Talk Cardboard

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.

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.

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

This podcast covers a variety of topics, including the games Vindication, Fit to Print, and Kinfire Chronicles: Night's Fall. The hosts discuss the charm of Fit to Print's setting and artwork, share their thoughts on real-time games, and explore the negative effects of overselling Kickstarter projects. They also discuss their initial impressions of Kinfire Chronicles and highlight the need for improved accessibility in board games.

Comic book and role-playing game writer Kieron Gillen joins the podcast to discuss his comic book DIE. They also review the trick-taking game Schadenfreude, chat about the absurd comedy Freelancers, and take a look at Great Western Trail: New Zealand. Gillen explores metafictionality in games and discusses his background in games journalism. The speakers share their mixed experiences playing Great Western Trail: New Zealand and discuss the new sheep shearing scoring spaces in the game.

From Earth to Space to the void in between, the hosts review the card game Earth, the adorable abstract game Lacuna, and share their first impressions of the heavy euro game Voidfall. They discuss the challenges of shuffling cards and the concept of 'patina editions'. They also express mixed feelings about combat in a game and explore the origins of Monopoly as a simulation game. Plus, they discuss bonus episode content and reveal the game of the episode as Lacuna.

What if we don’t make games that last forever is the question Andrew Navaro, head of Earthborne Games is asking us. His answer is Earthborne Rangers, a game that will perish, but not before it lands on our doorsteps. On this episode of Talk Cardboard we interview Andrew about Earthborne Rangers and his vision for a more eco-responsible board game scene. We’ve also got reviews for Spiel des Jahres winner Dorfromantik: The Board game that’s all about a chill time laying tiles, Ancient Realms - a little game that fits in your pocket from the designer of Sprawlopolis and Aeon’s End: Legacy of Gravehold - big legacy campaign deckbuilder that’s more ambitious than it is impressive. If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded On to the timestamps: 5:16 Audience Correspondence: Obsession 13:59 Ancient Realm 28:02 Dorfromantik: The Board Game 39:53 Audience Correspondence: NPI Directed by 43:43 Sustainable Board Games with Andrew Navaro (Interview) 1:15:09 Aeon's End: Legacy of Gravehold 1:40:46 Audience Correspondence: Rulebook Assessment

It’s time to get schooled! Always wanted to say that and finally I have a good reason because today’s guest on the show is none other than Zoe Bee who’ll teach us about board games as educational tools. Oh but wait, there’s also board game reviews. A hot new release that asks us to save cats (again) - Race to the Raft, a hot old classic that’s got a shiny new coat - Ra, and a hot hidden gem that we finally got around to playing - Obsession. If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded On to the timestamps: 00:00 Cold Open 3:01 Audience Correspondence - NPI Geometry 8:28 Race to the Raft 31:08 Audience Correspondence - Hidden Movement 33:24 Ra 45:59 Board Game Education with Zoe Bee 1:12:47 Obsession: Pride, Intrigue, and Prejudice in Victorian England

Everybody always says, “Talk Cardboard is paving the way in board game podcasting!” and this episode it’s certainly true. We have biking, hiking, kayaking, train-ing, and hunting (along routes), which is the most path in any board game podcast ever. On today’s episode we’ll cover the cute but deadly Trailblazers, the old fashioned but sleek Isle of Trains and the gorgeous, voluptuous and strange Beast. If you have personal experiences to share about any games discussed in this episode or any topic that's dear to your heart - we’d love to hear from you. Please write to: elaine@nopunincluded.com If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded On to the timestamps: 6:12 Audience Correspondence: Methods of Teaching Games 9:32 Trailblazers 29:53 Isle of Trains: All Aboard 47:11 Audience Correspondence: Imperial Onions 52:26 Beast 1:17:15 Elaine hates Hidden Movement games

Sometimes you sit down to play some board games for a future podcast episode and you find yourself not particularly digging any of them? It happens. It’s a thing. It could happen to you. This week it happened to us. Whilst we weren’t especially jazzed about Hamlet, didn’t find Undaunted: Battle of Britain worth the trouble and at least one of us really didn’t get on with Autobahn, that doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t like them either. Or maybe you’ve already played them and disagree - dear listener, you should write in. If you have personal experiences to share about any games discussed in this episode or any topic that's dear to your heart - we’d love to hear from you. Please write to: elaine@nopunincluded.com If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded On to the timestamps: 5:55 Audience Correspondence: Past Games 10:21 Undaunted: Battle of Britain 33:44 Hamlet 46:17 Audience Correspondence: How do you learn games? 51:07 Autobahn