We're back from Origins, and we've got stories to tell! AC from Lords of the Dungeon joins us to spin some yarns from our trip to Columbus, Ohio. Then we dive into the games we've been playing, including Friedrich, Euphoria, Coffee Traders, Wroth, Mystery of the Abbey, The Quest for El Dorado, and a featured review of Stupor Mundi by Nestore Mangone. Stevie S takes the helm for the News segment while Tony's away, and the Gang answers a couple of listener questions. Friedrich: 00:30:39, Euphoria: 00:39:56, Coffee Traders: 00:45:03, Wroth: 00:53:18, Mystery of the Abbey: 01:02:59, The Quest for El Dorado: 01:13:31, Stupor Mundi: 01:25:32, News with Stevie S: 01:59:55, Short Topic Extravaganza: 02:47:54. Check out our sponsors Restoration Games at https://restorationgames.com/. Game Toppers at https://www.gametoppersllc.com/. And CGE at https://czechgames.com/.
Opener: Skara Brae, and again I'm talking about vacation-linked boardgames Closer: The Dornücopia we've got planned for EsCon in a couple weeks.
I'm always happy to talk about the Spiel des Jahres. The winners, the nominees, the recommended titles, the jury process, and the award's immense, positive impact on our hobby. That goes for the Kennerspiel and Kinderspiel, too...though I'm woefully ignorant about the children's category.
This time it's just me talking about the games, severall of which I've played, but some I've missed. I don't think my predictions for what will win are particularly interesting or insightful--I just like talking about the games and sharing what I think of them. For the SdJ, this year the nominees are Bomb Busters, Flip 7, and Krakel Orakel. (Plus the recommended titles are Agent Avenue, Castle Combo, Cities, Foxy, Perfect Words, and The Animals of Baker Street.)
In Becky's last episode within her run she takes board gaming to the beach, well on holiday at least as we chat about when the hobby meets travel. We chat through our tips, some of our favourite travel games and anything else in between.
FIRST PLAYER: Becky OTHER PLAYERS: JP, Davey and Tambo
In this episode you'll learn: - about JP's first few games of the hit battle royale shooter Apex Legends by Glass Cannon Unplugged - how Tambo argues with his family about what colours the walls should be in Décorum by Floodgate Games - all about the chaos that is Galaxy Trucker from Czech Games Edition and why it's Davey's perfect board game warm up act - that Becky cheats and gets two games in Harmonies by Libellud the the powerhouse that is Flip 7 by The Op Games - all about taking games on your travels, why it's fun, top tips and more.
LINKS REFERENCED IN THE SHOW N/A
EPISODE CHAPTERS 0:00 - TURN 1 - Player Count
1:06 - TURN 2 - Let's Talk About Hex
1:13 - JP - Apex Legends
14:48 - Tambo - Decorum
19:37 - Davey - Galaxy Trucker
26:40 - Becky - Harmonies & Flip 7
35:07 - TURN 3 - Main Event: Hex on the beach
35:59 - The key aspects to taking games on holiday
41:56 - What are our top travel friendly games?
53:54 - The type of holidays will help curate the type of games to bring
55:55 - Top tips for preparing to take games on holiday
1:01:51 - What is out one chosen game & honourary mention to take away?
1:11:47 - TURN 4 - Receive, Sleeve or Leave
1:14:45 - TURN 5 - Penultimate Turn: What's Coming Up
Apparently the American custom of the "push present" can trace its roots to the Anglo-Indian tradition of the "baby bauble", although in the latter case jewellery is the more standard gift (instead of, say, boardgames). Can we acknowledge that baby bauble is a much less crude term? Let's try to be classy here, people. There is already enough about childbirth that is fraught.
Games Played Last Week:
2:07 -Galactic Cruise (T.K. King, Dennis Northcott, and Koltin Thompson, Kinson Key Games, 2025)
6:31 -Cerebria: The Inside World (Richard Amann, Viktor Peter, István Pócsi, Frigyes Schőberl, Nick Shaw, & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2018)
Today, we discuss our recent travel adventures. Eric has returned from a Ninja Escort Mission and ran into gaming opportunites at every turn. And Tom and Julie have the full scoop on the 50th Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH. Then, we finish the show with a gathering of our latest Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.
00:48 - Convention Season - Dice Tower East
01:53 - Playing Only Older Games
04:01 - What We're Doing at Dice Tower East: Parsely, Wits and Wagers
Tony is on vacation, so Vanessa joins more for the classic RDTN intro banter. Plus in the outro, they talk about their favorite movies from the first half of 2025.
On this episode of On Board Games, Erik is joined by Chris and Casey from Solid Roots game company to talk about games (and other things) they've played including:
Root
Beyond the Sun
Skip Bo
Grand Austria Hotel
Ma's Deep Shinola
Momo's Shanghai Rummy
Firefly
Star Wars Outer Rim
Aquanauts
One Night Ultimate Werewolf
Blood on the Clocktower
You can get a discount on Zencastr.com using this link.
(29:31) Then, they discuss a recent "Make your own board game" event that they hosted.
For our last episode before we hit FOUR digits of episode releases, we take on TWO BIG GAMES that both use version of Action Points to do your turns!
In Bone Wars, by Wim Goossens from Game Brewer and Cranio Creations, we become palentologists, publish about new dinosaurs, and compete to earn the favor of two famous scientists.
In Ezra and Nehemiah, by Shem Phillips and SJ MacDonald from Renegade Game Studios and Garphil Games, we work to rebuild ancient Judah and its community.
Thanks as always to our sponsor Bezier Games!
Remember you can support the podcast directly by going to www.patreon.com/garrettsgames OR check out the extensive list of games that no longer fit on our shelves, but belong on your table HERE:
Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Rescuing Robin Hood, Tiwanaku, and Holiday Hijinks: The Independence Incident. Then, we talk about our top 5 games that we've played that are currently in the top 100 ranked games on BoardGameGeek.com. Use our affiliate link to get Rescuing Robin Hood (or other things)!
It's time again to turn the tables and get your take, to feel out the collective tastes of you, the listeners of the show. It's the annual Listener Top 20! You've been sending in all of your lists (thank you!), I've been compiling all of the data (you're welcome!) - and here it is, in a convenient list format. Before we ask the audience, we talk about Flip 7, Hot Streak, and Kolejka.
02:37 - Flip 7 10:40 - Hot Streak 19:47 - Kolejka 27:42 - Listener Top 20 29:05 - Agricola 29:55 - Gloomhaven 31:26 - Guards of Atlantis II 32:20 - Blood on the Clocktower 33:20 - Arcs 34:40 - Tigris & Euphrates 35:21 - Terraforming Mars 35:54 - Marvel Champions: The Card Game 36:42 - Inis 37:24 - Innovation 38:13 - Race for the Galaxy 39:02 - Root 40:04 - Concordia 41:00 - The Castles of Burgundy 41:41 - Ark Nova 42:03 - Dune: Imperium 43:19 - Ra 43:35 - Brass: Birmingham 45:11 - Spirit Island 46:27 - Hansa Teutonica
Nick has his own unique style as host. Is it good? Who could say?
This Game is Broken is a comedy board game panel show with Matthew Jude, Dave Luza, Paula Deming, Nick Murphy and Mike Murphy. We play a lot of nonsense games full of role playing and trivia as well as other fun stuff which can be found at the links below.
In our previous episode, we explored what makes a board game a true masterpiece—a creation that showcases a designer’s greatest achievement, marked by exceptional craftsmanship, originality, and lasting impact. This time, we’re taking the conversation even deeper. In Masterpieces 2, the Founders shift the spotlight to the brilliant minds behind the games themselves. We’ll be celebrating the visionary game designers whose work has shaped the hobby - and welcoming four Honorary Founders as guest hosts, each presenting their favorite designer and the game they consider to be that designer’s crowning achievement.
After the business of the UK Games Expo we managed to carve out some time for on our our good friends in the industry and chat to Lee Miller the founder of Molinarius Games to talk about him, the company and their upcoming game Time Troopers which is available on Gamefound right now.
GUEST PLAYER: Lee Miller from Molinarius Games PLAYER: JP
In this episode you'll learn: - all about Lee's entry into the tabletop gaming space and his favourite games he likes to unwind with - about how Molinarius Games got started and how it's developing and growing each year as a publisher - more about the latest game live on Gamefound right now which is Time Troopers. Check out the Gamefound link below - how composed music is playing more of an important role in board games and how the team at Molinarius are leaning into this more and more
Walker's approach to parenting eschews what he sees as the coddling endemic in other families. He believes in competition above all else, where newbs must be pwned and even babies must git gud. "L2P" is his family motto. Some appalled anthropologists tried making a documentary about the Walker household, but they were forced to tone it down and release it as Squid Game.
01:21 AYURIS: Through the Desert (Reiner Knizia, KOSMOS, 1998)
Clef and Tim are back at it again with a special guest! Or are we the guests? We are back to our normally scheduled programming with some disc golf, baseball, board games and then some movie talk. We talk Pax Pamir Second Edition, Hot Streak, and Cash-a-Catch before we talk about when we feel like it's time to move on from some games.
Timestamps:
Disc Golf pretty much from the beginning
Baseball Talk starts at 16:33
Board Game talk at 31:33
Movie Time at 54:51
Anmelden
