Board Game Hot Takes

In Episode 75 we provide our hot take review of Merchants of the Dark Road covering the mechanisms, the production, notable moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game and we discuss a poll related to what makes legacy games feel special. Then we discuss some games on our table including Azul, Tzolk'in, The Great Wall, Abyss, Seasons. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:27 Poll: What makes a legacy game special? 11:45 Merchants of the Dark Road Description 13:29 Gameplay and Mechanisms 26:47 Production and Theme 31:33 Memorable Moments 39:50 Final Thoughts 44:35 Azul strategy discussion 52:31 Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar - Double Take 56:40 Great Wall First Impressions 1:02:10 Abyss 1:04:07 Seasons

In Episode 74 we provide our hot take reviews of Welcome To... and Azul covering the mechanisms, the production, notable moments in play, and our overall feelings of the games and we discuss a poll related to ideal board game playtimes. Chris provides a Welcome To... themed cocktail and then we discuss some games on our table including Viticulture, Charterstone, and Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:30 Poll: Board Game Playtimes 11:12 Welcome To... Description 13:04 Gameplay and Mechanisms 20:20 Production and Theme 23:30 Memorable Moments 26:48 Final Thoughts 30:30 Azul Description 32:17 Gameplay and Mechanisms 38:42 Production and Theme 43:45 Memorable Moments 47:55 Final Thoughts 55:10 Cocktail of the Week 58:36 Viticulture 1:00:16 Catan Junior 1:03:09 Charterstone 1:12:17 Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun

In Episode 73 we provide our hot take review of Ark Nova covering the mechanisms, the production, notable moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game and we discuss a poll related to board game strategy guides. Then we discuss some games on our table including Targi, Viticulture, Welcome To..., Happy Little Dinosaurs, and Just Desserts. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:22 News and Poll: Board Game Strategy Guides 08:46 Description 10:29 Gameplay and Mechanisms 25:53 Production and Theme 35:57 Memorable Moments 39:14 Final Thoughts 44:56 Happy Little Dinosaurs 46:52 Welcome To... 48:38 Just Desserts 49:23 Viticulture 50:36 Targi

In Episode 72 we discuss the top 5 games we want to play but haven't gotten around to... yet.  We also look at our lists from last year and review whether we played them and how they landed for us. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction Last Year 4:27 #5 Chris Last Year - Godspeed 6:00 #5 Jen Last Year - Rajas of the Ganges 7:00 #5 Tim Last Year - Res Arcana 8:25 #5 Adam Last Year - Fossilis 9:54 #4 Chris Last Year - Cthulhu Wars: Duel 10:54 #4 Jen Last Year - Whistle Stop 12:23 #4 Tim Last Year - Obsession 14:18 #4 Adam Last Year - Xia: Legends of a Drift System 15:45 #3 Chris Last Year - Dwellings of Eldervale 17:03 #3 Jen Last Year - Pan Am 17:40 #3 Tim Last Year - Manhattan Project: Energy Empire 18:09 #3 Adam Last Year - Canvas 18:52 #2 Chris and Adam Last Year - Imperium: The Contention 21:13 #2 Jen Last Year - Pandemic 22:40 #2 Tim Last Year - Concordia 23:44 #1 Chris Last Year - Disney: Villainous 25:33 #1 Jen Last Year - Castles of Tuscany 26:26 #1 Tim Last Year - Trajan 26:51 #1 Adam Last Year - Dune: Imperium This Year 28:10 #5 Chris - Azul 30:00 #5 Jen - Welcome To... 32:04 #5 Tim - Tyrants of the Underdark / The Quest for El Dorado 34:57 #5 Adam - Cryo 36:32 #4 Chris - Rising Sun 40:18 #4 Jen - Kokopelli 42:44 #4 Tim - Rolling Realms 44:40 #4 Adam - Barrage 46:19 #3 Chris - Nemesis 48:15 #3 Jen - Viticulture 53:27 #3 Tim - Sleeping Gods 54:44 #3 Adam - Organism 56:36 #2 Chris - Radlands 59:21 #2 Jen - Catan 1:02:43 #2 Tim - Ark Nova 1:04:53 #2 Adam - Reef Encounter 1:06:34 #1 Chris - Golem 1:09:14 #1 - Jen - Calico 1:12:14 #1 - Tim - Clans of Caledonia 1:14:20 #1 - Adam - Brian Boru: High King of Ireland

In Episode 71 we provide our hot take review of Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar covering the mechanisms, the production, notable moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game and we discuss a poll related to storing game expansions. Chris discusses the Tzolk'in themed cocktail that wasn't and then we discuss some games on our table including Praga Caput Regni and the games we've been playing on Board Game Arena. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:30 Poll: Storing Board Game Expansions 08:21 Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar Description 10:18 Gameplay and Mechanisms 25:12 Production and Theme 29:52 Memorable Moments 34:55 Final Thoughts 39:25 Themed Cocktail of the Week 44:25 Board Game Arena 49:09 Praga Caput Regni

In Episode 70 we provide our hot take review of Keyflower covering the mechanisms, the production, notable moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game and we discuss a poll related to buying games that we first played online. Chris provides a Keyflower themed cocktail and then we discuss some games on our table including Cascadia, Welcome To..., and Obsession. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:28 Poll: Buying games after trying them online 08:25 Keyflower Description 10:51 Gameplay and Mechanisms 25:24 Production and Theme 33:17 Memorable Moments 41:41 Final Thoughts 48:38 Themed Cocktail of the Week 53:24 Obsession 54:39 Cascadia 59:30 Welcome To...

In Episode 69 we provide our hot take review of Root covering the mechanisms, the production, notable moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game and we discuss a poll related to asymmetric board games. Chris provides a Root themed cocktail and then we discuss some games on our table including Risk: Legacy, Azul, and Unsettled. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:29 Poll: Asymmetric Game Play 06:46 Root 08:49 Gameplay and Mechanisms 30:25 Production and Theme 43:55 Memorable Moments 49:26 Final Thoughts 57:46 Themed Cocktail of the Week 1:02:36 Azul 1:04:43 Risk: Legacy 1:12:28 Unsettled

In Episode 68 we discuss some of the reasons we cull board games from our collections and list 5 games that are leaving and why they aren't going to be sticking around. We also discuss poll results on how frequently board games are culled. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:39 Poll discussion around culling games 9:17 #5 Adam - Space Corp - 2025-2300AD 12:35 #5 Chris - Calico 15:15 #5 Tim - Wingspan 20:41 #4 Adam - Irish Gauge 22:35 #4 Chris - Lords of Hellas 26:27 #4 Tim - It's a Wonderful World / Maracaibo 29:36 #3 Adam - Android: Netrunner 33:48 #3 Chris - This War of Mine 35:54 #3 Tim - Empires of the Void II 39:02 #2 Adam - On Mars 43:11 #2 Chris - Marvel United 47:10 #2 Tim - Paper Dungeon 49:40 #1 Adam - Spirit Island 54:15 #1 Chris - Twisted Fables 58:20 #1 Tim - Fort 59:43 Culling Final Thoughts

In Episode 67 we provide our hot take review of Ankh: Gods of Egypt covering the mechanisms, the production, notable moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game and we discuss our big 'renaming' and related poll results. Chris provides an Ankh themed cocktail and then we discuss some games on our table including Keyflower, Bonfire, and Brian Boru: High King of Ireland. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:32 Poll: Name Change? 04:21 Ankh: Gods of Egypt Description 06:20 Gameplay and Mechanisms 32:34 Production and Theme 39:38 Memorable Moments 43:38 Final Thoughts 49:17 Themed Cocktail of the Week 52:36 Keyflower 1:00:27 Brian Boru: High King of Ireland 1:05:51 Bonfire

In Episode 66 we provide our hot take review of Russian Railroads covering the mechanisms, the production, notable moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game and we discuss some poll results around abstract games.   We then discuss some games on our table including Royal Visit, Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition, and Patchwork: Halloween Edition and then give our future takes on Age of Galaxy and the Arts and Architecture expansion for Tapestry. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:30 Poll: Do you like abstract games 04:00 Russian Railroads Description 06:38 Gameplay and Mechanisms 20:56 Production and Theme 25:41 Memorable Moments 28:54 Final Thoughts 34:00 Royal Visit 37:24 Patchwork: Halloween Edition 38:37 Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition 1:21:57 45:02 Age of Galaxy 49:13 Tapestry: Arts and Architecture