Episode 44: Theme Parks

Today we’re taking a look at theme parks in two very different ways: Unfair and Dinosaur Island. Because both of these games have some swingy randomization mechanics, we then talk about our thoughts about randomness in games in our Broader View.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:00:34] - Theme Parks
[00:01:34] - Unfair
[00:17:24] - Dinosaur Island
[00:34:16] - Comparison
[00:45:51] - Other Theme Park Games (For the Most Part)
[00:49:08] - Broader View

Men on Board is part of the Dice Tower Network of podcasts. Find other great podcasts at https://www.dicetower.com/dice-tower-network.

Board Game Kiki Episode 6: Origins 2019

Today we’re taking a look at the games that we played and our overall experiences that we had at Origins Game Fair 2019. We played a lot of games, so some of our thoughts are quicker than others!

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:01:38] - Origins 2019
[00:13:19] - Calico
[00:14:58] - Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale
[00:15:43] - On Tour
[00:17:47] - Gorus Maximus, Egizia: Shifting Sands, & Crown of Emara
[00:19:25] - Pipeline
[00:20:51] - Call to Adventure
[00:22:44] - Underwater Cities
[00:25:30] - Illusion
[00:26:33] - Medium
[00:29:11] - Smartphone, Inc.
[00:31:56] - Die Tavernen im Tiefen Thal
[00:32:55] - Obscurio
[00:35:51] - Endeavor: Age of Sail
[00:36:30] - Gem Hens
[00:37:20] - Tuki
[00:38:52] - Men at Work
[00:39:23] - One Night Ultimate Super Villains
[00:39:52] - Our Favorite Moments from Origins 2019

Men on Board is part of the Dice Tower Network of podcasts. Find other great podcasts at https://www.dicetower.com/dice-tower-network.

Episode 43: Days of Wonder

This episode was edited the night after getting back from Origins, so these show notes are going to be short and to the point! Today we’re talking about two games that were both originally published by Days of Wonder: Cleopatra and the Society of Architects and Colosseum. Because both of these games were then later reprinted, we have a conversation about reprints and games that we would like to see be reprinted. Most importantly, as of this episode Mat is officially back in Pittsburgh so we will once again be recording our episodes altogether in the same location!

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:01:29] - Days of Wonder
[00:02:44] - Cleopatra and the Society of Architects
[00:17:49] - Colosseum
[00:34:48] - Comparison
[00:39:11] - Other Days of Wonder Games
[00:42:47] - Broader View

Men on Board is part of the Dice Tower Network of podcasts. Find other great podcasts at https://www.dicetower.com/dice-tower-network.

Episode 42: Pick Up and Deliver

We apologize for the delay in getting today’s episode out, but we think that it was worth the day’s wait! Today we’re talking about two pick up and deliver games: Firefly and Merchant of Venus. Then in our Broader View, we have a conversation that we’re calling The Logistics of Longer Games: Running Long, where we pretty much just talk about social etiquette when playing long games. If you’re going to be at Origins next week and you see us around, please say hi!

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:01:02] - Pick Up and Deliver Games
[00:01:40] - Firefly
[00:16:09] - Merchant of Venus
[00:32:05] - Comparison
[00:41:37] - Other Pick Up and Deliver Games
[00:44:57] - Broader View

Men on Board is part of the Dice Tower Network of podcasts. Find other great podcasts at https://www.dicetower.com/dice-tower-network.

Board Game Kiki Episode 5: Art

Today’s Kiki is all about art in boardgames, and we run through exactly how much we value art and what we look for in art. We didn’t announce it in this episode, because we didn’t know it at the time of recording, but next week we will be back with another regular episode where the category is going to be Pick Up and Deliver games and we’re going to talk about Merchant of Venus and Firefly.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:04:07] - Does art matter in board games?
[00:19:34] - What kind of styles of art are we drawn toward?
[00:36:22] - How does art influence gameplay for us?
[00:39:08] - What do we think of art as a mechanic in games?
[00:45:29] - What is some of our favorite and least favorite art in games?

Men on Board is part of the Dice Tower Network of podcasts. Find other great podcasts at https://www.dicetower.com/dice-tower-network.

Episode 41: Asymmetric

We went a little bit long today, but that’s because we’re essentially talking about 9 different games in our descriptions. And that’s because today we are taking a look at asymmetrical games by comparing Vast: The Crystal Caverns and Root. We then take a step back and talk about how we learn games. We also get a little bit excited about the upcoming Origins: Game Fair, so be on the lookout for us if you are heading to Columbus next month!

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:00:34] - Asymmetric Games
[00:01:55] - Vast: The Crystal Caverns
[00:18:21] - Root
[00:35:36] - Comparison
[00:46:27] - Other Asymmetric Games
[00:50:14] - Broader View

Men on Board is part of the Dice Tower Network of podcasts. Find other great podcasts at https://www.dicetower.com/dice-tower-network.

Episode 40: Steampunk

Today we’re talking about games with a steampunk theme, and we’re discussing The World of SMOG: On Her Majesty’s Service and Victorian Masterminds. Then in our Broader View, after looking forward to Victorian Masterminds for what felt like forever, we talk about anticipation of games and what games and events that we’re currently anticipating.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:00:43] - Steampunk
[00:02:30] - The World of SMOG: On Her Majesty’s Service
[00:22:02] - Victorian Masterminds
[00:39:27] - Comparison
[00:43:56] - Other Steampunk Games
[00:48:00] - Broader View

Men on Board is part of the Dice Tower Network of podcasts. Find other great podcasts at https://www.dicetower.com/dice-tower-network.

Episode 39: Cerebria

While editing this episode, we realized that we had some unfortunate audio issues, and we apologize for the quality in some parts! Because of this, we edited a little bit more than we usually do, bringing the episode length down a little bit. Hopefully this will clear up the confusion when you hear Aaron talk about how the recording is going long during the episode!

The category in this episode is Cerebria, which is a shared theme between two different games from Mindclash Games. Specifically, we’re talking about Cerebria: The Inside World and Cerebria: The Card Game. In our Broader View, we have a discussion about variable player counts in board games.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:01:11] - Cerebria
[00:02:20] - Cerebria: The Inside World
[00:23:26] - Cerebria: The Card Game
[00:36:00] - Comparison
[00:41:52] - Other Games with Two Implementations
[00:45:03] - Broader View

Men on Board is part of the Dice Tower Network of podcasts. Find other great podcasts at https://www.dicetower.com/dice-tower-network.

Board Game Kiki Episode 4: Role Playing Games

Starting off with a programming note, due to moving this episode is going to be a gap filler until we get the games unpacked and the studio set up in Aaron’s new house. Episode 38 will be airing on April 22, 2019. For this episode, we’re talking about our experiences and opinions on tabletop RPGs, and we spend a lot of that time talking about a campaign of Mutants & Masterminds.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:01:48] - What do we like about RPGs?
[00:08:51] - What do we look for in a system?
[00:24:41] - What kind of characters do we like to play?
[00:39:12] - Do we prefer to GM or play characters?

Men on Board is part of the Dice Tower Network of podcasts. Find other great podcasts at https://www.dicetower.com/dice-tower-network.

Episode 38: Historic War

As of this episode, our friend and occasional fill-in host Other Matt is officially joining the cast of Men on Board. We accidentally forgot to elaborate on how this is going to work moving forward on the show itself, but what will happen is that Matt is going to be more regularly filling in for Josh and other hosts are there are conflicts in our schedules so that we can produce even more content! That being sad, at the end of this episode we announce that there may be some delays in some upcoming episodes due to some logistics surrounding Aaron moving.

Anyway, in this episode we’re celebrating Other Matt joining us by talking about historic war games. In particular, we’re looking at Memoir 44 and 1775: Rebellion. In our Broader View, we have a discussion about the different ways that combat resolution is handled in games and what we like and don’t like about these systems.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:01:11] - Historic War Games
[00:01:40] - Memoir 44
[00:17:02] - 1775: Rebellion
[00:33:01] - Comparison
[00:42:51] - Other Historic War Games
[00:46:45] - Broader View
[01:01:20] - Programming Announcement

Men on Board is part of the Dice Tower Network of podcasts. Find other great podcasts at https://www.dicetower.com/dice-tower-network.

Episode 37: Daniele Tascini

Today we are focusing on two games by the designer/codesigner Daniele Tascini: Teotuhican: City of Gods and Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar. We also probably mispronounced about half of this episode. In our Broader View, we talk about things we like and dislike about rule books. At the end of the episode, we also make some announcements about the future of the show.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:00:55] - Daniele Tascini
[00:01:38] - Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar
[00:16:26] - Teotihuacan: City of Gods
[00:33:51] - Comparison
[00:44:21] - Other Games That Are Similar In Some Way
[00:47:56] - Broader View
[01:00:23] - Programming Announcement

Men on Board is part of the Dice Tower Network of podcasts. Find other great podcasts at https://www.dicetower.com/dice-tower-network.

Board Game Kiki Episode 3: 2018 Retrospective

Today, instead of doing one of our standard format episodes we’re doing a Kiki about what we thought about 2018 in terms of gaming, as well as looking ahead to our hopes for 2019. We also may have hit a new record for mispronunciations (until our next regular episode).

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:01:48] - Games Workshop
[00:10:36] - CMON
[00:14:35] - Kickstarter
[00:25:19] - Disposability of Gaming Experiences
[00:30:31] - Eurogaming
[00:35:49] - Favorite Games of 2018
[00:38:50] - Time Stories
[00:43:33] - Hopes for 2019
[00:46:52] - Comas
[00:48:44] - Final Rambling Thoughts

Men on Board is part of the Dice Tower Network of podcasts. Find other great podcasts at https://www.dicetower.com/dice-tower-network.

Episode 36: Mystery

As of this episode, Men on Board is officially a part of the Dice Tower Network! We talk a little bit about that and some new things that we’re going to be doing with the podcast. Our category this week is mystery games, and we explore that through Tragedy Looper and Mysterium. Then in our Broader View, we talk about what we like about mysteries more generally, and we spend a lot of time talking about how much we enjoy murder mystery parties.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:04:33] - Mystery Games
[00:05:19] - Tragedy Looper
[00:24:51] - Mysterium
[00:39:21] - Comparison
[00:47:56] - Other Mystery Games
[00:52:25] - Broader View

The murder mysteries that we were talking about during the Broader View can be found at https://www.freeformgames.com.

Men on Board is part of the Dice Tower Network of podcasts. Find other great podcasts at https://www.dicetower.com/dice-tower-network.

Episode 35: Deduction

This episode, we’re happy to have our friend Other Matt once again step in to help us out while Josh was unavailable. Today we’re looking at two very logical deduction games, Sleuth and Cryptid, and taking a look at how these games handle the mechanic in a very pure fashion. In our Broader View, we are putting out our New Year’s Resolutions just in time for the end of January.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:00:52] - Deduction Games
[00:01:48] - Sleuth
[00:17:30] - Cryptid
[00:38:32] - Comparison
[00:48:17] - Other Deduction Games
[00:52:50] - Broader View

Episode 34: Bag Building

In our first episode of 2019 we’re looking at two bag building games that use their shared mechanic and two different ways. First up is the push your luck style of Quacks of Quedlinburg and next we have the worker placement style in Orleans. In our Broader View, we each discuss our dream combination of a mechanic, theme/IP, designer, and publisher for a game.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:01:05] - Bag Building Games
[00:01:27] - Quacks of Quedlinburg
[00:18:31] - Orleans
[00:34:23] - Comparison
[00:45:21] - Other Bag Building Games
[00:48:18] - Broader View

Episode 33: Racing

On the last day of 2018 we’re talking about racing games and comparing Formula D and Downforce. In our Broader View, we have a discussion about what we do when we’re not enjoying a game. We’re also still on the lookout for any feedback or suggestions while we’re taking a look at potential switching up our format. Happy New Year everyone!

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:02:20] - Racing Games
[00:02:58] - Formula D
[00:20:10] - Downforce
[00:29:34] - Comparison
[00:36:52] - Other Racing Games
[00:39:52] - Broader View

Board Game Kiki Episode 2: Pax Unplugged 2018

We’re switching up the schedule this week and pushing back Episode 33 to December 31st and instead we’re releasing this Board Game Kiki episode about Pax Unplugged 2018. Just as a heads up, we had some technical difficulty while recording, so when things sound choppy or when we’re talking a mile a minute, that’s why. With Christmas approaching, we also give our version of a gift guide in the form of what gifts we would give to each other. Finally, we are once again putting out the call for feedback as we have some discussions behind the scenes about potentially switching up our format.

[00:00:00] - Production Update
[00:00:49] - Introduction
[00:02:20] - Pax Unplugged 2018
[00:08:38] - Victorian Masterminds
[00:10:48] - The River
[00:12:30] - Fog of Love
[00:15:23] - Manhattan
[00:16:49] - Ricochet Robots
[00:17:58] - Micropolis
[00:18:13] - Pax Unplugged Lending Library Etiquette
[00:21:14] - Gorus Maximus
[00:23:13] - Quacks of Quedlinburg
[00:25:03] - Fog of Love (Again)
[00:27:04] - Fae
[00:28:34] - Pax Unplugged Final Thoughts
[00:31:10] - Gifting Guide
[00:47:38] - Request for Feedback

Gifting Guide

Aaron’s Gifts
From Josh: The Nameless Campaign and Prince Aaron
From Jameson: Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate
From Mat: Tzolk’in

Mat’s Gifts
From Aaron: Scythe
From Josh: Arboretum Deluxe
From Jameson: Ricochet Robots

Jameson’s Gifts
From Mat: Santorini
From Aaron: My Little Scythe
From Josh: Dragon Castle

Josh’s Gifts
From Jameson: Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress
From Mat: Prodigal’s Club
From Aaron: Fog of Love

Episode 32: Cooperation

This episode ended up being a little bit longer because we were having a lot of fun in our Broader View, so hopefully you enjoy the extra content! The category this week is cooperative games, and both of our cooperative games that we’re talking about have an island theme: Robinson Crusoe and Spirit Island. In our Broader View, we continue with the island theme and we discuss what three games (or as Jameson insists three games and a deck of cards) would we bring to a desert island. We also all cheat and sneak in an honorable mention.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:00:53] - Cooperative Games
[00:01:10] - Robinson Crusoe
[00:18:49] - Spirit Island
[00:36:17] - Comparison
[00:45:29] - Other Cooperative Games
[00:47:51] - Broader View

Recommendations:

Aaron: Forbidden Sky
Josh: Sentinels of the Multiverse
Jameson: Battlestar Galactica
Mat: Big Book of Madness

Aaron’s Desert Island Games:

1) Arcardia Quest
2) Twilight Imperium Third Edition
3) Sentinels of the Multiverse
Honorable Mention: Cerebria

Josh’s Desert Island Games:

1) Scythe
2) Lost Cities
3) Werewolf
Honorable Mention: Ticket to Ride

Jameson’s Desert Island Games:

1) Arcardia Quest
2) Battlestar Galactica
3) Mysterium
Honorable Mention: Spirit Island

Mat’s Desert Island Games:

1) Captain Sonar
2) Schotten Totten
3) Werewolf
Honorable Mention: Ticket to Ride Europe

Episode 31: Next Move

In this episode we’re talking about Next Move Games, which is an imprint from the publisher Plan B Games. We’re talking about both of the games that Next Move has published to date: Azul and Reef. In our Broader View, we talk about what we consider filler games and how we feel about them.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:01:05] - Next Move Games
[00:01:29] - Azul
[00:16:27] - Reef
[00:31:39] - Comparison
[00:40:36] - Other Tile Laying Games
[00:43:31] - Broader View

Episode 30: Social Deduction

In this shorter than average episode, we’re going back to Social Deduction games, but this time we’re focusing on games that play in a short amount of time. Specifically, we’re talking about One Night Ultimate Werewolf and Crossfire. In our Broader View, we talk about playing games at parties, and we end up spending way too much time talking about our frustrations with Cards Against Humanity.

[00:00:00] - Introduction
[00:01:40] - Social Deduction
[00:02:27] - One Night Ultimate Werewolf
[00:15:56] - Crossfire
[00:27:04] - Comparison
[00:33:38] - Other (Short) Social Deduction Games
[00:36:48] - Broader View