Cult of the Old

Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old!

Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape. 

Sometimes this cast paints us into a corner. There are games we would love to cover but we have to wait for the inexorable passage of time for those titles to become just that little bit older to fit into our self imposed limits of a ‘decade or more’. Our game this episode has just passed that venerable mark allowing for us to dive into it, especially given it has just had a bit of a refresh. 

Just over 10 years ago our game this episode, burst onto the scene bringing new life to the ‘party game’ genre. A simple seeming puzzle of word connections created by one of the most diverse designers ever, Vlaada Chvatil. See if you can work out what we mean as we make the connections between the past and the future with Codenames. 

Show Links

Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mention during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question.

Games Mentioned

Galaxy Trucker - Episode Link

Through the Ages - Episode Link

Codenames: Pictures 

Codenames: Duet

Taboo

Password - TV Show and game 

Captain Sonar

Worldspanner Factions - The Giant Brain 

Hardback 

Paperback

Apples to Apples

Res Arcana

Arcs

Cards Against Humanity

Just One

Decrypto

So Clover

The Chameleon

Whirly Derby

Mage Knight

Sebaton 

Tash Kalar

Space Alert

Alibis

French Toast

Fiction

Dominion - Episode Link

Blood on the Clocktower

Dixit - Episode Link

Other Mentions

Guardian Interview

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/sep/26/vlaada-chvatil-codenames-board-game-market-czech-phone

Tabletop Gaming Magazine Interview

https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/features/the-making-of-codenames-with-designer-vlaada-chvatil/

10000 dollar pyramid 

Jackbox party games

Big Potato Games

Czech Games Edition

All Play

Codenames App 

Team Links

Iain

The Giant Brain

Bluesky

Matt

BlueSky

Nate

Bluesky

Instagram

Support us on Patreon

Join our Discord

Email us at [email protected] 

Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old!

Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape. 

This Episode

We all begin by just playing games, but then the thought grabs you ‘what if I can do better?” From scribbled notes in a dog eared notebook, to early prototypes with questionable art assets, these initial journeys into design can stop at the kitchen table. For the few that push through, the rewards of seeing your work finally in print can be the end of the story. For fewer still it is the spark of a career. 

In 1997 an unassuming box of cards became the megaphone announcement of a new designer on the scene. With odd art depicting anthropomorphised legumes, and cartoon pulses, this trading game spawned numerous expansions and is still widely available until this day. It led to a long career for its designer Uwe Rosenberg. Let’s dig up some opinions and plant our flags in the bean trading game that is Bohnanza. 

Show Links

Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mention during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question.

Games Mentioned

Catan - Episode Link

Citadels - Episode Link

Civilisation 

Freight Train

Mega Civilisation

Pit

Mamma Mia 

Scout

Agricola 

Patchwork

Cosmic Encounter 

Trade on the Tigris

Lords of Vegas

Zoo Vadis

I’m The Boss

Other Mentions

Airecon

Uwe Rosenberg interview

Team Links

Iain

The Giant Brain

Bluesky

Matt

BlueSky

Nate

Bluesky

Instagram

Support us on Patreon

Email us at [email protected] 

Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old!

Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape. 

What are we looking at this cast

It is easy to forget that the board games world does not stop at the borders of board game geek. Since the dawn of the modern era, that arguably started with Catan, there has been an attitude amongst some that games in the mainstream like Monopoly and Cluedo are mere trifles. Games that are not worth considering when we have such highly crafted artisan experiences to nourish us.

But games are old, much older than the modern expression of them. From the egyptian game of Senet to the scratched in the sand boards of Mancala and its many variants, simple but engaging games are woven into the fundamental DNA of the modern expression of tabletop gaming. Today we are covering one of those games, or at least it feels like one of those games. Arriving on the scene via a toy company in the early 80s, this game feels like something much older and elemental. A stacking game defined almost entirely by the imperfections in its production that has sold 95 million copies worldwide. We are going to take a block and put it on top, in Jenga. 

Show Links

Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mention during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question.

Games Mentioned

Carrom 

Crokinole 

Tak

Pitchcar

Draughts

Hnefatafal 

Latrunucli 

Ker Plunk

Pick up sticks

Jacks

Knucklebones

Twister

Junk Art

Rhino Hero

Nekojima

Tetris Tumble

Can’t Stop

King of Tokyo

Men At Work

El Grande

Villa Paletti 

Bandu

Riff Raff

Dread

Star Crossed 

Icarus 

Team Links

Iain

The Giant Brain

Bluesky

Matt

BlueSky

Nate

Bluesky

Instagram

Support us on Patreon

Join our Discord

Email us at [email protected] 

Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old!

Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape. 

Let me take you back dear listeners. Way back. A time before gin joints, and speakeasies, when the saloon was king. The west keened a golden siren call to thousands of prospectors some struck it rich, others did not return, and America was forever changed. Although it was California that most flocked to, a little further east, and a century or two later, another place would become synonymous with the idea of striking it rich. Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Las Vegas has become a mecca for those looking to make their fortune, but the house always wins. Although it would be interesting to go as far back as the Wild West to look at something like Poker, that is not the aim of my preamble today. Nor is it to look at any of the numerous parlour games become gamblers laments that have taken up residence in the glitzy casinos of Las Vegas. No today we look at a game that asks you to invest in Vegas before it was Vegas. To have the vision to construct strange churches to greed and avarice in the middle of the desert. To truly become Lords of Vegas. 

Show Links

Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mention during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question.

Games Mentioned

Camden

Chinatown

Waterfall Park

Acquire

Catan - Episode Link

Monopoly - Episode Link

Other Mentions

Mike Selinker accusations

Cheapass Gamestf

Fortress Ameritrash

Iain’s Lords of Vegas Americana Review

Team Links

Iain

The Giant Brain

Bluesky

Matt

BlueSky

Nate

Bluesky

Instagram

Email us at [email protected] 

Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old!

Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape. 

Games can be many things. They can be journeys back in time, a window to nostalgia or a new and exciting arrangement of ideas. They can range in tone from light to dark. Climb in complexity from breezy to fiendishly complicated. They can be laden with components, stacked high with plastic, or they can be, like our next game, a deceptively simple set of cards. 

This game is, by most people’s measure, a bit of an ugly mess of graphic design, but that hasn’t stopped it getting a cult following. Like many games we have covered over our first 3 seasons, it stamped its designer's name on the history of the hobby. Join us as we look at a game where every card makes you do a second take. It’s time for Innovation. 

Show Links

Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mention during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question.

Games Mentioned

Glory to Rome

Mottainai 

Uchornia 

Impulse

Sidereal Confluence

Innovation Ultimate

Doomtown

7th Sea

Netrunner

Magic the Gathering 

Team Links

Iain

The Giant Brain

Bluesky

Matt

BlueSky

Nate

Bluesky

Instagram

Support us on Patreon

Email us at [email protected] 

Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old!

Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape. 

It’s the fourth season of Cult of the Old and we have a new 10 episode arc for you covering games, big and small, but all interesting.

We begin this season with a game that defined a genre, the point salad. A heady mix of random chance, manipulated fate, and multiple paths to glorious points heaven gave us one of the classics of the 2010s. It may be as dry as the desert, but it carved a path through the next couple of decades with remakes, upgrades, reissues, and spinoffs. Come and sip a glass of fine wine with us as we construct the Castles of Burgundy. 

Show Links

Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mention during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question.

Games Mentioned

Battlestar Galactica - Episode Link

Nexus Ops

Cosmic Encounter - Episode Link

Puerto Rico - Episode Link

Alien Frontiers

Kingsburg

Lords of Vegas

Catan - Episode Link

Wingspan

In the Year of the Dragon

Notre Dame 

Power Grid - Episode Link

Ark Nova

Sanctuary

Agricola - Episode Link

Other Mentions

Fortress Ameritrash

Branson Board Game Cafe

Awaken Realms

BGA version

Team Links

Iain

The Giant Brain

Bluesky

Matt

BlueSky

Nate

Bluesky

Instagram

Support us on Patreon

Email us at [email protected] 

Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old!

Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape. 

Dear listeners, it is once again time for us to part ways. As we come to the end of our third season, let us reflect on the games we have covered. From the family friendly Ticket to Ride, to the genre defining titles like El Grande and Dominion, and the brutal chance of Blood Bowl we have covered a wide range of genre, mechanism, and complexity. However, no game this season has the reputation for sheer scale and difficulty of our final title. 

Not only did our last title this season establish its designer as a powerful voice, but it took a venerable genre and turned it inside out. The civilisation style of board games is almost as old as the hobby, and our final title took this genre, stripped out a lot of the fundamentals and made a game that took the world by storm. Join us for one last time this season as we go Through the Ages.

Show Links

Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mentions during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question.

Games Mentioned

Pandemic

Mage Knight

Codenames

Francis Tresham Civilisation 

Mega Civilisation 

Prophecy

Sid Meier’s Civilisation

New Leaders

Through the Ages App

Can’t Stop - Playte Version

Flip 7

FFG Civilisation

Mare Nostrum

Imperium

Six Sojourns - Eight Minute Empire

Carta Impera Victoria

Civilisation: A New Dawn

Innovation

Ark Nova

Other Mentions

Matt Leacock

Boardgame Arena

Digital Antiquarian 

Team Links

Iain

The Giant Brain

Bluesky

Matt

BlueSky

Nate

Bluesky

Instagram

Support us on Patreon

Email us at [email protected] 

Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old!

Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape. 

Nate: Well Iain we are almost at the end of the season

Iain: That’s right Nate and the teams have all to play for

N: Teams?

I: Yes Nate, teams. In no other sport do we get to see the sheer physicality and natural brutality brought out in such a glorious manner

N: This isn’t a sports podcast Iain, it’s a board game podcast

I: Can’t it be both? 

N: I guess it could. If we covered a board game from at least 10 years ago that happens to be focused on sport

I: How about a fantasy sport? 

N: Tell me more Iain

I: Well Nate, let me tell you about a sport that is not only an allegory for the animosity between many fantasy races but also stands as one of the icons of the British gaming scene. 

N: Is it from a famous British Publisher?

I: You took the words right out of my mouth Nate

N: Meat Loaf?

I: No thanks I’ve eaten. 

N: Enough of this, let’s get on with the show

I: You’re right Nate, let’s tell these fine folks about Blood Bowl. 

Show Links

Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mention during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question.

Games Mentioned

Warhammer

Epic 40k

Warhammer 40k

Necromunda

Warhammer Quest

Space Hulk   

Monsters of the Midway

Football Strategy Avalon Games

Terror of the Lichemaster (warhammer campaign)

Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game

Mordheim

Gorkamorka

Dune

Blitz Bowl

Dreadball

Blood Bowl: Team Manager

Kaos Ball

Other Mentions

Games Workshop Ltd.

Tabletop Simulator Mod we used 

Beastie Boys - License to ill 

American History X

The Producers

TSR

Team Links

Iain

The Giant Brain

Bluesky

Matt

Bluesky

Nate

Bluesky

Instagram

Support us on Patreon

Email us at [email protected] 

Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old!

Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape. 

Sometimes you hear about games by reputation. The epic length of Twilight Imperium, the complexity of Vita Lacerda designs, the seemingly simple mechanisms behind the games of Reiner Knizia. These reputations can attract or repel in equal measure, and sometimes they are undeserved. The folklore around some games can be a hindrance to their uptake. However some folk tales are firmly based in reality. 

The game we are covering tonight is one of those games that I knew by reputation alone. Dry, excruciating downtime, with very little in the way of redeeming features. Despite that description this is a game that has always been available, an evergreen in more ways than one. Now that I have played the game, what do I think? We will get to that. As to what my fellow hosts think, well they are in the ring and ready to fight over the classic that is Power Grid. 

Show Links

Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mention during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question.

Games Mentioned

Ticket to Ride - Episode Link 

Imperial

Railway Rivals

McMulti

Playboss

Age of Steam

City of Big Shoulders

Chicago Express

Bohnanza

Puerto Rico - Episode Link

Fearsome Floors

Plum Island Horror

Fish, Flip, and Frikadelen 

504

Ark Nova 

Seti

Thebes

Red November

Patchwork

Ra

Modern Art - Episode Link

Fishing

Other Mentions

Brettspielwelt

The story of Power Grid - https://opinionatedgamers.com/2016/07/11/funkenschlag-at-fifteen-the-story-of-power-grid/

Team Links

Websites you can find the cast on

There Will Be Games

Iain

The Giant Brain

Bluesky

Matt

Bluesky

Nate

Bluesky

Instagram

Support us on Patreon

Email us at [email protected] 

Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old!

Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape. 

A large part of the culture of the tabletop hobby is tied up with games emulating history. From HG Wells’ Little Wars to the early days of Avalon Hill and the modern expressions of the form in GMT Games, wargames are undoubtedly a large part of tabletop gaming’s history and present. We have covered one of the icons of this genre with Twilight Struggle in Season 1, a game that sat atop the BGG rankings for many years.

Our next game this season has never had such an accolade, but has still been a massive presence over the years. Taking the more complicated wargames that were available at the time and distilling them into a fast card driven experience, it crossed the aisle into more  mainstream hobby gaming. Soon it was on gamers shelves everywhere and spawned numerous, and we do mean numerous, expansions, campaign books and more. Pull up a chair and reminisce with us as we look back at Memoir 44. 

Show Links

Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mentions during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question.

Games Mentioned

Twilight Struggle 

Ticket to Ride

Battlecry

Commands & Colours Ancients

Commands & Colours Napoleonic 

Commands & Colours series 

We the People

Combat Commander

Heroscape

Star Wars Queen’s Gambit

Battlelore

Netrunner

Samurai Battles

Other Mentions

Vassal 

Richard Borg Interview

Team Links

Websites you can find the cast on

There Will Be Games

Iain

The Giant Brain

Bluesky

Matt

Bluesky

Nate

Bluesky

Instagram

Support us on Patreon

Email us at [email protected]