In this news flash Ben talks to board game historian Jacob Schmidt-Madsen about the High Gravity talk about the lexicon of games at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin.
Hey Now Cabalists! In this month's Secret Cabal Express, Don and Jamie discuss the Three Bears of board gaming. Everybody knows the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and how everything in that house was either too big or too small or too hot or too cold... Well, Don and Jamie talk about some of the board games they love that have one weird little flaw. Maybe they're too complex, or too fancy, or maybe just a little too short. And then talk about some that are just right!
Sorry! Tom forgot to upload this episode of the podcast because he was on a plane. A plane! In the sky! How do you expect us to podcast under these conditions?!
On this dromedary episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt natter about a collection of - YOU GUESSED IT - boardgames.
Resafa! It’s a game about camels and irrigation and cards and POINTS! PlayProp! It’s a game of trying to get corks into a cup and screaming! Elfenroads! It’s a game about gently meandering down winding fantasy paths until an errant ‘cart orc’ ruins your day, or week, or possibly year.
Finally, the dynamic duo chat about another characterful couplet; Dracula vs Van Helsing - a two-player duelling game we'll review in a few DAYS time!
Tony’s back from his and it’s been a while since we’ve been the mics, so we are a little rough around the edges. Ok, so that’s not different that usual.
We got some to tell you about plus a new Taste Buds. And don’t forget to enter our contest!
We kick off this episode with some chit-chat regarding the moving of Dice Tower HQ, some upcoming events, Tom's efforts to impress the chef at a Japanese restaurant, and the most played games at Dice Tower West. A listener question leads us to discuss the layout of rulebooks and how best to do so. We share a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and close the show with a typical wave of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.
In logic, conditionals are always true if the antecedent is false. You can't falsify the conditional if the conditions aren't met. For example, if Mark can bench 500 pounds, then vinegar tastes like cotton candy. Rest assured that I ain't benching that much, so don't worry about it; the conditional is true. Similarly, I can invite pretty much whoever I want to SVWAGCon. Fareed Zakaria, Olivia Rodrigo, and Jordan Mechner? Sure, they're all invited. They don't know about us, but it's all good.
Games Played Last Week:
04:00 -Finspan (David Gordon & Michael O'Connell, Stonemaier Games, 2025)
07:51 -Slay the Spire: The Board Game (Gary Dworetsky, Anthony Giovannetti, and Casey Yano, Contention Games, 2024)
It wouldn’t be Oceania month without Matthew Dunstan, who is closing in on the title for the most guest appearances on the podcast! In this episode, Jules and Joe chat about Matthew’s new YouTube channel, co-designing, and how he enjoys giving back to the board game design community. We also hear about some upcoming games, the business of being a full-time board game designer, and which designer he’d like to co-design a game with!
Plenty of games have been hitting the table too. Jules is surprisingly taken with planning a Jazz Festival in Bebop, meanwhile, Joe and his friend Megs are newly married and not liking Conor’s taste in furnishings in Decorum.
What we’ve been playing: [36:17]
Sizzling Games:
Bebop [50:19]
Question of the Pod Recap: [59:25]
New Question of the Pod: [1:03:46]
Fired Up: [01:12:22]
New Question of the Pod: What game have you played that “shouldn’t work”, but does?
Hey there, BBQ fans! Guess what? We’ve got a Patreon! By joining, you’ll unlock exclusive content, gain access to a members-only section of our Discord where you can help shape the show, and so much more. Plus, your support will help us grow and bring some awesome new projects to life in 2025.
At the Board Game BBQ Podcast, we’re passionate about what we do and promise to keep the fun and shenanigans rolling. We’re so grateful for your support! Joining our Patreon is totally optional, and we ask that you don’t contribute if it’ll cause financial stress. But if you’d like to chip in from just USD$5 a month, click the link to check out our Patreon page.
Thanks a million for being amazing! We’re committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive community, and you all make it special. See you at the BBQ!!https://www.patreon.com/BoardGameBBQ
Clef and Tim start it off with baseball and disc golf as usual before getting into recent plays including Marabunta, Inca Empire, Bier Pioniere, and Pax Hispanica. We also discuss if we could have a small board game collection or if we even want to.
Look up The Tabletop Minimalist podcast!!
Sign up for PPCon at punchboardparadise.com and join the discord at discord.gg/s8hYtWkMS3
Ambie and Crystal host the 2024 Blitzies, the annual awards show about our favorite games of the year! Also make sure to check out Ambie’s top 10 list on YouTube.
0:00-Intro
0:34-DTW Recap
2:09-The 2024 Blitzies
03:45-Best Family Game
05:26-Best Kids' Game
07:41-Most Innovative Game
09:38-Most Unique Theme
11:04-Best Cooperative Game
12:52-Best Card Game
14:14-Best Party Game
17:40-Best Solo Game
18:20-Best 2p Game
21:34-Best Strategy Game
23:53-Best Trick Taking Game
26:08-Biggest Surprise
28:49-Best New to Us
31:59-Best Game of 2024
34:03-2024 Looking Forward to Recap
36:48-Looking Forward to in 2025
40:41-Outro
41:45-Bloopers
We just got back from Dice Tower West, so you know what that means ... bunches and bunches of games! Between the convention, and the meetup, and just hanging out at Mark's place, we got a lot of great stuff played, and we're going to give you all the highlights, with such treats as Moon Colony Bloodbath, Out of Sorts, and Feierabend.
04:16 - Corporate America 12:19 - Acquire 18:09 - Inside Job 23:12 - Feierabend / Finishing Time 33:13 - Moon Colony Bloodbath 44:44 - Family Dinner: More or Less 52:00 - Mister Diamond 57:21 - Out of Sorts 1:07:16 - Dragon's Gold 1:08:13 - Carrom 1:11:15 - The Gang
Amy and Dusty Droz join me to talk about how they’ve built an extremely profitable publishing business in a relatively short amount of time. We talk about tariffs, fulfillment, audience, budgeting, customer service, and a whole lot more!
In this episode, Jamey Stegmaier and I chat about the various trends we’re seeing in the current game design landscape. We talk about solo and 2-player games, open worlds, licensed IPs, and more!
In this episode, I chat with Andrew Lowen, from Crowdfunding Nerds, about how to make people aware your game exists.
Also, be sure to check out Andrew’s crowdfunding marketing course, and if you sign up through my affiliate link, you’ll not only get a ton of resources to help you market your game but also a FREE one-hour coaching call with me. https://crowdfundingnerds.com/bgdl/
My game design book, Find the Fun, recently came out, and in this episode, I do a brief synopsis and give you the audio version of the first three chapters.