Decision Space

Episode 287- Playing OGs Together All four hosts are together for a discussion of the Old School games they played together during Brendan's visit to St. Louis.  That Stefan Dorra... so hot right now...   Time Stamps 4:50- BattleCON: War of Indines 17:00- Hellas 30:00- Big Shot 48:15- Witch's Brew 1:03:00- Medina   Preplanners Next week is a deep dive of Modern Art and after that we'll be making a...

Episode 286- Cole Wehrle on Economic Games and An Infamous Traffic Pete chats with Cole Wehrle about his history with economic games like Container and how these nasty designs inspired An Infamous Traffic, which currently has a second edition in development for Wehrlegig Games.   An Infamous Traffic on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/colewehrle/an-infamous-traffic-second-edition...

Episode 285- Stonemaier Design Day 2026 All four hosts are together to share their experiences of hanging out together IN PERSON for Stonemaier Design Day.  Paul talks about games he's working on for GameHead and Pete, Jake, and Brendan discuss the games they brought to showcase at the event.   Time Stamps 6:00- GameHead playtesting 23:00- about Stonemaier Design Day 29:45- Franchise Wars (Pete an...

Episode 284- Schotten Totten and Lane Battlers Pete and Brendan explore the card game genre known as lane battlers and deep dive the 1999 Knizia Classic Schotten Totten that gave birth to these dueling games. Time Stamps 5:15- what is a lane battler? 10:00- Schotten Totten deep dive 44:30- other lane battlers   Games Mentioned Battle Line, Lost Cities, Hanamikoji, Radlands, Riftforce, Air Land and...

Episode 283- Indonesia Pete is joined by Arnie, Jared and Luke to discuss Splotter's 2005 economic masterpiece Indonesia.  These 4 have played the game sixteen times together this year and have learned a lot.  Listen to their tales of business blunder and triumph! Arnie's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@analog_arnie Luke's Podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/off-board-podcast/ Jared has no...

Episode 282- Gen Con Impressions Pete and Paul recap their Gen Con experience and give quick impressions of games they picked up there! Time Stamps 13:15- Trick to the Future 16:15- Jibber Jabble 20:30- Jusayo 24:30- Stonk Market 29:00- The Glorious Guilds of Buttonville 35:30- Soundwave Length 39:00- Grandma I'm Hungry 44:15- Sushi Go Chef's Party 48:00- Brave and Bold Bag Building Combat Game 52...

Episode 281- Libertalia and Reimplementations Paul, Brendan, and Pete discuss the benefits and potential pitfalls of making new editions of old games.  Then they deep dive Paolo Mori's 2012 classic Libertalia and the excellent update from Stonemaier Games in 2022's Winds of Galecrest.   Time Stamps 2:40- second editions and reimplementations 22:00- Libertalia deep dive   Preplanners Pete and Paul...

Episode 280- Listener Questions We open the mail bag to answer a bunch of questions from the Decision Space community!   Time Stamps 2:15- who would win? 4:50- what is a YOU game? 9:00- design choice you disagree with 18:00- design choice you love 23:20- games for roommates 27:30- games you wish existed 34:30- bad games we like 40:00- who you want to play a game with 44:30- spoiler strategies 50:0...

Episode 279- Sandbox Objectives and Frosted Blooms This week Brendan tries to convince his co-hosts that "sandbox objectives" and "point salad" are not not the same thing.  Jake isn't convinced.  Also the gang deep dives the new polyomino game Frosted Blooms, designed by Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc. Time Stamps 3:20- sandbox objective systems 30:00- Frosted Blooms deep dive   Preplanners Ne...

Episode 278- Who, What, When, Where, Why, How? That types of questions do games ask us as players?  When should I score?  Who can I trust? Why did they do that?  How should I sequence this?  This week we dig into what the central questions are in different games and think about how this can help us as players and designers. Time Stamps4:30- Who? 18:00- What? 26:00- When? 34:00- Where? 42:00- Why?...

Episode 277- Deckbuilding 301 and Slay the Spire Trick-taking wiz Taylor Reiner joins Pete, Jake, and Brendan to take the next step on our deckbuilding exploration.  This time we're going digital!  How do games like Balatro and Slay the Spire build on physical games and where do they diverge?  Also how are we seeing the reverse influence on tabletop games? Check out Taylor's amazing Youtube Channe...

Episode 276- SD HistCon North 2026 Pete is joined by Cardner Babakitis of Odd Candy Games and Buried Giant Studios.  They discuss the historical games they played at the inaugural SD HistCon North.   Check out Cardner's games here: https://www.oddcandygames.com/ Time Stamps 15:00- Hellraisers in Kanawha County 19:30- An Infamous Traffic 2nd Edition 27:30- Baltic Empires 33:00- Penitent 42:00- Nica...

Episode 275- Inside the Deck This week Jake, Paul, and Brendan explore the different deck structures of card games.  Things get mathy in this design focused discussion about how combinations of suits and numbers create different decision spaces in games.  Time Stamps 2:00- Air Land and Sea 13:00- The Fox in the Forest 21:45- Jekyll vs Hyde 27:45- Dracula vs Van Helsing 34:30- Coloretto 42:00- Pet...

Episode 274- 2010-2014 Showdown All four hosts are together to play a game as a way to choose a consensus list of the best board games from the early 2010's.  The format here is from April Mitchell's This/That Showdown: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/463458/thisthat-showdown   Games Mentioned BattleCon, Keyflower, The Resistance Avalon, The Castles of Burgundy, The Great Zimbabwe, Trajan, Cha...

Episode 273- dnup and Iterative Game Design In this episode we talk about iterative game design.  Why do designers go back to ideas they've already explored?  On that note, we also discuss the new hotness dnup and how designer Kai Kajino built it upon the foundation of his modern classic hit Scout. Timestamps 3:30- iterative design 32:20- Scout 46:00- dnup   Preplanners We have another decade draf...

Episode 272- The Old King's Crown Pete is joined by Jaffles ( https://www.youtube.com/@Jaffles-gaming ) to do a deep dive of the hottest game from last year: The Old King's Crown.  They also chat about what types of games inspire players to dig deep and get obsessed.   Timestamps 5:00- why we get obsessed with games 18:15- intro to Old King's Crown 24:00- personal reviews 27:30- exploring the deci...

Episode 271- Hand Management Pete and Brendan dissect one of the most ubiquitous mechanisms in tabletop games: hand management.  What kinds of puzzles can a hand of cards present to players and what makes it so timelessly satisfying?   Timestamps 3:00- defining hand management 18:00- why we love hand management 29:00- types of hand management 36:15- trick-taking and ladder climbing 42:45- hand man...

Episode 270- Interview with Phil Walker-Harding Paul sits down for a wonderfully insightful discussion with game designer Phil Walker-Harding.  Last week's tier list episode should have you primed to get into this man's head!  They discuss game inspiration and how to design in ways that can heal game related trauma.   Timestamps 1:45- how Phil got into design 10:35- design philosophy 25:30- balanc...

Episode 269- Phil Walker Harding Tier List Paul gets to rate every game in the prolific catalogue of his favorite designer: Phil Walker Harding.  He's joined by Brendan and the Dice Tower's Chris Yi for this monumental task.     Timestamps 8:30- Archaeology the New Expedition 12:00- Dungeon Raiders 15:15- Pack of Heroes 19:00- Sushi Go / Sushi Go Party 28:45- Sushi Roll 34:15- Cacao 41:00- Imhotep...

Episode 268- Geekway Convention Plays 2026 Jake and Pete recap the best weekend of the year: Geekway to the West!  They discuss their favorite new plays, old favorites, and also give first impressions of some hot new titles.     Timestamps 17:00- Feya's Swamp 21:50- Dark Pact 28:10- Market Fresh 34:40- I'm the Boss 38:45- Auf Teufel Komm Raus 43:00- Lowenherz 51:30- John Company Second Edition 59:...

Episode 267- Shared Infrastructure Games and Bus Time to deep dive the new hotness... from 1999.  In this episode we do a deep dive on Splotter's first major hit Bus and discuss other shared infrastructure games.  Why are we drawn to these crowded, brutal logistics puzzles?   Timestamps   3:00- shared infrastructure games 32:00- Bus deep dive   Other Games Mentioned Barrage, Brass Birmingham, Medi...

Episode 266- Storytelling with Cole Wehrle Big day here for Pete.  In this episode he chats one on one with Cole Wehrle from Buried Giant Studios.  They talk a lot about player agency, emergent storytelling, and what it's like the make and play long, heavy games.     Timestamps 1:00- how Cole thinks about making games 18:45- storytelling in games 40:00- long heavy games 49:30- agency and fairness...

Episode 265- Euro Games "Euro" has been used as a descriptor for decades and it is inarguable that its meaning has changed over time.  On this episode, the hosts try to hash out what the word means today and how that differs from the "old school" design philosophy.  Also, the episode ends with an unhinged exploration of what games in the BGG top 100 could conceivably be classified as Euros.   (als...

Episode 264- Top 10 Games of All Time (2026) Part 2 It's the fiiiiiiinal countdown! We gush over how much we love the games that made our top 5 favorite games!  Some things have changed this year!  There are brand new releases on this list!  However, did the new hotness dethrone our old favorites? Timestamps 3:30- Medina 8:15- Big Top 11:00- Indonesia 16:00- Broom Service 19:15- Isle of Skye 21:15...

Episode 263- Top 10 Games of All Time (2026) Part 1 It's time for the annual countdown of our favorite games!  In this episode we count down numbers 10-6.  What has fallen from the ranks since last year?  What are we hot on right now?  Listen and find out! Timestamps 8:55- Fives 12:15- Lunarchitects 16:00- Pax Renaissance 20:00- Chicago Express 23:30- Bus 26:30- Incan Gold 30:10- Modern Art 35:10-...