In the conclusion of this two-parter, Fayyaad and Jacques dive deeper into the functionality of BoardGameGeek, using Brass: Birmingham as an example. Bookmark this site now, because if you’re going to explore the hobby at any depth, you’re going to be coming back to this often, and with increasing frequency as you take the time to explore on your own.

Thank you for listening! Join the Nerdverse Discord to become part of the conversation and let us know what you thought. If you enjoy what we do, consider subscribing to be notified about new episodes. If you’d like access to bonus features, reviews, discussions, affiliate links, and more fun downloads, consider supporting us on Patreon or Ko-Fi if you’re financially able. Otherwise you can always help us get the word out about the show by leaving us a positive review on your favourite podcast app. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Unshuffled is a Nerdverse Productions podcast: nerdverse.co.za.

In this episode, Jacques and Fayyaad introduce the encyclopedia of board games, the board gamer’s bible, the wiki of all things hobby related: BoardGameGeek. This amazing website holds many secrets and surprises – so many that it’s going to take your hosts two episodes to get through an overview of its best features. Bookmark this site now, because if you’re going to explore the hobby at any depth, you’re going to be coming back to this often, and with increasing frequency as you find more cool stuff to learn about. 

Thank you for listening! Join the Nerdverse Discord to become part of the conversation and let us know what you thought. If you enjoy what we do, consider subscribing to be notified about new episodes. If you’d like access to bonus features, reviews, discussions, affiliate links, and more fun downloads, consider supporting us on Patreon or Ko-Fi if you’re financially able. Otherwise you can always help us get the word out about the show by leaving us a positive review on your favourite podcast app. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Unshuffled is a Nerdverse Productions podcast: nerdverse.co.za.

In this episode, Jacques and Fayyaad address the complex and controversial topic of board game weight — a tricksy term board gamers use to explain how difficult a game is to learn and to play. They go into the different kinds of complexity that are included, discuss various examples across the complexity spectrum, and introduce (very briefly) the great resource site for board gamers, BoardGameGeek. As always, the focus is on helping you as a consumer figure out which board games are suitable for your table and your interests. And they finally get some listener feedback from actual listeners! They were very excited. 

Thank you for listening! Join the Nerdverse Discord to become part of the conversation and let us know what you thought. If you enjoy what we do, consider subscribing to be notified about new episodes. If you’d like access to bonus features, reviews, discussions, affiliate links, and more fun downloads, consider supporting us on Patreon or Ko-Fi if you’re financially able. Otherwise you can always help us get the word out about the show by leaving us a positive review on your favourite podcast app. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Unshuffled is a Nerdverse Productions podcast: nerdverse.co.za.

Board games are competitive, right? Well, actually… they don’t need to be. You have a whole spectrum of options when it comes to the number of players and what “winning” looks like. To celebrate the diversity of board gamers and what they want out of a play experience, Jacques and Fayyaad look at the concept of play modes in board games. Because why stick to the expected when you can delve into other, more exciting options? You may be surprised by how many options you have when choosing board games to play. In this episode, Jacques and Fayyaad take a whirlwind tour of the most popular play modes, discussing plenty of variations and examples along the way. By the end of the episode, you should have at least one game or play mode to check out that you’ve never considered before.

Thank you for listening! Join the Nerdverse Discord to become part of the conversation and let us know what you thought. If you enjoy what we do, consider subscribing to be notified about new episodes. If you’d like access to bonus features, reviews, discussions, affiliate links, and more fun downloads, consider supporting us on Patreon or Ko-Fi if you’re financially able. Otherwise you can always help us get the word out about the show by leaving us a positive review on your favourite podcast app. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Unshuffled is a Nerdverse Productions podcast: nerdverse.co.za.

Actions, reactions, phases, rounds, turns... Have you ever found yourself turned around by too many terms that sound like they all mean the same thing? Fear not! If time gets all wibbly-wobbly on you, you can always look up the rules in the game manual. But if you don't have a specific game on hand, it can help to have a general idea what each of these terms means.
In the conclusion of this two-part episode, Fayyaad and Jacques discuss two more terms often used to track time in board games - phases and reactions. They also discuss a few exceptions, and some additional timekeeping terms you may run into. By the end of these episodes, you'll be able to hold your own in conversation with even seasoned gamers.

Thank you for listening! Join the Nerdverse Discord to become part of the conversation and let us know what you thought. If you enjoy what we do, consider subscribing to be notified about new episodes. If you’d like access to bonus features, reviews, discussions, affiliate links, and more fun downloads, consider supporting us on Patreon or Ko-Fi if you’re financially able. Otherwise you can always help us get the word out about the show by leaving us a positive review on your favourite podcast app. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Unshuffled is a Nerdverse Productions podcast: nerdverse.co.za.

Time flies when you're having fun; even if you're not enjoying the board game you're playing, board games do weird things to the passage of time. But have you ever wondered how to make sense of all the different words used to make sense of time in board games?
In the first part of this two-part episode, Fayyaad and Jacques discuss three fundamental terms for tracking time in board games - rounds,  turns, and  actions. What exactly is the difference between these terms? Do they even mean different things, or are they all just different words for the same thing? Fear not! Things may get tricksy and complicated, but there are ways to figure out what's happening, and when. By the end of these episodes, you'll be able to hold your own in conversation with even seasoned gamers. And more importantly, remember what to do and when.

Thank you for listening! Join the Nerdverse Discord to become part of the conversation and let us know what you thought. If you enjoy what we do, consider subscribing to be notified about new episodes. If you’d like access to bonus features, reviews, discussions, affiliate links, and more fun downloads, consider supporting us on Patreon or Ko-Fi if you’re financially able. Otherwise you can always help us get the word out about the show by leaving us a positive review on your favourite podcast app. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Unshuffled is a Nerdverse Productions podcast: nerdverse.co.za.

At Nerdverse, we love board games with  fun, well-designed themes, and themes that are well integrated into our board games. We also love board games that have no theme at all! Perhaps a board game's theme is one of your primary ways of picking a new game, or a completely unnecessary distraction. In this episode, Fayyaad and Jacques look at different degrees to which theme matters to a game, and give you an overview of what kind of options you have when picking your next game.

Thank you for listening! Join the Nerdverse Discord to become part of the conversation and let us know what you thought. If you enjoy what we do, consider subscribing to be notified about new episodes. If you’d like access to bonus features, reviews, discussions, affiliate links, and more fun downloads, consider supporting us on Patreon or Ko-Fi if you’re financially able. Otherwise you can always help us get the word out about the show by leaving us a positive review on your favourite podcast app. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Unshuffled is a Nerdverse Productions podcast: nerdverse.co.za.

Board games don't magically appear just because you want to play a new game. (Trust us, we've tried.) In this episode, Fayyaad and Jacques look at game designers, artists, and publishers and how each contributes to taking a board game from a concept to a physical product you can play with friends. Your hosts discuss a few of their favourite board game creators, but as always, the episode focuses of how knowing these terms can help you learn more about what to look for a board game to play or buy. It also includes a bonus definition (ludography!) and two bonus disclaimers. So join us as we celebrate the marvellous people who make our board games.

Thank you for listening! Join the Nerdverse Discord to become part of the conversation and let us know what you thought. If you enjoy what we do, consider subscribing to be notified about new episodes. If you’d like access to bonus features, reviews, discussions, affiliate links, and more fun downloads, consider supporting us on Patreon or Ko-Fi if you’re financially able. Otherwise you can always help us get the word out about the show by leaving us a positive review on your favourite podcast app. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Unshuffled is a Nerdverse Productions podcast: nerdverse.co.za.

Ever heard a bunch of board game fanatics express strong opinions about something called worker placement games and wished you knew what they were going on about? In this episode, Jacques and Fayyaad get all worked up about worker placement. This type of game has become very popular since it was introduced in 1998 and has resulted in a variety of examples and variations. Fortunately, once you have a better understanding of this term, a whole smorgasbord of games awaits! Your hosts look at the expectations and variations that come with this popular style of board game. They also discuss the reasons worker placement games have become as well liked and successful as they have. And if you ever want to try one out for yourself, this episode discusses a large variety of worker placement games that each do something unique. So let’s learn and discover more about worker placement in board games.

Thank you for listening! Join the Nerdverse Discord to become part of the conversation and let us know what you thought. If you enjoy what we do, consider subscribing to be notified about new episodes. If you’d like access to bonus features, reviews, discussions, affiliate links, and more fun downloads, consider supporting us on Patreon or Ko-Fi if you’re financially able. Otherwise you can always help us get the word out about the show by leaving us a positive review on your favourite podcast app. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Unshuffled is a Nerdverse Productions podcast: nerdverse.co.za.

For our third episode, we take you on a whirlwind tour of as many components as we could think of. Partly because there are many interesting and fun components that exist, and partly because it's impossible to talk about board games without mentioning specific components. We don't go into too much detail about any individual component or type, but we introduce a number of terms you may not have heard before. And depending on what kind of games you've played, or read about, or watched, you may discover a host of terms you'd like to learn more about.
Components are a fundamental building block that make up board games. We  talk abot at a variety of objects used as components, including  game boards, miniatures, meeples, polyominoes, money,  bespoke components, and humble pen and paper. We also discuss table presence,  table hogs, and the history of board game components. Like always, we focus on how understanding this terminology helps us learn more about ourselves as gamers and about modern board games.

Thank you for listening! Join the Nerdverse Discord to become part of the conversation and let us know what you thought. If you enjoy what we do, consider subscribing to be notified about new episodes. If you’d like access to bonus features, reviews, discussions, affiliate links, and more fun downloads, consider supporting us on Patreon or Ko-Fi if you’re financially able. Otherwise you can always help us get the word out about the show by leaving us a positive review on your favourite podcast app. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Unshuffled is a Nerdverse Productions podcast: nerdverse.co.za.