The Hosts discuss getting value out of games with repeated plays, solo games vs. games as a social activity, hobby time, and board game expansions. In our Other Plays, Jordan and Thomas focus on Dorfromantik, 7 Wonders Duel, and Rhino Hero.

For our Current Plays, we discuss It's a Wonderful Kingdom, The White Castle, Trickerion: Legends of Illusion, and we revisit Near and Far.

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Timestamps:

Other Plays:

0:59:05 - Dorfromantik

1:06:45 - 7 Wonders Duel

1:10:14 - Rhino Hero

Current Plays:

1:21:15 - It's a Wonderful Kingdom

2:10:28 - The White Castle

2:46:00 - Trickerion: Legends of Illusion

3:30:11 - Near and Far

For May, 2024. Jordan kicks it off with an exclamation of just how good X-Men '97 is (it really is), Dune, and how they relate to crowdfunding of board games. In our Other Plays, Thomas discusses Gloomhaven: Buttons and Bugs, and Jordan discusses Mother of Frankenstein.

Our Current Plays includes Grand Austria Hotel (1:03:24), Unmatched (2:05:00), Tiletum (2:50:52), and last, but not least, Iki (3:39:32).

For April 2024, this episode is jam packed with our plays from March and April including Zavandor, The Hobbit, Forest Shuffle, Dice Thorne Adventures, 20 Strong, and Legacy of Yu! Thomas also mentions several games he claims are not worth mentioning.

We end off the episode with our plays of Concordia Venus and Res Arcana.

Your intrepid hosts Jordan and Thomas discuss their time at this year's BreakOut Con in Toronto, including lots of games like Ex Libris, Sobek: 2 Players, Wizards of the Grimoire, Trekking through History, Brass: Birmingham, The Fox Experiment, Battle Tech, and Tiletum.

Jordan and Thomas banter about their thoughts on player elimination and players bending their interpretation of rules.

Other plays includes discussions of Dorf Romantik, Monopoly Deal, Horrified: Greek Monsters, and It's a Wonderful Kingdom.

Current Plays:

1:16:20 - Age of Innovation

1:53:40 - Wyrmspan

For January 2024

The guys don't have many Other Plays this episode, but manage to fill 40 minutes of banter anyway. Then it's app assisted game Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth, followed by an oldie-but-a-goodie, Viticulture, Essential Edition. Then the guys take a break from games to discuss the merits of hexagonal shaped tables. Exciting, right!? The episodes caps off with the first of the Eric Lang/Adrian Smith/CMON trilogy: Blood Rage and the new re-implementation of a modern classic: Dune Imperium: Uprising.

Time Stamps:

Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth: 0:40:05

Viticulture, Essential Edition: 1:16:43

Blood Rage: 2:14:30

Dune Imperium: Uprising: 3:03:40

For December 2023 we have a special episode with our first guest. We have the distinct honour of a sit-down and chat with Mr. Jamey Stegmaier of Stonemaier Games! What a way to wrap up 2023!

We open the episode with a talk about Jordan's new additions to his collection for the Christmas season. Thomas's additions closely follow this. We switch gears into discussing the fear of missing out (FOMO) in our hobby. Jamey joins us at this point for a visit. After the visit, Thomas gives us an update on the 365 Challenge.

We then begin to chat about Thomas's other plays including Battleline, MicroMacro: Crime City, Dragon Realm, and Werewolves. This other plays is capped off with a small talk on Lost Ruins of Arnak: The Missing Expedition. After 40 minutes of chatter, Jorden is able to talk about his other plays including Ticket to Ride, Mandala, Sagrada, and a highlight of Lacuna.

Near the end of the banter, we discuss our Board Game Stats Year in review before switching into a talk about the games we reviewed this year. Finally, it's time for our Current Plays Libertalia and Voidfall!

Timestamps:

4:15 - Jordan's Christmas Haul

11:40 - Thomas's Addition to His Collection

12:58 - FOMO in Our Hobby

29:06 - Jamey Stegmaier Visit

1:06:50 - An Update to the 365 Challenge

1:07:40 - Thomas's Other Plays

1:24:40 - Lost Ruins of Arnak: The Missing Expedition

1:31:21 - Jordan's Other Plays

1:53:00 - Board Game Stats Year in Review

2:15:20 - End of the Year Favourite Reviewed Games

2:26:30 - Current Plays

Season 2 Episode 6 starts with Thomas starting a discussion on different solo mode styles that he noticed while playing Near and Far & Now or Never. This leads to the topic of how adding a good solo option to games can increase the value proposition of those games.

We took a slightly different approach to this episode by separating some of our Current Plays with banter portions. So after a couple of Current Plays, Thomas jumps into his Other Play of the Near and Far story mode. He follows this description with an update to his 365 Challenge. Jordan talks Dominion Digital Beta. Of course, no episode is complete without a rant, so Thomas brings up the new Kickstarter for Food Chain Magnate!

Timestamps:

1:15 - Solo Mode Styles

31:45 - Adding Value with Solo Options

39:10 - Wingspan

1:08:15 - Other Plays Now or Never Story Mode

1:15:45 - An Update to the 365 Challenge

1:24:05 - Dominion Digital

1:26:00 - Food Chain Magnate Rant

1:44:00 - Power Struggle

2:18:26 - Teotihuacan: City of Gods

3:12:45 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar