Simple, Yet Intriguing

Test your eyes with us this week as we play another 2018 Warsch game: Illusion! What will we see and will we like it? Games Mentioned: Illusion , Take Five , El Grande , Tikal , Mexica , Java , The Princes of Florence , Timeline , SET , MicroMacro: Crime City , Cockroach Poker , Liar’s Dice , Figment , The Fox in the Forest , The Fox in the Forest Duet , Jekyll vs. Hyde , Jekyll & Hyde vs Scot...

In an attempt at redemption, we play a game this week! This cut-for-time segment features us attempting to name games in the BGG Top 100 without the Deck, Bag, and Pool Building mechanism. SPOILERS AHEAD Games Mentioned: Anachrony , El Grande , Welcome To... , Puerto Rico , Isle of Skye , Cascadia , Clans of Caledonia , Harmonies , Trickerion // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Gr...

It's time to telepathically communicate in Wolfgang Warsch's award winning card game. We break down how we feel about this game emotionally and philosophically. Games Mentioned: The Mind , Azul , Quacks , That’s Pretty Clever! , The Gang , Hanabi , Bridge , The Game , Take Time , Bomb Busters , The Mind Extreme , The Mind Soulmates Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 01:56 - The Mind: How It Wo...

This week we are using paper, pencil and dice to drop non-branded tetrominoes in the digital space of Wolfgang Warsch's Brikks! (I'll be honest, it's basically a Tetris roll-and-write game). Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 01:00 - Wolfgang Warsch Biography 06:06 - Brikks: Overview and How it Works 12:13 - Roll and Write Discussion 24:53 - Aha Moments 37:26 - Brikks: Duel Mode 39:30 - Br...

It's a bag-building-push-your-luck-try-not-to-explode fiasco this week in our new series! We discuss the games that Wolfgang Warsch made in the year 2018 starting with The Quacks of Quedlinburg. It's a real place! Games Mentioned: Orleans , Automobiles , Coffee Roaster , Clank! , Mystic Vale , Dominion , Ascension , Star Realms , Cubitos , The Quest for El Dorado , Legendary Encounters: Al...

We're elevating the podcast to a higher echelon with special guest Graeme Goldthorpe! We ask him about his favourite Knizia games and we dig deep on the pure auction game High Society. Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 00:51 - Guest Introduction 08:25 - High Society: How Does it Work? 13:05 - High Society Discussion: Extra Cards 16:35 - Aha Moments 23:04 - High Society: Release and Art Comparison...

This week we are discussing the 1999 two-player bona fide classic Schotten Totten and its sibling Battle Line. How does it compare to other two-player Knizia titles? What does the title mean?? Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 02:00 - Schotten Totten: How Does it Work? 04:51 - Battle Line & Schotten Totten: Release Difference 10:18 - Game Discussion 18:40 - Schotten Totten Predecessors and Reimpl...

We're back in Middle-Earth for the early cooperative game The Lord of the Rings! No confrontation this time. Does it stand the test of time? Can the Doctor make thematic games?? Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 01:16 - What We Played This Week: Trajan 09:37 - The Lord of the Rings: How Does it Work? 13:27 - The Lord of the Rings: Discussion 14:31 - Luke’s Aha Moment 34:28 - Chris’ Aha Moment 37:...

We're journeying to Middle-Earth to talk about Chess, Stratego, tables and The Confrontation between Good and Evil! Who will prevail?? Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 02:20 - Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation: How Does it Work? 05:31 - Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation Discussion 15:54 - Aha Moments 24:52 - The Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation Ultimate Edition Preview 29:39 - Guess th...

This week we're returning to our Modern Classics series to deck build AND race to find a lost city in The Quest for El Dorado. Does our newest game in the series live up to the hype? Episode Chapters 0:00 - Intro 00:45 - What We Played This Week: Ghosts Galore 08:31 - Intro to Modern Classics Part 2 10:33 - The Quest for El Dorado: How Does it Work? 15:04 - The Quest for El Dorado Game Discuss...

Luke, Chris and Mechanic Mechanic Matt report their progress on their 2026 challenges. Plus they play a fun game! Games discussed: Flip 7, Charioteer, Set Dice, Inis, Spellbound (1981), Here Lies, Regicide, Ribbit. Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 01:30 - Sophie’s Challenge Check-in 04:32 - Mechanic Mechanic Matt’s Challenge Check-in 21:43 - Luke & Chris’ Challenge Check-in 31:57 - Race Mechanis...

We're joined by Mechanic Mechanic Matt to round out our Hargrave series by talking about all of the Wingspansions including the new Americas expansion! Hummingbirds are birds! Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 02:11 - Matt's Hot Takes & Wyrmspan Discussion 06:26 - Oceania Board Comparison and Nectar 10:30 - European Expansion Discussion 13:20 - Oceania Expansion Discussion 15:42 - Wingspa...

We're back to flower gifting and passive-aggressive communication with the BIG BOX version of wallet game Tussie Mussie! Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 01:32 - What We Played This Week: Vegas Showdown 07:36 - Tussie Mussie Complete Collection Overview 09:51 - Orange Flowers Expansion 13:55 - Greenery Expansion 15:38 - Ribbons Expansion 19:28 - Flower Shoppe Solo Expansion 22:34 - Aha! Moments...

We're walking on the beach! Conceptually! This week we're talking Elizabeth Hargrave's 2026 tile-laying, shell-bagging game: Sanibel! -- 00:00 - Intro 00:40 - Hargrave Game Banter 08:33 - Sanibel Discussion 19:45 - Aha! Moments 31:27 - Gamer Recognize Game? 39:12 - Next Week Teaser // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Sa...

In anticipation of the reprint, the boys (of tile laying with fame) are playing the 1999 hidden gem Rheinländer! Mechanic Mechanic Matt also helps them to dissect the history of pre-Reiner Knizia tile layers. -- 00:00 Intro 1:36 Gaming History: Tile Laying Games 16:58 World Series of Board Gaming Trivia Game 23:04 Rheinländer Discussion 26:00 Matt’s aha Moment 35:39 Chris and Luke’s aha Moments 46...

Chris and Luke gloriously return to the circus to talk about Spectaculum and how circuses are the same as trains! -- 00:00 - Intro 01:17 - What We Played This Week - Unmatched Adventures TMNT 08:34 - Spectaculum Discussion 17:20 - aha! (and Oh My!) Moments 21:52 - BGG Trivia Game 29:31 - Gold Country Discussion and Spectaculum Final Thoughts 34:05 - Next Week Teaser // Hosted & Edited by Chris...

Chris and Luke are joined by special guest Alisha Giroux, artist and graphic designer of Gazebo, to chat about the game and the work that goes into board game art. Later, they dig deep about nooks, patios, gazebos and dominos and how they all work within the world of Gazebo. Alisha can be found at https://www.instagram.com/_asmeesh -- 00:00 Intro 01:03 Interview and discussion with Alisha Giroux 1...

Chris, Luke and Mechanic Mechanic Matt look at and place their votes for the 5 awards and twenty nominated games for the upcoming boardgamearena.com awards! Check it out and vote here: https://bga.li/awards2026 -- 0:00 - Intro 7:15 - Best Casual Game 17:20 - Best Regular Game 27:57 - Best Expert Game 41:28 - Best 2-Player Game 54:00 - Best Brain Teaser 1:03:45 - Overall Favourite 1:08:00 - Next We...

Wrapping up our Anniversaries trilogy (until our first 2026 play!), we talk Khan of Khans - a very light card game set in the world of Glorantha. Luke also waxes loquacious about a trilogy of games - Nova Luna, Sanagi, and Framework. -- 00:00 - Intro 00:52 - What We (Luke) Played This Week (Nova Luna, Sanagi, Framework) 13:39 - Khan of Khans discussion 25:31 - aha! moments 36:13 - How Has it Aged?...

Whose chateau will the king visit? Which nightclub will attract the most famous guests?? How are these connected??? All of your most burning questions answered on this week's episode. Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux Produced by: Sophie Shin Socials: Matt Winquist Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger

Debuting a concise new series to kick off our 2026 run, the lads are covering Classic Art to commemorate the 30th anniversary of its original 1996 release. We also chat French Toast, a recent release by AllPlay and the ever-magnanimous Peter C. Hayward. -- 01:01 - French Toast discussion (What We Played This Week) 06:56 - Classic Art Discussion 17:26 - Aha! Moments -- Hosted & Edited by Luke O...

Happy new year! 🎉Another year around the sun, another retrospective episode where we get the whole crew together to discuss the games we played, the challenges most of us catastrophically failed, and what we're looking forward to in 2026. --- Hosted & Edited by Luke O'Grady, Chris Lemieux, Sophie Shin, & Matthew Winquist Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matthew Winquist Art by S...

🚀Our final lap around the SILOS system takes the lads through a high-stakes galactic race that's fun for the whole family! Includes amicable chatting about 12 Chip Trick, as well as comparisons of ORBIT to other race & racing games. --- 00:00 - Intro 01:26 - 12 Chip Trick discussion (What We Played This Week) 07:43 - ORBIT discussion 22:29 - aha! moments 29:31 - Game of Games: top 5 SciFi...

👽 The lads wax enthusiastically about EGO, the exciting, interactive, and tough-to-categorize 2nd entry in the Cosmic Silos Trilogy from Bitewing Games about being better at making friends than your friends. Featuring banter about 'Waddle', a clever little penguin posturing game from Allplay & Corné van Moorsel. -- 00:00 - Intro 00:36 - Waddle Discussion 05:37 - EGO Rules & Discus...

👾 Our latest 100% human-created episode covers the 2025 Reiner Knizia release SILOS from Bitewing Games, wherein skinsuits abound and cows are finally given their due. Featuring banter about recent Pandemic system game 'Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship', Star Wars games, and IP games in general. -- Chapters: 00:00 - Standard Earth Greetings 03:00 - Fate of the Fellowship discussi...