Dragon's Demize

Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig is one of those games that does exactly what it sets out to do. Taking two independently successful board games and mashing them together doesn’t seem like the easiest task, but in both feel and gameplay Between Two Castles captures its predecessors. Players take turns picking and placing tiles into each of two castles, built in collaboration with their neighbors. Rooms provide certain inherent bonuses, as well as potential synergies with adjacent rooms. At the end of two rounds of drafting, players score points equal to the lesser of their two castles. It’s a fun, fast, thematic game that plays up to seven. Give the newest episode a listen for our full thoughts!

Lesley and Hunter also share the TONS of games they’ve been playing lately. Legacy games are the order of the day, with Betrayal, Aeon’s End, and Charterstone all rating a mention. We also discuss the legacy-ish Shadows of Brimstone, as well as Ancient World and the super awesome looking U-Boot.

Don’t forget to visit washingcon.com to grab your tickets for WashingCon 2019! Tickets are still available for the discounted price of $50 for an adult weekend pass or $20 for a child. Those prices will go up at the end of June, so don’t hesitate!

Thank you as always to O Abnormal and Agata Poniatowski for the artwork and Strangelette for the music. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to support Dragon’s Demize, please consider joining us on Patreon. You can also subscribe to us on Twitch, where we stream every Wednesday and Friday. We’re active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Discord, so you can join us on your platform of choice. Finally, our own how to play series, Board Game Bistro, and other videos are available on Youtube.

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Quick, what has adorable forest creatures locked into an epic struggle for control of the woods? No, it’s not Watership Down, it’s Root! The latest from Leder Games, Root pits 2-4 players (or 1-6, with the expansion) against each other in a race for 30 victory points. The trick here is that each faction has a wildly different approach. Playing the Eyrie Dynasties? Better balance your bloated bureacracy lest you fall into turmoil. What about the Woodland Alliance? You’ll have to be sneay and opportunistic to make the most of your few warriors. It’s a truly interesting game with some impressive balancing of the playable factions. Listen to the latest episode for our full review!

We haven’t actually been playing much lately, so we start things off with an in-depth discussion of some of our latest experiences in Gloomhaven. There are a few spoilers, but for the most part, we talk mechanics and difficulty curves.

Don’t forget to visit washingcon.com to grab your tickets for WashingCon 2019! Tickets are still available for the discounted price of $50 for an adult weekend pass or $20 for a child. Those prices will go up at the end of June, so don’t hesitate!

Thank you as always to O Abnormal and Agata Poniatowski for the artwork and Strangelette for the music. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to support Dragon’s Demize, please consider joining us on Patreon. You can also subscribe to us on Twitch, where we stream every Wednesday and Friday. We’re active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Discord, so you can join us on your platform of choice. Finally, our own how to play series, Board Game Bistro, and other videos are available on Youtube.

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We’re continuing our board game glossary here on Dragon’s Demize. For this week’s installment, we’re looking at the term “Amerithrash.” It’s a less common term than “Euro,” which we discussed a few weeks ago, but it’s still used to convey some very particular concepts. Greg and Jakub try to break it down into its components and take a look at what really makes an Amerithrash game. Spoilers: it’s not just about player conflict! Check out the episode for our full analysis.

As for What We’ve Been Playing, we’re very happy to announce that we finally played a game of Teotihuacan with all the correct rules! It’s been an arduous path, but a fun one. Jakub also got to play a quick sushi-themed game called Wasabi and really enjoyed it.

Don’t forget to visit washingcon.com to grab your tickets for WashingCon 2019! Tickets are still available for the discounted price of $50 for an adult weekend pass or $20, so act quickly!

Thank you as always to O Abnormal and Agata Poniatowski for the artwork and Strangelette for the music. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to support Dragon’s Demize, please consider joining us on Patreon. You can also subscribe to us on Twitch, where we stream every Wednesday and Friday. We’re active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Discord, so you can join us on your platform of choice. Finally, our own how to play series, Board Game Bistro, and other videos are available on Youtube.

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Howdy listeners! It seems like April is the month for us to review all the games we’ve been playing on stream! This time, we’re reviewing the CMON-published dungeon crawler Massive Darkness. Players choose a character but also a class and fight their way through hordes of enemies. There are some really solid mechanics here that make Massive Darkness stand out from other dungeon crawlers, including extensive character customization, what-you-see-is-what-you-get loot on enemies, and of course some truly epic minis. Check out the episode for our full thoughts on the game.

As for what else we’ve been playing, we’re still thoroughly enjoying Root. We played with the expansion factions recently and they’re just as interesting as the core. Jakub also has a couple of games to talk about, including Quacks of Quedlinburg and Modern Art.

Don’t forget to visit washingcon.com to grab your tickets for WashingCon 2019! Tickets are still available for the discounted price of $50 for an adult weekend pass or $20, so act quickly!

Thank you as always to O Abnormal and Agata Poniatowski for the artwork and Strangelette for the music. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to support Dragon’s Demize, please consider joining us on Patreon. You can also subscribe to us on Twitch, where we stream every Wednesday and Friday. We’re active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Discord, so you can join us on your platform of choice. Finally, our own how to play series, Board Game Bistro, and other videos are available on Youtube.

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Hello listeners! We’ve talked before on this podcast (and at past WashingCons) about how difficult it can be to truly define some of the terms we commonly use to describe board games. With that in mind, we have decided to tackle some of the most popular categories of games, and really try to break them down into their component parts. First in this series is the term “Euro.” What does it mean, what does it not? These are the questions that we try to answer on today’s episode of Dragon’s Demize. After you listen, head on over to our Facebook page to join the discussion about what contstitutes a Euro game!

We’re also super excited about Root, which we’ve been playing recently. It’s a cute, asymmetrical strategy game that’s well worth checking out. Besides that, Jakub had a chance to play the gumpack game Hue.

Don’t forget to visit washingcon.com to grab your tickets for WashingCon 2019! Tickets are still available for the discounted price of $50 for an adult weekend pass or $20 for a child so act quickly!

Thank you as always to O Abnormal and Agata Poniatowski for the artwork and Strangelette for the music. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to support Dragon’s Demize, please consider joining us on Patreon. You can also subscribe to us on Twitch, where we stream every Wednesday and Friday. We’re active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Discord, so you can join us on your platform of choice. Finally, our own how to play series, Board Game Bistro, and other videos are available on Youtube.

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Hello listeners! After months of playing SeaFall on stream, it’s finally time for us to give it a proper review! SeaFall is a seafaring legacy game for 2-5 players. Players take on the role of province leaders who must earn Glory through trade, combat, or exploration. As with most legacy games, there are twists and turns and ups and downs, and we’re excited to finally share our thoughts. We do give spoilers warnings when appropriate, so if it’s safe to listen whether you’ve played or not!

Friendly reminder that now is the time to secure yourself tickets to Washingcon 2019! Tickets are on sale now at $50 for adults and $20 for kids. These prices are discounted, so don’t miss your chance. Grab yours at washingcon.com!

Thank you as always to O Abnormal and Agata Poniatowski for the artwork and Strangelette for the music. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to support Dragon’s Demize, please consider joining us on Patreon. You can also subscribe to us on Twitch, where we stream every Wednesday and Friday. We’re active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Discord, so you can join us on your platform of choice. Finally, our own how to play series, Board Game Bistro, and other videos are available on Youtube.

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The ancient castle has lost the favor of the dragons, and now it is our chance to earn that favor for ourselves. That’s the premise of Dragon Castle, this week’s review. Players take turns removing tiles from the center castle and placing them into their own castles. By placing tiles from similar factions or sets strategically, players can maximize the points they get for “consolidating” them, or flipping them over. Once they’ve been flipped, you can build more layers or place shrines for even more points. The most skillful players will also take advantage of the random Spirit and Dragon cards to boost their strategies. Check out our full thoughts in this week’s episode.

We’ve been playing some other really exciting games as well. Teotihuacan: City of Gods is a solid worker placement game with a highly integrated theme, and Age of Mythology captures the spirit of the classic video game that both Jakub and Greg really enjoyed.

While you’re thinking about board games, make sure to reserve your tickets to this year’s WashingCon! Tickets go on sale at 7 PM on April 1. They’re $40 for the first week, so act fast! You can find them at washingcon.com.

Thank you as always to O Abnormal and Agata Poniatowski for the artwork and Strangelette for the music. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to support Dragon’s Demize, please consider joining us on Patreon. You can also subscribe to us on Twitch, where we stream every Wednesday and Friday. We’re active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Discord, so you can join us on your platform of choice. Finally, our own how to play series, Board Game Bistro, and other videos are available on Youtube.

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It’s a deep dive on today’s Dragon’s Demize, both literally and figuratively! Greg is joined by Dominic Crapuchettes, Founder & Co-President of North Star Games, to discuss their upcoming game Oceans. Oceans is a standalone installment in the Evolution franchise which takes the players on a journey beneath the waves. By combining traits, players seek to take advantage of ecological niches and earn the most points. Oceans has some compelling new features, including separate trait decks for the common “surface” cards and the unique, powerful “deeps” cards and scenario effects that can subtly (or not-so-subtly) alter gameplay when they are triggered.

The Kickstarter campaign for Oceans goes live on Tuesday, March 26, and you can bet we’re going to be checking it out. If Oceans sounds like your kind of game, visit the Kickstarter page for more details!

Jakub does still get to talk in this episode, mostly about what he’s been playing. He brings us more updates from his ongoing Betrayal Legacy game, as well of his impressions of the new game Call to Adventure. Plus, we’ve been playing The Mind again, and it continues to be ridiculous fun.

Thank you as always to O Abnormal and Agata Poniatowski for the artwork and Strangelette for the music. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to support Dragon’s Demize, please consider joining us on Patreon. You can also subscribe to us on Twitch, where we stream every Wednesday and Friday. We’re active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Discord, so you can join us on your platform of choice. Finally, our own how to play series, Board Game Bistro, and other videos are available on Youtube.

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Today’s episode of Dragon’s Demize is all about mad science, with a review of Get Me a Fresh Brain! In this game, designed by Sean Scott Garrity and published by Baksha Games, 2-6 players race to build a monster that will destroy the town! Players control Doctors, who earn money, and Assistants, who buy various fresh (or not so fresh) body parts for use in creating the monsters. Once a monster has been created, it’s a mad dash to see who can destroy a majority of the buildings in town. For our full thoughts on Get Me a Fresh Brain! check out the podcast.

We also talk about What We’ve Been Playing lately, including the devilishly puzzling The Mind and Quiddler, a game that plays like if Scrabble and Gin Rummy had a baby. Plus we finally got around to playing Dragon Castle now that we have the full set of correct tiles (shout out to Horrible Games for supplying replacement components).

In addition to our weekly podcast, we also produce a series of how to play videos called Board Game Bistro. Our latest video teaches you how to play Wingspan, and we think you should check it out! You can find it on our YouTube channel.

Thank you as always to O Abnormal and Agata Poniatowski for the artwork and Strangelette for the music. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to support Dragon’s Demize, please consider joining us on Patreon. You can also subscribe to us on Twitch, where we stream every Wednesday and Friday. We’re active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Discord, so you can join us on your platform of choice.

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We’ve got another fantastic interview on this week’s Dragon’s Demize. If you’ve been watching carefully, you may already know who it is! AnnaMaria Jackson-Phelps is a board game reviewer, player, and jack-of-all-trades. She joins us to talk about her experiences in the industry, from her unexpected start to creating a more diverse and inclusive community. She also shares her passion for gaming and for a certain Italian pastry.

After the episode, you can find more of AnnaMaria’s content at Girls’ Game Shelf, where she is the Editor in Chief. At their website you can find how to play videos, interviews with female game designers, and a whole series of handy guides on gaming topics like organizing your shelves and gift giving. Check them out today, and show them some love on Youtube as well!

Before the interview, we talk about the games we’ve been playing lately. AnnaMaria introduces us to the mysterious and devious Wish You Were Here, and also gives us an idea of what to expect from Charterstone. We also comment on our latest Gloomhaven shenanigans.

Thank you as always to O Abnormal and Agata Poniatowski for the artwork and Strangelette for the music. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to support Dragon’s Demize, please consider joining us on Patreon. You can also subscribe to us on Twitch, where we stream every Wednesday and Friday. We’re active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Discord, so you can join us on your platform of choice. Finally, our own how to play series, Board Game Bistro, and other videos are available on Youtube.

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