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Featured Episodes
Episode 356: On the Road Again
By the time you're listening to this, we're probably already in Vegas for Dice Tower West! We're going to hang about all day playing games - which naturally leads to the question of what we're going to play? These are the games we came up with! Before we bite off more than we can chew, we talk about Ghost Lift, Cities, and I, Napoleon. |
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Episode 350: Combined Top 50 Games of All-Time 2025 Draft: 50-31
Okay, things are a bit different this year. In honour of our 350th episode (a very important milestone), we're going to combine forces, like ... Voltron. I'm the head, and my left and right feet are here with me to collaboratively (yes, you heard right) compile Board Game Barrage's definitive (definitely definitive) top 50 board games... of all-time! |
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Episode 346: It’s One Bananagrams, How Much Could It Cost?
This episode is not about Bananagrams (at least, I don't think so), but it is about the price of things (though not Bananagrams specifically, shut up about Bananagrams). In a world where everything costs more, we're talking about the value of games, and how far a game has to go to justify its price. Before we decide if the price is right, we talk about The Presence, and River of Gold. |
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Episode 327: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2024: 10-1
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! |
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Episode 309: Moretuary
More isn't always better, but that's sometimes a hard lesson to learn in the world of board games - we dig into an intriguing listener suggestion about how games (and gamers) can often fall into this trap. Also ... I guess we've got to plan some games for our funerals? It's a double hit of listener questions! Before we dress in black, we talk about Keydom's Dragons, Sagrada Artisans, and Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory. |
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Episode 299: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2023: 10-1
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. |
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Episode 280: Equal and Opposite Interactions
We're veering into the dark roads of board game classification, but this time with a goal in mind - how to best highlight games that feature strong interaction. Shouldn't BoardGameGeek have a scale for that somewhere? And while we're at it, BGG ... Before we put our thoughts in the suggestion box, we talk about Guatemala Café, and Ride the Rails. |
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Episode 273: Bob Chat
Board games are a social medium, which is a big part of their appeal for us. It's not just about being heads down solving a puzzle, they facilitate conversation. Some games are better at this than others, so we put BGBBOB on the case to find our favourites! Before we natter away, we talk about Big Top, Autobahn, and Pollen. |
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Episode 260: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2022: 10-1
Here it is, the one we've all been waiting for, the Board Game Barrage top ten games of all time! It's been a long road and we'll wrap it up by seeing some old favourites ... and maybe a few new faces? Old or new, these are the thirty games we enjoy the most (at least, right now.) We loved sharing these lists with you and hope you've enjoyed listening to them! |
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Episode 253: The Ghost of Turkeys Past
How do you all keep falling for this? The Ghost Turkey moves in mysterious ways, and this year he's moving us to 2019, to atone for our sins. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! |
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Episode 225: Itchy, Tasty
With the middle of the year rapidly approaching, we've acquired our fair share of games that we're really itching to play. We talk about what's recently made its way into our collections that we just can't wait to get to the table. Before we break out the back scratchers, we talk about Ivanhoe, Freshwater Fly, Vindication, and Cryptid: Urban Legends. |
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Episode 221: P-P-P-Party Questions
It doesn't quite work the same, but what do you expect when Neilan's not present? Speaking of presents, it's Mark's birthday so the rest of the crew celebrate with a parade of (don't call them hot) questions, where they invent expansions, and save the planet. Before we get older, we talk about Time Barons, and The Key: Sabotage at Lucky Llama Land. |
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Episode 208: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2021: 10-1 (ft. Tom Brewster)
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. |
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Episode 192: Fantasy Draft: BoardGameGeek 301-400
A new list of a hundred games to draft, and it only gets harder and harder. We're each picking a standalone collection of five games in a snake draft format. And the best part is you could win $50 just by voting on your favourite collection! Before we get to clubbing, we talk about Regicide, Dice Miner, and Let's Make a Bus Route, and SCOUT! |
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Episode 185: The Most Important Meal of the Day
It's board games for dinner, but we're not just throwing whatever we could find on your plate. No, we've got menus. We lay out our ideas for a four course board game meal, complete with appetizer, amuse-bouche, entrée and dessert, in a fun little exercise suggested by a listener. Before we meal plan, we talk about Sequoia, The Mind Extreme, and MicroMacro: Crime City. |
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Episode 165: Thriving or Barely Surviving?
There are two good ways to create engagement in a board game: One is to let the player feel like they're achieving something constantly, the other is to keep them feeling like any wrong move could tank their game. We're dubbing this the "thriving to barely surviving" spectrum, but first, we need to figure out where some of our favourite games fit on it. Before we surthrive, we talk about Carnegie, Divvy Dice, and Underwater Cities. |
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Episode 158: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2020: 10-1
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. |
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Episode 155: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2020: 40-31
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. |
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Episode 152: Bob's Holiday Gift Guide
'Tis the season, and if you're me, your first thought around this time of year is, "How many people can I just buy board games for?" But not all board game gifts are created equal! No, no, no, we need to find the best. So, of course, we put BGBBOB on the case. Before we start stocking stuffings, we talk about Pandemic: Fall of Rome, and Rajas of the Ganges: The Dice Charmers. |
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Episode 150: Revenge of the Ghost Turkey
Gobble gobble, you got got! We wouldn't leave you hanging when there's important work to be done. Happy Thanksgiving! |
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Episode 148: Your Comfort Zone
Put on your thick socks, wrap yourself in a blanket, and get comfortable with us in front of the fire. We're using our patent pending formula (aka BGBBOB) to find the best heart warming comfort games. Twelve board games enter, and ... twelve leave, but arranged in the scientifically correct order. Before we get comfortable, we talk about The Castles of Tuscany, Cooper Island, and SCOUT! |
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Episode 147: The Great Compromise
At least in some things, you've got to give a little to get a little, but what would you give to get what you want? We're coming up with our big board game compromises, the things we'd happily trade away to fix some of our biggest frustrations. Before we deal with the devil, we talk about Lost Ruins of Arnak, Ohanami, and Beyond the Sun. |
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Episode 145: Zero to One Hundred: $100 Collection Triple Triumph
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. |
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Episode 140: All About Auctions
We return to our much loved feature from 2018, all about our favourite mechanics. This week, a mere two years later: auctions! We look at the good and bad sides of auction mechanics, and discuss our favourite games that feature them. Before we inflate the bid, we talk about Fleet: The Dice Game, Iwari, and Modern Art. |
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Episode 123: Filler Up
Sometimes you have a little gap of time between larger, heavier games, and what you need is a palate cleanser, which brings us to the realm of games we lovingly call "fillers". We kick off the very first Ranked Duel Battle of the Boards (definitely not the final title) by ranking our favourite filler games! Before we pass the time, we talk about Aerion, Ingenious, The One Hundred Torii, and Taluva. |
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Episode 114: Let It Grow
Some games put their best foot forward on the first play, eager to have most players feel good right out of the box. Other games are content to take their time. This episode we're focusing on the latter, games that we've only come to appreciate as we've given them more time and more plays. Before we grow together, we talk about Ginkgopolis, Time Chase, and Food Chain Magnate. |
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Episode 109: Harshing My Buzz
We're gluttons for punishment this week, because we're talking about harshness in board games. These are the sort of games where big moves or bad mistakes can be hard to recover from. Harsh games aren't for everyone, so when and why do we find them appealing? Before we grit our teeth, we talk about Wavelength, Genoa, Krass Kariert, and Oceans. |
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Episode 104: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2019: 10-1
Here it is, the episode you've all been waiting for, the grand finale, the culmination of five weeks of episodes. These are our top ten favourite board games of all-time, games that we absolutely adore, and would happily play at a moment's notice. Heck, we'd even play the games on each others' lists ... on, you know, birthdays and special occasions. That's how good they are. |
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Episode 98: Thanks, Ghost Turkey!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We're showing our thanks with a surprise podcast about ... well, maybe we'll just let the episode speak for itself. Gobble gobble. |
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Episode 94: Even When You're Losing
It took us almost a hundred episodes, but we finally reveal how to have fun with your friends even when you're losing. Specifically, we're talking about games and mechanisms that help us enjoy our losses, because let's face it, we can't all be winners. Before we celebrate our setbacks, we talk about Sierra West, Mansions of Madness: Second Edition, and Black Angel. |
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Episode 57: Where There's a Will, There's a Gateway
Gateway games are an often requested topic, but we wouldn't be us without a big old debate about them first. Are they important? Should you be trying to convert your friends at all? Isn't every game a gateway game if you just talk slowly enough? Before we raise the portcullis, we also talk about Targi, and Catan. |
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Episode 50: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2018: 10-1
Top ten, baby! We finally made it. And thus concludes our five part series of our favourite games of all-time. Frankly, we were changed by the experience, and will never be the same again. We hope you were too. |
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Episode 46: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2018: 50-41
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. |
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Episode 41: The First Cut Is the Deepest
There's no love like your first love, and this week we're talking about our early board game crushes. These are the games that first got us into the hobby, that made us want to shout our love for board games to all who'd care to hear. Before we walk down memory lane, we also talk about Key to the City: London, Empires, and Guards of Atlantis. |
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Episode 17: The Best Things in Life Are $20 or Less
What games can you get for $20? Quite a few really good ones, it turns out. We also discuss Scythe, Watson & Holmes, and Mansions of Madness: Second Edition. |
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Episode 15: Keep Your Hands to Yourself
Week two of our favourite mechanics in board games is Mark's pick, hand management. We also talk about Ascending Empires, Funky Chicken, Felicity: The Cat in the Sack, and New Corp Order. |
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Episode 11: Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown
Why is everything so heavy? Well, we all played Dominant Species together, and so we're in a heavy sort of mood. There's a very vocal subset of the community that'll insist a game isn't worth playing unless it's mechanics are punching above a certain weight. But, surely there's room in a collection for the light games, the easy games, the so-called gateway games? We hash it out, but before we get into Dominant Species and games of its ilk, we revisit Codenames, Pictomania, Clank! and take a first look at The 7th Continent. |
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Episode 8: Just Deserts
Trapped on a desert island and forced to bring only five board games? We've all been there. And we're going back. To the island. The board game island. |
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