Decision Space

Episode 283- Indonesia

Pete is joined by Arnie, Jared and Luke to discuss Splotter's 2005 economic masterpiece Indonesia.  These 4 have played the game sixteen times together this year and have learned a lot.  Listen to their tales of business blunder and triumph!

Arnie's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@analog_arnie

Luke's Podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/off-board-podcast/

Jared has nothing going on worth shar...

Episode 282- Gen Con Impressions

Pete and Paul recap their Gen Con experience and give quick impressions of games they picked up there!

Time Stamps 13:15- Trick to the Future 16:15- Jibber Jabble 20:30- Jusayo 24:30- Stonk Market 29:00- The Glorious Guilds of Buttonville 35:30- Soundwave Length 39:00- Grandma I'm Hungry 44:15- Sushi Go Chef's Party 48:00- Brave and Bold Bag Building Combat Game 52:15- Looney Tunes Hunting Wabbits 5...

Episode 281- Libertalia and Reimplementations

Paul, Brendan, and Pete discuss the benefits and potential pitfalls of making new editions of old games.  Then they deep dive Paolo Mori's 2012 classic Libertalia and the excellent update from Stonemaier Games in 2022's Winds of Galecrest.

Time Stamps 2:40- second editions and reimplementations 22:00- Libertalia deep dive

Preplanners

Pete and Paul are going to chat about fresh pl...

Episode 280- Listener Questions

We open the mail bag to answer a bunch of questions from the Decision Space community!

Time Stamps 2:15- who would win? 4:50- what is a YOU game? 9:00- design choice you disagree with 18:00- design choice you love 23:20- games for roommates 27:30- games you wish existed 34:30- bad games we like 40:00- who you want to play a game with 44:30- spoiler strategies 50:00- emotional responses to games 53:0...

Episode 279- Sandbox Objectives and Frosted Blooms

This week Brendan tries to convince his co-hosts that "sandbox objectives" and "point salad" are not not the same thing.  Jake isn't convinced.  Also the gang deep dives the new polyomino game Frosted Blooms, designed by Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc.

Time Stamps 3:20- sandbox objective systems 30:00- Frosted Blooms deep dive

Preplanners

Next week is listener ques...

Episode 278- Who, What, When, Where, Why, How?

That types of questions do games ask us as players?  When should I score?  Who can I trust? Why did they do that?  How should I sequence this?  This week we dig into what the central questions are in different games and think about how this can help us as players and designers.

Time Stamps4:30- Who? 18:00- What? 26:00- When? 34:00- Where? 42:00- Why? 54:00- How?

...

Episode 277- Deckbuilding 301 and Slay the Spire

Trick-taking wiz Taylor Reiner joins Pete, Jake, and Brendan to take the next step on our deckbuilding exploration.  This time we're going digital!  How do games like Balatro and Slay the Spire build on physical games and where do they diverge?  Also how are we seeing the reverse influence on tabletop games? Check out Taylor's amazing Youtube Channel: https://www.yout...

Episode 276- SD HistCon North 2026

Pete is joined by Cardner Babakitis of Odd Candy Games and Buried Giant Studios.  They discuss the historical games they played at the inaugural SD HistCon North.   Check out Cardner's games here: https://www.oddcandygames.com/

Time Stamps

15:00- Hellraisers in Kanawha County 19:30- An Infamous Traffic 2nd Edition 27:30- Baltic Empires 33:00- Penitent 42:00- Nicaea 49:00- John Comp...

Episode 275- Inside the Deck

This week Jake, Paul, and Brendan explore the different deck structures of card games.  Things get mathy in this design focused discussion about how combinations of suits and numbers create different decision spaces in games. 

Time Stamps

2:00- Air Land and Sea 13:00- The Fox in the Forest 21:45- Jekyll vs Hyde 27:45- Dracula vs Van Helsing 34:30- Coloretto 42:00- Pet Quartet 45:00- Flip 7 50:...

Episode 274- 2010-2014 Showdown

All four hosts are together to play a game as a way to choose a consensus list of the best board games from the early 2010's.  The format here is from April Mitchell's This/That Showdown: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/463458/thisthat-showdown 

Games Mentioned

BattleCon, Keyflower, The Resistance Avalon, The Castles of Burgundy, The Great Zimbabwe, Trajan, Charms, Haggis, Hanabi, Glen ...

Episode 273- dnup and Iterative Game Design

In this episode we talk about iterative game design.  Why do designers go back to ideas they've already explored?  On that note, we also discuss the new hotness dnup and how designer Kai Kajino built it upon the foundation of his modern classic hit Scout.

Timestamps

3:30- iterative design 32:20- Scout 46:00- dnup

Preplanners

We have another decade draft coming up soon!

Music a...

Episode 272- The Old King's Crown

Pete is joined by Jaffles ( https://www.youtube.com/@Jaffles-gaming ) to do a deep dive of the hottest game from last year: The Old King's Crown.  They also chat about what types of games inspire players to dig deep and get obsessed.

Timestamps

5:00- why we get obsessed with games 18:15- intro to Old King's Crown 24:00- personal reviews 27:30- exploring the decision space 47:15- spring decisi...

Episode 271- Hand Management

Pete and Brendan dissect one of the most ubiquitous mechanisms in tabletop games: hand management.  What kinds of puzzles can a hand of cards present to players and what makes it so timelessly satisfying?

Timestamps

3:00- defining hand management 18:00- why we love hand management 29:00- types of hand management 36:15- trick-taking and ladder climbing 42:45- hand management as a core mechanism 57:...

Episode 270- Interview with Phil Walker-Harding

Paul sits down for a wonderfully insightful discussion with game designer Phil Walker-Harding.  Last week's tier list episode should have you primed to get into this man's head!  They discuss game inspiration and how to design in ways that can heal game related trauma.

Timestamps

1:45- how Phil got into design 10:35- design philosophy 25:30- balancing games 36:30- what Phil...

Episode 269- Phil Walker Harding Tier List

Paul gets to rate every game in the prolific catalogue of his favorite designer: Phil Walker Harding.  He's joined by Brendan and the Dice Tower's Chris Yi for this monumental task.  

Timestamps

8:30- Archaeology the New Expedition 12:00- Dungeon Raiders 15:15- Pack of Heroes 19:00- Sushi Go / Sushi Go Party 28:45- Sushi Roll 34:15- Cacao 41:00- Imhotep / Imhotep the Duel 4...

Episode 268- Geekway Convention Plays 2026

Jake and Pete recap the best weekend of the year: Geekway to the West!  They discuss their favorite new plays, old favorites, and also give first impressions of some hot new titles.  

Timestamps

17:00- Feya's Swamp 21:50- Dark Pact 28:10- Market Fresh 34:40- I'm the Boss 38:45- Auf Teufel Komm Raus 43:00- Lowenherz 51:30- John Company Second Edition 59:00- Broom Service 1:0...

Episode 267- Shared Infrastructure Games and Bus

Time to deep dive the new hotness... from 1999.  In this episode we do a deep dive on Splotter's first major hit Bus and discuss other shared infrastructure games.  Why are we drawn to these crowded, brutal logistics puzzles?

Timestamps

3:00- shared infrastructure games 32:00- Bus deep dive

Other Games Mentioned

Barrage, Brass Birmingham, Medina, Keyflower, Food Chain Ma...

Episode 266- Storytelling with Cole Wehrle

Big day here for Pete.  In this episode he chats one on one with Cole Wehrle from Buried Giant Studios.  They talk a lot about player agency, emergent storytelling, and what it's like the make and play long, heavy games.  

Timestamps

1:00- how Cole thinks about making games 18:45- storytelling in games 40:00- long heavy games 49:30- agency and fairness 59:20- fun 1:04...

Episode 265- Euro Games

"Euro" has been used as a descriptor for decades and it is inarguable that its meaning has changed over time.  On this episode, the hosts try to hash out what the word means today and how that differs from the "old school" design philosophy.  Also, the episode ends with an unhinged exploration of what games in the BGG top 100 could conceivably be classified as Euros.  

(also just a warnin...