Board Game Gateway

"An the Oscar goes to....." The nominees have been announced and this week we are actually going to have a chat about the 2023 Spiel des Jahres nominees Dork Romantik , Fun Facts and one of Neeber's new favourite Roll 'n' Write Next Station: London . Your hosts Neeber and Damien are back for another 1 on 1 discussion about some games they played during a game night over the l...

*Sung to We built this city on Rock and Roll* "We Built Bean City, we built bean city, we built bean city on Rock and Roll!" Monopoly, Risk, Cluedo. You have to keep one, sell one and burn the other in HOLY FIRE! What would you select? In this episode, Neeber, Damien, Matt and Ralph go through a whole bunch of different game lists figuring out which ones we would keep, sell and burn. The...

Board Games are not immune to the trends of the world and with a lot of people downsizing their lives, we have found that there are plenty of games that are taking popular big box games and making them small, tight and excellent 1 vs 1 experiences. Splendour, 7 Wonders and Kingdomino are just a few examples of games that have "Duel" versions of their games and our host Damien and Neeber...

After a massive Episode 32, we are back for another episode. In this episode, our main discussion topic centres around dice and exciting ways that games add mechanics to them to create interesting experiences and games. We also have a review of Neeber's first Blood on the Clock Tower Event, Damien tells us how he has been keeping sane during his isolation period with Hoplomachus Victorum and R...

For the first time this year, we have all 5 hosts in the studio, and we are bringing you the Board Game Geek Top 100 Draft Special. We are very excited to bring you this very special episode of the Board Game Gateway Podcast. We are tackling the Board Game Geeks Top 100 Games in a battle to create the best 5 game collection in a draft format. This is a special segment and we hope to have more of t...

“You can't triple stamp a double stamp Lloyd” - Dumb and Dumber Welcome to the new Board Game Gateway Studio, it's lovely to have you here. In this week's episode we have a lot going on and we are excited to have you here. Neeber and Damien give us a recap of the BGBBQ Autumn Game Day Event and tell us about some of their highlights including a play of El Grande and a Pre-Production Ga...

“Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love.” - Leo Buscaglia Let's think about the games that got us into the hobby. When was the last time we played them and thought about them? In this episode, we go back and revisit the games that got us into the hobby and ask the question do they still hold up all these years later? Also in this episode, we welcome Damien once again a...

"SHAME, SHAME, SHAME!!!!" - Game of Thrones, Shame Lady There is a place on every board gamer's shelves designated for games that have never been played. The 'shelf of shame' contains some of our mistakes, our embarrassments and our future plans so in today's episode, we are going to air out some of our skeletons. We also welcome back guest host Damien for another week, w...

*SINGS* "Big Booty Boxes, WHAT! Big, Board Game Booty, OKAY! I like them Big Board Game Boxes!" - Ralph 2023 This week we welcome another Guest to the Board Game Gateway Studio. Friend of the show Damien joins Neeber, Ralph and Matt to have a chat about how his son has gotten into Marvel Champions as well as our Gateway Game of the week 6nimmt, but before we get to any of the games we ad...

"This Kickstarter Campaign contains more plastic than a Kardashian who is about to hit the red carpet." Chaos returns to the Board Game Gateway Studios in this episode as we welcome back Matt after a break. Neeber and Ralph try to reign him in so we can chat about the grandfather of the modern board gaming scene in "Catan". We also recap some of the shenanigans we have gotten up to in the previous...

"It's Time to D-D-D-D-D-Duel!" - Yu-Gi-Oh Half the hosts but just as much content. This week Neeber and Ralph sit down to have a chat about some of their favourite 2-player games that they have been playing lately. If you are looking for something to play with a partner, significant other or even someone that you just met we have some great options for you in today's episode. Timestamps 3:57 - Tig...

Games have a place at the tables in our homes but what about those tables in local pubs and taverns? In this week's episode Neeber, Blayke and Ralph chat about why your local pub/tavern is a perfect venue for you and your friends to play some board games. We also talk about some of the games that we have played this week including revisiting a classic in Great Western Trail , finally playing the n...

Every time you shuffle a deck of cards you are creating a unique sequence of cards that has never been seen before in history, statistically. There are more card combinations than stars in the Universe. Don't believe us? It was on an episode of QI so it must be real. We welcome a new guest to the Board Game Gateway Podcast this week with Ralph's Cousin Anthony (yes another one) to the studio. We h...

Do you find it hard to make new friends in this day and age? Do you find yourself looking at your game collection and wondering why you have no one to play it with and why your friends don't have every night free to knock out an epic game? Well maybe you need to expand your groups and maybe some new friends are waiting just around the corner. In this week's episode of the Board Game Gateway we go...

Welcome to Season 2 of the Board Game Gateway Podcast.  We are rested, recharged and ready to go for a new year of Board Gaming and Tabletop time. This week we have a look at what it is we have been playing over the holidays including The Kings Dilemma, Heat: Pedal to the Medal, Ready Set Bet!, Bus and our Gateway Game of the Week Kites. There is a lot to catch up on and a lot that we st...

Welcome to the Board Game Gateway Christmas Special and our Season 1 Grand Finale. It is the season for joy, the time for giving and we are excited to do our first-ever annual gift exchange where 3 of our hosts buy a game gift for the other host. What games have they decided that the other would like? Well, you are going to have to tune in to find out. We also have a nerd-win story from Ralph, the...

Description Welcome to Episode 20 and the Board Game Gateways Top 10 Gateway Games of 2022. This is a list compiled by your hosts but none of them knows what will come out on top. Our special guest Georgee has graphics, envelopes and information that none of the boys has seen before so you will find out as they find out what collectively they have decided are the top 10 gateway games to introduce...

“Would it make you feel better if I pretended not to be making it up as I go along? In that case, I know exactly what I'm doing, but please don't ask me about it in any great detail.” - Eddie Robson, Doctor Who Unbound: Masters of War Description It is officially summer and that means are coming to the end of 2022, are we begin to wrap up the year we have a bit of an experimental episode where we...

"Luck be a lady tonight, just be a lady tonight" - Sky Masterson Description Luck, Randomness and Variability are spread throughout board gaming as what they bring to the table leads to many interesting board states and challenges we have to overcome. However, these can also bring problems and headaches that gamers just have to put up with. So let's discuss the difference between Luck and Randomne...

"Shawty's like a memory in my head and I can't keep up and I'm feeling like. Nah na na na every day like my board games stuck on replay!" - Rodeo, Iyaz Description Board Games are inherently designed to be played more than once but what is it about games that make us want to come back and play them again? This is our discussion topic for this episode of the Board Game Gateway Podcast. We also aske...

"I would have never picked this off the shelf, nothing about 'Isle of Cats' appealed to me and then I played it, what a juxtaposition" - Matt Glynn | BG Gateway Description A lot of weight is put into the first impressions and many games have a theme and artwork that to many may not have "mass market" appeal. How many games do we pass that could be instant favourites just because we don't con...

"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes." - William Shakespeare Description Spooky Scary Halloween! Welcome to the Halloween special of the Board Game Gateway Podcast with all four hosts here for your listening pleasure. We go through some of the latest games we have been playing over the past week including Isle of Cats (again), Endless Winter as well as our Gateway Game of...

"If you're not first, your last" - Ricky Bobby Description Humans have always wanted to get places fast, and first and preferably both of these at the same time. In board games, we have an entire genre of games devoted to all things racing. In this episode, we dive into games that deal with racing as their theme. Whether it be racing cars, bikes, horses, camels or ourselves there are plenty of gam...

"No, I do not have a favourite child. How dare you ask me that!"   - The Parent who definitely has a favourite child Description Welcome to Part II of Episode 13. We continue to work down the list of our favourite games and in this episode, we countdown #5 to #1. Which games have woven their way into the host's heart? Which games have proven themselves to stand the test of time? And which gam...

"When I see the Ten Most Wanted Lists... I always have this thought: If we'd made them feel wanted earlier, they wouldn't be wanted now." - Eddie Cantor Description People have been asking and now we are delivering in a 2 part special episode where all the hosts disclose their top 10 board games. These lists were very hard to create and honestly, they can change depending on the new games we play...