Alchemists

A rules-heavy game that uses a companion app and involves thoughtfully placing workers in different locations around town to create and test potions, deduce the chemical formulas of ingredients, and hurry to publish theories.

Featured Episodes

Episode 331: One Thing I Hate About You Episode 331 We've spent a lot of time over the years singing the praises of the games we love, but they can't be perfect right? Surely there's something, one little thing, that bugs us - a small blemish in our otherwise most beloved games? Before we come clean, we talk about Classified Information, Starline Hill, Panda Spin, and SHASN: AZADI.

Released: April 3, 2025

Episode 327: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2024: 10-1 Episode 327 It's finally time to cap it all off with the cream of the cream, Mark and Neilan's final set of ten games each! These are the games that we think are the pinnacle of our respective tastes, that we'd never turn down, that any person ought to try at least once. It's the Top 10 Games of All-Time!

Released: February 6, 2025

Episode 310: Bob's Decade Delights Episode 310 Bob's back from his trip to 2014, and oh the wonders he's seen - games that not only were amazing back then, but somehow we're still talking about today! The counterpoint to our draft of games to last a decade, we're arguing about the games from ten years ago that are still relevant - BGBBOB style. Before we yearn for our youth, we talk about Cyberion, The Plum Island Horror, and Marabunta.

Released: June 27, 2024

Episode 299: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2023: 10-1 Episode 299 We made it! We've arrived at last at the final ten(-ish) games, in fact, our TOP TEN (or so?) favourite games of all time. Thanks for joining us again on this yearly pilgrimage, as always it's the journey that's the important thing - but that's not to say that there isn't some exciting moving and shaking to happen at the destination. That said, it's time to pass out on the couch.

Released: January 18, 2024

Episode 259: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2022: 20-11 Episode 259 We've reached the penultimate part of our five part series, the great series that is sometimes called our top fifty greatest games of all time! We're barreling close to the end now, but not without a lot of moving and shaking first. Here's another fine selection of thirty amazing games we love.

Released: January 12, 2023

Episode 227: Board Games: The Sequel: Part II: Electric Boogaloo Episode 227 It doesn't happen as much as it does in other industries, but every so often the people at the top demand serialization. We're talking about sequels in board games, when they work, when they (super) don't, and what we'd like to see get the treatment. Before we get franchised, we talk about Next Station: London, Dawn of the Zeds (Third Edition), and Azul: Queen's Garden.

Released: May 26, 2022

Episode 207: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2021: 20-11 (ft. Ambie Valdés) Episode 207 The penultimate episode of the grand series is here, it's the BGB Top 50! As the journey approaches its end, we're venturing into our 20th to 11th favourite games, with some support from the peanut gallery. And with thirty more board games to blitz through, who better to help us than Ambie Valdés of Board Game Blitz!

Released: January 6, 2022

Episode 157: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2020: 20-11 Episode 157 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.

Released: January 21, 2021

Episode 103: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2019: 20-11 Episode 103 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.

Released: January 1, 2020

Episode 78: You Gotta Get a Gimmick Episode 078 Gimmicks are elements of a game that are the fundamental selling point, the core attention grabbing mechanic or experience that the game is built around. This episode, we're breaking down gimmicks in board games, figuring out if they're good or bad for the hobby, and talking about some of the most notable. Before we cave to flashy marketing, we also talk about Are You A Robot?, Jaws, and FUSE.

Released: July 25, 2019

Episode 59: Ain't Nothing Like It Episode 059 Some games offer an experience so unique, so unlike anything else, that you can't help but take notice. It might be a bold thematic setting, or a set of mechanics that you've never seen before. This week, we're counting down our favourite games that do something ... a little bit different. Before we stand out from the crowd, we also talk about Looting London, and Chimera.

Released: March 14, 2019

Episode 49: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2018: 20-11 Episode 049 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 five part series.

Released: January 3, 2019

Episode 20: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger Episode 020 We're counting down games that replace other games in our collections! We also talk about Chimera Station.

Released: June 28, 2018

Episode 9: PhD in Legacy Episode 009 Legacy. What is a legacy? It's podcasting in a studio you don't get to see. And now that I've drawn in all the Hamilton fans, let's talk about board games! Specifically, board games that have campaigns or legacy components. Is it a gimmicky trend, or does it add something meaningful to an experience? We also talk about Alchemists, Inis, and Through The Desert ... and on top of all that, we have a special announcement!

Released: April 12, 2018