Game Brain: A Board Game Podcast About Our Gaming Group

Ben, Tom, and Paul chat about recent plays of Atiwa, Tiletum, Fracis Drake, and Maria.  Plus, recommendations for good games to play at Thanksgiving.

All four hosts are here this week to talk about a whole mess of hot Essen releases, as well as a deep dive on one of the season's biggest games, Revive. 00:05:30 Ready Set Bet00:10:30 Oak00:19:50 Autobahn00:30:30 Tiletum00:57:30 Revive

00:00:00 Introduction00:09:15 Maricaibo: The UprisingFrancis Drake00:23:00 Let's Go! To JapanNote: Josh Wood is NOT the designer of Isle of Cats - that's Frank WestJosh Wood's best known games are Cat Lady and Santa Monica00:32:30 Ready, Set, Bet00:45:45 Autobahn01:01:45 Oak01:08:50 Revive01:15:40 Federation01:35:15 Discussion: Narrative and the move toward Baroque design02:03:10 Thank you and outro

Tom, Paul, and Elder talk about recent plays of "Food Chain Magnate" and "Space Station Phoenix" and then games they would play for the rest of their lives.  Plus, Tom has more news from Essen.

Matt, Tom, Ben and Dmitry discuss the 2022 release "Skymines" (aka Moon-basa) as well as preview their most anticipated games of Essen 2022 and give four Essen games a brief "rulebook review". 

Tom, Trey, Paul, and Ben discuss the 2019 release "Western Empires" as well as "On Mars," "Ticket to Ride," "Viticulture," and "Food Chain Magnate."

Ben and Matt revisit Grand Austria Hotel with the Let's Waltz expansion before doing a deep dive with their initial impressions of the 2022 release John Company, Second Edition by Cole Wehrle.  Afterwards, they discuss the expectations they carry — perhaps unfairly — into a game night.

Now that we've finally notched some in-person plays The Transcontinental and Carnegie, we share our thoughts about what's changed in person versus online.  Plus, we talk about the modular game boards that pique our interest and recent plays of Tzolkin, Fresh Fish, and Ethnos.

00:00:00 Introduction: A discussion of Cossacks and the Steppe00:04:30 Avalon Poll results and discussionTom calls our listeners "trolls" and compares them to the "Silent Majority."00:08:20 Game NightHighly abbreviated Avalon discussion00:09:30 WormholesTrajanMore highly abbreviated Avalon talk wiithout talking about the actual game.Underwater CitiesBen does a Paul impression. Tom does a Mike impressionThe first of many discussions about minks, ermines, sables, stoats, and ferrets00:24:25 Great Western Trail: Argentina18Chesapeake00:43:00 Lacrimosa00:47:45 DaybreakPandemic: Rising Tide00:58:30 Vegas ShowdownLords of VegasJames Ernest / Cheapass Games / Crab Fragment LabsBlock and Key01:13:30 Review: Stroganov - designed by Andreas Steadingapologies to Andreas Steading for calling him Andreas SteadlingDarwin's JourneyThe Transcontinental01:58:40 Outro