We're always excited for a new Eric Lang game, which makes him an obvious candidate for the absolutely-not-called BGB DOG - our series where we deep dive into a designer's .... designography. He's made a lot of our favourite area control games, and had his hand in some games we might not have even realized. Before we bang on about this Lang mang, we talk about What's Missing?, Polynesia, and TEN.

02:41 - What's Missing? 07:50 - Polynesia 17:47 - Ten 25:10 - PAX Unplugged 25:45 - Ghost Turkey 2021 28:45 - Eric Lang 31:30 - Mystick 32:05 - Dragon Ball Z: Majin Buu Saga 33:04 - Midgard 34:54 - Chaos in the Old World 39:58 - Quarriors! 41:48 - Dice Masters 42:20 - Blood Rage 45:47 - XCOM: The Board Game 48:13 - Duelyst 49:40 - Rising Sun 50:39 - Cthulhu: Death May Die 52:19 - Ankh: Gods of Egypt 54:32 - Marvel United

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Convention season in the new world continues, and this time it's Germany's turn, with Essen SPIEL just days away from kicking off. But tanks, you say, I don't sprechen Deutsch. We've got you. We're going to highlight all the games that we think you ought to be paying attention to, no German necessary. Before we spend our Euros, we talk about Praga Caput Regni, Skulk Hollow, and Beez.

01:40 - Praga Caput Regni 11:51 - Skulk Hollow 18:17 - Beez 25:51 - Fantasy Draft Winner! 27:58 - Essen SPIEL 2021 Preview 28:32 - Dreadful Circus 30:17 - Star Fighters: Rapid Fire 32:16 - 1923 Cotton Club 34:52 - Catapult Kingdoms 36:21 - The Siege of Runedar 37:57 - Magellan: Elcano 39:59 - Squaring Circleville 41:37 - Bitoku 43:33 - What's Missing: Purple Version 47:00 - Imperial Steam 48:38 - Heuschrecken Poker 52:02 - Eriantys 53:20 - Hippocrates 54:46 - Mobile Markets: A Smartphone Inc. Game

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There is one unenviable truth of board game ownership that we're forced to contend with - they occupy space. We've each had to wrestle with this reality in different ways recently, so we offer our thoughts on the awkwardness of sharing a physical world with our board games. Before we merely exist, we talk about Riftforce, Kabuto Sumo, and Whirling Witchcraft.

02:23 - Riftforce 11:38 - Kabuto Sumo 19:41 - Whirling Witchcraft 23:25 - Bullet♥︎ 23:45 - Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne 29:37 - So Very Wrong About Games charity fundraiser 30:05 - Ghost Turkey 2021 31:49 - Board games occupying space 45:28 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 48:06 - Inis 48:47 - Scythe 49:06 - Splendor

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A new list of a hundred games to draft, and it only gets harder and harder. We're each picking a standalone collection of five games in a snake draft format. And the best part is you could win $50 just by voting on your favourite collection! Before we get to clubbing, we talk about Regicide, Dice Miner, and Let's Make a Bus Route, and SCOUT!

02:06 - Regicide 08:34 - Dice Miner 16:55 - Let's Make a Bus Route 16:55 - Get on Board: New York & London 18:56 - SCOUT! 22:42 - Drafting BGG's #301-400 25:18 - Biblios 26:56 - Innovation 28:18 - Monikers 29:20 - The Great Zimbabwe 30:42 - Ginkgopolis 33:34 - For Sale 35:24 - Nusfjord 37:45 - Bunny Kingdom 39:18 - Chinatown 39:38 - Twice as Clever! 41:17 - Macao 43:03 - Lancaster 45:05 - Obsession 48:23 - Lost Cities 50:36 - Gùgōng See Badgers from Mars' statement on TGG Games: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2723017/badgers-mars-and-tgg-games Check out Mark playing Dice Miner on GameNight! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CouxIvYzh-s

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While one of the appeals of following a specific game designer is the comforting familiarity of what they do best, it's also really fun to see them go off the garden path. We're looking at games and mechanics where one of our beloved designers zigged, when they easily could've zagged. Before we go our own way, we talk about Biosphere, The Ratcatcher: The Solo Adventure Game, and Stephenson's Rocket.

Timecodes:

01:46 – Biosphere 10:58 – The Ratcatcher: The Solo Adventure Game 19:10 – Stephenson's Rocket 30:51 – Neilan's at Gen Con! 31:42 – Designers "Zigging" 33:03 – Codenames 33:07 – Pictomania 35:25 – El Grande 35:36 – 6 nimmt! 37:25 – Blood of the Northmen 37:54 – Strasbourg 38:25 – FlowerFall 40:37 – Kitchen Rush 42:19 – Mercado de Lisboa 43:02 – Age of Steam Expansion: Portugal 46:51 – XCOM: The Board Game

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One of the things we love to do, especially if we're playing a game for the first time, is analyse it while we're playing. We're sure this totally isn't annoying for those around us. In particular, we love picking apart little mechanical choices, imagining what the designer's thought process was, and wondering "why is that like that?" Before we get to speculating, we talk about Divinity Derby, Mexica, and Strasbourg.

03:28 - Divinity Derby 11:54 - Hab & Gut 13:22 - Mexica 19:06 - Strasbourg 24:35 - Taj Mahal 30:38 - Why is that mechanic like that? 33:28 - Risk 33:39 - Kemet 34:58 - Scythe 38:57 - Circadians: Chaos Order 39:57 - Tinner's Trail 41:22 - Ankh: Gods of Egypt 42:58 - Rocketmen 45:09 - The Oracle of Delphi

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We love Uwe Rosenberg around these parts, whether it's because of our infatuation with polyominoes, the need to keep workers fed, or the strange mechanisms of animal breeding. Join us down the (cottage) garden path of his designography, and make sure to plant some vegetables along the way. Before we get agricultural, we talk about Bosk, Spies & Lies: A Stratego Story, and Glen More II: Chronicles.

00:58 - Bosk 07:57 - Spies & Lies: A Stratego Story 12:37 - Love Letter 15:21 - Glen More II: Chronicles 24:52 - BGG 201-300 Fantasy Draft Winner 27:49 - Strategicon 29:01 - Uwe Rosenberg 29:56 - Bohnanza 33:58 - Agricola 37:19 - Le Havre 39:34 - At the Gates of Loyang 40:58 - A Feast for Odin 41:20 - Patchwork 46:45 - Caverna: The Cave Farmers 47:34 - Nova Luna 49:36 - Hallertau 53:59 - Mamma Mia! 54:28 - Nusfjord

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Sometimes, if you want a game bad enough, you're willing to go to absurd lengths to acquire it. Whether it's because it's out of print, or just hard to come by, we've all put more effort than we should've into finding or playing specific games. We tell our stories of just how far we've gone. Before we secure the bag, we talk about Tinner's Trail, and The Night Cage.

01:10 - Tinner's Trail 08:13 - The Night Cage 17:31 - Games you've gone out of your way for 18:39 - Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective 23:36 - World of Warcraft: The Boardgame 27:06 - Discworld: Ankh-Morpork 27:57 - Dead of Winter 29:16 - Ugg-Tect 32:26 - HeroQuest 33:55 - Warhammer 35:38 - Watch the Skies

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We're back with another fantasy draft, as we keep on moving down the BoardGameGeek top games list. If you're not familiar, we're each picking a standalone collection of five games before our picks get stolen out from under us. Want to win a $50 gift card? You've got to vote on whose collection is best! Before we get the knives out, we talk about Raiders of Scythia, and Ankh: Gods of Egypt.

02:01 - Raiders of Scythia 02:18 - Raiders of the North Sea 08:56 - Ankh: Gods of Egypt 29:09 - Drafting BGG's #201-300 32:58 - 1830: Railways & Robber Barons 34:52 - Flamme Rouge 36:51 - Beyond the Sun 37:59 - Cthulhu Wars 39:14 - Modern Art 39:27 - Glory to Rome 41:35 - Dune 42:49 - Imperial 2030 43:36 - The Resistance 44:35 - Arboretum 45:47 - Hive 46:47 - Glen More II: Chronicles 48:20 - Dwellings of Eldervale 49:35 - Dixit 51:23 - Burgle Bros

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We all have types of games that, for whatever reason, we steer clear of. Often all that we've been missing is a more suitable introduction to the genre, or a game that's just enough of an outlier. This week, we try to tempt you toward genres that you might have written off, with the games that may just sway you. Before we change your minds, we talk about Pocket Galapagos, Cascadia, and Bites.

01:36 - Pocket Galapagos 08:57 - Cascadia 12:53 - Bites 18:34 - Games that'll turn you around 20:19 - Battle for Rokugan 23:54 - The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine 26:54 - Smartphone Inc. 30:53 - Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends 33:23 - Santorini 35:13 - Snakesss 38:49 - Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne

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It's board games for dinner, but we're not just throwing whatever we could find on your plate. No, we've got menus. We lay out our ideas for a four course board game meal, complete with appetizer, amuse-bouche, entrée and dessert, in a fun little exercise suggested by a listener. Before we meal plan, we talk about Sequoia, The Mind Extreme, and MicroMacro: Crime City.

04:31 - Sequoia 10:07 - The Mind Extreme 13:36 - MicroMacro: Crime City 21:59 - Draft winner! 23:43 - Four course board game meals 24:12 - Christina's menu 25:26 - Happy Salmon 27:57 - Deep Sea Adventure 29:41 - The Quest for El Dorado 31:54 - True Colors 33:01 - Mark's menu 34:11 - Biblios 35:43 - The Estates 38:12 - Rising Sun 30:42 - A Fake Artist Goes to New York 41:35 - Neilan's menu 42:02 - Paku Paku 43:58 - Kitchen Rush 45:05 - A Feast for Odin 47:11 - Avenue 48:23 - Kellen's menu 48:55 - Auf Teufel komm raus 50:29 - Keyflower 51:57 - 6 nimmt!

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Board game science is a delicate process, but thankfully BOB's here to help, in another BGB Battle of Board (Games)! This week, we're pitting our favourite science fiction themed games against each other. That's fifteen sci fi games, which we'll put in a fact based ordered list, ready to submit to the journal of your choice. Before we pollute space, we talk about Riverboat, Bug Council of Backyardia, and Rocketmen.

04:02 - Riverboat 10:05 - Bug Council of Backyardia 16:37 - Rocketmen 23:17 - BGBBOB: Science fiction games 24:57 - Eclipse 26:02 - Anachrony 28:18 - Quantum 29:19 - Forbidden Stars 32:03 - Beyond the Sun 32:48 - Imperial 2030 36:09 - Sol: Last Days of a Star 36:59 - Space Alert 38:55 - Dune 40:20 - Nemesis 42:34 - Gaia Project 43:35 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant 45:30 - Race for the Galaxy 46:26 - Android: Netrunner 49:03 - Cosmic Encounter 1:04:28 - The final list

Keep an eye on Bug Council of Backyardia's Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/engrogames/bug-council-of-backyardia

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Martin Wallace, titan of industry, man of steam and brass. He's made a lot of games, often involving trains, but sometimes also Cthulhu. We do a deep dive into the prolific designer's catalogue, in the next in the series that Mark (and nobody else) is calling BGB DOG. Before we put him in our pocket, we talk about Throne and the Grail, Race for the Galaxy, Dinogenics, and On Mars.

02:21 - Throne and the Grail 05:56 - Race for the Galaxy 09:19 - Lost Ruins of Arnak 11:19 - DinoGenics 18:19 - On Mars 26:44 - Martin Wallace 32:17 - Brass: Lancashire 34:29 - Brass: Birmingham 37:44 - Railways of the World 42:15 - Via Nebula 44:15 - Wildlands 45:58 - Age of Industry 46:51 - Nanty Narking 46:51 - Discworld: Ankh-Morpork 51:36 - A Study in Emerald (Second Edition) 53:43 - Hit Z Road 54:55 - Anno 1800 56:10 - Liberté

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If you thought the Euro 2020 final was tense, wait until you listen to this episode. The next match in the world's most anticipated series is now here, as we continue down the BoardGameGeek top games list, drafting a collection of five games. Whose do you think is best? Vote to stand a chance to win a $50 gift card! Before we make like snakes, we talk about Chinatown, Curious Cargo, and Mercado de Lisboa.

02:14 - Chinatown 10:00 - Curious Cargo 16:44 - Mercado de Lisboa 24:45 - Drafting BGG's #101-200 28:32 - Hansa Teutonica 30:34 - Inis 31:56 - Cosmic Encounter 32:30 - Splendor 34:41 - Pandemic 37:20 - Kemet 39:37 - Ra 41:36 - Age of Steam 44:59 - Chaos in the Old World 46:15 - Dominion 47:24 - Res Arcana 50:01 - Yokohama 51:12 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong 53:44 - Vinhos Deluxe Edition 57:02 - The Resistance: Avalon

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Look, we know, we don't exactly help matters, but this hobby can be expensive. So, to make up for fueling your FOMO, we're gonna lay out some of the ways that we consciously try to curb our board game spending, while still keeping up with the zeitgeist. Before we balance our budget, we talk about Summer Camp, Wildlands, and Rome & Roll.

05:11 - Summer Camp 09:55 - The Quest for El Dorado 11:06 - Dominion 12:38 - Wildlands 21:12 - Rome & Roll 33:51 - Curbing board game spending 42:00 - Carnegie 43:03 - Gizmos 49:11 - Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile 49:49 - Stationfall

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We often talk about the burden of rules, and how in some of our favourite games, they just get out of the way. But when is that burden worthwhile; what makes the price of a heavy rules overhead worth paying? Before we maximize our returns, we talk about Crash Octopus, Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition, Imperium: Classics, and Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile.

02:54 - Crash Octopus 08:33 - Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition 18:47 - Imperium: Classics 30:41 - Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile 40:44 - Return on rules investment 43:15 - Dune 44:17 - Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game 44:50 - Gloomhaven 45:29 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization 48:15 - Pax Renaissance 49:50 - Roads & Boats

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Sometimes it's best not to know, right? You've just played a game, and you liked it a lot, but you're not quite sure whether that faction is quite balanced, or the designers accounted for that winning strategy. Should you find out? Or is it better just to enjoy the game on its own merits? Before we disobey our thirst for knowledge, we talk about Genoa, Durian, The Search for Planet X, and Pavlov's House.

02:04 - Genoa 05:50 - Durian 10:52 - The Search for Planet X 20:57 - Pavlov's House 27:35 - Draft winners 31:30 - Pre/post-game research 33:17 - Splendor 35:30 - Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun 39:00 - Cthulhu Wars: Duel 39:46 - Chaos in the Old World 40:12 - Root 45:33 - Hallertau 46:39 - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization

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Because making board games is hard, it's not enough just to have some solid mechanics - the best games have a production that coheres with the design. We look at some examples of games where production considerations (or lack thereof) have helped or hurt how they play. Before we executively produce, we talk about The King is Dead: Second Edition, Equinox, and Enchanted Plumes.

01:48 - The King is Dead: Second Edition 10:15 - Colossal Arena 10:15 - Equinox 22:06 - Enchanted Plumes 32:40 - Production and design 34:33 - Bunny Kingdom 35:35 - Smartphone Inc. 36:40 - A Study in Emerald (Second Edition) 37:50 - Railroad Ink 42:30 - Nidavellir 44:45 - Mountain Goats 46:26 - Red Rising 47:58 - Scythe

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Mark's trying to get us all into something he calls "sports", so as a compromise, we're doing a fantasy board game draft! We're going to pick games from the BoardGameGeek Top 100, until we each have five. Then YOU get to vote on whose draft is best, for a chance to win $50! Before we play to the crowds, we talk about Azul: Summer Pavilion, Roads & Boats, Ruthless, and Cthulhu: Death May Die.

02:09 - Azul: Summer Pavilion 11:33 - Roads & Boats 22:33 - Ruthless 29:53 - Cthulhu: Death May Die 32:46 - Drafting the BGG Top 100 34:58 - Brass: Birmingham 37:03 - Gloomhaven 39:20 - Spirit Island 40:20 - Pax Pamir: Second Edition 41:22 - Scythe 43:11 - Root 43:47 - Codenames 44:56 - Concordia 46:55 - Wingspan 47:20 - El Grande 49:05 - Gaia Project 51:40 - Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition 52:28 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game 55:14 - Clank! 56:53 - A Feast for Odin Check out the campaign for Ruthless: https://www.ruthless-game.com

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We've got a couple of quick questions from listeners that we thought made for some fun talking points. We're trying to figure out what the board game equivalent of black licorice is, and Before rustle in the mailbag, we talk about Trekking the World, Inkling, My City, and Ruination.

01:37 - Trekking the World 11:26 - Inkling 20:08 - My City 22:31 - Ruination 33:52 - Kemet 38:55 - Black licorice games 40:42 - Archipelago 41:12 - Safranito 42:23 - Millennium Blades 43:00 - True Colors 43:38 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant 44:25 - Light summer games 45:16 - Splendor 46:13 - The Quest for El Dorado 47:23 - Race for the Galaxy 48:28 - Santa Monica 48:43 - Mountain Goats 49:40 - The Resistance 50:17 - Fuji Flush

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