Board Game Barrage

Legacy. What is a legacy? It's podcasting in a studio you don't get to see. And now that I've drawn in all the Hamilton fans, let's talk about board games! Specifically, board games that have campaigns or legacy components. Is it a gimmicky trend, or does it add something meaningful to an experience? We also talk about Alchemists, Inis, and Through The Desert ... and on top of all that, we have a special announcement! Timecodes: 00:18 - Contest! 02:24 - Alchemists 11:04 - Inis 20:25 - Through The Desert 27:18 - Campaign and Legacy Games 52:15 - The 7th Continent 52:58 - The Flow of History 54:32 - Omen: A Reign of War

Trapped on a desert island and forced to bring only five board games? We've all been there. And we're going back. To the island. The board game island. It's a question as old as time itself, a favourite philosophical discussion of great minds immemorial; if you had to pare your collection down to just five board games, to play for a very long time, which would they be? Avert your eyes from the timecodes if you want to listen unspoiled, but let's just say that you might be able to guess one or two. Timecodes: 02:25 - Cthulhu Wars 04:29 - A Feast for Odin 07:31 - Cuba Libre 10:19 - Spirit Island 14:12 - Age of Steam 16:21 - Troyes 19:21 - Codenames 23:00 - Arboretum 27:51 - Cosmic Encounter 32:34 - Gloomhaven 36:44 - Innovation 38:50 - The Resistance 42:40 - Biblios

Kickstarters. Can't live with 'em, can't rampantly overspend on incomplete unorthodox game designs without 'em. They're clearly a major force in the board game hobby, but are they a force for good, or for evil? Before we wrestle with that, we talk about the games we've been playing, namely, Imperius, A Tale of Pirates, and Heroes of Land, Air & Sea. Timecodes: 01:23 - A Tale of Pirates 07:39 - Imperius 16:33 - Heroes of Land, Air & Sea 32:15 - Kickstarter 51:13 - Looking Ahead 52:44 - Fan Mail!

Our feature topic this week is theme. How important is the theme of a board game to you? Does it affect your enjoyment of a game? What games best utilize their theme to put a neat little bow on their mechanics? We talk about all this (and more!!!) after a quick look at our week in games, which includes Tash Kalar, Krazy Wordz, Kanban, and The Mind. Timecodes: 01:04 - Tash Kalar 02:32 - Krazy Wordz 08:38 - Kanban 17:56 - The Mind 24:00 - Theme 30:30 - Gloomhaven 40:44 - Lords of Vegas 41:47 - Android: Netrunner 42:45 - COIN Series 43:50 - Ponzi Scheme

Kingmaking is our feature topic this week. If you can't win, what's your responsibility as a good player? It's a complex, divisive topic, but then, we're complex, divisive people. We also talk about Wyatt Earp, Coffee Roaster, and El Grande. Timecodes: 01:24 - Wyatt Earp 08:15 - Coffee Roaster 13:47 - El Grande 19:16 - Kingmaking

How many board games do you need? If you're Mark, you need them all. Before we get there though, we also talk about what we've been playing, namely, John Company, Coffee Roaster, Adrenaline and Innovation. Topics discussed: 01:03 - John Company 08:40 - Coffee Roaster 09:42 - Adrenaline 14:30 - Innovation 22:10 - Collection Size

Rising Sun! Everyone's talking about it, and so must we. It's our feature topic this week, but first, a brief look at what else we've been playing: Spirit Island, Hardback and Decrypto. We close the show with a look ahead to what we're hoping to play. Games discussed: 00:58 - Spirit Island 07:51 - Hardback 15:45 - Decrypto 20:20 - Rising Sun

We talk about what we've been playing (1830, Archipelago and Gaia Project), we dive deep into math trading for board games, and close out with what we're looking forward to in the weeks ahead. Games and topics discussed: 01:10 - 1830 07:39 - Archipelago 14:04 - Gaia Project 20:34 - Math Trading 42:09 - Guards of Atlantis

We each talk about a game we liked from 2017, a game that let us down, and what we're looking forward to in 2018, including When I Dream, Gloomhaven, Charterstone, Battle For Rokugan, and more. Games discussed: 01:55 – When I Dream 04:16 – Charterstone 07:38 – Bob Ross: Art of Chill 09:45 – Battle for Rokugan 14:45 – Gloomhaven 18:01 – The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 21:27 – Tiny Epic Quest 24:01 – Sagrada 27:11 – Photosynthesis