Of Dice And Men

Disclaimer: the board game talk starts at about 8m10s :)

Adam, Ryan, and Chad do their best to get you up to speed with some of the latest trends in board game design as we play "Make Up a Game"! Chad, with the help of boardgamizer.com, comes up with some goofy board game constraints, Ryan describes the mechanic in more detail, and Adam comes up with an entirely off-the-cuff idea for a game! Not only is it a fun way of learning more about some trendy game mechanics, but also a source of inspiration for aspiring board game designers!

After that, we discuss the card game that inspired our impromptu design session, Snake Oil. How does Snake Oil and games like it supplant go-to party staples like Cards Against Humanity? What's involved in convincing a high school cheerleader that he needs a tube of Laughter Grease? Why isn't Adam in marketing? All that and more in our feature game discussion!

Finally we wrap up with some games we've been playing lately, including Here I Stand, A Fake Artist Goes to New York, and Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar.

Of Dice and Men is broadcast live on 91.3 FM CJTR, Regina Community Radio - our next broadcast will be March 11th at 8 PM CST.

Chad, Adam and Ryan discuss exactly where expansions fit into the board game ecosystem. Are they honest attempts by the designer to extend the longevity of their creations? Or evil corporate plans to milk the last nickels from your wallets? Why not both? :) We discuss why you as a gamer might be interested in an expansion, and examples of the best and worst kind of board game expansions.

In the second half, we finally have a serious talk about Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition, two of the three hosts' favourite game. Chad gives an "after the first game" perspective while Adam and Ryan plead their case, after which we hold a quick burial for the game, never to speak of it again. Or at least the 3rd edition. We finish the episode off talking about CO2 (currently on Kickstarter), Gloomhaven's helper apps, Keyflower, Azul, and oddly enough, Cribbage.

Ryan and Chad do their best to justify their purchase history as we talk about curating the perfect board game collection. Is it okay to own more than you can play? How much research goes into your purchasing decisions? When do you trade or sell your games? All this and more in our first episode of our new season.

After we're finished feeling better about ourselves, we discuss the 2011 release Dungeon Petz by Vlaada Chvátil (or at least a member of the conspiracy). Listen how using imps as workers fundamentally changes the worker placement game, and learn the best way to ensure your pet doesn't grow too large, get aggressive, and injure your stable workers in an attempt to escape its cage and mutate out of existence. Yup, that all happens in this game.

Chad finishes the episode off talking about Assault on Doomrock, Fog of Love, Terraforming Mars, and Ryan reflects on a recent play of Modern Art.

Of Dice and Men is broadcast live on 91.3 FM CJTR, Regina Community Radio - our next broadcast will be February 11th at 8 PM CST.

It's our one year anniversary! Adam, Chad, and Ryan spend the episode talking about our favs and not-so-favs, our highs and lows, and our last year of board games, the people who play them, and the culture surrounding the hobby. We also answer a few questions from the audience, and Adam does his best to give each of them his own personal touch. The questions, not the audience.

Of Dice and Men is broadcast live on 91.3 FM CJTR, Regina Community Radio - our next broadcast will be January 28h at 8 PM CST.

Chad, Adam, and Ryan review the year in board games, highlighting the top games released in 2017 and then focusing on our own picks for best and worst board games of 2017.

Of Dice and Men is broadcast live on 91.3 FM CJTR, Regina Community Radio - our next broadcast will be January 14th at 8 PM CST.

Chad, Adam, and Ryan discuss one of their favourite topics - role playing games! We also welcome a guest, Chad Boudreau, proprietor of our local gaming store and Game / Dungeon master with 20 years experience. What is an RPG? Where do you start? Why do you care? We answer all this and more!

Our featured game is the End of the World RPG published by Fantasy Flight Games, where the three of us played ourselves doing our best to survive a zombie apocalypse (which our guest Chad GM'd). We also feature clips from our recorded session, and discuss why the EotW is a great starting point for new players.

If you're interested in hearing the entire End of the World RPG session we participated in (from character creation to finale) you can check out https://soundcloud.com/user-101644760/sets/end-of-the-world-rpg

Of Dice and Men is broadcast live on 91.3 FM CJTR, Regina Community Radio - our next broadcast will be December 31st at 8 PM CST.

Stuck on ideas on what to get your loved ones this holiday season? Adam and Ryan have the answer! We take the whole hour to make a few suggestions for stocking stuffers, gateway gamers, serious strategists, and everything inbetween in this, our 2017 Holiday Special!

Image By Levente Fulop from Brno, Czech Republic (The King's Game) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Adam and Ryan discuss the real reason you see your friends nowadays, gaming groups. Is it easier to turn gamers into friends, or friends into gamers? What do you do with the tag-alongs that just wanted to drink beer and talk about the last episode of Glee? How do you avoid fistfights while trying to pick a game that pleases everyone? All this and more!

Afterwards, Ryan and Adam regale us with stories of the cold war with our feature game, Twilight Struggle. Hear why this one time BGG juggernaut is still worth a play in today's post-1990's climate. Ryan wraps up the episode with a few suggestions for those who want a taste of the mechanics without the 4 hour playtime, and a recent recap of his first plays of Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn.

Of Dice and Men is broadcast live on 91.3 FM CJTR, Regina Community Radio - our next broadcast will be December 3rd at 8 PM CST.

(image credit: https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1125177/twilight-struggle)

Ryan, Adam and Chad set themselves up for a slog through some long-form games, namely campaigns and legacy games. What does it mean to commit to a campaign? Why is Adam chewing on those cards? Find out this and more!

After the break, _we played so many games these last few weeks_! Ryan and Adam feature Unearth, the dice-chucking light strategy game by Brotherwise Games. Adam focuses on his 14-hour game of Twilight Imperium, Chad ruminates over his custom Dread RPG/Psycho Raiders hybrid, and Ryan loses control of Japan in Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan.

Of Dice and Men is broadcasted live on 91.3 FM CJTR, Regina Community Radio - our next broadcast will be November 19th at 8 PM CST.

Adam and Chad discuss what they're doing to get ready for an upcoming "gaming marathon" session - 24 hours of gaming takes a bit of prep! How to pick your games, what to pack, when to eat - we'll tell you exactly how to survive & thrive in a gaming environment.

Race for the Galaxy is our feature game for this episode, after which we discuss Adam's nihilistic view of Candyland, Ryan and Chad rolled their own civilizations, and Chad likes 80% of Vast: The Crystal Caverns.

Of Dice and Men is broadcasted live on 91.3 FM CJTR, Regina Community Radio - our next broadcast will be November 5th at 8 PM CST.