How do you meet other board game enthusiasts? Just loving and owning board games isn't enough if you don't have anyone to play them with! It's not always easy to turn your friends into board gamers, so what are your other options? Well, sit back, as we cast our minds far, far back into the past, when the Board Game Barrage trio was just three separate unos. This is where it all began. Before we gather round the campfire, we talk about Crypt, Fool's Gold, and War Chest.

01:01 - Crypt 03:22 - Coloretto 05:17 - Fool's Gold 08:23 - War Chest 13:47 - Meeting Board Gamers 26:23 - Skull 40:40 - Twilight Imperium

What's your white whale? The one game you've been itching to get to the table for ages, but for whatever reason, just never have? Well, call me Ishmael, 'cause we're counting down not just one, not five, but ten games each that we haven't played, but really want to. Maybe this'll be the kick in the pants we need … but probably not. Before we dust off our shelves of shame, we talk about CIV: Carta Impera Victoria, Raxxon, and Scythe: The Rise of Fenris.

01:36 - Carta Impera Victoria 04:49 - Raxxon 09:28 - Scythe: The Rise of Fenris 15:18 - Games we Want to Play 16:56 - Fog of Love 17:38 - Spirit Island 18:47 - Dungeon Petz 20:16 - Mini Rails 20:45 - Pax Porfiriana 21:42 - Keyflower 23:12 - Dogs of War 24:09 - Clockwork Wars 24:37 - Anachrony 25:24 - Lisboa 26:17 - Three Kingdoms Redux 26:59 - Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game 27:55 - ?!!? 28:50 - The Gallerist 29:36 - The Voyages of Marco Polo 30:13 - Diplomacy 30:58 - For-Ex 31:46 - Project: ELITE 32:40 - War of the Ring 33:23 - Roads & Boats 34:12 - Tammany Hall 35:04 - Fury of Dracula 35:51 - 1880: China 36:45 - Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery 37:41 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game 38:36 - Crokinole 39:32 - An Infamous Traffic 40:38 - Chaos in the Old World 42:11 - Great Western Trail 43:06 - Dune 44:40 - Pandemic Legacy: Season 1

Asymmetry is a powerful tool for game design, if done right. There's a lot of replayability right out of the box, and finding a playstyle that works for you can be very satisfying. But this dark alchemy has a darker byproduct: imbalance. When so much is different between each player, how do you ensure that things stay fair? Before we nerf plz, we discuss Container, and more Root.

01:40 - Container 12:28 - Root 18:08 - Scoreboard Update 20:04 - Balancing Asymmetry 26:49 - Vast: The Crystal Caverns 27:26 - Cosmic Encounter 30:05 - Scythe 30:55 - Terra Mystica 33:20 - Cry Havoc 40:08 - Cthulhu Wars 44:14 - The Voyages of Marco Polo 45:27 - Rising Sun 47:55 - Sidereal Confluence 49:57 - Diplomacy

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 can feel like a burden, so where's the line? Before we explain the turn structure, we discuss Dairyman, Riff Raff, and Lords of Hellas.

03:30 - Dairyman 07:12 - Blue Lagoon 09:00 - Riff Raff 10:49 - Lords of Hellas 20:24 - Board Game Rules 25:57 - Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team 32:38 - Gloomhaven 37:40 - Mage Knight 39:52 - Root 42:26 - Decrypto

Look, sometimes we lose games. I know. It's weird. It's hard to talk about, to be frank, but it's important to realize that your heroes can have flaws. So, this week, we're counting down our top five games we're bad at! Before we admit defeat, we also discuss Yogi, Orléans, and Blue Lagoon.

01:38 - Yogi 05:25 - Orléans 11:56 - Blue Lagoon 18:28 - Good games we're bad at 20:26 - Santorini 23:50 - Spyfall 26:30 - Captain Sonar 27:45 - Avenue 30:01 - Incan Gold 31:31 - Deep Sea Adventure 32:54 - Splendor 34:38 - Glüx 35:49 - Pictomania 37:12 - Archipelago 39:11 - The Oracle of Delphi 41:45 - I'm The Boss 44:33 - Android: Netrunner 46:35 - Kanban 48:30 - Tigris & Euphrates

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 at the table? Before we let the Wookiee win, we also discuss Let's Make a Bus Route, Sailing Toward Osiris, Fleet, and Founders of Gloomhaven.

01:45 - Let's Make a Bus Route 06:06 - Sailing Toward Osiris 10:10 - Fleet 15:30 - Founders of Gloomhaven 33:57 - Gaming Etiquette 39:25 - Puerto Rico 40:17 - The Resistance 41:02 - Root 42:04 - Archipelago 54:40 - Scythe

Just when you thought we couldn't get nerdier, this episode is all about logging plays and collecting statistics on your games. It turns out it's actually a pretty fun way to look back on your gaming history. We also discuss Fast Forward: FORTRESS, The Captain Is Dead, and Schummel Hummel.

02:38 - Fast Forward: FORTRESS 06:57 - The Captain Is Dead 12:57 - Schummel Hummel (Cheating Bumblebee) 16:22 - Logging Games

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 everyone's back in, talking, laughing and shouting until the early hours. We also talk about JamSumo, Isle of Trains, and Root.

02:24 - JamSumo 04:05 - Isle of Trains 06:17 - Root 17:43 - Party Game Countdown 19:10 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong 22:59 - One Night Ultimate Werewolf 25:08 - Cockroach Poker 27:20 - Krazy Wordz 29:26 - Pit 32:02 - Fuji Flush 33:32 - Pictomania 36:04 - Anomia 39:20 - Balderdash 41:41 - Codenames 43:03 - A Question of Scruples 44:56 - Time's Up: Title Recall 47:43 - The Resistance 51:22 - True Colors 53:32 - Telestrations

Shiny and new! Everyone online is talking about the latest, greatest thing, and you can't help but feel that you're missing out. How important is it to keep up with the cult of the new? We also talk about Cthulhu Wars, World Championship Russian Roulette, Kubb, and Word Slam.

01:38 - Cthulhu Wars 04:56 - World Championship Russian Roulette 07:47 - Kubb 09:35 - Word Slam 14:53 - The Cult of the New 32:25 - Alien Artifacts 33:25 - Patchwork 34:32 - Space Base 34:45 - Glorantha: The Gods War 46:14 - Chess 48:31 - Secret Hitler 49:39 - El Grande 50:19 - Codenames

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 Cat Lady.

01:57 - Gen Con Final Thoughts 09:30 - Lift it! 13:00 - The Estates 20:42 - Cat Lady 22:47 - The Breadth of Gaming 24:27 - Sushi Go 26:45 - Zombicide: Black Plague

Day three of Gen Con is over, and that's a wrap for our coverage from Indianapolis! Enjoy our final thoughts from the show floor (at least for this week), while we trudge back to the west coast with as many games as we can carry. We talk about Istanbul: The Dice Game, Wendake, One Week Ultimate Werewolf, Show & Tile, Coimbra, and Trade on the Tigris.

We're halfway through Gen Con, and we wrap up day two of the show with our thoughts from the floors and tables and beds (?!) of Indianapolis. We talk about Crusader Kings, Scarabya, Petrichor, Zogan, Flotsam Fight, Welcome To..., and Dice Fishing: Roll and Catch!

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.

Gen Con 2018 is almost upon us, and we're counting down the games we're most excited to check out! We also talk about Vikings, and Navegador.

01:43 - Spiel des Jahres 03:10 - Vikings 07:45 - Navegador 10:15 - Gen Con 2018 Preview 13:50 - Piepmatz 16:13 - Welcome To ... 19:01 - Dice Fishing: Roll and Catch 20:26 - Ultimate Werewolf Legacy 23:18 - Coimbra 25:24 - Lost Cities: Rivals 27:19 - Pikoko 29:29 - Wendake 31:30 - Nyctophobia 34:03 - Yellow & Yangtze 36:27 - Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game 39:07 - Gizmos 41:03 - Newton 44:23 - Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team 52:30 - Teotihuacan: City of Gods 53:26 - Hyperspace

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 Dragon, and revisit Space Base.

00:54 - Lowlands 07:32 - Bilder 11:03 - In the Year of the Dragon 16:14 - Space Base 20:12 - Luck in Games 23:40 - Cthulhu Wars 31:24 - Guards of Atlantis 36:06 - Lords of Vegas 42:42 - Rising Sun 43:33 - Diamant

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 Joraku, Impulse, and Wyatt Earp.

01:36 - Joraku 06:25 - Impulse 16:34 - Wyatt Earp 19:29 - BGB on Twitch! 21:18 - Low Interaction Games 28:32 - The Godfather: Corleone's Empire 29:31 - Karuba/NMBR 9 34:05 - Agricola 38:55 - Cooperative Games 41:33 - Azul 46:15 - Castles of Mad King Ludwig

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

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 - Space Base 16:36 - Cthulhu Wars 17:52 - Android: Netrunner 21:01 - Azul 23:49 - Cockroach Poker 25:56 - Watson & Holmes 29:31 - Pictomania 33:15 - Splendor 36:59 - A Feast for Odin 42:22 - Alchemists 44:45 - What Replaces Biblios? 45:44 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong 50:48 - Aeon's End: War Eternal

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 - Star Cartel 14:42 - Council of 4 20:38 - Components and Production 23:55 - Archipelago 27:02 - Splendor 27:52 - El Grande 29:03 - Cthulhu Wars 30:12 - Scythe 31:55 - Terraforming Mars 33:58 - Zombicide 34:56 - Twilight Imperium 38:47 - Viticulture

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 Society Card Game, and Inkognito.

03:42 - High Society 07:16 - For Sale 08:20 - Rising 5: Runes of Asteros 12:17 - The Tea Dragon Society Card Game 14:36 - Inkognito 19:17 - Rewarding Experience versus Accessibility 20:53 - Food Chain Magnate 23:40 - Chess 28:27 - Power Grid 32:38 - Arboretum 33:45 - Through the Ages 39:35 - Innovation 41:37 - Guards of Atlantis