Oak & Onion: Board Game Podcast

Joel and Chris kick off a month of shorter episodes with an episode inspired by Veterans Day and a deep dive into wargames. What are they? Do we play them? And what is it that makes us interested or not in this branch of the tabletop hobby? Then we lighten things up with a look at five games featuring people in uniform–from soldiers to cops to space captains and beyond. One thing we can agree on:...

With Halloween behind us (at least by the time this episode drops), we manage to once again release an episode lasting only 90 minutes–but what a 90 minutes it is! From apps in development to games on BGA, from Clayface to Ted Lasso, from Kickstarter to Gamefound, we catch up on everything that’s been stealing our attention for the past week. Then in honor of Diwali, we share our top five games fe...

It’s almost Halloween, and that means it’s time to party! Before they head out trick-or-treating, Chris and Joel sit down for a Board Games 101 lesson on party games. Then they go back to the spooky-games well for some hot takes on horror themed board games that are overhyped, underhyped, and appropriately hyped. All that plus Halloween memories and a very special Mad Libs–you won’t believe who’s...

Spooky scary skeletons take over the podcast this episode when Joel and Chris revel in their joint enjoyment of all things horror-themed. We count down five great horror movies and five great horror board games in a conversation short on jump scares but long on fun. Then Joel finally agrees to play another game, when Chris decides to test his horror prowess. On a scale of 1 to 13, just how Friday...

After two special guest episodes in a row, we’re back to basics as Joel and Chris can’t shut up about movies, games, and everything else. On today’s episode we countdown another 3-2-1, this time pairing up games and food for a high-end dinner party for the ages (or at least Chris does, but Joel is there too, offering what we can only charitably describe as everyday food). And then Joel puts Chris...

Joel and Chris strap on their space helmets this week and take a cruise to the far reaches of game design when they sit down with designer Ben Rosset and Dennis Northcott, one of the minds behind Kinson Key Games. With the recent launch of Excursions on Kickstarter, Ben and Dennis share the games that define them as well as their thoughts on game design, simultaneous action, running a successful g...

Joel and Chris might be small potatoes, but sometimes we bring in the big potatoes to show us how it's done. In episode 22 we sit down with actor, standup, board game designer, and all-around cool guy Grant Lyon. We’ll hear about the games that define him, his approach to comedy, how he stumbled into board game stardom, and his brand new comedy tour blending games with standup. Then Chris puts...

Get out your pumpkin spice sweaters and curl up with a cozy hand knit latte as you tune in for another episode of the Oak and Onion Podcast. Enjoy Chris’s envy as Joel has the big gaming weekend for once, then pull out your notecards for another installment of Board Games 101, where we snuggle up to find out what people mean by Cozy Games. Then we wrap things up with our top five games with an aut...

If you’ve been with us since the beginning, then this is now 20 times you’ve tuned in to hear a little Oak and Onion action, and as excited as we are to hit that milestone, we’re especially excited for how many people have joined us on that journey. Thank you, listeners! On this celebratory episode, Joel and Chris talk spooky movies, superhero tv, and games we’ve played this week. Listen in as we...

Joel and Chris decide to opt out of torturing each other with games this week and instead simply offer up a few choice rounds of This or That. Then it’s a long overdue look at the highlight reel where we see fresh life in the crowdfunding scene now that GenCon is a month behind us. All that and more in an episode so jam packed Joel forgets to even finish writing the show notes! It’s another can’t...

In this episode, Chris and Joel live in the past, celebrating games and movies from the past week, recounting games from one of our favorite years passed, and mourning people who passed this week as well. Then Joel tests Chris’s board game component knowledge in the cleverly titled “What’s in a Game,” which doesn’t have a clever “past” phrase to go with it, but hey, you can’t have everything. 

In a world where games are outlawed, only outlaws play games. Two men stand against the forces of board game snobbery. From the studio that brought you “The Bald Cohost” and “Mr. Roll and Write” comes an episode where everything gets turned upside down. A friendship. A switcheroo. A game. Nothing will ever be the same. Tune in to episode 17 and find out what happens when games become movies and mo...

The dynamic duo is back again to talk all things two player. Or at least SOME things two player. Despite the challenge of getting back into work mode, Joel pulls it together long enough to teach Chris about Canadian tv, and in return Chris brings Joel up to date on the next Texas Chainsaw in his rewatch. But the heart of the episode is a dive into two player games, first by discussing multiplayer...

Join us as we take a trip to Hadestown as we lament the things we missed at GenCon and celebrate the things we enjoyed at GenCan’t. Then grab your dice and uncap your dry erase markers for our first true Top Five list as Joel and Chris discuss our top five roll and write games. We wrap up the episode with a brief discussion of when to believe a game box’s listed player count. Gather all your frien...

Choo-choo! The Hype Train is leaving GenCon station! Joel and Chris hype up the Vans Warped Tour, the Tabletop Inn, and the Garphill trilogies–and that’s all before we even get to our topic of conversation: is hype an external problem or an internal one, and what games would we describe as overhyped, underhyped, or appropriately hyped? We wrap up our hype episode with a game of Slice and Dice, whe...

Chris and Joel are back from their hiatus with tales of food, books/movies, and a whole lot of games. In this episode we try to figure out what everyone means by a “heavy” game (hint: it depends), and check in with the highlight reel again as we try to contain our jealousy that we’re not going to GenCon. Will this be our unluckiest episode or our most popular episode yet? Tune in now to find out!

In this episode Joel and Chris are joined by Andrew Stiles, designer of Wine Cellar, Digging for Dinos, and a host of upcoming games. Andrew shares three games that define him, then Joel asks all about Andrew’s design process, from idea to pitch to execution. Finally in honor of Digging for Dinos and the upcoming Avatar: Fight for Pandora, Chris quizzes Andrew on whether he can differentiate Juras...

In this episode Joel and Chris check in on the gaming year so far, exploring trends, highs, lows, and what’s coming in the second half of the year that we have our eyes on. Then we follow up last week’s chat about DVC’s games with a discussion of unique games that have stuck with us. Plus we’ll find out what Chris thinks about the sister franchises of Toy Story movies and Texas Chainsaw Massacre....

Joel answers Chris’s Origins questions and Chris responds to Joel’s game cafe queries in this, the tenth episode of the Oak and Onion podcast. Ten episodes makes this our tin anniversary, and that doesn’t mean anything, but that’s weird, right? Listen in for convention highlights, Disclosure Day chatter, and bad movie celebrations as we try and fail to keep the episode under two hours. What can we...

Join us for our most 9th episode ever as we shed our inhibitions, climb the ladder of podcasting success, and trick our listeners into spending another two hours with us. In this episode we talk superheroes old and new as we explore where He-Man gets resurrected, Marvel gets underappreciated, and The Boys gets overly graphic. Then Joel shares some of the highlights of a small local gaming conventi...

Join Chris and Joel for a short-ish episode where we give you tips and tricks for hosting a game night–spoiler alert, it all comes down to clear communication–throw down another 3-2-1 list for summertime games, and talk about some more games we’ve played in the last couple weeks. We also turn into a film podcast for a few minutes with a deep discussion of Curry Barker’s new film Obsession (don’t w...

After separate gaming weekends, Joel and Chris try to switch things up with a shortened episode as we aim for weekly releases through the month of June. We talk about Chris’s birthday, Joel’s illness, highlights of our gaming weekends, and give our tips for successful board game convention experiences. At right around 97 minutes, it’s our usual board game banter refined into a perfect blend of wit...

It’s another episode where we can’t shut up! Joel and Chris talk theme parks and tv before we jump into a new segment with Board Games 101, where Joel convinces Chris it’s okay to talk about hard things. Then Chris gets his revenge with a game of Pass the Test (spoiler alert: Joel can not) before we hit some exciting and disappointing things on the board game horizon as we take another look at the...

Tune in for an epic episode where Joel and Chris are joined by Mat Cousineau of the Dice, Camera, Action podcast to talk all things Star Wars. After learning about three games that define Mat as a gamer, Joel will put Mat and Chris head-to-head in a brand new game called Settling Scores. Then we’ll talk about some of our favorite Star Wars media in a segment called  3-2-1 Star Wars. And finally we...

In this bonus episode Joel and Chris look at the nominees for BGG’s 2025 Golden Geek awards by choosing what they would like to see win and comparing it to what they think will actually win. They ask where Toy Battle fits in the gaming scheme, contemplate how many times Galactic Cruise and Fate of the Fellowship can be nominated for awards, and try to determine what weight of games they play the m...