The Ascent of Board Games

And now, the thrilling conclusion of our Boss Battlers episode. Featuring: Even more games that we've talked about a lot before...but also some new ones! What dramatic moment did The Little Mermaid (the Disney movie) borrow from "The Call of Cthulhu" (the Lovecraft story)? A not-Diablo, a not-Shadow of the Colossus, a not-Zelda, and a game that's ACTUALLY based on a video game. What game was recei...

Happy April! No fooling from us, just the first half of a loooong episode about Boss Battlers. Featuring: Frank telling us about an obscure game that's long out of print... or is it ? Brian revealing his woeful ignorance of anime, which amuses Jayson no end Joe spending the entire episode trolling Frank (with an assist from Jayson) The proud history of farting monsters and the world's oldest known...

Hi folks! We're here again to deliver unto you a podcast episode about pick-up-and-deliver games! In addition to the insightful (?) game information you've come to expect from us, this episode includes: Continued arguments about train games! Mike being woefully uninformed about the transportation standards of the tin industry! Ye Olde Clairol Dwarf ! A completely unsolicited publisher promotion! J...

Welcome to February! In honor of the shortest month, we've created a "lightning round" on the topic of our favorite word games. We hope you find some new favorites, and/or tell us about some of your current ones! Referenced in this episode: Vincent Price (yes, that Vincent Price ) does a commercial for a boxed version of Hangman (yes, that Hangman ). Another vintage commercial for an obscure yet c...

As promised, here's a little bit of bonus content from our 2021 wrap-up episode, with a little commentary on the games we DIDN'T discuss in that episode, as well as a look ahead games we're especially looking forward to in 2022. Included in this mini-sode: We discuss Jayson's latest obsession , which is now becoming a board game, plus another game he can play with those models if the official one...

Happy New Year! We mean it this time...no, really...please? This month we're taking a look back at the good times in 2021 - yes, there were some - as we discuss our favorite games from the past year. We also have some additional material on the games we DIDN'T discuss, as well as a look ahead to 2022, but Your Humble Editor is tired enough that that's going to be released as a special bonus episod...

Happy winter holiday(s) of your choice! If you're having trouble fitting everything you need to do this month into your calendar, listening to our discussion of spatial arrangement games...well, probably won't help, but hopefully it'll at least be entertaining, and might even provide some last-minute gift ideas. We ask and answer many questions in this episode: How many times (and how many ways) c...

Hi folks! We're back to talk about the cumbersomely-named "simultaneous selection games," which covers everything from Rock-Paper-Scissors (and its ancient antecedents ) to Gloomhaven . Your Humble Editor had a pretty rough month, so the audio on this one may likewise be a bit rougher than usual, but hopefully it's not too bad. Thanks for understanding! Featured in this episode: Mike tries to expl...

For a lot of us, the past year and a half has been kind of a wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey blur. To celebrate (?) that, here's an episode on some games that use time travel as a mechanic, not just a theme. Sadly, Jayson was not able to join us for recording in this particular timeline, but we talk about him anyway. Learn what game Frank thought was so bad, he destroyed it "for the good of the world."...

Hey, you know how we mostly talk about games we like on this show? Well, here's a change of pace for you! That's right, here's an entire episode on games we think you shouldn't play - either because they're unplayable as written, wracked by production errors, or just really, really bad. Don't give up hope, though - we do have recommendations for better games that we think you should play instead....

Hi! It's us again! (Well, "us" minus Mike but plus Sandi.) This month we're talking about tech trees and skill trees, two similar sets of mechanics that Frank has been a little obsessed with lately. There are lots of 4X games and lots of dungeon-crawling campaign games, plus a few others we snuck in here and there. Plus more opinions, sass, and stories about Sandi's crossbow! We've added a bunch o...

It's been a long time, but this episode was recorded with us all live in the same room! In other words, we were all WORKING in the same PLACE, which may give you a hint as to the topic of this episode (if you haven't, you know, read the title already). We learned fun things like what game Sandi would rather bleed from the eyes than play, what game makes Joe feel like "a giant, raging jerk the enti...

We're playing board games again! In the same physical space as each other! Vaccinations - another win for science! In this episode, we discuss the games that we're most looking forward to playing - on a real physical table in someone's house! Also, we ask timeless questions like: What game does Frank describe as "Wheel of Fortune, the legacy board game"?  What game does Brian describe as "the most...

We recorded this back on Valentine's Day, but it's taken us this long to release it, so...well, enjoy some two-player games for Cinco de Mayo, maybe? In this episode: Sandi has a crossbow! Frank tells us about a game that made him bleed. (This is not related to Sandi having a crossbow...yet.) Mike single-handedly revolutionizes the history of agriculture, and thus civilization itself! Brian forget...

Roll and Write games! Yet another surprisingly contentious topic, but we went ahead anyway. This definitely wasn't planned as an April Fool's episode, but I have to admit we get a little foolish at a couple points here. (Also, apologies for Mike's audio, as he was fighting with an uncooperative dishwasher.) Mike reveals the depth of his Avengers lore when he tells us about Thanos and his "Power Ge...

We're back to talk some more about some of our favorite tie-in games (and slightly less about Jodorowsky's Dune). We continue our tradition of not knowing what the heck we're talking about, as an off-mic Sandi corrects Frank's gross misunderstanding of the Witcher's fundamental nature. This episode also encompasses virtually all of Jayson's childhood (and, indeed, adulthood), plus some commentary...

It turns out we REALLY like talking about the universes and stories that we love. So much so that this episode on book/TV/movie tie-in games has grown to expand into two episodes, mostly because we won't shut up. Hopefully this experiment doesn't drive you too crazy. It also turns out that, while we like these things, we don't know as much about them as we should. For example: Jayson talks about C...

Happy New Year! Congratulations on surviving 2020 with enough mental fortitude to listen to a podcast about board games! To celebrate the (hopefully positive) change in the calendar, we're talking about games where the board changes as you play. You'll hear us say things like: "Sometimes you just wanna go punch your friends in the face." "In 2003, Mayfair Games produced a tiny little bundle of hat...

2020 - what a year, huh? After everything else it's thrown at us, it managed to give us a last-minute technical glitch that made this episode several days late. We're sorry - thanks for bearing with us! Amazingly, we were still able to come up with an hour's worth of discussion about good things that happened in 2020, as well as a glimpse at what we're hoping will make 2021 a better year (not that...

We'll make you a deal - you download and listen to this episode, and we'll tell you about some of our favorite (and least favorite) negotiation games. As an added bonus, we've gotten our sound quality back to something that should be close to our pre-COVID levels, and we'll throw that in for free. (Thanks to Craig Shipman at the Third Floor Wars podcast for the suggestion that got us there - if yo...

We're back, having survived another month of the heartbreak that is 2020, to talk about more of the games that also broke our hearts. The audio continues to be noisy, for which we continue to apologize, but we have a cunning plan in place to improve things for next month. Thank you for your patience, and stay tuned! Some elements of interest from this month: Read the marvelous short story that ins...

Hi, folks. This month, we...we... I'm sorry. I'll get it together. Give me a minute. (Blows nose noisily.) This month we're talking about the games that broke our hearts...the ones we really, really wanted to love, but that ended up just making us miserable. (Almost as miserable as our continued COVID-caused audio deficiencies, for which we continue to apologize.) Among our melancholy memories: Br...

Well, we came in last this month, but this episode has finally arrived - time to discuss racing games! (Although, as we mention at the end, almost all games can be defined as racing games in one way or another.) Sadly, we are still limited by lockdown audio quality, but hopefully you still find it listenable. Thanks for bearing with us!   In this episode: The world's oldest recorded trash talk. ("...

No more taking turns - this month we discuss real-time games! Unfortunately, we are still limited by lockdown audio quality, but hopefully you still find it listenable. Thanks for bearing with us! In this episode: Brian is a little bit punchy and/or stir crazy, and also has a little bit of a cold. (Just a cold, we promise.) A discussion on Zoom meeting etiquette. We discuss  Edgar Cayce  - clairvo...

With everything that's going on right now, it hardly seems important to post up a podcast of five guys rambling about games, but as the late, great Freddie Mercury sang, the show must go on. So here's our first episode recorded since the coronavirus lockdown began. Sorry about the audio quality - between the lower-quality equipment we had to use and some problems with Zoom's recording process, I'm...