In this bonus episode, I share an extended cut of my recent interview with Jonathan Chaffer, designer of the Holiday Hijinks series of 18-card escape room games. Jonathan had a lot to say about the design constraints he faced in creating these games, more than I could fit in last episode's review of the series. If you're interested in tabletop game…

In this episode, we save Christmas and a lot of other holidays from potential catastrophe in Holiday Hijinks! Holiday Hijinks is a line of 18-card holiday-themed escape room games designed and illustrated by Jonathan Chaffer and published by Grand Gamers Guild. Each one offers the cooperative puzzle solving of an escape room in just 18 cards. There…

In this episode, we load up our donkey carts with fruit to deliver around the island in Finca! In Finca, players take on the role of farmers at harvest time on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Move your farmers around the windmill to generate resources, collect colorful chunky fruit tokens, deliver fruit strategically around the island with your don…

Today we have a FIRST PLAY review of Sirens, a 2024 game for two players designed by Art Casey with illustrations by Gabi Naftaly and published by Envy Born Games. In Sirens, players take on the role of the sirens of Greek myths, those creatures whose beautiful singing lured Odysseus’ sailors into the sea and to their doom. In the game, players dra…

Usually when I review and recommend a board game here on the podcast, I’ve played that game at least ten times. That way I know the game well and I know it has some staying power. That means I usually review older games, but I like to play new games, too. So here’s a FIRST PLAY review of a new game that I think you might like! Today we’ll take a lo…

In this episode, we build the technologies and societies needed to fight climate change in Daybreak! Daybreak is a 2023 game published by CMYK and designed by Matt Leacock and Matteo Menapace. In this cooperative board game, up to four players take on the role of world powers like the U.S. and China enacting climate action policies. The goal of the…

In this episode, we celebrate four years (and 50 episodes) of the podcast by recommending my top five games to start your board game collection! I started First Player Token to provide some advice to people who like playing board games with family and friends but maybe get a little overwhelmed when shopping for board games at Target or Barnes & Nob…

Usually when I review and recommend a board game here on the podcast, I’ve played that game at least ten times. That way I know the game well and I know it has some staying power. That means I usually review older games, but I like to play new games, too. So here’s a FIRST PLAY review of a new game that I think you might like! Today we’ll take a lo…

In this episode, we put on our funny Viking hats and go plundering in Raiders of the North Sea! Raiders of the North Sea is a two to four player game published in 2015 by Garphill Games. It was designed by Shem Phillips with art by Mihajlo Dimitrievski. The game is about building your Viking crew, raiding settlements, and bringing back plunder for …

In this episode, we board the Jolly Roger and steal from treasure from a Spanish galleon in Tortuga 1667! In Tortuga 1667, players take on the role of pirates attacking Spanish ships near the island of Tortuga and stealing their gold. Half of the players are secretly working for the British and half for the French. At the start of the game, you kno…

In The Wolves, we build our packs and carve out our territory! The Wolves is a 2022 game designed by Ashwin Kamath and Clarence Simpson with art by Pauliina Linjama and a quality production from publisher Pandasaurus Games. In The Wolves, between two and five players each controls a pack of wolves vying for territory across a wilderness. This game …

In this episode, we try to save the planet from a relentless alien invasion in Under Falling Skies! Under Falling Skies is a 2020 board game designed by designed by Tomáš Uhlíř published by Czech Games Edition with art by Petr Boháček and Kwanchai Moriya. It’s a solo game about repelling an alien invasion that clearly takes some inspiration from th…

In The Blood of an Englishman, we see if Jack can steal the goose that lays golden eggs from the giant at the top of the beanstalk! In 2016, Renegade Games published a two-player card game inspired by “Jack and the Beanstalk” called The Blood of an Englishman. One player takes on the role of Jack, attempting to steal the giant’s treasure through a …

In this episode, I try out a new format by giving very brief reviews of ten games I played at our local board game convention, Tennessee Game Days, earlier this fall! Tennessee Game Days is an event held each spring and fall here in Nashville, Tennessee, where people come from around the state and the region to spend a few days in hotel convention …

In this episode, we try to figure out if our opponent put the poison in our glass or in his glass in the game In Vino Morte! In Vino Morte is a 2016 game designed by Chris Anderson with art by Ben Toz and published by Button Shy Games. It’s inspired by that classic scene in The Princess Bride where the Dread Pirate Roberts and the scoundrel Vizzini…

Usually when I review and recommend a board game here on the podcast, I’ve played that game at least ten times. That way I know the game well and I know it has some staying power. That means I usually review older games, but I like to play new games, too! That leads me to this bonus episode you’re listening to right now. Instead of a scripted and h…

In this episode, we see what happens when heroes from stories and legends battle it out in Unmatched! Unmatched is actually a series of games from Restoration Games. That company specializes in taking older games and redesigning them for a modern audience. They have “restored” games like Downforce, Fireball Island, Thunder Road, and Dark Tower. Unm…

Usually when I review and recommend a board game here on the podcast, I’ve played that game at least ten times. That way I know the game well and I know it has some staying power. That means I usually review older games, but I like to play new games, too! That leads me to this bonus episode you’re listening to right now. Instead of a scripted and h…

In this episode, we battle for the honor of hosting the king in our chateaus in Royal Visit! Royal Visit is a 2021 game designed by Reiner Knizia with art by Karl James Mountford and published by Iello Games. It’s a two-player game, with players occupying opposite ends of a valley hoping to attract the visiting king to their magnificent chateaus. T…

In this episode, we become Scottish chieftains expanding our lands in… Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King! The Isle of Skye is one of the large islands off the northwest coast of Scotland, famous for its stunningly beautiful landscape and as the home to the Scottish clans of MacLeod and MacDonald. This mountainous land suitable for fishing and fa…

Usually when I review and recommend a board game here on the podcast, I’ve played that game at least ten times. That way I know the game well and I know it has some staying power. That means I usually review older games, but I like to play new games, too! That leads me to this bonus episode you’re listening to right now. Instead of a scripted and h…

We reviewed the game Mysterium in our last episode, and Emily and I had a great time recording her “color commentary” about the game. Mysterium is all pictures and no words, and my artist wife had a lot to say about the game! I only used a few minutes of our conversation in the episode, so I thought I would share an extended cut here as a bonus epi…

In this episode, we work together to solve a murder in the game with no words… Mysterium! Mysterium is the English name for a 2013 Polish game called Tajemnicze Domostwo designed by Oleksandr Nevskiy and Oleg Sidorenko. It’s a cooperative game where two to seven players work together to solve the mystery of a murder in about 45 to 60 minutes. Like …

Usually when I review and recommend a board game here on the podcast, I’ve played that game at least ten times. That way I know the game well and I know it has some staying power. That means I usually review older games, but I like to play new games, too! That leads me to this bonus episode you’re listening to right now. Instead of a scripted and h…

In this episode, we take a look a game that you’ll want to know about if you’re tired of playing tic-tac-toe… Gobblet Gobblers! Gobblet Gobblers is a 2003 game published by Blue Orange Games, and it turns tic-tac-toe into a genuinely fun game. In the box, you’ll find four long wood pieces that you fit together like a tic-tac-toe board, along with t…

In this episode, we work together to catch a sneaky, pot-pie-stealing fox in the cooperative kids game Outfoxed! Outfoxed is, I’m pretty sure, the only board game where players take on the role of detective chickens. You see, Mrs. Plumpert’s prize pot pie has been snatched by a sneaky fox, and it’s up to a plucky group of detective chickens (or is …

In this episode, we build cities and farms and roads in the modern classic, Carcassonne! Carcassonne is a tile-laying game. Players take turns drawing square tiles and adding them to a common medieval landscape. On your turn, you draw a tile and place it somewhere on the landscape, making sure that the sides of the new tile match the sides of any a…

Usually when I review and recommend a board game here on the podcast, I’ve played that game at least ten times. That way I know the game well and I know it has some staying power. But recently, the 11-year-old has been on a kick to play new games, that is, games he’s never played before. That makes it hard to play a game repeatedly with him, but it…

In this episode, we try to avoid a pandemic like it’s the 14th century by escaping the city on an apple cart in Bristol 1350! Bristol 1350 is a lively game for up to nine players about escaping the Black Death in Bristol, England, in the 14th century. Publishing a game about escaping a pandemic during a pandemic is something of a bold move, but it’…

In this episode, we’re going back to the space race with the upcoming new expansion, Space Explorers: Age of Ambition! Back in Episode 19, I reviewed a game called Space Explorers published by 25th Century Games. I interviewed Chad Elkins, the one-man show behind 25th Century Games, and he gave me my first podcast exclusive: 25th Century had an exp…

In this episode, we have a very special guest joining us to review Takenoko, a game that teaches you what to do in the unlikely event someone gives you a panda. Takenoko is a 2011 game designed by Antoine Bauza and published by Bombyx Studios. In the game, players work together to grow a bamboo garden and send a friendly panda around that garden ea…

In this episode, we review Tsuro: The Game of the Path! See whose path to enlightenment lasts the longest... Send us a textAv Derek Bruff

In this episode, we review the game Clank! Go searching for dragon treasure while moving very quietly... Send us a textAv Derek Bruff

In this episode, we review Incan Gold, a game that will have you pressing your luck to recover lost treasure! Send us a textAv Derek Bruff

In this episode, we take a look at one of the best two-player games around, Patchwork, a game about quilting! Patchwork is a colorful 2014 game designed by Uwe Rosenberg with art by Klemens Franz that takes the notion of patches on a quilt and turns it into an elegantly designed game for exactly two players. In Patchwork, players take on the role o…

Splendor, a game about collecting gems and impressing fancy people! Send us a textAv Derek Bruff

Oros! A game about building mountains and seeking knowledge! Send us a textAv Derek Bruff

Sleeping Queens! A game of queens and kings and dragons and knights and basic arithmetic! Send us a textAv Derek Bruff

In this episode, we time-travel to the 1960s to compete in the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union in… Space Explorers! Space Explorers is a 2017 board game that conjures up the excitement of the 1960s space race. Players take on the roles of heads of space research centers, recruiting a variety of experts to build and launch …

In this episode, we travel to a beautiful island off the coast of Greece famous for its white and blue buildings in the board game Santorini! Send us a textAv Derek Bruff

In this episode, we travel to 17th century Japan for some competitive vacationing in the board game Tokaido! Tokaido is a 2012 game designed by Antoine Bauza with art by Xavier Durin and published by Funforge. Players take on the roles of travelers in 17th century Japan making their way along the Tokaido, which means “eastern sea road.” The Tokaido…

We're back with another family game recommendation: The Crew, a game that will have you taking tricks and exploring space! Send us a textAv Derek Bruff

In this episode, we recommend the city-building game Sprawlopolis, a game to play without family and friends. Send us a textAv Derek Bruff

In this episode, we recommend a game that will have you eating your vegetables: Abandon All Artichokes! Send us a textAv Derek Bruff

In this episode, we recommend a game that will have you bluffing, bribing, and smuggling: Sheriff of Nottingham. Send us a textAv Derek Bruff

We're back with a family board game recommendation for a game that will have you cheering on cute, colorful penguins: ICECOOL. Send us a textAv Derek Bruff

We're back with another family board game recommendation, a game that will make you want an ice cream cone: Rocky Road a la Mode! Send us a textAv Derek Bruff

We have another great family game to recommend: Gizmos. Ever want to make your own Rube Goldberg machine? Send us a textAv Derek Bruff

We have another great family game to recommend: Herbaceous. You can't help but want to collect and pot herbs as you play this relaxing game. Send us a textAv Derek Bruff

In Wingspan, players take on the role of bird enthusiasts, trying to collect the best birds for their wildlife preserves. It's a great game for couples, and might just turn players into birdwatchers. Send us a textAv Derek Bruff