Board games are great! Mostly. But as great as they are, we’ve probably all had a moment where, through no fault of the game itself, things got uncomfortable. Whether it’s because of an awkward play, or just particulars of the group dynamic, we look back at some of our most uncomfortable moments. Before we enter the discomfort zone, we talk about Dog Tag Trick, Deal with the Devil, and Yokai Septet.
Wow, hundreds of you sent in your lists, and it was absolute chaos. But we got all the data together, cleaned up the typos, crunched the numbers via a super secret algorithm, and here we are, your favourite games of all-time! For this year, at least. Before you take the stage, we talk about Schotten Totten 2, For Science!, and The Bridges of Shangri-La.
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.
We talk about so many good games on this podcast, that it might seem like there aren’t enough bad games to balance it out. There’s a good reason we don’t often play or talk about them, but maybe every so often we ought to. Before we break bad, we talk about Scape Goat, Bunny Kingdom, Bullet♥, and Four Gardens.
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.
It’s here at last, the big event! Yes, it’s the first episode of the yearly ritual we inventively call the Board Game Barrage Top 50 Games of All Time. And this year, for the first time, the Blue Tank, Christina is weighing in too. That’s forty incredible games to kick us off! Join us in the weeks ahead as we sing the praises of our absolute favourite board games, because we’re just getting started.
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.
Some games are built to last, and no, we’re not just talking about the … R-word. For others, the high highs of early games must give way to the dawning realization that all is not well. We look at reasons we might end up moving past games we once held in high regard. Before we overstay our welcome, we talk about Sandstone, Ctrl, The Fox in the Forest Duet, and Unmatched.
Things got a bit heavy last week, so let’s take things down a notch by exploring the other end of the scale. Light games are just as important for a board game collection, after all. We discuss what light games offer that heavier games don’t, and mention some of our recent favourites. Before we lighten the mood, we talk about Reef, Clans of Caledonia, and Tutankhamun.
It’s award season when we say it is, so we’re looking back at the Golden Geek Awards, The Dice Tower Awards, and the Spiel des Jahres nominees. We offer our thoughts on their picks, and how wrong they are. I mean, Wingspan winning “Best Four-Wheel Drive SUV” just seems a bit much. We also talk about Battlestar Galactica, Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small, Paladins of the West Kingdom, and The Boss.