Board Game Hot Takes

In Episode 101 we provide our hot take review of Circadians: Chaos Order covering the mechanisms, the production, and our overall feelings of the game. We discuss a poll about other player's attitudes impacting your feelings about a game and then we discuss some games on our table including Radlands, Diplomacy, and Space Station Phoenix. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:29 Poll: Does other player's attitude impact your feelings about a game 13:24 Circadians: Chaos Order Gameplay Description 16:46 Gameplay and Mechanisms 39:56 Production and Theme 49:15 Final Thoughts 55:39 Themed Cocktail of the Week 59:15 Radlands 1:07:50 Diplomacy 1:14:58 Space Station Phoenix 1:20:13 Listener Shoutout

Episode 100 is our listener appreciation episode where we highlight the board games that our listeners love, get to hear some of our listener's voices, and draw the winner of our giveaway from the listeners that contributed with their favorite games. We also discuss a poll on how listener's found their favorite board game podcasts. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 02:33 Poll: Finding Podcasts 10:21 Listener's Favorite Games (Some games mentioned briefly: Quantum, Silver, Aldr: The High Sage, World's Fair 1893, Gaia Project, Wonderland's War, Castell, Cosmic Frog, Happy Salmon, Star Realms, Inis) 17:10 #20 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 18:01 #19 - Marvel Champions 19:19 #18 - Great Western Trail 19:35 #17 - Anachrony 20:11 - Listener Voice: Tapestry / Wingspan 21:35 #16 - Dominion 23:16 #15 - Cascadia 24:35 #14 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game 25:28 #13 - Wingspan 28:15 #12 - Lost Ruins of Arnak 29:39 - Listener Voice: The Lord of the Rings TCG 30:45 #11 - Brass: Birmingham 33:11 #10 - Viticulture 35:00 #9 - Scythe 36:16 #8 - Ark Nova 37:02 - Listener Voice: Spirit Island 38:48 #7 - Dune: Imperium 39:26 #6 - Root 40:35 #5 - Everdell 41:56 #4 - Terraforming Mars 43:30 Listener Voice: Carcasonne 44:50 #3 - Sprit Island 48:48 #2 - Gloomhaven 51:01 #1 - The Castles of Burgundy 52:41 - BGHT compared to listeners 56:04 Listener Voice: Empires of the Void II 1:00:07 Winner Drawing

In Episode 99 we finish counting down our top 30 Board Games of all time with numbers 1-10. We also discuss a poll on favorite ways to learn new board games Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:53 Poll: Learning Board Games 09:22 Top Games of All Time 09:52 Chris #10 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar 12:03 Tim #10 - Wonderland's War 14:47 Adam #10 - Radlands 16:49 Chris #9 - Wonderland's War 19:18 Adam #9 - Wonderland's War 20:09 Tim #9 - La Granja 21:48 Chris #8 - Outlive 25:53 Tim #8 - Clank! 27:04 Adam #8 - Inis 30:05 Chris #7 - Dune: Imperium 32:24 Tim #7 - Gaia Project 35:07 Adam #7 - Arcs 37:52 Chris #6 - Ark Nova 39:50 Tim #6 - Ark Nova 42:02 Adam #6 - Smartphone, Inc. 44:23 Chris #5 - Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy 46:46 Adam #5 - Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy 47:51 Tim #5 - Castles of Burgundy 49:58 Chris #4 - Nemesis 53:33 Tim #4 - Everdell 56:20 Adam #4 - The Expanse 59:15 Chris #3 - Blood Rage 1:00:38 Tim #3 - Blood Rage 1:01:40 Adam #3 - Anachrony 1:02:40 Chris #2 - Terraforming Mars 1:06:10 Tim #2 - Tapestry 1:10:13 Adam #2 - Dune: Imperium 1:11:10 Chris #1 - Tapestry 1:14:20 Tim #1 - Dune: Imperium 1:16:40 Adam #1 - Pax Pamir (2nd Edition)

In Episode 98 we continue counting down our top 30 Board Games of all time with numbers 11-20. We also discuss a poll on how review copies provided from publishers impact your trust in a board game critic. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 03:14 Poll: Review Copies and Trust 14:01 Top Games of All Time 14:27 Adam #20 - Beyond the Sun 17:38 Chris #20 - Obsession 22:01 Tim #20 - Magic: The Gathering 26:33 Adam #19 - Star Wars: Rebellion 29:20 Chris #19 - Batman: Gotham City Chronicles 27:26 Tim #19 - Beyond the Sun 38:34 Adam #18 - High Society 40:19 Chris #18 - Gaia Project 44:05 Tim #18 - Lords of Waterdeep 47:51 Adam #17 - Brian Boru: High King of Ireland 50:02 Chris #17 - Golem 53:06 Tim #17 - Rajas of the Ganges 55:13 Adam #16 - Blood Rage 56:41 Chris #16 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization 59:44 Tim #16 - Near and Far 63:03 Adam #15 - Brass: Birmingham 65:41 Chris #15 - La Granja 68:01 Tim #15 - Viscounts of the West Kingdom 69:46 Adam #14 - Gaia Project 71:43 Chris #14 - Lost Ruins of Arnak 73:53 Tim #14 - Scythe 76:49 Adam #13 - Shamans 78:20 Chris #13 - Clank! In! Space! 80:06 Tim #13 - Lost Ruins of Arnak 82:34 Adam #12 - Baseball Highlights 2045 86:44 Chris #12 - A Feast for Odin 89:17 Tim #12 - Terraforming Mars 91:01 Adam #11 - Ankh: Gods of Egypt 92:50 Chris #11 - Cthulhu Wars 96:15 Tim #11 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar

In Episode 97 we start the countdown of our top 30 Board Games of all time with choices 21-30. We also discuss a poll on luxury versions of board games. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:53 Poll: Luxury Board Games 12:52 Top Games of All Time 18:28 Tim #30 - Res Arcana 21:24 Adam #30 - Nemesis 23:03 Chris #30 - Pan Am 25:17 Tim #29 - Cthulhu: Death May Die 29:47 Adam #29 - SpaceCorp 2025-2300 AD 32:50 Chris #29 - Aquatica 35:41 Tim #28 - Codenames 38:49 Adam #28 - Terraforming Mars 41:14 Chris #28 - This War of Mine 44:10 Tim #27 - Underwater Cities 45:45 Adam #27 - Ghosts of Christmas 48:12 Chris #27 - Watergate 50:36 Tim #26 - Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest 53:53 Adam #26 - Sentient 57:05 Chris #26 - Wingspan 59:08 Tim #25 - Great Western Trail 61:00 Adam #25 - Air, Land, and Sea 63:08 Chris #25 - Rap Godz 65:34 Tim #24 - Outlive 68:17 Adam #24 -  Sol: Last Days of a Star 70:50 Chris #24 - Viticulture 73:14 Tim #23 - Anachrony 76:17 Adam #23 - Battle for Rokugan 78:15 Chris #23 - Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon 81:14 Tim #22 - 7 Wonders Duel 84:01 Adam #22 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization 86:42 Chris #22 - Cthulhu: Death May Die 89:54 Tim #21 - Arcs 92:41 Adam #21 - Shards of Infinity 95:50 Chris #21 - Scythe 98:14 Listener Shoutout

In Episode 96 we take a look at the top 100 games on Board Game Geek and discuss the games on that list that we haven't played.  We list the top 5 games we each want to play from that list and the top 5 games that we don't want to play from that list and discuss why some of them are interesting to us and others aren't. We also discuss a poll on the Golden Age of hobby board games. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:53 Poll: Golden Age of board games 015:11 Board Game Geek Top 100 games that we want to play 22:44 Chris #5 - Rising Sun 24:50 Adam #5 - Kanban EV 25:55 Tim #5 - Rising Sun 28:05 Chris #4 - Grand Austria Hotel 30:17 Adam #4 - The Crew: Quest for Planet Nine 32:56 Tim #4 - Kanban EV 34:14 Chris #3 - Food Chain Magnate 37:28 Adam #3 - Barrage 41:05 Tim #3 - Robinson Crusoe - Adventures on the Cursed Island 42:52 Chris #2 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game 44:14 Adam #2 - War of the Ring (Second Edition) 46:15 Tim #2 - Mechs Vs. Minions 48:35 Chris #1 - Twilight Struggle 51:28 Adam #1 - Twilight Imperium (Fourth Edition) 52:58 Tim #1 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game 56:03 Board Game Geek Top 100 games that we don't want to play 56:24 Chris #5 - The Crew: Quest for Planet Nine 57:35 Adam #5 - Robinson Crusoe - Adventures on the Cursed Island 58:43 Tim #5 - Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon 59:37 Chris #4 - Clans of Caledonia 1:04:46 Adam #4 -  The 7th Continent 1:05:00 Tim #4 - Mansions of Madness (Second Edition) 1:06:59 Chris #3 - Concordia 1:09:43 Adam #3 - Kingdom: Death Monster 1:12:35 Tim #3 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 1:15:15 Chris #2 - Twilight Imperium (Fourth Edition) 1:16:43 Adam #2 - Maracaibo 1:18:40 Tim #2 - Food Chain Magnate 1:19:48 Chris #1 - Gloomhaven 1:23:06 Adam #1 - Caverna: The Cave Farmers 1:25:47 Tim #1 - Twilight Imperium (Fourth Edition)

In Episode 95 we provide our hot take review of Arcs covering the mechanisms, the production, and our overall feelings of the game. We discuss a poll about hyped board games and then we discuss some games on our table including Biblios and Now or Never (solo). Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:27 Poll: Hyped Board Games 06:40 Arcs Gameplay Description 09:30 Gameplay and Mechanisms 33:55 Production and Theme 40:30 Final Thoughts 51:04 Biblios 57:10 Now or Never (solo) 1:06:33 Listener Shoutout

In Episode 94 we provide our hot take review of Nemesis covering the mechanisms, the production, and our overall feelings of the game. We discuss a poll about sleeving cards in games and Chris provides his themed cocktail of the week.  Then we discuss some games on our table including Planet Unknown and Ghosts of Christmas. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:40 Poll: Sleeving Cards in Board Games 12:40 Nemesis Gameplay Description 16:29 Gameplay and Mechanisms 47:42 Production and Theme 54:20 Final Thoughts 1:02:30 Themed Cocktail of the Week 1:05:30 Planet Unknown 1:14:26 Ghosts of Christmas

In Episode 93 we provide our hot take review of Golem covering the mechanisms, the production, and our overall feelings of the game. We discuss a poll about best time of day to play board games and Chris provides his themed cocktail of the week.  Then we discuss some games on our table including Tetris: The Card Game, Tinner's Trail, Carcassonne, and Crusaders: Thy Will be Done. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:25 Poll: Favorite time of day to play games 06:02 Golem Gameplay Description 07:55 Gameplay and Mechanisms 27:28 Production and Theme 38:07 Final Thoughts 47:00 Themed Cocktail of the Week 50:39 Tetris: The Card Game 54:09 Tinner's Trail 58:37 Carcassonne 1:01:40 Crusaders: Thy Will be Done 1:10:00 Listener Shoutouts

In Episode 92 we take a look back at the games we've played together over the last several years and discuss the ones where we think our opinions were unanimous and consider the common elements that may make games work (or not work) for all of us.  We also discuss a poll on whether the size of a board game's box may influence your decision to acquire it. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:55 Poll: Box Sizes 07:15 Unanimous Takes 08:18 Marvel United 09:49 Windward 12:39 Whistle Mountain 14:35 Samurai 16:50 Vindication 18:05 Origin of Species 20:43 Capital Lux II 21:32 Merchants of the Dark Road 23:33 Wonderland's War 25:20 Shamans 27:54 Anachrony 29:20 Voidfall 32:27 Smarphone, Inc. 34:50 Gaia Project 36:54 Blood Rage 38:25 Dune: Imperium 41:22 La Granja, Welcome To..., Azul, Cascadia 42:49 Root 44:39 Wrap Up 50:53 Listener Shoutout