Board Game Homies

In episode 39, we review Weather Machine by Vital Lacerda and published by Eagle-Gryphon Games! First, we chat about what is bringing us joy: Galactic Cruise, Kinfire Council, Lightning Train, and Brightcast.Weather Machine is a crunchy, crunchy game for 2-4 players (a Solo mode is included with the Upgrade Pack). The players are scientists working with Professor Lativ to refine his weather machine in order to take control of the planet’s weather. Unfortunately, the initial design of Professor Lativ’s weather machine caused a “butterfly effect” when used, which improved weather locally but worsened it elsewhere on the planet. The government has stepped in to help you and Professor Lativ improve the weather machine by providing subsidies and assisting with extreme weather events caused by running the prototype. Players maneuver between Supply, the Government’s Weather Machine, Lativ’s Lab, and R&D. Each space requires area specific resources to take the corresponding action(s). Efficiently manage your vouchers, robots, and machine parts and publish your findings regarding the weather machine, and you may just become known as the savior of the world.We’re three Lacerda’s in now, and all three games land a bit differently for each of us. We do agree Weather Machine’s theme is the most abstract compared to Lisboa and Kanban EV, and that does make it a bit harder to grasp. We’re looking forward to our next play!Get to know us @ ⁠https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies⁠ Timestamps:00:33 - Galactic Cruise06:00 - Kinfire Council9:34 - Lightning Train 15:13 - Brightcast18:36 - Weather Machine Introduction and How to Play22:45 - Production, Components, and Artwork36:25 - Gameplay55:12 - Final Thoughts1:04:15 - Who is this game for?

In episode 38, we create starting collections with various budgets: $100, $250, $350, and $500! Angela’s brother’s experience of diving into a board game collection from scratch inspired this topic. We all approached our lists a bit differently: beginner friendly games, wide representation of mechanics, foundational games, and the games that bring our friends joy and inspire them to purchase for themselves.Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies Board games and happiness are free at the link in bio00:53 Capital Lux 2 Generations03:36 Yokai Septet08:35 Acquire11:35 Rumble Nation 14:30 Molly House17:30 Starter Collection Introduction19:44 Angela’s $100 Starter Collection 24:57 Reed’s $250 Starter Collection 33:31 Gillean’s $350 Starter Collection 40:19 Becky’s $500 Starter Collection

In episode 37, we review Patchwork and A Feast for Odin in Polyominoes Part 1! First, we chat about what is bringing us joy: Sea Salt & Paper: Extra Pepper, Ptolemy, the Board Game Community speaking out, and Brightcast.Patchwork and A Feast for Odin are both Uwe Rosenberg games, and they differ quite a bit in their complexity (1.60/5 and 3.86/5, respectively, on BGG.) Patchwork is a 2-player game in which players are attempting to complete a quilt - or get as much done as they can.  A Feast for Odin plays 1-4 players, and it is a saga in which players seek to make their viking clan prosper.Why are we discussing these two games together and including such a beefy game in Polyominoes Part 1? Interestingly, Patchwork came from the design process of A Feast for Odin as Uwe explored income from covering up spaces and printing the cost on the tiles (check out “An Interview with Uwe Rosenberg” by Lest My Opinions go Unheard to learn more!) They’re also the only two Uwe polyominoes all four of us have played together.We all love a polyomino game, and we’re very excited to finally be kicking off this sporadic series with two solid games.Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies 00:53 - Ptolemy03:11 - Sea Salt & Paper: Extra Pepper (with a tangent on Alpine Spice [not a game])08:32 - Board Game Community Speaking Out15:30 - Brightcast18:01 - Patchwork31:60 - A Feast for Odin

In Episode 36, we discuss games published in 2023! We don’t feel like we’ve played enough 2023 games to create a collective top 10 list, however, we do talk about our collective top 3 games, games we still want to play, games that didn’t live up to the hype, and games we played but didn’t love. This week, we turned last pod’s bonus episode into a full episode as the original recording ran longer than a game of Great Western Trail New Zealand, and, with Reed being our #1 listener, we had to sheer our time. We hope this helps, Reed! Extra bonus–Gillean keeps us (mostly) on the rails as our host.Extra extra bonus–Angela shames Malcolm for being bootylicious so we’re boosting his confidence with this week’s episode announcement on instagram.Find Malcolm on our instagram @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies

In Episode 35, we’re finally tackling games published in 2024! We start with a cumulative top 10 (the points are made up, but we’re trusting Angela’s calculations) and roll into an analysis of our individual lists, games that surprised us, and games that didn’t live up to the hype.  Our individual top 10 lists varied quite a bit, but we all saw a similar theme emerge. Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies 00:38 How did we create this list and how many 2024 games have we played?1:24: Notable 2024 games we did not play and the games we still want to play7:25 Explanation of how we get to our Collective Top 1008:16 Game #1010:57 Game #9 and #8 - they tied!17:10 Game #721:28 Game #6 and #5 - Another tie!28:20 Game #431:57 Game #334:36 Game #240:46 Game #143:35 Fun Facts about our lists49:44 Things that surprised us about our collective and individual lists54:08 Games that did not live up to the hype (Was there a game published in 2024 that did not live up to the hype for you?

In episode 34, we review Galactic Cruise by Kinson Key Games! First, we chat about the games that are bringing us joy: Rumble Nation, Gin Rummy, Ahoy!, and Dominion. Galactic Cruise is a game for 1-4 players with an expected 90-150 minute playing time. Designing and manufacturing a cruise ship, advertising and catering to guests, and managing the company and our own reputations, we discuss bumping workers, refusing to help our friends, and the value of completing company goals in this worker placement game. Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomiesTimestamps:00:44 Rumble Nation02:40 Gin Rummy04:06 Ahoy6:08 Dominion10:20 Description and rules of Galactic Cruise12:32 Components, box, art/design, the rulebook, etc21:07 Game play50:30 Who is this game for?56:34 Final thoughts

In Episode 33, we review Endeavor: Deep Sea by Burnt Island Games and Grand Gamers Guild! To start off the episode, we talk about what’s bringing us joy: Crokinole, Trick & Snipers, the Tokyo Game Market, and Cyclades: Legendary Edition.In Endeavor: Deep Sea, players head individual research institutes with the goal of having the most beneficial effect on the world’s oceans. Over the course of six rounds, players will assemble a crew of specialists to explore the ocean, research dive sites, publish scientific Journals, and conduct conservation efforts. Many of these actions will advance their institute’s attributes (Reputation, Inspiration, Coordination, and Ingenuity) and directly influence their ability to recruit team members, how much effort their team can exert, how efficiently their team functions, and the technological efficiency of their scientific vessels. All of this effort is exerted and attributes advanced in the pursuit of meeting scenario-specific Goals and creating the most positive Impact on the ocean. Be the most efficient at developing your institute and adapting to the scenario, and you’ll succeed in this endeavor–just as Endeavor: Deep Sea has in the homies’ hearts. Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies

In Episode 32, we discuss our collective Shelf of Shame! To start off the episode, we chat about the games that are bringing us joy: Love Letter: Batman, Spire’s End: Hildegard, Endeavor: Deep Sea, and lower Tariffs in the U.S. which means… Kickstarter notifications.With so many unplayed games on our shelves, we decided to submit our individual top 5 most-excited-to-play games to Angela to secretly rank them. Angela reveals our collective top 4 games, and we discuss the state of our shelves and how we got to this point. Excitement, regret, shame, hope, and joy… all of these emotions describe how we feel about our shelves of shame. We’re past calling them shelves of opportunity as our unplayed game count keeps ticking up this year; we knew we needed to talk about it, and one of us may have been feeling like they needed to confess. 👀 Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies 

In Episode 31, we review Root by Leder Games! To start off the episode, we chat about the games that are bringing us joy: Moon Colony Bloodbath, The Search for Planet X, Neko Syndicate, Kabuki Tricks, and Joyride.Deep in the woodlands, an adorable and ruthless war is waging between Marquise de Cat and the creatures of the forest. As the Woodland Alliance spreads sympathy to unite all against the oppressive cats, the Eyrie Dynasties are rebuilding their forces and roosts to take back the forest. The vagabond? They’re out for themselves swaying between aiding or harming the other factions while collecting all of the things. As the war continues, new factions are moving in: the Lizard Cult fills the forest with whispers of the Dragon God, the Riverfolk Company are quickly establishing trade routes to supply the demands of the battling factions, and the Lord of the Hundreds are swarming in and hoarding any and all items they can find to make them stronger. Grounded in the Law of Root with well timed back-stabbing, only one faction–well, unless a vagabond has decided to form a coalition then it will be two–will rule the woodlands! The homies enjoy this asymmetric war game and still have much more to discover–but will there ever be time???Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies

In episode 30, we review Furnace by Hobby World and Arcane Wonders. To start off the episode, we chat about the games that are bringing us joy and discuss tariffs in the US and how they are intersecting with the board game world, including how they are impacting our FLGS. As we discuss in the episode, the tariffs have been ever changing, and, though we recorded less than three days ago, it was just announced this morning that there is another 90 day pause in tariffs, and the overall tariffs on Chinese goods has been reduced from 145% to 30%. If you are uninterested in the tariff conversation or if it’s a little too much right now, you can skip the conversation (timestamps: 12:05-34:40.) The games bringing us joy are: Taluva, Stonespine Architects, Sea Salt & Paper, and Deep Regrets.Furnace is an engine-builder played over 4 rounds, each with 2 phases: auction and production. Each player has 4 bidding discs numbered 1-4, a starting company, and a start-up card. During the auction, players place their discs to either win company cards or gain compensation. After all cards from the auction have been processed, each player works through their company cards, activating production and/or processing materials to ultimately produce the most money to win the game. Although a bit of a “multi-player solitude” game–as Angela likes to say–we all enjoy this game and appreciate the 45 minute play time. Though–one of us may already be questioning how long we’ll want to keep it in the collection. Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies 

In Episode 29, we review the Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated. To start off the episode, we chat about the games that are bringing us joy: Bus (1999), The Guild of Merchant Explorers, Tales of Arthurian Knights, and Torchlit.Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated expands upon the deck-building of Clank!, incorporating legacy-style gameplay. Players will found their franchise of the legendary adventuring company, Acquisitions Incorporated, and shepherd their fledgling treasure-hunters to immortal glory over the course of multiple games by shaping events that transpire before them. The game board, deck, and world of Clank! changes as players make decisions throughout individual games, creating a unique campaign tailored to your adventuring party. Be cunning, be bold, and most importantly, be ready… Unless you’re Reed, in which case, you just watch Angela destroy your hopes and dreams.Join us on our (largely) spoiler-free adventure and explore the world of Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated.Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies

In episode 28, we discuss games we played [mostly] once. We all try to play a new game multiple times to better form our opinions, but, sometimes, the judgement is strong and once is enough. For these games, the gameplay or theme wasn’t interesting, we felt like we saw everything there was to see, or the game did not fit the gaming group. However, it isn’t all one and done–some of the games we bring up are games we couldn’t stop thinking about after the first play. We also revisit a few of our previous joy games that are no longer bringing us joy. Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies 

In episode 27, we review Rebel Princess and Fishing. To start off the episode, we chat about our Board Game Homie Weekend on the coast and what brought us joy: Brass: Birmingham, Daybreak, Nerdz Day Sale, and Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated. Rebel Princess is a trick taking game that takes place over five rounds. Each player selects a Princess (each with their own special once-per-round ability) and attempts to avoid princes like the plague at the party. Just like Hearts, players must follow, and there is no trump suit. At the end of each round, count your proposals (number of prince cards and the dreaded frog prince that counts for five proposals) and add those points to your score. Collect every prince AND the frog, and you’ll score -10 points. At the end of the game, the player with the least amount of points wins! Fishing is a trick taking game that takes place over eight rounds. Each player has a boat and a fishing net; during the round, you catch each card you won in a trick (or snatched from playing a zero) and add them to your net. At the end of the round, each card in your net is worth a point and then are shuffled and added to the bottom of any cards already on your boat. At the beginning of the next round, you draw cards from your boat deck to fill your hand. If you ever aren’t able to completely fill your hand, you get to supplement from the Ocean deck; the Ocean deck has more valuable cards and introduces the trump suit. The player with the most points at the end of the eighth round wins!We’ve been having fun exploring trick takers (Angela and Gillean’s collections have been exploding in growth!) and getting to discuss what we enjoy and dislike about the two. While we enjoyed both of these games, our levels of enjoyment vary for each. Connect with us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies 

In episode 26, we review Finspan by Stonemaier Games. To start off the episode, we chat about the games that are bringing us joy: The Guild of Merchant Explorers, Root, Arcs, and Baseball Highlights: 2045.You are a marine researcher seeking to observe aquatic life at different depths of the world’s seas and oceans over the course of four weeks, or in-game rounds. To do so, you’ll be exploring three different dive sites that specialize in different aspects of expanding your research: growing the collection of fish, discovering freshly laid eggs, and hatching eggs into young and consolidating to form schools of fish. Each dive site grants resources that will allow you to discover fish by providing their needed provisions or conditions, which could include discarding cards from hand, discarding eggs, and/or consuming young fish or other shorter fish in the ocean. Complete end-of-week objectives and keep discovering fish to become the most successful marine researcher!The homies have now played all three games in the Wingspan universe, and we each rank them differently!Connect with us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies 

In episode 25, we celebrate our one year anniversary of the pod! We chat about how we all met, the games and mechanics we love, hobbies we enjoy outside of board games, and all of the joy in between. Thanks for engaging in board game conversations and BGA games with us over the past year!Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies

In episode 24, we review Lisboa by Eagle-Gryphon Games. To start off the episode, we chat about the games that are bringing us joy: Hansa Teutonica, Let’s Go! To Japan, Compile: Main 1, and…learning the rules.On November 1, 1755, Lisboa suffered an earthquake of an estimated magnitude of 8.5–9.0, followed by a tsunami and three days of fires that almost completely destroyed the city. Players take on the role of influential nobles who will help in the reconstruction and economic development of the city to receive graces from the King and the Marquis. You will work with the architects to build Lisboa anew, with the Marquis to develop commerce, and with the King to open buildings–all in the pursuit of gaining influence and the most important thing of all: wigs.Connect with us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies

In episode 23, we review SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence by Czech Games Edition (CGE.) To start off the episode, we chat about the games that are bringing us joy: Cities, Creature Caravan, Viticulture Essential Edition, and Star Tycoon. In SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, scientific institutions set their sights beyond planet Earth in the search for extraterrestrial life. Through landing on planets, scanning distant star systems for signals, and analyzing collected data, players will detect traces of life and eventually discover an alien species. Conduct further research into the alien species, effectively utilize your resources (including multi-use cards - one of our favorite aspects of SETI!), and accomplish milestones to establish your institution as the one to make the most significant contributions to understanding alien life within our galaxy. Another visually stunning game by CGE! We’ve had some interesting plays of this game, and we’re looking forward to more.  And it’s not beige! @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies 

In episode 22, we review Dune: Imperium and Dune: Imperium - Uprising by DireWolfDigital and discuss our first, second, and third impressions of the game. To start off the episode, we chat about the games that are bringing us joy: SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, Castle Combo, Cities, and nana: Christmas Edition. Vying for dominance of Arrakis, the leaders of the Great Houses of the Landsraad manipulate resources and their political influence to control the spice to control the universe. Through worker placement and deck building, each leader sends Agents across Dune to gather water, solari, and spice while crafting alliances with the four major Factions, sending units to the Conflict, and gaining persuasion. Beware of spies helping your rivals, disruptions in plans from intrigue cards, and sandworms joining the Conflict; don’t start celebrating your win too soon. We love Dune, and, surprisingly, we all come to the same conclusion on which game comes out ahead.  The spice must flow, and this podcast [usually] does too. Find us on Instagram ⁠@boardgamehomies

In episode 21, we discuss Flip 7 by The Op Games and Captain Flip by PlayPunk–but, first,–we chat about our New Year’s board game resolutions! Unsurprisingly, we all want to play more games.  Self proclaimed: “the greatest card game ever,” Flip 7 is a push your luck party game! Keep flipping cards for the chance of more points AND the risk of busting. First person to 200 points wins! This game is fun, fast, and fliptastic. Just like… Captain Flip! Another push your luck game but with tiles instead of cards. Plus, there are pirates! Each turn, pull a tile from the bag, consider the revealed side, and flip it if you don’t like it. Through various pirate abilities, collect the most coins without busting to win! The game end is triggered once four of the five columns have been filled by one player.  Find us on Instagram ⁠@boardgamehomies

In Episode 20, we celebrate our year of gaming together by focusing on games that were new to us in 2024! We start with a cumulative top 5 (the points are made up, and we’re trusting Angela’s calculations) and roll into rapid(ish)-fire questions to share our individual opinions on our least and most favorite plays of the year, favorite expansions, most interesting mechanics, games we were wrong about, best two player game…and more! Find us on Instagram ⁠@boardgamehomies and let us know about your year in gaming!