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Featured Episodes
Episode 324: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2024: Neilan's 50-31
It's meeeeeeeeeee! So if you care to find my top 50 list, look right here. The first twenty incredible games on the list that early critics are calling "surprisingly tasteful" and "delightfully roomy" is finally yours to consume. It's the greatest board games of all-time, Neilan edition! |
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Episode 297: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2023: 30-21
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! |
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Episode 285: Starting is Easy, Finishing is Hard
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. |
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Episode 279: Let the Golden Age Begin
Are we living in a golden age of board games? It's a simple question, but there's a lot to unpack - what even qualifies as a golden age, have we already had one, and if we are living in one, when does it end? Before we go for gold, we talk about That's Not a Hat, Pulsar 2849, and Barrage. |
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Episode 267: Our Listeners’ Top 20 Board Games of All-Time 2023
I always love this one. It's the time of the year where we look at what your favourite games are, and discover whether there are any exciting movers and shakers in what you've been playing! It's the BGB Listener Top 20! Before we check in with all of you, we talk about Tower of Babel, Great Western Trail: Argentina, and Jump Drive. |
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Episode 259: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2022: 20-11
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. |
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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 240: The Pillars of Recreation
The pillars of board gaming are games that are so influential, so ubiquitous, that they're practically the shoulders on which many other board games stand. We talk about what are commonly considered the classic pillars, and try to make a more modern list. Before we get into Greek architecture, we talk about Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, Trailblazers, Photograph, and Ys. |
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Episode 218: Our Listeners’ Top 20 Board Games of All-Time 2022
Wow, hundreds of you sent in your favourite games, and it was absolute chaos. But we got all the data together, cleaned up the typos, and 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. |
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Episode 213: Approach Without Caution
Approachability and accessibility are incredibly important to a wide swathe of gamers, but for those experienced in the hobby, it can often get overlooked. We investigate how games can aid those both in and especially outside the hobby to be more immediately appealing. Before we have a beer with him, we talk about Shinkansen: Zero Kei, Project L, and Boonlake. |
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Episode 207: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2021: 20-11 (ft. Ambie Valdés)
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! |
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Episode 199: Amerigames and Eurotrash
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. |
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Episode 193: Three Dimensions of Space
There is one unenviable truth of board game ownership that we're forced to contend with - they occupy space. We've each had to wrestle with this reality in different ways recently, so we offer our thoughts on the awkwardness of sharing a physical world with our board games. Before we merely exist, we talk about Riftforce, Kabuto Sumo, and Whirling Witchcraft. |
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Episode 190: Why Are You the Way That You Are?
One of the things we love to do, especially if we're playing a game for the first time, is analyse it while we're playing. We're sure this totally isn't annoying for those around us. In particular, we love picking apart little mechanical choices, imagining what the designer's thought process was, and wondering "why is that like that?" Before we get to speculating, we talk about Divinity Derby, Mexica, and Strasbourg. |
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Episode 178: The Power of Production
Because making board games is hard, it's not enough just to have some solid mechanics - the best games have a production that coheres with the design. We look at some examples of games where production considerations (or lack thereof) have helped or hurt how they play. Before we executively produce, we talk about The King is Dead: Second Edition, Equinox, and Enchanted Plumes. |
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Episode 177: Fantasy Draft: BoardGameGeek Top 100
Mark's trying to get us all into something he calls "sports", so as a compromise, we're doing a fantasy board game draft! We're going to pick games from the BoardGameGeek Top 100, until we each have five. Then YOU get to vote on whose draft is best, for a chance to win $50! Before we play to the crowds, we talk about Azul: Summer Pavilion, Roads & Boats, Ruthless, and Cthulhu: Death May Die. |
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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 157: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2020: 20-11
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. |
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Episode 134: CHAOS!
Some board games (and board game podcasts) thrive on chaos, which absolutely isn't the same thing as randomness. All of this has happened for a reason, it's just ... hard to tell what those reasons are exactly. Before we blame the butterfly, we talk about Path of Light and Shadow, Jixia Academy, and Chaos in the Old World. |
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Episode 132: Heavy Duty with Monique from Before You Play
Monique from Before You Play is with us to get heavy. We're discussing the allure of heavy games, and who better to talk us through them than a Vital Lacerda fan who loves to not just play them, but teach them? We dig into why we enjoy the occasional heavy game, and why you should too! Before we play, we talk about DURIAN, Animal Kingdoms, and Brass: Birmingham. |
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Episode 118: Of the Utmost Importance
What could be a more important topic than importance itself? This week, we're talking about the most important board games of the last decade, and what it even means for a board game to be worthy of the label. To us, at least. Before being earnest, we talk about Prêt-à-Porter, Riff Raff, Adventure Games: The Dungeon, and Innovation: Echoes of the Past. |
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Episode 113: Trust is Good, Area Control is Better
Area control is the first subject of our new recurring feature, "What we love, what we hate", where we deep dive into a single mechanic and describe ... well, exactly that! We tend to enjoy games that have you fighting over territory, but what is it that specifically gets us excited about them? And what are the downsides? Before we assume direct control, we talk about The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, Stay Cool, and Mezo. |
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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 97: Eleven Herbs and Biases
We've all got them, whether we'll care to admit it or not, quirks and and biases that might be irrational, but nevertheless affect our judgement of the games we play. This week we're looking at a few of the little things that might weigh a game in or out of our favour, even if they don't necessarily make much sense. Before we exercise extreme prejudice, we talk about Flamme Rouge, The North, and Ragusa. |
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Episode 91: SHUX 2019 Live with Quintin Smith
Shut Up & Sit Down's very own Quintin Smith joins us live on stage at SHUX 2019! We play a rousing game of Hundreds of Horses, discuss some games from the convention, and lay out the unspoken truths of board games - opinions about the hobby we vehemently hold, even if everyone else is too afraid to say it. Before we speak truth to power, we talk about Deep Blue, Curios, Obscurio, and Vast: The Mysterious Manor. |
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Episode 89: Classified Information
Inspired by BoardGameGeek's new system for classifying board game mechanisms, we give our thoughts on the changes, as well as talk about classification in general. Somehow it always leads to heated discussions, whether it's arguing what a Civilization game even is, or why we need classification at all. I'm sure we'll all agree in the end. Before we taxi into taxonomy, we talk about Piepmatz, Era: Medieval Age, and Cursed Court. |
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Episode 73: Dictionary Attack
You don't need no education, but you're getting one anyway. This week we're going to be explaining the meaning of some common but unclear board game words, for we are nothing if not your humble servants. Before we define our terms, we talk about The Shipwreck Arcana, Kingdom Death: Monster, and Vinhos Deluxe Edition. |
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Episode 69: Bang for Your Buck
Everyone likes to get the most out of their hard-earned cash, but what is a board game worth? Maybe it doesn't matter what's inside the box, maybe the real value is the friends we made along the way? Haha, just kidding, it's totally all about the miniature total. Before we count components, we also talk about Aerion, Overbooked, Dinosaur Island, and Lancaster. |
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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 45: Green Letter Episode?
It's question time again! After last week's massive success, we couldn't resist the urge to have you, loyal listener, once more do all the work for us. Before we turn the microphones around, we also talk about Brass: Birmingham, Exodus: Paris Nouveau, and Werewords. |
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Episode 40: Bling It On
We're doing some upgrades this episode, because we're talking about improving and enhancing the board games we already own through accessories, new components, and fancy inserts. Before we sleeve our cards, we also talk about Keyflower, The Palaces of Carrara, Welcome To...'s Halloween Expansion, and That's Not Lemonade! |
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Episode 35: The Power of Balance
Asymmetry is a powerful tool for game design, if done right. There's a lot of replayability right out of the box, and finding a playstyle that works for you can be very satisfying. But this dark alchemy has a darker byproduct: imbalance. When so much is different between each player, how do you ensure that things stay fair? Before we nerf plz, we discuss Container, and more Root. |
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Episode 32: Are We Having Fun Yet?
In this week's fun episode, we talk gaming etiquette, or the unspoken rules that surface when you're playing a board game. They often have nothing to do with the game itself, but what's appropriate? Should you deliberately help and hinder others at the table? Before we let the Wookiee win, we also discuss Let's Make a Bus Route, Sailing Toward Osiris, Fleet, and Founders of Gloomhaven. |
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Episode 19: What Are You Made Of?
What would a board game be without components? Just rules and a box, I guess. Before we pick up our pieces, we talk about Wildcatters, Bärenpark, Chimera, Star Cartel, and Council of 4. |
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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 16: How to Win Friends Area Control People
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. |
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Episode 13: We're Still Right
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! |
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