

Talk Cardboard
No Pun Included
A Board Game Podcast by No Pun Included
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 15, 2024 • 1h 17min
Salton Sea, Arcs
Discover the contrasting first impressions of board games 'Arcs' and 'Salton Sea'. Explore the importance of board game accessibility and the strategic gameplay mechanics in a lithium extraction game. Delve into the complexities of 'Arcs' and its unique space opera narrative experience.

Mar 11, 2024 • 1h 7min
7th Citadel, Wyrmspan
This episode we only cover two games, but we had so much to say it ended up being a full length episode anyway. Which isn’t a surprise really when you end up with two follow ups for two massively succesful games. It’s the follow-up episode! And if you strain your thinking really hard, you could even argue that this very episode is a follow up to previous episodes, and thus thematically represents the games themselves. It’s nice when things like that line up perfectly. Please enjoy our chatter on 7th Citadel (sequel to 7th Continent) and Wyrmspan (sequel to Wingspan).
If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded
0:00 Cold Open
0:38 Intro
2:44 7th Citadel
34:15 Wyrmspan

Feb 19, 2024 • 59min
Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze, Witchcraft!, Revive
The podcast features three good board games, including a co-op boss battler, a solo deck-builder, and a very good EUORGAME. Hosts discuss gameplay strategies, comic characters, and a post-apocalyptic survival game.

Feb 5, 2024 • 1h 17min
Age of Innovation, Raising Robots, Sidereal Confluence: Bifurcation
A remake, a new take and an expansion walk into a bar. The barman says, “what’ll it be?” They all reply “something fresh.”
Was that too mean? I think that was too mean, especially since at least (and also at most) two of the games discussed in this episode are pretty great. And one of them is okay. We revisit the classic Terra Mystica in it’s new more thematically demure incarnation, we explore how Raising Robots riffs on Wingspan and Efka finally gets to play the expansion to his favourite game of all time - Sidereal Confluence. Let me tell you folks - it’s been bifurcated.
If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded
0:00 Cold Open
2:48 Intro
3:43 Age of Innovation: A Terra Mystica Game
33:22 Raising Robots
53:23 Sidereal Confluence: Bifurcation

Jan 22, 2024 • 1h 16min
Dune: War for Arrakis, Daybreak, Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West
Board games with eco themes are becoming popular, such as Daybreak and Dune: War for Arrakis. The hosts also discuss Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West and the importance of second-hand market for board games. They explore the concept of minimizing waste and making informed purchasing decisions. The gameplay and objectives of Dune: War for Arrakis are explained, and they delve into the game dynamics of the Dune board game. Daybreak is a cooperative game focused on stopping global warming. The hosts share their experience playing Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West and express their dislike for the game. They discuss bonus episodes, Patreon, and tease upcoming discussions on Divinity: Original Sin and Mystic Vale.

Dec 25, 2023 • 1h 13min
Dune: Imperium - Uprising, Most Anticipated 2024
Celebrating a year of Talk Cardboard, the hosts revisit the most anticipated games for 2023 and share their picks for 2024. They discuss Dune: Imperium - Uprising, Efka's game of the year, and explore its interconnected mechanisms. They also reflect on their favorite games of the year and tease a special surprise at the end of the episode.

Dec 4, 2023 • 1h 26min
Sail, Trolls and Princesses, Evacuation
The podcast covers various interesting topics, including board games that lacked warmth, challenges of non-verbal communication in a game, frustrations of playing hard video games, bizarre themes in the Trolls and Princesses board game, incorporation of folk tales into games, and the setting and gameplay of 'Evacuation'

Nov 13, 2023 • 59min
Rob Daviau Talks Legacy, Empire’s End, Ready Set Bet, Mind Space
The Talk Cardboard podcast covers a variety of interesting topics including the collapse of an empire in Empire's End, real time horse gambling in Ready Set Bet, and the development of legacy games with Rob Daviau. They also critique the rule book of Mind Space and discuss audience recommendations and all-time favorites.

Oct 30, 2023 • 1h 51min
Earthborne Rangers, Forest Shuffle, Planta Nubo, Sonny Liew and 1819: Singapore
In this podcast, the guest Sonny Liew talks about a board game themed around environmental issues. The hosts discuss the rise of societally conscious board games and the reduction of wasteful materials. They explore three interesting games: Earthborne Rangers, Forest Shuffle, and Planta Nubo. They also interview Sonny Liew about his two board games called 1819: Singapore. Listen to this entertaining episode celebrating eco-friendly games and engaging gameplay.

Oct 16, 2023 • 1h 24min
The Best of Spiel Essen 2023
What’s the biggest event of the year? That’s right, it’s the DFS Winter Mega Sale! But right after that comes Essen Spiel, or as it is now known: Spiel Essen. Every year, just under two hundred thousand board gamers flock to an industrial city in Germany to partake in a mass consumption event where over a thousand board game titles are released over the course of one weekend and this year we have played ALL OF THEM.
Or at least tried to. We played twenty five, ate a kebab and fell asleep. But now, on this one and only episode of Talk Cardboard, we’ll rank them from worst to best and talk about each one a little bit.
If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded
On to the timestamps:
0:56 Intro
Unranked Games:
3:13 Karvi
4:02 El Grande
5:30 Bruxelles 1893
7:30 Nana/Trio
Ranked Games:
10:25 Here Comes The Dog
12:00 Stich für Stich
13:59 Sunrise Lane
16:32 Couture
20:19 Ninja Masters
23:19 Havalandi
27:55 Tangram City
32:30 Quicksand
36:15 Extravaganza
39:14 Nuts a Go Go
43:50 Viking Sea-Saw
47:28 Tiger and Dragon
51:23 White Castle
55:55 Come Sail Away
1:00:41 The Top 3 Games from Spiel