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A conversation about tabletop games
Episodes
Friday Mar 25, 2022
Friday Mar 25, 2022
It's finally here, and bigger than ever! Marc, Lindsay, and Orion count down their respective top 25 games of all time for triple the list. Plus there are puns. So, so many puns. I've marked each of them in the show notes. I'm sorry/you're welcome. SPOILERS BELOW.
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1:45 - Marc #25: Battle Line
4:00 - Lindsay #25: One Night Ultimate Werewolf
6:43 - Orion #25: War of the Ring
7:42 - Marc #24: 1862
9:38 - Pun 1
9:39 - Lindsay #24: Boggle
10:53 - Orion #24: The Resistance
11:03 - Pun 2
12:18 - Marc #23: Food Chain Magnate
13:23 - Pun 3
13:41 - Lindsay #23: Ticket to Ride
14:41 - Orion #23: Codenames
15:01 - Marc #22: SpaceCorp 2025-2300AD
16:06 - Lindsay #22: Sidereal Confluence
17:13 - Orion #22: A Distant Plain
17:54 - Marc #21: Codenames
18:08 - Lindsay #21: Viticulture
18:24 - Pun 4
18:26 - Pun 5
18:52 - Orion #21: Food Chain Magnate
18:58 - Pun 6 (a second attempt -- boo)
19:11 - Marc #20: Vinhos
20:01 - Lindsay #20: Concordia
20:07 - Orion #20: Concordia
20:21 - Marc #19: War of the Ring
21:19 - Lindsay #19: Nusfjord
21:30 - Pun 7
22:28 - Orion #19: Terra Mystica
22:48 - Marc #18: Suburbia
23:57 - Lindsay #18: Hanabi
26:16 - Orion #18: Falling Sky
26:35 - Marc #17: Modern Art
27:08 - Pun 8
27:55 - Lindsay #17: Mysterium
28:02 - Orion #17: Netrunner
29:07 - Pun 9
29:19 - Marc #16: Fire in the Lake
30:13 - Lindsay #16: For Sale
31:20 - Orion #16: Space Alert
31:32 - Marc #15: Here I Stand
32:18 - Lindsay #15: Wavelength
33:19 - Orion #15: 1817
33:56 - Marc #14: The Castles of Burgundy
34:30 - Lindsay #14: The Crew
34:52 - Orion #14: 1862
35:41 - Marc #13: Concordia
36:25 - Pun 10
36:33 - Lindsay #13: Codenames
37:18 - Orion #13: Dominion
37:29 - Marc #12: Through The Ages
37:36 - Pun 11
37:52 - Lindsay #12: Nidavellir
38:32 - Orion #12: Lisboa
38:58 - Marc #11: Brass Lancashire
39:18 - Lindsay #11: Pirate Tricks
40:00 - Orion #11: Fire in the Lake
40:12 - Marc #10: Dominion
40:26 - Lindsay #10: Great Western Trail
40:27 - Pun 12
40:54 - Pun 13
40:57 - Orion #10: not Falling Sky because he mistyped things, so honorable mention, #26: Imperial Struggle
41:11 - Marc #9: Space Alert
42:12 - Pun 14 (guest pun from Marc)
42:17 - Pun 15
42:25 - Lindsay recounts her brief musical career
43:21 - Lindsay #9: Roll for the Galaxy
43:34 - Orion #9: Here I Stand
44:19 - Marc #8: Mage Knight
45:17 - Lindsay #8: The Resistance
45:18 - Pun 16
45:30 - Pun 17
45:39 - Pun 18 (Orion takes a stab at the punning)
45:41 - Orion #8: Brass Lancashire
46:10 - Marc #7: The Resistance
46:57 - Lindsay #7: Pictomania
47:04 - Orion #7: Mage Knight
47:17 - Marc #6: Twilight Imperium
48:16 - Lindsay #6: Codenames Duet
50:02 - Orion #6: Through The Ages
50:18 - Marc #5: Gloomhaven
50:50 - Pun 19
51:40 - Lindsay #5: Decrypto
52:14 - Pun 20
52:45 - Orion #5: Dominant Species
52:54 - Pun 21
53:00 - Marc #4: Netrunner
53:56 - Lindsay #4: Dominion
54:59 - Pun 22
55:37 - Orion #4: Twilight Struggle
55:46 - Marc #3: Twilight Struggle
57:08 - Lindsay #3: Secret Hitler
57:42 - Pun 23
58:10 - Pun 24
58:15 - Orion #3: Twilight Imperium
58:44 - Marc #2: Dominant Species
1:00:35 - Lindsay #2: Brass Lancashire
1:00:37 - Pun 25
1:02:27 - Orion #2: Gloomhaven
1:02:37 - Marc/Orion #1: Spirit Island
1:03:27 - Pun 26
1:03:44 - Lindsay #1: Gloomhaven
1:06:06 - Pun 27
1:06:09 - Games that dropped off the list
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Friday Mar 18, 2022
Friday Mar 18, 2022
Marc, Orion, and Lindsay sit down to go over Marc's top games list, numbers 50-26. There are some big movers on this section of the list, even this high up, and a wide variety of games. Lindsay continues with the puns. Marc acknowledges them less. SPOILERS BELOW.
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1:30 - #50: 7 Wonders Duel
3:08 - #49: Roll for the Galaxy
3:32 - #48: A Distant Plain
6:17 - #47: Tak
7:28 - #46: Dune
9:52 - #45: Sidereal Confluence
10:31 - #44: Falling Sky
11:16 - #43: Sprawlopolis
12:42 - #42: Tzolk'in
13:50 - #41: Lost Cities
14:57 - #40: For Sale
18:18 - #39: Pulsar 2849
18:52 - #38: The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine
20:37 - #37: Stephenson's Rocket
21:19 - #36: Pax Pamir 2e
22:33 - #35: Terra Mystica
23:07 - #34: My City
25:50 - #33: The Field of the Cloth of Gold
28:10 - #32: Battlestar Galactica
28:55 - #31: Lisboa
29:07 - #30: Pipeline
30:23 - #29: Pictomania
31:51 - #28: Nusfjord
31:53 - #27: Agricola
33:30 - #26: 7 Wonders
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Friday Mar 11, 2022
Friday Mar 11, 2022
The countdown continues, with Marc, Marc, Lindsay, and Orion! SPOILERS BELOW
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0:42 - A peek behind the curtain
2:10 - #75: London 2e
3:32 - #74: Union Station
5:21 - #73: Empyreal Spells and Steam
8:03 - #72: Battle for Biternia
9:49 - #71: Harvest
11:40 - #70: Great Western Trail
12:24 - #69: Power Grid
12:56 - #68: 1828
16:21 - #67: Magnate: The First City
17:54 - #66: Brass: Birmingham
18:58 - #65: Tiny Towns
19:33 - #64: Pandemic Legacy S1
22:30 - #63: Downforce
23:40 - #62: Mysterium
23:58 - #61: El Grande
25:00 - #60: Nidavellir
26:15 - #59: Fog of Love
28:54 - #58: Robinson Crusoe
29:36 - #57: Catch the Moon
31:12 - #56: 1846
32:16 - #55: Pax Transhumanity
33:44 - #54: Innovation
34:18 - #53: Tokaido
34:41 - #52: Three Kingdoms Redux
35:48 - #51: 1822CA
37:03 - Surprises and reactions and a discussion about hashtags
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Saturday Mar 05, 2022
Saturday Mar 05, 2022
We're back! Marc, Marc, (that's not a typo) Lindsay, and Orion discuss the first quarter of Marc's top 100 games of all time. This segment contains both the newest and the oldest games on the entire list. SPOILERS BELOW.
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0:58 - Lindsay starts us off with a pun. More to come...
2:28 - Themes of this list (starts with "pan" and ends with "demic")
4:13 - #100: The Search For Planet X
6:38 - #99: The Estates
6:49 - #98: Smartphone Inc.
6:51 - #97: Q.E.
6:56 - Methodology
9:42 - #96: Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection
10:36 - #95: Decrypto
13:15 - #94: Forbidden Desert
15:03 - #93: The Gallerist
18:53 - #92: Die Macher
20:24 - #91: Churchill
20:38 - A terrible error! #92 was actually Galaxy Trucker. Die Macher is #91 and Churchill is #90. All responsible for this unprofessional lapse have been sacked.
26:24 - #89: The Crew: Mission Deep Sea
29:02 - #88: Go
29:52 - #87: Let's Make A Bus Route
30:18 - #86: Viticulture
32:27 - #85: Inis
34:16 - #84: For Science!
35:45 - #83: Babylonia
36:36 - #82: Son of Dr. Esker's Notebook
38:13 - #81: Sushi Go! Party
40:15 - #80: Star Wars Armada
41:29 - #79: Friday
42:37 - #78: Carcassonne
43:58 - #77: Imperial Struggle
46:18 - #76: Captain Sonar
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Friday Feb 04, 2022
Friday Feb 04, 2022
Amber and Marc talk about the best games of 2020. The pandemic slowed down game playing so we've delayed this episode a year to allow for more gaming before we declare what is the "best". We also look at the best games of 5, 10, and 20 years ago, because over-focusing on the new is detrimental for a number of reasons. Remember the great games of the past!
SPOILERS BELOW
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0:39 - Why 2020?
5:20 - Games I wasn't able to get to
6:33 - BGG's favorite games of 2020
11:33 - Honorable Mention: Clinic Deluxe
12:01 - Honorable Mention: Spirit Island: Jagged Earth
12:56 - Honorable Mention: Cat in the Box
14:20 - #5: The Search for Planet X
16:50 - #4: Imperial Struggle
22:01 - #3: Nidavellir
23:41 - #2: My City
28:40 - #1: The Field of the Cloth of Gold
33:28 - Why we're not only going to focus on the new
34:37 - Top games of 2015
34:54 - Honorable Mention: Through the Ages 2e
35:13 - #5: Mysterium
35:45 - #4: Pandemic Legacy Season 1
36:37 - #3: Churchill
39:14 - #2: Food Chain Magnate
40:07 - #1: Codenames
41:24 - Top games of 2010
41:39 - #3: Innovation
42:45 - #2: 7 Wonders
44:32 - #1: Dominant Species
45:29 - Top games of 2000
45:57 - #2: Carcassonne
48:18 - #1: Battle Line
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Saturday Jan 01, 2022
Saturday Jan 01, 2022
Just a quick announcement about some changes that'll be happening to the podcast and The Thoughtful Gamer generally going forward.
In short, I'm going to stop trying to force a new episode every 2 weeks and instead record episodes when I have a good topic or a good interview. First impressions stuff will shift towards video. Make sure to subscribe at thethoughtfulgamer.com to not miss any written features and reviews. Long-term I want to work on very in-depth, more formal podcast series. Right now that's a vague 2022 goal.
As always thanks for listening. I'm not going anywhere, just shifting focuses around.
Monday Dec 27, 2021
Monday Dec 27, 2021
Conventions are sort of back! Marc, Amber, Lindsay, and Orion drove down to Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago to go to one of the best board game conventions around, and they played tons of games! Marc's on the verge of a cold so his voice dropped half an octave and got real nasally. Some might say it's an improvement. Those people would be wrong.
0:26 - Comparing conventions
5:55 - Conspiracy: The Solomon Gambit
10:52 - Rise of the Metro
13:17 - 2Can
18:36 - Murano: Light Masters
21:41 - MicroMacro: Crime City
25:34 - The Estates
35:29 - Dinosaur World
40:50 - Lindsay's pun that no one seemed to notice
41:30 - Another pun attempt, this time more (or less?) successful
43:28 - Furnace
54:09 - Crokinole
57:41 - Salvage
1:03:30 - Nidavellir
1:12:05 - Q.E.
1:19:32 - Smartphone Inc.
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Sunday Nov 21, 2021
Sunday Nov 21, 2021
It's another chillcast, this time with Marc and Amber. It...well, it gets a bit silly. I'm sorry.
1:09 - Literally we talk about the weather
3:52 - Oceans
13:41 - Boardgames: The Board Game (The Card Game)
18:24 - The City
20:52 - Marc explains why Munchkin is no good
22:10 - Pulsar 2849
26:37 - Marc gets really into salad metaphors
29:46 - Dinosauria (but actually there's more talk about Splendor)
32:06 - Yet another food metaphor
33:14 - What is the most chill game?
37:21 - Back to the weather and, like, geography. I'm so sorry
41:34 - Looped right back around to Dinosauria
43:42 - Bat Flip
45:06 - Why the designated hitter rule is an abomination (also I somehow forgot about the existence of Shohei Othani and that one's on me)
53:00 - I mean it's basically a baseball podcast now
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Friday Nov 05, 2021
Friday Nov 05, 2021
Austin's enthusiasm for Robotech Reconstruction is plain to see (hear?) in this podcast. As one half of the Dr. Wictz design team, he's gone deep into the lore of this classic anime to create a fascinating game exploring its political and military settings. What emerges is a tense 90-120 minute asymmetric game clearly inspired by the COIN series but also distinct from it in service of the setting. Learn how he balanced a number of different tensions to design and sell this under-seen game.
0:56 - What is Robotech Reconstruction?
4:36 - A brief history of Robotech lore
23:26 - Turning the setting into game form
40:34 - Comparing Robotech Reconstruction and the COIN system
58:05 - Biggest design challenge
1:07:45 - The card trading mechanism
1:15:20 - The playtesting/promotion/preorder period
1:17:35 - The art
See more info and preorder here: https://strangemachinegames.com/robotech-reconstruction/
Dr. Wictz site: https://dr.wictz.com/
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Saturday Oct 23, 2021
Saturday Oct 23, 2021
Marc sits down with Jason Perez from Shelf Stories to talk about colonialism in board games. Along the way they also touch on social media, moral philosophy, and a couple of tangential rants, as is tradition.
0:30 - Jason's projects
9:25 - Critique of Puerto Rico
25:40 - Endeavor: Age of Sail and the challenge of moral consequences
30:50 - Marc's tangential rant about (and spoiling) The Last Duel
34:39 - Jason gets his own tangential rant in for good measure
38:50 - Recognizing the player's perspectives
41:33 - The way social media distorts our perspective
52:36 - Everyone seems to care more about hypocrisy than the issues
59:16 - What to do as a designer
1:05:16 - Fantasy/Sci-fi colonization games
1:08:24 - Cultivating a better community
Subscribe to Shelf Stories here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnaZ7055IWOdm8XCJfFRDcw
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.