Board Game Barrage

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

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 Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord Join our

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

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 Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

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 Check out our wiki at: https://boardga

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: https://boardgamebarrage.com/voicemail The PAX Unplugged & BGB official math trade: https://boardgamebarrage.com/paxtrade Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrag

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: https://boardgamebarrage.com/paxtrade Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord Join our Facebook group at: https://boa

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 &

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

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 Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook Get a Board Gam

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 Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord Join our Faceboo

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 Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

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 Check out our wiki at: https

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 Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook Get a Board Game B

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 Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

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 Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook Get a Board

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 Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

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 Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/

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 Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

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! Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki Join the discussion at: https://boardga