The Broken Meeple

Brrrrr, it's cold in January! Sit back, grab a cup of tea and listen to Episode 5 where I talk about my plans for attending upcoming conventions in 2017 including Airecon, UK Games Expo and Essen 2017. After that I'll talk about my recent experience at Handycon 2017, a new convention run by Paul Harris and his team in High Wycombe. How did it go for a first run? 01:00 - Blog and Convention Plans 1...

Happy New Year!! Now for many of us we want to leave 2016 behind, but let's talk about some positives, the board game industry released a ton of new content and even though I think it was a bit of a weak year overall, there were still some gems that came out. Today I'm going to reflect on 2016 as a whole for me and then it's my turn to go over the Top Ten of 2016! 01:05 - Reflection on 2016 14:36...

Sorry it's been a while, had some personal issues to deal with lately! But let's talk about happy stuff. . . . mostly. Today it's not all about Xmas, it's instead about Eagle Gryphon Games, where I give you two brand new reviews of some Essen releases from this publisher. Morocco and Continental Divide, one I like, one I hate, have a guess which ones! 01:03 - Introduction (long wait, game room, fu...

My god, so soon after another episode? Well don't get used to weekly podcasts, I'd go nuts trying! But if an interesting topic comes up, I feel the need to speak about it and today it's all about Co-Operative games. Firstly I tackle a debate that's arisen from a couple of gamers I know who tend to like dry, mechanical Euro's and dismiss the Co-Op genre entirely. Why do I love the genre so much? Do...

Welcome to the official reboot of the Broken Meeple podcast! After 48 episodes plus specials it's time to reboot with my new microphone, new music and new format of shorter, but more frequent podcasts. Therefore I give you Episode 1 of Season 2 and hope you enjoy listening. Today I give some background information on myself for those of you who are new to my podcast and starting anew and then I gi...

Sorry for the absence, moving house and 3 conventions takes it out of you. But now things are settled, I've moved in, the convention season is over until January and I've got Fridays off work until February, so it's time to catch up! With a new microphone and some new music, it's time to reboot The Broken Meeple, hopefully the new voice quality is to your liking, please provide feedback! As for th...

Essen is right around the corner! Plenty of games coming out, although we don't know as much information as we would like to about most of them! However that won't stop me from talking about a ton of them. After my first impressions I'll belt on about a ton of new games and expansions that I'm interested in plus my Top Ten Anticipated Essen Releases. 06:35 - First Impressions (Runebound 3rd Editio...

A new reboot of the original Mansions of Madness, an entertaining "choose your own adventure" style horror game set in the neverending Cthulhu mythos. Whereas the original was a good game it had a lot of fiddly book-keeping and could be easily broken by the DM if it wasn't set up correctly. This new edition has gone down the technology route and brought in an app to represent 50% of the game. Does...

WE'RE FINALLY HERE!! This is the Top 10 of the Top 100 - my most favourite games! I'm sure you'll disagree with some and agree with others, that's cool, that's the beauty of these lists, but I hope that this Top 100 has given you some insight into the type of games I like and maybe even given you some ideas as to your next purchasing option. Enjoy!! EDIT - I realise originally there was a 2 minute...

So close now!! So close! 20 more games to go and here I talk to you in great detail about my penultimate 20 through 11. All of these games are ones I adore and we haven't even hit the ultimate Top 10 yet. Hear me rave and rant as we edge ever closer to the finale.

3 episodes to go everyone!! 10 games per episode, we are getting into the cream of the crop of board games for me now, I love playing everything from this point, not that I don't like playing anything else on my Top 100, they're all games I highly enjoy. Do you agree with these games, would they make your Top 10, or should they be off this chart entirely? Let me know your feedback!

I would have loved to have left this one by the wayside, but noooooo this was one was requested by many who know my views on this and so I had to put a review up for this game, I feel like I'm being punished! It takes a very specific kind of gamer to enjoy something like this..........find out why I can't stand this overpriced Euro from Splotter Games.

Continuing with the Top 100 in Part IV with my 45-31 - there are some seriously big titles in this section so let's see if you agree with my thoughts.

And we continue with Part III of VII in my Top 100 - some great games to mention, there has to be at least one you all like!! I apologise in advance though for the slightly softer voice tone throughout - I'm currently in my temporary lodger accommodation and I didn't want to disturb the landlords too much! :P Next time I'll wait for a moment when I've got the house to myself! :D

Continuing on from Part I, I now talk about the next twenty great games on my Top 100! The closer we get to the top half the better the games, are there any on this list you like more or less?

3 years of running the Broken Meeple, wow has it been that long? So much has changed in that time, how I write, how the podcast has developed, how I had to put YouTube on hold, my attendance at conventions and my association with distributors, publishers and The Dice Tower. It's all great fun and I look forward to future times as I try to grow the Broken Meeple and improve it as a service to all o...

One of the most hyped Euro games ever - and to be fair, it's designed by the best Kickstarter publisher out there, Stonemaier Games so it has every right to be. Now I hate it when hype attaches to a game and everyone bases their opinion on hype alone. So it's time I played this game and made up my own mind. Can it possibly live up to the hype and whether it does or not, do I think this is a good g...

I used to play Chess for my town in my teenage years so I really enjoy a good abstract game from time to time. It scratches that itch for a duel with no luck involved without having to take 4+ hours like some games I could mention! This is the new release from the Dice Tower Essentials line which has taken the US by storm and is having a similar reception here. So let's find out what's what and wh...

Sorry it's been so long - well before I go on my cruise, I'll get some more prepared for you while I'm away! How about that? For starters, let's talk about Pandemic Legacy finally - does this rekindle Pandemic for me after I left the original behind, does it deserve a #1 spot on BGG and is the finite life a downer or nothing to worry about? Also note, for the nit-pickers, the ten minute clock does...

How many times have you played your favourite games? Well you can find out what games I've played the most in my Top 10 Played Games. On top of that I give my first impressions of We Didn't Playtest This At All and the new changes in the second edition of Pursuit of Happiness and give my reasons for why I departed from the Game of Thrones Second Edition LCG in my "One More Game?" segment. 06:00 -...

So soon after the previous episode? Well I can't preview the Expo and then not review can I? This is my summary of the games I played, the people I met and my Top 10 Experiences from the UK's biggest and best gaming convention! 02:01 - UK Games Expo Runthrough 18:34 - Games I Played at the Expo 41:42 - Top 10 Expo Experiences 01:03:28 - Conclusion (Things To Come)

Just in time for you all to enjoy on your travels to the UK Expo this weekend, I cannot wait and I'm sure none of you in the UK can either! On today's show I give my first impressions of Shipyard and Keyflower followed by a discussion on what I'll be doing at the Expo and what you can look forward. And then as a special treat, there is no Top Ten, but rather a personal interview with Henry Jasper,...

We continue with my audio reviews with Episode 4 - Concordia. Highly praised by those on Facebook and some people I know locally, though not by everyone. And I'm one of those exceptions. Find out why I don't like this game and whether there's anything good to salvage. Also note, the ten minute clock does not include music intros and endings!

Episode 3 of my audio reviews continue with Kanban: Automotive Revolution. My first introduction to a Vital Lacerda game, did it scare me off or did it hook me straight away? And can you even physically learn it? Find out more now! Also note, the ten minute clock does not include music intros and endings!

People say that I only like games that have a strong theme and stay away from Euro's. Well the first part is half right and I actually like a lot of Euro games. So on Episode 43 I'm going to give my Top Ten "Dry" Games, which is a subjective list to say the list, but essentially these are games where the theme is non-existant without being simply an abstract game. There are a lot of games with pas...