Shelf Space

We bought a zoo! The gang plays Ark Nova, a game about building and managing competing zoos. Taylor talks about growing up as a "bug kid" and pitches yet another Wingspan spinoff game. Elena talks about raising tadpoles and petting wallabies.

Avast ye scallywags! The gang plays Tortuga 1667, a social deduction game about pirates and treasure. Graham goes on a heavily redacted tangent about shifts in the prestige television streaming space. Elena does her best impersonation of a human jukebox. Alex totally blacks out all of rules and setup, likely due to high levels of neuromicroplasticity. Taylor talks about cultivating and harvesting mass over the holidays, and Emma recalls her meatball burps.

I hate Mondays. The gang plays Patchwork, a tile placement game about quilt patches and buttons. Taylor talks about tetrominoes and Garfield. Elena talks about Coraline and Monster House.

Aloha! The gang plays Spirit Island, a cooperative settler-destruction strategy game. Elena goes off about congestion pricing in NYC. Alex talks about his tragic backstory as a child chess prodigy. Taylor suggests replacing tech interviews with seeing how well interns grok board game rules.

If it walks like a duck and it talks like a duck, it is probably from Quedlinburg. The gang plays The Quacks of Quedlinburg, a bag-builder, push-your-luck game about brewing potent potions. Elena talks about putting STEM boyfriends on PIPs. Taylor sounds super congested after a recent skirmish with COVID-19 and talks about shit about the Grammys. Lauren makes her podcast debut and talks about her struggles with the American healthcare system.

Welcome to the Taylor Show! The gang plays Scythe: Automa, an area control game that pits a single player against what could generously be called an AI. Taylor talks about the origins of the famed Cheese Phase. Taylor explains the rules using a clumsy Quidditch metaphor, which causes Taylor to lose his train of thought. Taylor talks about how much he likes being alone. Taylor has an existential crisis and Taylor struggles to maintain a consistent energy level. Taylor questions his life choice...

Fire Sale II: Electric Boogaloo! The gang rapid reviews another smörgåsbord of games pulled from Taylor's Shelf of Shame. Alex and Elena pull a Freaky Friday. Taylor drinks too much dragon brandy and struggles with basic math. Sam, Noah, and (another) Taylor all make their Shelf Space debut.

This podcast will self-destruct in 1 hour, 3 minutes, and 54 seconds. The gang plays Mind MGMT, an asymmetric hidden movement game based on a series of graphic novels with the same name. Emma and Elena discuss piercings, and Graham and Taylor share their childhood foot traumas [TRIGGER WARNING: FOOT GORE]. Alex reminisces about his time as a terminally online middle schooler. Taylor hides some subliminal messaging in the final edit.

XOXO. This Valentine's Day Taylor and Elena play Fog of Love, an appropriately themed two-player card game. Taylor talks shit about board game cafes and Elena lives out her fantasy of being some sort of nurse/ogre hybrid.

Time is a flat circle. The gang plays 7 Wonders - a game of wood, ore, clay brick, stone, glass, papyrus, and textiles - before ordering 70 chicken nuggets from [REDACTED]. Emma talks about getting hacked and Patrick brags about his password manager. Alex pitches Tic-tac-toe and Graham contemplates slurping a [REDACTED]. Taylor and Elena talk shit about all their teacher friends.

Fear is the mind-killer. The gang plays Dune: Imperium, a game of politics, intrigue, alliances, war, and worms. Alex brings up veganism completely unprompted. Taylor talks about the yummy silica gel packets and Elena plays an audio file. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shelf-space-podcast/message

The spice must flow. The gang plays Dune, a game of politics, intrigue, alliances, war, and worms. Graham and Emma negotiate the terms of their upcoming donut beer marathon. Alex and Taylor debate the differences between colonialism and imperialism. Elena calls out the British royal family. 00:00:00 Announcements 00:05:03 Preamble 00:12:56 Podcast proper 00:28:28 Not an ad for Huel 00:29:25 Ad-free content! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shelf-space-pod...

Fire Sale! Everything must go! The gang rapid reviews a smörgåsbord of games pulled from Taylor's Shelf of Shame. Elena talks about non-taxable fringe benefits, and Alex gets a crash course on the hit TV show Friends. Graham shows up late and has a bad time. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shelf-space-podcast/message

Word up! The gang plays Wonderword, a word game only slightly more complicated than Hangman. Elena, Patrick, and his current fiancée (then-girlfriend) Natalie discuss the NYT Spelling Bee. Taylor narrowly prevents Alex from intentionally leaking his real Social Security Number on air and Graham shows up day drunk and late. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shelf-space-podcast/message

Blast from the past! The gang plays Food Chain Magnate, a game that harkens back to a "simpler" time: the 1950s. Welcome to a world rife with burgers, pizza, capitalism, and labor violations. Taylor and Kate talk about Dutch Christmas traditions, Elena starts a waitress Ponzi scheme, and Alex and Graham discuss dead-end jobs, hiring, and more importantly firing employees. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shelf-space-podcast/message

The gang plays Cyclades, a game about Greek gods, mythological monsters, and passive income. Taylor and Graham discuss compression algorithms, mutual exclusion, and Jon Hamm, while Elena and Kate woman-splain zaddies. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shelf-space-podcast/message

It's New Year's Eve 2022 and the gang is playing Acquire. The code monkeys (Taylor, Alex, and Graham) are joined by a future lawyer (Kate) and a padawan actuary (Patrick) to discuss mergers, acquisitions, poison pills, and the cinematography of Quentin Tarantino. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shelf-space-podcast/message

Taylor discusses Agricola with his vegan friend Alex and his roommate Elena. Links Agricola Lost Ruins of Arnak Puerto Rico Agricola... after starving yourself two days--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shelf-space-podcast/message

Move over Monopoly, there's a new game in town. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shelf-space-podcast/message