We wrap up the mechanics trilogy with Kalen's pick, area control. We also talk about Herbaceous Sprouts, Fae, Explorers of the North Sea, Wiz-War, and Imperial 2030.

02:40 - Herbaceous Sprouts 04:53 - Herbaceous 06:08 - Fae 08:54 - Explorers of the North Sea 10:30 - Wiz-War 15:01 - Imperial 2030 19:40 - Area Control 25:32 - Blood Rage, Rising Sun 27:20 - Risk 28:10 - Kemet, Inis 32:10 - Hanamikoji, Battle Line 35:05 - Eclipse 35:30 - Twilight Struggle, Cuba Libre 37:18 - Notre Dame 37:52 - Scythe 41:14 - Ethnos 42:34 - Tigris & Euphrates 42:52 - Glüx 43:45 - Diplomacy

Week two of our favourite mechanics in board games is Mark's pick, hand management. We also talk about Ascending Empires, Funky Chicken, Felicity: The Cat in the Sack, and New Corp Order.

01:47 - Ascending Empires 05:41 - Funky Chicken 07:14 - Felicity: The Cat in the Sack 08:25 - New Corp Order 11:34 - Hand Management 12:57 - Terraforming Mars 13:44 - Dominion 14:44 - Candyland 15:25 - Scrabble 19:33 - Gloomhaven 20:40 - Biblios 22:00 - Taj Mahal 23:17 - Biblios Again 25:17 - Red 7 26:15 - Arboretum 27:09 - Twilight Struggle 28:32 - Cuba Libre 30:47 - Glory to Rome 31:59 - Wiz-War 33:24 - Cosmic Encounter 34:35 - Bohnanza 36:19 - Hanabi 36:57 - Mage Knight

We kick off three weeks of our favourite mechanics in board games with Neilan's pick, hidden information. We also talk about Omen: Fires in the East, Gaia Project, and Pioneer Days. 01:30 - Omen: Fires in the East 03:39 - Gaia Project 05:43 - Pioneer Days 09:59 - Drop It 11:21 - Hidden Information 13:31 - Archipelago 19:32 - Dead of Winter 23:04 - I'm The Boss 23:48 - El Grande 27:56 - Discworld: Ankh Morpork 30:21 - Hanabi 38:58 - Survive: Escape from Atlantis! 39:59 - Chaosmos 41:55 - New Angeles 43:21 - Lifeboat

We return to BGG's top list, but we're flipping it on its head. That's right, we're talking about much loved games that we don't much love. We're also giving away a copy of Drop It!

01:05 - Drop It 04:53 - Cosmic Encounter 09:59 - Above and Below 12:56 - T.I.M.E Stories 16:36 - Lewis & Clark 18:29 - Five Tribes 20:12 - Inis 23:56 - 7 Wonders 27:06 - Viticulture 33:07 - Mechs vs. Minions 37:05 - Robinson Crusoe 39:42 - Scythe 50:10 - Terraforming Mars 52:43 - Blood Rage

This week, we explain and expound our experiences with expansions. Improvements, tweaks, variability: the benefits are clear, but what does tacking more onto a game mean for all your players? Is it always a good thing? How much is too much? Before we get there, we discuss Altiplano, Omen: A Reign of War, Felicity: The Cat in the Sack, and A Feast for Odin.

Timecodes:

01:41 - Omen: A Reign of War 09:39 - Altiplano 18:58 - A Feast for Odin 28:11 - Felicity: The Cat in the Sack 30:56 - Expansions

Why is everything so heavy? Well, we all played Dominant Species together, and so we're in a heavy sort of mood. There's a very vocal subset of the community that'll insist a game isn't worth playing unless it's mechanics are punching above a certain weight. But, surely there's room in a collection for the light games, the easy games, the so-called gateway games? We hash it out, but before we get into Dominant Species and games of its ilk, we revisit Codenames, Pictomania, Clank! and take a first look at The 7th Continent.

Timecodes:

01:37 - Codenames 02:28 - Clank! 08:52 - Pictomania 12:27 - Dominant Species 28:20 - The 7th Continent 37:37 - Heavy Games

Did you know that sometimes the internet is wrong? Thankfully we're here to tell you what's up, and right the wrongs that BoardGameGeek hath wrought. You see, there are some games in their database that are just ranked way too low for how good they are. So, to fix these injustices, we each count down our top five games that BoardGameGeek got wrong, and we got right. Skip the timecodes if you don't want spoilers!

Timecodes:

00:46 - Azul Contest 01:13 - Games That BGG Got Wrong 02:16 - Safranito 05:13 - Sixes 07:56 - Anomia 10:11 - Quo Vadis? 13:27 - Fuji Flush 15:56 - Watson & Holmes 20:52 - Ugg-Tect 23:49 - Piñata 26:41 - The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 31:30 - True Colors 35:13 - CrossTalk 38:20 - Panic on Wall Street! 41:01 - Scruples 44:14 - I'm the Boss! 48:46 - Guards of Atlantis

Legacy. What is a legacy? It's podcasting in a studio you don't get to see. And now that I've drawn in all the Hamilton fans, let's talk about board games! Specifically, board games that have campaigns or legacy components. Is it a gimmicky trend, or does it add something meaningful to an experience? We also talk about Alchemists, Inis, and Through The Desert ... and on top of all that, we have a special announcement!

Timecodes:

00:18 - Contest! 02:24 - Alchemists 11:04 - Inis 20:25 - Through The Desert 27:18 - Campaign and Legacy Games 52:15 - The 7th Continent 52:58 - The Flow of History 54:32 - Omen: A Reign of War

Trapped on a desert island and forced to bring only five board games? We've all been there. And we're going back. To the island. The board game island. It's a question as old as time itself, a favourite philosophical discussion of great minds immemorial; if you had to pare your collection down to just five board games, to play for a very long time, which would they be? Avert your eyes from the timecodes if you want to listen unspoiled, but let's just say that you might be able to guess one or two.

Timecodes:

02:25 - Cthulhu Wars 04:29 - A Feast for Odin 07:31 - Cuba Libre 10:19 - Spirit Island 14:12 - Age of Steam 16:21 - Troyes 19:21 - Codenames 23:00 - Arboretum 27:51 - Cosmic Encounter 32:34 - Gloomhaven 36:44 - Innovation 38:50 - The Resistance 42:40 - Biblios

Kickstarters. Can't live with 'em, can't rampantly overspend on incomplete unorthodox game designs without 'em. They're clearly a major force in the board game hobby, but are they a force for good, or for evil? Before we wrestle with that, we talk about the games we've been playing, namely, Imperius, A Tale of Pirates, and Heroes of Land, Air & Sea.

Timecodes:

01:23 - A Tale of Pirates 07:39 - Imperius 16:33 - Heroes of Land, Air & Sea 32:15 - Kickstarter 51:13 - Looking Ahead 52:44 - Fan Mail!

Our feature topic this week is theme. How important is the theme of a board game to you? Does it affect your enjoyment of a game? What games best utilize their theme to put a neat little bow on their mechanics? We talk about all this (and more!!!) after a quick look at our week in games, which includes Tash Kalar, Krazy Wordz, Kanban, and The Mind.

Timecodes:

01:04 - Tash Kalar 02:32 - Krazy Wordz 08:38 - Kanban 17:56 - The Mind 24:00 - Theme 30:30 - Gloomhaven 40:44 - Lords of Vegas 41:47 - Android: Netrunner 42:45 - COIN Series 43:50 - Ponzi Scheme

Kingmaking is our feature topic this week. If you can't win, what's your responsibility as a good player? It's a complex, divisive topic, but then, we're complex, divisive people. We also talk about Wyatt Earp, Coffee Roaster, and El Grande.

Timecodes:

01:24 - Wyatt Earp 08:15 - Coffee Roaster 13:47 - El Grande 19:16 - Kingmaking

How many board games do you need? If you're Mark, you need them all. Before we get there though, we also talk about what we've been playing, namely, John Company, Coffee Roaster, Adrenaline and Innovation.

Topics discussed:

01:03 - John Company 08:40 - Coffee Roaster 09:42 - Adrenaline 14:30 - Innovation 22:10 - Collection Size

Rising Sun! Everyone's talking about it, and so must we. It's our feature topic this week, but first, a brief look at what else we've been playing: Spirit Island, Hardback and Decrypto. We close the show with a look ahead to what we're hoping to play.

Games discussed:

00:58 - Spirit Island 07:51 - Hardback 15:45 - Decrypto 20:20 - Rising Sun

We talk about what we've been playing (1830, Archipelago and Gaia Project), we dive deep into math trading for board games, and close out with what we're looking forward to in the weeks ahead.

Games and topics discussed:

01:10 - 1830 07:39 - Archipelago 14:04 - Gaia Project 20:34 - Math Trading 42:09 - Guards of Atlantis

We each talk about a game we liked from 2017, a game that let us down, and what we're looking forward to in 2018, including When I Dream, Gloomhaven, Charterstone, Battle For Rokugan, and more.

Games discussed:

01:55 – When I Dream 04:16 – Charterstone 07:38 – Bob Ross: Art of Chill 09:45 – Battle for Rokugan 14:45 – Gloomhaven 18:01 – The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 21:27 – Tiny Epic Quest 24:01 – Sagrada 27:11 – Photosynthesis