Ben and Paul are here to save your holiday season! Need a game to buy for that special someone?  Or even that UNspecial someone? We have some ideas for you. Plus, some strategies for how to teach games to the most stubborn, unfocused, and downright difficult people of all time: your family.

00:00 - Intro

04:00 - Recent Plays

04:12 - Food Chain Magnate

17:17 - Ito

22:36 - Ayar, Shinjuku, and Tag Team

26:36 - The Game Brain Holiday Gifting Extravaganza!!

28:36 - Games for Monopoly lovers

34:17 - Games for Scrabble lovers (or Codenames or Scattergories)

42:18 - Games if you don't know someone's tastes

46:53 - Games you can play with someone right away

48:52 - Games to inch someone towards the hobby

52:22 - Party games!

53:21 - Stocking stuffers

55:16 - How to teach games to your family

Matty introduces you to the neat world of Kingdom Death on your compooter.

Watch the pod on YouTube: https://youtu.be/q3Bf7JYMhJQ

Check the game out here: https://shop.kingdomdeath.com/

Matt, Ben, Trey, Tom and Jordan travel to Dallas, Texas for BGG.CON 2025 and don't see the sun for four entire days. Many games were played, all were enjoyed. Well, almost all. 

Ben, Trey, and Paul review the new Vital Lacerda board game Speakeasy.

Plus, recent plays of The Old King's Crown and Night Soil.

00:00 - Intro
03:55 - The Old King's Crown
11:16 - Night Soil
18:40 - 18Cuba
19:20 - Speakeasy

It's been two years since the last Solo Mode! How did that happen? Who cares! Stop harping on it. Let's move past it with love and kindness. 

Anyhoo here are the 10 Best solo modes I've played since the last Solo Mode Episode. Which was two years ago. We know, Jesus, get over it.

Matt, Trey and Jordan take a look at Matt Leacock's Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship, discuss multiplayer co-ops and dive into this year's Essen crop. 

You can also watch this whole episode live on our Youtube channel!

https://youtu.be/IbkiM4ZLdNg

Ben and Paul do a deep dive review on the cozy, classic-feeling worker placement game Oranges & Lemons.  Plus, recent plays of Cargo Empire, Spicy, Fromage, Kites, Ito, and Guards of Atlantis II.

00:00 Intro

04:08 Kites

09:35 Cargo Empire

15:49 Guards of Atlantis II

28:02 Spicy

34:56 Fromage

39:50 Ito

48:19 Review game - Oranges & Lemons

Ben and Jordan check in on some recent game sessions - some short, some long, and some VERY long.  Ben has some things to say about hot new games Lightning Train and Shinjuku.  Jordan then shares some impressions about 1817 and Defense of Procyon III.  Plus, an epic breakdown of another epic Twilight Imperium session, and we wrap things up with the game that maybe made us happiest: Hot Streak.

Be sure to follow us on IG: https://instagram.com/gamebrainpod

00:00 Intro

02:50 Lightning Train

25:51 1817

38:07 Shinjuku

49:10 Defense of Procyon III

59:11 Twilight Imperium IV w/Prophecy of Kings

01:31:08 Hot Streak

Ben and Paul talk about recent plays of Eclipse, Scape Goat, and 23 Knives. Plus, the two explore the question: what happens if game night becomes stale? 

00:00 Intro

04:50 Eclipse

13:56 Land & Freedom

17:28 Scape Goat

32:39 Man-Eating House

38:31 Gadget Trick

42:15 Age of Innovation

44:10 Ito

47:08 23 Knives

59:42 Dune / Discussion topic: how to revitalize game night

Matt is back on the pod for a very big rundown of some noteworthy game sessions: some amazing, others not so much.  Matt, Jordan, and Ben are going around the horn with a chunky board game roundup.

00:00 Intro

03:12 Daggerheart

18:01 Fiasco

21:08 Transgalactica

30:03 Corps of Discovery / Manifest Destiny

36:55 Oranges & Lemons

45:27 Toy Battle

52:56 Nusfjord

01:01:10 Dune Imperium Uprising

01:10:31 Innovation

01:13:14 Courtisans

01:14:27 Isle of Skye Big Box