The Gateway Gamers

Bryan is flying solo this week and heading back to summer camp, which is obviously a terrible idea. In this episode of The Gateway Gamers Podcast, Bryan takes a look at Camp Grizzly Second Edition from Trick or Treat Studios, the cooperative survival horror board game that drops you into Camp with a masked killer on the loose. Bryan breaks down what it’s like to play Camp Grizzly, including the th...

This week on The Gateway Gamers, Bryan is flying solo and diving headfirst into the world of word games. We’re talking deck building, spelling, vocabulary, books, and games that make you question whether you actually know how words work. Bryan takes a look at Hardback, the deck-building word game where your vocabulary is almost as important as your card choices, Dead Letters from Pillbox Games, My...

A Very Special Episode of The Gateway Gamers is here! Bryan takes a look at three games from Very Special Games: Landfall, Abducktion, and Out of Orbit. Three very different games from a publisher that deserves spending a little more time with. And at the end of the episode, Bryan kicks off a brand new segment where he looks back at games covered on previous episodes and answer the important quest...

The Villainous roster keeps getting bigger, and this time Ravensburger is bringing two very different Disney villains to the table. In the newest expansion, Disney Villainous: Success at Any Cost, we get Prince Hans from Frozen and Héctor De La Cruz from Coco. Bryan Marvel and RP sit down to see how these two characters stack up against the growing Villainous lineup. We break down their unique dec...

Games That Belong in Every Classroom! This week on The Gateway Gamers Podcast, Bryan heads back to the classroom to talk about some of the children’s games that have become staples in his kindergarten room. These aren’t just games that keep kids busy. They sneak in counting, dexterity, storytelling, pattern recognition, memory, communication, and plenty of problem solving while still being genuine...

The Gateway Gamers Podcast is heading back to Jurassic Park! This episode, Bryan and RP are stepping into the arena with Unmatched: T. Rex vs. Dr. Ellie Sattler, the expandalone from Restoration Games that brings two very different Jurassic Park characters into the Unmatched system. Can Dr. Ellie Sattler outsmart a giant freaking T. Rex? We break down how these two fighters play, what makes their...

Bryan is flying solo on this episode of The Gateway Gamers Podcast, and he’s bringing LEGO to the table! Asmodee has been putting out some seriously interesting LEGO board games, so Bryan takes a look at three of them: LEGO Monkey Palace, Brick Like This!, and LEGO NINJAGO: Destiny’s Bounty Adventure. He's talking about what makes each game tick, how they play, what makes them stand out, and m...

This week on The Gateway Gamers, RP and Bryan Marvel take a deep dive into Magical Athlete from CMYK, one of the most unique roll and move board games we've played in quite some time. We break down the gameplay, the colorful cast of fantasy racers, the artwork, player powers, replayability, and whether this deserves a place in your board game collection. We also share our thoughts on the music...

What would you do if your entire board game collection disappeared overnight? In this episode of The Gateway Gamers Podcast, I tackle one of the toughest questions in the hobby: Which five board games would I buy first if I had to rebuild my collection from scratch? These aren't simply the highest ranked board games or the hottest new releases. They're the games that have proven their valu...

Godzilla has arrived in King of Tokyo, but is this new edition from IELLO Games worth adding to your collection if you already own the original? In this episode of The Gateway Gamers Podcast, Bryan takes a deep dive into King of Tokyo: Godzilla, exploring how it plays, how it compares to the original King of Tokyo, and whether the changes are enough to earn a spot on your shelf. From the updated c...

Bryan and RP are heading to the movies this week with Popcorn from IELLO, a worker placement game all about running the most successful movie theater possible. From hiring staff and upgrading theaters to screening blockbuster films, this one feels like it was made specifically for movie nerds who also happen to own too many board games. The morons discuss whether the theme carries the experience,...

Another transmission has been recovered during Lost Episode Week… but this one was almost lost in deep space. Back in the early days of The Gateway Gamers Podcast, Producer Audra believed every episode needed a little “atmosphere,” which apparently meant dropping copyrighted movie music directly into the show. After this particular episode leaned a little too heavily on the iconic score from Alien...

The vault keeps opening as Lost Episode Week continues! Another long buried recording has escaped the archives after being banished years ago during our Great Copyright Purge, back when Producer Audra thought it was totally fine to drop copyrighted music straight into the podcast. Turns out… it was not. After boldly inserting Pure Imagination from the classic film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate F...

A lost episode stomps back onto the feed! Buried deep in the archives during our infamous Copyright purge, this recording has finally escaped the vault and is ready to wreak absolute monster sized havoc. Bryan and RP were prepared to ring in the far off year of 2022! In this resurrected episode of The Gateway Gamers Podcast, we unleash King of Tokyo, the smash hit dice rolling monster battle game...

A lost episode emerges from the vaults! After a long battle with the dark forces of copyright law (looking at you, Warner Bros. 👀) and a certain wizarding franchise that shall not be named, this previously banished recording has finally returned to the world of the living. Originally recorded during Season 3, this episode vanished into the ether when our beloved producer Audra discovered the hard...

We are back… but are we in control? After a long hiatus, the morons return to the mic! In this episode of The Gateway Gamers Podcast, we dive deep into Mindbug , the two player card battler designed by Richard Garfield (creator of Magic: The Gathering) and published by Nerdlab Games. This fast paced dueling card game has been making serious waves in the tabletop community, blending strategic depth...

This week on The Gateway Gamers Podcast , Bryan and RP dust off their magnifying glass, grab their stakes, and hop across the rooftops of foggy Victorian London as they dive into Unmatched: Cobble & Fog from Restoration Games! They’ll debate who reigns supreme in this battle of literary legends, is it Sherlock’s clever deduction, Dracula’s charm (and bite), the Invisible Man’s sneaky tricks, o...

The Gateway Gamers are throwing a party (don’t worry, you’re invited). This week we dive into some of the best party games to hit the table when you want laughs, chaos, and maybe a little regret the next morning. We’re talking Change My Mind, Made Up Movies, Fight Night, Connected Clues, Cast List, Arguable Truths, and I’m Kind of a Big Dill. So grab your charcuterie board, slap on a party hat, an...

The battlefield of Valhalla has reopened! In this episode of The Gateway Gamers Podcast, we cover the long awaited return of Heroscape from Renegade Game Studios. Bryan kicks things off with a 20 year history of the beloved miniatures board game, from its cult classic status in the 2000s to its sudden discontinuation, and now its highly anticipated comeback. Then Bryan and RP hit the table to play...

This week on The Gateway Gamers Podcast, we assemble one last time for our Marvel United Summer Showdown! Bryan and RP wrap up the season by ranking their Top 5 Heroes to play as and Top 5 Villains to fight against. From cosmic crushers to street-level scrappers, we debate which characters bring the most power, strategy, and fun to the table—and which big bads deliver the most epic boss battles. W...

The Bifrost is open, and the Gateway Gamers are back with another thunderous entry in our Summer of Marvel United ! This week, Bryan and Rp dive headfirst into the Tales of Asgard expansion, where Loki stirs up trouble and illusions reign supreme. Can the Mighty Thor, Korg, Valkyrie, and Beta Ray Bill bring the thunder—or will the Trickster God turn the tide? We crack open this mythic box to explo...

It's clobberin' time on this week’s episode of The Gateway Gamers Podcast! Bryan Marvel and Rp continue their Marvel United Summer by diving headfirst into the cosmic chaos of the Fantastic Four expansion . From stretchy strategies with Mr. Fantastic to fiery plays with the Human Torch, the crew breaks down each member of Marvel’s First Family, along with the invisible impact of Invisible...

Suit up, true believers! As part of our Marvel United summer event, we’re replaying one of our most action-packed episodes: our deep dive into the explosive expansion, Return of the Sinister Six . Join us (yes, the same lovable morons) as we take on the challenge of facing six iconic villains at once in this unique twist on the Marvel United formula. We break down the strategic layers, new gamepla...

✨ “It’s been CMON all along…” On the latest enchanted episode of The Gateway Gamers, Bryan Marvel and RP crack open Marvel United: The Witching Hour small expansion and dive into its Scarley Witch–themed chaos. The cards are cool. The mechanics are magical. But the real villain here? CMON Games. RP isn’t hexed by Wanda—he’s hexed by the publisher’s ongoing drama: production delays, questionable b...

🔮 Time Travel Trouble! The Sentinels Return in This Mutant-Sized Replay! 🔮 The X-Men are back… or should we say were back? The boys of The Gateway Gamers Podcast are taking a trip to the Days of Future Past in this re-release episode, diving into the Kickstarter-exclusive expansion for Marvel United from CMON and Spin Master! Join us as we revisit this epic scenario featuring towering Sentinel m...