Board Game Hot Takes

By Board Game Hot TakesLeisure Games

Board Game Hot Takes episodes

December 20, 2021 Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
In Episode 71 we provide our hot take review of Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar covering the mechanisms, the production, notable moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game and we discuss a poll related to storing game expansions.
Chris discusses the Tzolk'in themed cocktail that wasn't and then we discuss some games on our table including Praga Caput Regni and the games we've been playing on Board Game Arena.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:30 Poll: Storing Board Game Expansions
08:21 Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar Description
10:18 Gameplay and Mechanisms
25:12 Production and Theme
29:52 Memorable Moments
34:55 Final Thoughts
39:25 Themed Cocktail of the Week
44:25 Board Game Arena
49:09 Praga Caput Regni
54 min
December 13, 2021 Keyflower
In Episode 70 we provide our hot take review of Keyflower covering the mechanisms, the production, notable moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game and we discuss a poll related to buying games that we first played online.
Chris provides a Keyflower themed cocktail and then we discuss some games on our table including Cascadia, Welcome To..., and Obsession.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:28 Poll: Buying games after trying them online
08:25 Keyflower Description
10:51 Gameplay and Mechanisms
25:24 Production and Theme
33:17 Memorable Moments
41:41 Final Thoughts
48:38 Themed Cocktail of the Week
53:24 Obsession
54:39 Cascadia
59:30 Welcome To...
1 hr 4 min
December 06, 2021 Root
In Episode 69 we provide our hot take review of Root covering the mechanisms, the production, notable moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game and we discuss a poll related to asymmetric board games.
Chris provides a Root themed cocktail and then we discuss some games on our table including Risk: Legacy, Azul, and Unsettled.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:29 Poll: Asymmetric Game Play
06:46 Root
08:49 Gameplay and Mechanisms
30:25 Production and Theme
43:55 Memorable Moments
49:26 Final Thoughts
57:46 Themed Cocktail of the Week
1:02:36 Azul
1:04:43 Risk: Legacy
1:12:28 Unsettled
1 hr 21 min
November 29, 2021 Let it Go - 5 Board Games Leaving our Collections
In Episode 68 we discuss some of the reasons we cull board games from our collections and list 5 games that are leaving and why they aren't going to be sticking around.
We also discuss poll results on how frequently board games are culled.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:39 Poll discussion around culling games
9:17 #5 Adam - Space Corp - 2025-2300AD
12:35 #5 Chris - Calico
15:15 #5 Tim - Wingspan
20:41 #4 Adam - Irish Gauge
22:35 #4 Chris - Lords of Hellas
26:27 #4 Tim - It's a Wonderful World / Maracaibo
29:36 #3 Adam - Android: Netrunner
33:48 #3 Chris - This War of Mine
35:54 #3 Tim - Empires of the Void II
39:02 #2 Adam - On Mars
43:11 #2 Chris - Marvel United
47:10 #2 Tim - Paper Dungeon
49:40 #1 Adam - Spirit Island
54:15 #1 Chris - Twisted Fables
58:20 #1 Tim - Fort
59:43 Culling Final Thoughts
1 hr 13 min
November 22, 2021 Ankh: Gods of Egypt
In Episode 67 we provide our hot take review of Ankh: Gods of Egypt covering the mechanisms, the production, notable moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game and we discuss our big 'renaming' and related poll results.
Chris provides an Ankh themed cocktail and then we discuss some games on our table including Keyflower, Bonfire, and Brian Boru: High King of Ireland.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:32 Poll: Name Change?
04:21 Ankh: Gods of Egypt Description
06:20 Gameplay and Mechanisms
32:34 Production and Theme
39:38 Memorable Moments
43:38 Final Thoughts
49:17 Themed Cocktail of the Week
52:36 Keyflower
1:00:27 Brian Boru: High King of Ireland
1:05:51 Bonfire
1 hr 14 min
November 15, 2021 Russian Railroads
In Episode 66 we provide our hot take review of Russian Railroads covering the mechanisms, the production, notable moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game and we discuss some poll results around abstract games.
We then discuss some games on our table including Royal Visit, Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition, and Patchwork: Halloween Edition and then give our future takes on Age of Galaxy and the Arts and Architecture expansion for Tapestry.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:30 Poll: Do you like abstract games
04:00 Russian Railroads Description
06:38 Gameplay and Mechanisms
20:56 Production and Theme
25:41 Memorable Moments
28:54 Final Thoughts
34:00 Royal Visit
37:24 Patchwork: Halloween Edition
38:37 Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition 1:21:57
45:02 Age of Galaxy
49:13 Tapestry: Arts and Architecture
53 min
November 08, 2021 Dune: A Game of Conquest and Diplomacy
In Episode 65 we provide our hot take review of Dune: A Game of Conquest and Diplomacy covering the mechanisms, the production, notable moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game. We also discuss a big change coming for Board Game Hot Takes and ask for your input.
We then discuss some games on our table including Paladins of the West Kingdom and the expansion for My Little Scythe - Pie in the Sky and then give our future takes on Brian Boru: High King of Ireland and Wayfarers of the South Tigris.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:34 Big Changes Coming
05:00 Dune: A Game of Conquest and Diplomacy
07:36 Gameplay and Mechanisms
30:37 Production and Theme
40:17 Memorable Moments
46:48 Final Thoughts
51:56 Paladins of the West Kingdom
1:04:35 My Little Scythe: Pie in the Sky
1:21:57 Brian Boru: High King of Ireland
1:25:12 Wayfarers of the South Tigris
1 hr 30 min
November 01, 2021 TimCon Coverage - Part 2 - 8 Games
In Episode 64, we discuss the next 8 games that were played at TimCon where Tim, Adam, Chris, and Steve got together for 5 days of non-stop gaming! We also discuss our biggest disappointments and biggest surprises out of the 22 games played from the entire weekend.
Games covered include Smartphone, Inc., Samurai, Tapestry, Cerebria, Shamans, Outlive, Anachrony, and The Mind.
Follow along as we share the TimCon Championship scoring for the weekend and announce the Champion!
Part 1 was released last week so if you haven't listened to that yet, go check it out!
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:57 Smartphone, Inc.
04:45 Samurai
11:07 Tapestry
15:36 Cerebria
24:13 Shamans
33:05 Outlive
41:41 Anachrony
49:07 TimCon 2021 Champion Announced!
49:45 The Mind
50:17 Games we missed
52:31 Biggest Disappointments
53:22 Biggest Surprises

59 min
October 25, 2021 TimCon Coverage - Part 1 - 14 Games
In Episode 63, we discuss the first 14 games that were played at TimCon where Tim, Adam, Chris, and Steve got together for 5 days of non-stop gaming!
Games covered include Glen More II: Chronicles, Shards of Infinity, Gaia Project, High Society, Cubitos, Dominant Species, The Bridges of Shangri-La, Kabuto Sumo, The Expanse Board Game, Cascadia, Terraforming Mars, Aquatica, Eclipse: 2nd Dawn for the Galaxy, and Scythe.
Follow along as we share the TimCon Championship scoring for the weekend.
Part 2 will be coming next week!
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
02:55 Glen More II: Chronicles
04:26 Shards of Infinity
08:26 Gaia Project
10:16 High Society
13:55 Cubitos
15:50 Dominant Species
22:18 The Bridges of Shangri-La
26:06 Kabuto Sumo
28:44 The Expanse Board Game
37:58 Cascadia
41:57 Terraforming Mars
49:01 Aquatica
55:51 Eclipse: 2nd Dawn for the Galaxy
1:06:22 Scythe
1 hr 17 min
October 18, 2021 Robotech: Reconstruction
In Episode 62 we provide our hot take review of Robotech: Reconstruction covering the mechanisms, the production, notable moments in play, and our overall feelings of the game. We also discuss where we buy board games and some related poll results.
Chris provides a Robotech themed cocktail and then we discuss some games on our table including Azul and Glen More II and future takes on Azul: Queen's Garden and Dune: A Game of Conquest and Diplomacy.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:30 Poll: Upgrading board game components
04:40 Robotech: Reconstruction Description
07:50 Gameplay and Mechanisms
27:09 Production and Theme
45:42 Memorable Moments
53:51 Final Thoughts
1:01:13 Themed Cocktail of the Week
1:06:14 Azul
1:09:50 Azul: Queen's Garden
1:10:30 Dune: A Game of Conquest and Diplomacy
1:12:30 Glen More II: Chronicles
1 hr 20 min