

Decision Space
Jacob Frydman, Brendan Hansen
Decision Space is a board game podcast about the decisions in games.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 29, 2023 • 1h 7min
My City, Pt. 1 - The Eternal Game
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.
Click on the link to join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you found this podcast!
Episode 113 - My City Part One, The Eternal Game
It's back to back (to back) Reiner Knizia deep dive episodes on Decision Space! In this week's voyage, we take on My City's eternal game mode. Next week, we'll check out the legacy game mode. There is a ton of great stuff in this box, but today we will lift up the lesser appreciated part of the game. Could this be a gem hiding in plain sight? Hop into the Interdecisional Spaceship and see what we think!
Pre-Planners
My City part 2 next week. Messina 1347 and The Resistance still coming soon!
Timestamps
Housekeeping - 0:00
Ratings and Reviews - 7:17
Game Background - 15:00
Rules Overview - 22:14
My City Eternal Game Deep Dive - 24:32
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Contact
We can be reached individually on Twitter at @jakefryd and @burnsidebh. You can also follow Decision Space on Twitter @DecisionSpa and talk to us there! If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!

Mar 22, 2023 • 1h 12min
Babylonia - Brendan and Maya Take the Case!
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.
Click on the link to join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you found this podcast!
Episode 112 - Babylonia
Surprise! Today, for a Decision Space first Brendan and Maya co-pilot the Interdecisional Spaceship alone, as they dive deep into the Decision Space of Reiner Knizia's (the artist also known as Rhino Knizz) Babylonia. Long time listeners will know that this is one of Brendan's all time favorite games, and with Maya here to keep him honest, it is safe to say that you're in for a good time.
Pre-Planners
My City next week! Messina 1347 and The Resistance still coming soon!
Timestamps
Ratings and Reviews - 0:00
Game Background - 4:28
Rules Overview - 5:52
Babylonia Deep Dive - 10:16
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Contact
We can be reached individually on Twitter at @jakefryd and @burnsidebh. You can also follow Decision Space on Twitter @DecisionSpa and talk to us there! If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!

Mar 15, 2023 • 1h 12min
Design Problems? Yo, These Games Solved ’Em!
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.
Click on the link to join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you found this podcast!
Episode 111 - Elegant Solutions to Design Problems
In this raucus episode, Brendan and Jake discuss design problems and the games that elegantly solve them. Join us on this journey through the many, many games tackling board game designs biggest problems.
Pre-Planners
My City next week! Messina 1347 and The Resistance still coming soon!
Timestamps
Housekeeping - 0:00
Raiders of the North Sea - 8:15
Aeon's End - 8:38
7 Wonders Duel - 10:33
My City - 15:55
Babylonia - 20:48
Messina 1347 - 23:19
Catan - 24:37
Just One - 29:25
KeyForge - 35:46
Dominion - 40:41
Arkham Horror: Living Card Game - 45:30
High Society - 49:41
Azul - 50:50
Five Tribes - 53:35
Air, Land, & Sea - 54:37
Cat in the Box - 55:42
Scout - 57:43
Kanagawa - 59:15
El Grande - 1:03:16
Tigris & Euphrates - 1:05:26
Cyclades - 1:08:49
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Contact
We can be reached individually on Twitter at @jakefryd and @burnsidebh. You can also follow Decision Space on Twitter @DecisionSpa and talk to us there! If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!

Mar 8, 2023 • 1h 11min
Six Recent Plays - Ark Nova, Through the Desert, SolForge Fusion, Bullet ♥, Startups, and District Noir
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.
Click on the link to join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you found this podcast!
Episode 110 - Six Recent Plays of Ark Nova, Through the Desert, SolForge Fusion, Bullet ♥, Startups, and District Noir
Brendan and I recently played six board games, and we discuss them in this week's episode. The games covered range from huge releases to small indie games, classic games to niche offerings, and living legends to first time designers. We hope you join us abord the Interdecisional Spaceship for this great conversation.
Pre-Planners
Messina 1347 and The Resistance coming soon!
Timestamps
Housekeeping - 0:00
District Noir - 4:04
SolForge Fusion - 10:23
Startups - 26:46
Bullet ♥ - 36:05
Through the Desert - 47:47
Ark Nova - 59:32
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Contact
We can be reached individually on Twitter at @jakefryd and @burnsidebh. You can also follow Decision Space on Twitter @DecisionSpa and talk to us there! If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!

Mar 2, 2023 • 1h 16min
Barrage - The Crew Gets Heavy with Special Guest Aurore Inara
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.
Click on the link to join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you found this podcast!
Episode 109 - Barrage
It's time to take this Interdecisional Spaceship for another deep dive. This time we are heading into the murky depths of Barrage's decision space, designed by Simone Luciani and Tommaso Battista. Fortunately, we won't have to go it alone. In this episode, we are joined by good friend Aurore Inara, who shares her insights to help see us through. Let's get this flight underway!
You can find more from Aurore on her competitive keyforge blog at https://timeshapers.com/. Aurore has also contributed a 7 Wonders Architects review and a Can't Stop Decision Guide to decisionspacepodcast.com.
Pre-Planners
Messina 1347 and The Resistance coming soon!
Timestamps
Housekeeping - 0:00
Ratings & Reviews - 2:55
Rules Overview - 9:08
Barrage Deep Dive - 13:05
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Contact
We can be reached individually on Twitter at @jakefryd and @burnsidebh. You can also follow Decision Space on Twitter @DecisionSpa and talk to us there! If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!

Feb 23, 2023 • 1h 13min
Asymmetry (What We Talk About)
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games and, apparently, video games!
Click on the link to join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you found this podcast!
Episode 108 - What We Talk About When We Talk About Asymmetry in Games
We are back with yet another "What We Talk About" episode! This time the pilots of our Interdecisional Spaceship discuss asymmetry. We talk about what games with asymmetry and what what separates these from "asymmetric games." At the end we talk about why asymmetry is good and bad in the games we love to play. We also perhaps discuss the most games ever in the single games. Just look at those timestamps!
Pre-Planners
Barrage will be our next deep dive review. Messina 1347 and The Resistance coming soon!
Timestamps
Housekeeping - 0:00
Asymmetry Discussion - 6:25
Chess - 8:15
Tigris & Euphrates - 10:54
7 Wonders - 11:30
Root - 13:05
Memoir '44 - 15:20
Jekyll vs. Hyde - 15:43
Cosmic Encounter - 18:19
Barrage - 21:05
Agricola - 23:54
Codenames - 27:13
Team 3 - 28:50
The Resistance - 29:31
Pandemic - 31:29
Spirit Island - 33:06
Fury of Dracula - 35:54
Vast: The Crystal Caverns - 44:42
Skulk Hollow - 45:13
Raptor - 45:41
BattleCON - 46:07
Net Runner - 49:09
Magic: The Gathering - 49:30
Space Cadets - 51:21
Fugitive - 51:36
Letters from White Chapel - 51:49
Mr. Jack - 52:16
Keyforge - 1:02:40
The Castles of Burgundy - 1:05:42
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Contact
We can be reached individually on Twitter at @jakefryd and @burnsidebh. You can also follow Decision Space on Twitter @DecisionSpa and talk to us there! If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!

Feb 15, 2023 • 1h 2min
Campaign Games, Legacy Games, and a Game Design Case Study
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games and, apparently, video games!
Click on the link to join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you found this podcast!
Episode 107 - Campaign Games, Legacy Games, and Game Design Case Study
In this episode, our intrepid co-pilot hosts first dive into the topic of campaign games and all the ways they are great and all the ways they are not. We discuss the campaign games we've played to date and how much of them we have actually finished. In the second part of the episode, we dive into a design case study for Brendan's game signed with Pandasaurus under the working title "End the Empire." Therein, Brendan discusses how he has tackled the exciting opportunity of extending his game with a campaign module. Jake take's the opportunity to pick at Brendan's choices, and tell him how he could or should have chosen differently. Brendan calls Jake an imperialist tyrant, so things are pretty much going normal over here. Why don't you hop into our Interdecisional Spaceship and come along for the ride.
Pre-Planners
Barrage will be our next deep dive review. Messina 1347 and The Resistance coming soon!
Timestamps
Housekeeping - 0:00
Part 1 on Campaign Games - 1:44
My City - 2:15
Pandemic Legacy Season 1 - 3:20
Arkham Horror: the Living Card Game - 5:17
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion - 6:27
My City (again) - 6:40
The Crew Deep Sea - 9:43
Isle of Cats - 21:06
Dungeons and Dragons - 24:42
Dead Cells - 27:55
TIME Stories - 30:58
Part 2 End the Empire Case Study - 35:51
Terraforming - Mars 38:02
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Contact
We can be reached individually on Twitter at @jakefryd and @burnsidebh. You can also follow Decision Space on Twitter @DecisionSpa and talk to us there! If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!

Feb 8, 2023 • 1h 3min
Coloretto (and a Little Bit Zooloretto) - The One Where Jake Says Something Really Stupid
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games and, apparently, video games!
Click on the link to join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you found this podcast!
Episode 106 - Coloretto and a Little Bit Zooloretto
We're back with an episode deep dive at long last last! Today, we're covering Coloretto, but that's not all. We also touch on Coloretto's sequal Zooloretto as well! In this episode Jake misspeaks in the worst way, Brendan laughs at Jake, and we have a jolly good time discussing an amazing example of less is more gameplay.
Pre-Planners
Barrage will be our next deep dive review. Messina 1347 and The Resistance coming soon!
Timestamps
Housekeeping - 0:00
Ratings and Slogans - 4:14
Rules Overview - 9:44
Coloretto Deep Dive - 12:11
Zooloretto - 48:29
Final Thoughts -57:57
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Contact
We can be reached individually on Twitter at @jakefryd and @burnsidebh. You can also follow Decision Space on Twitter @DecisionSpa and talk to us there! If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!

Feb 1, 2023 • 1h 7min
Elegance (What We Talk About)
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games and, apparently, video games!
Click on the link to join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you found this podcast!
Episode 105 - What We Talk About When We Talk About Elegance
We promised an inelegant conversation and oh boy do we ever deliver on that. In this what we talk about episode, we begin with a definition of elegance and then struggle to apply that definition to board games. Brendan thinks it is about being ingenious. Jake thinks it is about style. However, both of our intrepid hosts can agree on some overall trends that tend to make a game more likely to be elegant than not. As we think through and discuss this topic, we also discuss a whole bunch of games. Hope you are up for a bumpy one because the Interdecisional Spaceship is now sailing, elegantly, through space.
Pre-Planners
Coloretto and Zooloretto coming next week, Barrage coming soon!
Timestamps
Intro - 0:00
Pandemic - 10:41
San Francisco - 14:47
Root - 25:31
Lost Ruins of Arnak - 26:06
Living Forest - 27:06
Castles of Burgundy - 29:09
Castles of Tuscany - 30:52
Cosmic Frog - 34:38
Azul - 36:51
The Fox in the Forest - 39:46
Lost Cities - 43:05
Patchwork - 46:12
Tigris & Euphrates - 48:49
Dominion - 52:35
Jenga - 53:41
El Grande - 55:47
Tiletum - 57:02
Cascadia - 58:28
Carpe Diem - 1:00:23
Bonfire - 1:01:23
In the Year of the Dragon - 1:02:23
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Contact
We can be reached individually on Twitter at @jakefryd and @burnsidebh. You can also follow Decision Space on Twitter @DecisionSpa and talk to us there! If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!

Jan 27, 2023 • 1h 1min
BONUS EPISODE - Things We Hate About Our Favorite Games
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games and, apparently, video games!
Click on the link to join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you found this podcast!
Episode 104 - Things We Hate About Games We Love and Things We Love About Games We Hate
What's this?! A full bonus episode of Decision Space is in your feed thanks to our incredibly generous patreon supporters. In this episode, we discuss a topic selected by our patrons: the worst parts of our favorite games and the best parts about our least favorite games. It's a fun topic and then Brendan gets himself in trouble at the very end, ruining everything! Hop into our Interdecisional Spaceship for the second time this week and let's get lost.
Pre-Planners
Coloretto and Zooloretto coming next week, Barrage coming soon!
Timestamps
Castles of Burgundy - 4:27
Cosmic Encounter - 10:16
Bruges - 14:45
Monolith Arena - 20:01
Broom Service - 26:02
Babylonia - 31:55
Splendor - 36:28
Res Arcana - 38:38
Catacombs - 46:05
Root - 50:38
Terraforming Mars - 54:07
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Contact
We can be reached individually on Twitter at @jakefryd and @burnsidebh. You can also follow Decision Space on Twitter @DecisionSpa and talk to us there! If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!


