Board Game Barrage

Latest Episodes:

#371: Essen SPIEL 2026 Hype List Oct 08, 2026

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We're not going to Essen, and frankly, may never, but that won't stop us from wishing we were going. From the mountain of games we won't get to play in person, we've mined for the diamonds that we think you should keep your eyes on. Before we get to digging, we talk about Hanami, Brink, and Railway Boom.

02:14 - Hanami 12:06 - Brink 24:22 - Railway Boom 36:05 - Essen SPIEL 2026 Preview 38:16 - 1st CEO 39:24 - Robo Run 40:56 - -60° 43:49 - Apocalypse 45:31 - Kalypso 46:51 - Timespan 49:42 - 17 Dice Bets 52:51 - KumoKumo Park 54:11 - Chronocritters 56:09 - Tikal Legend 57:38 - Ancient Empires 59:10 - Almighty 1:01:41 - Old Ones Origins 1:06:02 - Courtroom: The Noir Trilogy 1:08:51 - For the Gods!

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#370: On Brand Sep 24, 2026

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It's a designer spotlight, which means we're turning the focus away from us, and putting it on some prestigious designers instead! This week it's Inka and Markus Brand, whose story apparently has a whole enemies to lovers angle I did not see coming. Before we power duet, we talk about Party House: The Deckbuilding Game, Land and Freedom: The Spanish Revolution and Civil War, and Baba Is You: The Board Game.

01:50 - Party House: The Deckbuilding Game 06:35 - Land and Freedom: The Spanish Revolution and Civil War 13:03 - Baba Is You: The Board Game 28:53 - Designer spotlight: Inka & Markus Brand 32:10 - Catan 36:58 - The Great Dinosaur Game 37:40 - Village 40:56 - The Enchanted Tower 41:52 - Exit: The Game 46:22 - La Boca Check out the Kickstarter for Organism: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/elephantlaboratories/organism

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#369: The Life-Changing Magic of a Minimalist Board Game Collection Sep 10, 2026

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We're downsizing, imagining a brighter future where we don't have hundreds of games to fret about not playing, but a very slight, extremely manageable twenty. Some say it can't be done, but that's never stopped us before. Before we get low, we talk about After you, Betobeto-san, Skull Queen, and Star Trek: Captain's Chair - To Boldly Go.

01:53 - After you, Betobeto-san 09:11 - Skull Queen 17:21 - Star Trek: Captain's Chair - To Boldly Go 28:12 - Minimalist board game collections

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#368: I Will Always Love You Aug 27, 2026

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We love a good old game - there are a lot that of games over a decade old that we'd happily sing the praises of, but if we were being brutally honest, how many of them do we think would make it in today's markets? How much have tastes really moved on since these games were in their prime? Before we let nostalgia get the better of us, we talk about I'm Out, Evenglow, and Trials of Maya.

03:08 - I'm Out 09:28 - Evenglow 13:32 - Trials of Maya 29:40 - If old games were released today 31:29 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 39:14 - War of the Ring: Second Edition 42:22 - Terraforming Mars 44:30 - Star Wars: Rebellion 46:41 - Twilight Struggle 48:01 - The Castles of Burgundy 50:08 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization 52:37 - Great Western Trail 54:02 - Brass: Lancashire 57:52 - 7 Wonders Duel 59:51 - Scythe

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#367: One vs. Many Aug 13, 2026

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We play a lot of games. Which is great, because a lot of games get made, and we get to play them ... but it does come at the cost of always having to learn (and teach) something new, grappling with rules, and gets in the way of enjoying the game. Would it be better if we just devoted ourselves to one game? Before we join a Mahjong club, we talk about Wingspan Pocket, Greylune, and Marrakesh.

01:53 - Wingspan Pocket 09:16 - Greylune 19:11 - Marrakesh 36:53 - Sticking with one game

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#366: Collaborative Draft: Games of 2017 Jul 30, 2026

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We're back to collaborate (and listen) to figure out together what the best games of 2017 were. Are? It's a collaborative draft, and if you haven't heard one of these before, get ready for an honest to goodness mess. Before we draw up treaties, we talk about Prosciutto and Melon Game, and Steel Driver.

03:00 - Prosciutto and Melon Game 12:24 - Steel Driver 22:26 - Best games of 2017 25:35 - Calimala 30:48 - Ethnos 34:15 - The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 39:37 - Nusfjord 42:39 - Sidereal Confluence 46:35 - Startups 48:44 - Codenames: Duet 51:12 - Heaven & Ale 52:51 - The Quest for El Dorado 56:15 - Rumble Nation 58:09 - Azul 1:03:03 - Iberian Gauge 1:04:21 - Cursed Court

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#365: Gen Con 2026 Preview Jul 16, 2026

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Gen Con is Gen Coming, so we're looking in our wizard's glasses to tell you what's what. Whether you're going or not, you're gonna want to know what the hot games are, and we've got you covered. Before we Indianapolize, we talk about Koinobori, Compania, and Mood Swings.

02:32 - Koinobori 09:50 - Compania 19:52 - Mood Swings 25:39 - Gen Con preview 24:57 - Prague Unseen 28:27 - Triangulation 30:24 - All Mine! 32:25 - Hell of a Deal 34:51 - Night at the Zoo 36:22 - Stonk Market 39:45 - Bullseye 41:57 - Jibber Jabble 44:38 - The Lord of the Rings: Circle of Conflict 46:05 - Revenant 48:11 - FaeKin 49:32 - Mythologies 50:18 - World Order 52:28 - Greylune 57:22 - Corps of Discovery Duo

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#364: Mechanism Matchup Jul 02, 2026

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There are two board game mechanisms you just can't escape, they're on everyone's mind, flooding the discourse. That's combat, and card draw mitigation. Everyone won't stop talking about them. So we had to weigh in too, not just with what we feel are the best examples of games that have done them best, but some other quirky takes on them too. Before we mitigate our card draws, we talk about Rolling Deep, Eureka!, dnup, and Grinivil.

03:59 - Rolling Deep 15:12 - Eureka! 16:48 - dnup 24:48 - Grinivil 40:10 - Combat mechanisms 41:07 - Kemet 45:00 - Dune 48:40 - Shogun 52:42 - Forbidden Stars 53:51 - Dead Reckoning 54:48 - Gloomhaven 55:12 - Card draw mitigation 56:09 - Dark Pact 57:19 - La Granja 58:26 - Glory to Rome 59:58 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization 1:02:07 - Race for the Galaxy 1:02:57 - 7 Wonders Duel 1:06:28 - The Vale of Eternity

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#363: The Dark Depths of Mailbag Jun 18, 2026

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It's been a while since we've plumbed the depths of the bottomless chasm we call "fanmail", so this week we're reaching our hands as far as we can and pulling out some questions that have yet to see the light of say. Before we dig too greedily and too deep, we talk about Politrickers, Marvel Champions: The Card Game, and Banana Governance.

02:19 - Politrickers 10:47 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game 19:13 - Banana Governance 30:33 - Minimum expectations with new players? 40:59 - "Late to the Party" games? 47:19 - Stuff that we're looking forward to! 47:45 - The Danes 56:57 - Purple Haze

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#362: Hot Takes About Board Games Jun 04, 2026

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The people demand takes, so get 'em while they're hot. We're weighing in on some possibly bad, certainly edgy opinions, and deciding where we land (spoiler: we're always right). Before we get heated, we talk about Diplomacy: The Golden Blade, and Cozy Stickerville.

01:46 - Diplomacy: The Golden Blade 12:33 - Cozy Stickerville 25:41 - Hot takes! 26:11 - Co-op games are just single player games with an audience 32:01 - Catch Up mechanics ruin competitive integrity 37:39 - Legacy games are a predatory waste of money 41:22 - If a game takes more than 30 minutes to teach, it's a bad design 45:56 - Player elimination is actually a good mechanism 47:36 - Hidden victory points are a cowardly design choice 51:38 - Gateway games Like Catan or Monopoly should be actively avoided 52:44 - House ruling a game means you bought the wrong game 53:10 - Theme is a myth 54:13 - Kickstarter deluxe editions are actively ruining the hobby

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