Board Game Hot Takes

In Episode 105 we provide our hot take review of Barrage covering the mechanisms, the production, and our overall feelings of the game. We also discuss a poll about setup time, Chris provides a Barrage themed cocktail and then we discuss some games on our table including Dutch Blitz, Age of Galaxy, Bloodstones, and Notre Dame. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:37 Poll: Does setup time impact your love of games? 7:10 Barrage Gameplay Description 10:16 Gameplay and Mechanisms 29:00 Production and Theme 34:32 Final Thoughts 41:28 Themed cocktail of the week 44:48 Dutch Blitz 48:50 Age of Galaxy 58:40 Bloodstones 1:08:01 Notre Dame

In Episode 104 we discuss our top ten favorite uses of toy factor in board games. We also discuss a poll on attending conventions. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:42 Poll: Attending Conventions 07:12 Toy Factor in Games 11:01 Chris #10 - Mechanica 14:53 Adam #10 - Baseball Highlights 2045 17:47 Tim #10 - Splendor 19:36 Chris #9 - Windward 21:42 Adam #9 - Pax Pamir 2nd Edition 23:40 Tim #9 - Lords of Xidit 26:50 Chris #8 - Scythe 30:59 Adam #8 - Xia: Legends of a Drift System 32:47 Tim #8 - Pan Am 34:39 Chris #7 - Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar 38:04 Adam #7 - Skyrise 41:02 Tim #7 - Tapestry 43:44 Chris #6 - Nemesis 47:28 Adam #6 - Wonderland's War 49:36 Tim #6 - The Great Wall 51:01 Chris #5 - Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon 53:47 Adam #5 - Anachrony 56:03 Tim #5 - Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun 58:07 Chris #4 - Blood Rage 1:01:35 Adam #4 - Star Wars: Rebellion 1:03:41 Tim #4 - Everdell 1:06:20 Chris #3 - Fossilis 1:10:14 Adam #3 - Voidfall 1:12:25 Tim #3 - Cthulhu: Death May Die 1:15:25 Chris #2 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar 1:18:43 Adam #2 - Ankh: Gods of Egypt 1:21:33 Tim #2 - Camel Up (2nd Edition) 1:24:02 Chris #1 - Return to Dark Tower 1:27:14 Adam #1 - Eclipse: 2nd Dawn for the Galaxy 1:29:38 Tim #1 - Dwellings of Eldervale 1:34:23 Listener Shoutout

In Episode 103 we provide our hot take review of Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done covering the mechanisms, the production, and our overall feelings of the game.  We also discuss a poll about buying games used and then we discuss some games on our table including Imperium: Classics, Memoir '44, and Viticulture World and then we give our future takes on Dune: Imperium - Immortality and Bloodstones. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:30 Poll: Buying Used Games 07:06 Crusaders: They Will Be Done Gameplay Description 09:08 Gameplay and Mechanisms 23:31 Divine Influence Expansion Preview 25:43 Production and Theme 29:49 Final Thoughts 34:05 Imperium: Legends and Imperium: Classics 38:00 Memoir '44 42:47 Viticulture World 1:00:02 Dune: Imperium - Immortality 1:04:33 Bloodstones 1:06:04 Listener Shoutout

In Episode 102 we provide our hot take review of Rising Sun covering the mechanisms, the production, and our overall feelings of the game.  We also look at all three games from Eric Lang's 'Troops on a Map' trilogy: Blood Rage, Rising Sun, and Ankh: Gods of Egypt and discuss our rankings of them. We discuss a poll about other whether it's acceptable to concede a game and then we discuss some games on our table including WW84 and Agricola. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:26 Poll: Conceding Games 13:53 Rising Sun Gameplay Description 18:35 Gameplay and Mechanisms 42:07 Production and Theme 44:52 Final Thoughts 49:24 Eric Lang Trilogy Ranking 54:40 Themed Cocktail of the Week 59:35 WW84: Wonder Woman Card Game 1:02:51 Agricola 1:08:50 Listener Shoutout

In Episode 101 we provide our hot take review of Circadians: Chaos Order covering the mechanisms, the production, and our overall feelings of the game. We discuss a poll about other player's attitudes impacting your feelings about a game and then we discuss some games on our table including Radlands, Diplomacy, and Space Station Phoenix. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:29 Poll: Does other player's attitude impact your feelings about a game 13:24 Circadians: Chaos Order Gameplay Description 16:46 Gameplay and Mechanisms 39:56 Production and Theme 49:15 Final Thoughts 55:39 Themed Cocktail of the Week 59:15 Radlands 1:07:50 Diplomacy 1:14:58 Space Station Phoenix 1:20:13 Listener Shoutout

Episode 100 is our listener appreciation episode where we highlight the board games that our listeners love, get to hear some of our listener's voices, and draw the winner of our giveaway from the listeners that contributed with their favorite games. We also discuss a poll on how listener's found their favorite board game podcasts. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 02:33 Poll: Finding Podcasts 10:21 Listener's Favorite Games (Some games mentioned briefly: Quantum, Silver, Aldr: The High Sage, World's Fair 1893, Gaia Project, Wonderland's War, Castell, Cosmic Frog, Happy Salmon, Star Realms, Inis) 17:10 #20 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 18:01 #19 - Marvel Champions 19:19 #18 - Great Western Trail 19:35 #17 - Anachrony 20:11 - Listener Voice: Tapestry / Wingspan 21:35 #16 - Dominion 23:16 #15 - Cascadia 24:35 #14 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game 25:28 #13 - Wingspan 28:15 #12 - Lost Ruins of Arnak 29:39 - Listener Voice: The Lord of the Rings TCG 30:45 #11 - Brass: Birmingham 33:11 #10 - Viticulture 35:00 #9 - Scythe 36:16 #8 - Ark Nova 37:02 - Listener Voice: Spirit Island 38:48 #7 - Dune: Imperium 39:26 #6 - Root 40:35 #5 - Everdell 41:56 #4 - Terraforming Mars 43:30 Listener Voice: Carcasonne 44:50 #3 - Sprit Island 48:48 #2 - Gloomhaven 51:01 #1 - The Castles of Burgundy 52:41 - BGHT compared to listeners 56:04 Listener Voice: Empires of the Void II 1:00:07 Winner Drawing

In Episode 99 we finish counting down our top 30 Board Games of all time with numbers 1-10. We also discuss a poll on favorite ways to learn new board games Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:53 Poll: Learning Board Games 09:22 Top Games of All Time 09:52 Chris #10 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar 12:03 Tim #10 - Wonderland's War 14:47 Adam #10 - Radlands 16:49 Chris #9 - Wonderland's War 19:18 Adam #9 - Wonderland's War 20:09 Tim #9 - La Granja 21:48 Chris #8 - Outlive 25:53 Tim #8 - Clank! 27:04 Adam #8 - Inis 30:05 Chris #7 - Dune: Imperium 32:24 Tim #7 - Gaia Project 35:07 Adam #7 - Arcs 37:52 Chris #6 - Ark Nova 39:50 Tim #6 - Ark Nova 42:02 Adam #6 - Smartphone, Inc. 44:23 Chris #5 - Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy 46:46 Adam #5 - Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy 47:51 Tim #5 - Castles of Burgundy 49:58 Chris #4 - Nemesis 53:33 Tim #4 - Everdell 56:20 Adam #4 - The Expanse 59:15 Chris #3 - Blood Rage 1:00:38 Tim #3 - Blood Rage 1:01:40 Adam #3 - Anachrony 1:02:40 Chris #2 - Terraforming Mars 1:06:10 Tim #2 - Tapestry 1:10:13 Adam #2 - Dune: Imperium 1:11:10 Chris #1 - Tapestry 1:14:20 Tim #1 - Dune: Imperium 1:16:40 Adam #1 - Pax Pamir (2nd Edition)

In Episode 98 we continue counting down our top 30 Board Games of all time with numbers 11-20. We also discuss a poll on how review copies provided from publishers impact your trust in a board game critic. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 03:14 Poll: Review Copies and Trust 14:01 Top Games of All Time 14:27 Adam #20 - Beyond the Sun 17:38 Chris #20 - Obsession 22:01 Tim #20 - Magic: The Gathering 26:33 Adam #19 - Star Wars: Rebellion 29:20 Chris #19 - Batman: Gotham City Chronicles 27:26 Tim #19 - Beyond the Sun 38:34 Adam #18 - High Society 40:19 Chris #18 - Gaia Project 44:05 Tim #18 - Lords of Waterdeep 47:51 Adam #17 - Brian Boru: High King of Ireland 50:02 Chris #17 - Golem 53:06 Tim #17 - Rajas of the Ganges 55:13 Adam #16 - Blood Rage 56:41 Chris #16 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization 59:44 Tim #16 - Near and Far 63:03 Adam #15 - Brass: Birmingham 65:41 Chris #15 - La Granja 68:01 Tim #15 - Viscounts of the West Kingdom 69:46 Adam #14 - Gaia Project 71:43 Chris #14 - Lost Ruins of Arnak 73:53 Tim #14 - Scythe 76:49 Adam #13 - Shamans 78:20 Chris #13 - Clank! In! Space! 80:06 Tim #13 - Lost Ruins of Arnak 82:34 Adam #12 - Baseball Highlights 2045 86:44 Chris #12 - A Feast for Odin 89:17 Tim #12 - Terraforming Mars 91:01 Adam #11 - Ankh: Gods of Egypt 92:50 Chris #11 - Cthulhu Wars 96:15 Tim #11 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar

In Episode 97 we start the countdown of our top 30 Board Games of all time with choices 21-30. We also discuss a poll on luxury versions of board games. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:53 Poll: Luxury Board Games 12:52 Top Games of All Time 18:28 Tim #30 - Res Arcana 21:24 Adam #30 - Nemesis 23:03 Chris #30 - Pan Am 25:17 Tim #29 - Cthulhu: Death May Die 29:47 Adam #29 - SpaceCorp 2025-2300 AD 32:50 Chris #29 - Aquatica 35:41 Tim #28 - Codenames 38:49 Adam #28 - Terraforming Mars 41:14 Chris #28 - This War of Mine 44:10 Tim #27 - Underwater Cities 45:45 Adam #27 - Ghosts of Christmas 48:12 Chris #27 - Watergate 50:36 Tim #26 - Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest 53:53 Adam #26 - Sentient 57:05 Chris #26 - Wingspan 59:08 Tim #25 - Great Western Trail 61:00 Adam #25 - Air, Land, and Sea 63:08 Chris #25 - Rap Godz 65:34 Tim #24 - Outlive 68:17 Adam #24 -  Sol: Last Days of a Star 70:50 Chris #24 - Viticulture 73:14 Tim #23 - Anachrony 76:17 Adam #23 - Battle for Rokugan 78:15 Chris #23 - Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon 81:14 Tim #22 - 7 Wonders Duel 84:01 Adam #22 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization 86:42 Chris #22 - Cthulhu: Death May Die 89:54 Tim #21 - Arcs 92:41 Adam #21 - Shards of Infinity 95:50 Chris #21 - Scythe 98:14 Listener Shoutout

In Episode 96 we take a look at the top 100 games on Board Game Geek and discuss the games on that list that we haven't played.  We list the top 5 games we each want to play from that list and the top 5 games that we don't want to play from that list and discuss why some of them are interesting to us and others aren't. We also discuss a poll on the Golden Age of hobby board games. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:53 Poll: Golden Age of board games 015:11 Board Game Geek Top 100 games that we want to play 22:44 Chris #5 - Rising Sun 24:50 Adam #5 - Kanban EV 25:55 Tim #5 - Rising Sun 28:05 Chris #4 - Grand Austria Hotel 30:17 Adam #4 - The Crew: Quest for Planet Nine 32:56 Tim #4 - Kanban EV 34:14 Chris #3 - Food Chain Magnate 37:28 Adam #3 - Barrage 41:05 Tim #3 - Robinson Crusoe - Adventures on the Cursed Island 42:52 Chris #2 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game 44:14 Adam #2 - War of the Ring (Second Edition) 46:15 Tim #2 - Mechs Vs. Minions 48:35 Chris #1 - Twilight Struggle 51:28 Adam #1 - Twilight Imperium (Fourth Edition) 52:58 Tim #1 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game 56:03 Board Game Geek Top 100 games that we don't want to play 56:24 Chris #5 - The Crew: Quest for Planet Nine 57:35 Adam #5 - Robinson Crusoe - Adventures on the Cursed Island 58:43 Tim #5 - Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon 59:37 Chris #4 - Clans of Caledonia 1:04:46 Adam #4 -  The 7th Continent 1:05:00 Tim #4 - Mansions of Madness (Second Edition) 1:06:59 Chris #3 - Concordia 1:09:43 Adam #3 - Kingdom: Death Monster 1:12:35 Tim #3 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 1:15:15 Chris #2 - Twilight Imperium (Fourth Edition) 1:16:43 Adam #2 - Maracaibo 1:18:40 Tim #2 - Food Chain Magnate 1:19:48 Chris #1 - Gloomhaven 1:23:06 Adam #1 - Caverna: The Cave Farmers 1:25:47 Tim #1 - Twilight Imperium (Fourth Edition)