Board Game Hot Takes

In Episode 45 we provide our hot take review of Power Grid covering the mechanisms, the production, exciting moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game.  We also discuss board game collection sizes and some of the thoughts our listeners have about their board game collections. We also discuss some games we've been playing including 7 Wonders: Duel, Isle of Skye, Coloretto, The Mind, and Blokus Duo and some games we're excited about including Smartphone, Inc Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:40 Poll: Board Game Collection Sizes 13:22 Power Grid Description 15:56 Gameplay and Mechanisms 43:15 Production 48:51 Favorite Moments 52:08 Final Thoughts 54:58 Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King 57:42 The Mind 1:00:36 Smartphone, Inc. 1:02:30 7 Wonders: Duel 1:04:56 Coloretto 1:06:57 Blokus: Duo

In Episode 44 we provide our hot take review of Carpe Diem covering the mechanisms, the production, exciting moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game.  We also discuss why dry euro games may not fit for us all and compare Carpe Diem to Stefan Feld's most popular game with some similar mechanisms: Castles of Burgundy. We also discuss some games we've been playing including Hearts, Manila, MicroMacro: Crime City, and Hadrian's Wall and some games we're excited about including Robot Quest Arena. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 02:10 Carpe Diem Description 03:43 Gameplay and Mechanisms 24:29 Production 27:22 Favorite Moments 31:44 Final Thoughts 35:50 Robot Quest Arena 37:22 Hearts 40:28 MicroMacro: Crime City 44:48 Hadrian's Wall 47:06 Manila

In Episode 43 we discuss our picks for the top 10 board games OF ALL TIME! Tim, Chris, and Adam list off our picks for the best games of all time.  We discuss how we made those picks and if there were any surprises to us on our lists. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:30 How we made our picks 07:25 - #10 13:49 - #9 20:16 - #8 25:46 - #7 34:47 - #6 41:10 - #5 47:59 - #4 54:30 - #3 1:00:10 - #2 1:06:19 - #1 1:15:20 - Surprises on our lists

In Episode 42 we provide our hot take review of Rap Godz covering the mechanisms, the production, exciting moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game. We also discuss some games we've been playing including Dice Throne, Doughnut Drive-Thru and Terraforming Mars and some games we're excited about including Paperback Adventures and AuZtralia. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 02:10 Rap Godz Description 03:03 Gameplay and Mechanisms 29:02 Production 29:16 Favorite Moments 35:46 Final Thoughts 44:51 Dice Throne 47:40 Doughnut Drive-Thru 49:17 AuZtralia 51:52 Terraforming Mars 52:42 Paperback Adventures

A review of Lost Ruins of Arnak, comparing it to Dune: Imperium. Exciting gameplay moments, production quality, and overall feelings discussed. Also mentioned are games like Oath, Power Grid, and upcoming releases like Elder Scrolls and The Witcher: The Old World.

In Episode 40 we provide our hot take review of AuZtralia covering the mechanisms, the production, exciting moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game. We also discuss some games we've been playing including Kemet: Blood and Sand and Lost Ruins of Arnak and some games we're excited about including an expansion to Beyond the Sun and Twisted Fables. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 02:04 AuZtralia description 04:48 Gameplay and Mechanisms 42:55 Production 51:01 Exciting Moments 57:36 Final Thoughts 1:03:44 Kemet: Blood and Sand 1:07:02 Lost Ruins of Arnak 1:12:18 Beyond the Sun: Leaders of the Exodus expansion 1:14:00 Twisted Fables

In Episode 39 we discuss house rules and fan variants in board games.  We talk about why people may use them, how we feel about that, and what games we've house ruled with some notable examples including Orleans, Wingspan, Scythe, Castles of Burgundy, Eclipse: 2nd Dawn for the Galaxy, Dune: Imperium, My Little Scythe, Dice Throne, Space Base, and Champions of Midgard. We also talk about some official variants that you find in the rulebook including Res Arcana and Terraforming Mars. We then discuss some games we've been playing this week including Dice Throne and Red Cathedral, and some game we're excited about trying including High Society, First Ascent, and VoidFall. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:55 House Rules and Fan Variants 01:52 Removing Complexity (Dice Throne, My Little Scythe, Space Base) 08:42 Zoom Compatibility (Wingspan) 10:30 Improved Variability and Easier Intro (Orleans, Champions of Midgard) 15:20 Better Strategic Decisions (Eclipse: 2nd Dawn for the Galaxy, Tapestry) 20:22 Exploring Games in Different Ways (Dune: Imperium) 26:02 Official Variants (Terraforming Mars, Res Arcana) 27:45 Fixing Balance Issues (Castles of Burgundy, Scythe) 31:05 Games We're Excited About 33:06 First Ascent 35:05 Red Cathedral 35:52 Voidfall 41:28 Kemet: Blood and Sand 43:46 Dice Throne 46:20 High Society

In Episode 38 we discuss the top 10 games on boardgamegeek.com.   We talk about whether we've played them, whether we want to, and how we've rated the best games of all time according to BGG user ratings.  We also discuss some games that we think might make a run for the top 10. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 04:04 - #10 Twilight Struggle 12:50 - #9 Star Wars: Rebellion 21:00 - #8 Gaia Project 26:30 - #7 Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization 32:20 - #6 Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion 40:46 - #5 Twilight Imperium: 4th Edition 45:08 - #4 Terraforming Mars 51:30 - #3 Brass: Birmingham 58:52 - #2 Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 1:03:37 - #1 Gloomhaven 1:07:07 - Games we think might make Top 10

In Episode 37 we provide our hot take review of The Quacks of Quedlinburg and Cubitos covering the mechanisms, the production, exciting moments in play, and our overall feelings of the games. We then compare the two games and discuss which is our favorite and why. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:17 The Quacks of Quedlinburg Description 03:13 Gameplay and Mechanisms 18:06 Production 21:32 Favorite Moments in Play 24:53 Final Thoughts 27:24 Cubitos Description 29:00 Gameplay and Mechanisms 39:50 Production 44:29 Favorite Moments in Play 49:25 Final Thoughts 50:47 Quacks VS Cubitos - Showdown

In Episode 36 we provide our hot take review of Clank! In! Space! covering the mechanisms, the production, exciting moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game. We also discuss the importance of diversity and representation in the board game industry and hobby and then highlight some games that we're excited about including Boss Battles and Red Cathedral, and look at the games published by Hollandspiele Games. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 04:23 Clank! In! Space! Description 05:56 Gameplay and Mechanisms 23:37 Production 34:20 Favorite Moments in Play 41:43 Final Thoughts 48:20 Diversity and Representation in Board Games 54:26 Boss Battle 58:17 Red Cathedral 1:02:30 Hollandspiele Games 1:06:30 BGHT Supports the Human Rights Campaign - and you can help!