Spinning pandas, evolving primates, and... Capitalism! We have all three for you in this episode - thankfully not all in the same game.
We could have had three games about mammals, but we didn't think this through. 

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

Onto the timestamps:

00:00 Cold open
02:09 Intro
03:45 Panda Spin
18:34 Primates
32:51 Tycoon: India 1981
48:25 Correspondence

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Only three games this episode? What gives? Well, in the tried and true brand tradition, we decided to go back to our original formula. But no sad trombone noises please - we're really, definitely, honestly going to make it work this time...

On this episode, we have Identity - a trick taking game that promises personality, Out of Sorts - a game of inventing a cataloguing system for books in an alien library, and Magical Athlete - a game of racing a banana, a giant baby, and various other quirky things round a track.

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
05:50 Identity
14:16 Out of Sorts
28:57 Magical Athlete
42:03 Correspondence 

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There are episodes where we bring as much knowledge as we can about whatever board game we are talking about. And then there are episodes where we just want to share why something didn't click so much that we didn't want to go beyond game one. Apropos of nothing, today we'll be chatting about Brink, a "trading cubes in space" game that conceptually riffs on Catan but in execution whiffs on us.

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

On to the time stamps:

00:00 Cold Open & Intro

Work in Progress: 

2:08 Tenby

7:26 Railroad Tiles

10:42 Rumble Nation

18:53 Winter Rabbit

Audience Correspondence:

25:05 Vantage, Neurodivergence in Board Games

Main Feature:

31:23 Brink

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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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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.

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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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Good news, we're on holiday. Better news, we're not leaving you without podcast. It's a smaller episode, yes, but it is Talk Cardboard delivered right to your door, for free! Mmmmm, free podcast, what could be more delicious? Oh, I know, human suffering! If you feel like what you need more in your life is a cardboard simulation of robots slaughtering endless amounts of flesh bags on the moon, Moon Colony Bloodbath has got you sorted.

 

Not doing timestamps cause we're on holiday. Also, it's just one game. You'll be fine.

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

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Sharpen your papercuts because it's time to put cards face down in front of you and simultaneously flip them face up! The Old King's Crown is maybe the year's most exciting game and we've got an exciting early scoop!

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
1:40 Intro

Work In Progress

2:08 Emberleaf
11:19 Hot Streak
22:00 Project L
26:24 Survive the Island

Main Feature

31:06 The Old King's Crown

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Efka opens our review of Eternal Decks with "This is the main candidate for Game of the Year 2025" and if you need a better endorsement to learn about a cool new board game, I can't think of one. And I'm Efka. This and more in this week's Talk Cardboard.

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

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

On to the time stamps:

0:00 Cold Open
1:30 Intro

Work In Progress

1:59 Barony: Royal Edition
6:25 In the Shadows: Resistance in France 1943 - 1944 (DNF)
10:08 Emberleaf
14:32 The Old King's Crown

Audience Correspondence: 

21:34 Blue Prince

Main Feature

28:46 Eternal Decks

 

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You want me to do what now? Play a board game on the TV? Using my phone? Never!

*shakes fist at cloud*

*shakes more fist at cloud*

*picks up phone and starts playing*

Wait this thing is good! Like, real good. Okay, I guess today we're talking about a board game that's also a video game that's also a phone game. And you're going to listen and you're going to enjoy it.

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On to the timestamps:

00:00 Cold open

01:24 Intro

02:03 'Work In Progress"; Fruit Fight

03:50 Tenby

08:10 Deep Regrets

15:57 Correspondence

20:01 Sunderfolk

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Why duel with silly weapons when you can duel with whole cities? In Rival Cities, Hamburg and Altona go head to head to see who will be the city anyone's ever heard of. I think you probably know who pulled that off IRL. 

But if you'd rather fight with fruit or sausages, fear not because we have those for you too - in our Work in Progress.

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

 

On to the timestamps:
00:00 Cold open
01:41 Intro
05:18 Work in Progress
06:05 Sausage Sizzle
08:17 (Reiner Knizia's) Fruit Fight
14:47 Corps of Discovery
25:46 Correspondence
27:16 Rival Cities

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Get ready to flick your way to victory, or get the flick out of here because it's time to play Ascending Empires: Zenith Edition - a 4X game - but iiiin flicking spaaaaace! 

We also have the games we've been playing this week in our new segment: 'Work in Progress', where Elaine compares Eternal Decks to being back at school, and Efka tells us about under-salted negotiations in Moonrakers.

Bonus Episodes on patreon.com/nopunincluded

Eternal Decks tutorials mentioned in the episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT1d_lHw4yM

On to the timestamps:

00:00 Cold open
01:40 Intro
02:10 'Work In Progress"; Eternal Decks
08:09 Joyride
11:52 Moonrakers
16:01 Correspondence
24:44 Ascending Empires: Zenith Edition

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Have you ever wanted to be a poorly paid miner? What about on an Alien Planet? Whilst being bothered by swarms of beasties? If you answered yes, yes, and yes, then get your drills and ziplines ready for our deep dive into  Deep Rock Galactic: The Board Game, 

If you answered no, then luckily we also have a whole host of other games we're talking about in our new segment "Work in Progress", where we give a quick look to the games we've been playing this week. 

If you'd like to support us, head over to our Patreon at patreon.com/nopunincluded , where you'll get access to all of our bonus episodes, plus our lovely Discord server.

 

Onto the timestamps:

00:00 Cold open
01:14 Intro & "Work In Progress" brief
01:34 Nokosu Dice
03:25 Eternal Decks
07:36 Elden Ring: The Board Game
11:34 Flow
17:20 Dune: Imperium - Bloodlines
22:43 Correspondence
23:12 Deep Rock Galactic: The Board Game

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Talk Cardboard returns tomorrow! Meanwhile, enjoy a mini psa on the format change and why the hiatus happened.

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Get your engines warmed up, your fishing rod at the ready, and your knee-pads on as we delve into a crash, bash racing game in Thunder Road: Vendetta, freeze our fingers building a village in Saltfjord, and co-operatively fight for the freedom of Kaan in Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan.

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

On to the time stamps:

00:00 Cold open
02:31 Intro
03:39 Correspondance regarding board game libraries
04:56 Thunder Road Vendetta
22:24 Correspondance regarding learning games
25:23 Saltfjord
44:52 Correspondence regarding games made of chocolate
49:40 Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan
1:22:49 Outro

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One thousand five hundred plus games released over four days is a HOT WEEKEND in board games and the Elaines and Efkas of this world were in attendance. Did we play all 1500 games? No. Did we play the hot ones? Yes. Did we play the weird ones? Yes. Did we play the good ones? Oh my yes yes yes. So grab a warm beverage, plonk yourself into a comfy chair and write off the next hour and a half because we bring you informed coverage of all the games that we played and what you should be on the lookout for in the next three months of board games. What a time to be alive.

You can now watch a video version of the episode on YouTube - link here

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

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Cold Open
1:40 Intro
4:15 15 - Milkuro
6:44 14 - Rock Rubber Scissors
8:58 13 - Potato Tomato
11:18 12 - Bomb Busters
17:45 11 - Overparked
21:09 10 - Big Two
26:17 9 - Bottle Imp
30:50 8 - Civolution
41:33 7 - Altay: Dawn of Civilization
49:56 6 - Seas of Strife
53:36 Joint 5,4,3 - ???
1:01:29 Joint 5,4,3 - ???
1:06:14 Joint 5,4,3 - ???
1:18:55 2 - ???
1:24:32 1 - ???

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Folks, folks and folks, please come join us for a marvelous carboard celebration through time, energy and cities. Gaze your eyes to Paris in 1920 and marvel at the deductive action of Kronologic. Now turn those eyeballs further east towards Germany and amaze yourself with the fantabulous power of Nucleum and finally, fly up and up and up and then look down for a birds eye view of cities in Cities. It’s a show like no other and that show is called Talk Cardboard. For more NPI please visit https://nopunincluded.com If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on patreon.com/nopunincluded On to the timestamps: 0:00 Cold Open 2:48 Intro 3:42 Audience Correspondence: Convention Demo Learning 8:45 Kronologic: Paris 1920 19:52 Audience Correspondence: Board games in libraries 25:29 Nucleum + Nucleum: Australia 1:09:31 Audience Correspondence: Wilmot's Warehouse 1:13:26 Cities 1:25:40 Outro

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Vroom vroom it’s time to kaboom! Or something along those lines because today’s feature game is all about smashing cars into other cars. It feels like we’ve seen this type of game over and over through time, from Rock’n’Roll Racing to Mario Kart to Twisted Metal to Carmaggedon - the world is full of games that let you cause car accidents on purpose. But let me tell you, it’s never been done like that in cardboard. Joyride is a delight! And there’s other games too! We take a look at the somewhat bland and reliable Invincible: The Hero-Building Game and the charming Wilmot’s Warehouse in its new board game incarnation. If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on patreon.com/nopunincluded On to the timestamps: 0:00 Cold Open 0:39 Intro 1:44 Audience Correspondence: Qualia 5:29 Joyride: Survival of the Fastest 30:58 Audience Correspondence: Standardized Size 34:29 Invincible: The Hero-Building Game 53:19 Audience Correspondence: More Haggis Letters 55:29 Wilmot's Warehouse

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Cute, but deadly! We used to dance under that name but you could also use those three words to describe today’s selection of games. Harvest is a farming worker placement game so cloyingly sweet you could squeeze condensed milk out of it. Is it good? Jury’s still out. War Stories: Occupied France is the unlikely combination of Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective and Undaunted - how does that even work? We’ve got the scoop. And finally… Dorfromantik: The Duel. Last year’s adaptation of Dorfromantik to board game form was low key our favourite light tile layer. But now naturally come the spin-offs and we’ve got some takes. If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded On to the timestamps: 0:00 Go Listen to So Very Wrong About Games 1:34 Cold Open 3:35 Intro 4:30 Audience Correspondence - Horror Games 12:25 Harvest 28:30 Audience Correspondence - Haggis 30:44 War Story: Occupied France 48:40 Audience Correspondence - More Haggis 51:26 Dorfromantik: The Duel 1:00:24 Outro

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Hello boardgamers and boardgamees, how are your MEEPLES? Do they need feeding? Watering? Some TLC? Or do they just need a good dose of the Talk Cardboard podcast to refresh that wooden noggin? Well worry not young meeple trainer, we’ve got a new episode digitally bumbling its way to you right now. A real smorgasboard of delights this week as we take a look at three very different games to suit very different needs. Spectral is a strange melange of deduction and Keyflower style bidding? Does that even work? Does it make sense? Is Ryan Courtney the only designer that can pull this off? Talking of designers that can pull things off, how about none other than Reiner Knizia himself, who, believe it or not, designed another game. Except he designed this one quite a long time ago and also made a very fresh expansion for it right now. Through the Desert is a mean mean classic and Bazaar is a mixed bag of modules to add some zest. And finally, a board game based on a beloved video game (unofficially) that doesn’t just work but maybe even surpases its insipiration? Leviathan Wilds is the tabletop version of Shadows of the Colossus and there are moments when it towers above it. Find more episodes on https://nopunincluded.com/podcast If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded On to the timestamps: 0:00 Cold Open 1:05 Intro 3:03 Spectral 30:25 Through the Desert (+Bazaar Expansion) 56:55 More letters on Salton Sea 1:01:40 Leviathan Wilds

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