At PunchedCon earlier this year, Pierre Vagneur-Jones and I sat down with Mark Benson and Alan Hardy for an After Action Report of an epic Commands & Colors: Napoleonics Grande Battles game. A fully customised game on the battle of Waterloo, complete with hand-built terrain and beautifully upgraded components!
Mark and Alan share how they created this incredible setup, why they tour UK conventions with it, and how it’s helping to bring new players into the world of wargaming. We also recount the key moments of our battle, from daring cavalry charges to the final desperate stands.
Timestamps:
00:00 🎲 Introduction
00:26 🎨Theme
01:06 ⚙️Mechanics
02:17 ☁️How it Feels to Play
08:07 🎯What Surprised Us
08:37 🛠 What We'd Change
11:53 ✅ Is it Shelfworthy?
Thanks for stopping by! We're Amy & Maggie aka ThinkerThemer. We're an Australian couple with two very different perspectives of what makes a great board game - Amy (Thinker) is all about the mechanics and enjoys tight, competitive games, and Maggie (Themer) is all about the storytelling and the theme of the game, and the 'world' that the designer is trying to create. Subscribe to our channel to hear us talk about these two elements of a game, and how well integrated we feel these are in delivering a cohesive and wonderful game experience.
#boardgames #tabletopgames #thinkerthemer ❤🏳️🌈🇦🇺
If you would like to donate to Drive Thru Games, you can use the "Thanks" button under the video, or please check out the Gamefound Pledge Manager - https://tinyurl.com/2p8tbhpu
Intro (00:00);
game overview (01:55);
final thoughts and review (23:19);
Timestamps:
00:00 🎲 Introduction
00:35 🎨Theme
01:00 ⚙️Mechanics
03:26 ☁️How it Feels to Play
09:45 🎯What Surprised Us
11:57 🛠 What We'd Change
14:30 ✅ Is it Shelfworthy?
Thanks for stopping by! We're Amy & Maggie aka ThinkerThemer. We're an Australian couple with two very different perspectives of what makes a great board game - Amy (Thinker) is all about the mechanics and enjoys tight, competitive games, and Maggie (Themer) is all about the storytelling and the theme of the game, and the 'world' that the designer is trying to create. Subscribe to our channel to hear us talk about these two elements of a game, and how well integrated we feel these are in delivering a cohesive and wonderful game experience.
#boardgames #tabletopgames #thinkerthemer ❤🏳️🌈🇦🇺
In Patrician, by Michael Schacht, players play cards to place tower pieces, hoping to have the most and highest pieces in the tallest towers. Where they play determines what card they get next, leading to a do-this-to-get-that-to-play-there kind of process. A game in which planning in advance, but not too far in advance, is necessary. Easy to learn and play, with quick turns and a nice flow.
Patrician first appeared from Amigo in 2007 — an OG-style game released a bit outside the OG era. Calliope re-released it in 2024 with some QOL improvements and a smaller box, at a very reasonable price.
00:00 Intro ▶️
03:32 How to Play 🎲
10:32 Is It a Gem? 💎
Board Gems highlights older board and card games that are still great games today, and deserve to not be forgotten!
0:00 Introduction
0:30 What's the point of making more games?
7:04 Is playing existing games helpful?
11:49 Should first time designers design the game they like to play?
16:47 Re-pitching rejected board games
19:13 Fun is all that matters in playtesting
21:59 Deckbuilders stole their name from TCGs
TT meets TT in this review! We take a look at the new title from a new publisher, to see if it earns it's 'thinky' label underneath all of that cuteness... will it make it to our shelf?
Timestamps:
00:00 🎲 Introduction
00:36 🎨Theme
01:14 ⚙️Mechanics
02:14 ☁️How it Feels to Play
06:11 🎯What Surprised Us
08:00 🛠 What We'd Change
09:27 ✅ Is it Shelfworthy?
Thanks for stopping by! We're Amy & Maggie aka ThinkerThemer. We're an Australian couple with two very different perspectives of what makes a great board game - Amy (Thinker) is all about the mechanics and enjoys tight, competitive games, and Maggie (Themer) is all about the storytelling and the theme of the game, and the 'world' that the designer is trying to create. Subscribe to our channel to hear us talk about these two elements of a game, and how well integrated we feel these are in delivering a cohesive and wonderful game experience.
#boardgames #tabletopgames #thinkerthemer ❤🏳️🌈🇦🇺
If you would like to donate to Drive Thru Games, you can use the "Thanks" button under the video, or please check out the Gamefound Pledge Manager - https://tinyurl.com/2p8tbhpu
Intro (00:00);
game overview (06:09);
final thoughts and review (35:43);
Playtesting is the heart of game design. Ideas flow thick and fast for many designers, but it is only by getting them on the table in front of players that we see what we have created.
Playtesting is the process by which designers turn ideas into experiences.
This book describes:
- The purpose of playtesting
- Types of playtests
- Protecting your idea
- How many playtests are necessary
- Documenting playtests
- Forms of playtester feedback
... and then goes on to describe 100 questions you should ask during the playtesting process, with a detailed rationale for each of them.
About the author
Adam Porter is an award winning game designer from the United Kingdom, known for making accessible games suitable for families, and for his popular YouTube channel Adam in Wales where Adam talks candidly about his experiences pitching and licensing games to publishers. Many new designers have looked to Adam for guidance when taking their first steps in the board game industry. Adam's published games include Pikoko, Doodle Rush, Kompromat, Qwuzzle, Zooligans, Thrown, Big Bazar, Happy Hoppers, Ballot Battle, and Zing-a-Zam.
Adam's previous book 'Adam in Wales: Board Game Designer Journal' is available as a physical book from Amazon worldwide, or as a download from DriveThruRPG.com
Playtesting is the heart of game design. Ideas flow thick and fast for many designers, but it is only by getting them on the table in front of players that we see what we have created.
Playtesting is the process by which designers turn ideas into experiences.
This book describes:
- The purpose of playtesting
- Types of playtests
- Protecting your idea
- How many playtests are necessary
- Documenting playtests
- Forms of playtester feedback
... and then goes on to describe 100 questions you should ask during the playtesting process, with a detailed rationale for each of them.
About the author
Adam Porter is an award winning game designer from the United Kingdom, known for making accessible games suitable for families, and for his popular YouTube channel Adam in Wales where Adam talks candidly about his experiences pitching and licensing games to publishers. Many new designers have looked to Adam for guidance when taking their first steps in the board game industry. Adam's published games include Pikoko, Doodle Rush, Kompromat, Qwuzzle, Zooligans, Thrown, Big Bazar, Happy Hoppers, Ballot Battle, and Zing-a-Zam.
Adam's previous book 'Adam in Wales: Board Game Designer Journal' is available as a physical book from Amazon worldwide, or as a download from DriveThruRPG.com
4.5 years reviewing games and we've learned a lot about what types of games we like, and even more about the types of games our wife doesn't like. Let this one be a lesson in the latter, and we hope it helps you decide if this game is for you. Will Toy Battle make the shelf?
Timestamps:
00:00 🎲 Introduction
00:43 🎨Theme
01:14 ⚙️Mechanics
02:42 ☁️How it Feels to Play
04:56 🎯What Surprised Us
08:37 🛠 What We'd Change
10:40 ✅ Is it Shelfworthy?
Thanks for stopping by! We're Amy & Maggie aka ThinkerThemer. We're an Australian couple with two very different perspectives of what makes a great board game - Amy (Thinker) is all about the mechanics and enjoys tight, competitive games, and Maggie (Themer) is all about the storytelling and the theme of the game, and the 'world' that the designer is trying to create. Subscribe to our channel to hear us talk about these two elements of a game, and how well integrated we feel these are in delivering a cohesive and wonderful game experience.
#boardgames #tabletopgames #thinkerthemer ❤🏳️🌈🇦🇺
Remember when Saltfjord was the talk of the town in late 2024? Well, we couldn't get our hands on a copy here in Australia, so we're late to the party. Fast forward to 2025 and we're now able to put that FOMO to bed... but was it worth the wait? And will we keep it?
Timestamps:
00:00 🎲 Introduction
00:28 🎨Theme
00:55 ⚙️Mechanics
02:28 ☁️How it Feels to Play
05:49 🎯What Surprised Us
09:30 🛠 What We'd Change
10:50 ✅ Is it Shelfworthy?
Thanks for stopping by! We're Amy & Maggie aka ThinkerThemer. We're an Australian couple with two very different perspectives of what makes a great board game - Amy (Thinker) is all about the mechanics and enjoys tight, competitive games, and Maggie (Themer) is all about the storytelling and the theme of the game, and the 'world' that the designer is trying to create. Subscribe to our channel to hear us talk about these two elements of a game, and how well integrated we feel these are in delivering a cohesive and wonderful game experience.
#boardgames #tabletopgames #thinkerthemer ❤🏳️🌈🇦🇺
Great Western Trail is one of our favourite games, period. So when we heard that there was going to be a new version that would be easier to table and teach, it instantly made both of our most anticipated games of 2025 list. So how does it fare? Will it be joining our other three GWT titles on our shelf?
Timestamps:
00:00 🎲 Introduction
00:35 🎨Theme
01:21 ⚙️Mechanics
02:49 ☁️How it Feels to Play
05:54 🎯What Surprised Us
08:31 🛠 What We'd Change
12:08 ✅ Is it Shelfworthy?
Thanks for stopping by! We're Amy & Maggie aka ThinkerThemer. We're an Australian couple with two very different perspectives of what makes a great board game - Amy (Thinker) is all about the mechanics and enjoys tight, competitive games, and Maggie (Themer) is all about the storytelling and the theme of the game, and the 'world' that the designer is trying to create. Subscribe to our channel to hear us talk about these two elements of a game, and how well integrated we feel these are in delivering a cohesive and wonderful game experience.
#boardgames #tabletopgames #thinkerthemer ❤🏳️🌈🇦🇺
If you would like to donate to Drive Thru Games, you can use the "Thanks" button under the video, or please check out the Gamefound Pledge Manager - https://tinyurl.com/2p8tbhpu
Intro (00:00);
Reviews (01:59);
Bee Lives (02:05);
Cosmo Lancer (07:09);
Pax Illuminaten (13:01);
The Gang (20:29);
Rumble Nation (25:19);
Hot Streak (31:34);
Games in 100 Years (34:59);
Goldland was a German-only exploration board game by Wolfgang Kramer and Goldsieber, originally published in 2002. Old, but not forgotten! Daryl Andrews has re-worked the game into a new 2025 edition, Donald Duck in Happy Camper, published by Maestro.
This new development is significantly different from the original, so they maybe could have gotten away with not giving any recognition to the original designer. But Andrews and Maestro did the right thing and co-credited Kramer. Class acts!
Board Gems highlights older board and card games that are still great games today, and deserve to not be forgotten!
#boardgames #review #arcs If you'd like to support thoughtful and responsible board game media, consider donating to us on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded
Our board game podcast is called Talk Cardboard which you can find on your podcast devices or our website https://nopunincluded.com
References:
Asimov, Isaac, et al. Isaac Asimov: 10-20-1976 - SUNY Digital Repository. https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/items/335b0c73-1b04-4d05-be41-25c6d93595ee
Gingrich, Newt. To Renew America. Harper Collins, 1995.
O'Reilly, Timothy. Frank Herbert. Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., Inc., 1981.
Diamond, Jonny. Elon Musk learns all the wrong lessons from Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy. LitHub. https://lithub.com/elon-musk-learns-all-the-wrong-lessons-from-isaac-asimovs-foundation-trilogy/
Asimov, Isaac. Foundation. Ballantine Books, 1983
Asimov Isaac. Foundation and Empire. Ballantine Books, 1983
Asimov Isaac. Second Foundation, Ballantine Books, 1983
Le Guin, Ursula K. The Left Hand of Darkness. Gollancz, 2018
Robinson, Kim Stanley. Aurora. Orbit, 2016
Marling, Laura. Take the Night Out, et al. Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Bs88_xvj0c
00:00 Chapter 1 - A Different Arc
08:14 Chapter 2 - Arcs Control
28:44 Chapter 3 - Foundation and Arcs
49:13 Chapter 4 - Arcs' Arcs
1:18:48 Chapter 5 - Despite Everything, it's Still Arcs
1:32:46 Epilogue and Outro
Sadly we won't be attending GenCon this year - but that didn't stop us researching all of the exciting titles that are being launched! Definitely violating the Top 10 again this year with far more titles, but it's so hard to narrow it down! I hope this helps you with your shopping list.
GenCon is one of our favourite conventions because we usually get to meet so many of you there. Have the best time if you are going and let us know in the comments which game is your first booth stop :)
Note: all B-roll in this video is credited to game publisher and/or designer of the game
Thanks for stopping by! We're Amy & Maggie aka ThinkerThemer. We're an Australian couple with two very different perspectives of what makes a great board game - Amy (Thinker) is all about the mechanics and enjoys tight, competitive games, and Maggie (Themer) is all about the storytelling and the theme of the game, and the 'world' that the designer is trying to create. Subscribe to our channel to hear us talk about these two elements of a game, and how well integrated we feel these are in delivering a cohesive and wonderful game experience.
#boardgames #tabletopgames #thinkerthemer ❤🏳️🌈🇦🇺
I usually talk about older games, and many of those older games are (of course) of an older style. My style. What about new games in that style? Enter Foundations of Rome (Emerson Matsuuchi & Arcane Wonders 2022), a luxe plastic-mini-filled city-building experience. The same game re-appeared in a more sensible retail edition in 2024 as Foundations of Metropolis.
Since these are pretty new, there are I'm sure already lots of videos out there about these games. You probably don't need yet another How to Play video for it. If you're here, maybe you're here for my opinion, I'm guessing. So that's what you get!
Old mic died, new mic seems a bit muffled? We'll get through this, together.
Board Gems highlights older board and card games that are still great games today, and deserve to not be forgotten!
Anmelden
