Cosmic Frogs (ft. Tablenauts)
Today we discuss Cosmic Frog by Devious Weasel Games designed by Jim Felli! In Cosmic Frogs, Cosmic Frog is a game of collection, combat, and theft on a planetary scale. Each player controls a two-mile-tall, immortal, invulnerable frog-like creature that exists solely to gather terrain from the Shards of Aeth, the fragments of a long-ago shattered world.
Sleeping Gods
Today we discuss Sleeping Gods by Red Raven Games, a game that combines campaign, rich narrative, worker placement, tableau building and action efficiency! In Sleeping Gods, you and up to 3 players become Captain Sofi Odessa and her crew, lost in a strange world in 1929 on your steamship, the Manticore.
Santorini
Today we discuss Santorini by Roxley Games and designed by Gord! Santorini is a re-imagining of the pure abstract conceived over 30 years ago. It’s is an accessible strategy game, that’s simple enough for all age levels while aiming to provide gameplay depth and content for hardcore gamers to explore.
Russian Railroads (ft. Jonny Pac)
Today we discuss our Russian Railroads in celebration of it’s recent reprint announcement. We sit down with acclaimed designer Jonny Pac (e.g. Coloma, Lions of Lydia, Fistful of Meeples, Merchants Cove) to figure out what exactly fuels this powerful locomotive.
Skytear (ft. Team Covenant)
Today we discuss our favorite tabletop MOBA with Steven Wooley from Team Covenant. Skytear is a competitive card-driven miniatures skirmish game published and designed by PVP Geeks. In the game players uses a draft system that supplements regular deckbuilding, where players pick heroes from four factions.
Yura Yura Penguin and Ghost Blitz
Today we discuss two unique party games: Yura Yura Penguin designed and published by Ryoko Yabuchi and Ghost Blitz designed by Jacques Zeimet and published by Zoch Verlag! Yura Yura Penguin is what you’d expect if you’d put Uno, Jenga and adorable penguin artwork in a blender.
Dwellings of Eldervale (ft. Quackalope Writing Team)
Today we discuss Dwellings of Eldervale designed by Luke Laurie and published by Breaking Games featuring The Quackalope Writing Team! Dwellings of Eldervale Dwellings of Eldervale is hybrid worker placement game set in a once lost magical world.
Cartographers and Popular Roll & Writes (ft. Jay Cormier)
Today we discuss bevy of Roll & Writes with Jay Cormier founder of Off The Page Games and designer of games like Akotiri, In the Hall of the Mountain King, Junk Art and many more! In the episode we talk about all things surrounding Roll & Writes, but we focus specifically on That’s So Clever, Patchwork Doodle, Cartographers, Welcome To and Rajas of the Ganges: The Dice Charmers. We cap the episode off by breaking down the history of the genre and what innovations influenced its modern day implementation.
Merv (ft. Board Games In A Minute)
Today we discuss Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road designed by Fabio Lopiano and published by Osprey Games featuring Sarah Shaw from Board Games In a Minute! Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road is a tense economic game charting the rise and fall of the greatest city in the world. In Merv, players are vying to amass power and wealth in the prosperous heart of the Silk Road. Through careful court intrigue, timely donations to the grand mosque, and favorable trade deals, players attempt to redirect as much of that prosperity as possible into their own pockets. Meanwhile, beyond the city walls Mongol hordes approach. If you help construct the city walls, you give up on precious opportunities to build up your own stature, but leave it unprotected and you will burn with the city. The player with the most victory points by the third year wins! (Description provided by the publisher.)
Dune: Imperium (ft. Jeremy Howard - MvM)
Today we discuss Dune Imperium designed by Paul Dennen and published by Dire Wolf featuring Jeremy Howard from Man Vs Meeple! Dune: Imperium is a game that finds inspiration from the Dune legacy, both the new film from Legendary Pictures and the seminal literary series from Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson. It uses deck-building to add a hidden-information angle to traditional worker placement. You start with a unique leader card and ability, and you’ll acquire cards and build your deck, your choices will define your strengths and weaknesses. Cards allow you to send your Agents to certain spaces on the game board, so how your deck evolves affects your strategy. Unlike many deck-building games, you don’t play your entire hand in one turn. The cards you play and keep in your hand will determine where you can go on the board, what you can purchase from the market and your strength in the conflict phase. Whoever reaches 10 points, and is able to keep them when the game ends, wins! (Description provided by the publisher.)
Era: Medieval Age (ft. The Hexy Beast)
Today we discuss Era: Medieval Age designed by Matt Leacock and published by eggertspiele featuring The Hexy Beast! Era: Medieval Age serves as the spiritual successor to Roll Through The Ages. In Era, your dice represent different classes of medieval society as players attempt to build the most prosperous city. The "build" comes into play as players actually build their cities on their boards. By the end of the game, each player will have a unique city of their very own. (Description provided by the publisher.)
Tidal Blades (ft. Jamey Stegmaier)
Today we discuss Tidal Blades designed by the Eisner Brothers and published by Druid City and Skybound Games featuring Jamey Stegmaier from Stonemaier Games! In Tidal Blades 15 years have passed since the Great Battle, a cataclysmic confrontation that spawned a rift into where creatures dwell. Now a tournament is being held to find heroes that can stop the onslaught of monsters that are once again spewing forth! You and up to 2-5 players will compete to become a Tidal Blade, the elite guards of the island realm. To win, you’ll need to succeed at challenges being held throughout multiple arenas and rise above the competition. Each day you’ll send your hero to take actions on the different Locations and to undertake Challenges. Challenges can only be completed in matching locations and will require a push your luck dice system to accomplish. Completing Challenges and fighting monsters will advance your character in four traits further improving your chances on future turns. Each Tidal Blade will be judged at the end of the 5 rounds based on the Challenges they have completed, the level of each of their Traits, their standing on the Champions Board, and the monsters they have fought. The winner will be named “Tidal Blade: Hero of the Reef!”
Great Western Trail (ft. Before You Play)
Today we discuss Great Western Trail designed by Alexander Pfister and published by eggertspiele featuring Monique and Naveen from Before You Play. In GWT you are rival cattlemen in 19th century America, herding cattle from Texas to Kansas city in a circular trail. Through a combination of rondel movement, hand management and tableau building you’ll move your cattleman down the trail. Along the way you will hire new staff, construct buildings and purchase new cattle before reaching your destination, all while avoiding hazards and taxes. Once in Kansas your cattle are then shipped by train, earning you money, opportunities to evolve your player board and victory points. The winner is the player who manages their herd best and exhibits the best timing within the trail.
Bargain Quest (ft. Jeremy Howard from MvM)
Today we discuss Bargain Quest designed by Jonathan Ying and published by Renegade Games with Jeremy Howard from Man Vs. Meeple. In the game players will take the role of shopkeepers in an adventuring town plagued by monsters. Players must draft items and then secretly choose which items to place in their windows to attract wealthy heroes to their shops. Once all heroes have been equipped, they venture out to battle against monstrous threats, earning money and prestige for the shop they represent. Throughout the game players will encounter new heroes and monsters while upgrading their shops and hiring employees. Once the third monster is defeated the player who has earned the most gold and prestige is the winner. (Description provided by the publisher.)
Super Fantasy Brawl (ft. BoardGameCo)
Today we discuss Super Fantasy Brawl by Mythic Games with BoardGameCo. In the game you control a group of warriors plucked from history, brought to the present to compete against each other in the greatest entertainment spectacle ever staged. It’s a fast-paced competitive miniatures board game, where players select a team of three champions and combine their unique action cards to create a synergistic action deck. Each turn, the players use their hand of action cards to maneuver, attack, displace enemies, and claim objectives to score victory points. The first player to reach 5 points, wins!
Obsession (ft. BoardGameCo & Board Games In A Minute)
Today we discuss Obsession by Dan Hallagan with BoardGameCo and Board Games In A Minute. In the game you are the head of a respected but troubled family estate in mid-19th century Victorian England, in which your goal is to improve your estate. During play, will build a deck of Victorian gentry, renovate their estate by acquiring building tiles from a centralized builders' market, and manipulate an extensive service staff through a unique worker placement mechanic. The player who best meets the expectations of the rich, while accumulating victory points and courting the hand of the wealthy will win the game.
Twilight Imperium (ft. Space Cats Peace Turtles)
Today we discuss Twilight Imperium 4th Edition by Fantasy Flight Games with none other than Space Cats Peace Turtles, the authority on everything TI. Twilight Imperium is a war and 3X game of galactic conquest in which three to six players take on the role of one of seventeen factions vying for galactic domination through military might, political maneuvering, and economic bargaining. A round begins with players selecting one of eight strategy cards that both determine player order and give their owner a unique strategic action for that round. After these roles are selected, players take turns moving their fleets from system to system, claiming new planets for their empire, and engaging in warfare and trade with other factions.
Dreamscape (ft. Sarah Shah)
Today we discuss Dreamscape by Sylex Games with our featured guest Sarah Shah from Board Games In A Minute. Dreamscape is an action point, pattern building and thematic puzzle game. The players are tasked with building their perfect dream world by collecting dreamshards from 6 main locations; each with unique powers to take advantage of. The game is split into 5 rounds each comprising of 2 main phases: travel, where players will collect the disks they need based on pattern cards, and creation, where players will be able to place their collected disks. The player with the most beautiful Dreamscape, determined on point values, wins!
Root
Today we discuss Root by Leder Games, a game of woodland might and right, where you’ll command one of multiple asymmetric animal factions vying to take control of the region. It’s no secret that we are big fans of this dynamic war game with a deceptively welcoming exterior. However, in the spirit of Played It Once, we decided to jump back in time and retell our first experience with Root and how the game and our tastes have evolved with it. In addition, we give some advice on how to teach Root to potential new players and what pitfalls to avoid.
Viticulture Essential Edition
Today we discuss Viticulture Essential Edition by Stonemaier Games, a worker placement and hand management game for the wine aficionados. After inheriting a vineyard in pre-modern Tuscany; you take it upon yourself to make into a success. You’ll start the game off with some empty plots of land, an old crushpad, a tiny cellar and three workers. From there you’ll have to plan every season carefully allocating your workers to: harvest grapes, oversee curious tourists, assist talented contractors, train new employees and fulfil the most profitable contracts in order to earn the title of the best winery in Tuscany.