I'm the Boss!

From Board Game Barrage Wiki

Blue Tank.png  Top 10 - 2021, 2020

Red Tank.png  Top 10 - 2022, 2021

Featured Episodes[edit source]

Episode 297: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2023: 30-21
Episode 297

It's a new year which is an awkward time to be right in the middle of something, but we're doing a thing here. It's part three of our Top 50 games of all-time! This week it's our 30th to 21st favourite games, and this is where things start to get spicy. This is like five chilis next to the menu item hotness we're talking. Grab a bib and join us for another course!

Released: January 4, 2024

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 282: A Soupçon of Sackson
Episode 282

After much consternation at his exclusion from our Mount Rushmore of games, we've decided to honour legendary designer Sid Sackson elsewhere - a BGB Designer Spotlight! I think these used to be called BGB DOGs but even Mark forgot about that bit of branding. Oh well. Before we make amends, we talk about Magicalligraphy, Hamlet: The Village Building Game, and Tournament at Camelot.

Released: June 22, 2023

Episode 260: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2022: 10-1
Episode 260

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!

Released: January 19, 2023

Episode 210: No One Man Should Have All That Power
Episode 210

Few things feel better than those moments in board games that make you feel powerful. Whether it’s playing the perfect card, pulling off a perfectly executed turn, or splashing down that giant mini, we look at some of our favourite power plays in board games. Before we corrupt absolutely, we talk about Biblios: Quill and Parchment, Cryo, and Origins: First Builders.

Released: January 27, 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 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 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 96: The House of Bounce
Episode 096

Uh oh, you're not enjoying the game you're playing. Now what? Is it okay to excuse yourself? Maybe it's better that you just call it rather than continue to have a bad time. This week we're talking about scenarios where some or all of the players of a game might decide it's better to bounce than to wallow in misery. Before we make an early exit, we talk about SEAL Team Flix, Paranormal Detectives, and I'm the Boss.

Released: November 14, 2019

Episode 77: What You Don’t Know Can’t Hurt You
Episode 077

This week we're talking about hidden trackable information. That is, information about the game state that could be remembered or recorded, but the game design (usually) assumes that players haven't. Is it okay to memorize or divulge this information? Before we take notes, we also talk about Papà Paolo, Oceanos, and Pax Pamir (Second Edition).

Released: July 18, 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 33: You Can't Win 'Em All
Episode 033

Look, sometimes we lose games. I know. It's weird. It's hard to talk about, to be frank, but it's important to realize that your heroes can have flaws. So, this week, we're counting down our top five games we're bad at! Before we admit defeat, we also discuss Yogi, Orléans, and Blue Lagoon.

Released: September 13, 2018

Episode 14: Do You Want to Know a Secret?
Episode 014

We kick off three weeks of our favourite mechanics in board games with Neilan's pick, hidden information. We also talk about Omen: Fires in the East, Gaia Project, and Pioneer Days.

Released: May 17, 2018

Episode 10: Everyone is Wrong and We are Right
Episode 010

Did you know that sometimes the internet is wrong? Thankfully we're here to tell you what's up, and right the wrongs that BoardGameGeek hath wrought. You see, there are some games in their database that are just ranked way too low for how good they are. So, to fix these injustices, we each count down our top five games that BoardGameGeek got wrong, and we got right.

Released: April 19, 2018