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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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 to various player counts. Before we count to ten, we talk about Vindication, Royal Palace, Throw Throw Burrito, and Pipeline.
Everything is going to be fine in the end. If it’s not, it’s just steps twenty to eleven. 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...
Believe in steps thirty to twenty-one, and you’re halfway there. 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. If...
Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. 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...
What immortal hand or eye, could frame thy fearful asymmetry? 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...