#21: The Beautiful Game

FromBoard Game Barrage

Start listening View podcast show

#21: The Beautiful Game

FromBoard Game Barrage

ratings:

Length:

51 minutes

Released:

Jul 5, 2018

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

World Cup fever sweeps the podcast, as we consider the analogies between board gaming and sport. We also talk about Harvest, Caylus, Exit: The Game, and Trajan. 2:07 - Harvest 4:27 - Caylus 9:45 - Exit: The Game 13:39 - Trajan 14:48 - Board Games and Sport 19:45 - Balderdash 26:52 - Rising Sun 29:24 - Archipelago 33:24 - Care Bear Eurogame 36:22 - Diplomacy

Released:

Jul 5, 2018

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Join Kellen, Neilan, Mark, and Christina for a podcast about board games, the latest hotness, and how to have fun with your friends even when you're losing.

Skip carousel

#8: Just Deserts: Trapped on a desert island and forced to bring only five board games? We've all been there. And we're going back. To the island. The board game island. It's a question as old as time itself, a favourite philosophical discussion of great minds... by Board Game Barrage
55 min listen
#11: Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown: Why is everything so heavy? Well, we all played Dominant Species together, and so we're in a heavy sort of mood. There's a very vocal subset of the community that'll insist a game isn't worth playing unless it's mechanics are punching above a certain... by Board Game Barrage
55 min listen
#4: Buy Buy Buy: How many board games do you need? If you're Mark, you need them all. Before we get there though, we also talk about what we've been playing, namely, John Company, Coffee Roaster, Adrenaline and Innovation. Topics discussed: 01:03 - John Company 08:40... by Board Game Barrage
47 min listen
#18: You Get What You Give: Skill and experience should be important parts of determining the winner of a game, but what about new players? Accessibility is important too, so, where's the balance? We also talk about High Society, Rising 5: Runes of Asteros, The Tea Dragon... by Board Game Barrage
56 min listen
#2: Catching Trains and Mathing Trades: We talk about what we've been playing (1830, Archipelago and Gaia Project), we dive deep into math trading for board games, and close out with what we're looking forward to in the weeks ahead. Games and topics discussed: 01:10 - 1830 07:39 -... by Board Game Barrage
45 min listen
#22: Baby's First Social Interaction: Multiplayer Solitaire doesn't have to be a bad thing! Sometimes we're just not always looking for high interaction, high conflict games, and that's okay. We break down some games with low interaction, and what makes them great. We also talk about... by Board Game Barrage
56 min listen
#10: Everyone is Wrong and We are Right: Did you know that sometimes the internet is wrong? Thankfully we're here to tell you what's up, and right the wrongs that BoardGameGeek hath wrought. You see, there are some games in their database that are just ranked way too low for how good they... by Board Game Barrage
53 min listen
#32: Are We Having Fun Yet?: In this week's fun episode, we talk gaming etiquette, or the unspoken rules that surface when you're playing a board game. They often have nothing to do with the game itself, but what's appropriate? Should you deliberately help and hinder others... by Board Game Barrage
60 min listen
#28: Dance Like Nobody’s Watching: In the wake of Gen Con, we return home invigorated about just how grand and diverse the hobby is. We celebrate the games that we might not otherwise have thought to play, and encourage you to do the same! We also talk about Lift it!, The Estates, and... by Board Game Barrage
41 min listen
#7: Kicking and Screaming: Kickstarters. Can't live with 'em, can't rampantly overspend on incomplete unorthodox game designs without 'em. They're clearly a major force in the board game hobby, but are they a force for good, or for evil? Before we wrestle with that, we talk... by Board Game Barrage
58 min listen
#15: Keep Your Hands to Yourself: Week two of our favourite mechanics in board games is Mark's pick, hand management. We also talk about Ascending Empires, Funky Chicken, Felicity: The Cat in the Sack, and New Corp Order. 01:47 - Ascending Empires 05:41 - Funky Chicken 07:14 -... by Board Game Barrage
47 min listen
#6: Today's Theme: Pronunciation: Our feature topic this week is theme. How important is the theme of a board game to you? Does it affect your enjoyment of a game? What games best utilize their theme to put a neat little bow on their mechanics? We talk about all this (and more!!!)... by Board Game Barrage
49 min listen
#76: Gen Con 2019 Preview: Gen Con 2019 is mere weeks away, and I bet you don't even know what games are going to be there. Fear not, we've got you covered! We're counting down our most anticipated games of the show, having meticulously studied BGG's preview list, and looked at... by Board Game Barrage
50 min listen
#43: My Triumphs, My Mistakes: We're getting introspective this week, weighing up the mistakes we've made in our collections, and reflecting on our earlier selves. Would you reset your board game collection? What games might you not buy if you had to do it all over again? Before we... by Board Game Barrage
56 min listen
#9: PhD in Legacy: Legacy. What is a legacy? It's podcasting in a studio you don't get to see. And now that I've drawn in all the Hamilton fans, let's talk about board games! Specifically, board games that have campaigns or legacy components. Is it a gimmicky trend, or... by Board Game Barrage
58 min listen
#5: It's Good To Be Kingmaker: Kingmaking is our feature topic this week. If you can't win, what's your responsibility as a good player? It's a complex, divisive topic, but then, we're complex, divisive people. We also talk about Wyatt Earp, Coffee Roaster, and El Grande.... by Board Game Barrage
53 min listen
#3: Double Dragonfly: Rising Sun! Everyone's talking about it, and so must we. It's our feature topic this week, but first, a brief look at what else we've been playing: Spirit Island, Hardback and Decrypto. We close the show with a look ahead to what we're hoping to play.... by Board Game Barrage
53 min listen
#25: Gen Con 2018 Day One: Gen Con! It's here at last, and we run through our quick impressions of the first day of the show. We talk about Exodus: Paris Nouveau, Reef, Nyctophobia, and Illusion. by Board Game Barrage
18 min listen
#17: The Best Things in Life Are $20 or Less: What games can you get for $20? Quite a few really good ones, it turns out. We also discuss Scythe, Watson & Holmes, and Mansions of Madness: Second Edition. 01:34 - Scythe 10:44 - Watson & Holmes 13:06 - Mansions of Madness: Second Edition... by Board Game Barrage
60 min listen
#19: What Are You Made Of?: What would a board game be without components? Just rules and a box, I guess. Before we pick up our pieces, we talk about Wildcatters, Bärenpark, Chimera, Star Cartel, and Council of 4. 01:20 - Wildcatters 06:33 - Bärenpark 09:00 - Chimera 11:50 -... by Board Game Barrage
47 min listen
#21: The Beautiful Game: World Cup fever sweeps the podcast, as we consider the analogies between board gaming and sport. We also talk about Harvest, Caylus, Exit: The Game, and Trajan. 2:07 - Harvest 4:27 - Caylus 9:45 - Exit: The Game 13:39 - Trajan 14:48 - Board Games and... by Board Game Barrage
51 min listen
#23: Are You Feeling Lucky?: Luck is an element of almost every board game there is, but it's still a major point of contention. Whether it's the roll of dice, or the draw of a card, randomness can make or break a game. We also talk about Lowlands, Bilder, In the Year of the... by Board Game Barrage
50 min listen
#20: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger: We're counting down games that replace other games in our collections! We also talk about Chimera Station. 01:31 - Chimera Station 05:16 - Games That Replaced Others 06:49 - Queendomino 08:28 - San Juan 09:56 - The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 13:55... by Board Game Barrage
57 min listen
#101: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2019: 40-31: We're shifting up a gear, the stakes are higher, it's all to play for, and a whole host of other cliches, in the second of our five part series on the top fifty games of all time. Thirty(ish) more incredible board games coming at you, and we're not... by Board Game Barrage
60 min listen
#30: Party Party Party: We're staying up all night to count down our favourite party games! You know the feeling. Everyone's at your place, no one's talking, it's a little bit awkward ... but then you break out some of these fifteen amazing party games, and suddenly... by Board Game Barrage
60 min listen
#46: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2018: 50-41: We're counting down to our 50th episode, and what better way than to give our definitive lists of our 50 favourite games of all time?! You've been asking for it, so we've only gone and done it. Brace yourselves, we're just getting started. 01:11 -... by Board Game Barrage
61 min listen
#34: You Know the Rules and So Do I: Board game rules, unlike other rules, were not made to be broken. They're to be strictly adhered to, trust me, this is going to be totally fun, there's just a few more things to go over and then we can start. Sometimes remembering and teaching rules... by Board Game Barrage
53 min listen
#73: Dictionary Attack: You don't need no education, but you're getting one anyway. This week we're going to be explaining the meaning of some common but unclear board game words, for we are nothing if not your humble servants. Before we define our terms, we talk about The... by Board Game Barrage
59 min listen
#66: The Only Winning Move: Dominant strategies can ruin a game; if there's one clear best way to win, why not use it every time? We discuss these optimal strategies, whether they're always problematic, and how to deal with them at your game table. Before we break the game, we... by Board Game Barrage
54 min listen
#38: Six Things I Hate About You: Board game dealbreakers, we all have them, and they're enough to dissuade us from buying or even playing some otherwise great games. This week, we go around the table and talk about two things each that put us off in board games. Before we start... by Board Game Barrage
60 min listen

More Episodes from Board Game Barrage

Skip carousel

#306: We Could All Use a Little Change: What? Your podcasters are evolving! While we're certainly steadfast in some of our opinions (ahem, Biblios) we were curious to reflect on how we've changed - nay, grown - in the years since we started. What do we feel differently about with regards to... by Board Game Barrage
66 min listen
#305: Hook, Line, and Sinker: Sometimes a game has a conceit so good, that it's the only description you need to sell someone on it. Let's call it the hook. Do all games have them, or is it something that only a certain subcategory of game can get away with - and why don't they... by Board Game Barrage
58 min listen
#304: Our Listeners’ Top 20 Board Games of All-Time 2024: Oh man, oh man, I always love this one. It's the latest edition of the Listener Top 20! We asked you all to submit your lists of your favourite board games, and we collected, collated, and compiled all of that beautiful beautiful data using a magical... by Board Game Barrage
64 min listen
#303: We Played a Pile of Games!: We made it all the way to Dice Tower West in Las Vegas (and some of us made it out), and we're ready to talk about all of the amazing games we played over there, between outings for pinball and sushi. If you were there, thanks for hanging out with us!... by Board Game Barrage
68 min listen
#302: A Lotta Prattle About Vlaada Chvátil: We're back with the terrible acronym and the branding nightmare that is BGBDOG - I don't even know what it stands for to be honest, but this week we're turning the spotlight on an incredible force in the industry, Vlaada Chvátil, touring... by Board Game Barrage
66 min listen
#301: Our Most Anticipated Games of 2024: We're in the thick of 2024 now, but there's still plenty more to come - and with that vast undiscovered country (as my father called it) ahead of us, we have loads of games to look forward to. But not all hype is made equally, so here are the ones... by Board Game Barrage
58 min listen
#300: Resolutions and Ruminations: Three hundredth episode! But no time to celebrate, we're deep in the new year now, which means it's back to your regularly scheduled podcast, and it's time to reflect on the year past, and contemplate what lays ahead for us in a post-300 world. That's... by Board Game Barrage
64 min listen
#299: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2023: 10-1: We made it! We've arrived at last at the final ten(-ish) games, in fact, our TOP TEN (or so?) favourite games of all time. Thanks for joining us again on this yearly pilgrimage, as always it's the journey that's the important thing - but that's not to... by Board Game Barrage
81 min listen
#298: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2023: 20-11: We're almost bursting at the seams, but there's room for a little more. It's the penultimate episode of our five part series, the Top 50 games of all-time! We're moving on to our 20th to 11th favourite games, which means it's time for some big risers... by Board Game Barrage
70 min listen
#297: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2023: 30-21: It's a new year which is an awkward time to be right in the middle of something, but we're doing a thing here. It's part three of our Top 50 games of all-time! This week it's our 30th to 21st favourite games, and this is where things start to get... by Board Game Barrage
52 min listen
#296: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2023: 40-31: It's the second leg of the grand tour that is the top fifty. This week, we're doing our 40th to 31st favourite games ... of all time! It's almost like Christmas just keeps going! Grab a glass of sherry and join us by the fire, we're not about to stop... by Board Game Barrage
58 min listen
#295: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2023: 50-41: It's tiiiiiiime! It's the top fifty! That's right, the much anticipated, much celebrated, much imitated (we definitely did it first) event of the season is here. We're counting down each of our favourite fifty games of all time! Or at least, for right... by Board Game Barrage
60 min listen
#294: We Played a Stack of Games!: PAX Unplugged was a blast, and we played so much stuff that we're dying to tell you about - many of them with our beloved listeners. We braved the cold and the rain of Philadelphia, on the other side of the country, to bring you this episode... by Board Game Barrage
55 min listen
#293: The Great Epochs of Board Gaming: In what could be our most grandiose episode yet, we attempt to tame the wild history of all of board games. We traverse the timeline, unpacking what we consider to be the great epochs of the hobby, in an attempt to explain how modern game design... by Board Game Barrage
48 min listen
#292: Lightning Round: Uh oh, is that thunder? That must mean it's time for a lightning round - we're scooping up all the lovely questions and suggestions that just aren't big enough for the main event, and stuffing them in the blender. This week, it's public spaces,... by Board Game Barrage
57 min listen
#291: Fantasy Draft: Reiner Knizia: Drafts are back, baby. And not just any old draft, no, but to celebrate the return of the greatest game, we're drafting none other than the best of the only true and living doctor, Reiner Knizia. Who ends up with the best list? Vote for your... by Board Game Barrage
63 min listen
#290: Stuck in the Mid With You: Are board games stuck? Not to be dramatic or anything, but it does seem like we keep circling the same ideas over and over again, right? We speculate on where we think the hobby is headed, and whether or not it needs a shake up. Before we plateau, we... by Board Game Barrage
52 min listen
#289: Essen SPIEL 2023 Hype List: It's almost time for Essen SPIEL 2023, the great German Mecca of our people - and while we're not going ourselves, that's not going to stop us yearning. We're hear to tell you about all the amazing games available at the show this year that you ought... by Board Game Barrage
56 min listen
#288: Less is More: A little prune, a little embellish, a nip, a tuck, and a flourish, and we can get this thing just how we like it. We're looking at all the little things that we'd like to see more of, all the things we'd like to see less of in the world of board... by Board Game Barrage
65 min listen
#287: There's a Time and Place for Everything: Timing is everything, which is why it's so important that this episode came out when it did. Had we made it too early, it would have felt dated, and any later, you wouldn't have been ready for it. Before it's about time, we talk about Planet... by Board Game Barrage
49 min listen
#286: The Worst Duo, Kellen & Mark: I leave for one episode and these idiots are talking about eating board games. Hard hitting questions for hard hitting board game journalists, Kellen & Mark are on the scene reporting in. Before we claw our way back from this, we talk about Power... by Board Game Barrage
53 min listen
#285: Starting is Easy, Finishing is Hard: A solid end game trigger can be such an overlooked part of the design of a game. The conventional wisdom for most things is to start strong and finish strong, so we look at some of our favourite ways that games can end. Before we reach the end of the... by Board Game Barrage
67 min listen
#284: Gen Con 2023 Preview: It's convention season, and the big one is almost upon us, as board gamers across America prepare to descend on Indiana. Gen Con! We won't be there this year, but that won't stop us anticipating what we could be playing at the show. Before we want... by Board Game Barrage
64 min listen
#283: Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal: Not all are as blessed as we are by the gift of truly original thought, and so many turn to others for inspiration. Whether it's Newton standing on the shoulders of giants, or stealing from our rich neighbour Xerox, many great ideas are born from what... by Board Game Barrage
56 min listen
#282: A Soupçon of Sackson: After much consternation at his exclusion from our Mount Rushmore of games, we've decided to honour legendary designer Sid Sackson elsewhere - a BGB Designer Spotlight! I think these used to be called BGB DOGs but even Mark forgot about that bit of... by Board Game Barrage
52 min listen
#280: Equal and Opposite Interactions: We're veering into the dark roads of board game classification, but this time with a goal in mind - how to best highlight games that feature strong interaction. Shouldn't BoardGameGeek have a scale for that somewhere? And while we're at it, BGG ...... by Board Game Barrage
45 min listen
#279: Let the Golden Age Begin: Are we living in a golden age of board games? It's a simple question, but there's a lot to unpack - what even qualifies as a golden age, have we already had one, and if we are living in one, when does it end? Before we go for gold, we talk about... by Board Game Barrage
61 min listen
#278: Check Check Check: We're lucky to have covered wide swathes of the board game world, but there was a time when some of those things were aspirational. Like achievements to cross off on the great board game check list ... or like that Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson... by Board Game Barrage
56 min listen
#277: Definitely Not a Mailbag Episode: It's just two of us, so we turn our attention to the burning questions that you've been asking us, in a feature we're calling Topic Talk Back. This is not to be confused with the format we've used before, mailbags are old news now, and we'd appreciate... by Board Game Barrage
51 min listen

Related podcast episodes

Skip carousel

#263: Our Most Anticipated Games of 2023: If there's one thing I can say for sure about 2023, it's that it will certainly be a period of time. We're casting our eyes forward to the year ahead, and getting excited about some of the board games that (we hope) will actually be coming. Before we... by Board Game Barrage
55 min listen
#169: Our Most Anticipated Games of 2021: We're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and with the exciting possibility of actually being able to play games together again, we cast our minds forward to all the wonderful games yet to arrive in 2021. Did I mention it's a BGBBOB?... by Board Game Barrage
75 min listen
#235: The Twin Game Showdown: There's a phenomenon called twin films, where competing studios release very similar movies at the same time. We imagine the same idea in board game land, and highlight some of the biggest board game grudge matches - and judge which game we think came... by Board Game Barrage
58 min listen
At The Table with The Dice Tower - Essen Spiel Preview 2023: Tom, Julie, and Eric discuss Essen Spiel 2023, including some general information on the layout, food, and happenings at the fair, as well as some of their most anticipated games. Then they close the show with reviews of Ticket To Ride Legacy, Fit to... by The Dice Tower
67 min listen
#289: Essen SPIEL 2023 Hype List: It's almost time for Essen SPIEL 2023, the great German Mecca of our people - and while we're not going ourselves, that's not going to stop us yearning. We're hear to tell you about all the amazing games available at the show this year that you ought... by Board Game Barrage
56 min listen
At The Table with The Dice Tower - Wrapping Up 2023: In our final episode of 2023, Tom, Julie, and Eric discuss their highs and lows of the year, including our biggest surprises, rosiest roses, thorniest thorns, and hula-iest hula hoops. 02:57 - 2023 as a Whole 14:45 - Best Game to Play at a Convention... by The Dice Tower
64 min listen
#108: We Have to Go Back: We're reflecting on the past this episode, looking back at the things we said - never wise, by the way. The games of 2019 had a lot of promise, but how young and dumb they seem to our aged eyes. Where are they now? Join us as we cast our minds back to... by Board Game Barrage
58 min listen
#210: No One Man Should Have All That Power: Few things feel better than those moments in board games that make you feel powerful. Whether it's playing the perfect card, pulling off a perfectly executed turn, or splashing down that giant mini, we look at some of our favourite power plays in... by Board Game Barrage
51 min listen
#119: The Seven Week Itch: Look, digital gaming is great and all, but there are some games that either don't lend themselves well to the format, or aren't available. Whatever the reason, there are lots of games that we're itching to play once the world returns to normal. It's a... by Board Game Barrage
58 min listen
#267: Our Listeners’ Top 20 Board Games of All-Time 2023: I always love this one. It's the time of the year where we look at what your favourite games are, and discover whether there are any exciting movers and shakers in what you've been playing! It's the BGB Listener Top 20! Before we check in with... by Board Game Barrage
67 min listen
#210: El Grande: Preparation is important. We very carefully do our advance research here at SVWAG, but occasionally mild errors do creep in. For this week, Mark studiously crafted notes and observations on such issues as four octave vocal ranges, Nickelodeon... by So Very Wrong About Games
81 min listen
Frame Trap - Episode 58 "Games Getting Swallowed By Other Games": On a hot new Frame Trap, the panel shares thought… by Frame Trap
182 min listen
Top 5 Games We Only Played Once in 2023 by Board Game Hot Takes
45 min listen
#177: Fantasy Draft: BoardGameGeek Top 100: Mark's trying to get us all into something he calls "sports", so as a compromise, we're doing a fantasy board game draft! We're going to pick games from the BoardGameGeek Top 100, until we each have five. Then YOU get to vote on whose draft is best,... by Board Game Barrage
61 min listen
#206: Not Applicable: Let us not, as the saying goes, hold the perfect in opposition to the good. We here at SVWAG always encourage the lowering of standards, which the hosts tend to do by their very presences--dragging down the average of any group of which they are a... by So Very Wrong About Games
57 min listen
#148: Your Comfort Zone: Put on your thick socks, wrap yourself in a blanket, and get comfortable with us in front of the fire. We're using our patent pending formula (aka BGBBOB) to find the best heart warming comfort games. Twelve board games enter, and ... twelve leave,... by Board Game Barrage
74 min listen
Episode 141: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Spoilers, Pt. II: This week, Stan leave Dave and Shane to their own devices as he returns to a parental-leave induced bliss. With dad gone, the last two friends decide to go wild and cover SCG's recent Historic satellites in a quick and fun break down followed by arguing about too many cards for far too much time. And they thought this would be a short one! Dave considers light up the night. Shane says the world "cool" 500,000 times in two hours. Somewhere, in the midst of a dream, Stan cringes. by The Dive Down
116 min listen
Max Homa, Kansas Wins The National Championship And Guys on Chicks by Pardon My Take
95 min listen
Our favourite bits: The best of BTB sport in 2022 by Between Two Beers Podcast
128 min listen
Episode 19: Great Games for Introducing People to the Hobby, with Erica Bouyouris by The BoardGameGeek Podcast
102 min listen
#217: We Got Rid of a Bunch of Games!: There is a joy as equal in receiving a game, as moving it onto another person to enjoy. Especially, if you're Mark, when there's cash involved. We reflect on the many games that got left behind recently. Before we purge, we talk about Imperial Steam,... by Board Game Barrage
55 min listen
#233: Heroscape: We apologize for the poor quality of Mark's half of the audio this week. We offer two possible explanations. One is that Walker, motivated as he is by spite and malice, engaged in an elaborate act of sabotage so as to undermine Mark in public. The... by So Very Wrong About Games
65 min listen
PS Nation-Ep310-Six Degrees of Buffy and Hildy: PS Nation-Ep310-Six Degrees of Buffy and Hildy by PlayStation Nation Podcast
185 min listen
#252: IKI by So Very Wrong About Games
79 min listen
BGA Ep. 48 - La Isla by Board Gamers Anonymous
49 min listen
#240: Deal-Making: Walker has yet to inform us what agenda the aliens are pursuing in Argentina during their relentless campaign of cow abduction. Do the alien overlords practise colonialism in the same way as their human counterparts? Do the inscrutable... by So Very Wrong About Games
82 min listen
#163: Our Listeners' Top 20 Board Games of All-Time 2021: Wow! We asked for your top twenty lists, and boy did you deliver. We've crunched the numbers on the hundreds of submissions, and created what we think is the definitive list of BGB listeners' favourite board games. Now let us tell you how we think you... by Board Game Barrage
61 min listen
#165: Thriving or Barely Surviving?: There are two good ways to create engagement in a board game: One is to let the player feel like they're achieving something constantly, the other is to keep them feeling like any wrong move could tank their game. We're dubbing this the "thriving to... by Board Game Barrage
58 min listen
#159: Picking Favorites: We've been doing it a lot lately, so we thought we'd reflect on the ways that we evaluate our favourite games. How do you even begin to compare extremely dissimilar games, some party, some strategy? The process of making and ordering our lists is a... by Board Game Barrage
48 min listen
#295: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2023: 50-41: It's tiiiiiiime! It's the top fifty! That's right, the much anticipated, much celebrated, much imitated (we definitely did it first) event of the season is here. We're counting down each of our favourite fifty games of all time! Or at least, for right... by Board Game Barrage
60 min listen

Discover this podcast and so much more

#21: The Beautiful Game

#21: The Beautiful Game

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from Board Game Barrage

Related podcast episodes