Board Game Hot Takes

In Episode 121 we provide our hot take review of Terracotta Army covering the mechanisms, the production, and our overall feelings of the game. We also discuss a poll about having game nights ruined by other players, Chris give us a Terracotta Army themed cocktail, and then we discuss some games on our table including Clank! Catacombs, Draftosaurus, and Wingspan: Asia. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:34 Poll: Do you plan to take advantage of Holiday Sales for board games? 04:07 Terracotta Army board game description 06:16 Gameplay and Mechanisms 22:52 Production and Theme 25:50 Final Thoughts 29:44 Terracotta Army themed cocktail 32:16 Clank! Catacombs 39:30 Wingspan: Asia and Wingspan Nesting Box 45:30 Draftosaurus

In Episode 120 we discuss our top 5 board games with integrated themes.  We each pick our top 5 games where the theme really shines through in the mechanisms but we also call out where it misses. We also discuss a poll on creating and strengthening relationships through board games. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:52 Poll: Have you ever discovered or developed a very strong relationship through board games? 10:00 Top 5 Board Games with Integrated Themes 14:05 Wingspan 16:17 Clank! and Clank! Legacy 19:23 Golem 25:41 Eclipse: 2nd Dawn for the Galaxy 27:30 Nunami 29:44 Pan Am 32:34 Arkham Horror: The Card Game 34:21 Imhotep 36:47 Viticulture 41:18 Agricola 44:04 Root 48:06 Leaving Earth 51:04 Outlive 53:45 Final Girl 58:41 Baseball Highlights 2045

In Episode 119 we provide our hot take review of Teotihuacan: City of Gods covering the mechanisms, the production, and our overall feelings of the game. We also discuss a poll about having game nights ruined by other players, Chris give us a Teotihuacan themed cocktail, and then we discuss some games on our table including Victorian Masterminds, Cthulhu: Death May Die, and Paperback Adventures. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:39 Poll: Has another player ever ruined a game night for you? 11:15 Teotihuacan: City of Gods board game description 12:42 Gameplay and Mechanisms 29:11 Production and Theme 38:40 Final Thoughts 46:56 Teotihuacan: City of Gods themed cocktail 50:24 Victorian Masterminds 58:24 Envelopes of Cash 59:03 Cthulhu: Death May Die 64:04 Paperback Adventures

In Episode 118 we provide our hot take review of Carnegie covering the mechanisms, the production, and our overall feelings of the game. We also discuss a poll about where you learn about board games, Chris give us a Carnegie themed cocktail, and then we discuss some games on our table including Envelopes of Cash and Slay the Spire: The Board Game. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:37 Poll: Where do you learn about board games? 4:45 Carnegie board game description 6:32 Gameplay and Mechanisms 24:03 Production and Theme 30:21 Final Thoughts 37:05 Carnegie themed cocktail 40:16 Envelopes of Cash 49:40 Slay the Spire: The Board Game 56:52 Listener Shoutout

In Episode 117 we provide our hot take review of Cthulhu: Death May Die covering the mechanisms, the production, and our overall feelings of the game and then discuss some of the new mechanisms that are being added for the standalone expansion Fear of the Unknown. We also discuss a poll about competitive vs. cooperative games, and then we discuss some games on our table including Everdell: Mistwood, Can't Stop, Space Empires 4X, Agricola, and Last Will and give our future takes on Slay the Spire and Aqua Garden. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:46 Poll: Competitive vs. Cooperative? 7:57 Cthulhu: Death May Die board game description 9:48 Gameplay and Mechanisms 26:09 Production and Theme 31:00 Final Thoughts 36:23 Cthulhu: Death May Die - Fear of the Unknown preview 42:50 Cthulhu: Death May Die themed cocktail 47:23 Everdell: Mistwood and Everdell: Complete Collection 55:32 Space Empires 4X 1:02:20 Can't Stop 1:06:00 Last Will 1:12:07 Agricola 1:14:24 Future Take: Slay the Spire The Board Game 1:19:14 Aqua Garden 1:23:55 Listener Shoutout

In Episode 116 we discuss our top 5 favorite board game designers.  We talk about our favorite designers, the games that we've loved by them as well as some we haven't, and the games that we want to try next by them. We also discuss a poll on giving up while learning games. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:27 Poll: Have you ever given up while learning a game? 12:29 Top 5 favorite board game designers 16:03 Paolo Mori (Libertalia, Ethnos, Dogs of War) 17:21 Elizabeth Hargrave (Wingspan, Tussie Mussie, The Fox Experiment, Mariposas) 19:12 Vladimir Suchy (Underwater Cities, Messina 1347, Praga Caput Regni, Last Will, Pulsar 2849) 21:13 Ivan Lashin (Smartphone, Inc., Furnace, Frozen Frontier) 22:22 Adam Kwapinski (Nemesis, Lords of Hellas, Lords of Ragnarok) 24:43 Bruno Cathala (Five Tribes, Jamaica, 7 Wonders Duel, Kingdomino, Cyclades) 28:29 Vlaada Chvatil (Through the Ages, Codenames, Galaxy Trucker, Mage Knight) 30:37 Simone Luciani, Daniele Tascini, Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli (Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar, Lorenzo il Magnifico, Golem, Barrage, Grand Austria Hotel, Tiletum) 35:21 Stefan Feld (Castles of Burgundy, Bonfire, Carpe Diem, Trajan, Marrakesh, Notre Dame) 39:48 David Turczi (Anachrony, Voidfall,  Imperium: Legends, Imperium: Classics) 42:16 Jamey Stegmaier (Tapestry, Scythe, Viticulture, Charterstone, Red Rising) 46:12 Shem Phillips, Sam Macdonald (Architects of the West Kingdom, Paladins of the West Kingdom, Viscounts of the West Kingdom, Wayfarers of the South Tigris, Scholars of the South Tigris) 48:11 Cole Wehrle (Pax Pamir: 2nd Edition, Arcs, Root, John Company 2nd Edition) 51:02 Eric Lang ( Blood Rage, Rising Sun, Ankh: Gods of Egypt, Marvel United, Victorian Masterminds, Chaos in the Old World) 56:49 Paul Dennen (Clank!, Clank! In! Space!, Clank! Legacy!, Clank! Catacombs, Dune: Imperium, Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne) 1:02:10 Listener Shoutout

In Episode 115 we provide our hot take review of Agricola covering the mechanisms, the production, and our overall feelings of the game. We also discuss a poll about re-acquiring games, and then we discuss some games on our table including Gang of Dice, Fantastic Factories, and Bitoku and give our future take on Frozen Frontier. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 03:24 Poll: Have you ever re-acquired a board game? 10:12 Agricola Gameplay Description 11:17 Gameplay and Mechanisms 21:08 Production and Theme 32:43 Final Thoughts 41:52 Gang of Dice 47:06 Fantastic Factories 48:55 Bitoku 55:30 Future Take: Frozen Frontier 59:20 Listener Shoutout

In Episode 114 we provide our hot take review of Lorenzo il Magnifico covering the mechanisms, the production, and our overall feelings of the game. We also discuss a poll about scorepads vs. score trackers, and then we discuss some games on our table including Fantastic Factories, Cafe, and Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization... and Chris goes on a rant about subtitles on board games. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:53 Poll: Do you prefer Scorepads or Score Trackers? 09:10 Lorenzo il Magnifico Gameplay Description 10:34 Gameplay and Mechanisms 25:21 Production and Theme 31:24 Final Thoughts 35:59 Themed Cocktail of the Week 40:00 Fantastic Factories 48:32 Board game subtitles 51:14 Cafe 57:18 Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization 1:04:11 Listener Shoutout

In Episode 113 we revisit Eric Lang's troops-on-a-map trilogy with our Double Take reviews of Blood Rage, Rising Sun, and Ankh: Gods of Egypt and then we rank the trilogy. We also discuss a poll about intro version of popular heavy games, and then we discuss some games on our table including John Company, Beyond the Sun, and Caverna: The Cave Farmers. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:21 Poll: Do you want to see more intro versions of popular heavier games? 12:15 Eric Lang Trilogy Double Take 13:31 Blood Rage 23:20 Rising Sun 33:05 Ankh: Gods of Egypt 45:10 Trilogy Ranking 54:05 John Company 58:27 Beyond the Sun 1:00:45 Caverna: The Cave Farmers

In Episode 112 we discuss the top 5 incoming crowdfunded board games that each of us are excited to receive.  We take a look back at last year's list to see what's been delivered and how they hit for us as well. We also discuss a poll on Kickstarter vs. Gamefound. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:26 News 01:51 Poll: Kickstarter vs. Gamefound 08:27 Look back at 2020 Crowdfund episode 09:04 Dawn of Madness 11:25 Hyperspace and Cthulu Wars: Daemon Sultan 11:43 Sweet Mess 12:17 Frosthaven 14:17 2021 Crowdfund Episode Scorecard 14:35 Artisans of Splendent Vale 16:01 CoraQuest 17:12 Star Realms: Deluxe Nova Collection 21:21 Hyperspace 22:23 One Deck Galaxy 23:30 Age of Galaxy 23:21 They Live: Assault on Cable 54 24:39 Canvas 25:22 Paperback Adventures 25:56 Chaosmos: The Temple 28:02 Distilled 28:46 Now or Never 29:59 Shasn Azadi 31:56 Robot Quest Arena 33:05 Everdell: Newleaf and Mistwood 35:36 Fractal: Beyond the Void 37:55 Great Wall 40:21 Top 5 Incoming Crowdfund Games 2022 42:33 Ra 44:06 John Company 2nd Edition 44:53 Red Dust Rebellion 47:57 Distilled 50:03 Wayfarers of the South Tigris 51: 20 Legacy of Yu 52:01 One Deck Galaxy 53:56 Voidfall 58:47 Star Realms: Rise of Empires 1:03:55 Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies 1:06:17 Arcs 1:10:25 Lords of Ragnarok 1:13:48 La Granja Deluxe Master Set 1:15:54 Skyrise 1:18:00 Batman: Gotham City Chronicles Season 3 1:26:35 Final Thoughts - Motor City, Castles of Burgundy Special Edition, Age of Galaxy 1:31:50 Listener Shoutout