A chief misgiving Mark has about the con is that he is a terrible playtester. He was able to play two unpublished games, and while the designers were gracious he is seldom able to offer anything of much substance. "This game," he might say, "has cards. And other things." Past that, for some reason, when confronted with a prototype his faculties often fail him.

01:48 AYURIS: Arborea (Dani Garcia, Alley Cat Games, 2023)

Games Played Last Week:

05:00 -Phantom Division (Pete Ruth & Mark Thomas, Phantom Horizon, 2026)

14:38 -Westphalia (Amabel Holland, Hollandspiele, 2019)

23:33 -Project: ELITE (Konstantinos Kokkinis, Marco Portugal, & Sotirios Tsantilas, CMON, 2020)

27:19 -Ankh: Gods of Egypt (Eric M. Lang, CMON, 2021)

33:25 -Rise & Fall (Christophe Boelinger, Ludically, 2024)

38:15 -Space Cadets: Dice Duel (Geoff Engelstein and Sydney Engelstein, Stronghold, 2013)

43:06 -Outlive (Gregory Iliver, La Boite de Jeu, 2017)

News (and why it doesn't matter):

N/A

45:22 Topic: SVWAG Con Report

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We're on our way to Gen Con! And here are the games we're most excited about (as well as the ones that are getting the most buzz online). You'll also here where to find us in Indy, where we plan to eat, and how we plan to survive the Best Four Days in Gaming.

00:45 - Releases in the second half of the year.

02:23 - Preparing for Crowds at Gen Con - New Cart Policy

08:15 - Food Trucks

11:15 - Where Will We Be?

19:59 - The Games of Gen Con (BGG Preview: https://boardgamegeek.com/geekpreview/77/gen-con-2025-preview)

20:54 - Vantage

23:27 - Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor

23:54 - Lost Ruins of Arnak: Adventure Chest

24:23 - Gwent: The Legendary Card Game

25:26 - Lightning Train

26:32 - Sea Salt and Paper: Extra Pepper

27:11 - Luthier

28:00 - Fliptoons

28:36 - Ruins

30:10 - Nature

30:53 - Rebel Princess Deluxe: Happily Never After

32:00 - Ace of Spades

33:35 - Galactic Cruise

34:31 - Pirates of Maracaibo: Commanders

34:43 - Soda Jerk

36:25 - Point Galaxy

37:04 - Compile Main 2

38:08 - Star Wars Battle of Hoth

38:41 - Galileo Galilei

39:21 - Propolis

39:48 - Final Girl: Shriek

41:32 - VIVO

42:08 - Spooktacular

43:57 - Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons

45:16 - Evergreen: Cherry Blossoms and Bamboo

45:22 - EXIT Advent Calendar: The Intergalactic Race

46:27 - Suna Valo

47:12 - Kronologic: Cuzco 1450

47:44 - Wine Cellar

49:22 - Shackleton Base

49:58 - Knitting Circle

50:36 - Ra: Traders

51:08 - Iliad

51:26 - Gibberers

51:48 - Cat and the Tower

52:42 - Ham Helsing

53:25 - The Four Doors

54:07 - Raising Chicago

54:24 - High Tide

54:39 - If Then

54:59 - Hyperstar Run

55:20 - Jungo

55:43 - Holiday Hijinks 10, 11, 12, Endangered Rescue 2, Journey to Tir na nOg

56:01 - Above and Below: Haunted

56:20 - The Peak Team

57:17 - Our Advice for Surviving Gen Con

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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00:02:00 Introduction
00:04:30 Superman Thoughts
00:11:30 Summer Movie Results
00:15:00 Horrified D&D
00:18:30 Middle Ages
00:21:30 Agricola
Herd Mentality/ MonsDRAWsity
00:29:00 Portal Games
00:30:30 Celestia
00:36:00 Ofrenda
00:45:30 Miniature Market
00:51:30 Game Toppers LLC
00:53:30 Outro

Ofrenda and Celestia are on the table for this episode. Each game offers distinct thematic journeys, yet all challenge players to make clever decisions under pressure. Ofrenda is a vibrant card-placement game inspired by Día de los Muertos, where players build altars to honor deceased relatives. The goal is to fulfill each spirit’s wishes by arranging portraits, offerings, candles, and marigolds in just the right configuration—while avoiding family drama from beyond the grave.

Celestia shifts gears into a whimsical airborne adventure. Players board a fantastical aircraft and journey through sky cities, collecting treasures while facing hazards like pirates and lightning storms. Each round, a new captain rolls dice to determine challenges, and passengers must decide whether to trust the captain or jump ship to claim their loot. It’s a push-your-luck game with bluffing and risk assessment at its core, wrapped in dreamy artwork and accessible rules.

Thanks for listening and hope to see you at Gen Con. And a big thanks to everyone coming to the strike tournament.

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We apologise for some minor sound quality issues this week. We hope you enjoy the pod all the same!

 

This week join Conor, Lauren and Dana as they discuss their Play Con 2025 highlights, including TTRPGs, big group games and some hot new releases. Conor has been throwing it back playing a game painted so beautifully that all other games are ruined for him, with Foundations of Rome. Lauren is casting aside life, youth, and rest, in her new quest for the eternal - glory! with Eternal Decks. Dana has been the one yelling 'Go Mum!' and has bet her bottom dollar that this was the game of the con, with Hot Streak. 

We also cover some major gaming news, question of the pod, and round it out with what has us fired up! 

Timestamps:
What we’ve been playing [0:05:11]
Foundations of Rome [0:37:40]
Eternal Decks [0:43:22]
Hot Streak [0:50:42]
Question of the Pod [1:07:43]
Fired up [1:23:17]

This week's Question of the Pod: How do you deal with the post-convention blues?

Has this episode left you with a thirst for more? Here are all the games that we discussed:

QE Commodities Expansion - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/360699/qe-commodities 
Fate of the Fellowship - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/436217/the-lord-of-the-rings-fate-of-the-fellowship 
Pergola - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/424573/pergola 
Meadow - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/314491/meadow 
Ito - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/327778/ito 
The Vibe - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/426692/the-vibe 
Guards of Atlantis II - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/267609/guards-of-atlantis-ii 
Fishing - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/419195/fishing 
Pitch Car - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/150/pitchcar 
Foundations of Rome - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/284189/foundations-of-rome 
Eternal Decks - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/424981/eternal-decks 
Hot Streak - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/446497/hot-streak 

 

PODCAST SPONSORS

Our podcast is proudly sponsored by Advent Games and More Than Meeples. 

Advent Games is an Australian online board game store based in Sydney, NSW.  http://www.adventgames.com.au/

More Than Meeples is an Australian retail and online game store based in Brisbane, QLD. https://morethanmeeples.com.au/


PATREON

Hey there, BBQ fans! Guess what? We’ve got a Patreon! By joining, you’ll unlock exclusive content, gain access to a members-only section of our Discord where you can help shape the show, and so much more.

At the Board Game BBQ Podcast, we’re passionate about what we do and promise to keep the fun and shenanigans rolling. We’re so grateful for your support! But if you’d like to chip in from just USD$5 a month, click the link to check out our Patreon page.

We’re committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive community, and you all make it special.  https://www.patreon.com/BoardGameBBQ

 

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On this episode of On Board Games, Erik talks with Steve and Shane from the Mate! Let's Play podcast to talk about games (and other things) they've played including:

• Flip 7
• Pergola
• Lords of Waterdeep
• Imperial

You can get a discount on Zencastr.com using this link.

(25:54) Then, they talk about what goes on in our brains while we play.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Inverse Genius: http://www.inversegenius.com/ Patreon account: http://www.patreon.com/obg Twitter: @onboardgames

RSS Feed: http://onboardgames.libsyn.com/rss

Email us: onboardgamesmailbag@gmail.com

On Board Games Guild at Board Game Geek

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In this special news show Ben and Steve head off into the countryside and answer you questions.

Support the show here

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/five-games-for-doomsday--5631121/support.

Support the show here

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Reviews of Vantage and Deep Regrets. All the pegs provide a deep dive of Unconscious Mind. Game discussion starts at {00:36:18}.

Thank you to our sponsors: Queen Games, Grand Gamers Guild, and Game Toppers - https://game-toppers-5th-edition-game-tables-mats-and-accessori.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

The post Episode 292: Unconscious Mind appeared first on Blue Peg, Pink Peg Boardgaming Podcast.

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• Welcome to Jon, Rena, and Eric
• Thank you to Robert H, Drew M, John S, Mike M
• Announcement
• Retro Preview - Road to Rivendell
• Deck Spotlight - Messenger of the King
  • https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/18229/andtheyrejusttheentre-1.0
  • https://www.ringsdb.com/decklist/view/55238/greenpowermonolore-1.0
  • https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/19018/musterofannminas-1.0
• 1 of 1 Prism Signature Cards for Quests
• AMA
• Soliloquy

💾

This week on Garrett's Games we check out two fun little card games from Amigo and Piatnik, then plan shrines to lost relatives

First up is

Double Donkey by Michael Modler from Piatnik and Amigo

follow by

Zero Hero by Klaus-Jurgen Wrede and Ralf zur Linde from Piatnik and Amigo

then we look to a bigger-box game with

Ofrenda by Orlando Sa and Andre Santos from Osprey Games

Thanks as always to our sponsor Bezier Games

You can support the podcast directly by going to www.patreon.com/garrettsgames OR check out our extensive list of games that no longer fit on our shelves, but BELONG on your table here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16ovRDNBqur0RiAzgFAfI0tYYnjlJ68hoHyHffU7ZDWk/edit?usp=sharing

💾

This week Peter, & Mike have a design discussion about dice manipulation. _________________________ YouTube - www.youtube.com/channel/UCrOtGhui_jdLdoQNI7PU4Pg X - @onestopcoopshop Discord - discord.gg/p4jX8AF Merch: one-stop-co-op-shop.creator-spring.com/ Donate to One Stop Co-op Shop - www.patreon.com/onestop Email - onestopcoopshop@gmail.com

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Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Codenames (the new version), Little Alchemists, and Look at the Stars. Then, we talk about games where players can choose whether or not to trigger the end game, and what we like or don't like about them.

0:00-Intro
0:44-Recent Games-Codenames
3:46-Little Alchemists
7:19-Look at the Stars
30:25-Outro
31:20-Bloopers

Join our discord

Support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/boardgameblitz
Or shop at our merch store or our Amazon Storefront

This episode was sponsored by Grey Fox Games. Use the code "BLITZ10" to get 10% off your entire cart.

Consolidated Links

For the full show notes visit our site at http://www.boardgameblitz.com/posts/415

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Sometimes once is enough, you know? Doesn't mean it was bad, but it might just be that you can have too much of a good thing. We're talking about board games that we'd recommend everyone play once, but only once. Before we hit and run, we talk about Kaivai, East India Companies, and Vantage.

01:44 - Kaivai 10:58 - Feya's Swamp 13:15 - East India Companies 21:31 - Vantage 39:41 - Games to play only once 41:22 - War of the Ring: Second Edition 41:47 - Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition 43:44 - Sidereal Confluence 44:08 - Blood on the Clocktower 44:19 - Two Rooms and a Boom 45:19 - Mister Diamond 45:40 - Hearts of AttrAction 46:51 - Catan 49:21 - Sanctum 49:37 - Deal with the Devil 50:08 - Nemesis

Get added to the BGB community map at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/map

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In this episode Ben and Isaac chat about the progress of the book and Isaac picks five titles to help you design a game.

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Hey Now Cabalists! In episode 109 of The Secret Cabal Express Don and Jamie put together all of the games that they're frothing at the mouth and jumping outta their pants to get at from Gen Con 2025 coming up in a few weeks. Head over to TheSecretCabal.com and click on the link to this episode to get links to all the games we discussed on the show today. Enjoy!

💾

Paula forces the gang to invent games on the fly, daisy chain game names and what the hell does GMT mean?

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.

Support us here!

PATREON - https://www.patreon.com/thisgameisbroken

This Game is Broken is eternally thankful to our Sponsors

Restoration Games Find them at https://restorationgames.com/

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Many Worlds Tavern - Find your coffee for game night here - https://manyworldstavern.com/

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Clef and Tim are here to announce an upcoming change! We also talk our recent disc golf plays and the All Star Baseball game before diving into all the board games. We talk recent plays of Chaosmos, Zoo Vadis, Antike, Hooky, and Kronologic: Paris 1920 before discussing different ways we have personalized our games. Disc Golf - 05:34 Baseball - 15:31 Board Games - 26:58 Movie Time - 1:05:51 Join the discord at discord.gg/s8hYtWkMS3 Watch Tim's band Hey Disarray's new video! https://youtu.be/7LI3a06SQbk

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It's your turn...to click here to send us your comments on the show

We're back again with another set of mishaps, blunders and cock-ups.  The gang discuss their porn names, dogs setting their tails on fire, the Dune popcorn bucket and much much more.  Welcome to "Can i get a rewind: Vol 12", you've been warned...literally 12 times now.

THE PLAYERS: All of us
 
LINKS REFERENCED IN THE SHOW
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EPISODE CHAPTERS
N/A

You can check out JP's new podcast called Just Play right here https://www.justplaypod.co.uk we'd love to have you and also on the new YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@JustPlayPodcast

ENGAGING WITH THE SHOW
- Join us on Discord

💾

The purest juxtaposition that reveals the absurdity of "take that" effects can be found in many of your heavier games and some consims with cards. You gather the resources, marshal your forces, laboriously haul those troops hither and yon, and then sometimes have to manage some activation tokens or whatnot to finally get it on. And then your opponent plays the "nuh uh" card. Fun!

01:19 AYURIS: Daybreak (Matt Leacock & Matteo Menapace, CMYK, 2023)

Games Played Last Week:

04:35 -Star Wars Unlimited (Jim Cartwright, Tyler Parrott, Daniel Schaefer, & Jeremy Zwirn, Fantasy Flight Games, 2024)

09:33 -Steam Power (Martin Wallace, Wallace Designs, 2024)

16:20 -Spot It! Bluey (Denis Blanchot, Jacques Cottereau, Guillaume Gille-Naves, & Igor Polouchine, Blue Orange, 2025)

19:15 -Mosaic: A Story of Civilization (Glenn Drover, Forbidden Games, 2022)

21:47 -TowerBrix (Simon Thomas, KOSMOS, 2024)

25:46 -Walk the Plank: Deluxe Edition (Shane Steely & Jared Tinney, Mayday Games, 2017)

28:36 -Bomb Busters (Hisashi Hayashi, Pegasus Spiel, 2024)

32:47 -Paint the Roses (Ben Goldman, North Star Games, 2022)

38:24 -Kinfire Delve: Scorn's Stockade (Kevin Wilson, Incredible Dream Studios, 2024)

41:55 -Transgalactica (Daniele Tascini, Devir, 2025)

49:15 -Phantom Division (Pete Ruth & Mark Thomas, Phantom Horizon, 2026)

News (and why it doesn't matter):

55:14 Looking forward to SVWAGCon!

55:43 Topic: Take That

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My guest this week is game designer and developer at GMT Games, Joe Dewhurst. We talk about philosophy, game development and the evangelisation of games...but which games did he choose?

Support the show here

War of the Ring Dune Unmatched Spirit Island Pax Pamir

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Support the show here

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This week Peter & Mike review Marvel Dice Throne Missions. Next week we will have a related design discussion about dice manipulation. _________________________ YouTube - www.youtube.com/channel/UCrOtGhui_jdLdoQNI7PU4Pg X - @onestopcoopshop Discord - discord.gg/p4jX8AF Merch: one-stop-co-op-shop.creator-spring.com/ Donate to One Stop Co-op Shop - www.patreon.com/onestop Email - onestopcoopshop@gmail.com

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