Screw Your Neighbor – Meeples And Wine

Meeples & Wine Episode Show Notes: Madcala Board Game Review with Love Potion #Wine

Welcome back to Meeples & Wine, the podcast where couples dive into board game reviews with a glass of something delicious in hand. Hosted by Michael and Suzy, this episode pairs a fun two-player strategy game with a unique Wisconsin wine. Whether you are searching for the best couple board games, mancala-style games, or wine pairings for game night, you are in the right place.

What wine are we tasting today?
Today we are pouring Love Potion #Wine from Harbor Ridge Winery in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin. This aromatic blend of Gewürztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc with tart cherries delivers spicy, floral notes balanced by bright citrus acidity and herbaceous freshness. It is versatile and refreshing, perfect for a game night pour. Serve it well chilled. It pairs especially well with spicy or aromatic Asian dishes, citrus- or herb-seasoned seafood and shrimp, herb-roasted chicken or pork, goat cheese, and fresh salads or vegetables with citrus and herbs. Match the intensity of your food to the wine’s style for the best experience.

What game are we playing?
We are diving into Madcala 2025, a two-player asymmetric board game with a Wonderland theme published by Druid City Games. Designed by Aaron Hein and Manny Trembley (who also provided the art), Madcala takes the classic mancala mechanism and adds take-that elements, unique guest abilities, and plenty of player interaction.

Madcala was once the Mad Hatter’s favorite tea party tradition… until the Cheshire Cat took over as host. In this edition, characters from Wonderland’s War join the zany Cheshire Cat’s tournament of champions. Players battle to reduce their opponent’s health to zero through smart shard movement, powerful Plus-One abilities, and Commoner card plays. Outthinking and outmaneuvering your opponent is easier said than done in this battle of wits and luck.

On BoardGameGeek it currently sits at a 7.4 rating with a complexity weight of 2.13 out of 5. It is strictly a two-player game built around mancala and take-that mechanisms.

How to play Madcala
Madcala is a two-player Wonderland-themed strategy game where you move Shards around a shared circular Playmat, activate space effects, and use Guest, Plus-One, and Commoner cards to reduce your opponent’s health to zero.

Setup is straightforward. Players sit at opposite ends of the Playmat, each claim a color of Shards, place their Doubler on their Home Space and two normal Shards on each of their other five Spaces, set Health Dials to 25, shuffle the Commoner deck, determine first player with the Madcala token, choose Guests (second player picks first), and set up matching Plus-One and Guide cards.

On your turn you may take actions in any order, but you must perform the Move Shards action. Plus-One and Commoner actions are optional. At the end of your turn, discard down to a maximum of two Commoners in hand. The first player cannot use a Plus-One on the opening turn.

Space effects include adding a Shard, healing, drawing cards, dealing damage, refreshing a Plus-One, or (on Home) choosing any of your Spaces to activate. Landing the Doubler on Home grants an extra turn instead. The first player to reduce their opponent’s health to zero wins.

An expansion is already available: Madcala: Tweedles & Caterpillar (2025).

How does it play with two players? Was it fun?
Fun Score (1-10)
Michael – 9
Suzy – 8

Will it wreck the relationship?
Couch score (1-5)
Michael – 4
Suzy – 4

How long to learn the rules?
Time Sink scale runs from 1 (no problem after one or two games) to 5 (YouTube tutorials and lots of reading needed).

Final Sip
How has the wine changed since opening?

Last Call
We head to Kickstarter to spotlight cool new games on the horizon. This episode features Dark Tomb: Lost Temple of Zor. Zor has seized control of southeastern Alathia. Inspired by the dark legacy of Orom, he has silenced the ruins and is slowly draining the land of life beneath the scorching desert sun. Players must venture across the unforgiving Alcian Desert, seek out the ancient hidden temple, and confront Zor before all is lost to the sands.

That wraps up this episode of Meeples & Wine. If you enjoyed the board game review and wine pairing, share it with a friend who loves couple game nights or mancala-style strategy games. Reach out anytime at [email protected], find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn, or leave a voicemail at (707) 572-5282. See you next time on Meeples and Wine! Buh-bye!

List of URLs with Titles

If you’ve got a game that you’d like us to demo get in touch at [email protected], at our Twitter (@Meeplesandwine) or Facebook or if you’d like to leave us a voicemail you can go to 

https://www.speakpipe.com/MeeplesandWine or call at (707) 572-5282!

You can also check out our quicklinks page! https://podcast.show/meeplesandwine/

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This episode Michael and Suzy spend their Easter afternoon playing Ruse Game’s recent release Bunny Boom, fresh out of their crowdfunding on Gamefound! Your quiet village is being overrun by hordes of soft and cuddly rabbits and you work to push as many as you can to your opponent’s board! Lay your cards down on the board to build the village, matching suits to close out the space so no more cards can be played, or don’t match suits to play that card that may win you the game, but you’ll get more bunnies as a penalty! Force your opponent to take the carrot, which adds more bunnies, and you can use the burrow and the fox to add even more buns! The one with the least bunnies wins!

We also taste a traditional Easter brunch cocktail, the mimosa, but with a twist! From Coffee and Champaign, it’s the French 75 Mimosa. With a dash of lemon juice and citrus simple syrup, along with gin this is a delicious alternative to your standard sparkling wine and orange juice. We used Conniption American Dry gin with this one, after tasting it at the local store (Thanks Paul!) it’s citrus rind and spicy nose complemented the drink nicely!

The Final Call for the week is Cleaning Service – Print and Play!

If you’ve got a game that you’d like us to demo get in touch at [email protected], at our Twitter (@Meeplesandwine) or Facebook or if you’d like to leave us a voicemail you can go to 

https://www.speakpipe.com/MeeplesandWine or call at (707) 572-5282!

You can also check out our quicklinks page! https://podcast.show/meeplesandwine/

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Welcome to Meeples and Wine Na Pod Pomo 2023, hosted by Michael and Suzy, where they review board and tabletop games for couples. They explore how well games play with two players, their fun factor, complexity, and whether they might “destroy the marriage.” Each episode also includes a thematic wine, beer, or drink tasting to accompany the game.

Exploring ‘Take That’ Games and Related Mechanics: From Munchkin to UNO Flip

In this episode of ‘Meeples and Wine’, Michael explores the popular board and tabletop game mechanic known as ‘Take That’ or ‘Screw Your Neighbor”. They discuss games including ‘Munchkin’, ‘Flux’, ‘Kittens in a Blender’, and ‘UNO’, with a specific focus on ‘UNO Flip’. These games involve players using cards or actions to harm their opponents, often leading to strategic moves and exciting gameplay. The hosts also highlight some of their own experiences with these games, how the rules keep changing, the level of strategy involved, and how different players may respond to such mechanics.

00:10 Introduction to Meeples and Wine Podcast
00:50 How to Connect with Us
01:13 Introduction to ‘Take That’ Games
01:48 Exploring Munchkin: A ‘Take That’ Game
03:21 Diving into Flux: A Game of Changing Rules
06:50 Kittens in a Blender: A Quirky ‘Take That’ Game
07:17 UNO: The Classic ‘Take That’ Game
09:22 Customizing UNO: Creating Your Own Rules
10:11 Conclusion and Farewell

If you’ve got a game that you’d like us to demo get in touch at [email protected], at our Twitter (@Meeplesandwine) or Facebook or if you’d like to leave us a voicemail you can go to 

https://www.speakpipe.com/MeeplesandWine or call at (707) 572-5282!

You can also check out our quicklinks page! https://podcast.show/meeplesandwine/

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