Episode 11: The one about our 10x10 Challenge

The Boarding Party is back for it's standard format for Episode 11.

Recently Played (00:15)

Jeff played some Zombicide: Black Plague and we both played Lords of Waterdeep.

News (07:54)

First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet is doing a pre-order through Portal Games; and Clank! has an expansion on the way.

"it" Factor (19:37)

What games have art is so good and so well integrated that it elevates them?

2-Player Review (33:20)

Just for you, we played World's Fair 1893. A game we love with more players, what do we think of it with only 2?

#culture (43:47)

All of the games we're going to include as part of our collective 10x10 Challenge.

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The Boarding Party's 10x10 Challenge: Update 1

As part of our 2017 Gaming Resolutions, we have decided to undertake a collective 10x10 Challenge.

For those unaware, the 10x10 Challenge is where we commit to playing 10 different games 10 times each. The aim is to celebrate the games that we have, and love!

Here's our starting point, with the 10 games chosen only (no plays of them ... yet!). Our plan is to track this on a monthly, weekly, or bi-weekly basis showing our progress.

Episode 10: The one about 2016 and 2017

2017 is officially here and so is our newest episode. In our 10th episode, we change things up a bit to do a look back on 2016 and look ahead to 2017 for all things gaming.

2016 Podcast Stuff (00:15)

We look back on where our podcast started and some of the things we've been able to do over the past half year.

2016 Games (06:38)

Restoration Games (from the great Rob Daviau) announced its first three games: Stop Thief, Dragon Master, and Downforce.

2016 Events (25:22)

2016 was great (for games). We talk about Pandemic Legacy: Season 1, Scythe, and Mechs vs. Minions, among many others.

2017 Events (40:47)

Looking ahead to Gencon and Cool Mini or Not Expo, and how we plan to cover them differently.

2017 Games (47:49)

So many good games coming out. It's looking like the year of the legacy games with Pandemic Legacy: Season 2, Charterstone, Ultimate Werewolf Legacy, Chronicles: Origins, and Gloomhaven. Plus a few other non-legacy games of note!

2017 Podcast (1:09:22)

What's we're planning for our podcast.

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Episode 9: The one about games with mass appeal and game rankings

After a few weeks off for the holidays, The Boarding Party is back for Episode 9.

Recently Played (00:15)

We managed to get a good amount of games in, including Kingdomino, Mechs vs. Minions, and Scythe ... but the piece de resistance was certainly our epic game of Twilight Imperium!

News (08:39)

Restoration Games (from the great Rob Daviau) announced its first three games: Stop Thief, Dragon Master, and Downforce.

"it" Factor (18:25)

We talk about the beauty of games with mass appeal, using Codenames (and Codenames: Picutres) as a backdrop.

2-Player Review (32:24)

T.I.M.E. Stories has taken the industry by storm, and we give our thoughts on how it works with only 2p.

#culture (47:52)

Sites like Boardgamegeek have robust rating systems, which turn into rankings of the best (and worst!) board games of all time ... what do we think of these systems?

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Episode 8: The one about railroads, energy empires, and thoughts on Legacy games

Episode 8 is finally here ... a, few days later than usual, but here nonetheless! In this episode, we talk about the game we recently played, the expansion to Scythe, and Legacy games vs. traditional campaign games.

Recently Played (00:15)

With Jeff busy re-playing Skyrim, and Jeremiah heads down with the new Pokemon game, board games weren't played as much over the holidays. Except that Jeremiah did get in a game of Russian Railroads: American Railroads.

News (10:10)

Scythe: Invaders from Afar expansion is releasing, and we give our impressions of what we know about it so far.

"it" Factor (20:35)

We dive into big games that come in small packages. These are games that deliver deep, rich experiences but don't have a lot of components or take up a lot of shelf space.

2-Player Review (34:15)

We ironically played a game of The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire during a power outage, and give you our thoughts on it.

#culture (49:23)

With the recent announcement of Android: Netrunner - Terminal Directive and the overwhelming success of Pandemic Legacy, we talk about the pros and cons of Legacy-style games.

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Episode 7: The one about replayability and card and dice versions of games

We're back! In our seventh episode, we talk about what we've been up to recently (mostly Mechs vs. Minions), a new announcement from Tasty Minstrel Games (TMG), the importance of replayability, and much more.

Recently Played (00:15)

With not a lot of different games being played since our last recording, we go into great depth into our recent plays of Mechs vs. Minions.

News (08:58)

Big news in the industry as TMG announces that they're going hipster and doing a startup.

"it" Factor (22:04)

Using Blood Rage as a backdrop, we talk about the idea of replayability in games, what drives it, and why randomness doesn't necessarily equal replayability.

2-Player Review (37:30)

We played a recent game of Small World, and are ready to give our thoughts on it.

#culture (51:53)

"The Card Game" and "The Dice Game" versions of existing board games are all the rage these days. What do we think of them? We go over the good, the bad, and the ugly.

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Side Quest 1: Thematic gaming and why I love it

Side Quest is a new podcast format for those times when the guys can't get together to record. They will usually cover a single topic and allow each of us to deep dive into something that we really want to talk about, but don't always have the time for in our regular format.

In Jeff's first side quest, he gives you his thoughts about theme, thematic gaming, and why he loves it so much.

Introduction (00:15)

Jeff goes over the basics of what theme is and what theme is not.

Arkham Horror (08:21)

A discussion of why Arkham Horror is not a thematic game, despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of people think that it is.

Legendary Encounters (Alien) (13:35)

The first of two games that illustrate perfectly what is meant by thematic gaming: Legendary Encounters: An Alien Deck Building Game.

X-Wing (18:34)

The second game that Jeff thinks perfectly captures the spirit of true thematic gaming, Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game.

Final Thoughts (23:41)

The discussion comes to a close with Jeff giving his final thoughts on everything theme.

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