Meeple Nation Board Game Podcast

This episode we offer up advice during this gift giving season. Here are our suggestions. Let us know what you suggest! Party Games Codenames Spyfall One Night Series (Ultimate Werewolf, Ultimate Werewolf Daybreak, Ultimate Vampire, and Revolution) General Games Carcassonne: Star Wars Splendor Dixit Favor of the Pharaoh 7 Wonders: Duel Gamer Gift Pandemic Legacy Stocking Stuffers Bang! The Dice Game Star Realms or Star Realms: Colony Wars Red 7 Timeline in it’s many forms, Timeline: Americana, Timeline: Invention, Timeline: Discoveries, Timeline: Diversity, and a few more Kids Games Coconuts Loopin’ Chewie What we hope to get for Christmas Nathan Spyfall, still Space Cadets: Away Missions A Carrying Case for Dominion Ryan Magic the Gathering 2015 Gift Box Brent 504

This week we discuss a deckbuilder initially released on 2009 from Rio Grande Games. Nathan has embraced and enjoyed this game with his 20 plays so far. 1-5 players compete for scarce resources and they try to build the biggest tribe. Brent's along for the ride and Ryan is a bit hesitant based on theme and some blind selection gameplay. Let us know what you think.

We interview Richard and Emily Gibbs about their game company which makes accessories and kits to make games blind accessible. Support their Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/64ouncegames/braille-rpg-dice-from-64-oz-games Visit their store at http://store.64ouncegames.com/

These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. With dice. Lots of beautiful dice. Yellow, blue, and the unfortunate red-shirt 6-sided dice. In this podcast, we delve into this light dice fest. We all enjoyed the theme, each player taking a role of a bridge crew member from the Original Series or The Next Generation with a unique ability to help overcome the challenges. This game is easy to learn, easy to play, offers a variable challenge level, and allows players to join in at any point in the game, while playing up to 7 players. Nathan added the game to his "family game list" which he'll bring out often. Brent enjoyed his first play. Ryan felt a little burnout after 6 plays, but admits that there will be times with certain group dynamics where this game will fit perfectly.

In this podcast, we discuss the awesome games that are currently hitting our game tables including Arctic Scavengers, Legendary Encounters: A Predator Deckbuilding Game, Liar's Dice, Space Alert, and Machi Koro: Millionaires Row. We also give an update at the goals we set at the first of the year, and we learn that Ryan is a bad friend. We end by covering our anticipated games including T.I.M.E Stories, The 7th Continent, Gloomhaven, and Pandemic Legacy.

This week we discuss board games with a horror theme that would make for an excellent time at your next Halloween party. The games discussed range from King Of Tokyo and Betrayal at House on the Hill to Gloom and Mansions of Madness to Midnight Party and Ghosts!. Ryan details his dream Halloween Party including plans to play Mysterium in costume, with atmospheric candles, playing up the seance. Apparently, Brent and Nathan aren't getting an invite. These are the games we discussed. Let us know your favorite Halloween Game! Ghosts!Last Night on EarthBetrayal at House on the HillMysteriumGloom GuillotineKing of Tokyo - Especially with Halloween ExpansionBring Out Yer DeadStudent BodiesEaten by ZombiesDead of WinterMidnight PartySpooksUntil DawnCave EvilMansions of MadnessCthulhu RealmsGimme the BrainLord of the Fries

Tile Placement games are a little too prolific to cover in a single cast, so we limited the games we cover to tile placement games where you are connecting lines from tile to tile. The games discussed include Street Car, Metro, Tongiaki, Fresh Fish, Tsuro and Tsuro of the Seas.

Ninja Ghosts and Killer Plants of Cthulhu don't measure up to the Alien Shapeshifters who took home the prize. We discuss Smash Up by Paul Peterson. In Smash Up, you combine two factions into one deck and compete for the majority at several locations that offer victory points for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in power when the total power reached the locations breaking point. This game, and the rulebook, offer plenty of humor, great art, and a sense of discovery as you learn how your two factions interact, create synergy and win points. In addition to the base game, we cover the expansions Awesome Level 9000, The Obligatory Cthulhu set, and Science Fiction Double Feature.

We discuss Specter Ops by Emerson Matsuuchi and Plaid Hat Games. In this deduction game, you play as Hunters guarding a secret base or as the Agent sent in to discover the secrets. The Agent tracks her moves in secret and the other players try to locate and kill the agent using unique player powers and a cool car. This is similar the Scotland Yard in game play, but in a nifty scifi universe.

Party Games This week we talk Party Games. First we speculate on what defines a party game. Honestly, who knows? Should it play more than 6? Should it involve teams? Should it be 'light'? Then we talk about our favorite party games, why they count, and why we find them outstanding. We talk Codenames, Spyfall, Times Up!, Ca$h 'n Guns, Wits & Wagers, Liar's Dice, Game of Things, and Two Rooms and a Boom! Brent reports on his visit to Saint George Board Game Convention. http://stgcon.org We also mention the International Gamers Awards, which you can find at http://internationalgamersaward.net

We finally review Dominion, the granddaddy of all deckbuilders. Brent and Nathan highly enjoy this new classic and have collected every expansion. We talk about Dominion's legacy and how the expanstion bloat nearly make the game unplayable. Brent discusses his storage solution. Nathan is soon going to have less money is his pocket, recreating said solution. Ryan, though, finds the games' theme lacking and the gameplay repetitious and often lacking in, well, fun. It's 2 to 1 though, so listen as we break down Dominion and expansions, including the newest expansion: Adventures.

We talk with Mike Adams, a NUGG member, friend, and color-blind gamer about the challenges of being color blind at the gaming table. Mike is Red/Green color blind, which means he cannot see red and green colors, including the red and green that are mixed with other colors. He has a hard time distinguishing purples and blue because of the missing red within purple. He also says distinguishing between yellow-green and yellow can be tough. Although you can probably guess how this makes gaming difficult, we let Mike explain how it effects his enjoyment of games and his strategies for minimizing the difficulties.

We talk with Avonelle Wing from Double Exposure about the services they provide for Game Companies, Stores, Conventions, volunteers, and gamers. We encountered the Envoy heralds at SaltCon where they taught players new games at the con, including games in the Play-to-win program. The Envoy website is: http://dexposure.com/envoy/ The Double Exposure website is at: www.dexposure/com/home.html Aspiring game designers and folks planning kickstarters should look into Metatopia. (google it. check out Ryan Macklin's post. it's my fave.) twitter is: @dexenvoy, @de_gaming, and @avonelle Facebook: facebook.com/dexenvoy facebook.com/dexposure.gaming

This week we talk about Viceroy, which is designed by Yuri Zhuravlev and produced by Mayday Games and Hobby World. Viceroy is a board game of bidding and resource management set in the world ofBerserk, a Russian collectible card game. This is a beautiful and colorful collection of cards and bits with excellent artwork. The theme is stretched a bit as the characters provide fairly generic powers depending on where they are placed in your pyramid, including more resources, cards, or tokens for scoring, which is bit of a point salad. We all enjoyed the game, though Ryan is a bit disgruntled at the way Brent and Nathan "taught" him the game, thoroughly whooping him, locking him out of resources, and gloating in their towering pyramid at his expense. It was a tough first play. The tagline on the box says "Build Your Pyramid of Power!" and like a elaborate stack of cheerleaders, you must stack the character cards bought at auction in the most beneficial way possible.

From camp #GenCant, we talk about the latest buzz from GenCon, which was two weeks prior to this podcast's release. It was all brand new to us as we recorded and gushed about new games. We hit the old favorites: Imperial Assault, Firefly, and Legendary. We also hit on new games, such as Blood Rage, Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn, Codenames, Mysterium, Star Wars Carcassonne and Champions of Midgard, among many others. We also talk Nathan into spending more money for our own enjoyment. Not that that's hard.

With guest host Dennis Holliday, we discuss the world of Kickstarter, focusing mostly on board games, of course. Dennis has backed over 60 projects and Brent even more. Both seasoned Kickstarter veterans discuss their experiences and joys of this crowdfunding experience. Both are positive and express that the good out way any negative experience that occur. Ryan, on the other hand, expresses his paranoia and criticism of Kickstarter, speculating that it allows creatures the opportunity to skip steps in the creative process and produce inferior products to what might have been. Ryan might be overthinking it. Nathan jumps on board, backing his first project!

Designer: Mike Fitzgerald Publisher: Eagle/Gryphon Games Players: 1-4 Ages: 10+ Play Time: 45-60 min In this episode, we discuss how Baseball Highlights: 2045 is not a baseball simulation, but instead a tight, mechanics oriented deckbuilder, which focuses on the 'highlights' of a game of a baseball game. You don't need to like baseball to enjoy this game, and if you absolutely hate baseball, you could still really like this game. Ryan gushes about the cyberpunky art where the robots are trash cans with a bat for a single arm and steam coming out the top. We talk about how the game has a specific flow to the game play that takes some time to get in to, but when you do, the game plays really well. The flow is different with 3 players and is slightly more challenging to slip into. Baseball Highlights also works great for tournament play. We also talk about the various expansions including the Coach, Rally Cap, Magna Glove, Robot Hitters, and Cyborg Pitcher expansions.

This week we revisit the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. We are joined by our friend, Dennis Holliday, and we talk about the second and third base games, Skull and Shackles & Wrath of the Righteous. Pathfinder Adventure Card Game is a cooperative game Ages: 13 and up Players: 1-4 (up to 6 with expansion) Time: 60-90 minutes Publisher: Paizo Publishing Designers: Chad Brown, Mike Selinker, Tanis O'Connor, Paul Peterson, Liz Spain, Gabby Weidling We previously reviewed the base set in 2014 on our fourth podcast, http://meeplenation.com/podcast/mn-podcast-0004-pathfinder-adventure-card-game-rise-of-the-runelords/

This episode we review: Betrayal at House on the Hill Publisher: Avalon Hill Year Published: 2004 Edition: 2nd Designer: Bruce Glassco Ages: 12+ Time: 60 minutes Player Count: 3-6

In this episode we talk about games we have already reviewed and the expansions we hope to see soon. We also talk about new games we anticipate. We cover Star Wars: Imperial Assault and the Twin Shadows expansion Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Dark Moon Firefly and the new ships and new expansion, Kalidasa Ghostbusters Seafall Dark Moon

This week we review Castles of Mad King Luwdig. Designer: Ted Alspach Publisher: Bezier Games Time: 30-90 minutes Ages: 13+

Colt Express is a program movement game for 2-6 players that plays in 40 minutes, ages 10 and up. It is played on a three dimensional train, as players take the roles of competing bandits, trying to get the best haul without encountering the sheriff.

This week we talk about the game Werewolf, originally designed as Mafia as part of a psychology experiment. We focus our talks on Ultimate Werewolf, a set of cards from Bezier Games.

This episode we review Star Wars: Imperial Assault, a game based on Fantasy Flight's Descent series of games. Released in 2014 Players: 2-5 Time: 60-150 minutes Ages: 14 and up This game can be played as a two player head to head skirmish or with one player controlling the imperial side while 1-4 players control 2-4 heroes as they try to complete objectives and level up their characters.

What is theme? What is narration? Do they compete with each other? We discuss Theme and Narration and a few games as we explore this topic. Games include: Dominion Dixit Mysterium Duel of Ages

Legendary Encounters Upper Deck Ages 17 and up Around 60 minutes 1-5 players

Ben Hillyard of Daedalus speaks with us at SaltCON 2015 Daedalus makes inserts designed to quickly start games. These inserts store the game in the original box but can be pulled out and opened to set up the game. http://daedalusproductionsinc.com Some of the games they have built these inserts for are Merchants of Venus Dead of Winter Eclipse Small World Marvel/DC/Dungeons and Dragons, etc Dicemasters Robinson Crusoe Cosmic Encounters Caverna Le Havre You can use their Design It tab to request inserts for your favorite games.

We discuss Meteor Get Bit! Garbage Day Chopsticks Megadexterity 3000 Click Clack Lumberjack Mayday Sleeves Mayday Sleeve Bundles Visit www.maydaygames.com

In this episode we speak with new designer and game company owner, John Ogilvie, about his games Bejinx and Skwozen. Bejinx is a game add-on that enhances most any game, adding a little bit more chaos and another level of game. Skwozen is a card set which takes a traditional set of playing cards and adds eight symbols to each of the square cards. Rules exist for many popular public domain games.

On May the 4th we sat down and recorded this Star Wars specific podcast, reminisced about the movies, the good the bad, the Gungans, and then talked about Gaming in the Star Wars Universe. We talk about the following games: Star Wars Trivial Pursuit Decipher's Star Trek CCG Star Wars LCG Queen's Gambit Star Wars: Epic Duels West End Games' Star Wars Role Playing Game Star Wars: X-Wing Star Wars: Imperial Assault

This episode we speak with Blake and Curtis, designers of the block stacking game, Kubeni. This game can be played with 2-8 players. Each set contains 20 blocks a custom die, a timer, and a set of cards. Playtime is 10 minutes or less per player. www.kubeni.com

Deus was designed by Sébastien Dujardin. It looks like it scales well from 2-4 players in 45-60 minutes. Ages 14 and up. Some direct interaction as players compete to expand across a hex based map.

Seth Jaffee is a game designer and developer best known for the game Eminent Domain. In this episode he discusses the game and the upcoming Exotica expansion. Eminent Domain is for 2-4 players (up to five with the Escalation expansion) in 45-60 minutes. You can find Seth at http://sedjtroll.blogspot.com

Star Realms is a game for 2 player. It plays in 20 minutes. Ages 12 and up. Designed by Rob Dougherty and Darwin Kastle.

In this episode we discuss Gamer Snobbery, terms such as Eurogame and Ameritrash, and why Brent doesn't like the term Filler. We also do a third of the way review of our 2015 gaming goals. How are you doing with yours?

Michael Coe of Gamelyn Games talks about his three Tiny Epic Games: Tiny Epic Kingdoms Tiny Epic Defenders Tiny Epic Galaxies

Machi Koro is a card and dice game from IDW and Pandasaurus Games for 2-4 players in 30 minutes. Ages 8 and up. The Harbor expansion adds a 5th player but can extend the game past an hour.

SaltCON 2015 took place in Layton Utah on March 12-14, 2015. Next year the convention will be March 3-5, 2016 at the same location. Visit their website at http://saltcon.com

In our first episode from SaltCON 2015 we talk with Rick and Joanne Soued about their history, creation of Funagain Games, aquisition of Eagle Games, and creation of Gryphon Games. Rick spends much of the interview telling us about many of the current games available through their company including Tumblin-Dice, Through the Ages, Baseball Highlights 2045, and many more. We greatly enjoyed the time we spent with Rick and Joanne and hope to spend more time playing Eagle-Gryphon Games.

In this episode we introduce the SaltCON interviews which we plan to release across the next six or seven weeks. Some weeks we will release two episodes. We are saddened to report that the podcast recorded live during the Saturday panel was lost. We discuss the games we played at SaltCON including Deus, Colt Express, Witness, Baseball Highlights 2045, Ultimate Werewolf, and Two Rooms and a Boom. We talk about future releases Orphan Black Card Game, Abyss Expansion - Black Pearl, Legendary Encounters: Predator, Seafall, and Pandemic Legacy. Finally we report our contest results. Thanks to Mayday Games for their support of Meeple Nation!

This week we review the 2009 release Thunderstone, and what is considered by many to be its improvement, the 2012 released Thunderstone Advance. This game is for 2-5 players ages 12 and up, in about 60 minutes, which might include setup. There are solo rules in some of the rulebooks. We focus a bit on the Thunderstone Advance: Numanera set, which is based in the Numanera world created by Monte Cook. Let us know what you think!

Beowulf the Legend was released in 2005 for 2-5 players (the more the better). It plays in an hours and was designed by Reiner Knizia. Join Beowulf as he embarks on his epic journey to defeat Grendel, the Sea Hag and the Dragon. Work to aquire the most fame so that you can become Beowulf's successor.

This episode we talk about seven pirate games (in addition to bringing up Corsari again). We start out with a short mention of Ghostbusters the Board Game and Cuao. Then we dive into these seven pirate games: Meuterer Pirate Flux Get Bit! Walk the Plank Hold Your Breath Dead Man's Draw Loot Finally, a contest from our friends at Mayday Games. Visit our Facebook Page or listen to the podcast for more details.

This week we are releasing a second episode, an interview with Chris Urinko of Daft Concepts, makers of board game accessories. We talk about kickstarter, their current project, Custom Miniatures and Tokens for your RPG and Tabletop Games. Chris also talks about his experience with the Board Game Designer Guild of Utah and gives advice to new Board Game Designers. He codesigned the game, Hold Your Breath. Kickstarter Project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/732415737/laser-etched-miniatures-for-table-top-games-and-rp Website: http://daftconcepts.com Email: [email protected] Twitter: @battlejack, @daftconcepts

During this month of love (February 2015) we turn our hearts to two-player games. We discuss Battle Line Balloon Cup (now Pinata) Lost Cities Medici vs Strozzi GIPF TAMSK Tally Ho Nathan also laments his inability to keep up with Living Card Games and figure based games such as X-Wings. We also discuss three games that at least one of us (Ryan) considers best with 2, even if they play more. Attika Scrabble Carcassonne

Kingsport Festival is steeped in art and lore from the Cthulhu Mythos. In the game you summon one or more of the Outer Gods or their minions in order to increase in Evil, Death or Destruction. The game is similar to Kingsburg but offers unique play. The game is for 2-5 players in about 60-75 minutes. Ages 13 and up.

An interview with Michael Mindes of Tasty Minstrel Games.

In this episode we discuss the Roll for the Galaxy game, for 2-5 players in 45 minutes or less. Fun for all!

This week we hear a report from Brent on BryceCon 2015, gaming convention with family, and food. We briefly discuss Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Timeline, Dead Man's Draw, Coconuts and Roll for the Galaxy. After this report Brent talks with Rob Hicks of Midnight Campaign. Then he interviews Gail and Gary Tanner, founders of BryceCon.

In this episode we have a bit of feedback, discuss Splendor again for a few minutes (they fixed the colorblind issue), and then dive into the six racing games we discuss this episode: Hare and Tortoise, Roborally, Fearsome Floors, Cartagena, Formula De, and Snow Tails.