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16. 16: Late to the Party
01:27:44||Season 2, Ep. 16Breaking: good games are good. Celebrated classic Tae (Tae_Eat_Tea) joins us to discuss the beloved, time-honored, essential games we're only now discovering. Alba reunites with a childhood love. Kenan makes Tae Bin his darlings. Then we spend equal time salivating over sleek second editions and and defending some unlovely originals. After Tae abandons us, our loyal rabble guide us through the wilderness. Discussed: point-and-clicks, Underwater Cities, Anno 1800 and sprawling productions, Obsession and consumer-focused production, the word of the day, Castles of Burgundy and user-unfriendly production, the importance of board game aesthetics, Newton vs. Darwin's Journey, Parks v1 vs. v2, planning ahead, competitive spouses and victory portraits, a theoretical second edition of Grand Austria Hotel, welcoming newcomers with foxy games, The Hundred Years War and the 18 Rounds of Orleans, games that get more thematic over time, Quacks, Monks Gone Wild, Altiplano and deckbuilding vs. bagbuilding, seamlessly harmonized ludic systems, availability and price, Franz revisiited, Agricola, enjoying the punishment, Franz vs. Awaken Realms, exploring vs. winning, where to send your comments and complaints, A Feast for Odin, learning from the greats, Shackleton Base and when something becomes a classic, Keyflower, Lacerda Pronunciation Guide, Caverna, Ticket to Ride expansion maps, the lure of Acquire, GOATed Alba, the best Carcassonne configuration, Bunny Kingdom, White Castle, Splendor, Lost Ruins of Arnak, the party and the afterparty and the enduring appeal of the classics. Party On.
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15. 15: Game as Directed
01:27:53||Season 2, Ep. 15Sometimes your friends know what's best for you. Don't argue. Alba investigates the sepia-filtered nostalgic appeal of adult gaming. Kenan subjects a ravenous Alba to a round of Random Name Generator. Alba subjects you to attempted baseball metaphors. Then we report on our experiences with games we forced one another to play, and solicit further recommendations from the Rabble. Discussed: Grand Austria Hotel, Klemens Franz, Cafe culture in the Viennese Modern Age, The White Castle and games with tight action economies, rubber banding and bowling bumpers and good first experiences, games that grow on you, Taverns of Tiefenthal, Orléans, Quacks (of Quedlinberg), strategy and push-your-luck games, risk aversion and making your father proud, giggling as you bust, uninviting UI for welcoming games, accessibility and the Quacks revamp, Games that isolate single mechanisms, Oracle of Delphi and grail games, TI4 birthday bashes, Nemo's War and dancing with oneself, Tir Na Nog or possibly Hog, River Valley Glassworks, Vindication and too many choices, Fairy Rings, Dale of Merchants and too many choices, Mesos, Rebel Princess and frog princes, Concordia and analysis paralysis, head-to-head vs. private puzzles, Groundhog Day, Alchemists and app assistance, Underwater Cities, After Us and trash talk, Faraway and making the most of the hand you're dealt, Last Bastion and exceptions revisited, Fire Tower and competitive marriages, Kodachi and deckbuilding, Earth and overabundance, Euchre, Endeavor Deep Sea and the Dharma Initiative, and what to play next. Do as you're told.14.5. Bonus: Rolling Reggie's Mid-Year Board Game Tag
54:48||Ep. 14.5We interrupt our regularly scheduled takes for a barrage of micro-takes in response to a recent Rolling Reggie video. We discuss the games that have surprised and delighted us in the first half of 2025, and tag our cherished chusma to do the same. I can still hear you saying you would never break the never break the chain. Bass solo.14. 14: Exceptions to the Rule
01:20:08||Season 2, Ep. 14Sometimes you think you know a game before you've played it. Sometimes all your assumptions were correct, and it works its way into your heart anyway. Tara (Tara's Bad Luck Club) joins us to talk about games that won us over despite being decidedly not our type. Kenan tells us about the trick-taker that helped him make sense of trick-taking. Alba quizzes us on our knowledge on non-existent bands. Then we reveal the exceptions to our rules and all of yours. Topics include tapping into nostalgia, family gaming traditions, My Favorite Things, Ra, For Sale, Power Grid, Rising Sun, pacing in bidding games, grudges that extend into replays, Landmarks, Codenames, limited communication, the entertainment value of miscommunication, putting a map on it, games that depend on shared references, gaming with moms, Magic Maze, real-time games, Bullet, buyer's remorse, QE, Nidavellir, whether set collection is for babies, big teaches, whether word association is for normies, Bohnanza and negotiation, One Night Ultimate Werewolf and Blood on the Clocktower and Shifted and Feed the Kraken and social deduction, Invincible and bag-building and IP's, That's Not a Hat and party games, Spirit Island and Sky Team and Last Bastion and co-op games, whether memory is for babies, whether you should ever play three card monte (spoiler: no), whether life is a game worth playing (spoiler: yes), whether exceptions prove rules (spoiler: sorta), and whether our biases need to be re-examined (spoiler: no).13. 13: Gaming up an Appetite
01:19:09||Season 2, Ep. 13Is there a board game theme we can all agree on? We're discussing games with largely inoffensive epicurean themes. Kenan takes us on a pleasant stroll through the rapidly changing landscape of board game subject matter while Alba cooks up a spicy quiz show. Kenan reports back on the many strange sights and inhabitants of Dice Tower West in Las Vegas. Then it's time to chomp on some appetizing food-based games. Discussed: Wingspan, Dro Polter, Downfall of Pompeii, SETI, Ostia, Trajan, Bohnanza, Babylonia, The Quest for El Dorado, Cacao, Sushi Go!, Viticulture, Fromage, Tzolk'in, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Coffee Rush, Nusfjord, Clank!, Everdell, On Mars, Vinhos, Evolution/Oceans, interface design, themes that lighten the load, themes that catfish you, games that are invitations, and how to talk to your Zoomer intern. Bon Appétit.12. 12: Games that Made Us Want to Make Games
01:25:58||Season 2, Ep. 12Where do games come from? Most are direct descendants of other games. We're joined by designer Heather Dixon (Apistocracy) to discuss the games that motivated us to do some design work of our own, from house rules to interface tweaks to brand new bouncing baby game designs. Kenan examines the origin story of a popular classic, and Alba helps us break the ice. Then we discuss the games that irked and inspired us in ways we couldn't let go, including Werewolf, Wingspan, un/appealing themes, the ultimate pick-up-and-deliver game, One Night Ultimate What-Have-You, art that inspires fan art, what constitutes game design, Arraial, Tetris, action points vs. counters, Patchwork, retro art, art that looks like art, usability and readability, learning to teach, what constitutes a game designer, Akrotiri, Splendor, layering theme onto games as you play, Splendor vs. Splendor Duel, the unassailability of our early faves, and how to accelerate toward an endgame. Then we hear from our beloved Rabble about the games they house-rule, including Wingspan, Catan, Tidal Blades, Targi, Everdell, Santa Monica, and Scarface 1920. We close with a discussion of implied house rules and why we do or don't edit the the media/art/games we consume. Check out Heather and her game Apistocracy at https://www.apistocracy.com/ Music by Alba and the Might Lions and Kenan. Thanks to Zach Lapidus for an invaluable editing assist. Break the rules.11. 11: Games After Bedtime
01:18:39||Season 2, Ep. 11Welcome to the afterparty. We're gaming 'till we drop. Which might be pretty soon tbh because it turns out we're not as young as we once were. Alba articulates why we're still up gaming when all sensible souls have retired for the evening. Kenan's in charge of the quiz show this week which proves to be as bad an idea as it was last time. We explore the etymology of "meta" and Kenan recaps recent travels. Then we discuss games that keep us up when we're powering down, including Friday, Paleo, Hadrian's Wall, Lost Expedition, Eila and Something Shiny, Aqua, Cascadia, Meadow, Calico, Beacon Patrol, 8-bit difficulty, the Dylan of game design, modeling food chains, fast set-up, tactility, escalating challenges, and the limits of one's appetite for complexity. You tell us which games traipse across your tabletops in the wee hours, including Codenames Duet, The Seventh Citadel, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, Black Sonata, Akropolis, Nemesis: Lockdown, Next Station London, Unlock, Board Game Arena, and whatever Marvel Snap is. Finally, we congratulate ourselves for solving all the problems and challenge our listeners to be cool like us. Music by Alba and the Mighty Lions and Kenan. Sleep tight.