Well, Hot Dog! Do we have an episode for you! We peruse the lofty promises of Vantage, try to keep ourselves on track in Railroad Tiles, discuss whether selling doughnuts at night is really worth your time in Taiwan Night Market, and Efka tells us about angry dice you can chuck about in the bath, in Wroth. 

But wait! That's not all! The main game on our podium is Hot Streak - which not only has a hot dog, but also a fish, a bear, and HM the Queen herself in a game of racing, falling down, getting back up again, and trying all over again. Phew. 

If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded

SHIRTS! Find them on https://no-pun-included-shop.fourthwall.com/

On to the timestamps:

00:00 Cold Open & Intro

Work in Progress: 

00:54 Vantage
19:14 Railroad Tiles
25:01 Taiwan Night Market
28:26 Wroth

Audience Correspondence:

36:19 Gaming Tables

Main Feature:

41:23 Hot Streak

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In this episode our gang try to help poor, drugged Olaferik and stumble upon something dirty...

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Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Mystery Puzzle: The Lost Fire, First Contact, and Gibberish. Then, we talk about the size of our game collection, how it has evolved over our time in the hobby, and what we think the ideal collection size would be.

0:00-Intro
0:42-Announcements
2:03-Recent Games-Mystery Puzzle: The Lost Fire
5:26-First Contact
9:46-Gibberers: The Word Game of Language Invention and Civilization Development
16:30-Collection Size
31:04-Outro
32:08-Bloopers

Charities mentioned:
Trans Lifeline
Global Action for Trans Equity (GATE)
Mermaids
Gender Identity Research & Education Society (GIRES) (Donate here)
TransActual (Donate here)

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Support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/boardgameblitz
Or shop at our merch store or our Amazon Storefront

This episode was sponsored by Grey Fox Games. Use the code "BLITZ10" to get 10% off your entire cart.

Consolidated Links

For the full show notes visit our site at http://www.boardgameblitz.com/posts/416

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Are board games best played multiplayer? Who can say, but whether it's because you can't get people together at the appropriate time, or you're just itching to play something on your lonesome, there's a burgeoning scene of solo games out there waiting to be played, and we're going to talk about them. Well, some of us are, anyway. Before we go it alone, we talk about Hunted: Kobayashi Tower, Corps of Discovery, and Senji.

01:56 - Hunted: Kobayashi Tower 12:51 - Corps of Discovery: A Game Set in the World of Manifest Destiny 26:30 - Senji 43:50 - Solo games 46:08 - For Northwood! A Solo Trick-Taking Game 48:09 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game 50:22 - Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 53:49 - Guilty: Houston 2015 55:13 - Vantage 55:51 - Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood

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The Cabal is back in action, and we dive into a conversation about Chris’ adventures at Anthrocon! One day, we’ll get him to dress up as the red panda. After that, we get into some of the games we’ve been playing, including Cities, Vantage, City of Horror, Creature Caravan, Monsters Menace the World, and a feature review of Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship from Matt Leacock. Then, after Tony T gives us all the most important news from the board gaming world, we answer a series of listener questions covering gimmicks and innovations, design trends that annoy us, and our least favorite gamer traits. Cities: 00:09:53, Vantage: 00:22:26, City of Horror: 00:34:21, Creature Caravan: 00:44:30, Monsters Menace the World: 00:51:19, The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship: 00:58:56, News with Tony T: 01:35:01, Short Topic Extravaganza: 02:22:50. Check out our sponsors Restoration Games at https://restorationgames.com/. Game Toppers at https://www.gametoppersllc.com/. And Game Night Picks at http://gamenightpicks.com/cabal.

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Matthew, father figure of the podcast, takes the gang through 'Just a Minute', 'Just One', and just a few quick fire questions. 

This Game is Broken is a comedy board game panel show with Matthew Jude, Dave Luza, Paula Deming, Nick Murphy and Mike Murphy. We play a lot of nonsense games full of role playing and trivia as well as other fun stuff which can be found at the links below.

Support us here!

PATREON - https://www.patreon.com/thisgameisbroken

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Ben couldn't be at Berlin Con this year so Steve actually has to earn his press pass...and bloody hell does he!

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"We don’t ask that you stop loving your fantasy world. We ask

you stop paying money for the privilege to dream of it. If

you want to read the [Harry Potter] books or watch the movies, consider

buying second-hand or renting them from a library. Small

changes can make sure you never put your hard-earned

money into JKR’s hands."

-Blacklist CGE zine

Games Played Last Week:

01:01 -Through the Desert (Reiner Knizia, KOSMOS, 1998)

05:49 -Tiletum: Prospect for Silver (Simone Luciani & Daniele Tascini, Board&Dice, 2025)

10:10 -Endeavor: Deep Sea (Carl de Visser and Jarratt Gray, Burnt Island Games, 2024)

18:03 -Through Ice and Snow (Fernando Eduardo Sánchez, 2Tomatoes Games, 2024)

22:41 -Hot Streak (Jon Perry, CMYK, 2025)

27:39 -The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship (Matt Leacock, Z-Man Games, 2025)

News (and why it doesn't matter):

41:05 New Doom board game(s) by Modiphius

41:46 High Tide by Marceline Leiman

42:20 SVWAG's statement on boycotting Czech Games Edition and in support of trans and non-binary gamers

Blacklist CGE zine: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10BUxxRO08jS9ZFnfnt0dnMPEZi5lrwke

44:15 Feature Game: Vantage (Jamey Stegmaier, Stonemaier Games, 2025)

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The end of an era. Clef and Tim kick off the last Chad and Richie show with future plans and then dive into disc golf, baseball, and then lots of board games. We talk recent plays of Golem, 1870, Age of Steam, and Forges of Ravenshire and then talk about which board games have changed the way we look at board games. Disc Golf - 3:40 Baseball - 19:09 Board Games - 26:00 Join the discord at discord.gg/s8hYtWkMS3

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This week Peter & Mike review Under Falling Skies. Next week we will have a related design discussion about adding a campaign to a mostly one-off game. _________________________ YouTube - www.youtube.com/channel/UCrOtGhui_jdLdoQNI7PU4Pg X - @onestopcoopshop Discord - discord.gg/p4jX8AF Merch: one-stop-co-op-shop.creator-spring.com/ Donate to One Stop Co-op Shop - www.patreon.com/onestop Email - onestopcoopshop@gmail.com

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This week Shelley and I spend some time with dragons after playing a couple of cute card games.

Wyrmspan by Connie Vogelmann from Stonemaier Games

Boo to the Goose by Wolfgang Kramer and Mandred Reindl

Zookini by Peggy Brown from Piatnik and AMIGO

Thanks as always to Bezier Games for their support

You can check out our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@garrettsgames

Sponsor the podcast directly by going to www.patreon.com/garrettsgames OR check out our extensive list of games that no longer fit on our shelves, but belong on your table HERE: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16ovRDNBqur0RiAzgFAfI0tYYnjlJ68hoHyHffU7ZDWk/edit?usp=sharing

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Three kinds of wood, all alike in dignity. Except one of them is on fire, and one of them has a lot of toothy rodents in it. I’m really straining to find some way of making a kind of beaver ratatouille joke, but it’s not coming naturally. ‘Beavertouille, he only does Dams this time?’. I don’t know. Get out of my restaurant.

Timestamps:

01:52 - Hutan: Life in the Rainforest
12:50 - Flash Point: Legacy of Flame
32:27 - Timber Town

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Announcement! Please join other podcast listeners for the next online BGTG Mini-Con, scheduled for September 6. I plan to be online from 9am-9pm Pacific time, including Discord for voice & video. The games will mostly be played on BoardgameArena, but adventurous gamers can also use Yucata, Brettspielwelt, Boardgames.io, Steam, apps, or whatever. It's free, and no RSVP or signup is necessary.

Opener: Qwinto Closer: The SdJ awards ceremony, which we watched/listened to live on the drive back from a convention Over the years you've heard me talk about a number of game conventions. Usually that's recounting the games I played, and my enthusiasm for them in a 5-star rating. This time, I'm taking more of a meta approach to the topic. Yes, I'm still talking about a convention I went to recently, and some games played there, but half of the episode is about the idea of game conventions in the first place. The different types, which ones I prefer, and so on. Then the second half was recorded at a recent convention, meant to highlight the sort of fun, deep, not-so-serious discussions about the hobby and our shared experience in it. That's a lot of what I enjoy about game conventions--getting to hang out for continuous time with others who are just as geeky as I am about boardgames. I'm among my people!

In this particular case, DaveO, Jonathan, Jeff, and SteveV join me to talk about games of designer Rüdiger Dorn. We concentrated on those for an entire day. This prolific designer has titles from 1992 to the present day. He's won the Kennerspiel des Jahres and been nominated for the Spiel des Jahres multiple times. Some of his most famous titles include Istanbul, Goa, Jambo, Traders of Genoa, and Louis XIV...none of which we played! Instead we tabled Dragonheart, Las Vegas Royale, Emerald, Montana, Rune Stones, My Farm Shop, Karuba, Arkadia, Danger 13, Mercado, Karuba the Card Game, and Diamonds Club. That was primarily with two groups playing all day long on two tables. It was the Dornücopia!

At the last minute I thought a funny hat would be a great addition to our little event. While I couldn't find a cornucopia hat on short notice, I did find a corn hat. That was great! The winner of a game was crowned with it, and soon enough we were calling that person The Great Dornholio. Now I think all of our future mini-events will benefit from a special hat!

-Mark

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Pew pew kaboom! That's the sound of every child's living nightmare - their toys coming to life and unleashing an arsenal of deadly weaponry in their bedroom. Many a sleepless night I've had in my youth with this vivid imagery - blood, guts, plastic viscera strewn across my chewbacca rug - which might I add, also comes alive and eats the other toys... anyway, turns out they made my nightmare into a board game and you can now play it.

If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded

SHIRTS! Find them on https://no-pun-included-shop.fourthwall.com/

On to the time stamps:

0:00 Cold Open

Work In Progress

0:56 The Old King's Crown
6:24 Ensemble
12:19 Haggis

Audience Correspondence

16:14 Trick Taking

Main Feature

27:51 Toy Battle

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In Express Episode 110, Don, Chris, and Jamie get together to talk about the end game - goals, objectives, and victory in board games. They discuss competitiveness, process-oriented players, winning and losing streaks, imperative and contingent goals, and what it really means to feel like you’ve won a game. Enjoy!

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It's your turn...to click here to send us your comments on the show

Our hobby is full of great games which lets face it sometimes don't see the light of day, either they're not promoted as well as others, they release and disappear or just sometimes gaming groups don't get the opportunity.  We're here to shine a light on some of our "unpunched gems" and talk about some of these games.

FIRST PLAYER: JP
OTHER PLAYERS: Adrian, Dan & Davey

In this episode you'll learn:
- more about the latest expansion for Dune Imperium: Bloodlines by Dire Wolf
- the conclusion to Adrian's cliffhanger...sort of...as he's now played Harry Potter: Catch the Snitch by Knight Games
- that JP has been experimenting (literally) in the latest expansion of Nucleum: Energy Research Institute
- about Dan's board gaming renaissance with Agricola and why he's sticking with the older version and not the remaster
- all about our groups unpunched gems, games which have flown under the radar within our grown or generally in the hobby.  Let us know what your unpunched gems are

LINKS REFERENCED IN THE SHOW
Watch JP try out Nucleum: Energy Research Institute on Gaming Rules! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXXCTv7uVzk

EPISODE CHAPTERS
0:00 - TURN 1 - Player Count

6:37 - TURN 2 - Let's Talk About Hex

6:50 - Davey - Dune Imperium - Bloodlines

12:44 - Adrian: Catch the Snitch

21:58 - JP: Nucleum - Energy Research Institue

28:07 - Dan: Agricola

33:36 - TURN 3 - Main Event: Unpunched gems

39:27 - Suna Valo

42:18 - Conquest of Nerath

44:28 - The Manhatten Project

48:07 - Sidereal Confluence

51:12 - It's a Balloon

53:45 - Wiz War

57:05 - Clash of Cultures

59:47 - Underwater Cities

1:02:54 - Come Together

1:06:18 - Moonrakers

1:09:46 - Paperback

1:12:19 - New Angeles

1:18:47 - TURN 4 - Receive, Sleeve or Leave

1:24:08 - TURN 5 - Penultimate Turn: What's Coming Up

1:32:56 - TURN 6 - The Final Turn

You can check out JP's new podcast called Just Play right here https://www.justplaypod.co.uk we'd love to have you and also on the new YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@JustPlayPodcast

ENGAGING WITH THE SHOW
- Join us on Discord

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A chief misgiving Mark has about the con is that he is a terrible playtester. He was able to play two unpublished games, and while the designers were gracious he is seldom able to offer anything of much substance. "This game," he might say, "has cards. And other things." Past that, for some reason, when confronted with a prototype his faculties often fail him.

01:48 AYURIS: Arborea (Dani Garcia, Alley Cat Games, 2023)

Games Played Last Week:

05:00 -Phantom Division (Pete Ruth & Mark Thomas, Phantom Horizon, 2026)

14:38 -Westphalia (Amabel Holland, Hollandspiele, 2019)

23:33 -Project: ELITE (Konstantinos Kokkinis, Marco Portugal, & Sotirios Tsantilas, CMON, 2020)

27:19 -Ankh: Gods of Egypt (Eric M. Lang, CMON, 2021)

33:25 -Rise & Fall (Christophe Boelinger, Ludically, 2024)

38:15 -Space Cadets: Dice Duel (Geoff Engelstein and Sydney Engelstein, Stronghold, 2013)

43:06 -Outlive (Gregory Iliver, La Boite de Jeu, 2017)

News (and why it doesn't matter):

N/A

45:22 Topic: SVWAG Con Report

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We're on our way to Gen Con! And here are the games we're most excited about (as well as the ones that are getting the most buzz online). You'll also here where to find us in Indy, where we plan to eat, and how we plan to survive the Best Four Days in Gaming.

00:45 - Releases in the second half of the year.

02:23 - Preparing for Crowds at Gen Con - New Cart Policy

08:15 - Food Trucks

11:15 - Where Will We Be?

19:59 - The Games of Gen Con (BGG Preview: https://boardgamegeek.com/geekpreview/77/gen-con-2025-preview)

20:54 - Vantage

23:27 - Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor

23:54 - Lost Ruins of Arnak: Adventure Chest

24:23 - Gwent: The Legendary Card Game

25:26 - Lightning Train

26:32 - Sea Salt and Paper: Extra Pepper

27:11 - Luthier

28:00 - Fliptoons

28:36 - Ruins

30:10 - Nature

30:53 - Rebel Princess Deluxe: Happily Never After

32:00 - Ace of Spades

33:35 - Galactic Cruise

34:31 - Pirates of Maracaibo: Commanders

34:43 - Soda Jerk

36:25 - Point Galaxy

37:04 - Compile Main 2

38:08 - Star Wars Battle of Hoth

38:41 - Galileo Galilei

39:21 - Propolis

39:48 - Final Girl: Shriek

41:32 - VIVO

42:08 - Spooktacular

43:57 - Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons

45:16 - Evergreen: Cherry Blossoms and Bamboo

45:22 - EXIT Advent Calendar: The Intergalactic Race

46:27 - Suna Valo

47:12 - Kronologic: Cuzco 1450

47:44 - Wine Cellar

49:22 - Shackleton Base

49:58 - Knitting Circle

50:36 - Ra: Traders

51:08 - Iliad

51:26 - Gibberers

51:48 - Cat and the Tower

52:42 - Ham Helsing

53:25 - The Four Doors

54:07 - Raising Chicago

54:24 - High Tide

54:39 - If Then

54:59 - Hyperstar Run

55:20 - Jungo

55:43 - Holiday Hijinks 10, 11, 12, Endangered Rescue 2, Journey to Tir na nOg

56:01 - Above and Below: Haunted

56:20 - The Peak Team

57:17 - Our Advice for Surviving Gen Con

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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00:02:00 Introduction
00:04:30 Superman Thoughts
00:11:30 Summer Movie Results
00:15:00 Horrified D&D
00:18:30 Middle Ages
00:21:30 Agricola
Herd Mentality/ MonsDRAWsity
00:29:00 Portal Games
00:30:30 Celestia
00:36:00 Ofrenda
00:45:30 Miniature Market
00:51:30 Game Toppers LLC
00:53:30 Outro

Ofrenda and Celestia are on the table for this episode. Each game offers distinct thematic journeys, yet all challenge players to make clever decisions under pressure. Ofrenda is a vibrant card-placement game inspired by Día de los Muertos, where players build altars to honor deceased relatives. The goal is to fulfill each spirit’s wishes by arranging portraits, offerings, candles, and marigolds in just the right configuration—while avoiding family drama from beyond the grave.

Celestia shifts gears into a whimsical airborne adventure. Players board a fantastical aircraft and journey through sky cities, collecting treasures while facing hazards like pirates and lightning storms. Each round, a new captain rolls dice to determine challenges, and passengers must decide whether to trust the captain or jump ship to claim their loot. It’s a push-your-luck game with bluffing and risk assessment at its core, wrapped in dreamy artwork and accessible rules.

Thanks for listening and hope to see you at Gen Con. And a big thanks to everyone coming to the strike tournament.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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We apologise for some minor sound quality issues this week. We hope you enjoy the pod all the same!

 

This week join Conor, Lauren and Dana as they discuss their Play Con 2025 highlights, including TTRPGs, big group games and some hot new releases. Conor has been throwing it back playing a game painted so beautifully that all other games are ruined for him, with Foundations of Rome. Lauren is casting aside life, youth, and rest, in her new quest for the eternal - glory! with Eternal Decks. Dana has been the one yelling 'Go Mum!' and has bet her bottom dollar that this was the game of the con, with Hot Streak. 

We also cover some major gaming news, question of the pod, and round it out with what has us fired up! 

Timestamps:
What we’ve been playing [0:05:11]
Foundations of Rome [0:37:40]
Eternal Decks [0:43:22]
Hot Streak [0:50:42]
Question of the Pod [1:07:43]
Fired up [1:23:17]

This week's Question of the Pod: How do you deal with the post-convention blues?

Has this episode left you with a thirst for more? Here are all the games that we discussed:

QE Commodities Expansion - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/360699/qe-commodities 
Fate of the Fellowship - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/436217/the-lord-of-the-rings-fate-of-the-fellowship 
Pergola - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/424573/pergola 
Meadow - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/314491/meadow 
Ito - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/327778/ito 
The Vibe - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/426692/the-vibe 
Guards of Atlantis II - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/267609/guards-of-atlantis-ii 
Fishing - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/419195/fishing 
Pitch Car - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/150/pitchcar 
Foundations of Rome - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/284189/foundations-of-rome 
Eternal Decks - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/424981/eternal-decks 
Hot Streak - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/446497/hot-streak 

 

PODCAST SPONSORS

Our podcast is proudly sponsored by Advent Games and More Than Meeples. 

Advent Games is an Australian online board game store based in Sydney, NSW.  http://www.adventgames.com.au/

More Than Meeples is an Australian retail and online game store based in Brisbane, QLD. https://morethanmeeples.com.au/


PATREON

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.

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! But if you’d like to chip in from just USD$5 a month, click the link to check out our Patreon page.

We’re committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive community, and you all make it special.  https://www.patreon.com/BoardGameBBQ

 

SOCIALS

Support the podcast and join the community!
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