Board Game Barrage

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