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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.