Game Brain: A Board Game Podcast About Our Gaming Group
Game Brain
A podcast about Board Games and friendship, and a real life board game group! Join us every week for an in-depth look at the board gaming hobby, including board game news, reviews and much, much more.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 10, 2025 • 1h 34min
#233 SETI
Ben, Trey, and special guest Chris dive deep with the rotating space hotness SETI. Plus, talk about a marathon session of 1817.00:00 Intro12:10 181725:09 Railways of the Lost Atlas30:50 Whistle Mountain33:04 SETI
Feb 17, 2025 • 1h 38min
#232: Men-Nefer
In this episode of Game Brain, Ben and Paul dive deep into the ancient world with a full review of Men-Nefer, exploring its mechanics, strategy, and whether it’s an classic Egyptian Euro (oxymoron?) in the making. But that’s not all—we also break down Mind MGMT, Serenissima, and DroPolter, dissecting the mind games, economic battles, and dexterity highjinks within these standout titles. Plus, we check in on The Traitors on Peacock—what does this season tell us about our gaming hobby?02:00 - Guards of Atlantis II03:32 - Galactic Cruise07:20 - Stroganov12:29 - Mind MGMT20:29 - Traitors31:56 - Serenissima42:40 - Landmarks44:42 - DroPolter49:43 - We Need To Talk51:28 - Hooky56:59 - Men-Nefer Review
Feb 3, 2025 • 55min
Table Scraps 02: What If I'm Late For Game Night?
Ben and Paul talk about punctuality and game night: what do you do when you're running late? When is it okay to run late? What do we owe those who are late? And what about showing up too early? It's all about timing and game night.
Jan 20, 2025 • 2h 36min
#230: Best of 2024
Matt, Paul, Trey, Tom, Jordan, and Ben convene to discuss their top games of the year. Plus, awards in categories such as "Best New To Me Game," "Biggest Disappointment," and "Best Expansion."We had a variety of audio issues in this episode; so apologies in advance for the not amazing sound quality. Drew Conley Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-drew-dcon-rebuild-after-eaton-fire-loss
Jan 13, 2025 • 1h 24min
#229 2024 Navel-Gazing
Ben and Paul discuss their favorite gaming sessions of 2024. Then, in advance of a future Game Brain top 10 episode (or something in that mold), Ben shares his favorite non-top 10 games of last year, specifically #25-#11. This list will make some listeners angry, and Ben apologizes in advance.Please help our friend Drew recover from the devastating wild fires here in Los Angeles. Find his GoFundMe here: https://gofund.me/bce5bc67 Every little bit helps.00:00:00 Intro00:09:46 Best gaming experiences of 202400:34:24 Ben's 2024 10x5 challenge00:38:19 Ben's top games of 2024: #25-#11
Jan 7, 2025 • 51min
Table Scraps 01: How to Get a Famous Lady to Play Games With You
Welcome to Table Scraps, a new board game chat show here at Game Brain. We'll be posting these eps from time to time, and if the tech gods are kind to us, there will even be a video component.Today Ben and Paul chat about the sort of games Anna Scott (not a real person), Barack Obama, and Erin Brockovitch would enjoy, and then they explore how to get someone like Jennifer Lawrence to play Catan. Because it could happen!
Dec 30, 2024 • 1h 47min
#227 Living Up To The Hype
The new hotness has flooded the marketplace, and Ben and Jordan are here to make sense of it. Which new releases live up to the hype, exceed it, and fall short of it? We cover a lot of ground; so buckle up!00:00 Introduction11:22 Kraftwagen: Age of Engineering13:00 Stress Botics14:48 Unconscious Mind16:47 Landmarks18:08 Shackleton Base21:00 Gaia Project: The Lost Fleet25:44 Harmonies31:19 Age of Rail: South Africa40:51 The Yellow House45:07 Pariahs48:45 Asian Tigers52:08 Fromage58:47 Middle Ages1:03:41 Men-Nefer1:10:35 Red Dust Rebellion1:14:48 Saltfjord1:21:29 Fellowship of the Ring Trick Taking Game1:27:14 Lord of the Rings Duel1:29:06 Endeavor Deep Sea1:36:02 SETI1:41:14 Civolution
Dec 16, 2024 • 1h 31min
#226 Shackleton Base
Ben and Paul deep dive the new area control, tableau-building, moon-exploiting, corporation-pleasing game "Shackleton Base." They also discuss new hotness Civolution as well as Fromage and Men-Nefer. Ben also offers up some family game suggestions for the holidays - all while attempting labored "Wicked" puns.
Dec 4, 2024 • 53min
#225: Sprue'd Up! #2
Matt and Jordan return to the world of miniature wargaming to get you up to speed on all of their recent adventures.
Nov 4, 2024 • 2h 14min
#224 Gaia Project: The Lost Fleet
Ben, Trey, and Paul go deep on The Lost Fleet, a hot new expansion for Gaia Project.Plus, initial impressions from fresh Essen releases SETI, Asian Tigers, and Shackleton Base.0:00:00 Introduction0:09:45 SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence0:30:15 Asian Tigers0:44:50 La Famiglia: The Great Mafia War0:46:15 Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon1:03:05 Captain Flip1:03:35 The Gang1:18:15 Gadget Trick1:21:10 Gaia Project: The Lost Fleet2:13:20 Outro- Find Etamar at kirbooloni.com- Game Brain Facebook Group- Instagram
