You don't need no education, but you're getting one anyway. This week we're going to be explaining the meaning of some common but unclear board game words, for we are nothing if not your humble servants. Before we define our terms, we talk about The Shipwreck Arcana, Kingdom Death: Monster, and Vinhos Deluxe Edition.

01:29 - The Shipwreck Arcana 09:05 - Kingdom Death: Monster 19:28 - Vinhos Deluxe Edition 28:13 - Board Game Terminology 28:44 - "Crunchy" 34:40 - "Fiddly" 36:38 - Agricola 37:24 - "Degenerate" vs "Broken" 38:41 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar 39:05 - Archipelago 40:13 - The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 40:46 - Dune 41:56 - Glorantha: The Gods War 43:35 - "Eurogame" vs "Ameritrash" 46:15 - El Grande 48:35 - Scythe 54:07 - Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire

Time is a precious resource, so let's not waste any; we're talking about game length. How long should a game be? Is it worse if a game is too long or too short? We wrestle with the fourth dimension in our search for answers. Before we watch the clock, we talk about Dice Forge, Gulo Gulo, and Millennium Blades.

01:28 - Dice Forge 06:53 - Gulo Gulo 10:53 - Millennium Blades 19:41 - Game Length 23:42 - Dominant Species 25:53 - New Angeles 27:05 - Formula D 27:37 - Robo Rally 28:35 - King of Tokyo 29:05 - Citadels 30:21 - Five Tribes 32:07 - Agricola 34:30 - Indian Summer 35:10 - The Voyages of Marco Polo 35:52 - Above and Below 36:53 - Archipelago 38:09 - Food Chain Magnate

There's nothing sweeter than the softening of a heart, that precious feeling when all of the things you thought you'd dislike, suddenly become endearing. We're counting down our favourite games that we thought we were going to hate, but ended up loving. Before we go full tsundere, we talk about Indian Summer, Richard the Lionheart, and X nimmt! 01:55 - Indian Summer 09:26 - Richard the Lionheart 15:53 - X nimmt! 23:37 - Games we thought we'd hate 24:55 - Shadow Hunters 27:12 - Walnut Grove 28:52 - Survive: Escape from Atlantis! 31:34 - Great Western Trail 32:35 - Blood Rage 33:47 - Formula D 35:32 - Zendo 36:48 - Hansa Teutonica 38:18 - In the Year of the Dragon 39:47 - Majesty: For the Realm 41:21 - Mansions of Madness: Second Edition 42:25 - Chicken Caesar 44:27 - Yokohama 46:18 - Caylus 49:54 - Blue Lagoon

Somewhere in Germany every year, a specialist team assembles to decide on the best board games ... that released in Germany that year ... that no one has ever heard of. Look, the Spiel des Jahres is a bit weird, and no one ever agrees about the winners, but we're going to talk about the nominees anyway, okay? Before ze Germans get here, we also talk about Glorantha: The Gods War, and Corinth. We also recap our weekend at Strategicon Gamex 2019. 02:05 - Glorantha: The Gods War 11:28 - Cthulhu Wars 20:06 - Corinth 27:27 - Strategicon Gamex 2019 28:52 - Now Boarding 32:25 - Spiel des Jahres 33:40 - Just One 34:44 - Werewords 36:05 - LAMA 38:46 - Who wins the Spiel des Jahres? 41:47 - Wingspan 42:35 - Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game 43:42 - Carpe Diem 44:39 - Who wins the Kennerspiel?

Everyone likes to get the most out of their hard-earned cash, but what is a board game worth? Maybe it doesn't matter what's inside the box, maybe the real value is the friends we made along the way? Haha, just kidding, it's totally all about the miniature total. Before we count components, we also talk about Aerion, Overbooked, Dinosaur Island, and Lancaster. 03:15 - Aerion 05:40 - Overbooked 11:36 - Dinosaur Island 25:08 - Lancaster 34:37 - Value for money 36:50 - A Feast for Odin 38:16 - Scythe 41:09 - Escape Plan 41:36 - Gloomhaven 41:54 - Mechs vs. Minions 42:55 - Terraforming Mars

Letters! You love writing them, and we love reading them! This week, we look at portable and licensed games, why reviewers love social games, and give advice for your first board game convention. Before we break out the letter opener, we also talk about Fool!, Aerion, and Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar. 01:03 - Fool! 05:38 - Aerion 13:06 - Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar 22:24 - Listener Questions 22:48 - Best portable games? 23:29 - Oink Games 23:54 - Sprawlopolis 24:07 - SHH 25:01 - No Thanks! 25:10 - Skull 25:51 - Illusion 26:22 - Are reviewers biased towards more social games? 28:48 - Blood on the Clocktower 32:15 - Cosmic Encounter 33:08 - Convention tips? 34:52 - Nyctophobia 37:47 - Best licensed game? 38:02 - Dune 38:22 - XCOM: The Board Game 38:34 - The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 39:01 - Play new games or replay old ones? 39:37 - Why does Neilan have the best voice? 41:05 - ?!?!

We're well into May, so it's about time we did some spring cleaning. We talk about the games that have recently left our collection, and why it was their time to go. It's not always an easy thing, but I'm sure they're being loved by someone else on a farm upstate. Before we out with the old, we talk about Space Base: The Emergence of Shy Pluto, Hyperborea, and Clockwork Wars. 02:28 - Space Base: The Emergence of Shy Pluto 09:03 - Hyperborea 20:06 - Clockwork Wars 30:51 - Games that have left our collections 31:03 - Lowlands 34:12 - Key to the City: London 36:33 - Raptor 38:27 - Magic Maze 40:41 - Chinatown 43:32 - Yamataï 44:51 - Things we're looking forward to

Dominant strategies can ruin a game; if there's one clear best way to win, why not use it every time? We discuss these optimal strategies, whether they're always problematic, and how to deal with them at your game table. Before we break the game, we talk about A Feast for Odin: The Norwegians, Lost Cities: Rivals, and Second Chance. 03:16 - PUSH 04:53 - A Feast for Odin: The Norwegians 12:30 - Lost Cities: Rivals 18:12 - Second Chance 26:31 - Dominant Strategies 27:17 - A Feast for Odin 27:57 - A Few Acres of Snow 28:16 - Blood Rage 30:48 - Magic: The Gathering 32:45 - London 34:19 - Great Western Trail 36:39 - Chess 38:18 - Cthulhu Wars 43:36 - Food Chain Magnate 45:22 - Dominion 46:30 - Battle for Rokugan 46:51 - Kemet 48:53 - Ticket to Ride

Slow down. Why're you always in such a rush? Kick off your shoes, join us on the couch and enjoy a nice, tall, refreshing ... board game. We're counting down our five favourite relaxing games, the ones we're drawn to at the end of a long game night. Before we slip into something more comfortable, we also talk about Heaven & Ale, Men At Work, and Yellow & Yangtze. 01:59 - Heaven & Ale 08:30 - Men At Work 14:08 - Yellow & Yangtze 18:18 - Tigris & Euphrates 24:50 - Our Favourite Relaxing Games 26:32 - Lanterns: The Harvest Festival 27:49 - Bärenpark 29:22 - Illusion 30:42 - Dixit 32:34 - Telestrations 34:35 - Crokinole 37:09 - Cottage Garden 38:34 - Karuba 39:54 - Rise of Augustus 41:19 - Between Two Cities 43:58 - Welcome To ... 45:00 - Red7 46:58 - Notre Dame 48:47 - Patchwork 50:15 - Camel Up

We're being serious. Are board games a base line level of fun that we ought to take for granted? We're all together, we're all playing a game, that's better than doing nothing, right? It couldn't possibly be that simple with us. Before we arithmetise entertainment, we also talk about Tiny Towns, Zendo, and Escape Plan. 01:41 - Tiny Towns 07:23 - Zendo 13:24 - Escape Plan 29:52 - Are games fun no matter what? 38:05 - Horse Fever 38:39 - Dominant Species 39:35 - Loopin' Louie 44:46 - One Night Ultimate Werewolf

The train's pulling into the station and you've got a ticket, because this week we're talking all about hype. Why do we get irrationally excited about games we know nothing about? How much should we listen to our overly excited inner selves? Before it's all aboard, we also talk about Reykholt, PUSH, and Great Western Trail.

01:51 - Reykholt 10:13 - PUSH 14:54 - Great Western Trail 30:50 - Hype and anti-hype 32:41 - Res Arcana 33:45 - The 7th Continent 35:32 - El Grande 38:29 - Gloomhaven 38:57 - Brass: Birmingham 40:09 - Blood on the Clocktower 42:43 - Terraforming Mars

It's all well and good playing the newest, hottest games, but that doesn't stop us wanting to go back to some of the old goodies. We're counting down our top five games we want to revisit, to enjoy once more as we did in our youth. Relatively speaking. Before we get all wistful, we also talk about Eye My Favourite Things, On Tour, and Dune. 01:12 - Eye My Favourite Things 06:18 - On Tour 12:28 - Dune 18:40 - Cosmic Encounter 24:44 - Rex: Final Days of an Empire 26:10 - Root 31:55 - Games We Want to Play More 33:00 - Libertalia 34:19 - Ricochet Robots 37:01 - XCOM: The Board Game 39:09 - Ascending Empires 40:16 - Automobiles 42:22 - Kitchen Rush 43:52 - Two Rooms and a Boom 46:17 - Tribune: Primus Inter Pares 48:00 - Seasons 49:53 - Yokohama 50:56 - SpaceCorp 52:50 - The Voyages of Marco Polo 54:19 - Root 55:34 - Container 56:36 - Lords of Hellas

Electronic board games! What will they think of next?! There's been a trend of more and more board games being translated into web and mobile apps, so join us as we make the jump to cyberspace. Before we plug in, we also talk about Heul doch! Mau Mau, Architects of the West Kingdom, and revisit Nusfjord. 01:19 - Heul doch! Mau Mau 05:19 - Architects of the West Kingdom 10:55 - A Feast for Odin 13:44 - Nusfjord 26:26 - Digital Board Games 27:20 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization 28:05 - Onirim 29:28 - Concordia 30:56 - Dixit 32:49 - Innovation 33:29 - Ortus Regni 36:41 - The Resistance

We're at the table talking table talk, all the little things that get said while you're playing a board game. Sure, there's plenty to be said in a social deduction or negotiation game, but what about less talky games? What's appropriate and what isn't? Before we say something we regret, we also talk about Everdell, Concordia Venus, and Project: ELITE. 03:58 - Everdell 08:34 - Wingspan 12:07 - Concordia Venus 21:27 - Project: ELITE 25:56 - Escape: The Curse of the Temple 31:13 - Table Talk 37:01 - Codenames

Some games offer an experience so unique, so unlike anything else, that you can't help but take notice. It might be a bold thematic setting, or a set of mechanics that you've never seen before. This week, we're counting down our favourite games that do something ... a little bit different. Before we stand out from the crowd, we also talk about Looting London, and Chimera.

01:05 - Looting London 04:17 - Chimera 09:45 - Unique Thematic Experiences 12:12 - Food Chain Magnate 16:11 - Space Cadets: Dice Duel 18:38 - Long Shot 21:23 - Dungeons & Dragons: Rock Paper Wizard 23:16 - Dead of Winter 26:42 - Pit 28:38 - Millennium Blades 33:11 - Alchemists 36:33 - Chaosmos 40:07 - Ponzi Scheme 42:24 - Space Hulk 45:39 - Adrenaline 47:37 - Diplomacy 51:06 - Sol: Last Days of a Star 53:22 - Captain Sonar

Time to 'fess up. We're admitting to all the transgressions we've made in the world of board gaming. We're not proud of it, but there are a lot of games we haven't played that we should have. There are Kickstarters we've overspent on, and some we regret backing. And what would a good confessional be without owning up to our guilty pleasures? Before we ask forgiveness, we also talk about Excape, Race for the Galaxy, and Biblios Dice.

01:30 - Excape 07:57 - Race for the Galaxy 13:49 - Biblios Dice 20:02 - Board Game Confessions 21:50 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 23:44 - Eclipse 25:31 - Terraforming Mars 29:08 - The 7th Continent 29:42 - Statecraft 30:30 - Tiny Epic Quest 31:42 - Glorantha: The Gods War 32:21 - Rising Sun 34:17 - Zombicide 34:42 - Betrayal at House on the Hill 34:55 - True Colors 35:45 - Hundreds of Horses 39:43 - Through the Ages 40:09 - Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team

Gateway games are an often requested topic, but we wouldn't be us without a big old debate about them first. Are they important? Should you be trying to convert your friends at all? Isn't every game a gateway game if you just talk slowly enough? Before we raise the portcullis, we also talk about Targi, and Catan. 01:25 - Targi 07:19 - Catan 09:35 - Gateway games 17:11 - Forbidden Island 18:38 - Codenames 19:01 - Sushi Go! 22:23 - A Fake Artist Goes to New York 24:56 - Bärenpark 27:47 - Biblios 32:16 - Splendor 35:31 - The Quest for El Dorado 38:12 - Blue Lagoon 41:05 - Dominion 43:57 - Wingspan 47:32 - Converting non-gamers?

It's always sad to see a game go. But sometimes it's just time to move on, to let it be free, to let someone else enjoy its esoteric rules and quirky components. Games leave our collections for many reasons, so let's take a look at some of them. Before we spark joy, we talk about Big Dig, Trains, and The River.

01:18 - Big Dig 05:00 - Trains 09:30 - The Quest for El Dorado 10:17 - The River 19:51 - Why Games Leave our Collections 27:40 - Through The Ages 27:40 - Mage Knight 29:02 - Founders of Gloomhaven 33:49 - Capital Lux 35:25 - Rapid Fire Send-offs

One year, baby! We did it. It's our first anniversary, and we're celebrating by ... putting out an episode of the podcast. We got a couple of reader questions that we thought would be especially pertinent for this occasion, as we look back on the impact Board Game Barrage has had on us. Before we pop the champagne, we talk about The Quacks of Quedlinburg, Forum Trajanum, and Narabi.

04:37 - The Quacks of Quedlinburg 08:57 - Forum Trajanum 15:08 - Narabi 21:00 - How has Board Game Barrage impacted us? 32:08 - Do review copies make us less impartial? 33:45 - Hyperspace 35:24 - Shouldn't Mark be the Red Tank? 39:08 - Guest reviews!

2019 is well underway, but with so many amazing games on the horizon, it's hard to know what to look out for. Fear not, listener, that's what we're here for. Join us as we count down our most anticipated games of the year. Before we cast our eyes ahead, we talk about New Frontiers: The Race for the Galaxy Board Game, and Hansa Teutonica.

02:33 - New Frontiers: The Race for the Galaxy Board Game 09:25 - Hansa Teutonica 18:13 - Most Anticipated Games of 2019 18:59 - Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy 22:09 - Glorantha: The Gods War 25:28 - TOKYO TSUKIJI MARKET 28:27 - Sabotage 31:04 - Living Planet 33:26 - Pipeline 36:20 - Escape Plan 38:04 - Res Arcana 39:36 - Barrage 41:03 - ELO Darkness 44:02 - Black Angel 45:18 - On Mars 46:43 - Warpgate 48:54 - Mezo 51:07 - City of the Big Shoulders