A writer, a library assistant, and two dachshunds. It's not the beginning to a joke, it's a podcast about board games! Join Matthew, Diana, Buddy & Mikey (those last two are the fuzzy ones) as they discuss exciting designer board games across a wide variety of genres, complexity levels & themes.…
Matthew Johnson & Diana Hillyard
This episode we talk about extravagant cooperative "dice building RPG" Too Many Bones, librarian worker placement game Ex Libris, entirely-too-dangerous-pet shop worker placement game Dungeon Petz, and (spoiler free!) legacy cooperative game Pandemic Legacy Season 2.
A sad update about the departure of our dear Mikey last year (why we've been silent for so long). Goodbye little one.
Three farming games in one episode! Oh, the excitement! This time we discuss Feast for Odin (aka "Viking Feng Shui") and the recently republished classic At the Gates of Loyang, both by legendary designer Uwe Rosenberg. Then we move on to Inka & Markus Brand's Village (or "How to Strategically Hasten the Demise of Family Members for Fun & Profit!").
This episode we discuss two of 2016's best games: Mechs vs Minions, an amazing co-op programmable movement game; and Great Western Trail, a heavy rondel game with some deck building. After that we move on to one of the most "thinky" dice games we've ever played, Roll Player. Along the way we'll imagine chasing dairy cows across the United States, mention that female knights are cool, and wonder if League of Legends characters need sensitivity training.
In response to a listener request, we discuss four different games that we think would be great options for playing while tipsy: Junk Art, Pitch Car, Push It, and Spyfall. Also, we have a new youtube channel! Go check out Never Enough Games!
This episode we discuss Uwe Rosenberg's "Caverna" - a massive worker placement game about dwarven homesteaders, packed to the gills with wooden pieces. We also walk you through one of the most talked about games of late 2016 - "Terraforming Mars". It's a competitive game where each player is a different corporation trying to out-compete their opponents to terraform the planet as efficiently as possible. You'll learn why it's awesome, and why you want an aftermarket overlay.
After a long break, we're back! This episode we discuss Mayan worker placement game Tzolk'in, storytelling game Above & Below, Iki, a hard-to-find Japanese market game with a rondel mechanic, and two family-friendly dexterity games - Ice Cool & Junk Art!
We discuss board games Le Havre & Spirits of the Rice Paddy as well as digital games Hand of Fate and "Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes". Also wooden slugs. And freakish ox/duck hybrids (d'ox?).
We circle back around to discuss our post-play impressions of Elder Sign & Mysterium. Then we talk about Orleans & Concordia, two excellent competitive Euro games you should be playing.
We discuss Favor of the Pharaoh, a low-theme, high-fun dice game and City of Iron, a game that's a little bit deck builder, and a lot of other things. Also Diana teases Matthew about his birthday because she's a mean person (who isn't writing this description).
We discuss two dexterity games - Safranito, which involves tossing poker chips to buy & sell spices, and Catacombs, a dungeon crawler crossed with shuffleboard. Fun fun!
We discuss Steampunk Rally, a wild & wooly card drafting/dice placement racing game, and Robinson Crusoe, a highly thematic, co-operative worker placement survival game that will chew you up & spit you out (but in a good way).
We discuss hidden movement classic Fury of Dracula and off-the-beaten-path worker placement game Panthalos.
We discuss games we recommend for playing with your family - 9 in depth game recommendations, plus more participation by the dachshunds! Games covered: Kingsburg, Roll for the Galaxy, Pandemic (& Pandemic Legacy), Forbidden Desert, Smash Up, Gloom, Carcassonne, Machi Koro & The Castles of Mad King Ludwig.
We explain Worker Placement, then move on to describing two games we're excited about right now: Alchemists and Istanbul.