 - Falling 20:36 - Infiltraitors 24:38 - Tangram City 28:19 - The Great Zimbabwe 30:40 - Schadenfreude 35:57 - Forest Shuffle 40:35 - Arcs 48:36 - Findorff
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In what could be our most grandiose episode yet, we attempt to tame the wild history of all of board games. We traverse the timeline, unpacking what we consider to be the great epochs of the hobby, in an attempt to explain how modern game design evolved into its present form. Before we unpack the deep lore, we talk about General Orders: World War II, Oak, and Big Boss.
Timecodes:
02:36 - General Orders: World War II 11:47 - Oak 20:24 - Big Boss 31:20 - The great epochs of board games 31:45 - The First Epoch 33:17 - The Royal Game of Ur 34:37 - Senet 43:23 - The Second Epoch 44:50 - Monopoly 48:11 - Risk 50:29 - Operation 56:23 - The Third Epoch 57:22 - Catan 1:02:33 - Dominion 1:20:19 - The Fourth Epoch
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Uh oh, is that thunder? That must mean it's time for a lightning round - we're scooping up all the lovely questions and suggestions that just aren't big enough for the main event, and stuffing them in the blender. This week, it's public spaces, warning labels, gaming tips, and PAX Unplugged. Before we put fingers on buzzers, we talk about Gift of Tulips, Five Three Five, and Anunnaki: Dawn of the Gods.
Timecodes:
01:36 - Gift of Tulips 10:20 - Five Three Five 16:52 - Anunnaki: Dawn of the Gods 32:08 - How American society affects board gaming 39:54 - What are we excited to play at PAX 40:26 - Stationfall 40:56 - Blood on the Clocktower 41:30 - The Great Zimbabwe 41:50 - Pax Porfiriana 43:40 - Roads & Boats 44:49 - Warning stickers on games 48:22 - Hot gaming tips
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Drafts are back, baby. And not just any old draft, no, but to celebrate the return of the greatest game, we're drafting none other than the best of the only true and living doctor, Reiner Knizia. Who ends up with the best list? Vote for your favourite, you could win a $50 gift voucher! Before we doc it up, we talk about Empire's End, My Favourite Things, and Four Horsemen.
Timecodes:
02:33 - Empire's End 12:15 - My Favourite Things 21:15 - Four Horsemen 27:48 - Drafting Reiner Knizia games 33:44 - Tigris & Euphrates 34:49 - Zoo Vadis 36:32 - Ra 37:47 - Modern Art 39:19 - The Quest for El Dorado 41:03 - Blue Lagoon 42:03 - Lost Cities 45:29 - Medici 46:39 - Stephenson's Rocket 47:44 - My City 49:13 - Taj Mahal 52:09 - Babylonia 53:29 - Mille Fiori 55:14 - Yellow & Yangtze 58:04 - High Society
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Are board games stuck? Not to be dramatic or anything, but it does seem like we keep circling the same ideas over and over again, right? We speculate on where we think the hobby is headed, and whether or not it needs a shake up. Before we plateau, we talk about Orchard, Hadrian's Wall, Terracotta Army, and Santiago.
Timecodes:
03:09 - Orchard: A 9 card solitaire game 06:49 - Hadrian's Wall 13:45 - Terracotta Army 24:34 - Santiago 35:45 - Board game stagnation 38:17 - Return to Dark Tower 41:55 - Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 43:55 - Turing Machine 44:09 - Cryptid 45:59 - Dead Reckoning 50:37 - Stationfall
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It's almost time for Essen SPIEL 2023, the great German Mecca of our people - and while we're not going ourselves, that's not going to stop us yearning. We're hear to tell you about all the amazing games available at the show this year that you ought to be excited about. Before we gaze longingly across the Atlantic, we talk about Asara, Skytear Horde, and Dwellings of Eldervale.
Timecodes:
02:31 - Asara 10:15 - Skytear Horde 14:04 - Dwellings of Eldervale 28:11 - Essen SPIEL 2023 Preview 30:04 - The Same Game 32:52 - Among Cultists: A Social Deduction Thriller 32:40 - Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West 34:11 - Civolution 35:25 - World Wonders 36:42 - Dying Message 38:27 - Kutná Hora: The City of Silver 40:24 - Tiny Mini Golf 42:19 - Arabella 43:38 - ArcheOlogic 45:41 - Terra Pyramides 46:51 - Sunrise Lane 48:25 - Evacuation 49:54 - TwinStar Valley 51:04 - Planta Nubo
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A little prune, a little embellish, a nip, a tuck, and a flourish, and we can get this thing just how we like it. We're looking at all the little things that we'd like to see more of, all the things we'd like to see less of in the world of board games. Before we giveth and taketh away, we talk about First in Flight, Tramways, and Wandering Towers.
Timecodes:
02:39 - First in Flight 11:57 - Tramways 23:32 - Wandering Towers 31:50 - What we want more and less of in games 33:13 - More middleweight 35:18 - More emergence 36:50 - Stationfall 37:13 - Troyes 37:13 - Glory to Rome 37:13 - Innovation 38:13 - Archipelago 39:03 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant 40:02 - More rough edges 41:57 - Cosmic Frog 44:11 - More Saga 44:11 - Dead Reckoning 46:24 - Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile 46:36 - More community conventions 47:49 - More games with less rules 49:09 - Less trick takers 51:05 - Less board games 53:35 - Less dour color palettes 54:54 - Eschaton 55:13 - 3 Ring Circus 56:02 - The Guild of Merchant Explorers 56:27 - Less generic themes 57:37 - Less individual player boards 58:44 - Less multiplayer solitare 1:00:23 - Less content creators working for publishers
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Timing is everything, which is why it's so important that this episode came out when it did. Had we made it too early, it would have felt dated, and any later, you wouldn't have been ready for it. Before it's about time, we talk about Planet etuC, Undaunted: Stalingrad, Undaunted: Battle of Britain, and Tycoon: India 1981.
Timecodes:
01:47 - Planet etuC
07:43 - Undaunted: Stalingrad
10:35 - Undaunted: Battle of Britain
14:01 - Tycoon: India 1981
30:36 - Can mechanics be dated?
39:42 - Ankh: Gods of Egypt
40:16 - That's Not a Hat
40:48 - Thunder Road: Vendetta
41:38 - Cthulhu Wars
42:11 - Disney Lorcana
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I leave for one episode and these idiots are talking about eating board games. Hard hitting questions for hard hitting board game journalists, Kellen & Mark are on the scene reporting in. Before we claw our way back from this, we talk about Power & Weakness, Haggis, and Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game.
Timecodes:
02:40 - Power & Weakness
16:28 - Haggis
24:28 - Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game
36:31 - What gets you excited about two player games?
46:04 - Azul
46:30 - What is the most edible looking board game?
47:10 - Through the Desert
47:54 - Azul: Master Chocalatier
48:25 - Pax Pamir: Second Edition
49:04 - Juicy Fruits
49:54 - Wingspan
50:33 - Zendo
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A solid end game trigger can be such an overlooked part of the design of a game. The conventional wisdom for most things is to start strong and finish strong, so we look at some of our favourite ways that games can end. Before we reach the end of the road, we talk about Robot Quest Arena, Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020, and Expeditions.
Timecodes:
02:07 - Robot Quest Arena
08:52 - Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020
30:11 - Expeditions
47:33 - Inis
48:09 - Azul
51:35 - Ethnos
51:52 - Pax Pamir: Second Edition
52:31 - I'm the Boss!
53:12 - Archipelago
54:22 - War of the Ring: Second Edition
55:16 - Innovation
55:31 - Pax Porfiriana
55:41 - John Company: Second Edition
56:16 - Dune
56:51 - Stationfall
57:25 - 7 Wonders Duel
58:34 - The Quest for El Dorado
1:00:04 - Scythe
1:00:45 - Blood Rage
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It's convention season, and the big one is almost upon us, as board gamers across America prepare to descend on Indiana. Gen Con! We won't be there this year, but that won't stop us anticipating what we could be playing at the show. Before we want what we can't have, we talk about Fancy Feathers, Beast, Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020, and Mercator.
Timecodes:
02:43 - Fancy Feathers
08:31 - Beast
16:55 - Mr. President: The American Presidency
22:43 - Merkator
29:53 - Aurum
31:12 - Age of Innovation
35:06 - Ahau: Rulers of Yucatán
37:03 - Inheritors
40:11 - City of the Great Machine
42:41 - The Fox Experiment
44:01 - SpellBook
46:13 - Tesseract
48:15 - Wild Tiled West
50:14 - Kutná Hora: The City of Silver
52:38 - General Orders: World War II
54:13 - 3 Ring Circus
56:21 - Wandering Towers
1:00:32 - The Search for Lost Species
1:01:02 - Legacies
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Not all are as blessed as we are by the gift of truly original thought, and so many turn to others for inspiration. Whether it's Newton standing on the shoulders of giants, or stealing from our rich neighbour Xerox, many great ideas are born from what has come before. Before we make the inspired choice, we talk about Masters of Renaissance: Lorenzo il Magnifico – The Card Game, Innovation Ultimate, and Dawn of Ulos.
Timecodes:
01:59 - Masters of Renaissance: Lorenzo il Magnifico – The Card Game
11:18 - Innovation Ultimate
21:45 - Dawn of Ulos
32:45 - Game Design Inspirations
34:41 - Apples to Apples
37:03 - Magic: The Gathering
40:53 - Final Girl
40:53 - Hostage Negotiator
42:26 - Acquire
42:49 - Witchstone
42:49 - Ingenious
44:19 - Blood on the Clocktower
44:44 - The Resistance
48:10 - Dark Moon
49:16 - Cthulhu Wars
49:16 - Chaos in the Old World
50:13 - Nova Luna
50:13 - Habitats
50:52 - Lowlands
51:25 - El Grande
52:04 - Red Rising
52:04 - Fantasy Realms
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After much consternation at his exclusion from our Mount Rushmore of games, we've decided to honour legendary designer Sid Sackson elsewhere - a BGB Designer Spotlight! I think these used to be called BGB DOGs but even Mark forgot about that bit of branding. Oh well. Before we make amends, we talk about Magicalligraphy, Hamlet: The Village Building Game, and Tournament at Camelot.
Timecodes:
01:33 - Schedule update
03:11 - Magicalligraphy
09:30 - Hamlet: The Village Building Game
19:48 - Tournament at Camelot
27:56 - Sid Sackson
30:14 - Piggly Wiggly
32:16 - High Spirits with Calvin and the Colonel
35:54 - Bazaar
39:28 - Focus/Domination
40:20 - I'm the Boss!
41:18 - Can't Stop
42:48 - Acquire
The Sid Sackson Portal:
https://sacksonportal.museumofplay.org
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We've reached the end of our fantasy draft series, the last in this increasingly dire list of games from which we pluck five gems each, and then get youto vote on your favourites. There's a (potential) $50 gift card in it for you! Before the last dance, we talk about Seas of Havoc, Whale to Look, and Dorfromantik: The Board Game.
Timecodes:
03:12 - Seas of Havoc
10:42 - Whale to Look
19:50 - Dorfromantik: The Board Game
29:10 - Drafting BGG's #901-1000
32:17 - Caylus 1303
33:43 - Ready Set Bet
36:03 - Mosaic: A Story of Civilization
37:12 - Clever Cubed
38:51 - Condottiere
40:20 - Adrenaline
42:54 - Meeple Circus
45:13 - Automobiles
47:54 - Unmatched: Battle of Legends, Volume Two
49:12 - Lowlands
50:04 - Genoa
52:46 - Santa Monica
54:41 - Feed the Kraken
58:02 - Homesteaders
1:01:25 - First Rat
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We're veering into the dark roads of board game classification, but this time with a goal in mind - how to best highlight games that feature strong interaction. Shouldn't BoardGameGeek have a scale for that somewhere? And while we're at it, BGG ... Before we put our thoughts in the suggestion box, we talk about Guatemala Café, and Ride the Rails.
Timecodes:
01:56 - Guatemala Café
12:43 - Ride the Rails
23:09 - Quantifying interactivity
25:43 - A Feast for Odin
32:13 - Yucatan
34:31 - What else should be on a BGG page?
37:15 - Stationfall
44:20 - Biblios
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Are we living in a golden age of board games? It's a simple question, but there's a lot to unpack - what even qualifies as a golden age, have we already had one, and if we are living in one, when does it end? Before we go for gold, we talk about That's Not a Hat, Pulsar 2849, and Barrage.
Timecodes:
01:39 - That's Not a Hat
02:19 - Cockroach Poker
10:52 - Pulsar 2849
19:58 - Barrage
33:30 - Are we in a golden age?
48:32 - Scythe
57:31 - Ark Nova
The BGG thread Kellen referenced:
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2556595/number-games-published-year
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We're lucky to have covered wide swathes of the board game world, but there was a time when some of those things were aspirational. Like achievements to cross off on the great board game check list ... or like that Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson movie. You know they invented that phrase? Wild. Before we make our list, we talk about Municipium, and Yucatan.
Timecodes:
02:27 - Municipium 12:47 - Yucatan 29:38 - Board game checklist/bucket list 31:17 - Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition 35:15 - Diplomacy 35:57 - Playing landmark games 38:39 - Blood on the Clocktower 41:05 - Board game conventions 45:24 - Board game meetups 48:10 - You don't need everything for a game 48:29 - Dominion 49:52 - Guards of Atlantis II 50:38 - Two player and abstract games 52:26 - Designing a board game
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It's just two of us, so we turn our attention to the burning questions that you've been asking us, in a feature we're calling Topic Talk Back. This is not to be confused with the format we've used before, mailbags are old news now, and we'd appreciate it if you'd stop bringing it up. Before we do anything but rustle in the cloth sack, we talk about By Stealth and Sea, and Undaunted: Stalingrad.
Timecodes:
02:38 - By Stealth and Sea 12:11 - Undaunted: Stalingrad 25:41 - Topic Talk Back 26:37 - Favorite Campaign Games 27:20 - Gloomhaven 27:44 - Frosthaven 30:56 - Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon 33:31 - Games that are too short? 34:03 - The Voyages of Marco Polo 34:17 - Marco Polo II: In the Service of the Khan 35:38 - Woodcraft 37:47 - Designer Mount Rushmore
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It's the penultimate draft of the BGG Top 1000 series, and all of these games are garbage ... but it's up to us to sift through that garbage, and each find a collection of five games that's worthy of you. Vote for your favourite, and you could win a $50 gift voucher! Before we find diamonds in the rough, we also talk about Paperback Adventures, and Woodcraft.
Timecodes:
02:31 - Paperback Adventures 13:29 - Woodcraft 23:51 - Drafting BGG's #801-900 26:27 - Babylonia 28:37 - Blue Lagoon 30:57 - A War of Whispers 32:22 - Signorie 33:19 - The Mind 34:52 - Pictomania 36:04 - Brian Boru: High King of Ireland 36:57 - Santiago 38:45 - Werewords 39:49 - Battle for Rokugan 41:19 - Vasco da Gama 43:20 - Cerebria: The Inside World 44:21 - Bullet♥︎ 46:10 - Incan Gold 49:00 - Railroad Ink Challenge: Lush Green Edition
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Any creative work is built on a lot of conventions - things that we take as granted, the unspoken rules that must be followed. We get a lot of really great games by following design conventions, but some times, in order to innovate we have to break them. Before we try to find the balance between convention and innovation, we talk about Darwin's Journey, Aleph Null, and Rome in a Day.
Timecodes:
02:00 - Darwin's Journey 13:44 - Aleph Null 21:07 - Rome in a Day 30:09 - Innovation vs. Convention 33:14 - Root 36:02 - Teotihuacan: City of Gods 36:02 - Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun 36:17 - Tiletum 38:17 - Tower of Babel 42:04 - Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile 42:31 - Horseless Carriage 42:49 - Atiwa 44:04 - Inis 45:14 - The Castles of Burgundy
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We can all agree the Golden Geeks peaked last year, but I suppose we can continue the facade if we must. Nominees are out for BoardGameGeek's annual awards, and as the presiding champions of taste, we're declaring our favourites. Before we prognosticate, we talk about Big City, Spots, and Horseless Carriage.
Timecodes:
- 02:10 - Big City
- 09:33 - Spots
- 16:02 - Horseless Carriage
- 28:53 - Golden Geek 2022 Predictions
- 29:29 - Best 2-Player Game
- 30:33 - Wingspan Asia
- 31:20 - Beer & Bread
- 32:01 - Mindbug: First Contact
- 33:16 - Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes!
- 33:30 - Splendor: Duel
- 33:37 - Undaunted: Stalingrad
- 34:02 - Marvel Dice Throne
- 34:18 - Best Artwork and Presentation
- 35:11 - CoraQuest
- 35:31 - Blood on the Clocktower
- 36:05 - Best Cooperative Game
- 36:26 - Kites
- 37:20 - Dorfromantik: The Board Game
- 38:17 - Best Board Game Expansion
- 38:58 - Most Innovative Board Games
- 39:36 - Heat: Pedal to the Medal
- 39:54 - Turing Machine
- 40:07 - Deal with the Devil
- 40:25 - My Father's Work
- 40:57 - Light Game of the Year
- 42:14 - Long Shot: The Dice Game
- 43:27 - Medium Game of the Year
- 46:01 - Heavy Game of the Year
- 46:58 - Carnegie
- 47:13 - John Company: Second Edition
- 48:19 - Best Party Game
- 48:39 - Penguin Airlines
- 50:31 - Best Solo Game
- 52:04 - Best Thematic Game
- 52:33 - Nemesis: Lockdown
- 52:51 - Dead Reckoning
- 54:00 - Wonderland's War
- 54:51 - Best Wargame
- 55:38 - Best Podcast (which we already won)
- 58:53 - Best Board Game App
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Board games are a social medium, which is a big part of their appeal for us. It's not just about being heads down solving a puzzle, they facilitate conversation. Some games are better at this than others, so we put BGBBOB on the case to find our favourites! Before we natter away, we talk about Big Top, Autobahn, and Pollen.
Timecodes:
03:04 - Big Top 12:21 - Autobahn 23:25 - Pollen 34:51 - Dealt! / Krass Kariert 37:02 - Boast or Nothing 39:37 - Codenames 40:30 - Twice as Clever! 42:47 - Concept 43:45 - Biblios 45:25 - Dixit 46:07 - Coloretto 48:43 - Sushi Go! 51:46 - The Mind 54:25 - Qwirkle 57:09 - Dominion
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Good storytelling isn't easy, and board games seem to struggle with it especially - which makes the ones that do pull it off, all the more memorable. We delve into the ways that games can engage us and create lasting experiences through stories. Before we spin a yarn, we talk about Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Artisans of Splendent Vale.
Timecodes:
01:36 - Star Wars: The Clone Wars 18:13 - Artisans of Splendent Vale 29:51 - Storytelling in games 30:40 - Gloomhaven 34:44 - The King's Dilemma 36:59 - Mansions of Madness: Second Edition 37:40 - Eldritch Horror 37:49 - Dead of Winter 38:44 - Phantom Leader 40:31 - Undaunted: Normandy 41:00 - Freedom: The Underground Railroad 43:34 - This War of Mine: The Board Game 47:23 - Return to Dark Tower 47:34 - Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective 47:59 - Sleeping Gods
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I mean, I don't know. Before we do whatever, we talk about Circle the Wagons, El Gaucho, Roller Coaster Rush, and Applejack.
Timecodes:
01:48 - Circle the Wagons 07:49 - El Gaucho 14:58 - Roller Coaster Rush 19:05 - Applejack 25:34 - What do I do with old campaign games? 25:48 - Frosthaven 25:48 - Gloomhaven 27:47 - What board game product would improve my gaming? 30:50 - What are good miniature games for people who don't like miniature games? 31:53 - For What Remains 33:12 - Are there modern classics of the war game genre that you would recommend? 34:48 - What are some good, one shot TTRPGs? 37:05 - What do you have to do to get heavier games played? 39:50 - Which games would be perfect for us that we've never mentioned? 41:02 - The big question
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Board games are great! Mostly. But as great as they are, we've probably all had a moment where, through no fault of the game itself, things got uncomfortable. Whether it's because of an awkward play, or just particulars of the group dynamic, we look back at some of our most uncomfortable moments. Before we enter the discomfort zone, we talk about Dog Tag Trick, Deal with the Devil, and Yokai Septet.
Timecodes:
01:46 - Dog Tag Trick 10:01 - Deal with the Devil 19:44 - Yokai Septet 27:53 - When games make you uncomfortable 33:48 - The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine 39:34 - Pictionary 40:42 - Fauna 41:27 - Inhuman Conditions 43:11 - Praise
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BGBBOB's back, and he's rollin' (rollin') rollin' on a river of amazing games, all of which feature some incredible dice play. As is our sacred duty, we won't rest until we've arranged them in some sort of numerical order, a ranked list, if you will. Before we rattle the bones, we talk about The Lord of the Rings Adventure Book Game, The South: Terminus, Beyond Baker Street, and The Defence of Procyon III.
Timecodes:
04:59 - The Lord of the Rings Adventure Book Game 12:05 - The South: Terminus 13:52 - Beyond Baker Street 19:54 - The Defence of Procyon III 27:56 - 701-800 Draft Results 29:30 - BGBBOB: Best Dice Rolling 30:53 - Tumblin' Dice 32:10 - Cthulhu Wars 34:49 - Space Base 35:17 - Cube Quest 39:00 - Dice Forge 39:51 - Lords of Vegas 41:38 - Dungeon Fighter 42:41 - Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy 44:17 - Formula D 45:24 - Las Vegas 47:28 - Martian Dice 49:01 - Can't Stop 51:08 - FUSE 51:57 - Gang of Dice 54:03 - Quarriors!
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We (well some of us) made it back from Vegas, and what happened there didn't stay there - we're reporting in from Dice Tower West 2023, a fun week of friends, casinos, and all you can eat sushi. To everyone we met, thank you for saying hey! We also played a lot of hot games, including Heat: Pedal to the Metal, and Stationfall.
Timecodes:
02:52 - Return to Dark Tower 08:47 - Magic Mountain 10:46 - Tower of Babel 11:58 - In the Year of the Dragon 15:06 - No Mercy 15:22 - Trick Raiders 16:20 - Pups 16:30 - Scharfe Schoten 19:19 - The Estates 20:23 - Coyote 22:26 - Time's Up! 24:08 - Heat: Pedal to the Metal 32:28 - Yokai Septet 33:35 - Ninja Master 35:30 - I Made You a Mix Tape 40:52 - Time of Empires 43:23 - Stationfall
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I always love this one. It's the time of the year where we look at what your favourite games are, and discover whether there are any exciting movers and shakers in what you've been playing! It's the BGB Listener Top 20! Before we check in with all of you, we talk about Tower of Babel, Great Western Trail: Argentina, and Jump Drive.
Timecodes:
02:01 - Tower of Babel ...or why the eighth wonder was never built 11:16 - Great Western Trail: Argentina 18:26 - Jump Drive 29:21 - Listener Top 20 33:44 - Terraforming Mars 34:19 - Food Chain Magnate 34:19 - Cosmic Encounter 36:14 - Wingspan 37:32 - Inis 38:03 - Ark Nova 39:45 - Dune: Imperium 42:32 - Scythe 43:35 - Agricola 44:48 - Great Western Trail 46:12 - Race for the Galaxy 46:52 - Innovation 47:28 - A Feast for Odin 48:08 - The Castles of Burgundy 48:30 - Concordia 49:13 - Gloomhaven 50:05 - Root 50:53 - Hansa Teutonica 52:33 - Spirit Island 53:06 - Brass: Birmingham
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Bruna Cathala is the focus of this episode's BGB DOG, the unfortunately acronymed series where we showcase a designer whom we love, and talk through the history of their career and designs. Before we pay tribute to the two player king, we talk about Smart Four Connected, Skytear Horde, and Endless Winter: Paleoamericans.
Timecodes:
02:56 - Smart Four Connected 06:30 - Skytear Horde 12:51 - Endless Winter: Paleoamericans 21:42 - Designer Spotlight: Bruno Cathala 23:26 - Fief 30:17 - Mr. Jack 32:00 - Five Tribes 32:51 - 7 Wonders Duel 34:00 - Kingdomino 39:43 - Zany Penguins
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The draft is back, and while the lists are getting really thin at this point, that's not going to stop us doing our damndest to pick out a killer selection of five games each. Whose is the best? That's up to you - and if you vote, you stand a chance to win a gift voucher for $50! Before we put our fate in your hands, we talk about Shake That City, Clank!: Catacombs, and Galactic Renaissance.
Timecodes:
04:29 - Shake That City 12:39 - Clank!: Catacombs 19:27 - Galactic Renaissance 35:50 - Drafting BGG's #701-800 39:22 - The Estates 40:27 - Dogs of War 42:36 - City of the Big Shoulders 44:03 - Deep Sea Adventure 45:00 - Regicide 46:29 - Galaxy Trucker (Second Edition) 47:07 - Can't Stop 49:06 - Pax Renaissance: 2nd Edition 50:19 - Project: ELITE 52:17 - The Great Wall 54:01 - Black Angel 55:51 - Not Alone 57:22 - New York Zoo 1:01:29 - Menara 1:03:33 - Shipyard
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We've done deep dives into games before, but really when you get down to it, games are just the medium. The substrate. What it's always been about is people. We hope to pick at the minds of some of the hobby's best with this format - and until then, we have Kellen. Before we unpack the man, the myth, the legend, we talk about Cuba Libre, Gang of Dice, and Time of Empires.
Timecodes:
03:44 - Cuba Libre 13:00 - Gang of Dice 19:28 - Time of Empires 32:49 - Q1: Where are we playing? 39:25 - Q2: What's the table like? 41:35 - Q3: How many people? 43:23 - Q4: What are you eating? 48:03 - Q5: What is the theme of the game? 48:59 - Q6: What is the game like? 50:15 - Q7: What makes it memorable? Submit your lists for the Listener Top 20 at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/top20
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If there's one thing I can say for sure about 2023, it's that it will certainly be a period of time. We're casting our eyes forward to the year ahead, and getting excited about some of the board games that (we hope) will actually be coming. Before we look ahead, always ahead, we talk about Make the Difference, German Railways, and Tiletum.
Timecodes:
02:39 - Make the Difference 07:38 - German Railways 13:00 - Tiletum 24:40 - Most Anticipated Games of 2023 27:22 - Mission Control: Critical Orbit 29:12 - Beyond the Sun: Leaders of the New Dawn 30:50 - Watch Hockey, Get Drunk 31:50 - Skyrise 32:59 - Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies 34:45 - That's Not a Hat 36:32 - Darwin's Journey 37:50 - Seas of Havoc 39:56 - El Burro: A La Granja Game 42:05 - Red Dust Rebellion 42:59 - Unconscious Minds 45:45 - Yucatan 47:09 - Last Light 49:09 - Galactic Renaissance Submit your lists for the Listener Top 20 at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/top20
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Where would we be without the mailbag? We get such lovely questions from you lot, that we rarely get the chance to answer, so when the opportunity comes, one has to strike. Time to hear what's on your minds, kids. Before we rustle in the cloth, we talk about Dinosaur Gauge and Starship Captains.
Timecodes:
01:39 - Dinosaur Gauge 10:18 - Starship Captains 21:24 - Holiday games? 21:51 - Fire in the Hole 25:10 - Weather Machine 26:12 - Surprise Top 50 games? 29:56 - Has how you play games changed?
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You know how at the start of the year you make a lot of promises to yourself that you have no chance of holding yourself to? Yeah, this isn't like that, we absolutely, definitely will not see out 2023 without following through on all of these whims. Before we hold ourselves accountable, we talk about Challengers!, Eleven: Football Manager Board Game, nana, and Zoo Vadis.
Timecodes:
04:49 - Challengers! 12:24 - Eleven: Football Manager Board Game 21:49 - nana 29:40 - Zoo Vadis 39:46 - Mark's Resolution(s) 47:09 - Neilan's Resolution 48:37 - Kellen's Resolution 53:19 - Christina's Resolution Check out our playthrough of Zoo Vadis with Before You Play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTRQO2q7bhw
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Here it is, the one we've all been waiting for, the Board Game Barrage top ten games of all time! It's been a long road and we'll wrap it up by seeing some old favourites ... and maybe a few new faces? Old or new, these are the thirty games we enjoy the most (at least, right now.) We loved sharing these lists with you and hope you've enjoyed listening to them.
Timecodes:
01:25 - Neilan #10 - Brass: Birmingham 02:46 - Mark #10 - Hansa Teutonica 04:19 - Kellen #10 - Cosmic Encounter 06:44 - Neilan #9 - Gloomhaven 08:46 - Mark #9 - The Estates 11:28 - Kellen #9 - Decrypto 13:47 - Neilan#8 - Tzolkin: The Mayan Calendar 15:50 - Mark #8 - Arboretum 18:11 - Kellen #8 - Diplomacy 22:36 - Neilan #7 - Guards of Atlantis II 25:04 - Mark #7 - Time's Up 25:58 - Kellen #7 - Dune 29:11 - Neilan #6 - Pictomania 31:40 - Mark #6 - Race for the Galaxy 35:21 - Kellen #6 - Glory to Rome 38:39 - Neilan #5 - The Resistance 40:48 - Mark #5 - Brass: Lancashire 42:54 - Kellen #5 - Troyes 46:22 - Neilan #4 - Time's Up 48:43 - Mark #4 - Fresh Fish 51:26 - Kellen #4 - I'm the Boss! 52:47 - Neilan #3 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant 55:32 - Mark #3 - Bus 58:46 - Kellen #3 - Cthulhu Wars 1:00:44 - Neilan#2 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization 1:03:09 - Mark #2 - Agricola 1:07:40 - Kellen #2 - Archipelago 1:10:06 - Neilan #1 - A Feast for Odin 1:15:14 - Mark #1 - Biblios 1:18:25 - Kellen #1 - Innovation
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We've reached the penultimate part of our five part series, the great series that is sometimes called our top fifty greatest games of all time! We're barreling close to the end now, but not without a lot of moving and shaking first. Here's another fine selection of thirty amazing games we love.
01:37 - Kellen #20 - So Clover! 02:50 - Neilan #20 - Blue Lagoon 04:14 - Mark #20 - Blood Rage 06:32 - Kellen #19 - El Grande 08:19 - Neilan #19 - The Oracle of Delphi 09:15 - Mark #19 - Pax Pamir: Second Edition 11:01 - Kellen #18 - Time's Up! 13:33 - Neilan #18 - Blood on the Clocktower 16:12 - Mark #18 - Ra 17:57 - Kellen #17 - 6 nimmt! 19:47 - Neilan #17 - Scythe 21:03 - Mark #17 - Imperial 2030 23:18 - Kellen #16 - Telestrations 25:06 - Neilan #16 - Watson & Holmes 27:03 - Mark #16 - City of the Big Shoulders 28:06 - Kellen #15 - The Resistance: Avalon 29:54 - Neilan #15 - Hansa Teutonica 33:02 - Mark #15 - Container 35:54 - Kellen #14 - Omen: A Reign of War 37:47 - Neilan #14 - Taj Mahal 39:45 - Mark #14 - Tigris & Euphrates 41:15 - Kellen #13 - Inis 42:59 - Neilan #13 - Alchemists 44:21 - Mark #13 - 1830: Railways & Robber Barons 46:11 - Kellen #12 - Photograph 48:37 - Neilan #12 - Cthulhu Wars 49:57 - Mark #12 - Age of Steam 52:00 - Kellen #11 - Coloretto 53:45 - Neilan #11 - Exit: The Game 55:04 - Mark #11 - Caylus 1303
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It's a new year, but the list must go on. The list, that is, of our top fifty greatest games of all time! It's part three, which everyone knows is the dark middle chapter of every pentalogy, so expect some swoops, some turns, some revelations. Brace yourself for another thirty incredible games that we can't wait to tell you all about.
02:03 - Mark #30 - Genoa 03:17 - Kellen #30 - Splendor 04:50 - Neilan #30 - Azul 06:06 - Mark #29 - Modern Art 07:44 - Kellen #29 - Taj Mahal 09:06 - Neilan #29 - Gaia Project 10:43 - Mark #28 - Blue Lagoon 12:30 - Kellen #28 - Boast or Nothing 14:33 - Neilan #28 - Kemet 17:06 - Mark #27 - Pictomania 18:31 - Kellen #27 - Krass Kariert/Dealt! 19:41 - Neilan #27 - Werewords 21:31 - Mark #26 - The Gallerist 22:34 - Kellen #26 - Hansa Teutonica 24:33 - Neilan #26 - Patchwork 26:29 - Mark #25 - Glen More II: Chronicles 28:16 - Kellen #25 - Startups 29:53 - Neilan #25 - Codenames 31:21 - Mark #24 - Lords of Vegas 32:49 - Kellen #24 - Keyflower 34:36 - Neilan #24 - Ra 36:37 - Mark #23 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game 38:39 - Kellen #23 - Fuji Flush 40:32 - Neilan #23 - The Search for Planet X 42:20 - Mark #22 - Lancaster 44:59 - Kellen #22 - Babylonia 46:47 - Neilan #22 - The Quest for El Dorado 49:18 - Mark #21 - El Grande 51:25 - Kellen #21 - Rumble Nation 53:14 - Neilan #21 - Decrypto
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I hope you all had a good holiday break, but it's time to get back to business. The very serious business that is the top fifty greatest games of all time. We return to our heroes in what the enthusiasts call phase two, and boy are things heating up! Thirty more incredible games that we absolutely love are coming right at you.
00:58 - Neilan #40 - In the Year of the Dragon 03:14 - Mark #40 - Splendor 05:09 - Kellen #40 - Zendo 07:45 - Neilan #39 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong 10:04 - Mark #39 - Iwari 13:24 - Kellen #39 - Stephenson's Rocket 15:19 - Neilan #38 - Iberian Gauge 17:11 - Mark #38 - A Feast for Odin 20:12 - Kellen #38 - Codenames 23:04 - Neilan #37 - Inis 24:47 - Mark #37 - Imperium: The Contention 26:55 - Kellen #37 - Azul 28:53 - Neilan #36 - Ark Nova 30:52 - Mark #36 - True Colors 33:07 - Kellen #36 - American Bookshop 35:02 - Neilan #35 - Rising Sun 36:23 - Mark #35 - Anomia 39:53 - Kellen #35 - Genoa 42:15 - Neilan #34 - Spirit Island 44:23 - Mark #34 - Ricochet Robots 47:37 - Kellen #34 - Agricola 49:25 - Neilan #33 - Yellow & Yangtze 51:22 - Mark #33 - Dominant Species 54:24 - Kellen #33 - Wizard 55:54 - Neilan #32 - Twice as Clever! 57:16 - Mark #32 - Cthulhu Wars 59:02 - Kellen #32 - Race for the Galaxy 1:01:40 - Neilan #31 - War of the Ring: Second Edition 1:03:52 - Mark #31 - Archipelago 1:05:30 - Kellen #31 - Pax Porfiriana
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It's top fifty season! That's right, it's the time to reflect on every single game we've ever played, and see how we feel about them in the year of our lord, 2022. We sort through the chaff, and from it we weave a beautiful golden strand we call our top fifty greatest games of all time.Grab a glass, and join us.
10:18 - Smartphone Inc. 12:01 - Archipelago 13:22 - Chicago Express 14:56 - Dominion 16:25 - Bus 17:50 - Hanabi 19:36 - Root 20:52 - Imperium: The Contention 22:22 - Cuba Libre 24:28 - Throne and the Grail 26:08 - Agricola 27:31 - Stephenson's Rocket 28:55 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar 31:46 - Bear Raid 33:08 - 1846: The Race for the Midwest 35:35 - Lords of Vegas 37:21 - Undaunted: Normandy 39:12 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant 42:01 - A Study in Emerald (Second Edition) 43:46 - Dead Reckoning 45:57 - Panic on Wall Street! 48:23 - Ingenious 49:38 - Innovation 51:41 - Dungeon Fighter 54:10 - Bruges 56:18 - Anachrony 59:15 - Lisboa 1:01:59 - Nusfjord 1:03:27 - Mille Fiori 1:06:00 - Smartphone Inc.
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Kellen won't stop rubbing in that he went to PAX Unplugged without us, but at least he came back with a lot of cool games to talk about. Join us as he regales us with the latest from Philadelphia. Before we eat our Philly, we talk about Sea Salt & Paper, and Chicago Express.
03:49 - Sea Salt & Paper 10:19 - Chicago Express 21:57 - Dicke Dämonen 26:00 - John Company: Second Edition 34:46 - The Green Fivura 35:15 - Dois 35:55 - Nine Lives 38:37 - BANANINE
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One of the greatest things about taking part in this hobby, is seeing new and novel ideas bubble to the surface. We're looking at some our favourite recent innovations - stuff that makes us think, "Huh, why haven't we seen that before?" Before we do anything but imitate and iterate, we talk about Paint the Roses, and ISS Vanguard.
02:01 - Paint the Roses
12:33 - ISS Vanguard
29:29 - Mystic Vale
30:52 - Dead Reckoning
31:52 - Dive
32:37 - Maglev Metro
33:05 - Loony Quest
33:52 - Kitchen Rush
33:52 - Rush M.D.
34:06 - Pendulum
34:41 - Magic Maze
35:03 - Kites
36:06 - MicroMacro: Crime City
37:42 - Exit: The Game – Advent Calendar
38:37 - Brian Boru: High King of Ireland
39:24 - Kabuto Sumo
40:02 - Awkward Guests
40:26 - Turing Machine
42:04 - Mansions of Madness: Second Edition
42:21 - Destinies
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How do you all keep falling for this? The Ghost Turkey moves in mysterious ways, and this year he's moving us to 2019, to atone for our sins. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
04:48 - ICECOOL
06:24 - Meeple Circus
06:49 - Root
07:57 - Sheriff of Nottingham
08:48 - Piepmatz
09:29 - Fauna
10:13 - Evolution: Flight
11:03 - Zany Penguins
12:26 - Gulo Gulo
13:16 - Funky Chicken
14:02 - Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn
14:58 - Rook
16:01 - Scythe
17:09 - Biblios
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We all saw this coming. The inevitable digital future has come, and suddenly Mark is a book store owner who just discovered Kindles. It'd be sad if it weren't so inevitable. We discuss the rise of digital gaming, and how it can, at least in some ways, replace parts of the hobby. Before we go down to Electric Avenue, we talk about Wormholes, Mogul, and Orichalcum.
02:07 - Wormholes
09:58 - Mogul
19:23 - Orichalcum
30:39 - Kellen's phone number
31:08 - Digital replacing physical games
43:15 - Garden Nation
43:41 - Living Forest
44:22 - Next Station: London
44:33 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
45:49 - Gaia Project
47:15 - 7 Wonders Duel
48:32 - Race for the Galaxy
49:13 - Riftforce
50:30 - The Great Zimbabwe
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Look, I wasn't there, but my understanding is that Kellen got very mad about certain board game words and decided to change the course of the episode midstream. Which, you know, would be one thing, but I once had to hear about how mad Kellen was about the word "apricot", so it's just like every day with this guy. Before we get etymological, we talk about Splendor Duel, and Seize the Bean.
02:19 - Splendor Duel
11:13 - Seize the Bean
23:13 - Feature topic Mark thought we were doing
23:33 - Feature topic we actually did: Board Gaming Jargon
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Two hundred and fifty episodes. That's ... a lot of episodes. That's a lot of time! And, boy, things have changed around here. Well some things. We look at what's different in the hobby since we started doing this whole thing. Before we cast our minds back, we talk about Stone Age, Blood on the Clocktower, Hansa Teutonica, and Aegean Sea.
01:58 - Stone Age
12:41 - Blood on the Clocktower
16:56 - Hansa Teutonica
18:53 - Aegean Sea
26:33 - What's changed since we started
43:49 - Gloomhaven
45:36 - Caylus
46:55 - Wiz-War
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Two hundred and fifty episodes. That's ... a lot of episodes. That's a lot of time! And, boy, things have changed around here. Well some things. We look at what's different in the hobby since we started doing this whole thing. Before we cast our minds back, we talk about Stone Age, Blood on the Clocktower, Hansa Teutonica, and Aegean Sea.
01:58 - Stone Age
12:41 - Blood on the Clocktower
16:56 - Hansa Teutonica
18:53 - Aegean Sea
26:33 - What's changed since we started
43:49 - Gloomhaven
45:36 - Caylus
46:55 - Wiz-War
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Games are getting bigger and more lavish, especially in the age of crowdfunding, but how far is too far? How many luxury bits, giant boxes of minis, and silk-screened wooden meeples until it's all gone a bit far? Before we dress for excess, we talk about Habitats, Blood on the Clocktower, Twilight Inscription, and It's a Wonderful Kingdom.
01:59 - Habitats
13:07 - Blood on the Clocktower
18:44 - Twilight Inscription
21:40 - It's a Wonderful Kingdom
32:46 - Excess in games
33:28 - ISS Vanguard
35:40 - Too Many Bones
37:04 - Anachrony
37:55 - Everdell
38:19 - Millennium Blades
38:57 - Council of 4
41:37 - Puzzle Strike 2
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The topic of theme has come up intermittently over the course of the podcast, but how important is it? Is it something that makes or breaks a game? Or would we be mostly okay if games were mostly non-thematic? Before we burst at the theme, we talk about Mamma Mia!, Football Highlights 2052, Kanban, and Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood.
01:46 - Mamma Mia!
08:20 - Football Highlights 2052
18:50 - Kanban
20:59 - Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood
34:25 - The importance of theme
34:50 - Tigris & Euphrates
38:08 - Catherine: The Cities of the Tsarina
38:42 - Point Salad
40:04 - Abandon All Artichokes
43:29 - Glüx
47:25 - Décorum
49:08 - Deal with the Devil
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The topic of theme has come up intermittently over the course of the podcast, but how important is it? Is it something that makes or breaks a game? Or would we be mostly okay if games were mostly non-thematic? Before we burst at the theme, we talk about Mamma Mia!, Football Highlights 2052, Kanban, and Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood.
01:46 - Mamma Mia!
08:20 - Football Highlights 2052
18:50 - Kanban
20:59 - Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood
34:25 - The importance of theme
34:50 - Tigris & Euphrates
38:08 - Catherine: The Cities of the Tsarina
38:42 - Point Salad
40:04 - Abandon All Artichokes
43:29 - Glüx
47:25 - Décorum
49:08 - Deal with the Devil
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What good would going to a convention be if we didn't play a lot of games? We're back from our trip, and it was filled to the brim of fine games played with fine people, and we're here to tell you about all of them, the good, the bad, and perfunctory. Before we return to Vancouver, we talk about Village Rails, The Guild of Merchant Explorers, and Puzzle Strike 2.
01:51 - Village Rails
12:43 - The Guild of Merchant Explorers
20:59 - Puzzle Strike 2
34:14 - Ghost Turkey!
34:41 - Games we played at SHUX
34:58 - Master Word
40:05 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
42:12 - Leaf
43:32 - Fit to Print
45:11 - Bumúntú
48:38 - Nitro Glyxerol
51:14 - Bridge City Poker
54:16 - Cubitos
57:54 - Blood Rage
1:01:27 - Photograph
1:02:20 - Arboretum
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What good would going to a convention be if we didn't play a lot of games? We're back from our trip, and it was filled to the brim of fine games played with fine people, and we're here to tell you about all of them, the good, the bad, and perfunctory. Before we return to Vancouver, we talk about Village Rails, The Guild of Merchant Explorers, and Puzzle Strike 2.
01:51 - Village Rails
12:43 - The Guild of Merchant Explorers
20:59 - Puzzle Strike 2
34:14 - Ghost Turkey!
34:41 - Games we played at SHUX
34:58 - Master Word
40:05 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
42:12 - Leaf
43:32 - Fit to Print
45:11 - Bumúntú
48:38 - Nitro Glyxerol
51:14 - Bridge City Poker
54:16 - Cubitos
57:54 - Blood Rage
1:01:27 - Photograph
1:02:20 - Arboretum
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We're at SHUX! Well, we were, and while we were there, we tricked Tom Brewster of Shut Up & Sit Down to take time away from his busy schedule to join us on stage. This episode was recorded live, and we talk about games that are in some ways, a little bit weird. Before things get odd, we talk about Dungeons, Dice & Danger, Fun Facts, Turncoats, and Flick Fleck.
03:52 - Dungeons, Dice & Danger
09:07 - Fun Facts
15:03 - Turncoats
20:58 - Flick Fleck
27:39 - Weird games
28:36 - Mord im Arosa
31:03 - Nyctophobia
31:26 - Tajuto
34:21 - The Field of the Cloth of Gold
36:01 - Cosmic Frog
36:58 - Turing Machine
40:45 - Chaosmos
42:50 - XCOM: The Board Game
43:52 - Now Boarding
44:39 - Flowerfall
45:30 - Who Soiled the Toilet?
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We're at SHUX! Well, we were, and while we were there, we tricked Tom Brewster of Shut Up & Sit Down to take time away from his busy schedule to join us on stage. This episode was recorded live, and we talk about games that are in some ways, a little bit weird. Before things get odd, we talk about Dungeons, Dice & Danger, Fun Facts, Turncoats, and Flick Fleck.
03:52 - Dungeons, Dice & Danger
09:07 - Fun Facts
15:03 - Turncoats
20:58 - Flick Fleck
27:39 - Weird games
28:36 - Mord im Arosa
31:03 - Nyctophobia
31:26 - Tajuto
34:21 - The Field of the Cloth of Gold
36:01 - Cosmic Frog
36:58 - Turing Machine
40:45 - Chaosmos
42:50 - XCOM: The Board Game
43:52 - Now Boarding
44:39 - Flowerfall
45:30 - Who Soiled the Toilet?
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It's convention season, which means we're on the way to one convention, while talking about another. Every year a lot of new games get showed off at Essen SPIEL in Germany, and these are the ones we're most excited to hear more about! Before we start messin' with Essen, we talk about Plutocracy and Finca.
01:56 - Plutocracy
09:54 - Finca
19:09 - Essen SPIEL 2022 Preview
19:39 - The Great Split
21:57 - Time Capsules
23:45 - Heat: Pedal to the Metal
25:45 - La Famiglia: The Great Mafia War
27:49 - Applejack
29:22 - Rise & Fall
31:13 - Sauscharf
33:29 - Oros
35:08 - Tribes of the Wind
36:23 - Shark
38:34 - Tindaya
41:07 - Lacrimosa
42:43 - Virtù
46:38 - Revive
48:51 - Pilgrim
We're going to be at SHUX:
https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/shux22
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We're in and out quick and breezy, with a h-h-hot question about player counts. All things equally considered, how many people do you want at the table? Before we boot people from the game, we talk about Bitoku, San Francisco, and Caesar's Empire.
01:28 - Bitoku
12:21 - San Francisco
20:11 - Caesar's Empire
28:46 - Favorite Player Counts
36:08 - Star Trek: Ascendancy
37:04 - Churchill
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The best thing about being part of a team is even when things go wrong, your team is there for you. And boy, did things go wrong this week ... but I'm getting ahead of myself. This week we're talking about team games! Twice! Before we make the dream work, we talk about Art Decko, Feed The Kraken, and War of the Ring: The Card Game.
02:47 - Art Decko
09:03 - Feed The Kraken
20:08 - War of the Ring: The Card Game
32:51 - Team games
35:26 - Guards of Atlantis II
39:20 - Ingenious
40:10 - Tichu
43:32 - Concordia Venus
47:43 - Shadow Hunters
49:33 - Inkognito
51:27 - Between Two Cities
52:06 - Ladies & Gentlemen
53:16 - Space Cadets: Dice Duel
53:16 - Captain Sonar
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Not every game makes the best first impression, but some stick in your mind enough to warrant a second try. So fittingly, the first and second best hosts are here to tell you about the games that they think deserve a revisit. Before we repeat stuff, repeat stuff, we talk about Mille Fiori, Rise of the Metro, and Turing Machine.
02:05 - Mille Fiori
05:57 - Rise of the Metro
12:48 - Turing Machine
22:29 - Games that need a second chance
24:01 - Gaia Project
26:39 - Space Station Phoenix
28:34 - Twilight Imperium: Third Edition
31:01 - Root
33:15 - Ankh: Gods of Egypt
35:16 - An Infamous Traffic
35:16 - Panamax
35:16 - Maria
37:09 - Dune: Betrayal
38:10 - Beyond the Sun
40:06 - XCOM: The Board Game
41:56 - Quantum
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Okay, this end of the BGG top list starts to get weird. Regardless, we must draft. Who's going to end up with the best selection of five games from this chunk of one hundred? That's up to you - vote and you could win a $50 gift voucher! Before we pick a peck of paper products, we talk about Town 66, Akropolis, and Pampero.
02:09 - Town 66
08:24 - Akropolis
16:51 - Pampero
27:38 - Drafting BGG's #601-700
29:40 - Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation
31:11 - So Clover!
32:49 - 6 nimmt!
34:19 - Bus
35:56 - The Oracle of Delphi
37:11 - The Estates
38:50 - Long Shot: The Dice Game
40:44 - Yellow & Yangtze
42:06 - Undaunted: North Africa
43:05 - Between Two Cities
44:02 - City of the Big Shoulders
47:05 - Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road
48:05 - QE
49:47 - Civilization: A New Dawn
52:18 - Fort
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The pillars of board gaming are games that are so influential, so ubiquitous, that they're practically the shoulders on which many other board games stand. We talk about what are commonly considered the classic pillars, and try to make a more modern list. Before we get into Greek architecture, we talk about Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, Trailblazers, Photograph, and Ys.
02:34 - Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
04:01 - Trailblazers
11:38 - Wind the Film! / Photograph
18:22 - Ys
28:01 - Modern pillars of board gaming
32:33 - Codenames
36:09 - Splendor
39:01 - 7 Wonders
41:48 - The Resistance: Avalon
43:59 - Concordia
47:21 - Qwixx
51:38 - Scythe
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Well, we've returned, and some of us are a little worse for wear, but if a week off doesn't get us back into gear, nothing will. Gen Con is behind us, and Mark, who sadly couldn't make the con, quizzes us about our highlights of the show. Before we cast our minds back to Indiana, we talk about Cat in the Box, Formosa Tea, and Twilight Inscription.
02:14 - Cat in the Box
08:41 - Formosa Tea
15:42 - Twilight Inscription
26:36 - Games we played at Gen Con
27:00 - Splendor Duel
33:48 - Green Team Wins
35:16 - Empire's End
38:33 - Kites
39:44 - Good Puppers
43:07 - War of the Ring: The Card Game
44:02 - Anunnaki: Dawn of the Gods
46:38 - Freezer pants forever
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Given that we hyped up all those games last week, it's only fair that we prepare ourselves for the aftermath. We look back at some of the most famous and infamous games of yesteryear that were very highly anticipated, and wonder what became of them. Before we relive the comedown, we talk about Master Word, Living Forest, and Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef.
02:00 - Master Word
06:27 - Living Forest
13:29 - Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef
25:04 - Anticipated games of years past
26:56 - Founding Fathers
27:35 - Vinhos
28:32 - Wok Star
29:50 - 51st State
30:27 - CO₂
31:11 - Rex: Final Days of an Empire
33:01 - Glory to Rome
36:12 - Xia: Legends of a Drift System
36:50 - Cthulhu Wars
37:48 - Myth
38:43 - Conan
39:40 - Viceroy
40:32 - Mysterium
41:57 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
45:10 - SeaFall
47:57 - Cry Havoc
49:02 - Founders of Gloomhaven
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Gen Con is a week away! We're headed to Indianapolis (hope to see you there!) but before we do, we're looking down the preview list to get ourselves hyped. These are our five games we're each most excited to see at the show! Before we go Indy, we talk about Vabanque, Orongo, and Blood on the Clocktower.
02:06 - Vabanque
07:25 - Orongo
15:12 - Blood on the Clocktower
25:50 - San Francisco
27:07 - Diamond Dig
28:28 - Turing Machine
29:55 - Weirdwood Manor
31:02 - Deal with the Devil
33:00 - Last Light
34:30 - Starship Captains
35:22 - Framework
36:49 - ???
37:04 - Time of Empires
38:38 - Green Team Wins
40:58 - Catherine: The Cities of the Tsarina
41:53 - The Shadow Planet: The Board Game
43:30 - Cat in the Box
45:30 - Autobahn
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There's a phenomenon called twin films, where competing studios release very similar movies at the same time. We imagine the same idea in board game land, and highlight some of the biggest board game grudge matches - and judge which game we think came out on top. Before there can be only one, we talk about Viking See-Saw, Dandelions, Codex Naturalis, and Luna.
02:38 - Viking See-Saw
05:32 - Dandelions
13:09 - Codex Naturalis
17:52 - Luna
28:30 - Twin game matchups
30:46 - Azul
30:46 - Sagrada
31:35 - Century: Spice Road
31:35 - Splendor
32:28 - Race for the Galaxy
33:28 - Roll for the Galaxy
33:45 - Dune: Imperium
33:45 - Lost Ruins of Arnak
35:08 - Cascadia
35:08 - Wingspan
36:29 - Eclipse
36:29 - Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition
37:29 - Codenames
37:29 - Decrypto
37:47 - Ark Nova
37:47 - Terraforming Mars
38:19 - Azul vs. Sagrada
40:13 - Century: Spice Road vs. Splendor
42:48 - Race for the Galaxy vs. Roll for the Galaxy
45:43 - Dune: Imperium vs. Lost Ruins of Arnak
48:22 - Cascadia vs. Wingspan
51:22 - Eclipse vs. Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition
51:52 - Codenames vs. Decrypto
54:13 - Ark Nova vs. Terraforming Mars
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Ambie Valdés, from the excellent podcast Board Game Blitz, joins us to talk about family games, and possibly also the Fast and the Furious franchise. Ambie actually has kids, so might know a little more about this than the rest of us. Kids love Vin Diesel. Before we edutain, we talk about Savannah Park, Cryptid, and Stroganov.
04:43 - Savannah Park
11:26 - Cryptid
17:51 - Stroganov
27:11 - Family games
29:55 - Tidy Up!
33:01 - Wingspan
38:03 - Ticket to Ride
40:04 - Flash Point: Fire Rescue
41:39 - Let's Catch the Lion!
43:05 - Qwirkle
43:29 - Gulo Gulo
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Well, we can't play everything, and that was probably more true ten years ago than it is now. So we thought we'd look back at the decade past, and highlight some games that we feel like we missed out on. Before we prolong our backlogs, we talk about Loot of Lima, Yosemite, and Planted: A Game of Nature & Nurture.
02:13 - Loot of Lima
09:17 - Yosemite
14:56 - Planted: A Game of Nature & Nurture
23:01 - Games from last decade we want to play
24:14 - Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game
25:53 - Black Friday
27:12 - Haggis
28:07 - Sentinels of the Multiverse
30:09 - Kolejka
31:30 - Eclipse
33:02 - Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery
34:20 - Copycat
35:31 - Caverna: The Cave Farmers
38:06 - Duel of Ages II
40:24 - Kanban
42:07 - Wir sind das Volk!
43:21 - Kingdom Death: Monster
45:18 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
47:23 - Mombasa
48:59 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game
50:14 - Arkwright
51:03 - Adrenaline
52:18 - This War of Mine: The Board Game
53:14 - Gaia Project
54:36 - Calimala
55:51 - Obsession
57:50 - Mage Knight Board Game
58:34 - Gùgōng
59:39 - Barrage
1:00:53 - Crusader Kings
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We're spread across the world and time, so we do the thing we should never do; we put the questions to you. Yes, you! It's a mailbag episode, we're answering a trio, a trilogy, a trichopteran of your questions. Before we put in our hand and pull out a letter, we talk about Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes!, Symphony No.9, and Arrakis: Dawn of the Fremen.
03:46 - Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes!
11:36 - Symphony No.9
19:10 - Arrakis: Dawn of the Fremen
37:48 - Do you create game specific ambience?
43:45 - What games have you been returning to?
44:22 - The Great Zimbabwe
45:16 - Tigris & Euphrates
46:37 - Great Western Trail
47:49 - Cascadia
50:03 - Imperium: The Contention
50:24 - Mind MGMT: The Psychic Espionage "Game."
50:54 - What's a one sentence description of your tastes?
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Yes, you could make the argument that every game is a negotiation game if you try hard enough, but for a lot of games it's more integral to the design. We look at games that we think integrate negotiation mechanics especially well, and ask how much is too much (or too little) when it comes to negotiation. Before we compromise, we talk about Septima, and Kremlin.
02:12 - Septima
18:09 - Kremlin
34:26 - Negotiation as a mechanic
35:51 - Catan
38:01 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
43:23 - Inis
45:45 - Rising Sun
47:31 - Between Two Cities
49:22 - Dune
50:28 - Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery
52:48 - Diplomacy
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While we tend to enjoy games across the whole spectrum, there's something particular about sinking your teeth into a really heavy game. But it's not always an easy prospect; conditions have to be just right. So what makes a heavy game worth it? Before things get heavy, we talk about Barony, Bausack, Whitehall Mystery, and Dead Reckoning.
02:14 - Barony
13:17 - Bausack
18:07 - Whitehall Mystery
22:59 - Dead Reckoning
32:23 - Diplomacy
34:43 - War of the Ring: Second Edition
35:15 - A Feast for Odin
38:45 - Shipyard
40:03 - Vindication
41:21 - Mage Knight Board Game
42:35 - Forbidden Stars
46:59 - Food Chain Magnate
54:09 - The Great Zimbabwe
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There's a lot of discourse lately about the pros and cons of negative board game coverage, and so of course we thought we ought to weigh in. Is there value in negative criticism versus positive, or should there be a balance between the two? Before we take the good with the bad, we talk about Homeworlds, Ave Caesar, and Founders of Teotihuacan.
01:42 - Homeworlds
12:39 - Ave Caesar
18:03 - Founders of Teotihuacan
30:31 - Negative criticism
56:06 - Quest
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It's easy to get lost in mechanical discussions of games, and forget to appreciate them as physical creations. There can be beauty in games, and we're here to get to the heart of it the only way we know, the one on one fight to the death that we call BGBBOB. Before we get skin deep, we talk about First Empires, Mille Fiori, and Foundations of Rome.
01:44 - First Empires
08:25 - Mille Fiori
16:41 - Foundations of Rome
32:51 - BGBBOB: Beautiful games
34:18 - Photosynthesis
35:23 - Root
39:12 - Brass: Lancashire
40:34 - Rising Sun
43:26 - Spirit Island
44:36 - The Gallerist
46:28 - Yamataï
48:00 - Azul
49:51 - Agricola
51:17 - Pax Pamir: Second Edition
53:26 - Wingspan
54:23 - Inis
56:41 - Foundations of Rome
57:33 - Startups
1:00:19 - Ark Nova
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It doesn't happen as much as it does in other industries, but every so often the people at the top demand serialization. We're talking about sequels in board games, when they work, when they (super) don't, and what we'd like to see get the treatment. Before we get franchised, we talk about Next Station: London, Dawn of the Zeds (Third Edition), and Azul: Queen's Garden.
01:23 - Next Station: London
09:29 - Dawn of the Zeds (Third Edition)
21:44 - Azul: Queen's Garden
39:51 - A Study in Emerald (Second Edition)
40:42 - Uwe Rosenberg Puzzle Trilogy
43:15 - Marco Polo II: In the Service of the Khan
45:13 - Brass: Birmingham
47:11 - Glen More II: Chronicles
48:21 - Empires of the Void II
48:36 - The Resistance: Avalon
49:44 - 7 Wonders Duel
50:10 - 7 Wonders: Architects
50:42 - Alchemists
52:05 - Lignum
52:27 - Francis Drake
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Metagaming is all about the game that exists within (and without) the game - it's everything that's not written in the rules. Whether that's something that emerges at your table, or in the community at large, it can be a big part of the social experience, and we're all for it. Before we get meta, we talk about Rum & Pirates, Box One, Shamans, and Crescent Moon.
05:00 - Rum & Pirates
11:24 - Box One
14:58 - Shamans
22:11 - Crescent Moon
38:55 - Metagaming
44:01 - Hanabi
44:40 - The Resistance
48:04 - Root
56:35 - Blood Rage
59:02 - Keyflower
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With the middle of the year rapidly approaching, we've acquired our fair share of games that we're really itching to play. We talk about what's recently made its way into our collections that we just can't wait to get to the table. Before we break out the back scratchers, we talk about Ivanhoe, Freshwater Fly, Vindication, and Cryptid: Urban Legends.
02:23 - Ivanhoe
09:13 - Freshwater Fly
17:11 - Vindication
24:22 - Cryptid: Urban Legends
37:36 - Games we're itching to play
38:40 - Dead Reckoning
41:04 - Gloomholdin'
44:18 - Mille Fiori
46:29 - Foundations of Rome
49:57 - Innovation
51:31 - A Feast for Odin
52:17 - Biblios
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The Golden Geek results are in for 2021, and to avoid burying the lede ... we won! We're over the moon, naturally, but we couldn't have done it without you. We celebrate by giving our takes on the rest of the awards, how we voted, and what we think about the other categories. Before we bathe in our glory, we talk about Aristocracy, Senators, and Ark Nova.
06:08 - Aristocracy
15:51 - Senators
23:58 - Ark Nova
42:15 - Golden Geek Awards
43:29 - That Time You Killed Me
43:58 - Summoner Wars (Second Edition)
44:17 - Radlands
45:30 - Sleeping Gods
46:16 - Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile
47:52 - The Crew: Mission Deep Sea
49:19 - PARKS: Nightfall
49:56 - The Adventures of Robin Hood
51:03 - 7 Wonders: Architects
52:00 - Cascadia
54:07 - Ankh: Gods of Egypt
57:12 - Gloomholdin'
1:02:31 - Red Flag Over Paris
1:03:07 - Podcast of the Year
Check out the results here:
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2859849/16th-annual-golden-geek-winners-2021
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It's easy to get caught up in the cult of the new, but there are so many amazing games that came out before we were even in the hobby. Mark Bigney of So Very Wrong About Games joins us to look at the games we love from yesteryear, and other older games we really ought to play. And stick around for even more special appearances after the show! Before we go back in time, we talk about Sobek: 2 Players, Phantom Leader Deluxe, and Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition.
04:30 - Sobek: 2 Players
11:59 - Phantom Leader Deluxe
27:56 - Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition
37:07 - Acquire
41:45 - Bus
45:29 - Dream Factory
49:49 - Civilization
53:15 - Advanced Civilization
1:00:52 - Quo Vadis?
1:01:43 - Ikusa
1:03:20 - Antike II
1:03:52 - Die Macher
1:05:41 - Victory in the Pacific
1:10:18 - Subbuteo
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There are many ways that we can accidentally contribute to gatekeeping in the hobby - pushing those who want to embrace it away. Whether it's to those outside, or even, bizarrely, to those already in, we break down the subtle (and unsubtle) ways we do it, whether or not we mean to. Before we find the keymaster, we talk about San Marco, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, and Ghosts of Christmas.
02:28 - San Marco
10:57 - Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
20:34 - Ghosts of Christmas
32:03 - Exploding Kittens
32:18 - Catan
33:17 - Wingspan
43:02 - Codenames
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It doesn't quite work the same, but what do you expect when Neilan's not present? Speaking of presents, it's Mark's birthday so the rest of the crew celebrate with a parade of (don't call them hot) questions, where they invent expansions, and save the planet. Before we get older, we talk about Time Barons, and The Key: Sabotage at Lucky Llama Land.
03:57 - Time Barons
13:37 - Hanabi Deluxe II
15:34 - The Key: Sabotage at Lucky Llama Land
28:06 - Beyond the Sun
30:57 - The Quest for El Dorado
32:38 - Biblios
33:32 - Pax Renaissance
36:54 - The Castles of Burgundy
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It's been a little while, but we're back with the next hundred games on BoadGameGeek, and we're drafting a five game collection from them. Who ended up with the best picks? Vote and you could win a $50 gift voucher! Before things get drafty, we talk about Imperium: The Contention, Wonderland's War, and Gentes.
02:19 - Imperium: The Contention
07:20 - Wonderland's War
19:23 - Gentes
33:32 - Quantum
35:31 - Kemet: Blood and Sand
37:51 - Through the Desert
39:28 - Pax Renaissance
40:45 - Blitzkrieg!: World War Two in 20 Minutes
42:45 - Pax Porfiriana
43:27 - Coloretto
45:02 - Camel Up
46:14 - Cuba Libre
47:02 - Nova Luna
48:57 - Furnace
49:59 - Imperium: Classics
51:56 - Fort
54:09 - Space Empires 4X
57:47 - Carson City
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Does the perfect game exist? Probably not, but is that even the point? This week we discuss the elusive 10/10 rating, whether it makes sense to apply it, and what that means for rating games in general. Before we realize pobody's nerfect, we talk about Mind MGMT: The Psychic Espionage “Game.”, Manila, and Picture Perfect.
02:11 - Mind MGMT: The Psychic Espionage "Game."
12:14 - Manila
16:55 - Camel Up
18:50 - Picture Perfect
31:05 - Tigris & Euphrates
37:58 - Ark Nova
40:17 - Wingspan
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Wow, hundreds of you sent in your favourite games, and it was absolute chaos. But we got all the data together, cleaned up the typos, and crunched the numbers via a super secret algorithm, and here we are, your favourite games of all-time! For this year, at least. Before you take the stage, we talk about Schotten Totten 2, For Science!, and The Bridges of Shangri-La.
02:17 - Schotten Totten 2
13:13 - For Science!
23:17 - The Bridges of Shangri-La
33:59 - Pax Pamir: Second Edition
35:07 - Inis
36:34 - El Grande
37:43 - Dominion
39:14 - The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine
39:45 - Scythe
40:29 - Terraforming Mars
41:11 - Terra Mystica
42:53 - A Feast for Odin
43:18 - Agricola
44:20 - Race for the Galaxy
44:41 - The Castles of Burgundy
45:47 - Innovation
46:55 - Gloomhaven
47:36 - Great Western Trail
48:21 - Concordia
49:58 - Root
51:07 - Hansa Teutonica
52:21 - Brass: Birmingham
53:19 - Spirit Island
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There is a joy as equal in receiving a game, as moving it onto another person to enjoy. Especially, if you're Mark, when there's cash involved. We reflect on the many games that got left behind recently. Before we purge, we talk about Imperial Steam, Circus Flohcati, and Dogs of War.
02:33 - Circus Flohcati
09:37 - Imperial Steam
21:22 - Dogs of War
29:33 - Camel Up: Off Season
31:01 - Ciub
31:53 - Ten
33:18 - Visitor in Blackwood Grove
33:35 - Mr. Cabbagehead's Garden
33:52 - Bosk
34:08 - Castell
35:38 - Ninja Catfoot and the Covert Action
37:07 - In a Grove
37:07 - Dokojong
40:16 - Yokohama
40:59 - Castles of Burgundy
41:20 - Oath
41:46 - Feudum
42:23 - Lords of Vegas
42:32 - Chinatown
44:20 - Scape Goat
44:42 - Bequest
45:08 - Kardashev Scale
45:38 - Beez
45:56 - Llamaland
46:51 - Kobayakawa
47:07 - Lost Cities: Roll and Write
47:15 - Rebel Knox
47:36 - Tutto!
48:02 - Time Bomb Evolution
48:28 - My City
48:28 - The King's Dilemma
49:00 - Seikatsu
49:35 - Dinner in Paris
49:43 - Ruination
50:05 - Radlands
50:38 - Whirling Witchcraft
50:53 - Hadara
51:09 - Power Failure
51:28 - Mystic Paths
51:43 - Bazaar
55:07 - Blokus
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Waiting your turn is so 2021. Simultaneous play is where it's at now. Fortunately, we got a chance to try A BUNCH of games featuring the mechanism at Dice Tower West! So, before we all hold hands and dive in all at once, we'll chat about Bear Raid, Loco!, Imperium: The Contention, and Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest.
04:30 - Bear Raid
12:18 - Loco!
18:09 - Imperium: The Contention
30:37 - Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest
47:20 - Guards of Atlantis
48:49 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
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We're on the way to Dice Tower West, so we're keeping this one easy breezy with just a hot question. How many games on your shelf do you think you could teach without looking at the rulebook? Before we turn up the heat, we talk about Yokohama, Final Girl,and Mystic Paths.
03:04 - Yokohama
11:35 - Final Girl
20:27 - Mystic Paths
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Return of the Bob! If you don't know what a BGBBOB, boy you've missed out. Twelve games enter, and, well, they all exit, but only once they've been arranged in the appropriate order via a series of one on one fights. And fights are doubly appropriate this week, because we're battling it out in search of the best combat systems. Before we wish for peace, we talk about 7 Wonders: Architects, Kokopelli, and Canopy.
03:18 - 7 Wonders: Architects
10:46 - Kokopelli
19:22 - Canopy
31:42 - Diplomacy
33:26 - Rising Sun
35:52 - Mage Knight Board Game
37:44 - Arcadia Quest
41:10 - Chaos in the Old World
42:18 - Eclipse
45:49 - Blood Rage
48:20 - Kemet
53:03 - Neuroshima Hex
57:11 - King of Tokyo
1:01:55 - Dune
1:05:17 - Inis
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Approachability and accessibility are incredibly important to a wide swathe of gamers, but for those experienced in the hobby, it can often get overlooked. We investigate how games can aid those both in and especially outside the hobby to be more immediately appealing. Before we have a beer with him, we talk about Shinkansen: Zero Kei, Project L, and Boonlake.
01:32 - Shinkansen: Zero Kei
11:30 - Project L
21:13 - Boonlake
37:34 - Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
38:13 - Wavelength
39:14 - Splendor
39:45 - Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation
40:54 - Race for the Galaxy
42:07 - Scythe
43:22 - Troyes
49:27 - The Siege of Runedar
51:14 - Kitchen Rush
52:45 - Enchanted Plumes
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It's the triumphant return of the terrific trio - you know exactly who we mean - to talk about games where one of us would have to be left out. That's right, it's two players only at this table, and we're talking about our favourite games that fit the bill, and why we love them. Before we one-three-nine-take-two, we talk about Undaunted: Normandy, Fields of Arle, and That Time You Killed Me.
02:12 - Undaunted: Normandy
11:07 - Fields of Arle
17:27 - That Time You Killed Me
28:19 - Two player games
29:47 - Azul
30:56 - The Field of the Cloth of Gold
34:35 - Innovation
35:52 - Cthulhu Wars: Duel
36:25 - Cosmic Encounter Duel
38:40 - BioShock Infinite: The Siege of Columbia
39:42 - Magic: The Gathering
41:10 - Race for the Galaxy
43:53 - Ginkgopolis
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New year, new games, and we're really in it now. We look ahead to the year ahead, and all the games that we're most excited to get our hands on ... but we couldn't do it without just a little bit of help from our friends. Before we consult our many crystal balls, we talk about American Bookshop, War of the Ring: Second Edition, and Coffee Traders.
01:56 - American Bookshop
06:42 - War of the Ring: Second Edition
22:21 - Coffee Traders
34:16 - Aegean Sea
34:35 - Hamburg
36:01 - The Guild of Merchant Explorers
37:26 - Eleven: Football Manager Board Game
39:12 - The Shivers
40:53 - Root: The Marauder Expansion
42:33 - Dungeons, Dice & Danger
42:52 - Hamburg
43:49 - Bear Raid
45:24 - Federation
47:32 - Dice Realms
48:37 - Vagrantsong
50:14 - Return to Dark Tower
51:16 - Weather Machine
53:10 - Crescent Moon
55:06 - Stationfall
57:36 - Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory
59:39 - Ra
1:00:53 - Distilled
1:02:40 - Endless Winter: Paleoamericans
Please check out all of our guests' amazing work:
Paula Deming - https://www.youtube.com/c/PaulaDeming
Brain in A Jar - https://linktr.ee/brain_in_a_jar
Decision Space - https://decisionspace.podbean.com
Foster the Meeple - https://www.youtube.com/c/fosterthemeeple
Jason / Shelf Stories - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnaZ7055IWOdm8XCJfFRDcw
1 Minute Board Games - https://www.1minuteboardgames.com
Ruel - http://ruelgaviola.com
Board Game Hot Takes - https://boardgamehottakes.com
Mike Dilisio - https://sporadicallyboard.libsyn.com
Few things feel better than those moments in board games that make you feel powerful. Whether it's playing the perfect card, pulling off a perfectly executed turn, or splashing down that giant mini, we look at some of our favourite power plays in board games. Before we corrupt absolutely, we talk about Biblios: Quill and Parchment, Cryo, and Origins: First Builders.
03:00 - Biblios: Quill and Parchment
12:43 - Cryo
22:24 - Origins: First Builders
28:57 - Games that make you feel powerful
29:21 - Russian Railroads
30:22 - Le Havre
31:01 - A Feast for Odin
32:01 - Dominion
32:43 - Automobiles
33:49 - Cosmic Encounter
34:17 - I'm the Boss!
35:06 - Magic: The Gathering
36:35 - La Granja
38:45 - Cthulhu Wars
40:05 - Nothing Personal
41:32 - The Downfall of Pompeii
43:12 - Spirit Island
44:53 - Dominant Species
46:49 - Furnace
48:07 - Innovation
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And we're back! The holiday extravaganza is over, and it's back to business as usual around here. And what better way to get back into the swing of things than with some h-h-hot questions! Before that, we catch up on our holidays apart, with tales about the games that we played with our loved ones, including The Siege of Runedar, Snakesss, and Time Bomb Evolution.
02:18 - The Siege of Runedar
08:02 - Snakesss
14:49 - Time Bomb Evolution
19:04 - Sacred Rites
24:09 - Hearts of AttrAction
30:03 - Wits & Wagers Vegas
32:18 - Colorful
35:14 - Paperback
37:33 - Ten plays of one game, or one play of ten?
40:17 - The Great Zimbabwe
44:47 - Abandoning games halfway through?
48:56 - Time's Up!
51:36 - Blood Rage
52:10 - Heroes of Land, Air & Sea
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It's the grand finale of the event of events that is the BGB Top 50 Games of All-time! These are our ten absolute favourite games, and, fittingly, it's a bumper episode with more than one surprise. Joining us in the peanut gallery this week, it's none other than the manic imp of Shut Up & Sit Down himself, the absolute mad genius that is Tom Brewster. Buckle in, it's going to get weird.
02:36 - Kellen #10 - El Grande
04:08 - Mark #10 - 1830: Railways & Robber Barons
07:44 - Neilan #10 - Exit: The Game
11:08 - Christina #10 - I'm the Boss!
14:53 - Kellen #9 - Inis
18:05 - Mark #9 - The Estates
20:13 - Neilan #9 - Guards of Atlantis II
23:20 - Christina #9 - Lost Cities
28:28 - Kellen #8 - Diplomacy
31:18 - Mark #8 - Hansa Teutonica
34:02 - Neilan #8 - Pictomania
37:20 - Christina #8 - Twice as Clever!
41:07 - Kellen #7 - Dune
43:43 - Mark #7 - Time's Up! Title Recall!
45:33 - Neilan #7 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
48:14 - Christina #7 - Blood Rage
53:03 - Kellen #6 - Cosmic Encounter
55:03 - Mark #6 - Brass: Lancashire
56:56 - Neilan #6 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
1:00:06 - Christina #6 - Babylonia
1:05:31 - Kellen #5 - Troyes
1:05:31 - Christina #5 - Troyes
1:10:06 - Mark #5 - Arboretum
1:12:11 - Neilan #5 - Time's Up! Title Recall!
1:14:15 - Kellen #4 - I'm the Boss!
1:16:57 - Mark #4 - Fresh Fish
1:19:56 - Neilan #4 - Gloomhaven
1:22:25 - Christina #4 - El Grande
1:25:26 - Kellen #3 - Cthulhu Wars
1:25:26 - Christina #3 - Cthulhu Wars
1:29:37 - Mark #3 - Caylus 1303
1:31:38 - Neilan #3 - The Resistance
1:35:24 - Kellen #2 - Archipelago
1:38:02 - Mark #2 - Race for the Galaxy
1:41:12 - Neilan #2 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
1:45:45 - Christina #2 - Time's Up! Title Recall!
1:51:46 - Christina #1 - Innovation
1:51:46 - Kellen #1 - Innovation
1:57:28 - Mark #1 - Biblios
1:59:34 - Neilan #1 - A Feast for Odin
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The penultimate episode of the grand series is here, it’s the BGB Top 50! As the journey approaches its end, we’re venturing into our 20th to 11th favourite games, with some support from the peanut gallery. And with thirty more board games to blitz through, who better to help us than Ambie Valdés of Board Game Blitz!
01:27 - Mark #20 - Imperial 2030
03:02 - Neilan #20 - Decrypto
04:11 - Kellen #20 - The Resistance
06:19 - Mark #19 - Ra
07:35 - Neilan #19 - Patchwork
09:15 - Kellen #19 - Ingenious
11:32 - Mark #18 - Barrage
13:41 - Neilan #18 - Rising Sun
15:24 - Kellen #18 - Time’s Up!
18:01 - Mark #17 - Pax Renaissance
19:32 - Neilan #17 - Taj Mahal
20:34 - Kellen #17 - 6 nimmt!
22:55 - Mark #16 - Archipelago
26:03 - Neilan #16 - Brass: Birmingham
28:00 - Kellen #16 - Telestrations
30:20 - Mark #15 - 1846: The Race for the Midwest
32:07 - Neilan #15 - Watson & Holmes
33:44 - Kellen #15 - Decrypto
35:53 - Mark #14 - Bus
38:01 - Neilan #14 - Codenames
39:05 - Kellen #14 - Omen: A Reign of War
41:29 - Mark #13 - Tigris & Euphrates
42:59 - Neilan #13 - Alchemists
45:00 - Kellen #13 - Glory to Rome
47:52 - Mark #12 - El Grande
50:05 - Neilan #12 - Scythe
51:41 - Kellen #12 - Hansa Teutonica
54:31 - Mark #11 - Age of Steam
56:53 - Neilan #11 - Cthulhu Wars
58:29 - Kellen #11 - Coloretto
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What better way to send off the year than part three of the party to end all parties, the BGB Top 50! We're adding thirty more incredible games to the list, with our 30th to 21st favourite picks. This week, we have the Black Tank, Mike Walker of So Very Wrong About Games tearing apart our choices from the peanut gallery!
01:57 - Kellen #30 - Taj Mahal
03:32 - Mark #30 - Modern Art
05:48 - Neilan #30 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
09:11 - Kellen #29 - Race for the Galaxy
11:27 - Mark #29 - Francis Drake
13:02 - Neilan #29 - Gaia Project
16:33 - Kellen #28 - Krass Kariert / Dealt! / SCOUT
18:33 - Mark #28 - The Gallerist
20:37 - Neilan #28 - Twice as Clever!
22:33 - Kellen #27 - Rumble Nation
25:12 - Mark #27 - Panic on Wall Street!
27:30 - Neilan #27 - Azul
30:00 - Kellen #26 - Startups
32:49 - Mark #26 - A Question of Scruples
34:34 - Neilan #26 - Werewords
37:44 - Kellen #25 - Keyflower
40:09 - Mark #25 - Lancaster
43:23 - Neilan #25 - Spirit Island
46:33 - Kellen #24 - Smartphone Inc.
48:42 - Mark #24 - Pax Pamir: Second Edition
50:41 - Neilan #24 - The Quest for El Dorado
53:01 - Kellen #23 - Codenames
55:34 - Mark #23 - Container
57:13 - Neilan #23 - Blue Lagoon
59:24 - Kellen #22 - Babylonia
1:01:52 - Mark #22 - Pictomania
1:03:05 - Neilan #22 - Inis
1:06:11 - Kellen #21 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
1:07:57 - Mark #21 - City of the Big Shoulders
1:09:51 - Neilan #21 - The Oracle of Delphi
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We're back for the second part of the year's greatest celebration, it's the top fifty! We've got thirty more incredible games to talk about this week, as we get into our games ranked 40th to 31st. This week in the peanut gallery, critiquing our picks, we're thrilled to have Monique (the Lavender tank herself) and Naveen of Before You Play!
01:29 - Neilan #40 - Coloretto
03:15 - Kellen #40 - Zendo
05:28 - Mark #40 - Ginkgopolis
07:46 - Neilan #39 - Aeon's End
10:06 - Kellen #39 - Stephenson's Rocket
12:47 - Mark #39 - Reef Encounter
16:09 - Neilan #38 - Dominion
17:49 - Kellen #38 - Genoa
19:46 - Mark #38 - Smartphone Inc.
23:22 - Neilan #37 - Archipelago
25:08 - Kellen #37 - Beyond the Sun
27:21 - Mark #37 - Maracaibo
29:54 - Neilan #36 - Innovation
32:33 - Kellen #36 - Dogs of War
34:45 - Mark #36 - Blue Lagoon
38:05 - Neilan #35 - Hansa Teutonica
39:58 - Kellen #35 - Pax Porfiriana
42:37 - Mark #35 - Genoa
44:57 - Neilan #34 - In the Year of the Dragon
47:10 - Kellen #34 - Agricola
49:42 - Mark #34 - True Colors
54:50 - Neilan #33 - The Search for Planet X
57:48 - Kellen #33 - Wizard
59:37 - Mark #33 - Glen More II: Chronicles
1:04:10 - Neilan #32 - Kemet
1:06:01 - Kellen #32 - Imperial 2030
1:08:07 - Mark #32 - Cthulhu Wars
1:11:03 - Neilan #31 - Yellow & Yangtze
1:13:41 - Kellen #31 - Fuji Flush
1:15:33 - Mark #31 - Dominant Species
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It's time. The event of the year is upon us, as we begin counting down our FIFTY. FAVOURITE. GAMES. OF. ALL. TIME. We're kicking it off where you kick off all good top 50s, with our games ranked 50th to 41st favourite games. And we've also invited Mr Delicious himself, Mike DiLisio of The Dice Tower, to pick apart our choices from his lofty perch in the peanut gallery. Let's go!
03:15 - Kellen #50 - So Clover!
07:10 - Neilan #50 - Taluva
10:18 - Mark #50 - Glory to Rome
14:30 - Kellen #49 - Throne and the Grail
16:43 - Neilan #49 - Sagani
19:07 - Mark #49 - Stephenson's Rocket
22:13 - Kellen #48 - Root
25:23 - Neilan #48 - Troyes
27:35 - Mark #48 - Marvel Champions
31:14 - Kellen #47 - Splendor
33:25 - Neilan #47 - Letter Jam
35:44 - Mark #47 - Dungeon Fighter
39:05 - Kellen #46 - Brass: Lancashire
41:38 - Neilan #46 - Gùgōng
43:33 - Mark #46 - Babylonia
46:47 - Kellen #45 - Nusfjord
49:34 - Neilan #45 - Pipeline
50:49 - Mark #45 - Ricochet Robots
54:46 - Kellen #44 - A Study in Emerald (Second Edition)
56:51 - Neilan #44 - The Great Zimbabwe
58:52 - Mark #44 - Lisboa
1:02:12 - Kellen #43 - The Game
1:04:31 - Neilan #43 - So Clover!
1:05:36 - Mark #43 - Cuba Libre
1:08:34 - Kellen #42 - Bruges
1:11:16 - Neilan #42 - Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne
1:13:31 - Mark #42 - Rising Sun
1:16:22 - Kellen #41 - Lords of Vegas
1:18:52 - Neilan #41 - Orléans
1:20:36 - Mark #41 - Innovation
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It'd be great if we could only ever play our favourites. But sometimes, perhaps more often than not, we have to put up with playing games not because we want to, but because it's the polite or kind thing to do depending on the company. This week, we're talking about games that we don't necessarily love, but for whatever reason we end up playing a lot of. Before we're held against our will, we talk about Mr. Cabbagehead's Garden, Sacred Rites, and Great Plains.
02:09 - Mr. Cabbagehead's Garden
11:53 - Sprawlopolis
14:01 - Sacred Rites
20:34 - Great Plains
25:46 - PAX Unplugged!
28:02 - Games we don't love but play a lot
29:13 - Zombicide
30:34 - Betrayal at House on the Hill
31:45 - 7 Wonders Duel
32:48 - Railroad Ink
33:24 - Karuba
34:22 - Hive
35:59 - The Mind
36:48 - Wavelength
37:44 - One Night Ultimate Werewolf
38:20 - The Quacks of Quedlinburg
41:51 - Space Base
42:57 - Crokinole
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Looking back on the past made us all reflective. For instance, remember 166 episodes ago when we promised to play all those games on our shelves of shame? I thought you might. We're revisiting our crimes of yesteryear, and checking in on how guilty we are. Before we audit our past selves, we talk about Warp's Edge, Carolus Magnus, and Unfathomable.
02:32 - Warp's Edge
08:09 - Carolus Magnus
16:20 - Unfathomable
27:00 - A Look Back at Our Unfulfilled Potential
27:18 - Fog of Love
28:56 - Spirit Island
30:10 - Dungeon Petz
31:55 - Mini Rails
33:19 - Pax Porfiriana
35:45 - Keyflower
36:41 - Dogs of War
37:13 - Clockwork Wars
38:38 - Anachrony
39:40 - Lisboa
40:19 - Three Kingdoms Redux
41:59 - Sid Meier’s Civilization: The Board Game
42:51 - The Gallerist
43:40 - The Voyages of Marco Polo
44:35 - Diplomacy
45:40 - For-Ex
46:35 - Project: ELITE
47:31 - War of the Ring
49:50 - Roads & Boats
51:15 - Tammany Hall
51:28 - Fury of Dracula
51:50 - 1880: China
52:19 - Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery
52:45 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game
53:07 - Crokinole
53:48 - An Infamous Traffic
54:15 - Chaos in the Old World
55:07 - Great Western Trail
55:52 - Dune
56:48 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
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Gobble gobble, gotcha again. What better way to follow up one of our biggest episodes yet, than with one of our stupidest? Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
02:35 - Cursed Court: Pokémon Edition
04:30 - Unfathomable
05:36 - Wings of War: Deluxe Set
06:22 - Gods Loves Dinosaurs
07:12 - Wings of Glory
08:16 - Seikatsu
12:59 - Bandada
14:22 - Concordia
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We did it! Two hundred episodes later and we're still here. We're so grateful to every single listener, so we wanted to turn the mics back on all of you for your favourite voicemail memories from the show. Here's to another two hundred. Before we celebrate good times, we talk about Llamaland, Mansions of Madness: Second Edition, and Clash of Cultures: Monumental Edition.
02:59 - Llamaland
12:03 - Mansions of Madness: Second Edition
18:26 - Cthulhu: Death May Die
19:36 - Clash of Cultures: Monumental Edition
34:05 - BGB and SUSD at PAX Unplugged!
34:32 - Voicemail Memory Lane
34:44 - Jordan: Kingmaking
34:44 - Rising Sun
41:41 - Zeth4: The iconic duo
42:07 - Food Chain Magnate
44:26 - Donnie: Lacerda games
48:04 - Alex: Kinder Kellen
51:29 - Kevin & Camden: 139
55:00 - Sahara: Killing Concordia
55:00 - Concordia
55:47 - Curtis: Tank love
1:00:55 - Saroule: Mark's grand entrance
1:04:39 - Brent & Kirsten: Booty
1:04:39 - Don't Get Got!
1:13:26 - Nate: Summing it up
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The split between Eurogame and Ameritrash gamers is as old as it it is silly, but in the last ten years it's also become a lot more nebulous. It's less clear than ever which side of the fence games fall on, so why still use these archaic labels at all? Maybe it's time for a change. Before we heal the divide, we talk about Hostage Negotiator, Juicy Fruits, Sleeping Gods, and Witchstone.
04:25 - Hostage Negotiator
12:38 - Juicy Fruits
17:34 - Sleeping Gods
28:38 - Witchstone
35:10 - Ingenious
39:57 - PAX Unplugged & BGB Official Math Trade
40:37 - Eurogames and Ameritrash labels
45:33 - Forbidden Stars
46:35 - Kemet
46:35 - Scythe
47:44 - Eclipse
48:05 - Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition
49:15 - Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire
49:40 - Blood Rage
50:17 - Gloomhaven
54:30 - El Grande
1:00:28 - Dune
Send us a voicemail for Episode 200:
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The PAX Unplugged & BGB official math trade:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/paxtrade
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If you've ever been a board game host, then you know it's not always just about playing games, it's about creating lasting memories for everyone playing. We'd never leave that to chance though, so of course we're often going out of our way to make a board game experience memorable. Before we do the unforgettable, we talk about Khôra: Rise of an Empire, Dune: Betrayal, and Santa Maria.
02:08 - Khôra: Rise of an Empire
13:02 - Dune: Betrayal
21:17 - Santa Maria
29:17 - Official PAX Unplugged Math Trade by BGB!
31:17 - Making board game memories
32:30 - Dune
37:36 - Divinity Derby
38:10 - Ra: The Dice Game
38:39 - Warhammer 40,000: Fireteam
39:16 - Cthulhu Wars
39:37 - Coyote
41:19 - For Sale
42:20 - Codenames
43:26 - Gloomhaven
49:50 - The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31
The PAX Unplugged & BGB official math trade:
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It's part five of our venerable draft series, a series so loved that it's now in syndication! We're moving on to the tail end of the BGB Top 500, but the format stays the same: draft five games to build a standalone collection that's better than the others. Vote for your favourite, and you can win $50! Before we collect royalties, we talk about PARKS, Fairy Trails, Abandon All Artichokes, and So Clover!
03:39 - PARKS
11:04 - Tokaido
12:40 - Fairy Trails
16:37 - Abandon All Artichokes
20:48 - So Clover!
26:36 - BGB and SUSD at AwShux
26:58 - PAX Unplugged Math Trade
28:53 - Drafting BGG's #401-500
31:18 - Smartphone Inc.
32:09 - Pipeline
33:32 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
34:23 - Archipelago
35:37 - Time's Up! Title Recall!
36:21 - Pax Porfiriana
38:18 - Libertalia
40:29 - 1846: The Race for the Midwest
41:22 - Wavelength
42:30 - The King's Dilemma
43:50 - Hanabi
45:33 - No Thanks!
47:18 - Ingenious
48:12 - Chess
49:49 - Taj Mahal
Check out our draft with Shut Up & Sit Down at AwSHUX:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1185759979?t=04h09m50s
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We love all of the emails we get from you, our lovely listeners, but without a regular mail segment, we can't often give them the attention they deserve. Well that ends right now, as we delve into the long neglected pile of mail, and answer some choice questions that have been waiting patiently for answers. Before we rustle in the mailbag, we talk about Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done, and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.
01:42 - Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done
12:44 - World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
22:48 - Ghost Turkey 2021
23:45 - Boards Alive Podcast
26:15 - Thoughts on some Gen Con Games?
26:34 - Furnace
28:23 - The Loop
29:14 - Witchstone
30:05 - Oltréé
30:39 - Origins: First Builders
31:55 - Overhyped games?
32:26 - Terraforming Mars
33:45 - Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition
34:15 - Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
35:05 - Lorenzo il Magnifico
36:54 - Great Western Trail
38:25 - Race for the Galaxy
40:41 - Convention plans?
41:01 - AwSHUX: BGB & Shut Up & Sit Down draft!
45:47 - Mark's Vegas gaming?
46:30 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game
51:44 - Squid Game?
Check out Neilan on the Boards Alive podcast:
https://boardsalivepodcast.com/2021/10/17
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We're always excited for a new Eric Lang game, which makes him an obvious candidate for the absolutely-not-called BGB DOG - our series where we deep dive into a designer's .... designography. He's made a lot of our favourite area control games, and had his hand in some games we might not have even realized. Before we bang on about this Lang mang, we talk about What's Missing?, Polynesia, and TEN.
02:41 - What's Missing?
07:50 - Polynesia
17:47 - Ten
25:10 - PAX Unplugged
25:45 - Ghost Turkey 2021
28:45 - Eric Lang
31:30 - Mystick
32:05 - Dragon Ball Z: Majin Buu Saga
33:04 - Midgard
34:54 - Chaos in the Old World
39:58 - Quarriors!
41:48 - Dice Masters
42:20 - Blood Rage
45:47 - XCOM: The Board Game
48:13 - Duelyst
49:40 - Rising Sun
50:39 - Cthulhu: Death May Die
52:19 - Ankh: Gods of Egypt
54:32 - Marvel United
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Convention season in the new world continues, and this time it's Germany's turn, with Essen SPIEL just days away from kicking off. But tanks, you say, I don't sprechen Deutsch. We've got you. We're going to highlight all the games that we think you ought to be paying attention to, no German necessary. Before we spend our Euros, we talk about Praga Caput Regni, Skulk Hollow, and Beez.
01:40 - Praga Caput Regni
11:51 - Skulk Hollow
18:17 - Beez
25:51 - Fantasy Draft Winner!
27:58 - Essen SPIEL 2021 Preview
28:32 - Dreadful Circus
30:17 - Star Fighters: Rapid Fire
32:16 - 1923 Cotton Club
34:52 - Catapult Kingdoms
36:21 - The Siege of Runedar
37:57 - Magellan: Elcano
39:59 - Squaring Circleville
41:37 - Bitoku
43:33 - What's Missing: Purple Version
47:00 - Imperial Steam
48:38 - Heuschrecken Poker
52:02 - Eriantys
53:20 - Hippocrates
54:46 - Mobile Markets: A Smartphone Inc. Game
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There is one unenviable truth of board game ownership that we're forced to contend with - they occupy space. We've each had to wrestle with this reality in different ways recently, so we offer our thoughts on the awkwardness of sharing a physical world with our board games. Before we merely exist, we talk about Riftforce, Kabuto Sumo, and Whirling Witchcraft.
02:23 - Riftforce
11:38 - Kabuto Sumo
19:41 - Whirling Witchcraft
23:25 - Bullet♥︎
23:45 - Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne
29:37 - So Very Wrong About Games charity fundraiser
30:05 - Ghost Turkey 2021
31:49 - Board games occupying space
45:28 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
48:06 - Inis
48:47 - Scythe
49:06 - Splendor
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A new list of a hundred games to draft, and it only gets harder and harder. We're each picking a standalone collection of five games in a snake draft format. And the best part is you could win $50 just by voting on your favourite collection! Before we get to clubbing, we talk about Regicide, Dice Miner, and Let's Make a Bus Route, and SCOUT!
02:06 - Regicide
08:34 - Dice Miner
16:55 - Let's Make a Bus Route
16:55 - Get on Board: New York & London
18:56 - SCOUT!
22:42 - Drafting BGG's #301-400
25:18 - Biblios
26:56 - Innovation
28:18 - Monikers
29:20 - The Great Zimbabwe
30:42 - Ginkgopolis
33:34 - For Sale
35:24 - Nusfjord
37:45 - Bunny Kingdom
39:18 - Chinatown
39:38 - Twice as Clever!
41:17 - Macao
43:03 - Lancaster
45:05 - Obsession
48:23 - Lost Cities
50:36 - Gùgōng
See Badgers from Mars' statement on TGG Games:
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2723017/badgers-mars-and-tgg-games
Check out Mark playing Dice Miner on GameNight!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CouxIvYzh-s
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While one of the appeals of following a specific game designer is the comforting familiarity of what they do best, it’s also really fun to see them go off the garden path. We’re looking at games and mechanics where one of our beloved designers zigged, when they easily could’ve zagged. Before we go our own way, we talk about Biosphere, The Ratcatcher: The Solo Adventure Game, and Stephenson’s Rocket.
Timecodes:
01:46 – Biosphere
10:58 – The Ratcatcher: The Solo Adventure Game
19:10 – Stephenson’s Rocket
30:51 – Neilan’s at Gen Con!
31:42 – Designers “Zigging”
33:03 – Codenames
33:07 – Pictomania
35:25 – El Grande
35:36 – 6 nimmt!
37:25 – Blood of the Northmen
37:54 – Strasbourg
38:25 – FlowerFall
40:37 – Kitchen Rush
42:19 – Mercado de Lisboa
43:02 – Age of Steam Expansion: Portugal
46:51 – XCOM: The Board Game
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One of the things we love to do, especially if we're playing a game for the first time, is analyse it while we're playing. We're sure this totally isn't annoying for those around us. In particular, we love picking apart little mechanical choices, imagining what the designer's thought process was, and wondering "why is that like that?" Before we get to speculating, we talk about Divinity Derby, Mexica, and Strasbourg.
03:28 - Divinity Derby
11:54 - Hab & Gut
13:22 - Mexica
19:06 - Strasbourg
24:35 - Taj Mahal
30:38 - Why is that mechanic like that?
33:28 - Risk
33:39 - Kemet
34:58 - Scythe
38:57 - Circadians: Chaos Order
39:57 - Tinner's Trail
41:22 - Ankh: Gods of Egypt
42:58 - Rocketmen
45:09 - The Oracle of Delphi
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We love Uwe Rosenberg around these parts, whether it's because of our infatuation with polyominoes, the need to keep workers fed, or the strange mechanisms of animal breeding. Join us down the (cottage) garden path of his designography, and make sure to plant some vegetables along the way. Before we get agricultural, we talk about Bosk, Spies & Lies: A Stratego Story, and Glen More II: Chronicles.
00:58 - Bosk
07:57 - Spies & Lies: A Stratego Story
12:37 - Love Letter
15:21 - Glen More II: Chronicles
24:52 - BGG 201-300 Fantasy Draft Winner
27:49 - Strategicon
29:01 - Uwe Rosenberg
29:56 - Bohnanza
33:58 - Agricola
37:19 - Le Havre
39:34 - At the Gates of Loyang
40:58 - A Feast for Odin
41:20 - Patchwork
46:45 - Caverna: The Cave Farmers
47:34 - Nova Luna
49:36 - Hallertau
53:59 - Mamma Mia!
54:28 - Nusfjord
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Sometimes, if you want a game bad enough, you're willing to go to absurd lengths to acquire it. Whether it's because it's out of print, or just hard to come by, we've all put more effort than we should've into finding or playing specific games. We tell our stories of just how far we've gone. Before we secure the bag, we talk about Tinner's Trail, and The Night Cage.
01:10 - Tinner's Trail
08:13 - The Night Cage
17:31 - Games you've gone out of your way for
18:39 - Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
23:36 - World of Warcraft: The Boardgame
27:06 - Discworld: Ankh-Morpork
27:57 - Dead of Winter
29:16 - Ugg-Tect
32:26 - HeroQuest
33:55 - Warhammer
35:38 - Watch the Skies
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We're back with another fantasy draft, as we keep on moving down the BoardGameGeek top games list. If you're not familiar, we're each picking a standalone collection of five games before our picks get stolen out from under us. Want to win a $50 gift card? You've got to vote on whose collection is best! Before we get the knives out, we talk about Raiders of Scythia, and Ankh: Gods of Egypt.
02:01 - Raiders of Scythia
02:18 - Raiders of the North Sea
08:56 - Ankh: Gods of Egypt
29:09 - Drafting BGG's #201-300
32:58 - 1830: Railways & Robber Barons
34:52 - Flamme Rouge
36:51 - Beyond the Sun
37:59 - Cthulhu Wars
39:14 - Modern Art
39:27 - Glory to Rome
41:35 - Dune
42:49 - Imperial 2030
43:36 - The Resistance
44:35 - Arboretum
45:47 - Hive
46:47 - Glen More II: Chronicles
48:20 - Dwellings of Eldervale
49:35 - Dixit
51:23 - Burgle Bros
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We all have types of games that, for whatever reason, we steer clear of. Often all that we've been missing is a more suitable introduction to the genre, or a game that's just enough of an outlier. This week, we try to tempt you toward genres that you might have written off, with the games that may just sway you. Before we change your minds, we talk about Pocket Galapagos, Cascadia, and Bites.
01:36 - Pocket Galapagos
08:57 - Cascadia
12:53 - Bites
18:34 - Games that'll turn you around
20:19 - Battle for Rokugan
23:54 - The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine
26:54 - Smartphone Inc.
30:53 - Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends
33:23 - Santorini
35:13 - Snakesss
38:49 - Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne
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It's board games for dinner, but we're not just throwing whatever we could find on your plate. No, we've got menus. We lay out our ideas for a four course board game meal, complete with appetizer, amuse-bouche, entrée and dessert, in a fun little exercise suggested by a listener. Before we meal plan, we talk about Sequoia, The Mind Extreme, and MicroMacro: Crime City.
04:31 - Sequoia
10:07 - The Mind Extreme
13:36 - MicroMacro: Crime City
21:59 - Draft winner!
23:43 - Four course board game meals
24:12 - Christina's menu
25:26 - Happy Salmon
27:57 - Deep Sea Adventure
29:41 - The Quest for El Dorado
31:54 - True Colors
33:01 - Mark's menu
34:11 - Biblios
35:43 - The Estates
38:12 - Rising Sun
30:42 - A Fake Artist Goes to New York
41:35 - Neilan's menu
42:02 - Paku Paku
43:58 - Kitchen Rush
45:05 - A Feast for Odin
47:11 - Avenue
48:23 - Kellen's menu
48:55 - Auf Teufel komm raus
50:29 - Keyflower
51:57 - 6 nimmt!
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Board game science is a delicate process, but thankfully BOB's here to help, in another BGB Battle of Board (Games)! This week, we're pitting our favourite science fiction themed games against each other. That's fifteen sci fi games, which we'll put in a fact based ordered list, ready to submit to the journal of your choice. Before we pollute space, we talk about Riverboat, Bug Council of Backyardia, and Rocketmen.
04:02 - Riverboat
10:05 - Bug Council of Backyardia
16:37 - Rocketmen
23:17 - BGBBOB: Science fiction games
24:57 - Eclipse
26:02 - Anachrony
28:18 - Quantum
29:19 - Forbidden Stars
32:03 - Beyond the Sun
32:48 - Imperial 2030
36:09 - Sol: Last Days of a Star
36:59 - Space Alert
38:55 - Dune
40:20 - Nemesis
42:34 - Gaia Project
43:35 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
45:30 - Race for the Galaxy
46:26 - Android: Netrunner
49:03 - Cosmic Encounter
1:04:28 - The final list
Keep an eye on Bug Council of Backyardia's Kickstarter here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/engrogames/bug-council-of-backyardia
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Martin Wallace, titan of industry, man of steam and brass. He's made a lot of games, often involving trains, but sometimes also Cthulhu. We do a deep dive into the prolific designer's catalogue, in the next in the series that Mark (and nobody else) is calling BGB DOG. Before we put him in our pocket, we talk about Throne and the Grail, Race for the Galaxy, Dinogenics, and On Mars.
02:21 - Throne and the Grail
05:56 - Race for the Galaxy
09:19 - Lost Ruins of Arnak
11:19 - DinoGenics
18:19 - On Mars
26:44 - Martin Wallace
32:17 - Brass: Lancashire
34:29 - Brass: Birmingham
37:44 - Railways of the World
42:15 - Via Nebula
44:15 - Wildlands
45:58 - Age of Industry
46:51 - Nanty Narking
46:51 - Discworld: Ankh-Morpork
51:36 - A Study in Emerald (Second Edition)
53:43 - Hit Z Road
54:55 - Anno 1800
56:10 - Liberté
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If you thought the Euro 2020 final was tense, wait until you listen to this episode. The next match in the world's most anticipated series is now here, as we continue down the BoardGameGeek top games list, drafting a collection of five games. Whose do you think is best? Vote to stand a chance to win a $50 gift card! Before we make like snakes, we talk about Chinatown, Curious Cargo, and Mercado de Lisboa.
02:14 - Chinatown
10:00 - Curious Cargo
16:44 - Mercado de Lisboa
24:45 - Drafting BGG's #101-200
28:32 - Hansa Teutonica
30:34 - Inis
31:56 - Cosmic Encounter
32:30 - Splendor
34:41 - Pandemic
37:20 - Kemet
39:37 - Ra
41:36 - Age of Steam
44:59 - Chaos in the Old World
46:15 - Dominion
47:24 - Res Arcana
50:01 - Yokohama
51:12 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
53:44 - Vinhos Deluxe Edition
57:02 - The Resistance: Avalon
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Look, we know, we don't exactly help matters, but this hobby can be expensive. So, to make up for fueling your FOMO, we're gonna lay out some of the ways that we consciously try to curb our board game spending, while still keeping up with the zeitgeist. Before we balance our budget, we talk about Summer Camp, Wildlands, and Rome & Roll.
05:11 - Summer Camp
09:55 - The Quest for El Dorado
11:06 - Dominion
12:38 - Wildlands
21:12 - Rome & Roll
33:51 - Curbing board game spending
42:00 - Carnegie
43:03 - Gizmos
49:11 - Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile
49:49 - Stationfall
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We often talk about the burden of rules, and how in some of our favourite games, they just get out of the way. But when is that burden worthwhile; what makes the price of a heavy rules overhead worth paying? Before we maximize our returns, we talk about Crash Octopus, Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition, Imperium: Classics, and Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile.
02:54 - Crash Octopus
08:33 - Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition
18:47 - Imperium: Classics
30:41 - Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile
40:44 - Return on rules investment
43:15 - Dune
44:17 - Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game
44:50 - Gloomhaven
45:29 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
48:15 - Pax Renaissance
49:50 - Roads & Boats
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Sometimes it's best not to know, right? You've just played a game, and you liked it a lot, but you're not quite surewhether that faction is quite balanced, or the designers accounted for that winning strategy. Should you find out? Or is it better just to enjoy the game on its own merits? Before we disobey our thirst for knowledge, we talk about Genoa, Durian, The Search for Planet X, and Pavlov's House.
02:04 - Genoa
05:50 - Durian
10:52 - The Search for Planet X
20:57 - Pavlov's House
27:35 - Draft winners
31:30 - Pre/post-game research
33:17 - Splendor
35:30 - Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun
39:00 - Cthulhu Wars: Duel
39:46 - Chaos in the Old World
40:12 - Root
45:33 - Hallertau
46:39 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
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Because making board games is hard, it's not enough just to have some solid mechanics - the best games have a production that coheres with the design. We look at some examples of games where production considerations (or lack thereof) have helped or hurt how they play. Before we executively produce, we talk about The King is Dead: Second Edition, Equinox, and Enchanted Plumes.
01:48 - The King is Dead: Second Edition
10:15 - Colossal Arena
10:15 - Equinox
22:06 - Enchanted Plumes
32:40 - Production and design
34:33 - Bunny Kingdom
35:35 - Smartphone Inc.
36:40 - A Study in Emerald (Second Edition)
37:50 - Railroad Ink
42:30 - Nidavellir
44:45 - Mountain Goats
46:26 - Red Rising
47:58 - Scythe
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Mark's trying to get us all into something he calls "sports", so as a compromise, we're doing a fantasy board game draft! We're going to pick games from the BoardGameGeek Top 100, until we each have five. Then YOU get to vote on whose draft is best, for a chance to win $50! Before we play to the crowds, we talk about Azul: Summer Pavilion, Roads & Boats, Ruthless, and Cthulhu: Death May Die.
02:09 - Azul: Summer Pavilion
11:33 - Roads & Boats
22:33 - Ruthless
29:53 - Cthulhu: Death May Die
32:46 - Drafting the BGG Top 100
34:58 - Brass: Birmingham
37:03 - Gloomhaven
39:20 - Spirit Island
40:20 - Pax Pamir: Second Edition
41:22 - Scythe
43:11 - Root
43:47 - Codenames
44:56 - Concordia
46:55 - Wingspan
47:20 - El Grande
49:05 - Gaia Project
51:40 - Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition
52:28 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game
55:14 - Clank!
56:53 - A Feast for Odin
Check out the campaign for Ruthless:
https://www.ruthless-game.com
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We've got a couple of quick questions from listeners that we thought made for some fun talking points. We're trying to figure out what the board game equivalent of black licorice is, and Before rustle in the mailbag, we talk about Trekking the World, Inkling, My City, and Ruination.
01:37 - Trekking the World
11:26 - Inkling
20:08 - My City
22:31 - Ruination
33:52 - Kemet
38:55 - Black licorice games
40:42 - Archipelago
41:12 - Safranito
42:23 - Millennium Blades
43:00 - True Colors
43:38 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
44:25 - Light summer games
45:16 - Splendor
46:13 - The Quest for El Dorado
47:23 - Race for the Galaxy
48:28 - Santa Monica
48:43 - Mountain Goats
49:40 - The Resistance
50:17 - Fuji Flush
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As longstanding experts on being cute, we thought we'd finally bring both of our fields of expertise to bear on one topic. It's a return to the classic top five list, and we're counting down the cutest goshdarn board games we can think of. Before things get kawaii, we talk about Nations, Mountain Goats, and Brew.
02:34 - Nations
11:54 - Mountain Goats
17:11 - Brew
29:01 - Top 5 cutest games
30:31 - Calico
32:41 - Seasons
34:50 - Battle Sheep
36:01 - Takenoko
37:06 - Camel Up
37:49 - Mountain Goats
38:24 - Patchwork
40:04 - Walk the Dogs
41:36 - Startups
43:15 - Echidna Shuffle
45:08 - Sushi Go!
46:59 - Yura Yura Penguin
49:02 - New York Zoo
50:15 - Poseidon’s Kingdom
52:07 - Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small
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We played a double feature of legacy games for Cinco de Ocho Dos, which got us thinking about how our thoughts on legacy mechanics might have changed since the heady days of young Board Game Barrage. Before we open that box, we talk about Bonfire, Nidavellir, and The King's Dilemma.
02:07 - Bonfire
10:02 - Nidavellir
18:58 - The King's Dilemma
33:34 - Legacy games
34:03 - Risk Legacy
34:50 - Charterstone
40:19 - My City
47:30 - Gloomhaven
51:42 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
52:48 - Scythe: The Rise of Fenris
54:10 - Bunker, Battlefield, or Blown Away
54:38 - Zoned Out
55:00 - Bronze Age
55:29 - Santorini
55:45 - Mini Express
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We talk about so many good games on this podcast, that it might seem like there aren't enough bad games to balance it out. There's a good reason we don't often play or talk about them, but maybe every so often we ought to. Before we break bad, we talk about Scape Goat, Bunny Kingdom, Bullet♥, and Four Gardens.
02:12 - Scape Goat
08:29 - Bunny Kingdom
11:13 - Bullet♥
13:53 - Four Gardens
20:49 - Bad games
22:01 - Trivial Pursuit
29:00 - Spicy
29:50 - Cards Against Humanity
30:55 - True Colors
32:37 - Betrayal at House on the Hill
35:11 - Money Bags
37:11 - Pucket
37:54 - Connect 4 Launchers
38:27 - Mord im Arosa
39:00 - Magical Athlete
40:34 - Panic Station
41:21 - Mascarade
41:41 - Bunker, Battlefield, or Blown Away!
42:36 - The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine
43:46 - Solo
44:06 - Renegade
44:42 - Horrified
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After last week's love-fest made us all uncomfortable, we had to get back to what do best, spirited in-fighting. To that end, we've devised three debates around the same core: is that often criticized mechanic a design problem, or a player problem? Before we pit designers against players, we talk about Red Rising, Via Magica, and Alma Mater.
00:48 - Golden Geek Awards
04:36 - Red Rising
14:21 - Rise of Augustus
14:53 - Via Magica
20:17 - Alma Mater
29:36 - Board Game Barrage Wiki!
32:26 - Design problem or player problem?
33:11 - Player elimination
36:47 - Skull
37:55 - Secret Hitler
38:29 - Food Chain Magnate
40:33 - Diplomacy
43:40 - Alpha gamers
46:34 - Spirit Island
47:00 - Pandemic
51:31 - Kingmaking
55:50 - Rising Sun
57:04 - Cthulhu Wars
57:42 - Inis
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We had so many fun ideas for this week that we couldn't settle on just one! It's always great getting topic suggestions from our listeners, but not all of them can make a full episode, so we figured we'd work through some of them here. Keep sending them in! Before we spice our lives with variety, we talk about Jekyll vs. Hyde, Seikatsu, and Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road.
01:28 - Golden Geek Awards
03:55 - AwSHUX
05:57 - Jekyll vs. Hyde
14:32 - Seikatsu
21:37 - Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road
29:54 - The first game we'll play together
31:06 - Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy
33:36 - My City
35:23 - The King's Dilemma
37:22 - Ruination
41:07 - Board games we appreciate but hate
41:25 - The Estates
43:28 - Captain Sonar
45:05 - Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
47:20 - Cosmic Encounter
49:39 - Why we love gaming with each other
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We love Friedemann Friese, so much so that we're devoting a whole episode to the green-haired designer - a comprehensive look back at his contribution to the hobby, and how we've gotten on with his games over the years. If you've never played one of his games, let us help correct that. Before we give the fantastic fellow our full focus, we talk about Kubb, Pictures, and The Field of the Cloth of Gold.
03:20 - Kubb
08:20 - Pictures
16:12 - The Field of the Cloth of Gold
23:39 - Golden Geek Awards
25:24 - Board Game Barrage vs. Shut Up & Sit Down!
27:44 - Friedemann Friese
29:17 - Power Grid
36:21 - Copycat
37:11 - 504
38:43 - Fearsome Floors
39:43 - Fauna
41:22 - Friday
42:03 - Fabled Fruit
43:41 - Fast Sloths
44:27 - Fresh Fish
45:46 - Finished!
46:20 - Funny Friends
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We're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and with the exciting possibility of actually being able to play games together again, we cast our minds forward to all the wonderful games yet to arrive in 2021. Did I mention it's a BGBBOB? Before we look ahead (never back), we talk about Clever Cubed, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, and Keyper.
02:29 - Clever Cubed
10:22 - Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
19:16 - Keyper
26:40 - 300 by 4/11!
28:39 - Golden Geek Award Nominations
29:31 - Most Anticipated Games of 2021
31:02 - Perseverance: Castaway Chronicles
32:03 - Furnace
35:13 - Weather Machine
36:07 - Coffee Traders
38:54 - Brazil: Imperial
40:24 - Arkwright: The Card Game
42:18 - LAMA Dice
43:11 - Oathsworn: Into the Deep Wood
45:22 - Kabuto Sumo
46:31 - Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile
49:35 - Darwin's Journey
50:24 - Skyrise
53:19 - Guards of Atlantis II
53:59 - Ankh: Gods of Egypt
56:54 - Dokojong
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Dan Hughes from Sporadically Board joins us to flip the podcast on its head. Now that we've spent a hundred and sixty seven episodes raving about board games, it's only fair that we discuss all the reasons they suck. Before we turn heel, we talk about Blackout: Hong Kong, Royal Visit, Marvel Champions: The Card Game, and Deckscape: Test Time.
03:34 - Introducing the Pigeon Blood Tank!
05:38 - Blackout: Hong Kong
10:56 - Royal Visit
14:51 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game
22:03 - Deckscape: Test Time
27:25 - Why Board Games Suck
28:50 - Gandhi: The Decolonization of British India, 1917 – 1947
30:38 - Lisboa
31:54 - A Feast for Odin
36:03 - CoraQuest
37:04 - Trial by Trolley
50:00 - Mythic Battles: Pantheon
1:02:33 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game
Check out Dan's board game CoraQuest:
https://www.coraquest.com
Check out Dan's podcast Sporadically Board:
https://www.dicetower.com/game-podcast/sporadically-board
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As important as it is to talk about that which we have received, so must we mark the loss of the games whose time has passed. Board games leave our collections for many reasons, so we're going to revisit the ones that found better homes in the past year. Before we press F, we talk about Long Shot: The Dice Game, Hallertau, and Welcome to New Las Vegas.
02:43 - Long Shot: The Dice Game
09:30 - Hallertau
20:04 - Welcome to New Las Vegas
28:43 - Games We've Recently Let Go
29:34 - Res Arcana
30:20 - Seasons
31:58 - War Chest
33:04 - Oaxaca: Crafts of a Culture
33:35 - Kingdom Builder
35:11 - Pendulum
37:44 - Nētā-Tanka
38:00 - Nevada City
38:33 - The Magnificent
41:05 - Ethnos
41:24 - Crokinole
42:49 - El Grande
45:00 - Imperial Struggle
45:53 - Iwari
48:41 - Through the Desert
49:25 - Lords of Hellas
50:27 - Troyes
51:11 - Watergate
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Design often builds heavily on what has come before, but some designers, have made an art of iteration, taking their own beloved designs, and frequently reinventing them in new ways. We dig into this practice of extremely iterative design, and how it fits into an industry hungry for fresh ideas. Before we do it again, we talk about Dirge: The Rust Wars, Electropolis, Vinhos Deluxe Edition, Architects of the West Kingdom, and Sagani.
01:34 - Dirge: The Rust Wars
09:23 - Electropolis
10:28 - Vinhos Deluxe Edition
12:15 - Architects of the West Kingdom
21:39 - Sagani
24:55 - Nova Luna
33:06 - Iterative Games
34:44 - Azul
37:11 - The Game
41:43 - Indian Summer
42:46 - Zombicide
43:52 - Marco Polo II: In the Service of the Khan
44:33 - Babylonia
45:50 - Yellow & Yangtze
47:04 - Caylus 1303
48:18 - Brass: Birmingham
52:07 - Strat-O-Matic Baseball
53:20 - Guards of Atlantis
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There are two good ways to create engagement in a board game: One is to let the player feel like they're achieving something constantly, the other is to keep them feeling like any wrong move could tank their game. We're dubbing this the "thriving to barely surviving" spectrum, but first, we need to figure out where some of our favourite games fit on it. Before we surthrive, we talk about Carnegie, Divvy Dice, and Underwater Cities.
03:56 - Carnegie
13:11 - Divvy Dice
20:56 - Underwater Cities
24:26 - Terraforming Mars
32:23 - The "Thriving to Barely Surviving" Spectrum
33:10 - Agricola
33:43 - A Feast for Odin
37:34 - Troyes
42:12 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
43:03 - Scythe
43:55 - Tapestry
45:20 - In the Year of the Dragon
45:52 - Macao
46:43 - The Castles of Burgundy
47:41 - Bruges
48:02 - The Oracle of Delphi
49:00 - Splendor
49:55 - Root
51:36 - Food Chain Magnate
55:12 - The Estates
56:00 - Biblios
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It's getting a bit too comfortable around here. Time to put stones in our shoes, tighten our belts, and get out of our comfort zones. We talk about the times that we've found ourselves in unfamiliar or uncomfortable gaming situations, and what we learned about ourselves in the process. Before we unfluff our pillows, we talk about Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation, Reavers of Midgard, and Paleo.
02:01 - Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation
13:50 - War of the Ring: Second Edition
15:20 - Reavers of Midgard
23:37 - Paleo
31:13 - Friday
34:23 - Leaving Our Comfort Zones
35:05 - Thornwatch
37:55 - Blood Rage
41:22 - Megagames
50:33 - Twilight Struggle
54:16 - Under Falling Skies
56:17 - Fiasco
1:00:50 - War Games
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Wow! We asked for your top twenty lists, and boy did you deliver. We've crunched the numbers on the hundreds of submissions, and created what we think is the definitive list of BGB listeners' favourite board games. Now let us tell you how we think you did. Before we outsource our work, we talk about Santa Monica, Steam Works, and Cthulhu: Death May Die.
02:09 - Santa Monica
08:05 - Steam Works
15:25 - Cthulhu: Death May Die
24:06 - BGB Listener Top 20
27:18 - Viticulture
29:34 - Everdell
31:17 - Orléans
32:09 - Pax Pamir: Second Edition
33:20 - A Feast for Odin
34:24 - Terra Mystica
36:00 - Race for the Galaxy
37:13 - Food Chain Magnate
38:36 - Codenames
39:35 - Cosmic Encounter
40:48 - Inis
41:36 - Terraforming Mars
42:54 - Innovation
44:12 - Root
45:20 - Gloomhaven
46:30 - Great Western Trail
47:40 - Spirit Island
48:33 - Brass: Birmingham
49:19 - The Castles of Burgundy
50:25 - Concordia
Join the discussion at:
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We're seeing a lot more versions of games that are X: The Dice Game or Y: The Card Game. These are (usually) simplified takes on beloved classics, but often end up changing the feel of the game dramatically. We discuss when we think this formula works, and when it really doesn't. Before we cast the die, we talk about Gods Love Dinosaurs, Nanga Parbat, and Ra: The Dice Game.
03:37 - Gods Love Dinosaurs
09:50 - Nanga Parbat
18:22 - Ra: The Dice Game
23:17 - Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun
24:33 - Ra
27:13 - One Night Ultimate Werewolf
28:30 - Dice and card game spinoffs
32:46 - Troyes
32:46 - Tournay
33:17 - Troyes Dice
35:44 - Biblios Dice
36:46 - Zooloretto: The Dice Game
39:10 - Camel Up Cards
41:55 - Istanbul: The Dice Game
42:54 - Roll for the Galaxy
45:55 - Azul
46:41 - Gùgōng
48:40 - The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine
49:33 - No Thanks
50:01 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
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Sometimes all it takes is a good designer (and the right game) to take what would otherwise be a mechanic we don't like, and utilize it in a way that feels right. We take a look at some mechanics that we usually don't love, and the games that turned us around on them. Before we see things in a new light, we talk about CloudAge, Mariposas, and Faiyum.
03:04 - CloudAge
12:37 - Mariposas
18:01 - Faiyum
28:27 - Games that rescued a mechanism
28:40 - Performative Clues
29:05 - Time's Up
31:29 - On a Scale of One to T-Rex
32:19 - Action Points
32:52 - Flash Point: Fire Rescue
34:00 - Blood Rage
37:18 - Hidden Movement
37:18 - Nuns on the Run
37:45 - Specter Ops
38:35 - Scotland Yard
42:16 - Card Drafting
42:25 - Agricola
42:46 - 7 Wonders
43:53 - Paper Tales
44:25 - Inis
47:22 - Player Elimination
47:22 - Werewolf
47:40 - Shadow Hunters
48:09 - Secret Hitler
49:15 - Blood on the Clocktower
50:50 - "The Dice Game"
52:00 - For the King (and Me)
52:41 - Ra: The Dice Game
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Look, when we made those resolutions in episode 105, how were we to know? The world exploded, and here we are, one year later, sheepishly looking back on the goals we set. But we're not beaten yet, we cast our minds forward (always forward, never back) and set our sights on our resolutions for 2021. Before we make promises we definitely will keep, we talk about Sprawlopolis, Bandada, and Terramara.
02:15 - Sprawlopolis
09:06 - Bandada
13:53 - Terramara
23:51 - Revisiting 2020's Resolutions
27:09 - 2021 Resolutions
31:05 - Cthulhu Wars
36:14 - Anachrony: Infinity Box
37:29 - Import/Export
38:31 - Carnegie
40:05 - Rising Sun
40:52 - Tainted Grail
44:44 - Board Game Barrage Facebook Group!
45:44 - War of the Ring: Second Edition
46:42 - Red Rising
Visit our new Facebook group at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook
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Check out the Kickstarter for Bandada:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bandada/bandada
Join the discussion at:
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We've been doing it a lot lately, so we thought we'd reflect on the ways that we evaluate our favourite games. How do you even begin to compare extremely dissimilar games, some party, some strategy? The process of making and ordering our lists is a fun challenge every year, and one we'd recommend you try too! Before we make hard choices, we talk about Medici: The Dice Game, The Gallerist, and Iberian Gauge.
02:20 - Medici: The Dice Game
09:08 - The Gallerist
14:55 - Iberian Gauge
22:26 - How We Choose Favourites
26:02 - Tigris & Euphrates
28:04 - Power Grid
28:04 - Fresh Fish
32:53 - Telestrations
34:52 - Crokinole
36:28 - The Resistance
37:58 - Nanty Narking
39:22 - The King's Dilemma
40:04 - Beyond the Sun
41:33 - Eclipse
42:18 - CoraQuest
43:52 - CloudAge
44:21 - Board Game Barrage T-Shirts!
45:22 - Listener Top 20 Submissions!
Submit your top 20 games at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/top20
Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/store
Check out the Kickstarter for CoraQuest:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cabbagedan/coraquest
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
It's the big one! We've come at last to the grand finale of the Board Game Barrage Top 50 Games of All Time ... Top. Ten. Baby. These are our absolute favourite games, forty (thirty?) all together, that we'd just about never turn down a game of. Thanks for joining us on this ride, it's been wild.
09:36 - Christina #10 - I'm the Boss!
12:34 - Kellen #10 - Cosmic Encounter
15:18 - Mark #10 - El Grande
15:36 - Neilan #10 - Codenames
18:09 - Christina #9 - Twice as Clever!
20:48 - Kellen #9 - Coloretto
23:56 - Mark #9 - Time's Up! Title Recall!
24:20 - Neilan #9 - Pictomania
28:46 - Christina #8 - Blood Rage
33:38 - Kellen #8 - The Resistance
33:50 - Mark #8 - 1830: Railways & Robber Barons
35:58 - Neilan #8 - Guards of Atlantis
39:14 - Christina #7 - The Voyages of Marco Polo
42:28 - Kellen #7 - Inis
50:25 - Mark #7 - Brass: Lancashire
53:44 - Neilan #7 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
55:36 - Christina #6 - Troyes
55:45 - Kellen #6 - El Grande
55:57 - Mark #6 - The Estates
59:51 - Neilan #6 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
01:05:38 - Christina #5 - Archipelago
01:06:10 - Kellen #5 - Time's Up! Title Recall!
01:06:19 - Mark #5 - Fresh Fish
01:10:24 - Neilan #5 - Time's Up! Title Recall!
01:10:36 - Christina #4 - El Grande
01:16:56 - Kellen #4 - Troyes
01:21:56 - Mark #4 - Hansa Teutonica
01:24:49 - Neilan #4 - Gloomhaven
01:29:37 - Christina #3 - Cthulhu Wars
01:29:37 - Kellen #3 - Cthulhu Wars
01:35:10 - Mark #3 - Caylus 1303
01:38:56 - Neilan #3 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
01:44:00 - Christina #2 - Time's Up! Title Recall!
01:47:55 - Kellen #2 - Archipelago
01:53:31 - Mark #2 - Arboretum
01:56:22 - Neilan #2 - The Resistance
02:03:01 - Christina #1 - Innovation
02:03:01 - Kellen #1 - Innovation
02:10:20 - Mark #1 - Biblios
02:12:54 - Neilan #1 - A Feast for Odin
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
We're moving into the terrible teens of the Board Game Barrage Top 50 Games of All Time. I learned all I know about American teenagers from TV, so I assume this is where all the sex and drugs come in. Let's get to it then, forty (roughly) more games that we simply adore. As the list goes on, they only get better and better. That is, after all, the premise.
01:46 - Kellen #29 (Correction) - A Fake Artist Goes to New York
05:01 - Kellen #20 - Ingenious
08:06 - Mark #20 - Cthulhu Wars
11:27 - Neilan #20 - Blue Lagoon
15:01 - Christina #20 - Food Chain Magnate
18:47 - Kellen #19 - Genoa
23:26 - Mark #19 - Archipelago
25:53 - Neilan #19 - Dominion
28:51 - Christina #19 - Taj Mahal
32:32 - Kellen #18 - I'm the Boss!
36:33 - Mark #18 - Tigris & Euphrates
28:55 - Neilan #18 - Taj Mahal
39:44 - Christina #18 - Mezo
45:23 - Kellen #17 - The Game
47:16 - Mark #17 - Dominant Species
49:48 - Neilan #17 - Alchemists
52:31 - Christina #17 - Babylonia
56:50 - Kellen #16 - Telestrations
59:08 - Mark #16 - 1846: The Race for the Midwest
01:00:56 - Neilan #16 - Rising Sun
01:04:59 - Christina #16 - Castles of Burgundy
01:08:30 - Kellen #15 - Decrypto
01:11:43 - Mark #15 - Barrage
01:14:26 - Neilan #15 - Exit: The Game
01:16:30 - Christina #15 - The Quest for El Dorado
01:18:05 - Kellen #14 - Omen: A Reign of War
01:20:07 - Mark #14 - Lancaster
01:21:53 - Neilan #14 - Inis
01:25:31 - Christina #14 - Hanabi
01:27:10 - Kellen #13 - Glory to Rome
01:29:43 - Mark #13 - True Colors
01:31:26 - Neilan #13 - Watson & Holmes
01:33:19 - Christina #13 - SiXeS
01:35:12 - Kellen #12 - Hansa Teutonica
01:36:33 - Mark #12 - Francis Drake
01:38:23 - Neilan #12 - Cthulhu Wars
01:39:36 - Christina #12 - Telestrations
01:39:57 - Kellen #11 - Diplomacy
01:42:19 - Mark #11 - Bus
01:43:54 - Neilan #11 - Scythe
01:45:37 - Christina #11 - Kemet
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
It's the dark middle chapter of the Board Game Barrage Top 50 Games of All Time. Time to call in a new director, change things up, and get subversive. Well, if there were any directors who'd still work with us. This week, we're barreling through our twenties in what we like to call reverse numerical order. Here's forty (odd) more games that we absolutely adore, and hope you will too.
02:45 - Mark #30 - Container
05:38 - Neilan #30 - Azul
05:46 - Christina #30 - Azul
08:54 - Kellen #30 - Zendo
11:42 - Mark #29 - Age of Steam
13:37 - Neilan #29 - Coloretto
15:12 - Christina #29 - Beyond the Sun
20:03 - Kellen #29 - Hanabi
22:52 - Mark #28 - Pax Renaissance
25:20 - Neilan #28 - Archipelago
28:03 - Christina #28 - Hansa Teutonica
30:02 - Kellen #28 - Krass Kariert/Dealt
32:50 - Mark #27 - Maracaibo
35:46 - Neilan #27 - Twice as Clever!
39:05 - Christina #27 - Glory to Rome
41:41 - Kellen #27 - Taj Mahal
44:49 - Mark #26 - City of the Big Shoulders
47:25 - Neilan #26 - Werewords
49:22 - Christina #26 - Modern Art
51:02 - Kellen #26 - Startups
53:19 - Mark #25 - The Great Zimbabwe
55:06 - Neilan #25 - Aeon’s End
56:21 - Christina #25 - Chaos in the Old World
59:23 - Kellen #25 - Keyflower
01:01:57 - Mark #24 - Pax Pamir: Second Edition
01:03:38 - Neilan #24 - Spirit Island
01:05:30 - Christina #24 - Rumble Nation
01:07:33 - Kellen #24 - A Study in Emerald (Second Edition)
01:09:22 - Mark #23 - Glory to Rome
01:09:58 - Neilan #23 - The Quest for El Dorado
01:13:18 - Christina #23 - The Crew
01:14:40 - Kellen #23 - Codenames
01:15:58 - Mark #22 - Modern Art
01:16:58 - Neilan #22 - Patchwork
01:18:44 - Christina #22 - Coloretto
01:19:54 - Kellen #22 - Insider
01:20:43 - Mark #21 - Imperial 2030
01:22:58 - Neilan #21 - Decrypto
01:24:29 - Christina #21 - Lost Cities
01:29:08 - Kellen #21 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Now we're getting into the thick of it, in fact some are calling it the most ambitious Part II released in any medium. It's the Board Game Barrage Top 50 Games of All Time! We're in our thirties (even if we wish we weren't) and it's full speed ahead. That's forty(ish) more games, and ten spots closer to the grand finale. Now that we've got this train going, there's no stopping it.
01:06 - Neilan #40 - In the Year of the Dragon
03:19 - Christina #40 - Fuji Flush
05:39 - Kellen #40 - Rumble Nation
06:55 - Mark #40 - Pipeline
09:00 - Neilan #39 - Orléans
11:04 - Christina #39 - Cheating Moth
13:28 - Kellen #39 - Eye My Favorite Things
15:28 - Mark #39 - A Question of Scruples
17:26 - Neilan #38 - Hansa Teutonica
18:52 - Christina #38 - Carnival of Monsters
21:16 - Kellen #38 - Maskmen
22:22 - Mark #38 - Genoa
24:27 - Neilan #37 - Agricola
25:48 - Christina #37 - Ohanami
27:10 - Kellen #37 - Throne and the Grail
29:20 - Mark #37 - Ricochet Robots
31:59 - Neilan #36 - Yellow & Yangtze
34:15 - Christina #36 - Splendor
35:15 - Kellen #36 - Dogs of War
37:28 - Mark #36 - Great Western Trail
39:20 - Neilan #35 - Android: Netrunner
40:47 - Christina #35 - Dune
40:47 - Kellen #35 - Dune
43:57 - Mark #35 - Sol: Last Days of a Star
45:27 - Neilan #34 - Kemet
47:43 - Christina #34 - Startups
49:55 - Kellen #34 - Agricola
51:59 - Mark #34 - Rising Sun
54:36 - Neilan #33 - Brass: Birmingham
56:33 - Christina #33 - Anomia
59:13 - Kellen #33 - Hanabi
1:00:37 - Mark #33 - Ra
1:02:34 - Neilan #32 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
1:04:14 - Christina #32 - Fafnir
1:05:52 - Kellen #32 - Imperial 2030
1:07:48 - Mark #32 - Troyes
1:09:07 - Neilan #31 - Gaia Project
1:10:41 - Christina #31 - Biblios
1:15:04 - Kellen #31 - Fuji Flush
1:07:17 - Mark #31 - The Voyages of Marco Polo
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
It's here at last, the big event! Yes, it's the first episode of the yearly ritual we inventively call the Board Game Barrage Top 50 Games of All Time. And this year, for the first time, the Blue Tank, Christina is weighing in too. That's forty incredible games to kick us off! Join us in the weeks ahead as we sing the praises of our absolute favourite board games, because we're just getting started.
03:20 - Happy Salmon
04:20 - Piñata/Balloon Cup
04:56 - Bruges
05:32 - Air, Land, & Sea
06:55 - Christina #50 - Clank!
08:36 - Kellen #50 - Root
11:14 - Mark #50 - Innovation
12:58 - Neilan #50 - Modern Art
14:36 - Christina #49 - Fresh Fish
15:51 - Kellen #49 - Cursed Court
18:19 - Mark #49 - Blue Lagoon
21:02 - Neilan #49 - Sol: Last Days of a Star
22:53 - Christina #48 - Diamant/Incan Gold
25:24 - Kellen #48 - Wizard
26:49 - Mark #48 - Chaos in the Old World
28:07 - Neilan #48 - Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne
30:06 - Christina #47 - Decrypto
32:10 - Kellen #47 - Blood Rage
33:54 - Mark #47 - Pictomania
36:56 - Neilan #47 - Nova Luna
38:56 - Christina #46 - True Colors
41:10 - Kellen #46 - Detective Club
42:48 - Mark #46/Christina #45 - Fast Sloths
45:15 - Neilan #46 - Innovation
48:18 - Kellen #45 - Nusfjord
49:30 - Mark #45 - Anomia
51:39 - Neilan #45 - Gùgōng
53:03 - Christina #44 - Krass Kariert/Dealt
54:46 - Kellen #44 - Smartphone Inc.
56:29 - Mark #44 - Dungeon Fighter
59:44 - Neilan #44 - Letter Jam
1:01:47 - Christina #43 - Battlestar Galactica
1:04:35 - Kellen #43 - Lords of Vegas
1:05:46 - Mark #43 - Cuba Libre
1:07:28 - Neilan #43 - Panic on Wall Street!
1:09:22 - Christina #42 - Ethnos
1:10:52 - Kellen #42 - Bruges
1:12:19 - Mark #42 - The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine
1:14:33 - Neilan #42 - The Oracle of Delphi
1:16:12 - Christina #41 - Air, Land, & Sea
1:19:00 - Kellen #41 - Splendor
1:20:15 - Mark #41 - Wyatt Earp
1:21:36 - Neilan #41 - Pipeline
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Heads set firmly forward, we reflect on what's been a completely wild year. Despite our complete inability to play a lot of them, board games did happen, so we take a bit of time to talk about the biggest surprises and disappointments. Finally, we cast our mind ahead to the games we're looking forward to playing in 2021. Before we try to forget, we talk about Paris, The Fox in the Forest, and Cthulhu Wars: Duel.
02:27 - Paris
12:12 - The Fox in the Forest
16:58 - Cthulhu Wars: Duel
29:14 - Reflections on 2020
36:02 - 2020's Best Surprises
36:54 - Beyond the Sun
39:47 - The Red Cathedral
41:02 - Nova Luna
43:22 - 2020's Biggest Disappointments
44:16 - Tang Garden
44:45 - Troyes Dice
45:13 - Crystal Palace
46:41 - Sanctum
48:55 - Games to Play in 2021
49:21 - My City
49:56 - Dwellings of Eldervale
51:26 - Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road
51:42 - Dominant Species: Marine
52:20 - Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy
53:39 - Ankh: Gods of Egypt
Check out Kellen's review of Cthulhu Wars: Duel here:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/2020/12/10/cthulhu-wars-duel-a-sandy-petersen-game-review
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
'Tis the season, and if you're me, your first thought around this time of year is, "How many people can I just buy board games for?" But not all board game gifts are created equal! No, no, no, we need to find the best. So, of course, we put BGBBOB on the case. Before we start stocking stuffings, we talk about Pandemic: Fall of Rome, and Rajas of the Ganges: The Dice Charmers.
06:07 - Pandemic: Fall of Rome
13:31 - Rajas of the Ganges: The Dice Charmers
18:18 - Rajas of the Ganges
20:23 - BGBBOB: Board Game Gifts
21:39 - SHH
23:11 - Codenames
26:38 - Just One
27:00 - The Quest for El Dorado
29:31 - Modern Art
30:21 - Werewords
33:38 - Insider
35:38 - Unmatched
38:44 - Biblios
41:19 - Illusion
46:33 - Azul
48:40 - Fast Sloths
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
There's so much going on in board game land all of the time that it can be hard to know where to focus your attention. So, this week, we each give an example of people, publishers, and sites that we've been keeping an eye on, that we think you might want to as well. Before we turn your gaze, we talk about New York Zoo, Targi, Throne and the Grail, and The Red Cathedral.
02:07 - New York Zoo
02:40 - Bärenpark
10:36 - Targi
14:36 - Throne and the Grail
18:47 - Imperial Struggle
20:33 - The Red Cathedral
28:13 - Things to pay attention to
28:32 - Dire Wolf Digital and Paul Dennen
33:06 - Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne
35:11 - New Release Lists
45:00 - Kramer & Kiesling
45:52 - Riverboat
53:40 - Paris
Check out Steph Hodge's blog: https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/3802/all-meeples-rainbow
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Gobble gobble, you got got! We wouldn't leave you hanging when there's important work to be done. Happy Thanksgiving!
02:54 - Marco Pollo: Sultry Poultry Edition
04:01 - Startups
05:33 - New York Zoo
06:49 - Hang on Harvey
09:27 - Fast Sloths
11:43 - ICECOOL
13:47 - Root: The Underworld Expansion
15:21 - Mariposas
16:25 - Fafnir
17:52 - Pokémon Trading Card Game
20:19 - Loopin' Louie
21:55 - Biblios
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Boy, what a year it's been for accumulating games that we can't play. The shelf of shame, the collection of games we own that are yet to see a single play, has been steadily growing, and it's about time we pruned it. We check in on the games most deserving of that first play. Before we take a walk of shame, we talk about Sonora, Troyes Dice, Macao, Quantum, and Rurik: Dawn of Kiev.
01:49 - Sonora
04:17 - Troyes Dice
07:14 - Macao
08:22 - The Castles of Burgundy
09:41 - Quantum
16:30 - Rurik: Dawn of Kiev
30:55 - Shelf of Shame update
40:12 - Star Wars: Rebellion
40:59 - Maracaibo
42:04 - Stock hold'em
45:25 - Bioshock Infinite: The Siege of Columbia
47:10 - Antike II
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Put on your thick socks, wrap yourself in a blanket, and get comfortable with us in front of the fire. We're using our patent pending formula (aka BGBBOB) to find the best heart warming comfort games. Twelve board games enter, and ... twelve leave, but arranged in the scientifically correct order. Before we get comfortable, we talk about The Castles of Tuscany, Cooper Island, and SCOUT!
02:41 - The Castles of Tuscany
12:32 - Cooper Island
20:02 - SCOUT!
31:02 - Dominion
32:12 - Lost Cities
36:16 - Patchwork
36:42 - Telestrations
38:50 - Wizard
40:06 - The Game
43:09 - Coloretto
44:05 - San Juan
45:43 - Scrabble
47:52 - Sushi Go!
52:25 - Biblios
55:11 - Splendor
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
At least in some things, you've got to give a little to get a little, but what would you give to get what you want? We're coming up with our big board game compromises, the things we'd happily trade away to fix some of our biggest frustrations. Before we deal with the devil, we talk about Lost Ruins of Arnak, Ohanami, and Beyond the Sun.
01:49 - Lost Ruins of Arnak
02:39 - Dune: Imperium
13:47 - Ohanami
13:47 - The Game
21:53 - Beyond the Sun
22:42 - Innovation
27:52 - Through the Ages
38:38 - Board Game Compromises
39:22 - Cthulhu Wars (aka Squares vs. Circles vs. Triangles)
42:49 - Kemet
46:14 - A Feast for Odin
48:14 - Brass: Lancashire
48:14 - Brass: Birmingham
48:47 - Nemesis
49:20 - Biblios
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Essen SPIEL is the latest of the conventions in 2020 to go digital, which is convenient for us, because we weren't about to fly to Germany any time soon. We perused the upcoming games that were showcased as part of the event, and picked our favourites to talk about. It's a top 5! Before we virtually convene, we talk about Babylonia, Veiled Fate, and Dune: Imperium.
02:29 - Babylonia
15:09 - Veiled Fate
25:37 - Dune: Imperium
35:35 - Essen SPIEL 2020 Review
37:58 - Paris
40:05 - Paleo
41:32 - Beez
43:06 - Venice
45:11 - Clever hoch Drei
46:44 - Coyote
48:33 - The Red Cathedral
50:05 - Master Word
51:56 - Troyes Dice
53:05 - Faiyum
54:32 - CloudAge
55:55 - Krazy Pix
57:34 - Anno 1800
59:52 - Polynesia
01:01:10 - Beyond the Sun
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
We weren't going to let Kellen have the last word on what makes the perfect $100 collection, so the 139 squad is here to finish it out. Forgot the premise? You've lost all your board games, and only have $100 to rebuild it; what do you buy first? Before we make every penny count, we talk about Cosmic Encounter Duel, Hundreds of Horses, Billionaire Banshee, and Floor Plan.
03:45 - Cosmic Encounter Duel
11:53 - Hundreds of Horses
14:21 - Billionaire Banshee
17:50 - Floor Plan
23:08 - Mark's $100 Collection
23:53 - Biblios
24:40 - Arboretum
25:49 - The Crew: Quest for Planet Nine
26:34 - Race for the Galaxy
27:31 - The Estates
28:30 - Are You A Robot?
30:37 - Christina's $100 Collection
31:14 - Innovation
32:28 - Coloretto
33:24 - SiXeS
34:31 - Hanabi
36:00 - Troyes
39:54 - Neilan's $100 Collection
40:35 - Blue Lagoon
41:59 - Twice as Clever!
43:17 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
44:43 - The Resistance: Avalon
Check out our $100 Collection Geeklist, and add your own:
https://bit.ly/37vKztK
Mark & Kellen playing Hundreds of Horses at AwSHUX:
https://bit.ly/3ocjeCS
Christina & Neilan playing Billionaire Banshee at AwSHUX:
https://bit.ly/3klA002
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
It's an awful notion, but bear with me. What if you lost your entire board game collection, and had to rebuild it from scratch? Here's the catch, you only have one hundred dollars. We try to predict what the Red Tank would do, before he talks us through what makes the cut, and why. Before we rebuild, we talk about 5211, Marco Polo II: In the Service of the Khan, and Cóatl.
03:10 - 5211
10:35 - Marco Polo II: In the Service of the Khan
10:35 - The Voyages of Marco Polo
21:13 - Cóatl
26:15 - Sagrada
26:47 - Reef
29:37 - Ghost Turkey Registration
30:43 - Board Game Barrage Merch!
31:33 - Zero to One Hundred: Red Edition
36:16 - Azul
36:16 - Splendor
37:02 - Codenames
38:58 - Innovation
41:06 - Dune
44:32 - Hansa Teutonica: Big Box
46:17 - Telestrations
47:50 - Oink Games
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Slow and steady might win the race, but it doesn't make for an exciting board game. Pacing is a vital component of most entertainment mediums that doesn't often get applied to board games, so we're going to climb and climb and climb and climb ... and then rapidly descend down the roller-coaster of emotion that makes for some of our favourite games. Before we set the pace, we talk about Bus, The Game: Quick & Easy, and Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun.
02:27 - Bus
21:40 - The Game: Quick & Easy
28:34 - Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun
41:50 - Teotihuacan
45:45 - Pacing in Board Games
50:53 - Fast Sloths
52:20 - The Estates
53:39 - Taj Mahal
54:03 - Kemet
54:29 - Rising Sun
55:22 - Food Chain Magnate
55:46 - Archipelago
57:47 - Escape Plan
58:39 - Troyes
1:01:28 - Splendor
1:01:58 - Dogs of War
1:01:58 - Cursed Court
1:03:07 - Time's Up
1:04:08 - The Voyages of Marco Polo
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Blessed are the forgetful, because they don't have to play memory games? After all, games with a strong memory component often get a bad rap in the hobby. We look at some of the reasons why very few games want to test your memory, and just to be otherwise, we discuss some of our favourite games that do. Before we walk our mind palaces, we talk about Fort, Under Falling Skies, and Tellstones: King's Gambit.
01:47 - Fort
10:15 - Under Falling Skies
17:56 - Tellstones: King's Gambit
29:37 - Ghost Turkey 2020
32:52 - Memory as a Game Mechanic
38:43 - Carnival of Monsters
39:38 - Inis
42:01 - El Grande
45:51 - Modern Art
47:50 - Tigris & Euphrates
48:43 - Time's Up!
51:09 - Cthulhu Wars
53:08 - Heroes of Land, Air & Sea
56:03 - Aeon's End
57:24 - Dune
Check out Optimal Play's Tellstones playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3x7oZRfCs0
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
We often build up the idea of what a game will be before we play it, whether for bad or good, and the reality of the game itself might deliver something we weren't expecting. We take a look at what often leads to our expectations being shattered, and mention some of the games that most defied them. Before we expect the unexpected, we talk about SHŌBU, Pan Am, and Planet Unknown.
02:35 - SHŌBU
08:55 - Pan Am
17:58 - Planet Unknown
25:46 - BGB Perpetual Math Trade
27:02 - Board Game Expectations
27:37 - Terra Mystica
28:14 - Brass: Birmingham
32:56 - Macao
36:02 - Railroad Rivals
36:26 - Ragusa
37:02 - Sanctum
38:33 - Unmatched
40:38 - The 7th Continent
47:07 - Stamps
47:41 - Square on Sale
48:33 - Glory to Rome
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
We return to our much loved feature from 2018, all about our favourite mechanics. This week, a mere two years later: auctions! We look at the good and bad sides of auction mechanics, and discuss our favourite games that feature them. Before we inflate the bid, we talk about Fleet: The Dice Game, Iwari, and Modern Art.
04:57 - Fleet: The Dice Game
11:02 - Welcome to Dino World
13:47 - Iwari
21:53 - Modern Art
33:10 - Auction Board Games
36:25 - Archipelago
38:18 - Biblios
39:03 - Watson & Holmes
39:51 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
40:35 - Power Grid
42:06 - Santiago
43:26 - Genoa
44:23 - Square on Sale
45:49 - Taj Mahal
51:29 - The Estates
51:29 - Container
53:05 - No Thanks!
54:32 - Bausack
55:06 - Fresh Fish
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
It's an unprecedented trio of hosts, but we're no less heated about our biggest board game bugbears. In fact, we're so upset about these little annoyances, that we couldn't help but order them in a list for your amusement ... BGBBOB style. Before we get bugged by bears, we talk about Calico, Telestrations: Upside Drawn, and Pendulum.
01:42 - Calico
09:05 - Telestrations: Upside Drawn
13:14 - Pendulum
25:17 - BGBBOB: Board Game Bugbears
28:54 - Merchants & Marauders
32:03 - Archipelago
32:53 - Heroes of Land, Air & Sea
40:26 - Broom Service
42:50 - Race for the Galaxy
46:19 - Power Grid
49:25 - Decrypto
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
It would be hard for us to be as invested in this hobby as we are, if we didn't think there was something important underlying it. We share some of the lessons we have learned from board gaming, and some of the ways in which it has genuinely changed our lives. We also talk about Tyrants of the Underdark, The Quest for El Dorado: The Golden Temples, and Nemo's War.
02:28 - Tyrants of the Underdark
08:00 - The Quest for El Dorado: The Golden Temples
14:48 - Nemo's War (Second Edition)
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Some games are built to last, and no, we're not just talking about the ... R-word. For others, the high highs of early games must give way to the dawning realization that all is not well. We look at reasons we might end up moving past games we once held in high regard. Before we overstay our welcome, we talk about Sandstone, Ctrl, The Fox in the Forest Duet, and Unmatched.
02:41 - Sandstone
11:09 - Ctrl
14:12 - The Fox in the Forest Duet
18:42 - The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine
19:54 - Unmatched: Battle of Legends, Volume One
24:16 - Dice Throne
32:27 - Games Getting Worse with Time
38:50 - Innovation
39:47 - Mysterium
40:20 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
41:18 - Camel Up
43:05 - Shadow Hunters
43:38 - Container
45:52 - Five Tribes
47:32 - Mark's Menagerie Mixup
48:20 - Dungeon Fighter
48:20 - Tumblin-Dice
48:20 - Coconuts
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Hot days call for hot questions! To counter the California heat wave, we get breezy with a round of hot questions. We take a long hard look at games we love, but don't play, and give our takes on the theme to end all themes. Before we get heated, we talk about Ctrl, New York Zoo, and Renature.
01:40 - Ctrl
07:06 - New York Zoo
15:24 - Renature
18:23 - Blue Lagoon
26:11 - OLWLG Math Trade
28:01 - Hot Questions!
28:17 - Can you have a favourite game you don't play anymore?
30:14 - The Resistance
32:36 - Cosmic Encounter
37:19 - What's the theme to end all themes?
39:52 - Sabotage
Thanks to Guanye for sending us the Jixia Academy pronunciation clip.
Watch us play New York Zoo and Renature:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4qab78TtUw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihutcOJmCwc
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
It's a Social Deduction BGBBOB! For those that don't know what that means, it's a Board Game Barrage Battle of (the) Board...games, where we pit all of the best social deduction games against each other in a fight to the DEATH! Or at least, a fight to be on our definitive ranked list. Before we release our social butterflies, we talk about Gemblo, and Quest.
02:54 - Gemblo
07:16 - Quest
15:46 - Camp Capstone
17:33 - BGBBOB: Social Deduction Games
20:11 - The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31
22:06 - Timebomb/Don't Mess with Cthulhu
26:48 - Two Rooms and a Boom
28:02 - Detective Club
30:27 - A Fake Artist Goes to New York
32:01 - Insider/Werewords
35:01 - The Resistance/Avalon
35:35 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
39:05 - Spyfall
43:26 - One Night Ultimate Werewolf
45:33 - Shadow Hunters
48:26 - Saboteur
1:01:12 - The Final List
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Some board games (and board game podcasts) thrive on chaos, which absolutely isn't the same thing as randomness. All of this has happened for a reason, it's just ... hard to tell what those reasons are exactly. Before we blame the butterfly, we talk about Path of Light and Shadow, Jixia Academy, and Chaos in the Old World.
00:47 - Chaos in board games
03:44 - Innovation
05:54 - Guards of Atlantis
07:21 - 6 nimmt!
11:06 - Path of Light and Shadow
21:30 - Chaotic board games
21:42 - Broom Service
23:05 - Wiz-War
26:33 - Space Alert
28:49 - Jixia Academy/Hanamikoji
34:34 - Chaos closing thoughts
35:05 - Cosmic Encounter
35:52 - Mission: Red Planet
37:12 - Colt Express
38:02 - Libertalia
40:26 - Scythe
41:59 - Chaos in the Old World
43:50 - Cthulhu Wars
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Things got a bit heavy last week, so let's take things down a notch by exploring the other end of the scale. Light games are just as important for a board game collection, after all. We discuss what light games offer that heavier games don't, and mention some of our recent favourites. Before we lighten the mood, we talk about Reef, Clans of Caledonia, and Tutankhamun.
02:34 - Reef
09:18 - Clans of Caledonia
15:00 - Tutankhamun
22:01 - Light Games
23:48 - Werewolf
25:37 - Vast: The Crystal Caverns
26:28 - Ingenious
27:21 - The Quest for El Dorado
30:40 - Twice As Clever
33:24 - Dice Fishing: Roll and Catch
36:11 - Cacti
37:35 - The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine
38:04 - Deep Sea Adventure
38:49 - Flamme Rouge
"Complexity bias in BGG" by Dinesh Vatvani:
https://dvatvani.github.io/BGG-Analysis-Part-2.html
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Monique from Before You Play is with us to get heavy. We're discussing the allure of heavy games, and who better to talk us through them than a Vital Lacerda fan who loves to not just play them, but teach them? We dig into why we enjoy the occasional heavy game, and why you should too! Before we play, we talk about DURIAN, Animal Kingdoms, and Brass: Birmingham.
02:01 - Introducing the Lavender Tank!
10:03 - DURIAN
16:25 - Animal Kingdoms
23:40 - Brass: Birmingham
31:45 - Heavy Board Games
42:13 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
43:46 - A Feast for Odin
46:02 - 18XX
47:42 - On Mars
52:07 - Escape Plan
54:49 - Lisboa
55:32 - Vinhos Deluxe Edition
56:38 - Archipelago
1:04:04 - Scythe
Check out Before You Play at:
https://www.youtube.com/BeforeYouPlay
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Even if the price is right, it might not be right for you. We all have different thresholds where a board game we're interested in crosses from, "maybe I'll wait for a sale" into "sure why not" territory, but where is that magical line? Has what we're willing to pay for games changed over time? Before we get sticker shock, we talk about Twin Tin Bots, Ticket to Ride: New York, Whale Riders, and Dead Reckoning.
02:20 - Twin Tin Bots
07:37 - Ticket to Ride: New York
14:36 - Whale Riders
22:55 - Dead Reckoning
39:30 - Teotihuacan: City of Gods
41:38 - Marco Polo II: In the Service of the Khan
45:30 - Food Chain Magnate
48:15 - An Infamous Traffic
48:57 - This Guilty Land
49:33 - Oink Games
50:17 - DURIAN
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
It's award season when we say it is, so we're looking back at the Golden Geek Awards, The Dice Tower Awards, and the Spiel des Jahres nominees. We offer our thoughts on their picks, and how wrong they are. I mean, Wingspan winning "Best Four-Wheel Drive SUV" just seems a bit much. We also talk about Battlestar Galactica, Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small, Paladins of the West Kingdom, and The Boss.
01:56 - Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game
08:09 - Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small
12:45 - Nusfjord
14:01 - Paladins of the West Kingdom
19:48 - The Boss
25:03 - Board Game Awards 2019
25:13 - Golden Geek Awards
26:10 - Through The Ages: New Leaders and Wonders
27:35 - Dune
28:35 - Wingspan
29:40 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game
30:55 - The Crew: Quest for Planet Nine
33:01 - PARKS
34:30 - Tapestry
35:08 - Spiel des Jahres Nominees
36:16 - Plumber Pants
38:30 - The King's Dilemma
40:10 - My City
40:38 - Pictures
41:27 - The Dice Tower Awards
42:30 - Detective: City of Angels
43:37 - Slide Quest
47:22 - Letter Jam
Check out Kellen playing Battlestar Galactica over at Optimal Play:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/662734157
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
BGBBOB, party edition! For those not keeping up, that's BGB Best of Board Games, which is definitely not the final name (but also maybe is) for our recurring feature where we duel rank games into an incontestable ordered list. This week we confer, fight, and bargain our way to the best fifteen party games. Before we spike the punch, we also talk about Twice As Clever, Wavelength, and 6 nimmt!
01:38 - Twice As Clever
05:17 - Wavelength
05:58 - 6 nimmt!
10:43 - BGBBOB: Party Games
12:28 - True Colors
13:17 - Anomia
16:27 - The Resistance
17:13 - Scruples
20:52 - Balderdash
22:10 - Krazy Wordz
24:38 - Happy Salmon
25:53 - Telestrations
28:17 - Pictomania
28:52 - Codenames
30:33 - Time's Up!
32:30 - Wavelength
35:06 - SiXeS
36:03 - Panic on Wall Street!
38:48 - Detective Club
1:00:48 - The Final List
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
We're joined by Richard Simpson of We're Not Wizards, who is definitely not a magician, Victorian or otherwise, to talk about the line between game design and production. Should production values be an integral part of the discussion of a game's merits, or should we learn to separate the two? Before we get productive, we talk about Doughnut Dash, Cities, Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra, and L.L.A.M.A.
07:25 - Doughnut Dash
17:10 - Cities
21:37 - Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra
31:01 - L.L.A.M.A
35:25 - The Power of Production
35:34 - The Quacks of Quedlinburg
41:35 - The Last of Us Part II
47:15 - GKR: Heavy Hitters
49:24 - Cthulhu Wars
53:33 - Warhammer 40k
55:03 - Castles of Burgundy
55:29 - Container
56:10 - Tang Garden
58:09 - Krazy Wordz
59:23 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
Check out We're Not Wizards at:
https://werenotwizards.podbean.com
Check out Kellen on We're Not Wizards Here: https://werenotwizards.podbean.com/e/boardgamebarrage/
Check out Neilan on We're Not Wizards Here: https://werenotwizards.podbean.com/e/neilan/
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
We asked for your questions, and you provided! Some of you used Instagram, some of you used voicemail, but however you reached out, your voice was heard. We chose only a few to answer (quality notwithstanding), but we'd love to keep doing this, so keep sending them in! Before we corral your correspondence, we talk about Gloomhaven, Terra Mystica, Bloom Town, and Starlink.
03:25 - Gloomhaven
06:44 - Terra Mystica
09:03 - Bloom Town
18:16 - Starlink
27:20 - Listener Questions!
33:35 - Cyclades, Inis & Kemet
41:28 - Hive
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
I know this is going to come as a shock, but sometimes we get things wrong. As we've worked our way through the hobby, we've discovered that some positions we once held, aren't ones we still do. So it's time to revisit our past transgressions and come clean. Before we admit our mistakes, we talk about Tang Garden, Fast Forward: FORTRESS, and Race for the Galaxy.
02:45 - Tang Garden
14:12 - Fast Forward: FORTRESS
21:04 - Race for the Galaxy
30:51 - Board Game Barrage Math Trade: Part II!
34:15 - When We Were So Very Wrong About Games
51:06 - The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31
A big tip of the cap to our friends at So Very Wrong About Games. Listen to their podcast if you aren't already!!
Special thanks goes to What Does It Eat? for hopefully not being upset that we borrowed a snippet of their most excellent song F.O.S. before our theme. You can find them at whatdoesiteat.com.
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Once loved board games will often circle back into the limelight with reprints, but we're also starting to see a lot more get remasters and remakes too. We take a look at this trend, and discuss some re-imaginings our favourite board games, whether it's a full on new version, or just a new coat of paint. Before we re-re-re-repeat, we talk about Cities: Skylines, Colorful, and Maharaja.
03:29 - Cities: Skylines
08:25 - Colorful
15:36 - Maharaja
25:36 - REmasters, REemakes and REimaginings
29:13 - Brass: Lancashire and Brass: Birmingham
31:04 - Kemet
32:53 - Caylus and Caylus 1303
34:31 - Terra Mystica and Gaia Project
36:22 - Through the Ages and Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
37:22 - Dune
40:30 - The REsistance
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
While all games have some restrictions, some games are more willing than others to let you go off the rails. For instance, some leave the economy entirely in the hands of the players, free to tank it if they please. We look at how games do (or don't) use player constraints to deliver unique experiences. Before we rein ourselves in, we talk about Tournay, Bullet♥︎, Wonder Woman: Challenge of the Amazons, and Container.
01:46 - Tournay
01:57 - Troyes
07:10 - Bullet♥︎
10:44 - Wonder Woman: Challenge of the Amazons
17:15 - Container
28:30 - Games with and without constraints
28:51 - Food Chain Magnate
31:14 - Sidereal Confluence : Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
39:24 - Power Grid
40:01 - Flamme Rouge
42:25 - Startups and Zogen
43:02 - Diamant
43:28 - Crokinole
45:56 - Tigris and Euphrates
49:15 - The Estates
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Sometimes you have a little gap of time between larger, heavier games, and what you need is a palate cleanser, which brings us to the realm of games we lovingly call "fillers". We kick off the very first Ranked Duel Battle of the Boards (definitely not the final title) by ranking our favourite filler games! Before we pass the time, we talk about Aerion, Ingenious, The One Hundred Torii, and Taluva.
04:49 - Aerion
09:54 - Ingenious
10:56 - The One Hundred Torii
14:07 - Taluva
22:02 - Call for voicemail!
22:50 - Ranking our favourite fillers
30:08 - Coloretto
30:24 - Istanbul
31:11 - Shards of Infinity
31:45 - Arboretum
32:14 - Biblios
32:14 - No Thanks!
33:14 - Splendor
33:24 - For Sale
35:08 - Startups
35:30 - Blue Lagoon
37:33 - Zany Penguins
37:45 - The Game
39:09 - 6 nimmt!
39:38 - Twice As Clever
40:49 - Karuba
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
When you're playing a game for the first time, and barely know what you're even doing, how do you even begin to strategize? That's what we're asking ourselves this week, as we explore some of our approaches to first plays, how we evaluate the game space, and well, win. Before we push levers, we talk about Orléans: Invasion, Zoned Out, Santorini, and Mini Express.
02:03 - Orléans: Invasion
09:48 - Zoned Out
16:42 - Bronze Age
17:54 - Santorini
23:28 - Mini Express
32:40 - How We Approach First Games
37:53 - Troyes
38:47 - 7 Wonders
45:26 - Kemet
48:06 - Barrage
50:05 - No Thanks!
51:13 - Ra
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Mike Walker from So Very Wrong About Games joins us to talk about games that we add to our collection, not for ourselves, but (gasp) for others. Sometimes you do what you have to placate your so-called friends, and their awful taste. Before we begrudgingly acquire games, we talk about The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, Solo, Renegade, and Horrified.
00:15 - A New Tank Appears!
03:53 - The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine
06:15 - Innovation
07:54 - Nemesis
12:21 - Castles of Burgundy
12:50 - Trieste
14:03 - Watergate
15:20 - Watergate Retheme? (Patent Pending, TM, etc...)
17:51 - Solo
20:47 - Renegade
26:48 - Horrified
34:55 - Catering Games to Your Game Group
40:17 - Ankh
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
We all need something to look forward to, so this episode we're eagerly anticipating all the good things in the world of board gaming that are yet to come in 2020. Some of it might be a ways off, but where's the harm in getting the hype train rolling early? Before we cast our eyes ahead, we talk about Splendor, Qwirkle, Bronze Age, and Guards of Atlantis II.
02:40 - Lost Cities
02:53 - Coloretto
03:39 - Splendor
05:03 - Bugs in the Kitchen
06:29 - Qwirkle
10:47 - Bronze Age
14:24 - Guards of Atlantis II: Tabletop MOBA
25:40 - Things We're Excited for in 2020
31:52 - Ankh
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Look, digital gaming is great and all, but there are some games that either don't lend themselves well to the format, or aren't available. Whatever the reason, there are lots of games that we're itching to play once the world returns to normal. It's a top five countdown! Before our heart grows fonder, we talk about Exit: The Game - Sunken Treasure, Pandemic: Rapid Response, and Stockpile.
05:27 - Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne
06:45 - Exit: The Game - Sunken Treasure
08:39 - Roll for Adventure
10:18 - Pandemic: Rapid Response
14:01 - Stockpile
22:59 - Games We're Itching to Play
25:00 - Awkward Guests
26:25 - Nusfjord
28:22 - Flotilla
29:32 - Kemet
31:13 - Insider: Black
33:16 - 1889
34:35 - Maracaibo
35:39 - Pipeline
37:00 - Brass: Birmingham
37:58 - Mansions of Madness: Second Edition
40:07 - Special Tank Appearance!
44:01 - Dune
45:09 - Cooper Island
46:21 - Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy
48:08 - Square on Sale
48:58- The Crew
Join the discussion at:
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What could be a more important topic than importance itself? This week, we're talking about the most important board games of the last decade, and what it even means for a board game to be worthy of the label. To us, at least. Before being earnest, we talk about Prêt-à-Porter, Riff Raff, Adventure Games: The Dungeon, and Innovation: Echoes of the Past.
03:09 - Prêt-à-Porter
09:59 - Riff Raff
16:20 - Scythe
19:16 - Adventure Games: The Dungeon
28:13 - Innovation: Echoes of the Past
30:46 - Important Games of the Last Decade
36:40 - Pandemic Legacy
40:13 - Kemet
41:35 - Chaos in the Old World
43:20 - Zombicide
45:02 - Codenames
47:45 - Splendor
50:31 - Scythe
53:57 - TIME Stories and Escape Room Games
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
It's time for another "What we love, what we hate", and this time we're looking at deck builders! Its been twelve years since Dominion blew things up, and since then you don't have to look very far to see a game that uses the mechanic. We look at the highs and lows of deck building as a mechanic, and discuss some of our favourite games that use it. We also talk about Bruxelles 1897, Elysium, and Can't Stop.
01:07 - Golden Geek Award Nominations
03:46 - Bruxelles 1897
11:31 - Elysium
18:16 - Coffee Roaster
18:55 - Adventure Games: The Dungeon
19:23 - Hansa Teutonica
25:22 - Can't Stop
31:00 - What I Love, What I Hate about Deck Building
33:07 - Star Realms
34:32 - Clank!
35:05 - Dominion
35:50 - Sorcerer City
38:36 - Vikings Gone Wild
41:41 - Great Western Trail
42:20 - A Study in Emerald (Second Edition)
47:04 - The Quest for El Dorado
47:29 - Aeon's End
48:54 - Automobiles
49:58 - The North
50:15 - SPQF/Fort
51:33 - Friday
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
To make it through quarantine, we take another look at digital games in a time when it might just be our only option. We've got to get our board game fill somehow! We investigate how our relationship to the electronic side of the hobby has changed, and give our recommendations for the many options. Before we plug in, we talk about Remember Our Trip, Castell, and Caylus 1303.
01:58 - Remember Our Trip
08:16 - Castell
14:45 - Pipeline
15:44 - Caylus 1303
18:40 - Caylus
26:18 - Voicemail from Isla
28:57 - Digital games in quarantine
37:30 - Cthulhu Wars
38:12 - Bärenpark
42:29 - BGB Digital Game Night!
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
There's only so much space on our shelves, so games don't always stick around forever, but that doesn't always mean that we don't like them. There are many reasons that a good game might get the boot, so let's talk about them. We count down our top five favourite games we got rid of! Before we pay our respects, we talk about Through the Desert, Lords of Hellas, Troyes, and Watergate.
01:48 - Through the Desert
07:51 - Lords of Hellas
13:13 - Troyes
20:45 - Black Angel
22:01 - Watergate
29:12 - The best games we got rid of
29:45 - Yamataï
31:07 - Power Grid
32:37 - Indian Summer
34:23 - CrossTalk
35:20 - Agricola
36:27 - The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31
38:22 - Dominion
39:50 - Terraforming Mars
40:47 - Forbidden Stars
43:10 - Glorantha: The Gods War (A Sandy Petersen Game!)
44:23 - Spirit Island
46:00 - Mage Knight
47:35 - Arcadia Quest
49:34 - Gloomhaven
51:03 - Terra Mystica
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Some games put their best foot forward on the first play, eager to have most players feel good right out of the box. Other games are content to take their time. This episode we're focusing on the latter, games that we've only come to appreciate as we've given them more time and more plays. Before we grow together, we talk about Ginkgopolis, Time Chase, and Food Chain Magnate.
01:31 - Ginkgopolis
08:46 - Time Chase
15:22 - Food Chain Magnate
26:58 - Games that grow on you
30:35 - Brass: Lancashire
31:28 - Agricola
32:24 - Biblios
33:57 - Wits & Wagers
35:13 - Bohnanza
36:35 - Tigris & Euphrates
37:07 - Yellow & Yangtze
38:08 - Nova Luna
41:17 - The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine
41:53 - 18xx
43:31 - Just One
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Area control is the first subject of our new recurring feature, "What we love, what we hate", where we deep dive into a single mechanic and describe ... well, exactly that! We tend to enjoy games that have you fighting over territory, but what is it that specifically gets us excited about them? And what are the downsides? Before we assume direct control, we talk about The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, Stay Cool, and Mezo.
02:00 - The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine09:03 - Hanabi
11:55 - Trickerion
13:55 - Stay Cool19:39 - Linkee
22:10 - Mezo34:24 - Rising Sun
36:30 - Scythe
39:30 - Inis
40:45 - Mezo
42:24 - Cthulhu Wars ... sorry Mr. Cthulhu45:10 - Dominant Species
45:30 - Tigris & Euphrates
45:40 - Twilight Struggle
46:00 - Pax Pamir (Second Edition)
46:30 - Risk
46:56 - Inis
48:38 - Diplomacy
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Let me set the scene: It's a late night at a hotel in Nevada, we're sprawled on the floor around a microphone, and we're flexing our tired hands after three days spent playing so many board games. Coming at you from Dice Tower West, we report on what we've been up to, and all the games we played. Before we're leaving Las Vegas, we talk about Don't Get Got!, Kemet, Master of Respect, and Nova Luna.
03:54 - Don't Get Got!
19:44 - Kemet
25:23 - Master of Respect
30:50 - Rumble Nation
35:07 - A War of Whispers
36:05 - Hearts of AttrAction
42:10 - Nova Luna
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
We've learned a thing or two about game nights and conventions over the years. The hobby has changed, and we've had to change with it! This episode, we talk about what's different with how we approach large meetings of board gamers in 2020, and offer what advice we can. Before we pack our game bags, we talk about Fast Sloths, Birdie Fight, Sorcerer City, Electropolis, and Isle of Cats.
01:44 - Fast Sloths
10:05 - Birdie Fight/Songbirds
11:03 - Sorcerer City
11:44 - Electropolis
18:07 - Isle of Cats
20:04 - Terraforming Mars
26:12 - Game Night and Convention Lessons
39:20 - Don't Get Got!
40:43 - Antike II
41:11 - 1920 Wall Street
42:08 - TOKYO TSUKIJI MARKET
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Sometimes a game is hitting all the right notes, and you want to recommend it wholeheartedly ... but there's just one tiny blemish you can't overlook. It's not enough to make a great game bad, but, man, just imagine if it someone had fixed that. This week we're looking at games that almost nail it. Before we smooth the last crease, we talk about Chaosmos, Subtext, On a Scale of One to T-Rex, and Empyreal: Spells & Steam.
01:26 - Krass Kariert
03:22 - Chaosmos
11:40 - On a Scale of One to T-Rex
16:52 - Subtext
20:58 - Empyreal: Spells & Steam
29:46 - Games with One Small Issue
31:44 - Kemet
36:06 - Root
37:28 - Cthulhu Wars
39:39 - Gloomhaven
42:14 - Decrypto
43:35 - Azul
44:53 - Point Salad
45:32 - Concordia
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
We're gluttons for punishment this week, because we're talking about harshness in board games. These are the sort of games where big moves or bad mistakes can be hard to recover from. Harsh games aren't for everyone, so when and why do we find them appealing? Before we grit our teeth, we talk about Wavelength, Genoa, Krass Kariert, and Oceans.
01:02 - Wavelength
05:39 - Genoa
07:30 - Krass Kariert
14:55 - Oceans
23:48 - Harshness in Games
24:24 - Biblios
24:48 - Arboretum
25:52 - Seasons
27:36 - The Estates
28:54 - Troyes
30:02 - Agricola
31:32 - A Feast For Odin
33:23 - Tigris and Euphrates
33:43 - Yellow and Yangtze
36:10 - Diplomacy
39:53 - Medici
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
We're reflecting on the past this episode, looking back at the things we said - never wise, by the way. The games of 2019 had a lot of promise, but how young and dumb they seem to our aged eyes. Where are they now? Join us as we cast our minds back to last decade, to reflect on the games we were excited for so many months ago.
02:11 - XCOM: The Board Game
06:41 - Living Planet
13:55 - The Voyages of Marco Polo
14:47 - Heaven & Ale
18:06 - Mystic Market
19:49 - Essen 2019 Look Back
21:11 - The Magnificent
21:52 - Trismegistus: The Ultimate Formula
23:47 - Welkin
24:08 - Rush M.D.
24:22 - Terramara
24:36 - Deep Blue
25:08 - Rome & Roll
25:21 - Paranormal Detectives
25:59 - Offshore
26:13 - Maracaibo
27:19 - Glen More II: Chronicles
27:40 - Kakerlaken Sushi
27:52 - Perserverance: Castaway Chronicles
29:24 - Crystal Palace
29:38 - Babylonia
30:08 - Gen Con 2019 Look Back
30:28 - Conflicting Legends
31:12 - Watergate
31:28 - Welcome to Dino World
32:47 - Tonari
34:21 - Time Chase
34:47 - Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne
36:01 - SHOBU
36:46 - Barrage
37:12 - In the Hall of the Mountain King
37:45 - Seasons of Inis
38:19 - Pipeline
38:42 - Sanctum
39:45 - Black Angel
40:52 - City of the Big Shoulders
41:31 - MegaCity: Oceania
42:22 - Most Anticipated Games of 2019 Look Back
42:40 - TOKYO TSUKIJI MARKET
43:34 - Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy
44:33 - Glorantha: The Gods War (A Sandy Petersen Game!)
46:17 - Pipeline
46:25 - Sabotage
47:39 - Living Planet
48:10 - Barrage
48:22 - Escape Plan
49:08 - Res Arcana
50:11 - On Mars
50:37 - ELO Darkness
51:26 - Black Angel
51:36 - City of the Big Shoulders
51:53 - Warpgate
52:37 - Mezo
53:41 - Best and Worst Guesses of 2019
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
You only get one chance to play a game for the first time, but sometimes events conspire to make that debut ... less than ideal. We look at some first plays that could've gone better, examine what contributed to them not delivering, and offer advice on how to make sure your brand new game doesn't stumble out the gate.
02:34 - Rumble Nation
10:16 - Neuroshima Hex
12:07 - Macao
14:05 - In the Year of the Dragon
21:24 - It's a Wonderful World
23:46 - Carnival of Monsters
25:51 - 7 Wonders
26:12 - Terraforming Mars
30:28 - Better First Plays
31:00 - Brass: Birmingham
35:18 - Dominion
37:01 - Race for the Galaxy
38:21 - Empyreal: Spells & Steam
42:53 - Endeavor
46:31 - Dixit
49:12 - Awkward Guests
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Mike DiLisio (of The Dice Tower, and Sporadically Board) makes his BGB podcast debut as the Fandango Tank! Mike's trying to sell us on popcorn games. These are games that may or may not be ... critically sound, but nevertheless provide fun experiences that we find ourselves returning to. But why wouldn't we just play something more substantive instead? We investigate.
00:16 - Mike DiLisio, the Fandango Tank!
07:10 - Fresh Fish
14:23 - Sanctum
23:59 - In the Hall of the Mountain King
31:44 - Popcorn Games
35:42 - Heroes of Land, Air & Sea
37:15 - Dragoon
40:24 - Cthulhu Wars
47:40 - Zombicide: Black Plague
51:39 - Meeple Circus
52:45 - The Quacks of Quedlinburg
53:16 - XCOM: The Board Game
53:56 - Magical Athlete
54:19 - Nanty Narking
55:02 - Wiz-War
56:55 - Mission: Red Planet
57:16 - Arcadia Quest
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
We're in a post top-fifty world, and it's about time we take this whole 2020 thing seriously. No more looking back, we've got to start looking to the year ahead, and what better way than making promises to ourselves that we're totally going to keep. It's board game resolutions time!
01:33 - Deep Sea Adventure
05:13 - Point Salad
08:48 - Sushi Go!
10:37 - Atelier: The Painter's Studio
14:52 - We're Doomed!
15:22 - The Menace Among Us
16:04 - Wavelength
23:25 - Board Game Resolutions for 2020
24:36 - Neilan's Resolution
26:45 - Fury of Dracula
31:46 - Mark's Resolution
36:17 - Kellen's Resolution
41:48 - The Contest 2020
46:11 - Sanctum
46:40 - BGB Meetups
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Here it is, the episode you've all been waiting for, the grand finale, the culmination of five weeks of episodes. These are our top ten favourite board games of all-time, games that we absolutely adore, and would happily play at a moment's notice. Heck, we'd even play the games on each others' lists ... on, you know, birthdays and special occasions. That's how good they are.
08:41 – Mark #10 – The Estates
11:29 – Neilan #10 – Pictomania
13:46 – Kellen #10 – Coloretto
15:23 – Mark #9 – The Voyages of Marco Polo
17:39 – Neilan #9 – Guards of Atlantis
22:26 – Kellen #9 – Inis
25:26 – Mark #8 – Time's Up!
26:33 – Neilan #8 – Scythe
30:04 – Kellen #8 – The Resistance
32:17 – Mark #7 – Brass: Birmingham
34:24 – Neilan #7 – Times Up!
35:54 – Kellen #7 – Troyes
37:59 – Mark #6 & Kellen #6 – El Grande
40:28 – Neilan #6 – Through The Ages: A New Story of Civilization
44:25 – Mark #5 – 1830: Railways & Robber Barons
46:34 – Neilan #5 – Codenames
49:44 – Kellen #5 – Time's Up!
51:17 – Mark #4 – Francis Drake
53:39 – Neilan #4 – Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
57:20 – Kellen #4 – Cosmic Encounter
1:00:50 – Mark #3 – Hansa Teutonica
1:04:00 – Neilan #3 – A Feast for Odin: The Norwegians
1:06:43 – Kellen #3 – Cthulhu Wars
1:09:18 – Mark #2 – Arboretum
1:11:31 – Neilan #2 – Gloomhaven
1:15:16 – Kellen #2 – Archipelago
1:18:31 – Mark #1 – Biblios
1:21:39 – Neilan #1 – The Resistance
1:23:29 – Kellen #1 – Innovation
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
A new year, a new decade, a new podcast, and a new batch of games that we love talking about. It's the fourth in our five part series of our 50 favourite board games of all-time, and appropriately, we're kicking off 2020 by breaking into the top twenty. Synergy.
01:01 - Neilan #20 - Blue Lagoon
03:14 - Kellen #20 - Startups
04:33 - Mark #20 - Imperial 2030
06:00 - Neilan #19 - Taj Mahal
07:41 - Kellen #19 - Genoa
09:09 - Mark #19 - Dominant Species
11:31 - Neilan #18 - Alchemists
13:28 - Kellen #18 - I'm The Boss
15:06 - Mark #18 - 1846: The Race for the Midwest
16:53 - Neilan #17 - Exit: The Game
19:20 - Kellen #17 - Zendo
21:42 - Mark #17 - Cuba Libre
23:51 - Neilan #16 - Watson & Holmes
26:46 - Kellen #16 - Telestrations
28:29 - Mark #16 - Pax Renaissance
30:13 - Neilan #15 - Rising Sun
33:32 - Kellen #15 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
35:23 - Mark #15 - Cthulhu Wars
38:34 - Neilan #14 - Dominion
40:19 - Kellen #14 - Omen: A Reign of War
42:11 - Mark #14 - Caylus
45:01 - Neilan #13 - Inis
47:15 - Kellen #13 - Glory to Rome
50:04 - Mark #13 - True Colors
52:36 - Neilan #12 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
54:49 - Kellen #12 - Codenames
56:01 - Mark #12 - Tigris & Euphrates
59:53 - Neilan #11 - Cthulhu Wars
1:01:30 - Kellen #11 - Diplomacy
1:03:47 - Mark #11 - Archipelago
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
It's the season of giving, so our gift to you is more of our favourite board games of all-time! We're only just halfway, so get comfortable in front of the fire, grab an eggnog, and join us for thirty more incredible games. Oh, you got us something too? Ah. Socks. Thanks.
01:45 - Kellen #30 - Splendor
04:38 - Mark #30 - Sol: Last Days of a Star
07:22 - Neilan #30 - Azul
08:54 - Kellen #29 - A Fake Artist Goes to New York
11:06 - Mark #29 - Great Western Trail
12:47 - Neilan #29 - The Quest for El Dorado
14:29 - Kellen #28 - Cockroach Poker
15:50 - Mark #28 - Genoa
17:27 - Neilan #28 - Coloretto
18:36 - Kellen #27 - Hanabi
20:07 - Mark #27 - Le Havre
22:57 - Neilan #27 - El Grande
24:24 - Kellen #26 - Dogs of War
25:40 - Mark #26 - Ra
27:43 - Neilan #26 - Android: Netrunner
30:12 - Kellen #25 - Keyflower
32:16 - Mark #25 - Pictomania
33:53 - Neilan #25 - Decrypto
36:01 - Kellen #24 - A Study in Emerald (second edition)
38:15 - Mark #24 - Rising Sun
40:15 - Neilan #24 - Spirit Island
42:12 - Kellen #23 - Hansa Teutonica
43:46 - Mark #23 - Modern Art
46:32 - Neilan #23 - Patchwork
47:27 - Kellen #22 - Insider
49:15 - Mark #22 - Glory to Rome
50:46 - Neilan #22 - Archipelago
52:47 - Kellen #21 - Decrypto
54:23 - Mark #21 - Lancaster
57:19 - Neilan #21 - Aeon's End
Join the discussion at:
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
We're shifting up a gear, the stakes are higher, it's all to play for, and a whole host of other cliches, in the second of our five part series on the top fifty games of all time. Thirty(ish) more incredible board games coming at you, and we're not even halfway done yet.
03:36 - Mark #40 - Blue Lagoon
05:58 - Neilan #40 - Panic on Wall Street!
07:01 - Kellen #40 - Dune
08:36 - Mark #39 - Shipyard
10:30 - Neilan #39 - Kemet
11:37 - Kellen #39 - For Sale
13:21 - Mark #38 - Pipeline
14:19 - Neilan #38 - The Estates
16:04 - Kellen #38 - Crokinole
17:32 - Mark #37 - Bruges
18:41 - Neilan #37 - Alhambra
20:53 - Kellen #37 - Lords of Vegas
22:41 - Mark #36 - Zany Penguins
24:25 - Neilan #36 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
26:06 - Kellen #36 - Blood Rage
27:52 - Mark #35 - Scruples
31:06 - Neilan #35 - Pipeline
32:47 - Kellen #35 - Sixes
35:05 - Mark #34 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
36:24 - Neilan #34 - Agricola
36:41 - Kellen #34 - Agricola
39:22 - Mark #33 - The Great Zimbabwe
42:30 - Neilan #33 - Orléans
43:47 - Kellen #33 - Taj Mahal
47:09 - Mark #32 - Age of Steam
48:42 - Neilan #32 - Werewords
52:08 - Kellen #32 - Imperial 2030
54:05 - Mark #31 - Mansions of Madness: Second Edition
56:13 - Neilan #31 - Gaia Project
57:39 - Kellen #31 - Fuji Flush
Join the discussion at
https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
We made it! The big one-oh-oh. That's a thing people say, right? We're starting a five episodes series, working our way down each of our top fifty games of all time. We'll discuss what might make a game move up or down our list, celebrate the highs that the hobby has to offer, and talk about a heck of a lot of amazing board games. Buckle up!
08:17 – Neilan #50 – Twice As Clever
09:32 – Kellen #50 – Maskmen
11:28 – Mark #50 – Codenames
12:56 – Neilan #49 – Air, Land & Sea
16:03 – Kellen #49 – Wizard
17:50 – Mark #49 – Carson City
18:59 – Neilan #48 – Innovation
20:27 – Kellen #48 – Ingenious
21:07 – Mark #48 – Wyatt Earp
23:52 – Neilan #47 – The Oracle of Delphi
24:56 – Kellen #47 – Detective Club
27:13 – Mark #47 – City of the Big Shoulders
29:46 – Neilan #46 – Anomia
31:13 – Kellen #46 – Cursed Court
34:24 – Mark #46 – Kemet
35:50 – Neilan #45 – In the Year of the Dragon
37:19 – Kellen #45 – The Game
39:11 – Mark #45 – Panic on Wall Street!
40:51 – Neilan #44 – Dead of the Winter: The Long Night
42:24 – Kellen #44 – No Thanks!
44:42 – Mark #44 – Pax Pamir (Second Edition)
47:19 – Neilan #43 – Grand Austria Hotel
48:57 – Kellen #43 – Diamant/Incan Gold
50:52 – Mark #43 – Innovation
52:58 – Neilan #42 – Letter Jam
55:26 – Kellen #42 – Bruges
56:10 – Mark #42 – Concordia
58:03 – Neilan #41 – Sol: Last Days of a Star
1:01:01 – Kellen #41 – Piñata/Balloon Cup
1:02:19 – Mark #41 – Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
Join the discussion at https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
It's getting close now, can you feel it? Or are you just feeling sore from the game you just lost? We're talking sore losers and sore winners: people who are hard to be around when they lose or win a game. What can you do to avoid being that person, and what games bring out the worst in us? Before we fight our feelings, we talk about Paris: New Eden, Glory to Rome, and No Swap No Pay.
03:35 - Pipeline
06:29 - Paris: New Eden
14:54 - Glory to Rome
20:36 - Mottainai
22:48 - Innovation
24:14 - No Swap No Pay
32:09 - Sore Winners and Losers
37:00 - The Resistance
41:50 - Cthulhu Wars
42:54 - Cosmic Encounter
45:46 - Detective Club
46:13 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
48:16 - Archipelago
Join the discussion at https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We're showing our thanks with a surprise podcast about ... well, maybe we'll just let the episode speak for itself. Gobble gobble.
03:23 - ICECOOL
04:46 - Meeple Circus
06:11 - Root
06:42 - Sheriff of Nottingham
07:47 - Fauna
08:22 - Piepmatz
09:07 - Evolution: Flight
09:56 - Gulo Gulo
11:29 - Zany Penguins
12:07 - Funky Chicken
13:56 - Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn
14:51 - Rook
16:19 - Chess
17:36 - Biblios
19:53 - Scythe
Join the discussion at https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
We've all got them, whether we'll care to admit it or not, quirks and and biases that might be irrational, but nevertheless affect our judgement of the games we play. This week we're looking at a few of the little things that might weigh a game in or out of our favour, even if they don't necessarily make much sense. Before we exercise extreme prejudice, we talk about Flamme Rouge, The North, and Ragusa.
02:03 - Cursed Court
02:39 - Flamme Rouge
09:28 - The North
15:43 - Ragusa
24:08 - Board Game Biases
25:51 - Vindication
26:08 - Suburbia: Collector's Edition
30:39 - Anachrony
32:15 - Scythe
33:26 - Magical Athlete
36:16 - Pipeline
41:02 - Adrenaline
41:28 - Fog of Love
43:23 - The Battle at Kemble's Cascade
45:05 - Pandemic
Join the discussion at https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord
Uh oh, you're not enjoying the game you're playing. Now what? Is it okay to excuse yourself? Maybe it's better that you just call it rather than continue to have a bad time. This week we're talking about scenarios where some or all of the players of a game might decide it's better to bounce than to wallow in misery. Before we make an early exit, we talk about SEAL Team Flix, Paranormal Detectives, and I'm the Boss.
01:21 - SEAL Team Flix
10:32 - Paranormal Detectives
18:53 - Mysterium
21:37 - Crokinole
22:12 - Cursed Court
23:27 - I'm the Boss!
31:50 - Bouncing off Games
33:49 - Menara
36:37 - Cosmic Encounter
38:45 - The Great Zimbabwe
39:40 - Megacity: Oceania
40:25 - Founders of Gloomhaven
43:52 - Diplomacy
45:22 - Swinging Jivecat Voodoo Lounge
46:08 - Merlin
47:00 - Heroes of Land, Air & Sea
48:54 - LLAMA
49:33 - Nemesis
Where has the year gone?! It's almost time to start packing our bags for various family gatherings, and inevitably the most important question becomes ... what games are we taking? Whether it's specific games for specific people, or games that work in large inexperienced groups, we're here to make your holidays merry and bright. Before we head on home, we talk about Ethnos, Street Masters, Templari, and Carnival of Monsters.
03:02 - Ethnos
08:12 - Street Masters
11:39 - Sentinels of the Multiverse
14:08 - Templari
17:14 - Carnival of Monsters
25:21 - Top Five Games for the Holidays
29:16 - Werewords
30:20 - Letter Jam
30:20 - SHH
31:21 - Ingenious
32:53 - Sushi Go!
34:39 - Fast Forward: FORTRESS
36:01 - Cartographers
37:14 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
38:14 - Cryptid
39:36 - Cursed Court
40:43 - One Night Ultimate Werewolf
42:16 - Coloretto
43:54 - Hanabi Deluxe II
44:56 - Just One
46:46 - Air, Land & Sea
47:51 - Res Arcana
49:13 - Codenames
51:05 - WINK
52:16 - Medium
It took us almost a hundred episodes, but we finally reveal how to have fun with your friends even when you're losing. Specifically, we're talking about games and mechanisms that help us enjoy our losses, because let's face it, we can't all be winners. Before we celebrate our setbacks, we talk about Sierra West, Mansions of Madness: Second Edition, and Black Angel.
01:37 - Sierra West
11:17 - Mansions of Madness: Second Edition
20:17 - Black Angel
24:02 - Troyes
27:18 - Solenia
35:30 - Q.E.
35:43 - Ponzi Scheme
35:59 - Biblios
38:52 - Aeon's End: War Eternal
40:59 - Ghost Stories
43:56 - Agricola
44:37 - Terraforming Mars
46:31 - Lords of Vegas
47:00 - Diamant/Incan Gold
48:20 - Twice as Clever
Blue Tank's back to talk take-backs, so take that to the bank. It's bound to happen, someone makes a mistake on their turn and desperately wants a do-over - but how do you handle it? It's a delicate balance of making sure everyone at the table is having a good time, and not slowing the game down. So what's fair? Before we undo, we talk about Air, Land & Sea, Menara, and Seasons of Inis.
02:57 - Air, Land & Sea
03:03 - Heroes of Land, Air & Sea
08:43 - Hanamikoji
10:59 - Menara
22:09 - Riff Raff
23:08 - Inis
23:08 - Seasons of Inis
53:31 - Dominant Species
We're joined by the Blue Tank for a quick look back at SHUX, before we dive into a discussion on games that are better than their mechanics suggest. These are games that we might describe as not very good, but somehow still give us incredible experiences that we find distinct and unique. But that makes them good, right? Before we lose all credibility, we talk about Kingdomino Duel, Panic on Wall Street!, and Blood on the Clocktower.
02:22 - SHUX
06:27 - Kingdomino Duel
11:29 - Panic on Wall Street!
18:52 - Blood on the Clocktower
23:48 - The Resistance: Avalon
36:57 - Experiences that transcend mechanics
38:02 - Fuji Flush
38:58 - Happy Salmon
39:40 - True Colors
39:40 - A Question of Scruples
40:32 - Zombicide: Black Plague
41:26 - Hundreds of Horses
49:30 - Loopin' Louie
Shut Up & Sit Down's very own Quintin Smith joins us live on stage at SHUX 2019! We play a rousing game of Hundreds of Horses, discuss some games from the convention, and lay out the unspoken truths of board games - opinions about the hobby we vehemently hold, even if everyone else is too afraid to say it. Before we speak truth to power, we talk about Deep Blue, Curios, Obscurio, and Vast: The Mysterious Manor.
02:51 - Hundreds of Horses
08:05 - Deep Blue
11:44 - Curios
16:03 - Obscurio
20:55 - Vast: The Mysterious Manor
28:07 - Unspoken Truths of Board Games
29:05 - Neilan: Theme and storytelling
32:22 - Flamme Rouge
33:40 - Too Many Bones
34:16 - Kellen: The decline of interactivity
36:40 - Troyes
37:47 - Hansa Teutonica
38:26 - Agricola
38:26 - A Feast for Odin
39:10 - Mark: Playing to win
41:48 - Inis
45:20 - Twilight Imperium
47:55 - Quinns: Reading flavor text
50:03 - Pax Pamir (Second Edition)
50:58 - Scythe
Mark Rosewater, head designer for Magic: The Gathering, defined three player archetypes back in 2002, and we figured it'd be fun to see how we can apply them to, not just board games, but your three beloved hosts. We look into what makes a Timmy, Tammy, Johnny, Jenny, or Spike tick, and try to find some board games each might like. Before we profile ourselves, we talk about FlickFleet, Québec, and Ra.
02:13 - FlickFleet
06:19 - Québec
09:10 - El Grande
10:29 - Tapestry
15:00 - Ra
21:56 - Magic: the Gathering Player Archetypes
31:08 - Gùgōng
40:27 - The Voyages of Marco Polo
40:55 - Rising Sun
41:19 - Crokinole
41:47 - Dominion
42:47 - Terraforming Mars
43:15 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
43:50 - Cosmic Encounter
44:47 - Dune
45:31 - Glory to Rome
Inspired by BoardGameGeek's new system for classifying board game mechanisms, we give our thoughts on the changes, as well as talk about classification in general. Somehow it always leads to heated discussions, whether it's arguing what a Civilization game even is, or why we need classification at all. I'm sure we'll all agree in the end. Before we taxi into taxonomy, we talk about Piepmatz, Era: Medieval Age, and Cursed Court.02:45 - Piepmatz
05:05 - Arboretum
08:42 - Irish Gauge
10:38 - Era: Medieval Age
19:00 - Cursed Court
29:43 - Board Game Classification
36:53 - Codenames
51:35 - Tapestry
52:12 - Civilization
53:10 - Scythe
56:55 - Great Western Trail
58:30 - 18Lilliput
Hello, again, Germany! Well, we don't actually ever go to Essen, but boy do we wish we could. There are always so many games that debut at Essen SPIEL that we wish we could play or buy ... and this year is no exception! We're counting down the games we would most anticipate getting our hands on if it weren't so goshdarn far. Before we cross the Atlantic, we also talk about Irish Gauge, Heroes of Terrinoth, and Tapestry.
01:00 - Irish Gauge
08:33 - Heroes of Terrinoth
16:21 - Tapestry
37:50 - The games we want from Essen SPIEL 2019
38:15 - Trismegistus: The Ultimate Formula
39:27 - The Magnificent
40:22 - Welkin
41:46 - Terramara
43:10 - Rush M.D.
44:09 - Deep Blue
44:54 - Paranormal Detectives
46:04 - Rome & Roll
47:07 - Offshore
48:42 - Glen More II: Chronicles
49:38 - Maracaibo
50:33 - Kakerlaken Sushi
51:52 - Crystal Palace
53:29 - Perseverance: Castaway Chronicles
55:12 - Babylonia
No, not that game. We're talking about the life cycles of games, how we acquire them, how we end up moving on from them. Where do we generally get our games from, and how do we typically get rid of them? Things get a little bit existential before the end. Before we, blinking, step into the sun, we also talk about Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne, 18Lilliput, and Tonari.
01:38 - Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne
10:06 - 18Lilliput
15:25 - City of the Big Shoulders
19:56 - Tonari
28:11 - The life cycle of games
29:05 - Exit: The Game
29:30 - Charterstone
35:06 - Piepmatz
35:50 - Nyctophobia
40:40 - Rising Sun
42:52 - Irish Gauge
44:17 - The Resistance: Avalon
45:07 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
Look, there's only so much time in the day, so we don't get to play every game we ought to. But some of those missed games hurt more than others, in fact, some of them are downright shameful. This week we're counting down the top five games we're ashamed that we haven't played. Before we atone, we also talk about Kobayakawa, Taj Mahal, and Twilight Imperium (Fourth Edition).
02:07 - Nine Tiles Panic
03:36 - Kobayakawa
07:38 - Taj Mahal
17:47 - Twilight Imperium (Fourth Edition)
33:53 - Games we're ashamed we haven't played
34:29 - Modern Art
36:18 - Kremlin
37:44 - Nothing Personal
38:12 - Ra
39:32 - Caverna: The Cave Farmers
40:50 - Macao
41:57 - Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game
43:37 - Terraforming Mars
45:04 - Indonesia
46:26 - Dungeon Lords
46:26 - Dungeon Petz
47:43 - Seafarers of Catan
47:43 - Catan: Cities & Knights
49:16 - Antike II
49:51 - Trickerion: Masters of Illusion
51:48 - Cyclades
53:37 - Amun Re
Kellen's back, which some might say is too many hosts - apt, because we're an episode of extremes today. We're talking about games that are too simple, too complicated, too short, or too long, that might otherwise have been among our favourites. Before we venture outside the Goldilocks zone, we talk about Q.E., Cartographers, and City of the Big Shoulders.
02:58 - Q.E.
11:52 - Cartographers
19:36 - City of the Big Shoulders
37:25 - Games that are too long
38:36 - Citadels
38:51 - Alien Frontiers
39:04 - Cubist
40:41 - Dead of Winter
41:18 - Robo Rally
41:52 - Skull
43:19 - Mage Knight
43:52 - Forbidden Stars
45:17 - Twilight Imperium
45:51 - Las Vegas
46:17 - Time's Up! Title Recall!
46:55 - Games that are too short
46:59 - Above and Below
47:53 - Clank!
48:15 - Oink Games
49:37 - Agricola
50:15 - The Voyages of Marco Polo
51:05 - Games that are too complicated
51:19 - Burano
53:12 - Keyflower
53:39 - Nemesis
54:03 - Altiplano
54:37 - Escape Plan
55:07 - Skull King
56:36 - Games that are too simple
56:42 - Kingdomino
58:00 - Ethnos
1:02:41 - Bärenpark
1:03:30 - Betrayal at House on the Hill
1:04:56 - 3 Wishes
1:05:30 - Mint Works
Kellen graces us with his absence, which means it's time for Mark and Neilan to start talking numbers. Specifically, player numbers. We're talking about optimal player counts for games, whether games ever mean what they recommend on the box, and how well they scale. Before we count to ten, we talk about Vindication, Royal Palace, Throw Throw Burrito, and Pipeline.
05:40 – Vindication
12:05 – Royal Palace
17:28 – Throw Throw Burrito
21:37 – Pipeline
29:48 – Optimal Player Counts
31:51 – Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne
32:50 – Caverna: The Cave Farmers
33:13 – Alien Frontiers
34:19 – Dead of Winter
37:13 – Throw Throw Burrito
38:20 – The Resistance
39:17 – Inis
39:45 – Rising Sun
40:09 – Maria
43:48 – Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
We're running components through our fingers this week, because we're ranking our favourite games that require dexterity. Whether it's flicking, stacking, or balancing, dexterity games tend to offer a respite from brain burning crunchiness, and a chance to exercise actual muscles. Before our hands tremble, we talk about The Wizard Always Wins, Genoa, and Paku Paku.
01:29 - The Wizard Always Wins
06:36 - Genoa
13:55 - Paku Paku
17:53 - Listener Mail
21:59 - Our Favourite Dexterity Games
22:53 - Riff Raff
25:14 - Flick 'em Up!: Dead of Winter
27:25 - Bugs in the Kitchen
29:31 - Junk Art
31:46 - KLASK
35:44 - Hamsterrolle
37:28 - Animal Upon Animal
38:56 - Meeple Circus
42:18 - Drop It
44:57 - PitchCar
46:42 - Safranito
51:47 - Puzzle Dungeon Fighter
56:08 - Crokinole
We just flew in from Indianapolis, and boy are our arms tired! From carrying all these games. But, more than the games, it's the people you meet that make the memories, so we're recovering from a very long weekend at Gen Con by telling some of our favourite little stories from the floor. Before we revisit our weekend, we talk about Tuki, God of War: The Card Game, and Wits & Wagers Vegas.
01:03 - Tuki
05:41 - God of War: The Card Game
16:34 - Wits & Wagers Vegas
24:08 - Letter Jam
25:09 - Catch the Moon
27:17 - Wooly Whammoth
31:02 - Click Clack Lumberjack
32:14 - Foodies
42:26 - Seasons of Inis
42:48 - City of the Big Shoulders
43:20 - Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne
Our trilogy of Gen Con podcasts concludes with one final foray between the sheets! Join us on the floor of room [redacted] for the last time, with our thoughts from day three. We talk about Sanctum, Potemkin Empire, MegaCity: Oceania, and Aegean Sea.
Day two is over, but we're just getting started, because it's all about those Gen Con nights. We're up way too late, yet again, to give you the scoops from the floor. We talk about Finger Guns at High Noon, In Front of the Elevators, Realm of Sand, City of the Big Shoulders, and Medium.
Gen Con! It's time yet again for freezer pants, gourmet coffee and going between the sheets. Join us for our quick day one impressions from the floor, and I mean that quite literally. We talk about Gravity Superstar, Wakanda Forever, Mechanica, Mister Face, Nine Tiles Panic, Visitor in Blackwood Grove, and Letter Jam.
Gimmicks are elements of a game that are the fundamental selling point, the core attention grabbing mechanic or experience that the game is built around. This episode, we're breaking down gimmicks in board games, figuring out if they're good or bad for the hobby, and talking about some of the most notable. Before we cave to flashy marketing, we also talk about Are You A Robot?, Jaws, and FUSE.
01:17 - Bärenpark
03:12 - Keyforge: Age of Ascension
05:25 - Are You A Robot?
09:46 - Wingspan
10:37 - Jaws
13:55 - FUSE
18:34 - I don't even know
20:23 - Games with Gimmicks
22:27 - The Adventurers
23:22 - Niagara
24:31 - Shogun
24:31 - Wallenstein
24:59 - Amerigo
25:41 - Mord im Arosa
28:14 - Camel Up
29:18 - Sheriff of Nottingham
30:34 - Via Appia
31:33 - Dice Forge
32:39 - Alchemists
33:13 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
34:38 - Council of 4
35:11 - Mouse Trap
36:13 - Star Trek: The Next Generation - Interactive VCR Board Game - A Klingon Challenge
38:23 - The VCR Quarterback Game
42:01 - Hanabi
42:39 - Planet
This week we're talking about hidden trackable information. That is, information about the game state that could be remembered or recorded, but the game design (usually) assumes that players haven't. Is it okay to memorize or divulge this information? Before we take notes, we also talk about Papà Paolo, Oceanos, and Pax Pamir (Second Edition).
02:10 - Papà Paolo
07:25 - Oceanos
13:32 - Pax Pamir (Second Edition)
26:06 - Bonus episode!
26:30 - Hidden Trackable Information
42:13 - The Resistance
43:59 - Tigris & Euphrates
47:38 - El Grande
48:11 - I'm The Boss!
50:01 - Through the Ages
54:44 - Guards of Atlantis
56:20 - Survive: Escape from Atlantis!
Gen Con 2019 is mere weeks away, and I bet you don't even know what games are going to be there. Fear not, we've got you covered! We're counting down our most anticipated games of the show, having meticulously studied BGG's preview list, and looked at all the pretty pictures. Before we plan our trip, we talk about Cryptid, Two Rooms and a Boom, and Planet.
03:25 - Cryptid
09:05 - Tobago
10:04 - Psychiatrist
11:59 - Two Rooms and a Boom
16:50 - Planet
24:35 - Gen Con 2019 Preview
26:46 - Watergate
28:27 - Welcome to Dino World
30:01 - Conflicting Legends
31:11 - Time Chase
31:53 - Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne
33:14 - Tonari
34:52 - Barrage
36:25 - In the Hall of the Mountain King
38:05 - SHŌBU
39:30 - Pipeline
40:35 - Sanctum
41:31 - Seasons of Inis
43:10 - City of the Big Shoulders
43:56 - MegaCity: Oceania
45:59 - Black Angel
So, you're coming in last. You could sigh, lean back, mutter to yourself about all the things you should've done better ... or you could get back in there, soldier! Back on your feet! This week on the show, we discuss what's worth fighting for in a board game, when you're clearly not going to win. Before we lose with dignity, we talk about Murder on the Cosmic Express, TAMSK, and Diplomacy.
02:52 - Patreon!
10:33 - Murder on the Cosmic Express
18:22 - TAMSK
23:09 - Diplomacy
40:04 - What to do when you're losing
41:22 - El Grande
49:54 - Archipelago
Special guest Paula Deming joins us this week to tell board game stories! We think back to especially funny times we had playing a board game, that were only made possible by the game itself. Before we spin yarns, we talk about Evolution: Climate, Terrible Monster, Sweet Nose,and Dice Throne: Season One.
00:15 - Paula Deming, the Orchid Tank!
07:35 - Claustrophobia 1643
09:10 - Evolution: Climate
13:38 - Terrible Monster
17:21 - Sweet Nose
22:21 - Dice Throne: Season One
29:10 - Paula's Story
29:22 - Modern Art
36:01 - Mark's Story
37:05 - One Night Ultimate Werewolf
41:15 - Kellen's Story
41:40 - Lifeboat
46:44 - Neilan's Story
46:57 - Dark Moon
You don't need no education, but you're getting one anyway. This week we're going to be explaining the meaning of some common but unclear board game words, for we are nothing if not your humble servants. Before we define our terms, we talk about The Shipwreck Arcana, Kingdom Death: Monster, and Vinhos Deluxe Edition.
01:29 - The Shipwreck Arcana
09:05 - Kingdom Death: Monster
19:28 - Vinhos Deluxe Edition
28:13 - Board Game Terminology
28:44 - "Crunchy"
34:40 - "Fiddly"
36:38 - Agricola
37:24 - "Degenerate" vs "Broken"
38:41 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
39:05 - Archipelago
40:13 - The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31
40:46 - Dune
41:56 - Glorantha: The Gods War
43:35 - "Eurogame" vs "Ameritrash"
46:15 - El Grande
48:35 - Scythe
54:07 - Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire
Time is a precious resource, so let's not waste any; we're talking about game length. How long should a game be? Is it worse if a game is too long or too short? We wrestle with the fourth dimension in our search for answers. Before we watch the clock, we talk about Dice Forge, Gulo Gulo, and Millennium Blades.
01:28 - Dice Forge
06:53 - Gulo Gulo
10:53 - Millennium Blades
19:41 - Game Length
23:42 - Dominant Species
25:53 - New Angeles
27:05 - Formula D
27:37 - Robo Rally
28:35 - King of Tokyo
29:05 - Citadels
30:21 - Five Tribes
32:07 - Agricola
34:30 - Indian Summer
35:10 - The Voyages of Marco Polo
35:52 - Above and Below
36:53 - Archipelago
38:09 - Food Chain Magnate
There's nothing sweeter than the softening of a heart, that precious feeling when all of the things you thought you'd dislike, suddenly become endearing. We're counting down our favourite games that we thought we were going to hate, but ended up loving. Before we go full tsundere, we talk about Indian Summer, Richard the Lionheart, and X nimmt! 01:55 - Indian Summer
09:26 - Richard the Lionheart
15:53 - X nimmt!
23:37 - Games we thought we'd hate
24:55 - Shadow Hunters
27:12 - Walnut Grove
28:52 - Survive: Escape from Atlantis!
31:34 - Great Western Trail
32:35 - Blood Rage
33:47 - Formula D
35:32 - Zendo
36:48 - Hansa Teutonica
38:18 - In the Year of the Dragon
39:47 - Majesty: For the Realm
41:21 - Mansions of Madness: Second Edition
42:25 - Chicken Caesar
44:27 - Yokohama
46:18 - Caylus
49:54 - Blue Lagoon
Somewhere in Germany every year, a specialist team assembles to decide on the best board games ... that released in Germany that year ... that no one has ever heard of. Look, the Spiel des Jahres is a bit weird, and no one ever agrees about the winners, but we're going to talk about the nominees anyway, okay? Before ze Germans get here, we also talk about Glorantha: The Gods War, and Corinth. We also recap our weekend at Strategicon Gamex 2019.
02:05 - Glorantha: The Gods War
11:28 - Cthulhu Wars
20:06 - Corinth
27:27 - Strategicon Gamex 2019
28:52 - Now Boarding
32:25 - Spiel des Jahres
33:40 - Just One
34:44 - Werewords
36:05 - LAMA
38:46 - Who wins the Spiel des Jahres?
41:47 - Wingspan
42:35 - Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game
43:42 - Carpe Diem
44:39 - Who wins the Kennerspiel?
Everyone likes to get the most out of their hard-earned cash, but what is a board game worth? Maybe it doesn't matter what's inside the box, maybe the real value is the friends we made along the way? Haha, just kidding, it's totally all about the miniature total. Before we count components, we also talk about Aerion, Overbooked, Dinosaur Island, and Lancaster.
03:15 - Aerion
05:40 - Overbooked
11:36 - Dinosaur Island
25:08 - Lancaster
34:37 - Value for money
36:50 - A Feast for Odin
38:16 - Scythe
41:09 - Escape Plan
41:36 - Gloomhaven
41:54 - Mechs vs. Minions
42:55 - Terraforming Mars
Letters! You love writing them, and we love reading them! This week, we look at portable and licensed games, why reviewers love social games, and give advice for your first board game convention. Before we break out the letter opener, we also talk about Fool!, Aerion, and Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar.
01:03 - Fool!
05:38 - Aerion
13:06 - Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar
22:24 - Listener Questions
22:48 - Best portable games?
23:29 - Oink Games
23:54 - Sprawlopolis
24:07 - SHH
25:01 - No Thanks!
25:10 - Skull
25:51 - Illusion
26:22 - Are reviewers biased towards more social games?
28:48 - Blood on the Clocktower
32:15 - Cosmic Encounter
33:08 - Convention tips?
34:52 - Nyctophobia
37:47 - Best licensed game?
38:02 - Dune
38:22 - XCOM: The Board Game
38:34 - The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31
39:01 - Play new games or replay old ones?
39:37 - Why does Neilan have the best voice?
41:05 - ?!?!
We're well into May, so it's about time we did some spring cleaning. We talk about the games that have recently left our collection, and why it was their time to go. It's not always an easy thing, but I'm sure they're being loved by someone else on a farm upstate. Before we out with the old, we talk about Space Base: The Emergence of Shy Pluto, Hyperborea, and Clockwork Wars.
02:28 - Space Base: The Emergence of Shy Pluto
09:03 - Hyperborea
20:06 - Clockwork Wars
30:51 - Games that have left our collections
31:03 - Lowlands
34:12 - Key to the City: London
36:33 - Raptor
38:27 - Magic Maze
40:41 - Chinatown
43:32 - Yamataï
44:51 - Things we're looking forward to
Dominant strategies can ruin a game; if there's one clear best way to win, why not use it every time? We discuss these optimal strategies, whether they're always problematic, and how to deal with them at your game table. Before we break the game, we talk about A Feast for Odin: The Norwegians, Lost Cities: Rivals, and Second Chance.
03:16 - PUSH
04:53 - A Feast for Odin: The Norwegians
12:30 - Lost Cities: Rivals
18:12 - Second Chance
26:31 - Dominant Strategies
27:17 - A Feast for Odin
27:57 - A Few Acres of Snow
28:16 - Blood Rage
30:48 - Magic: The Gathering
32:45 - London
34:19 - Great Western Trail
36:39 - Chess
38:18 - Cthulhu Wars
43:36 - Food Chain Magnate
45:22 - Dominion
46:30 - Battle for Rokugan
46:51 - Kemet
48:53 - Ticket to Ride
Slow down. Why're you always in such a rush? Kick off your shoes, join us on the couch and enjoy a nice, tall, refreshing ... board game. We're counting down our five favourite relaxing games, the ones we're drawn to at the end of a long game night. Before we slip into something more comfortable, we also talk about Heaven & Ale, Men At Work, and Yellow & Yangtze.
01:59 - Heaven & Ale
08:30 - Men At Work
14:08 - Yellow & Yangtze
18:18 - Tigris & Euphrates
24:50 - Our Favourite Relaxing Games
26:32 - Lanterns: The Harvest Festival
27:49 - Bärenpark
29:22 - Illusion
30:42 - Dixit
32:34 - Telestrations
34:35 - Crokinole
37:09 - Cottage Garden
38:34 - Karuba
39:54 - Rise of Augustus
41:19 - Between Two Cities
43:58 - Welcome To ...
45:00 - Red7
46:58 - Notre Dame
48:47 - Patchwork
50:15 - Camel Up
We're being serious. Are board games a base line level of fun that we ought to take for granted? We're all together, we're all playing a game, that's better than doing nothing, right? It couldn't possibly be that simple with us. Before we arithmetise entertainment, we also talk about Tiny Towns, Zendo, and Escape Plan.
01:41 - Tiny Towns
07:23 - Zendo
13:24 - Escape Plan
29:52 - Are games fun no matter what?
38:05 - Horse Fever
38:39 - Dominant Species
39:35 - Loopin' Louie
44:46 - One Night Ultimate Werewolf
The train's pulling into the station and you've got a ticket, because this week we're talking all about hype. Why do we get irrationally excited about games we know nothing about? How much should we listen to our overly excited inner selves? Before it's all aboard, we also talk about Reykholt, PUSH, and Great Western Trail.
01:51 - Reykholt
10:13 - PUSH
14:54 - Great Western Trail
30:50 - Hype and anti-hype
32:41 - Res Arcana
33:45 - The 7th Continent
35:32 - El Grande
38:29 - Gloomhaven
38:57 - Brass: Birmingham
40:09 - Blood on the Clocktower
42:43 - Terraforming Mars
It's all well and good playing the newest, hottest games, but that doesn't stop us wanting to go back to some of the old goodies. We're counting down our top five games we want to revisit, to enjoy once more as we did in our youth. Relatively speaking. Before we get all wistful, we also talk about Eye My Favourite Things, On Tour, and Dune.
01:12 - Eye My Favourite Things
06:18 - On Tour
12:28 - Dune
18:40 - Cosmic Encounter
24:44 - Rex: Final Days of an Empire
26:10 - Root
31:55 - Games We Want to Play More
33:00 - Libertalia
34:19 - Ricochet Robots
37:01 - XCOM: The Board Game
39:09 - Ascending Empires
40:16 - Automobiles
42:22 - Kitchen Rush
43:52 - Two Rooms and a Boom
46:17 - Tribune: Primus Inter Pares
48:00 - Seasons
49:53 - Yokohama
50:56 - SpaceCorp
52:50 - The Voyages of Marco Polo
54:19 - Root
55:34 - Container
56:36 - Lords of Hellas
Electronic board games! What will they think of next?! There's been a trend of more and more board games being translated into web and mobile apps, so join us as we make the jump to cyberspace. Before we plug in, we also talk about Heul doch! Mau Mau, Architects of the West Kingdom, and revisit Nusfjord.
01:19 - Heul doch! Mau Mau
05:19 - Architects of the West Kingdom
10:55 - A Feast for Odin
13:44 - Nusfjord
26:26 - Digital Board Games
27:20 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
28:05 - Onirim
29:28 - Concordia
30:56 - Dixit
32:49 - Innovation
33:29 - Ortus Regni
36:41 - The Resistance
We're at the table talking table talk, all the little things that get said while you're playing a board game. Sure, there's plenty to be said in a social deduction or negotiation game, but what about less talky games? What's appropriate and what isn't? Before we say something we regret, we also talk about Everdell, Concordia Venus, and Project: ELITE.
03:58 - Everdell
08:34 - Wingspan
12:07 - Concordia Venus
21:27 - Project: ELITE
25:56 - Escape: The Curse of the Temple
31:13 - Table Talk
37:01 - Codenames
Some games offer an experience so unique, so unlike anything else, that you can't help but take notice. It might be a bold thematic setting, or a set of mechanics that you've never seen before. This week, we're counting down our favourite games that do something ... a little bit different. Before we stand out from the crowd, we also talk about Looting London, and Chimera.
01:05 - Looting London
04:17 - Chimera
09:45 - Unique Thematic Experiences
12:12 - Food Chain Magnate
16:11 - Space Cadets: Dice Duel
18:38 - Long Shot
21:23 - Dungeons & Dragons: Rock Paper Wizard
23:16 - Dead of Winter
26:42 - Pit
28:38 - Millennium Blades
33:11 - Alchemists
36:33 - Chaosmos
40:07 - Ponzi Scheme
42:24 - Space Hulk
45:39 - Adrenaline
47:37 - Diplomacy
51:06 - Sol: Last Days of a Star
53:22 - Captain Sonar
Time to 'fess up. We're admitting to all the transgressions we've made in the world of board gaming. We're not proud of it, but there are a lot of games we haven't played that we should have. There are Kickstarters we've overspent on, and some we regret backing. And what would a good confessional be without owning up to our guilty pleasures? Before we ask forgiveness, we also talk about Excape, Race for the Galaxy, and Biblios Dice.
01:30 - Excape
07:57 - Race for the Galaxy
13:49 - Biblios Dice
20:02 - Board Game Confessions
21:50 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
23:44 - Eclipse
25:31 - Terraforming Mars
29:08 - The 7th Continent
29:42 - Statecraft
30:30 - Tiny Epic Quest
31:42 - Glorantha: The Gods War
32:21 - Rising Sun
34:17 - Zombicide
34:42 - Betrayal at House on the Hill
34:55 - True Colors
35:45 - Hundreds of Horses
39:43 - Through the Ages
40:09 - Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team
Gateway games are an often requested topic, but we wouldn't be us without a big old debate about them first. Are they important? Should you be trying to convert your friends at all? Isn't every game a gateway game if you just talk slowly enough? Before we raise the portcullis, we also talk about Targi, and Catan.
01:25 - Targi
07:19 - Catan
09:35 - Gateway games
17:11 - Forbidden Island
18:38 - Codenames
19:01 - Sushi Go!
22:23 - A Fake Artist Goes to New York
24:56 - Bärenpark
27:47 - Biblios
32:16 - Splendor
35:31 - The Quest for El Dorado
38:12 - Blue Lagoon
41:05 - Dominion
43:57 - Wingspan
47:32 - Converting non-gamers?
It's always sad to see a game go. But sometimes it's just time to move on, to let it be free, to let someone else enjoy its esoteric rules and quirky components. Games leave our collections for many reasons, so let's take a look at some of them. Before we spark joy, we talk about Big Dig, Trains, and The River.
01:18 - Big Dig
05:00 - Trains
09:30 - The Quest for El Dorado
10:17 - The River
19:51 - Why Games Leave our Collections
27:40 - Through The Ages
27:40 - Mage Knight
29:02 - Founders of Gloomhaven
33:49 - Capital Lux
35:25 - Rapid Fire Send-offs
One year, baby! We did it. It's our first anniversary, and we're celebrating by ... putting out an episode of the podcast. We got a couple of reader questions that we thought would be especially pertinent for this occasion, as we look back on the impact Board Game Barrage has had on us. Before we pop the champagne, we talk about The Quacks of Quedlinburg, Forum Trajanum, and Narabi.
04:37 - The Quacks of Quedlinburg
08:57 - Forum Trajanum
15:08 - Narabi
21:00 - How has Board Game Barrage impacted us?
32:08 - Do review copies make us less impartial?
33:45 - Hyperspace
35:24 - Shouldn't Mark be the Red Tank?
39:08 - Guest reviews!
2019 is well underway, but with so many amazing games on the horizon, it's hard to know what to look out for. Fear not, listener, that's what we're here for. Join us as we count down our most anticipated games of the year. Before we cast our eyes ahead, we talk about New Frontiers: The Race for the Galaxy Board Game, and Hansa Teutonica.
02:33 - New Frontiers: The Race for the Galaxy Board Game
09:25 - Hansa Teutonica
18:13 - Most Anticipated Games of 2019
18:59 - Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy
22:09 - Glorantha: The Gods War
25:28 - TOKYO TSUKIJI MARKET
28:27 - Sabotage
31:04 - Living Planet
33:26 - Pipeline
36:20 - Escape Plan
38:04 - Res Arcana
39:36 - Barrage
41:03 - ELO Darkness
44:02 - Black Angel
45:18 - On Mars
46:43 - Warpgate
48:54 - Mezo
51:07 - City of the Big Shoulders
Objectivity is a nice goal, but what does it mean for board game criticism? Are there elements of board game design that we can have factual conversations about, without invoking our personal biases? We debate this in the only way we know how. Before we start shouting, we talk about Hyperspace, Gùgōng, and Wingspan.
02:30 - Hyperspace
08:52 - Gùgōng
14:43 - ZhanGuo
17:35 - Last Will
18:06 - Wingspan
21:37 - Innovation
26:26 - Critical Objectivity
26:58 - Nemesis
28:01 - Zombicide
32:01 - Heroes of Land, Air & Sea
43:04 - Monopoly
43:55 - Formula D
44:42 - Magical Athlete
46:18 - Diplomacy
Sometimes you're not looking to win or lose, you're looking for an experience. A lot of games promise to deliver thematic gameplay, but what does that mean for the mechanics? Does it have to be one without the other? Before we set the mood, we talk about Nusfjord, Paper Tales, and Nemesis.
03:25 - Nusfjord
09:43 - Paper Tales
15:25 - Nemesis
25:34 - Thematic Games We Like
26:08 - Mansions of Madness: Second Edition
29:58 - Nothing Personal
31:16 - Gloomhaven
31:35 - Android: Netrunner
32:05 - Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game
33:19 - Captain Sonar
36:45 - The Resistance
37:48 - The Grizzled
39:19 - Dune
We throw back to our very first episode, with our biggest surprises and disappointments of the year gone by. 2018 was a year of highs and lows, but sometimes you just don't see them coming. The difference between expectation and the final product is what this week's episode is all about. Before we gaze back wistfully, we talk about Akrotiri, Blue Moon City,and This Guilty Land.
01:56 - Akrotiri
05:09 - Innovation
05:27 - Blue Moon City
10:31 - This Guilty Land
16:37 - 2018’s Biggest Disappointments
16:57 - Rising Sun
21:29 - The 7th Continent
25:31 - Merlin
32:07 - 2018’s Best Surprises
32:21 - Space Base
34:31 - Decrypto
37:18 - Lords of Hellas
Top ten, baby! We finally made it. And thus concludes our five part series of our favourite games of all-time. Frankly, we were changed by the experience, and will never be the same again. We hope you were too.
01:35 - Kalen #10 - Coloretto
03:30 - Mark #10 - True Colors
06:15 - Neilan #10 - Dominion
09:28 - Kalen #9 - Diplomacy
12:45 - Mark #9 - ??? (32:02)
13:10 - Neilan #9 - Guards of Atlantis
16:32 - Kalen #8 - ??? (01:24:54)
16:43 - Mark #8 - Brass: Birmingham
20:27 - Neilan #8 - Scythe
25:32 - Kalen #7 - Troyes
28:07 - Mark #7 - Cuba Libre
31:54 - Neilan #7 - ??? (32:02)
32:02 - Kalen #6 - Time's Up!
35:23 - Mark #6 - ??? (01:07:00)
35:29 - Neilan #6 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
38:57 - Kalen #5 - El Grande
38:57 - Mark #5 - El Grande
42:56 - Neilan #5 - A Feast for Odin
46:09 - Kalen #4 - Cthulhu Wars
50:47 - Mark #4 - 1830: Railways & Robber Barons
53:55 - Neilan #4 - Codenames
56:19 - Kalen #3 - Cosmic Encounter
59:47 - Mark #3 - Francis Drake
01:04:17 - Neilan #3 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
01:07:00 - Kalen #2 - Archipelago
01:11:35 - Mark #2 - Arboretum
01:15:15 - Neilan #2 - Gloomhaven
01:19:37 - Kalen #1 - Innovation
01:23:16 - Mark #1 - Biblios
01:24:54 - Neilan #1 - The Resistance
The end is nigh! If you squint just right you can see it from here. We're almost done counting down our favourite fifty games of all time, so join us in the penultimate part of our five part series.
01:20 - Mark #20 - Caverna
03:18 - Neilan #20 - Archipelago
05:49 - Kalen #20 - Fuji Flush
07:43 - Mark #19 - Troyes
09:22 - Neilan #19 - Aeon's End: War Eternal
12:38 - Kalen #19 - Genoa
14:29 - Mark #18 - Cthulhu Wars
15:40 - Neilan #18 - Alchemists
18:38 - Kalen #18 - No Thanks!
20:09 - Mark #17 - 1846: The Race for the Midwest
22:09 - Neilan #17 - Inis
25:27 - Kalen #17 - Telestrations
27:05 - Mark #16 - Dominant Species
31:19 - Neilan #16 - Exit: The Game
34:20 - Kalen #16 - Inis
35:34 - Mark #15 - Imperial 2030
37:22 - Neilan #15 - Watson & Holmes
40:03 - Kalen #15 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
41:11 - Mark #14 - Tigris & Euphrates
43:15 - Neilan #14 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
45:26 - Kalen #14 - Omen: A Reign of War
46:46 - Mark #13 - Caylus
49:58 - Neilan #13 - Cthulhu Wars
51:15 - Kalen #13 - Dogs of War
53:03 - Mark #12 - The Voyages of Marco Polo
55:57 - Neilan #12 - Pictomania
57:38 - Kalen #12 - Codenames
58:00 - Mark #11 - Rising Sun
58:00 - Neilan #11 - Rising Sun
01:02:04 - Kalen #11 - I'm the Boss!
Okay, we're past the middle. It's all downhill from here, but the good sort of downhill. We're counting down our fifty favourite board games, in part three of what the world is calling our most ambitious endeavour yet! Well, we're calling it that.
01:01 - Neilan #30 - Grand Austria Hotel
02:35 - Kalen #30 - Startups
04:20 - Mark #30 - Pax Renaissance
06:37 - Neilan #29 - Azul
08:57 - Kalen #29 - Imperial 2030
10:37 - Mark #29 - Kemet
11:52 - Neilan #28 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
14:26 - Kalen #28 - A Fake Artist Goes to New York
16:06 - Mark #28 - Castles of Burgundy
18:51 - Neilan #27 - Coloretto
20:53 - Kalen #27 - Hanabi
22:53 - Mark #27 - Blue Lagoon
24:36 - Neilan #26 - Spirit Island
27:03 - Kalen #26 - Cockroach Poker
28:50 - Mark #26 - Age of Steam
30:53 - Neilan #25 - Blue Lagoon
32:10 - Kalen #25 - A Study in Emerald (Second Edition)
34:40 - Mark #25 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant
38:11 - Neilan #24 - Alhambra
41:16 - Kalen #24 - Insider
43:16 - Mark #24 - The Great Zimbabwe
47:03 - Neilan #23 - Patchwork
49:24 - Kalen #23 - Splendor
50:11 - Mark #23 - Orléans
51:19 - Neilan #22 - Taj Mahal
52:16 - Kalen #22 - Decrypto
53:33 - Mark #22 - Mansions of Madness: Second Edition
57:02 - Neilan #21 - Android: Netrunner
01:00:09 - Kalen #21 - Glory to Rome
01:00:09 - Mark #21 - Glory to Rome
Ten down, forty to go ... It's part two of our all-time top fifty lists! What surprises await us in this, the second installment of our historic feature?! Find out with us as we celebrate some fantastic board games!
Kalen #40 – For Sale
Mark #40 – Guards of Atlantis: Tabletop MOBA
Neilan #40 – Hanamikoji
Kalen #39 – Bruges
Mark #39 – A Feast for Odin
Neilan #39 – In the Year of the Dragon
Kalen #38 – Crokinole
Mark #38 – Sol: Last Days of a Star
Neilan #38 – Kemet
Kalen #37 – Taj Mahal
Mark #37 – Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
Neilan #37 – Codenames: Duet
Kalen #36 – Piñata
Mark #36 – A Question of Scruples
Neilan #36 – Dead of Winter
Kalen #35 – SiXeS
Mark #35 – Modern Art
Neilan #35 – Agricola
Kalen #34 – Lords of Vegas
Mark #34 – Decrypto
Neilan #34 – Decrypto
Kalen #33 – Wiz-War
Mark #33 – Terra Mystica
Neilan #33 – Sol: Last Days of a Star
Kalen #32 – SHH
Mark #32 – Le Havre
Neilan #32 – Orléans
Kalen #31 – Keyflower
Mark #31 – Codenames
Neilan #31 – Gaia Project
We're counting down to our 50th episode, and what better way than to give our definitive lists of our 50 favourite games of all time?! You've been asking for it, so we've only gone and done it. Brace yourselves, we're just getting started.
01:11 - Mark #50 - Dungeon Fighter
02:51 - Neilan #50 - Werewords
04:36 - Kalen #50 - Agricola
06:28 - Mark #49 - Chronicles of Crime
08:07 - Neilan #49 - Biblios
09:28 - Kalen #49 - Concept
10:55 - Mark #48 - Pictomania
13:02 - Neilan #48 - Mage Knight Board Game
14:54 - Kalen #48 - Hanamikoji
16:27 - Mark #47 - Kanban
17:28 - Neilan #47 - Splendor
19:26 - Kalen #47 - Ingenious
20:40 - Mark #46 - Samurai
22:55 - Neilan #46 - Clank!
25:09 - Kalen #46 - Evolution
27:54 - Mark #45 - ZhanGuo
29:23 - Neilan #45 - Innovation
31:39 - Kalen #45 - Mysterium
33:02 - Mark #44 - Ra
34:21 - Neilan #44 - Puerto Rico
36:48 - Kalen #44 - New Angeles
38:58 - Mark #43 - Wyatt Earp
41:29 - Neilan #43 - The Oracle of Delphi
42:18 - Kalen #43 - The Game
46:23 - Mark #42 - Blood Rage
50:04 - Neilan #42 - Anomia
52:00 - Kalen #42 - Lifeboat
53:51 - Mark #41 - Tzolk'in
55:39 - Neilan #41 - Panic on Wall Street!
57:56 - Kalen #41 - Diamant/Incan Gold
It's question time again! After last week's massive success, we couldn't resist the urge to have you, loyal listener, once more do all the work for us. Before we turn the microphones around, we also talk about Brass: Birmingham, Exodus: Paris Nouveau, and Werewords.
01:52 - Brass: Birmingham
05:48 - Exodus: Paris Nouveau
09:55 - Werewords
15:30 - Listener Questions
15:39 - Should I play the classics?
15:39 - Catan
15:39 - Carcassonne
20:21 - What solo games do you like?
21:08 - Coffee Roaster
21:35 - Scythe
21:45 - A Feast for Odin
21:53 - One Deck Dungeon
22:18 - Teotihuacan: City of Gods
23:35 - Onirim
24:50 - Hot Trivia Question
26:02 - Reviewing games after one play?
36:13 - Cry Havoc
37:49 - More convention showings?
39:32 - How do you pick game night games?
42:40 - YouTube?
It's your time to shine! We field questions from you, our adoring fans, in our first ever Q&A episode. You sent us the important topical issues you've been yearning for our take on, and takes ye shall receive. Before we line up in front of the mic, we also talk about Blokus, Brass: Lancashire, and Teotihucan: City of Gods.
01:42 - Blokus
06:16 - Brass: Lancashire
12:40 - Teotihuacan: City of Gods
19:20 - World Chess Championship
21:51 - Listener Questions
22:10 - Does Kalen hate co-ops?
22:50 - Pandemic
23:24 - Spirit Island
24:23 - Has Kalen played more Spirit Island?
28:16 - Best "bang for your buck" board games?
32:10 - Castles of Burgundy
32:47 - Azul
33:15 - Splendor
33:46 - Taj Mahal
34:40 - Cthulhu Wars
37:27 - Archipelago
39:11 - How are you still friends?
41:23 - Rising Sun
44:36 - Giveaway! (Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra)
We're getting introspective this week, weighing up the mistakes we've made in our collections, and reflecting on our earlier selves. Would you reset your board game collection? What games might you not buy if you had to do it all over again? Before we turn back time, we also talk about Between Two Castles Of Mad King Ludwig, Claustrophobia, and KeyForge: Call of the Archons.
01:39 - Between Two Castles Of Mad King Ludwig
06:17 - Claustrophobia
10:43 - KeyForge: Call of the Archons
21:12 - Resetting your Collection
21:50 - Innovation
22:22 - Patchwork
23:50 - Skull
25:53 - Forbidden Stars
28:10 - Through The Ages: A New Story of Civilization
28:55 - Cosmic Encounter
32:05 - Fury of Dracula
33:57 - Rising Sun
34:22 - Blood Rage
35:52 - Cthulhu Wars
54:28 - Giveaway! (Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra)
Not everything has to be a competition, because this week we're talking about cooperation. I know, it's weird, in some games, you're not actually trying to beat the other players! We're counting down our favourite co-op games, "favourite" of course being a relative term in Kalen's case. Before we put our heads together, we also talk about SSH, Just One, and Hamsterrolle.
01:44 - SHH
04:39 - Just One
07:53 - Hamsterrolle
11:32 - Chess
14:12 - Our Favourite Cooperative Games
15:27 - Codenames Duet
17:44 - The Grizzled
19:15 - Kitchen Rush
21:40 - Aeon's End: War Eternal
23:46 - Burgle Bros
25:04 - Chronicles of Crime
29:57 - Exit: The Game
33:30 - Mysterium
35:49 - Dungeon Fighter
38:53 - Spirit Island
42:04 - The Game
43:18 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
45:21 - Gloomhaven
50:44 - Hanabi
52:16 - Mansions of Madness: Second Edition
There's no love like your first love, and this week we're talking about our early board game crushes. These are the games that first got us into the hobby, that made us want to shout our love for board games to all who'd care to hear. Before we walk down memory lane, we also talk about Key to the City: London, Empires, and Guards of Atlantis.
03:31 - Key to the City: London
09:14 - Empires
15:48 - Guards of Atlantis
29:49 - Our First Board Game Crushes
30:34 - Connect Four
31:33 - Scrabble
32:43 - Acquire
33:22 - Hang On Harvey
34:31 - Risk
36:49 - True Colors
39:08 - Dominion
41:52 - Space Hulk
43:27 - WarCraft: The Board Game
44:16 - The Resistance
46:32 - One Night Ultimate Werewolf
47:09 - Alhambra
48:10 - Biblios
49:06 - Cosmic Encounter
50:22 - Genoa
51:25 - Through The Ages
We're doing some upgrades this episode, because we're talking about improving and enhancing the board games we already own through accessories, new components, and fancy inserts. Before we sleeve our cards, we also talk about Keyflower, The Palaces of Carrara, Welcome To...'s Halloween Expansion, and That's Not Lemonade!
01:41 - Keyflower
08:46 - The Palaces of Carrara
12:17 - Welcome To ... Halloween Expansion
15:22 - That's Not Lemonade!
18:50 - Component Upgrades
27:56 - Gloomhaven
33:59 - Archipelago
34:33 - Dominant Species
45:32 - Scythe
Essen SPIEL 2018! Okay, we're not technically at Essen SPIEL, but we've got that Essen FEEL. We're each counting down the five games that we most wish we were in Germany to play this weekend. Before we hand over our Euros, we talk about SPQF, Le Havre, and Scythe: The Rise of Fenris.
02:09 - SPQF
07:17 - Le Havre
12:31 - Scythe: The Rise of Fenris
17:06 - Essen Preview
17:49 - Magnastorm
19:11 - Futuropia
20:27 - Big Shot
22:41 - Gùgōng
24:21 - Shadows: Amsterdam
26:41 - Smartphone Inc.
28:03 - Alone
29:40 - Solenia
30:44 - Tsukiji
31:51 - Teotihuacan: City of Gods
33:26 - Pax Transhumanity
34:53 - Rebel Nox
36:09 - Warpgate
38:35 - Forum Trajanum
39:34 - 1906 San Francisco
44:43 - Scythe: The Rise of Fenris (SPOILERS!)
Board game dealbreakers, we all have them, and they're enough to dissuade us from buying or even playing some otherwise great games. This week, we go around the table and talk about two things each that put us off in board games. Before we start looking elsewhere, we talk about Illusion, and Food Chain Magnate.
02:16 - Illusion
04:46 - Food Chain Magnate
18:05 - Too Many Steps for Simple Tasks
18:35 - 1st & Goal
19:42 - Blood Bowl
21:04 - Baseball Highlights: 2045
21:36 - Automobiles
23:04 - Too Many Variants
23:35 - Agricola
26:26 - Mezo
27:33 - Battlestar Galactica
31:20 - Production Hampering Immersion
32:17 - Rising Sun
33:03 - The Great Zimbabwe
33:52 - Leonardo da Vinci
36:13 - Zombicide
37:20 - Sidereal Confluence
38:16 - Punishing the Leader
38:27 - Power Grid
39:35 - Gravwell
41:14 - Flamme Rouge
41:35 - Suburbia
43:03 - Point Salads
44:18 - Agricola
44:45 - Village
48:10 - Blue Lagoon
52:50 - Roleplaying and Improv
53:27 - Fog of Love
53:58 - Thornwatch
56:22 - Tales of the Arabian Nights
How do you meet other board game enthusiasts? Just loving and owning board games isn't enough if you don't have anyone to play them with! It's not always easy to turn your friends into board gamers, so what are your other options? Well, sit back, as we cast our minds far, far back into the past, when the Board Game Barrage trio was just three separate unos. This is where it all began. Before we gather round the campfire, we talk about Crypt, Fool's Gold, and War Chest.
01:01 - Crypt
03:22 - Coloretto
05:17 - Fool's Gold
08:23 - War Chest
13:47 - Meeting Board Gamers
26:23 - Skull
40:40 - Twilight Imperium
What’s your white whale? The one game you’ve been itching to get to the table for ages, but for whatever reason, just never have? Well, call me Ishmael, ’cause we’re counting down not just one, not five, but ten games each that we haven’t played, but really want to. Maybe this’ll be the kick in the pants we need … but probably not. Before we dust off our shelves of shame, we talk about CIV: Carta Impera Victoria, Raxxon, and Scythe: The Rise of Fenris.
01:36 - Carta Impera Victoria
04:49 - Raxxon
09:28 - Scythe: The Rise of Fenris
15:18 - Games we Want to Play
16:56 - Fog of Love
17:38 - Spirit Island
18:47 - Dungeon Petz
20:16 - Mini Rails
20:45 - Pax Porfiriana
21:42 - Keyflower
23:12 - Dogs of War
24:09 - Clockwork Wars
24:37 - Anachrony
25:24 - Lisboa
26:17 - Three Kingdoms Redux
26:59 - Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game
27:55 - ?!!?
28:50 - The Gallerist
29:36 - The Voyages of Marco Polo
30:13 - Diplomacy
30:58 - For-Ex
31:46 - Project: ELITE
32:40 - War of the Ring
33:23 - Roads & Boats
34:12 - Tammany Hall
35:04 - Fury of Dracula
35:51 - 1880: China
36:45 - Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery
37:41 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game
38:36 - Crokinole
39:32 - An Infamous Traffic
40:38 - Chaos in the Old World
42:11 - Great Western Trail
43:06 - Dune
44:40 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
Asymmetry is a powerful tool for game design, if done right. There's a lot of replayability right out of the box, and finding a playstyle that works for you can be very satisfying. But this dark alchemy has a darker byproduct: imbalance. When so much is different between each player, how do you ensure that things stay fair? Before we nerf plz, we discuss Container, and more Root.
01:40 - Container
12:28 - Root
18:08 - Scoreboard Update
20:04 - Balancing Asymmetry
26:49 - Vast: The Crystal Caverns
27:26 - Cosmic Encounter
30:05 - Scythe
30:55 - Terra Mystica
33:20 - Cry Havoc
40:08 - Cthulhu Wars
44:14 - The Voyages of Marco Polo
45:27 - Rising Sun
47:55 - Sidereal Confluence
49:57 - Diplomacy
Board game rules, unlike other rules, were not made to be broken. They're to be strictly adhered to, trust me, this is going to be totally fun, there's just a few more things to go over and then we can start. Sometimes remembering and teaching rules can feel like a burden, so where's the line? Before we explain the turn structure, we discuss Dairyman, Riff Raff, and Lords of Hellas.
03:30 - Dairyman
07:12 - Blue Lagoon
09:00 - Riff Raff
10:49 - Lords of Hellas
20:24 - Board Game Rules
25:57 - Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team
32:38 - Gloomhaven
37:40 - Mage Knight
39:52 - Root
42:26 - Decrypto
Look, sometimes we lose games. I know. It's weird. It's hard to talk about, to be frank, but it's important to realize that your heroes can have flaws. So, this week, we're counting down our top five games we're bad at! Before we admit defeat, we also discuss Yogi, Orléans, and Blue Lagoon.
01:38 - Yogi
05:25 - Orléans
11:56 - Blue Lagoon
18:28 - Good games we're bad at
20:26 - Santorini
23:50 - Spyfall
26:30 - Captain Sonar
27:45 - Avenue
30:01 - Incan Gold
31:31 - Deep Sea Adventure
32:54 - Splendor
34:38 - Glüx
35:49 - Pictomania
37:12 - Archipelago
39:11 - The Oracle of Delphi
41:45 - I'm The Boss
44:33 - Android: Netrunner
46:35 - Kanban
48:30 - Tigris & Euphrates
In this week's fun episode, we talk gaming etiquette, or the unspoken rules that surface when you're playing a board game. They often have nothing to do with the game itself, but what's appropriate? Should you deliberately help and hinder others at the table? Before we let the Wookiee win, we also discuss Let's Make a Bus Route, Sailing Toward Osiris, Fleet, and Founders of Gloomhaven.
01:45 - Let's Make a Bus Route
06:06 - Sailing Toward Osiris
10:10 - Fleet
15:30 - Founders of Gloomhaven
33:57 - Gaming Etiquette
39:25 - Puerto Rico
40:17 - The Resistance
41:02 - Root
42:04 - Archipelago
54:40 - Scythe
Just when you thought we couldn't get nerdier, this episode is all about logging plays and collecting statistics on your games. It turns out it's actually a pretty fun way to look back on your gaming history. We also discuss Fast Forward: FORTRESS, The Captain Is Dead, and Schummel Hummel.
02:38 - Fast Forward: FORTRESS
06:57 - The Captain Is Dead
12:57 - Schummel Hummel (Cheating Bumblebee)
16:22 - Logging Games
We're staying up all night to count down our favourite party games! You know the feeling. Everyone's at your place, no one's talking, it's a little bit awkward ... but then you break out some of these fifteen amazing party games, and suddenly everyone's back in, talking, laughing and shouting until the early hours. We also talk about JamSumo, Isle of Trains, and Root.
02:24 - JamSumo
04:05 - Isle of Trains
06:17 - Root
17:43 - Party Game Countdown
19:10 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
22:59 - One Night Ultimate Werewolf
25:08 - Cockroach Poker
27:20 - Krazy Wordz
29:26 - Pit
32:02 - Fuji Flush
33:32 - Pictomania
36:04 - Anomia
39:20 - Balderdash
41:41 - Codenames
43:03 - A Question of Scruples
44:56 - Time's Up: Title Recall
47:43 - The Resistance
51:22 - True Colors
53:32 - Telestrations
Shiny and new! Everyone online is talking about the latest, greatest thing, and you can't help but feel that you're missing out. How important is it to keep up with the cult of the new? We also talk about Cthulhu Wars, World Championship Russian Roulette, Kubb, and Word Slam.
01:38 - Cthulhu Wars
04:56 - World Championship Russian Roulette
07:47 - Kubb
09:35 - Word Slam
14:53 - The Cult of the New
32:25 - Alien Artifacts
33:25 - Patchwork
34:32 - Space Base
34:45 - Glorantha: The Gods War
46:14 - Chess
48:31 - Secret Hitler
49:39 - El Grande
50:19 - Codenames
In the wake of Gen Con, we return home invigorated about just how grand and diverse the hobby is. We celebrate the games that we might not otherwise have thought to play, and encourage you to do the same! We also talk about Lift it!, The Estates, and Cat Lady.
01:57 - Gen Con Final Thoughts
09:30 - Lift it!
13:00 - The Estates
20:42 - Cat Lady
22:47 - The Breadth of Gaming
24:27 - Sushi Go
26:45 - Zombicide: Black Plague
Day three of Gen Con is over, and that's a wrap for our coverage from Indianapolis! Enjoy our final thoughts from the show floor (at least for this week), while we trudge back to the west coast with as many games as we can carry. We talk about Istanbul: The Dice Game, Wendake, One Week Ultimate Werewolf, Show & Tile, Coimbra, and Trade on the Tigris.
We're halfway through Gen Con, and we wrap up day two of the show with our thoughts from the floors and tables and beds (?!) of Indianapolis. We talk about Crusader Kings, Scarabya, Petrichor, Zogan, Flotsam Fight, Welcome To..., and Dice Fishing: Roll and Catch!
Gen Con! It's here at last, and we run through our quick impressions of the first day of the show. We talk about Exodus: Paris Nouveau, Reef, Nyctophobia, and Illusion.
Gen Con 2018 is almost upon us, and we're counting down the games we're most excited to check out! We also talk about Vikings, and Navegador.
01:43 - Spiel des Jahres
03:10 - Vikings
07:45 - Navegador
10:15 - Gen Con 2018 Preview
13:50 - Piepmatz
16:13 - Welcome To ...
19:01 - Dice Fishing: Roll and Catch
20:26 - Ultimate Werewolf Legacy
23:18 - Coimbra
25:24 - Lost Cities: Rivals
27:19 - Pikoko
29:29 - Wendake
31:30 - Nyctophobia
34:03 - Yellow & Yangtze
36:27 - Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game
39:07 - Gizmos
41:03 - Newton
44:23 - Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team
52:30 - Teotihuacan: City of Gods
53:26 - Hyperspace
Luck is an element of almost every board game there is, but it's still a major point of contention. Whether it's the roll of dice, or the draw of a card, randomness can make or break a game. We also talk about Lowlands, Bilder, In the Year of the Dragon, and revisit Space Base.
00:54 - Lowlands
07:32 - Bilder
11:03 - In the Year of the Dragon
16:14 - Space Base
20:12 - Luck in Games
23:40 - Cthulhu Wars
31:24 - Guards of Atlantis
36:06 - Lords of Vegas
42:42 - Rising Sun
43:33 - Diamant
Multiplayer Solitaire doesn't have to be a bad thing! Sometimes we're just not always looking for high interaction, high conflict games, and that's okay. We break down some games with low interaction, and what makes them great. We also talk about Joraku, Impulse, and Wyatt Earp.
01:36 - Joraku
06:25 - Impulse
16:34 - Wyatt Earp
19:29 - BGB on Twitch!
21:18 - Low Interaction Games
28:32 - The Godfather: Corleone's Empire
29:31 - Karuba/NMBR 9
34:05 - Agricola
38:55 - Cooperative Games
41:33 - Azul
46:15 - Castles of Mad King Ludwig
World Cup fever sweeps the podcast, as we consider the analogies between board gaming and sport. We also talk about Harvest, Caylus, Exit: The Game, and Trajan.
2:07 - Harvest
4:27 - Caylus
9:45 - Exit: The Game
13:39 - Trajan
14:48 - Board Games and Sport
19:45 - Balderdash
26:52 - Rising Sun
29:24 - Archipelago
33:24 - Care Bear Eurogame
36:22 - Diplomacy
We're counting down games that replace other games in our collections! We also talk about Chimera Station.
01:31 - Chimera Station
05:16 - Games That Replaced Others
06:49 - Queendomino
08:28 - San Juan
09:56 - The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31
13:55 - Space Base
16:36 - Cthulhu Wars
17:52 - Android: Netrunner
21:01 - Azul
23:49 - Cockroach Poker
25:56 - Watson & Holmes
29:31 - Pictomania
33:15 - Splendor
36:59 - A Feast for Odin
42:22 - Alchemists
44:45 - What Replaces Biblios?
45:44 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
50:48 - Aeon's End: War Eternal
What would a board game be without components? Just rules and a box, I guess. Before we pick up our pieces, we talk about Wildcatters, Bärenpark, Chimera, Star Cartel, and Council of 4.
01:20 - Wildcatters
06:33 - Bärenpark
09:00 - Chimera
11:50 - Star Cartel
14:42 - Council of 4
20:38 - Components and Production
23:55 - Archipelago
27:02 - Splendor
27:52 - El Grande
29:03 - Cthulhu Wars
30:12 - Scythe
31:55 - Terraforming Mars
33:58 - Zombicide
34:56 - Twilight Imperium
38:47 - Viticulture
Skill and experience should be important parts of determining the winner of a game, but what about new players? Accessibility is important too, so, where's the balance? We also talk about High Society, Rising 5: Runes of Asteros, The Tea Dragon Society Card Game, and Inkognito.
03:42 - High Society
07:16 - For Sale
08:20 - Rising 5: Runes of Asteros
12:17 - The Tea Dragon Society Card Game
14:36 - Inkognito
19:17 - Rewarding Experience versus Accessibility
20:53 - Food Chain Magnate
23:40 - Chess
28:27 - Power Grid
32:38 - Arboretum
33:45 - Through the Ages
39:35 - Innovation
41:37 - Guards of Atlantis
What games can you get for $20? Quite a few really good ones, it turns out. We also discuss Scythe, Watson & Holmes, and Mansions of Madness: Second Edition.
01:34 - Scythe
10:44 - Watson & Holmes
13:06 - Mansions of Madness: Second Edition
15:25 - The Best Games Under $20
17:12 - For Sale
19:56 - The Resistance
21:55 - Oink Games
24:29 - The Grizzled
26:41 - Krazy Wordz
28:50 - Time's Up! Title Recall!
30:50 - Sushi Go!
35:18 - Hanabi
37:53 - Innovation
41:19 - Patchwork
43:25 - Notre Dame
46:29 - Coloretto
49:37 - Decrypto
53:00 - Biblios
54:35 - Codenames
We wrap up the mechanics trilogy with Kalen's pick, area control. We also talk about Herbaceous Sprouts, Fae, Explorers of the North Sea, Wiz-War, and Imperial 2030.
02:40 - Herbaceous Sprouts
04:53 - Herbaceous
06:08 - Fae
08:54 - Explorers of the North Sea
10:30 - Wiz-War
15:01 - Imperial 2030
19:40 - Area Control
25:32 - Blood Rage, Rising Sun
27:20 - Risk
28:10 - Kemet, Inis
32:10 - Hanamikoji, Battle Line
35:05 - Eclipse
35:30 - Twilight Struggle, Cuba Libre
37:18 - Notre Dame
37:52 - Scythe
41:14 - Ethnos
42:34 - Tigris & Euphrates
42:52 - Glüx
43:45 - Diplomacy
Week two of our favourite mechanics in board games is Mark's pick, hand management. We also talk about Ascending Empires, Funky Chicken, Felicity: The Cat in the Sack, and New Corp Order.
01:47 - Ascending Empires
05:41 - Funky Chicken
07:14 - Felicity: The Cat in the Sack
08:25 - New Corp Order
11:34 - Hand Management
12:57 - Terraforming Mars
13:44 - Dominion
14:44 - Candyland
15:25 - Scrabble
19:33 - Gloomhaven
20:40 - Biblios
22:00 - Taj Mahal
23:17 - Biblios Again
25:17 - Red 7
26:15 - Arboretum
27:09 - Twilight Struggle
28:32 - Cuba Libre
30:47 - Glory to Rome
31:59 - Wiz-War
33:24 - Cosmic Encounter
34:35 - Bohnanza
36:19 - Hanabi
36:57 - Mage Knight
We kick off three weeks of our favourite mechanics in board games with Neilan's pick, hidden information. We also talk about Omen: Fires in the East, Gaia Project, and Pioneer Days.
01:30 - Omen: Fires in the East
03:39 - Gaia Project
05:43 - Pioneer Days
09:59 - Drop It
11:21 - Hidden Information
13:31 - Archipelago
19:32 - Dead of Winter
23:04 - I'm The Boss
23:48 - El Grande
27:56 - Discworld: Ankh Morpork
30:21 - Hanabi
38:58 - Survive: Escape from Atlantis!
39:59 - Chaosmos
41:55 - New Angeles
43:21 - Lifeboat
We return to BGG's top list, but we're flipping it on its head. That's right, we're talking about much loved games that we don't much love. We're also giving away a copy of Drop It!
01:05 - Drop It
04:53 - Cosmic Encounter
09:59 - Above and Below
12:56 - T.I.M.E Stories
16:36 - Lewis & Clark
18:29 - Five Tribes
20:12 - Inis
23:56 - 7 Wonders
27:06 - Viticulture
33:07 - Mechs vs. Minions
37:05 - Robinson Crusoe
39:42 - Scythe
50:10 - Terraforming Mars
52:43 - Blood Rage
This week, we explain and expound our experiences with expansions. Improvements, tweaks, variability: the benefits are clear, but what does tacking more onto a game mean for all your players? Is it always a good thing? How much is too much? Before we get there, we discuss Altiplano, Omen: A Reign of War, Felicity: The Cat in the Sack, and A Feast for Odin.
Timecodes:
01:41 - Omen: A Reign of War
09:39 - Altiplano
18:58 - A Feast for Odin
28:11 - Felicity: The Cat in the Sack
30:56 - Expansions
Why is everything so heavy? Well, we all played Dominant Species together, and so we're in a heavy sort of mood. There's a very vocal subset of the community that'll insist a game isn't worth playing unless it's mechanics are punching above a certain weight. But, surely there's room in a collection for the light games, the easy games, the so-called gateway games? We hash it out, but before we get into Dominant Species and games of its ilk, we revisit Codenames, Pictomania, Clank! and take a first look at The 7th Continent.
Timecodes:
01:37 - Codenames
02:28 - Clank!
08:52 - Pictomania
12:27 - Dominant Species
28:20 - The 7th Continent
37:37 - Heavy Games
Did you know that sometimes the internet is wrong? Thankfully we're here to tell you what's up, and right the wrongs that BoardGameGeek hath wrought. You see, there are some games in their database that are just ranked way too low for how good they are. So, to fix these injustices, we each count down our top five games that BoardGameGeek got wrong, and we got right. Skip the timecodes if you don't want spoilers!
Timecodes:
00:46 - Azul Contest
01:13 - Games That BGG Got Wrong
02:16 - Safranito
05:13 - Sixes
07:56 - Anomia
10:11 - Quo Vadis?
13:27 - Fuji Flush
15:56 - Watson & Holmes
20:52 - Ugg-Tect
23:49 - Piñata
26:41 - The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31
31:30 - True Colors
35:13 - CrossTalk
38:20 - Panic on Wall Street!
41:01 - Scruples
44:14 - I'm the Boss!
48:46 - Guards of Atlantis
Legacy. What is a legacy? It's podcasting in a studio you don't get to see. And now that I've drawn in all the Hamilton fans, let's talk about board games! Specifically, board games that have campaigns or legacy components. Is it a gimmicky trend, or does it add something meaningful to an experience? We also talk about Alchemists, Inis, and Through The Desert ... and on top of all that, we have a special announcement!
Timecodes:
00:18 - Contest!
02:24 - Alchemists
11:04 - Inis
20:25 - Through The Desert
27:18 - Campaign and Legacy Games
52:15 - The 7th Continent
52:58 - The Flow of History
54:32 - Omen: A Reign of War
Trapped on a desert island and forced to bring only five board games? We've all been there. And we're going back. To the island. The board game island. It's a question as old as time itself, a favourite philosophical discussion of great minds immemorial; if you had to pare your collection down to just five board games, to play for a very long time, which would they be? Avert your eyes from the timecodes if you want to listen unspoiled, but let's just say that you might be able to guess one or two.
Timecodes:
02:25 - Cthulhu Wars
04:29 - A Feast for Odin
07:31 - Cuba Libre
10:19 - Spirit Island
14:12 - Age of Steam
16:21 - Troyes
19:21 - Codenames
23:00 - Arboretum
27:51 - Cosmic Encounter
32:34 - Gloomhaven
36:44 - Innovation
38:50 - The Resistance
42:40 - Biblios
Kickstarters. Can't live with 'em, can't rampantly overspend on incomplete unorthodox game designs without 'em. They're clearly a major force in the board game hobby, but are they a force for good, or for evil? Before we wrestle with that, we talk about the games we've been playing, namely, Imperius, A Tale of Pirates, and Heroes of Land, Air & Sea.
Timecodes:
01:23 - A Tale of Pirates
07:39 - Imperius
16:33 - Heroes of Land, Air & Sea
32:15 - Kickstarter
51:13 - Looking Ahead
52:44 - Fan Mail!
Our feature topic this week is theme. How important is the theme of a board game to you? Does it affect your enjoyment of a game? What games best utilize their theme to put a neat little bow on their mechanics? We talk about all this (and more!!!) after a quick look at our week in games, which includes Tash Kalar, Krazy Wordz, Kanban, and The Mind.
Timecodes:
01:04 - Tash Kalar
02:32 - Krazy Wordz
08:38 - Kanban
17:56 - The Mind
24:00 - Theme
30:30 - Gloomhaven
40:44 - Lords of Vegas
41:47 - Android: Netrunner
42:45 - COIN Series
43:50 - Ponzi Scheme
Kingmaking is our feature topic this week. If you can't win, what's your responsibility as a good player? It's a complex, divisive topic, but then, we're complex, divisive people. We also talk about Wyatt Earp, Coffee Roaster, and El Grande.
Timecodes:
01:24 - Wyatt Earp
08:15 - Coffee Roaster
13:47 - El Grande
19:16 - Kingmaking
How many board games do you need? If you're Mark, you need them all. Before we get there though, we also talk about what we've been playing, namely, John Company, Coffee Roaster, Adrenaline and Innovation.
Topics discussed:
01:03 - John Company
08:40 - Coffee Roaster
09:42 - Adrenaline
14:30 - Innovation
22:10 - Collection Size
Rising Sun! Everyone's talking about it, and so must we. It's our feature topic this week, but first, a brief look at what else we've been playing: Spirit Island, Hardback and Decrypto. We close the show with a look ahead to what we're hoping to play.
Games discussed:
00:58 - Spirit Island
07:51 - Hardback
15:45 - Decrypto
20:20 - Rising Sun
We talk about what we've been playing (1830, Archipelago and Gaia Project), we dive deep into math trading for board games, and close out with what we're looking forward to in the weeks ahead.
Games and topics discussed:
01:10 - 1830
07:39 - Archipelago
14:04 - Gaia Project
20:34 - Math Trading
42:09 - Guards of Atlantis
We each talk about a game we liked from 2017, a game that let us down, and what we're looking forward to in 2018, including When I Dream, Gloomhaven, Charterstone, Battle For Rokugan, and more.
Games discussed:
01:55 – When I Dream
04:16 – Charterstone
07:38 – Bob Ross: Art of Chill
09:45 – Battle for Rokugan
14:45 – Gloomhaven
18:01 – The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31
21:27 – Tiny Epic Quest
24:01 – Sagrada
27:11 – Photosynthesis