Happy new year! We're back to continue the very peaceful, collaborative, kind endeavour that is coming together to harmoniously assemble our top 50 games. It's been nothing but chill, friendly vibes, and we expect that to continue into 2026. It's the next twenty games on our definitive top 50 board games... of all-time!

01:20 - #30 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar 06:43 - #29 - Dominion 09:36 - #28 - Fuji Flush 11:13 - #27 - Innovation 12:53 - #26 - Blue Lagoon 14:27 - #25 - El Grande 15:11 - #24 - Dune 16:17 - #23 - Inis 19:16 - #22 - Decrypto 21:27 - #21 - The Estates 23:24 - #20 - Yellow & Yangtze 26:08 - #19 - Archipelago 27:34 - #18 - Agricola 30:04 - #17 - Guards of Atlantis II 31:33 - #16 - Taj Mahal 33:03 - #15 - The Voyages of Marco Polo 35:08 - #14 - I'm the Boss! 37:00 - #13 - Lords of Vegas 38:05 - #12 - A Feast for Odin 41:32 - #11 - Telestrations

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

Okay, things are a bit different this year. In honour of our 350th episode (a very important milestone), we're going to combine forces, like ... Voltron. I'm the head, and my left and right feet are here with me to collaboratively (yes, you heard right) compile Board Game Barrage's definitive (definitely definitive) top 50 board games... of all-time!

06:27 - #50 - Zoo Vadis 08:32 - #49 - Splendor 11:45 - #48 - Azul 14:51 - #47 - Imperial 2030 17:13 - #46 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant 19:15 - #45 - Pictomania 25:50 - #44 - Stationfall 32:35 - #43 - Ra 34:20 - #42 - Food Chain Magnate 39:31 - #41 - Diplomacy 41:41 - #40 - Dune: Imperium - Uprising 43:33 - #39 - Race for the Galaxy 47:40 - #38 - Caylus 1303 50:59 - #37 - Root 54:34 - #36 - Cosmic Encounter 56:40 - #35 - Blood on the Clocktower 59:03 - #34 - Glory to Rome 1:01:04 - #33 - Fresh Fish 1:05:01 - #32 - Biblios 1:06:23 - #31 - So Clover!

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

Remember way back at the beginning of the year when we took some bets on what we thought the games of the year were gonna be? Well, all those good and bad decisions are back to help or haunt us, as we tally up where things stand with the end of the year results. Before we find a winner, we talk about Wriggle Roulette, Whale Street, and Scales of Fate.

04:45 - Wriggle Roulette 11:32 - Whale Street 19:12 - Scales of Fate 29:45 - Anticipation auction results

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

Somehow Ghost Turkey returned. And you never saw it coming! That might be because we forgot to remind people that it's Thanksgiving, but never mind that, the important thing is you're fools. Not us though, we're back with yet another juicy, cranberry soaked list of bird gaming goodness. Gobble gobble!

00:00 - ???

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

BGBBOB is back, and it's been long enough that you might need a reminder. Ten game designers enter the ring, and through the arduous process of one vs one battles, we arrive at our (and not just our, but the) definitive ranked list of ... these particular designers. It's science. Before we fight it out, we talk about Iliad, The Old King's Crown, and Franchise.

03:29 - Iliad 13:56 - The Old King's Crown 34:01 - Franchise 42:04 - BGBBOB: Game designers

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

This episode is not about Bananagrams (at least, I don't think so), but it is about the price of things (though not Bananagrams specifically, shut up about Bananagrams). In a world where everything costs more, we're talking about the value of games, and how far a game has to go to justify its price. Before we decide if the price is right, we talk about The Presence, and River of Gold.

02:08 - The Presence 17:32 - River of Gold 27:03 - Board Game Pricing 27:59 - Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition - Thunder's Edge 33:20 - Biblios 34:15 - Agricola

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

Not perturbed by Kellen's trip to Germany, we're all daydreaming about the motherlode of board game conventions, Essen SPIEL. There's a lot of games coming to the show, and because we're not going, and presumably you aren't either, we'll just tell you what's going to be there instead! The good stuff, anyway. Before we Germinate, we talk about Calimala, Tír na nÓg, and Typewriter.

02:42 - Calimala 09:42 - Tír na nÓg 16:15 - Typewriter 26:15 - Essen SPIEL 2025 Preview 28:49 - Mission: Red Planet (Third Edition) 31:18 - The Other Side of the Hill 33:29 - Severton 36:12 - Harvest Valley 38:11 - Pulitzer 39:26 - Echoes of Time 41:14 - Oopsie 42:55 - Feya's Swamp 43:46 - Baghdad: The City of Peace 45:25 - Ghost Lift 48:07 - Coming of Age 49:33 - The Presence 51:50 - Carnival of Sins 53:37 - The Republic of Rome: Remastered 55:22 - Theocratia Register for this year's Ghost Turkey at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

Dreaded continuity! We're following up Episode 41 from seven years ago about the games that started our love for board games! After those first loves, what really got our hearts aflutter with the joy that the hobby had to offer? Before we yearn, we talk about Der Fliegende Holländer, and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

02:52 - Der Fliegende Holländer 16:03 - The Hobbit: There and Back Again 27:14 - The games that made us 29:11 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong 32:54 - Mage Knight Board Game 36:33 - Francis Drake 39:33 - Two Rooms and a Boom 42:44 - Survive: Escape from Atlantis! 46:46 - Grand Austria Hotel 49:53 - Dead Last 55:26 - Rising Sun

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

The draft's back! This time it's card games, and we're picking the bestof what ought to be a staple of any good collection. We love card games, we love drafting games, and you love winning money, so be sure to vote for whoever you think drafted the best set, and you could win a $100 gift card! Before deal everyone in, we talk about Money!, Venture, and Fishing. 03:02 - Money! 12:43 - Venture 20:27 - Fishing 28:39 - Card Games Draft 31:15 - Innovation 32:38 - Race for the Galaxy 34:20 - Hanabi 35:27 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game 36:21 - Dominion 37:47 - SCOUT 39:28 - Glory to Rome 40:58 - The Crew: Mission Deep Sea 41:50 - Arboretum 42:12 - Lost Cities 42:57 - Bohnanza 43:57 - Tichu 45:06 - Skull King 47:00 - Res Arcana 48:07 - That's Not a Hat

Vote for your favorite list and have a chance to win a $100 gift certificate at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/draft

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

There's any number of subtle innuendoes we could've gone with, but this is what we're doing I guess. If you haven't got there yet, we're talking about games that aren't just slow rides, but instead leave you gasping for more right as they climax. Before we finish, we talk about No Loose Ends, Eselsbrücke, and The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship. 01:24 - No Loose Ends 09:08 - Eselsbrücke 19:33 - The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship 33:52 - Comings and Goings 37:44 - Games that finish strong 40:17 - Agricola 40:44 - Splendor 41:14 - Voyages of Marco Polo 44:03 - Terraforming Mars 45:28 - Blood on the Clocktower 46:57 - Innovation 47:49 - Rumble Nation 49:50 - Moon Colony Bloodbath 52:12 - Dominion

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

One, two, three, four, five, everybody in the car so come on let's ride ... to the mailbag! We're answering your pressing questions - and oh how they press - about all manner of things: Crowdfunding ads! Narrative games! Getting jaded about board games! You wrote in because you had to know what we thought, and who are we to say no. Before we get covered in papercuts, we talk about Wheedle, Dune: War for Arrakis, and Transgalactica. 02:05 - Wheedle 09:31 - Dune: War for Arrakis 19:52 - Transgalactica 34:00 - Mailbag 34:39 - Kickstarter red and green flags? 43:36 - Narrative in board games? 51:23 - Do we get jaded?

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

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

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

Sometimes once is enough, you know? Doesn't mean it was bad, but it might just be that you can have too much of a good thing. We're talking about board games that we'd recommend everyone play once, but only once. Before we hit and run, we talk about Kaivai, East India Companies, and Vantage.

01:44 - Kaivai 10:58 - Feya's Swamp 13:15 - East India Companies 21:31 - Vantage 39:41 - Games to play only once 41:22 - War of the Ring: Second Edition 41:47 - Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition 43:44 - Sidereal Confluence 44:08 - Blood on the Clocktower 44:19 - Two Rooms and a Boom 45:19 - Mister Diamond 45:40 - Hearts of AttrAction 46:51 - Catan 49:21 - Sanctum 49:37 - Deal with the Devil 50:08 - Nemesis

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

Gen Con! Where all the cool games are, before you even know they're cool. Or hot! We've got you covered, if you want to know what all the best stuff coming out of Indianapolis is going to before before anyone else, then look no further than this episode. Five games each that we're excited to hear more about at the show! Before we face the heat, we talk about Line of Fire: Burnt Moon, and Rise.

02:51 - Line of Fire: Burnt Moon 11:57 - Rise 21:46 - Gen Con Preview 23:53 - Party Panda Pirates 26:09 - Tabriz 27:33 - The Last Command 28:53 - Llama Llama 31:25 - Tearable Quest 33:22 - Furnace Duel 35:59 - Koinobori 37:58 - Galileo Galilei 39:59 - Merchants of Andromeda 42:02 - Ruins 45:03 - Slam Throne 47:34 - Lightning Train 48:40 - Guessocracy: Roll & Vote 51:22 - Habemus Papam 52:34 - Into the Machine

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

It's time again to turn the tables and get your take, to feel out the collective tastes of you, the listeners of the show. It's the annual Listener Top 20! You've been sending in all of your lists (thank you!), I've been compiling all of the data (you're welcome!) - and here it is, in a convenient list format. Before we ask the audience, we talk about Flip 7, Hot Streak, and Kolejka.

02:37 - Flip 7 10:40 - Hot Streak 19:47 - Kolejka 27:42 - Listener Top 20 29:05 - Agricola 29:55 - Gloomhaven 31:26 - Guards of Atlantis II 32:20 - Blood on the Clocktower 33:20 - Arcs 34:40 - Tigris & Euphrates 35:21 - Terraforming Mars 35:54 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game 36:42 - Inis 37:24 - Innovation 38:13 - Race for the Galaxy 39:02 - Root 40:04 - Concordia 41:00 - The Castles of Burgundy 41:41 - Ark Nova 42:03 - Dune: Imperium 43:19 - Ra 43:35 - Brass: Birmingham 45:11 - Spirit Island 46:27 - Hansa Teutonica

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

When playing games it's easy to fall into the trap of over-anaylsing turns, or questioning whether the move we made was the right one, or even allowing people to roll back whole turns - so we're asking if maybe we've been wrong this whole time, and we should just ... embrace it? Are mistakes interesting? Before we have any regrets, we talk about Apiary, Wizards Cup, and Wroth.

02:43 - Apiary 13:43 - Wizards Cup 20:41 - Wroth 31:37 - Mistakes are fun?

Vote for the listener Top 20 board games at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/top20

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

A dazzling place you never knew ... until now that is! We're diving deep on beloved designer Cole Wehrle in another designer spotlight. We dig back into his Roots, and explore the many Arcs that led to his Oath to revolutionize thematic board games. Before our traffic gets infamous, we talk about Toy Battle, Subjective, and Wild Tiled West.

03:43 - Toy Battle 13:51 - Subjective 22:11 - Wild Tiled West 30:43 - Designer Spotlight: Cole Wehrle 34:13 - Pax Porfiriana 40:03 - Root 46:21 - Oath 47:45 - Arcs 50:27 - John Company: Second Edition 56:49 - Molly House

Vote for the listener Top 20 board games at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/top20

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

Well, we finally did it. We played CATAN, and it was ... good! And then we started wondering, is there anything that's done quite the same thing that that game is doing? And then that got us wondering how many games there are like that, where it's genuinely hard to say that nothing has done it better since. And then that got us wondering if, instead of all this wondering, we should record a podcast episode. Before we wander, we talk about Box Two, Catan: Cities & Knights, and An Infamous Traffic.

02:47 - Box Two 09:18 - Catan: Cities & Knights 19:50 - An Infamous Traffic 31:58 - Has anyone done it better? 32:26 - Catan 35:55 - Concordia 36:17 - Rise of Tribes 37:31 - Space Base 39:26 - Archipelago 40:38 - Dominion 41:17 - Aeon's End 42:22 - Star Realms 42:32 - Shards of Infinity 44:43 - Diplomacy 44:59 - Dune 46:48 - Battle for Rokugan 47:04 - A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (Second Edition)

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

Happy 333! In honour of our three hundred and thirty third episode, BoardGameGeek has decided to host an emergency session of the Golden Geek Awards, and we're here to tell you about all the nominees that satisfy the crucial conditions of being (1) good games (2) we played (3) last year. Before we open our third eye, we also talk about Einfach Genial 3D, Gazebo, and Stalk Exchange.

02:28 - Einfach Genial 3D 11:48 - Gazebo 19:08 - Stalk Exchange 28:43 - 2025 Golden Geek Awards 30:34 - Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth 31:09 - A Gest of Robin Hood 32:45 - Ironwood 33:09 - Compile: Main 1 39:45 - Arcs: The Blighted Reach Expansion 41:08 - Monkey Palace 42:10 - City of Six Moons 43:43 - Flip 7 45:26 - Endeavor: Deep Sea 46:07 - Fromage 48:21 - Civolution 49:26 - Hister Bingo 50:57 - Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

I would say that, for the most part, there's very little we won't play - but we also know what we like, and especially what we don't like. Every so often a game gets suggested that we have to say "literally anything but" to. Before we pass hard, we talk about TRICKTAKERs, Iquazú, and Hubworld: Aidalon.

02:49 - TRICKTAKERs 11:52 - Iquazú 21:47 - Hubworld: Aidalon 31:03 - Hard pass games 32:11 - Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant 33:29 - Captain Sonar 34:04 - Citadels 35:19 - 7 Wonders 40:03 - Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition 41:03 - Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game 42:51 - Welcome To... 46:08 - Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

Send us topic ideas at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/topics

Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki

Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord

Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook

Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store