Board Gamers Anonymous

Over the next 10 weeks, we’re counting down our top 100 games of all time, in anticipation of Episode 500 in November. Join us as we discuss ten games from our list each week, with deep dives into what made the list and why. This week we’re looking at games from 80-71 If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bga...

Over the next 10 weeks, we’re counting down our top 100 games of all time, in anticipation of Episode 500 in November. Join us as we discuss ten games from our list each week, with deep dives into what made the list and why. This week we're looking at games from 90-81. If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bg...

Over the next 10 weeks, we're counting down our top 100 games of all time, in anticipation of Episode 500 in November. Join us as we discuss ten games from our list each week, with deep dives into what made the list and why. This week, we're kicking things off with 100-91, plus a discussion of the list building process and how we feel about our selections. If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect wi...

As we prepare for the epic 10 week Top 100 countdown starting on September 3, we look at our current top 100 lists and pull 5 games each to enshrine in the inaugural class of the BGA Hall of Fame. Question of the Week: What game is in your personal hall of fame - an all-timer you'll never not appreciate? Acquisition Disorders: I, Napoleon, Chicago '68 At the Table Reviews: Maki Master, Path of Civ...

This week we're celebrating 11 years of BGA! As is our annual tradition, we're taking a deep dive into the last year of episodes (and gaming) to look at the acquisition disorders, reviews, and features we loved most, and how we feel about gaming in 2024. Question of the Week: What's your number one game experience of the last 12 months (game played, event attended, moment experienced)? Acquisition...

This week we're looking at the games that are instant buys, plays, dodges or burns on our list. What mechanic, designer, theme, or other element automatically puts a game in a category before we even get it to the table (fairly or not)?  Before diving in, we talk about the Dice Tower Award winners, as well as the numbers from this year's Gen Con.  Acquisition Disorders: Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere...

This week we're looking at the factors that make a transition from digital to analog work well - from the design aesthetics to the mechanics that stick best. Question of the Week - What's a video game mechanic do you think makes (or would make) the best transition to tabletop? Acquisition Disorders - Comic Hunters, Speakeasy At the Table Reviews - Campaign Trail, Fool's Blade If you haven’t yet, b...

This week, we're looking at the best games that feature the city of Paris, where the 2024 Olympic Games are taking place. Which Parisian games stand tall for this year's board game Olympics? We also do a deep dive into the recent announcements out of San Diego Comic-Con, plus a discussion of the recently announced Spiel des Jahres winners. Acquisition Disorders: Epos, Rise of Babel At the Table Re...

This week we're looking at the 20 games and expansions we're most excited to see and play through the end of 2024. There's a lot of good stuff on the horizon. Let's dig in! Acquisition Disorders - Everdell Duo, BOOM Patrol - Arcade-style Tank Battling Action! At the Table Reviews - Star Wars Shatterpoint, Dune: Imperium - Uprising, Munchkin: Clerical Errors Expansion (Steam) If you haven’t yet, be...

This week we're joined by Dave Eng, host of the Experience Points podcast, leader of the Games-Based Learning Alliance, and founder of Banditos Gaming. He joins us to chat about recent plays, his work in the gaming community, and his own favorite game. Find out more at www.davengdesign.com  Acquisition Disorders - River Glassworks, DC Heroes United, Stefan Feld City Collection - Classic: Special E...

All the components in one place! What could go wrong. Join us as we explore the monkey's paw situation that is the "big box." Why we wanted them, why we regret buying them, and just how big and dumb these things have become. Acquisition Disorders: Saltfjord, Defenders of the Wild At the Table Reviews: Digsaw, Arcs, Self Careless, Twilight Inscription If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us...

This week, Chris from Board Games for the Better joins Chris one more time to discuss another wave of award nominations from The Dice Tower, and the winners of the Origins Awards. ======= The Board Game Academics Conference for 2024 is taking place on July 4 at Dex Lite in Morristown, NJ. Join us live or in person by registering at https://boardgameacademics.com/register/. ======= Acquisition Diso...

Chris is joined this week once again by Chris from Board Games For the Better, to discuss Gen Con 2024 and the preview of new games being released or shown at the convention. They discuss the upcoming Board Game Academics conference plus the recent filing for a trademark of the word "meeple." ======= The Board Game Academics Conference for 2024 is taking place on July 4 at Dex Lite in Morristown,...

Anthony's away this week, so Chris from Board Games for the Better joins the podcast to discuss the award nominations for Origins Game Fair and the Spiel des Jahres, both recently announced. Question of the Week: Anthony’s away, so what did YOU play this week? And how would YOU rate it? Acquisition Disorders: Sovereign: Fall of Wormwood, Ada's Dream At the Table Reviews: Thunder Road: Vendetta, Cl...

Last week we talked about games that need more expansions. This week? Which ones have gone too far? We list off 10 games that have too many expansions and need to stop. Question of the Week: What is the most complex game you know how to play without looking at the rules? Acquisition Disorders: Nucleum: Court of Progress, Star Trek Captain Chair, King of Tokyo Duel At the Table Reviews: Slay the Sp...

We revisit our original games that need an expansion list from 2018 to see which games eventually got expansions and which we're still waiting on, plus we add 10 more games to the list - so many games that need more content! Acquisition Disorders: Oath New Foundations, Star Trek: Star Realms At the Table Reviews: Cat in the Box Deluxe, Mini Rogue If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on F...

This week we're looking at the best of the best from one of the best: Reiner Knizia. We whittle down our selection of the ten best of his more than 600 game designs from the last 30 years, plus some previews and reviews of what's coming out soon. Question of the Week: What is the most challenging aspect of the board gaming hobby? (e.g. finding players, managing budget, finding space) Acquisition D...

Summer is almost upon us and that means convention season! This week we're diving in a bit earlier to look at the games we're expecting to see at Origins Game Fair in June. We also talk about the Golden Geek Award winners at the top of the show, plus give our thoughts on X-Men '97 and the newly announced Lord of the Rings movie coming in 2 (!) years. Acquisition Disorders: Vicious Gardens, Black F...

This week, we're looking at the best of the best from Splotter; the heavy, crunchy, kind of mean, and not always pretty (but frequently brilliant) euro games from Jeroen Doumen and Joris Wiersinga. Question of the Week: What game makes you saltier than any other game? Do you avoid playing it? Acquisition Disorders: Dune: War for Arrakis - Desert War, Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game - Clone Wars E...

This week, we take a deep dive into the recently announced BBG award nominations to discuss what we like for the awards and which games we want to track down and play before voting. Question of the Week - What's a game for which the retail edition is just as good as the crowdfunded version (or close enough)? Let's talk about games that didn't need to be crowdfunded. Acquisition Disorders - Keyforg...

This week, we're joined by special guest Chris Rodriguez from Board Games for the Better to discuss the hottest games on the April 2024 Board Game Geek hotness list. Acquisition Disorders: Vantage, Slay the Spire: The Board Game, 2025 Board Game Mosaic Calendar, Earth Abundance Expansion At the Table Reviews: Trailblazers, Expeditions: Around the World If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with u...

This week we look at data from several sources outlining some of the best selling games from 2023, and what we think of how well they sold. What games hit the most tables last year, which expansions did we all hoard? We take a deep dive to find out. Question of the Week: What's the most complex game you'd comfortable recommend for people new(ish) to gaming? Acquisition Disorders: We All Take from...

This week we're revisiting the best of the best games of 2023 to discuss what games we will be nominating for the Golden Geek Awards (and why). Check out all of our picks for the last year's best games, plus previews of DC Heroes United and Bebop. * Acquisition Disorders: DC Heroes United, Bebop === Nominate us for a Golden Geek Award! The nominations are now open here: https://boardgamegeek.com/g...

This week we take you on an epic tabletop odyssey into the worlds of Star Wars and Star Trek board games and RPGs. Find out how to string together some of the best experiences from both IPs at your table. === Nominate us for a Golden Geek Award! The nominations are now open here: https://boardgamegeek.com/geekawards/boardgame We'd appreciate your support as we aim to make this podcast a little bit...

Part two of March Gamer Madness is now! Enjoy our rundown of the 32 best-remaining games from the top non-IP-based themes in board games. Find out which one comes out on top in this year's bracket showdown. This year, we're looking at the most popular non-IP-based themes, meaning the best games featuring: Cats Zombies Aliens Robots Samurai Knights Vikings Cowboys === If you’re attending Long Islan...