The Hype and The Hope

Noted marine biologist George Costanza may have ruefully spoken of the sea's anger, but if water wasn't allowed to express its emotions, where would tumbled glass come from? Join us in this episode as we discuss beachcombing, whether to double-down on botanical bets, and the cuddly side of pestilence.

Let the record show that this is the episode where Mike comes into his psychic powers! Listen for it sometime after the frog discussion but before Shari repeatedly confesses to enjoying Farmville. This episode, our three board games are Mythwind, Ezra and Nehemiah, and Horror on the Orient Express, but absolutely not in that order.

In this episode we skip up the gangplank to the SS Ian O'Toole, sketch out a perfect castle for dairy enthusiasts, and contemplate when the catnip that is legacy gaming becomes litter box lining instead. As always, we discuss three board games: one we're buying, one we're vetoing, and one we've just played.

We return to the microphones for a fresh season of rabbit holes and roundabouts as we ostensibly discuss board games and the finite nature of Kallax shelving. This episode has jackelopes, sass, and rock tumbling, all in the usual context of three games: one that was added to the collection, one that wasn't, and one that was recently played.

Behold, our top ten games of 2023, plus our resolutions and anticipations for 2024. Despite several crossovers, we completely surprised each other with our Number Ones!

Timestamps are below, but please forgive any wobbles due to the number of "Your X is my Y!" moments.

Now in its ninth-ish year and recorded for the first time ever in front of a live audience of two silent rabbits, welcome to part one of our annual "gala" of retrospection and introspection! Every January we look back at the previous year in personal gaming highlights, rustle up a top ten, and make a few predictions and resolutions about the year to come.

In this episode, we discuss all kinds of favourites: replays, box covers, themes, components, plus acknowledge favourite light games and other games that might not be in our Top 10.

This episode has everything: time travel, hobby-changing epiphanies, and whiffs of tuberculosis. Also, we discuss the contentious Marrakesh (in the original box size, no less), the much-anticipated Critter Kitchen, and the legacy game that finally brings a classic to our table: Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West. Amidst the board game chatter, listeners may also develop an opinion on whether Shari and Mike were briefly abducted by aliens one time in the Yukon. (It would just explain so much.)

In this episode we discover that Devir's new game 3-Ring Circus may be setting up their big top at the end of Memory Lane. Listen as Shari holds back the sniffles on Leonard Nimoy and Tricia, Perth's beloved elephant. Sensibility is restored to discuss Knizia's The A.R.T. Project, but passion returns as we aim our telescopes towards Mindclash's smallest star: Astra.

In this episode we have petulant palaeontologists (Bone Wars!); ancient Romans exchanging gifts on the River Rhine (Discordia!); and archaeologists chilling in every sense of the word (Ice!). An honourable mention must be made, as well, to "Maracaibo Dice".

Trigger warning: pterodactyls.

And so the Great Confrontation, our quest to make room for better games and see the old ones off to more appreciative owners or purposes, comes to an end. Is there a redemption arc for the once-beloved and forever mis-punctuated T.I.M.E Stories? Will U-BOOT finally rise to the surface of the gaming table? And can the former #1 game on Board Game Geek survive the revolution?