Board Gamers Anonymous

This week's episode is a fun one, if only because you can tell we are jazzed for next week and our big milestone at 200. In advance of that, we're going back to a classic with our "if you like" series. This time around, focused on Talisman - the classic fantasy themed roll and move. 

To kick things off, we asked the listeners our question of the week: "

Alright, Pax is over and we had a blast. One of the best cons of the year for us (not just because it's local) and full of tons of games being played. 

As is our tradition, we're recapping this week how the con went, what we loved, and what games we both saw and got a chance to play. Because this is Pax, there were a lot! 

Previews and discussions of: Keyforge, Quacks of Quedlinburg, Azul Stained Glass, Victorian Masterminds, Architects of the West Kingdom, Teotihuacan, Terraforming Mars Colonies, Chronicles of Crime, Reykholt, Tokyo Metro, Battlestar Galactica, and Root

First impressions and reviews of: Azul: Stained Glass, Teotihuacan, Forum Trajanum, Barrage, Underwater Cities, Smartphone Inc, Obsession.

If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamersanonymous.com). You can support the show as well by donating on Patreon (www.patreon.com/bga), or using our Amazon affiliate link.

We're getting ready for Pax this week and wanted to do something a little longer than the typical weekly episode, so we've revisited one of our more popular episodes from last year, reviewing the BGG Top 100. 

To kick things off, we share our Question of the Week, courtesy of listener, Chris Jarvis, Would you rather see more licensed boardgames of big IPs from other media, such as film or video games, or do you prefer the hobby to build its own worlds and characters, like Near and Far, Forbidden Desert/Sky etc?

Next up, we look at our acquisition disorders. Anthony kicks things off with Pandemic: Fall of Rome and then Chris looks at Luna, TMG's new Deluxified edition. 

At the table this week, Anthony reviews Santa's Workshop and Colonies for Terraforming Mars, while Chris looks at Ultimate Werewolf Legacy and a dice tower from Altruistic.

Finally, we dig back into the BGG Top 100, comparing it to where it was in October, 2017, and sharing whether we think the games on it now should rise, stay where they are or fall down the list. Look for predictions episode in January too when we'll speculate on which 2018 games will work their way into the list in the next 12 months. 

• Question of the Week: 6:31
• Acquisition Disorders: 9:55
• Santa's Workshop Review: 16:55
• Terraforming Mars Colonies Review: 22:40
• Ultimate Werewolf Legacy Review: 29:42
• Altruistic Dice Tower Review: 34:35
• BGG Top 100: Rise or Fall: 35:50

  If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamersanonymous.com). You can support the show as well by donating on Patreon (www.patreon.com/bga), or using our Amazon affiliate link.

It's that time of year again - shopping! 

To help everyone looking for gifts for the gamers and families in their lives, we've pulled together our 2018 holiday shopping guide, complete with more than 35 games released in 2018 that will be a good fit for your next game night or family get together. 

First, we shared some of the recent games we've been playing. Anthony reviews the new Arthur expansion for Merlin and then shares at length about his newfound love for Keyforge. Chris reviews both Too Many Bones and its standalone sequel, Undertow. 

Finally, to wrap things up, we share this year's holiday shopping guide. 

• Merlin: Arthur Expansion Review: 8:15
• Keyforge Review: 16:40
• Too Many Bones Review: 26:17
• 2018 Holiday Shopping Guide: 38:24

If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamersanonymous.com). You can support the show as well by donating on Patreon (www.patreon.com/bga), or using our Amazon affiliate link.

This week, we're trying things a little differently. We're looking at the top 10 countries based on games that use them in their theme. Check out which country-themes we like best. 

Before that, though, we share the answers to the question of the week, "What's a game you love that has a mechanic you normally hate?"

For our acquisition disorders, we look at Archmage Ascension and Patchwork Doodle, both games coming (hopefully) very soon. 

At the table this week, Anthony reviews one of the hottest games out of Essen - Teotihuacan - and Chris looks at Smash Up: The Bigger Geekier Box and Smash Up: Oops, You Did It Again. 

Finally, in our feature, we dig into ten countries that are used as the theme or backdrop for board games and rank them based on those games. 

• Question of the Week: 2:09
• Acquisition Disorder: 8:11
• Teotihuacan Review: 13:02
• Smash Up: Oops, You Did It Again Review: 22:05
• Smash Up: Bigger, Geekier Box Review: 26:04
• Top 10 Countries Based on Their Games: 31:20

If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamersanonymous.com). You can support the show as well by donating on Patreon (www.patreon.com/bga), or using our Amazon affiliate link.

This week, Anthony and Chris look at six games you might like if you also like Coimbra. 

Before kicking things off, though, we read answers to the question of the week from the listeners: What games do you pull out for big family gatherings like Thanksgiving?

For our acquisition disorders, Anthony looks at Reavers of Midgard, the sequel to Champions of Midgard from Greyfox Games, and Chris looks at Glory: A Game of Knights, a recently highlighted game at Essen. 

At the table, Anthony reviews Orbis and Rise of Queensdale, while Chris looks at Mystic Vale: Twilight Garden and Mystic Vale: Conclave. 

Finally, in our feature, we look at six games that you might like for their dice drafting mechanics, if you also like Coimbra. 

• Question of the Week: 3:26
• Acquisition Disorders: 6:42
• Orbis Review: 13:55
• Rise of Queensdale Review: 18:29
• Mystic Vale: Twilight Garden Review: 32:40
• Mystic Vale: Conclave Review: 37:52
• If You Like Coimbra, Try: 43:04

If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamersanonymous.com). You can support the show as well by donating on Patreon (www.patreon.com/bga), or using our Amazon affiliate link.

This week, Anthony and Chris look at the hottest games from the Essen Spiel Geekbuzz list - discussing why they were hot, when and if we'll get a chance to play them, and what we're most excited to try. 

Before we dive in, we look out our question of the week, discussing the answers our listeners gave to our question, "What's your favorite game that's at least 20 years old?"

After this, for our acquisition disorders Anthony looks at Skulk Hollow from Pencil First Games, now on Kickstarter, and Chris looks at a recent Essen Spiel game, Kingdom Defenders.

Reviewed at the table this week, Anthony looks at Dice Settlers, a new bag building game from David Turczi, and Chris looks at Wallet: Organized Crime at its Best, and Age of Thieves. 

Finally, in our feature, we're looking at the top games from Essen Spiel and what we're most excited to try when they finally hit stateside. 

• Question of the Week: 9:52
• Acquisition Disorders: 12:21
• Dice Settlers Review: 18:07
• Wallet Review: 26:48
• Age of Thieves Review: 29:45 Top Essen Spiel Releases: 34:00

If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamersanonymous.com). You can support the show as well by donating on Patreon (www.patreon.com/bga), or using our Amazon affiliate link.

This week we're looking at games we love for the end of a long, arduous day, when there's no energy left to think or fight. 

Before that, though, we remind everyone about our current ongoing contest. Click the link below and share your top games to enter a chance to win one of them from the final list. Contest ends on October 31!

https://gleam.io/jwEDM/your-top-20-board-games-of-all-time

For our question of the week, we asked everyone a similar question to our feature, "

It's that time of year again - time to look at the hottest games on BGG and try to figure out why they are there. Join us for a run down of the top 15 games on the Hotness list, what puts them there, and what you should be looking forward to. 

Before that, though, we remind everyone about our current ongoing contest. Click the link below and share your top games to enter a chance to win one of them from the final list. 

https://gleam.io/jwEDM/your-top-20-board-games-of-all-time

For our question of the week, we asked the listeners, "What game do you love but find it very hard to get to the table regularly?" and we got a LOT of answers. 

Acquisition disorders this week are a couple of pricy Kickstarter campaigns you likely haven't missed - Spirit Island: Jagged Earth for Anthony and Cloudspire for Chris. 

At the table, we're reviewing Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig, and Welcome to...

Finally, check out our list of the 15 hottest games on BGG as of mid-October.

• Question of the Week: 5:07
• Acquisition Disorders: 9:04
• Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig Review: 16:27
• Welcome to... Review: 27:08
• BGG Hotness Review: 32:55

If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamersanonymous.com). You can support the show as well by donating on Patreon (www.patreon.com/bga), or using our Amazon affiliate link.

 

 

Welcome to spooktacular October episodes! This week, we're delving deep into the very best of the best in mystery games, featuring our Top 10. 

Before we dive in, though, make sure you take the time to enter our October contest - tell us your top 20 games and be entered for a chance to win one of the games on the final top 20 listener games list. 

https://gleam.io/jwEDM/your-top-20-board-games-of-all-time

First up on the episode, we asked our question of the week, "is there a set time each year you review and cull your collection, or is it more spontaneous (or for the hoarders among us, myself included, do you put it off indefinitely)?"

For our acquisition disorders this week, Anthony is looking at the newest game from Alexander Pfister, Blackout: Hong Kong and Chris looks at Concordia Venus, a new spin on the Mac Gerdts modern classic. 

At the Table, Anthony reviews both the new version of Manhattan, recently rereleased with beautiful new components, as well as CMON's Way of the Panda, a panda-filled take on worker placement mechanics. Chris then reviews Merlin with its current Queenie expansions and the Palace of Mad King Ludwig. 

Finally, the guys look at their top 10 mystery games, with some spooky, some super hard, and some just plain perfect for this time of year. 

• Question of the Week: 4:48 Acquisition Disorders: 9:23
• Manhattan Review:14:23
• Way of the Panda Review: 18:45
• Merlin Review: 26:54
• Palace of Mad King Ludwig Review: 32:37
• Top 10 Mystery Games:38:09

If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamersanonymous.com). You can support the show as well by donating on Patreon (www.patreon.com/bga), or using our Amazon affiliate link.