Julie shares more news about her new position, after which we discuss the finer points of Hype. How does one manage excitement about a product when it's not necessarily playable yet? Then, we have both a question from the mailbag and a Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and we close the show with some new Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.
00:00 - Introduction
01:18 - Summer Approaching - Hot Games at Dice Tower East
Whether you’re in the mood for the high-stakes chaos of a spilling pool, the grand strategy of rising civilizations, or the quiet tension of a deduction puzzle, we got it covered in this lineup of games for this episode. First up is Frenzy Falls where players play cards face-down into “Pools,” trying to raise the water level. Once a pool hits a value of 10, it “spills over.” The player with the most influence in that pool at that exact moment snags the points.
Rising Cultures is next on the table and this asymmetric “Civ-in-a-box” experience is designed specifically for two players. You pick from four civilizations either Rome, Egypt, Persia, or the Abbasid Caliphate. The thing we love in this game is the multi-use cards: every card in your hand can be used for resources, military power, building structures, or deploying leaders. You have to decide which path is worth sacrificing the others in order to gain victory over your opponent. Since each civilization has its own unique deck, the game feels completely different every time you swap roles. It’s a tight, 45-minute battle of wits.
Finally, we got a game that shows the strengths and weaknesses of the RDTN crew. You have five tiles on a rack facing away from you. You can see everyone else’s tiles, but not your own. By asking questions like “Where would this tile fit in my sequence?” or “Do I have a tile with this many dots?”, you narrow down the possibilities. The tension is high because you can guess at any time, but if you’re wrong once, you’re out. It’s incredibly satisfying when the logic finally clicks and you can confidently shout, “Got Five!”, which I never got to experience
Thanks for listening and don’t forget about the contest over in the Discord server.
It's a revolution!! Join Dana, Jules and Conor on Episode 360 of the Board Game BBQ Podcast.
On this episode Conor finally gets his epic game of Bitoku played and makes the hottest of hot sauce in Scoville, Dana reminds Conor of his favourite cake when she discusses Black Forest and Jules ventures back into the depths with Aquatica and looks to ruin peoples day in 5 Towers!
Don't forget this weeks Question of the Pod; 'What's your favourite boardgame component and why?
00:01:00 Intro 00:05:00 Let’s Get to the Picks 01:03:00 Draft Time 01:13:00 Outro
Summer 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most exciting movie seasons in years, with big‑name directors, long‑awaited sequels, and the triumphant return of theatrical event‑going. And to celebrate that return, we’ve brought in some familiar voices to help us break down the upcoming releases.
For those new to the show, here’s how we do things. Every movie gets one of three calls. First, if it’s worth your hard‑earned dollars and absolutely demands the full theatrical experience, we’ll tell you to go SCREEN it. If it’s a solid watch but doesn’t need the booming speakers and giant screen, then it’s better to STREAM it at home. And finally, there are those unfortunate titles that miss the mark so badly they’re nothing more than a big, old pile of STEAM — and those should be avoided altogether.
Either way, it’s clear the studios are making a serious push to get us back into theaters, and this summer’s lineup shows they’re not holding anything back.
We’d love to hear from you. So, tell us which movies we missed and what should be on our radar. Jump into the conversation over in our Discord and let us know what you’re planning to SCREEN, STREAM, or is a pile of STEAMing stuff.
This week Shelley and I make patterns with porcelain pottery and build computers while dealing with 19 th Century society.
First up is Gzhel by Nikita Sorokin from Hobby World
followed by Ada's Dream by Toni Lopez from Alley Cat Games
Remember you can sponor the podcast directly by going to www.patreon.com/garrettsgames OR check out our extensive list of games that no longer fit on our shelves, but BELONG on your table:
Opener: I encourage listeners to join me at the OG guild's online game convention, OG Fest: Maispiele Within the last month I turned 60. Does that make me old? Officially? Whether it does or not, I'm still playing games. Which is what I discuss in this episode--what it's like to turn 60 in this hobby, as well as reflecting on what it was like when I turned 50, 40, 30, 20, 10...and even 0! Those were all personal milestones in some way--what did it mean for me as a gamer? In getting ready for this episode, I realized I kept thinking about time in three major ways: • When I turned another milestone age (60, 30, whatever, and how old my kids were then) • How long I'd been in the hobby at that point • What the calendar date was, and what important things were happening in the hobby then (game releases, websites, the larger culture, etc.) It was an interesting exercise, thinking about all those things. Is my journey through life as a gamer anything like yours? Finally, I thought a little into the future--what will things be like for me as a gamer when I turn 70? I'm sure I'll still be playing, but it will be when I'm retired, living a thousand miles away from here. Will I be playing the same games? Going to some of the same conventions? Meeting new people or still focusing on my longtime gamer friends? -Mark
This is the biggest disc golf show to date as Tim visited Clef to go throw some plastic in Kansas baskets. We do talk about a few board games, but the real meat here is the POTATOES.
Board games start at 1:06:24. Ridiculous.
Join the discord at discord.gg/s8hYtWkMS3 and visit punchboardparadise.com for more info on PPCon 2026! This is your last chance! For real this time!
Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Lost in Adventure: The Curse of Jack Parrot and Otter Chaos. Then we reveal our top 5 games of 2025 in our annual awards show, the Blitzies!
I’ve got a special treat for you The Cabal today: one of the most respected board game designers working today, and a true OG Cabalist, David Thompson! You know Dave from his work on the Undaunted series, War Chest, Sniper Elite: The Board Game, Resist!, The Valiant Defense series, and many others. Today, Dave and I talked about his origin story as a gamer, tabletop role-playing games, how he got his start in board game design, his design process, his collaborations with other designers, and much, much more. It’s a great conversation, and I hope you all enjoy it!
In today's episode, we're recording from Great Plains Game Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska. We talk about our recent plays, finish our top 25's and play some games with the audience.
Paula is queen for the day as she hosts a devious episode no one is happy about.
This Game is Broken is a comedy board game panel show with Matthew Jude, Dave Luza, Paula Deming, Nick Murphy and Mike Murphy. We play a lot of nonsense games full of role playing and trivia as well as other fun stuff which can be found at the links below.
Anmelden
