Board Game Barrage

Sometimes once is enough, you know? Doesn't mean it was bad, but it might just be that you can have too much of a good thing. We're talking about board games that we'd recommend everyone play once, but only once. Before we hit and run, we talk about Kaivai, East India Companies, and Vantage.

01:44 - Kaivai
10:58 - Feya's Swamp
13:15 - East India Companies
21:31 - Vantage
39:41 - Games to play only once
41:22 - War of the Ring: Seco...

Gen Con! Where all the cool games are, before you even know they're cool. Or hot! We've got you covered, if you want to know what all the best stuff coming out of Indianapolis is going to before before anyone else, then look no further than this episode. Five games each that we're excited to hear more about at the show! Before we face the heat, we talk about Line of Fire: Burnt Moon, and Rise.

02:51 - Line of Fire: Burnt Moon
11:57...

It's time again to turn the tables and get your take, to feel out the collective tastes of you, the listeners of the show. It's the annual Listener Top 20! You've been sending in all of your lists (thank you!), I've been compiling all of the data (you're welcome!) - and here it is, in a convenient list format. Before we ask the audience, we talk about Flip 7, Hot Streak, and Kolejka.

02:37 - Flip 7
10:40 - Hot Streak
19:47 - Kolejk...

When playing games it's easy to fall into the trap of over-anaylsing turns, or questioning whether the move we made was the right one, or even allowing people to roll back whole turns - so we're asking if maybe we've been wrong this whole time, and we should just ... embrace it? Are mistakes interesting? Before we have any regrets, we talk about Apiary, Wizards Cup, and Wroth.

02:43 - Apiary
13:43 - Wizards Cup
20:41 - Wroth
31:37 ...

A dazzling place you never knew ... until now that is! We're diving deep on beloved designer Cole Wehrle in another designer spotlight. We dig back into his Roots, and explore the many Arcs that led to his Oath to revolutionize thematic board games. Before our traffic gets infamous, we talk about Toy Battle, Subjective, and Wild Tiled West.

03:43 - Toy Battle
13:51 - Subjective
22:11 - Wild Tiled West
30:43 - Designer Spotlight: Co...

Well, we finally did it. We played CATAN, and it was ... good! And then we started wondering, is there anything that's done quite the same thing that that game is doing? And then that got us wondering how many games there are like that, where it's genuinely hard to say that nothing has done it better since. And then that got us wondering if, instead of all this wondering, we should record a podcast episode. Before we wander, we tal...

Happy 333! In honour of our three hundred and thirty third episode, BoardGameGeek has decided to host an emergency session of the Golden Geek Awards, and we're here to tell you about all the nominees that satisfy the crucial conditions of being (1) good games (2) we played (3) last year. Before we open our third eye, we also talk about Einfach Genial 3D, Gazebo, and Stalk Exchange.

02:28 - Einfach Genial 3D
11:48 - Gazebo
19:08 - S...

I would say that, for the most part, there's very little we won't play - but we also know what we like, and especially what we don't like. Every so often a game gets suggested that we have to say "literally anything but" to. Before we pass hard, we talk about TRICKTAKERs, Iquazú, and Hubworld: Aidalon.

02:49 - TRICKTAKERs
11:52 - Iquazú
21:47 - Hubworld: Aidalon
31:03 - Hard pass games
32:11 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Nego...

We've spent a lot of time over the years singing the praises of the games we love, but they can't be perfect right? Surely there's something, one little thing, that bugs us - a small blemish in our otherwise most beloved games? Before we come clean, we talk about Classified Information, Starline Hill, Panda Spin, and SHASN: AZADI.

03:13 - Classified Information
11:54 - Starline Hill
13:35 - Panda Spin
25:32 - SHASN: AZADI
41:56 - T...

We just got back from Dice Tower West, so you know what that means ... bunches and bunches of games! Between the convention, and the meetup, and just hanging out at Mark's place, we got a lot of great stuff played, and we're going to give you all the highlights, with such treats as Moon Colony Bloodbath, Out of Sorts, and Feierabend.

04:16 - Corporate America
12:19 - Acquire
18:09 - Inside Job
23:12 - Feierabend / Finishing Time
33...

I'm not sure why you'd make a hall of fame that's not also a sidewalk, but that's exactly what BoardGameGeek have gone and done - they've curated 25 games into their hall of fame, and we're here to judge them for their choices. It's weird that they didn't come to us first, honestly. Before we deck the halls, we talk about Arborea, Beyond the Horizon, and Taiwan Night Market.

02:49 - Arborea
10:32 - Beyond the Horizon
20:43 - Taiwan...

Okay, pay attention, this is gonna be different! We're looking at the rest of 2025, deciding what we think the most well received games of the year are going to be - but then we're going to be bidding on them, auction style. Whoever's slate ends up performing best in their categories at the end of the year gets all the glory ... and if you vote on who you think is going to win, you could get $50! Before we're going, going, gone, we...

It's finally time to cap it all off with the cream of the cream, Mark and Neilan's final set of ten games each! These are the games that we think are the pinnacle of our respective tastes, that we'd never turn down, that any person ought to try at least once. It's the Top 10 Games of All-Time!

01:48 - Mark's #10 - Age of Steam
08:17 - Neilan's #10 - Brass: Birmingham
11:21 - Mark's #9 - Arboretum
17:35 - Neilan's #9 - Time's Up!
20...

Neilan's back to continue the journey down the lazy river of cardboard that is his top 50 board games of all time. It's games 30 through 11! I just counted, and that's twenty amazing games that I can't wait to tell you all about! 

00:59 - #30 - Gloomhaven
02:58 - #29 - War Story: Occupied France
07:35 - #28 - Gaia Project
10:17 - #27 - Ark Nova
12:26 - #26 - Kemet
14:55 - #25 - Yellow & Yangtze
17:09 - #24 - Undaunted: Stalingrad
...

And back to Mark! It's the soggy middle of his top 50, or as he insists on calling it, his numbers 30 through 11. That is twenty more delicious games, and he's here to tell you all about them while we continue to berate and praise him for his choices.

01:20 - #30 - Anomia
05:12 - #29 - Sidereal Confluence
08:47 - #28 - Chicago Express
11:46 - #27 - Rise & Fall
16:34 - #26 - Tigris & Euphrates
19:14 - #25 - Hegemony: Lead Your Clas...

It's meeeeeeeeeee! So if you care to find my top 50 list, look right here. The first twenty incredible games on the list that early critics are calling "surprisingly tasteful" and "delightfully roomy" is finally yours to consume. It's the greatest board games of all-time, Neilan edition!

01:10 - #50 - Anachrony
03:56 - #49 - The Vale of Eternity
05:47 - #48 - Arcs
09:05 - #47 - Bus
11:26 - #46 - Wilmot's Warehouse
13:03 - #45 - Sp...

It's time! The grand spectacle that is our greatest games of all time is here at last! We're breaking things out a bit differently this year, so Mark's taking center stage while Kellen & Neilan mock his choices. It's the first twenty games from his list, so games 50 through 31. LET'S GOOOO!

01:53 - #50 - Cthulhu Wars
03:23 - #49 - Ricochet Robots
05:21 - #48 - The Voyages of Marco Polo
08:22 - #47 - Zoo Vadis
10:53 - #46 - Wilmot'...

As we approach the end of 2024, it's about time we stop, take stock, and dare I say look back at the year that's been. The highs, the lows, the mids - all the stars are here, and we're going to break them down for you with some of our favourite games, and biggest moments, and general assessment of the year that's been. Before we reflect, we talk about Let's Go! To Japan, Mombasa, and The Gang.

01:52 - Let's Go! To Japan
10:17 - Mo...

Gobble Bobble, here comes trouble in the form of a pairing we never thought we'd see - Bob and the Ghost Turkey have delivered us another holiday nightmare. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Before we tuck in, we talk about Tapple, Mini Rails, and Naishi.

05:48 - Tapple
11:07 - Mini Rails
17:45 - Naishi
22:56 - BGBBOB Bird Games
24:45 - ICECOOL
24:52 - Root
26:17 - Rook
26:26 - Songbirds
28:05 - Fancy Feathers
28:15 - The Bird Told Me...