Board Game Barrage

Board Game Barrage episodes:

• 05.02.2024

  #306: We Could All Use a Little Change

  What? Your podcasters are evolving! While we're certainly steadfast in some of our opinions (ahem, Biblios) we were curious to reflect on how we've changed - nay, grown - in the years since we started. What do we feel differently...

  
• 04.18.2024

  #305: Hook, Line, and Sinker

  Sometimes a game has a conceit so good, that it's the only description you need to sell someone on it. Let's call it the hook. Do all games have them, or is it something that only a certain subcategory of...

  
• 04.04.2024

  #304: Our Listeners’ Top 20 Board Games of All-Time 2024

  Oh man, oh man, I always love this one. It's the latest edition of the Listener Top 20! We asked you all to submit your lists of your favourite board games, and we collected, collated, and compiled all of that...

  
• 03.20.2024

  #303: We Played a Pile of Games!

  We made it all the way to Dice Tower West in Las Vegas (and some of us made it out), and we're ready to talk about all of the amazing games we played over there, between outings for pinball and...

  
• 02.29.2024

  #302: A Lotta Prattle About Vlaada Chvátil

  We're back with the terrible acronym and the branding nightmare that is BGBDOG - I don't even know what it stands for to be honest, but this week we're turning the spotlight on an incredible force in the industry, Vlaada...

  
• 02.15.2024

  #301: Our Most Anticipated Games of 2024

  We're in the thick of 2024 now, but there's still plenty more to come - and with that vast undiscovered country (as my father called it) ahead of us, we have loads of games to look forward to. But not...

  
• 02.01.2024

  #300: Resolutions and Ruminations

  Three hundredth episode! But no time to celebrate, we're deep in the new year now, which means it's back to your regularly scheduled podcast, and it's time to reflect on the year past, and contemplate what lays ahead for us...

  
• 01.18.2024

  #299: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2023: 10-1

  We made it! We've arrived at last at the final ten(-ish) games, in fact, our TOP TEN (or so?) favourite games of all time. Thanks for joining us again on this yearly pilgrimage, as always it's the journey that's the...

  
• 01.11.2024

  #298: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2023: 20-11

  We're almost bursting at the seams, but there's room for a little more. It's the penultimate episode of our five part series, the Top 50 games of all-time! We're moving on to our 20th to 11th favourite games, which means...

  
• 01.04.2024

  #297: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2023: 30-21

  It's a new year which is an awkward time to be right in the middle of something, but we're doing a thing here. It's part three of our Top 50 games of all-time! This week it's our 30th to 21st favourite...

  
• 12.28.2023

  #296: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2023: 40-31

  It's the second leg of the grand tour that is the top fifty. This week, we're doing our 40th to 31st favourite games ... of all time! It's almost like Christmas just keeps going! Grab a glass of sherry and...

  
• 12.21.2023

  #295: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2023: 50-41

  It's tiiiiiiime! It's the top fifty! That's right, the much anticipated, much celebrated, much imitated (we definitely did it first) event of the season is here. We're counting down each of our favourite fifty games of all time! Or at...

  
• 12.07.2023

  #294: We Played a Stack of Games!

  PAX Unplugged was a blast, and we played so much stuff that we're dying to tell you about - many of them with our beloved listeners. We braved the cold and the rain of Philadelphia, on the other side of...

  
• 11.23.2023

  #293: The Great Epochs of Board Gaming

  In what could be our most grandiose episode yet, we attempt to tame the wild history of all of board games. We traverse the timeline, unpacking what we consider to be the great epochs of the hobby, in an attempt...

  
• 11.09.2023

  #292: Lightning Round

  Uh oh, is that thunder? That must mean it's time for a lightning round - we're scooping up all the lovely questions and suggestions that just aren't big enough for the main event, and stuffing them in the blender. This...

  
• 10.26.2023

  #291: Fantasy Draft: Reiner Knizia

  Drafts are back, baby. And not just any old draft, no, but to celebrate the return of the greatest game, we're drafting none other than the best of the only true and living doctor, Reiner Knizia. Who ends up with...

  
• 10.12.2023

  #290: Stuck in the Mid With You

  Are board games stuck? Not to be dramatic or anything, but it does seem like we keep circling the same ideas over and over again, right? We speculate on where we think the hobby is headed, and whether or not...

  
• 09.28.2023

  #289: Essen SPIEL 2023 Hype List

  It's almost time for Essen SPIEL 2023, the great German Mecca of our people - and while we're not going ourselves, that's not going to stop us yearning. We're hear to tell you about all the amazing games available at...

  
• 09.14.2023

  #288: Less is More

  A little prune, a little embellish, a nip, a tuck, and a flourish, and we can get this thing just how we like it. We're looking at all the little things that we'd like to see more of, all the...

  
• 08.31.2023

  #287: There's a Time and Place for Everything

  Timing is everything, which is why it's so important that this episode came out when it did. Had we made it too early, it would have felt dated, and any later, you wouldn't have been ready for it. Before it's...

  
• 08.17.2023

  #286: The Worst Duo, Kellen & Mark

  I leave for one episode and these idiots are talking about eating board games. Hard hitting questions for hard hitting board game journalists, Kellen & Mark are on the scene reporting in. Before we claw our way back from this,...

  
• 08.03.2023

  #285: Starting is Easy, Finishing is Hard

  A solid end game trigger can be such an overlooked part of the design of a game. The conventional wisdom for most things is to start strong and finish strong, so we look at some of our favourite ways that...

  
• 07.20.2023

  #284: Gen Con 2023 Preview

  It's convention season, and the big one is almost upon us, as board gamers across America prepare to descend on Indiana. Gen Con! We won't be there this year, but that won't stop us anticipating what we could be playing...

  
• 07.06.2023

  #283: Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal

  Not all are as blessed as we are by the gift of truly original thought, and so many turn to others for inspiration. Whether it's Newton standing on the shoulders of giants, or stealing from our rich neighbour Xerox, many...

  
• 06.22.2023

  #282: A Soupçon of Sackson

  After much consternation at his exclusion from our Mount Rushmore of games, we've decided to honour legendary designer Sid Sackson elsewhere - a BGB Designer Spotlight! I think these used to be called BGB DOGs but even Mark forgot about...

  
• 06.15.2023

  #281: Fantasy Draft: BoardGameGeek 901-1000

  We've reached the end of our fantasy draft series, the last in this increasingly dire list of games from which we pluck five gems each, and then get you to vote on your favourites. There's a (potential) $50 gift card in it...

  
• 06.08.2023

  #280: Equal and Opposite Interactions

  We're veering into the dark roads of board game classification, but this time with a goal in mind - how to best highlight games that feature strong interaction. Shouldn't BoardGameGeek have a scale for that somewhere? And while we're at...

  
• 06.01.2023

  #279: Let the Golden Age Begin

  Are we living in a golden age of board games? It's a simple question, but there's a lot to unpack - what even qualifies as a golden age, have we already had one, and if we are living in one,...

  
• 05.25.2023

  #278: Check Check Check

  We're lucky to have covered wide swathes of the board game world, but there was a time when some of those things were aspirational. Like achievements to cross off on the great board game check list ... or like that...

  
• 05.18.2023

  #277: Definitely Not a Mailbag Episode

  It's just two of us, so we turn our attention to the burning questions that you've been asking us, in a feature we're calling Topic Talk Back. This is not to be confused with the format we've used before, mailbags...

  
• 05.11.2023

  #276: Fantasy Draft: BoardGameGeek 801-900

  It's the penultimate draft of the BGG Top 1000 series, and all of these games are garbage ... but it's up to us to sift through that garbage, and each find a collection of five games that's worthy of you....

  
• 05.04.2023

  #275: Building and Breaking Conventions

  Any creative work is built on a lot of conventions - things that we take as granted, the unspoken rules that must be followed. We get a lot of really great games by following design conventions, but some times, in...

  
• 04.27.2023

  #274: Guessing Golden Geeks

  We can all agree the Golden Geeks peaked last year, but I suppose we can continue the facade if we must. Nominees are out for BoardGameGeek's annual awards, and as the presiding champions of taste, we're declaring our favourites. Before...

  
• 04.20.2023

  #273: Bob Chat

  Board games are a social medium, which is a big part of their appeal for us. It's not just about being heads down solving a puzzle, they facilitate conversation. Some games are better at this than others, so we put...

  
• 04.13.2023

  #272: Cool Story, Bro

  Good storytelling isn't easy, and board games seem to struggle with it especially - which makes the ones that do pull it off, all the more memorable. We delve into the ways that games can engage us and create lasting...

  
• 04.06.2023

  #271: The Un-Episode

  I mean, I don't know. Before we do whatever, we talk about Circle the Wagons, El Gaucho, Roller Coaster Rush, and Applejack. Timecodes: 01:48 - Circle the Wagons 07:49 - El Gaucho 14:58 - Roller Coaster Rush 19:05 - Applejack 25:34...

  
• 03.30.2023

  #270: You May Feel a Little Discomfort

  Board games are great! Mostly. But as great as they are, we've probably all had a moment where, through no fault of the game itself, things got uncomfortable. Whether it's because of an awkward play, or just particulars of the...

  
• 03.23.2023

  #269: Keep On Rollin', Bob

  BGBBOB's back, and he's rollin' (rollin') rollin' on a river of amazing games, all of which feature some incredible dice play. As is our sacred duty, we won't rest until we've arranged them in some sort of numerical order, a...

  
• 03.16.2023

  #268: We Played a Slew of Games!

  We (well some of us) made it back from Vegas, and what happened there didn't stay there - we're reporting in from Dice Tower West 2023, a fun week of friends, casinos, and all you can eat sushi. To everyone...

  
• 03.09.2023

  #267: Our Listeners’ Top 20 Board Games of All-Time 2023

  I always love this one. It's the time of the year where we look at what your favourite games are, and discover whether there are any exciting movers and shakers in what you've been playing! It's the BGB Listener Top 20!...

  
• 03.02.2023

  #266: Don't Mess with Cathala

  Bruna Cathala is the focus of this episode's BGB DOG, the unfortunately acronymed series where we showcase a designer whom we love, and talk through the history of their career and designs. Before we pay tribute to the two player...

  
• 02.23.2023

  #265: Fantasy Draft: BoardGameGeek 701-800

  The draft is back, and while the lists are getting really thin at this point, that's not going to stop us doing our damndest to pick out a killer selection of five games each. Whose is the best? That's up...

  
• 02.16.2023

  #264: Kellen

  We've done deep dives into games before, but really when you get down to it, games are just the medium. The substrate. What it's always been about is people. We hope to pick at the minds of some of the...

  
• 02.09.2023

  #263: Our Most Anticipated Games of 2023

  If there's one thing I can say for sure about 2023, it's that it will certainly be a period of time. We're casting our eyes forward to the year ahead, and getting excited about some of the board games that...

  
• 02.02.2023

  #262: The Sweet Sound of Mailbag

  Where would we be without the mailbag? We get such lovely questions from you lot, that we rarely get the chance to answer, so when the opportunity comes, one has to strike. Time to hear what's on your minds, kids....

  
• 01.26.2023

  #261: Resolutions and Ramifications

  You know how at the start of the year you make a lot of promises to yourself that you have no chance of holding yourself to? Yeah, this isn't like that, we absolutely, definitely will not see out 2023 without...

  
• 01.19.2023

  #260: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2022: 10-1

  Here it is, the one we've all been waiting for, the Board Game Barrage top ten games of all time! It's been a long road and we'll wrap it up by seeing some old favourites ... and maybe a few new...

  
• 01.12.2023

  #259: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2022: 20-11

  We've reached the penultimate part of our five part series, the great series that is sometimes called our top fifty greatest games of all time! We're barreling close to the end now, but not without a lot of moving and...

  
• 01.05.2023

  #258: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2022: 30-21

  It's a new year, but the list must go on. The list, that is, of our top fifty greatest games of all time! It's part three, which everyone knows is the dark middle chapter of every pentalogy, so expect some...

  
• 12.29.2022

  #257: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2022: 40-31

  I hope you all had a good holiday break, but it's time to get back to business. The very serious business that is the top fifty greatest games of all time. We return to our heroes in what the enthusiasts...