Gettin' Gamey

We're kicking off a bit of a "series" of perfect information games this week with Checkers! It's our first proper perfect information game, and also the oldest game we've covered thus far! Weirdly enough, BGG puts this game's birthdate at 1150 despite its existence many years before that. But it's not the only thing we've disagreed with them about on this show, and it won't be the last. I wonder if this game's simplicity, ubiquity, and legacy will allow it to climb high, or if it is simply too old to stand up to today's board game climate?

We're back with another stone cold classic? Or at least one that you've probably played. And this one's legacy is pretty epic (insert founding emoji here). You'll never guess who I picked when we played this game on air! Even if I burned all my capital for an L, I still had fun!

The title of this game speaks for itself in a lot of ways. The actual board game-yness and mechanics leave much to be desired...but where else can you go to learn how many stomachs an earthworm has? Well...the internet it turns out. But isn't it more fun to make a pie you can't eat, then to just look it up and move on? Well...maybe

This game is my Catan, which as you heard last week is a pretty impactful title for the board game industry. First in its class in strategy war gaming and only three years after "Tactics," which many cite as the first war board game, Risk arguably defined the genre, and may well be the most re-skinned and ubiquitous war game of the 21st century. But is it good though?

We're back this week with a game widely considered simultaneously both stone cold classic and a minor league game too old for the modern hobby. Two new guests join Caleb and me this week to discuss what could make a run for the top of our list as well! It's our heaviest game we've covered so far on Gettin Gamey, and it packs a serious punch for many board gamers alike! Come join us on the nostalgia train!

Biff! Splat! Blam! Ooof! Kerplunk! The ads from your youth may have pegged this for 5+, but don't sleep on this Ideal Toy Company classic from the late 60s. Ever wonder what Isaac Newton was thinking when the proverbial apple hit him on the head? Well, this is as close to that answer as we may get.

This is the premiere episode of Gettin' Gamey, a podcast about board games! I'm very excited to launch this project, which I've been thinking about for a while now. What is it? A show where I bring on guests each week to discuss a board game per episode! Each week you can expect me to dissect what makes these older games out of contention for "high quality" in today's modern board game boom, and which ones maybe hold up better than they ever have before! I'll be covering not just old games though, but hopefully all games across the board. This season and each season will have a nice balance of newer games that are releasing today, ones that released post the "board game boom" of the early 2000s and 2010s, and ones that helped pave the way for those games to exist. At the end, expect me to rank them against each other for fun! Which game will "come out on top?" Spoiler alert...today its Monopoly. But don't throw any punches like the last time you played this game!

Welcome to a brand new show! I'm Mark, and this is a show about board games! My plan? Each week, I'll cover a board game that's old, or new, and I'll put it under a microscope and discuss it with many different guests to try to figure out whether or not these games we know from our youth (and some we may not)  are worth your time, or space on your board game shelf. Eventually, for fun, a BGG style list will emerge as I cover more games! This show launches November 21, 2022, and will air every Monday! For now, here's a taste of some of my favorite moments from the opening episode tapings :)

See you next week!