Blood Rage

A game well-liked by the podcast, Blood Rage is a game of drafting cards then using them to build a strategy, conquer regions, send your warriors to Valhalla, and claim the most glory before Ragnarok.

  Top 10 - 2021, 2020

Featured Episodes

Episode 285: Starting is Easy, Finishing is Hard Episode 285 It's such an important part of the design and often overlooked - the end game trigger. The conventional wisdom for most things is to start strong and finish strong, so we look at some of our favourite ways that games can end. Before we reach the end of the road, we talk about Robot Quest Arena, Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020, and Expeditions.

Released: August 3, 2023

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 247: We Played A Heap of Games! Episode 247 What good would going to a convention be if we didn't play a lot of games? We're back from our trip, and it was filled to the brim of fine games played with fine people, and we're here to tell you about all of them, the good, the bad, and perfunctory. Before we revisit Vancouver, we talk about Village Rails, The Guild of Merchant Explorers, and Puzzle Strike 2.

Released: October 13, 2022

Episode 226: Metapod Episode 226 Metagaming is all about the game that exists within (and without) the game - it's everything that's not written in the rules. Whether that's something that emerges at your table, or in the community at large, it can be a big part of the social experience, and we're all for it. Before we get meta, we talk about Rum & Pirates, Box One, Shamans, and Crescent Moon.

Released: May 19, 2022

Episode 214: Bob's Alright (For Fighting) Episode 214 Return of the Bob! If you don't know what a BGBBOB, boy you've missed out. Twelve games enter, and, well, they all exit, but only once they've been arranged in the appropriate order via a series of one on one fights. And fights are doubly appropriate this week, because we're battling it out in search of the best combat systems. Before we wish for peace, we talk about 7 Wonders: Architects, Kokopelli, and Canopy.

Released: February 24, 2022

Episode 209: Holiday Hits and Hot Questions Episode 209 And we're back! The holiday extravaganza is over, and it's back to business as usual around here. And what better way to get back into the swing of things than with some h-h-hot questions! Before that, we catch up on our holidays apart, with tales about the games that we played with our loved ones, including The Siege of Runedar, Snakesss, and Time Bomb Evolution.

Released: January 20, 2022

Episode 208: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2021: 10-1 (ft. Tom Brewster) Episode 208 It's the grand finale of the event of events that is the BGB Top 50 Games of All-time! These are our ten absolute favourite games, and, fittingly, it's a bumper episode with more than one surprise. Joining us in the peanut gallery this week, it's none other than the manic imp of Shut Up & Sit Down himself, the absolute mad genius that is Tom Brewster. Buckle in, it's going to get weird.

Released: January 13, 2022

Episode 199: Amerigames and Eurotrash Episode 199 The split between Eurogame and Ameritrash gamers is as old as it it is silly, but in the last ten years it's also become a lot more nebulous. It's less clear than ever which side of the fence games fall on, so why still use these archaic labels at all? Maybe it's time for a change. Before we heal the divide, we talk about Hostage Negotiator, Juicy Fruits, Sleeping Gods, and Witchstone.

Released: November 11, 2021

Episode 195: Eric, Eric, He's Our Lang Episode 195 We're always excited for a new Eric Lang game, which makes him an obvious candidate for the absolutely-not-called BGB DOG - our series where we deep dive into a designer's .... designography. He's made a lot of our favourite area control games, and had his hand in some games we might not have even realized. Before we bang on about this Lang mang, we talk about What's Missing?, Polynesia, and TEN.

Released: October 14, 2021

Episode 164: Get Uncomfortable Episode 164 It's getting a bit too comfortable around here. Time to put stones in our shoes, tighten our belts, and get out of our comfort zones. We talk about the times that we've found ourselves in unfamiliar or uncomfortable gaming situations, and what we learned about ourselves in the process. Before we unfluff our pillows, we talk about Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation, Reavers of Midgard, and Paleo.

Released: March 11, 2021

Episode 161: Mechanically Bullish Episode 161 Sometimes all it takes is a good designer (and the right game) to take what would otherwise be a mechanic we don't like, and utilize it in a way that feels right. We take a look at some mechanics that we usually don't love, and the games that turned us around on them. Before we see things in a new light, we talk about CloudAge, Mariposas, and Faiyum.

Released: February 18, 2021

Episode 158: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2020: 10-1 Episode 158 It's the big one! We've come at last to the grand finale of the Board Game Barrage Top 50 Games of All Time ... Top. Ten. Baby. These are our absolute favourite games, forty (thirty?) all together, that we'd just about never turn down a game of. Thanks for joining us on this ride, it's been wild.

Released: January 28, 2021

Episode 154: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2020: 50-41 Episode 154 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.

Released: December 31, 2020

Episode 101: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2019: 40-31 Episode 101 We're shifting up a gear, the stakes are higher, it's all to play for, and a whole host of other cliches, in the second of our five part series on the top fifty games of all time. Thirty(ish) more incredible board games coming at you, and we're not even halfway done yet.

Released: December 18, 2019

Episode 71: A Hate-Love Relationship Episode 071 There's nothing sweeter than the softening of a heart, that precious feeling when all of the things you thought you'd dislike, suddenly become endearing. We're counting down our favourite games that we thought we were going to hate, but ended up loving. Before we go full tsundere, we talk about Indian Summer, Richard the Lionheart, and X nimmt!

Released: June 6, 2019

Episode 66: The Only Winning Move Episode 066 Dominant strategies can ruin a game; if there's one clear best way to win, why not use it every time? We discuss these optimal strategies, whether they're always problematic, and how to deal with them at your game table. Before we break the game, we talk about A Feast for Odin: The Norwegians, Lost Cities: Rivals, and Second Chance.

Released: May 2, 2019

Episode 46: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2018: 50-41 Episode 046 We're counting down to our 50th episode, and what better way than to give our definitive lists of our 50 favourite games of all time?! You've been asking for it, so we've only gone and done it. Brace yourselves, we're just getting started.

Released: December 13, 2018

Episode 43: My Triumphs, My Mistakes Episode 043 We're getting introspective this week, weighing up the mistakes we've made in our collections, and reflecting on our earlier selves. Would you reset your board game collection? What games might you not buy if you had to do it all over again? Before we turn back time, we also talk about Between Two Castles Of Mad King Ludwig, Claustrophobia, and KeyForge: Call of the Archons.

Released: November 22, 2018

Episode 16: How to Win Friends Area Control People Episode 016 We wrap up the mechanics trilogy with Kellen's pick, area control. We also talk about Herbaceous Sprouts, Fae, Explorers of the North Sea, Wiz-War, and Imperial 2030.

Released: May 31, 2018

Episode 13: We're Still Right Episode 013 We return to BGG's top list, but we're flipping it on its head. That's right, we're talking about much loved games that we don't much love. We're also giving away a copy of Drop It!

Released: May 10, 2018