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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
War in the middle list. 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...