Current Plays

This week on Current Plays, Jordan and Thomas descend into the shadowy depths of Warhammer Underworlds: Nethermaze, where blades flash, ghosts wail, and victory is as fleeting as a skaven’s courage. Thomas commands Skittershank’s Clawpack—swift, sneaky, and just a bit stabby—while Jordan leads Lady Harrow’s Mournflight, drifting through walls and dreams alike with eerie elegance.The hosts trade blows and banter in equal measure, marvelling at how Nethermaze blends razor-sharp tactics with deck-driven chaos. They chat about how every activation feels like a duel of wits, how the setting drips with dark atmosphere and compare this streamlined version of the Warhammer universe with its larger cousin. It’s a haunting, hilarious, and heart-pounding clash beneath the Mortal Realms—where the dead don’t rest, and the skaven don’t stop scheming.

Hear ye, hear ye! Gather ‘round the podcast hearth, noble listeners, for this week on Current Plays, Sir Jordan and Sir Thomas taketh up their quests in Tales of the Arthurian Knights. In this most wondrous game of adventure and fortune, our gallant hosts dost wander through the lands of Camelot, meeting maidens fair, dragons foul, and many a fate most strange.Verily, their latest play did bring such mirth and merriment that they could scarcely read the storybook for laughing most heartily! ‘Tis not a game of conquest nor crowns, but of tales well told and memories forged in jest and joy. For in Tales of the Arthurian Knights, victory mattereth little—’tis the journey, the fellowship, and the folly that maketh legends endure.So don thy cloak, sharpen thy wit, roll thy dice, and join us at the Round Table once more. Huzzah!

This week on Current Plays, Jordan and Thomas warp through space-time with Anachrony from Mindclash Games - a sprawling, cerebral sci-fi masterpiece that proved time travel can actually work on the tabletop. Designed by Dávid Turczi and the Mindclash team, this one’s part worker placement, part paradox management, and all brain burn.The hosts dive into how Anachrony nails its impossible theme of time travel by borrowing resources from the future, but needing to pay them back on future turns or risk tearing reality apart. It's a game that set our hosts on a long-term love affair with both the designer and publisher. With sleek exosuits, branching timelines, and enough temporal tension to make a Vulcan raise an eyebrow, Anachrony is a heavy euro that perfectly marries mechanics with an impossible theme.Boldly go where no worker has gone before!

The mechs are marching once again! Bringing the weird for October, this week on Current Plays, Jordan and Thomas venture into Expeditions by Stonemaier Games and strap in for the Gears of Corruption expansion. This twist on the Scythe universe adds even more depth, danger, and delightful decision-making.They talk about how the corrupted gears move the tempo of play in a great direction. The changes that this expansion brings are all winners and take Expeditions from great to greater! sharpening what was already a strong design. It’s everything they love about a Stonemaier title, wound tight and running smooth.

Class is in session on Current Plays! This week, Jordan and Thomas don their academic robes for Alma Mater from Eggertspiel, a brainy euro where you’re not just running a university, you’re shaping the very curriculum of the Renaissance. Recruiting professors, publishing books, attracting the best students… it’s all here, wrapped in colourful production and crunchy mechanisms.The hosts chat about how tight the economy feels, the struggle of keeping on top of everything, and which parts of the design really earn top marks. It’s equal parts lecture hall and brainy brawl, and by the end of the episode, only one dean will graduate with honours. Veni, Vidi, Valedictorian.

This week on Current Plays, Jordan and Thomas step through a portal into the elemental realms with Dwellings of Eldervale. Designed by Luke Laurie, this game smashes together two genres you wouldn’t expect to share a table: euro-style worker placement and “dudes-on-a-map” fantasy brawling. The result? A magical mess that somehow makes perfect sense.From carefully managing resources to summoning dragons and waging epic battles, every turn feels like a tug-of-war between brains and bravado. The hosts chat about how the design balances its euro roots with ameritrash flair, why the fantasy theme sings, and how the plethora of player factions makes every game unique. It’s a game where your meeples can build cozy little dwellings one moment and get eaten by a Dread Crocodile the next—and honestly, that’s the kind of chaos we’re here for.

Gather ye ‘round the base of Mount Olympus and get ready to wage war in Ancient Greece! In this episode of Current Plays, we dive into Cyclades: Legendary Edition, where gaining the favour of the Gods is the only way to win. The auction-style bidding system steals the spotlight, forcing players to outwit and outspend each other for divine favour. Jordan and Thomas learned the hard way that a 2-player game feels more like a skirmish than a saga—but with four at the table, the Gods truly smiled upon us. Epic clashes, dramatic bids, and some surprise attacks made it one for the legends. Truly, the Muses themselves came down from Mount Helicon to deliver inspiration for this heroic epic!

Pack your specimen jars and polish your spectacles because it’s time for an expedition in the Galápagos! In this episode of Current Plays, Jordan and Thomas set sail with Darwin’s Journey and quickly discover it’s survival of the sharpest mind. They gush over the game’s top-notch design, delight in its intricate mechanisms, and admit that every choice feels like a real evolutionary challenge. It’s brains over brawn, strategy over luck, and definitely one of those plays that proves natural selection favours the best board gamer.

This week on Current Plays, we journey into Middle-earth with The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship. The hosts dive into what was done right with this iteration of two large properties, from its thematic immersion to clever systems. But trouble stirs in Mordor as our adventurous hosts also unpack their ongoing frustration with the Pandemic system, dissecting why it drags down the otherwise great experience for them. Is this Fellowship worth joining, or does the Pandemic system drag this game down like a falling Balrog?

This week your hosts tackled Æterna, by Martin Wallace and published by Ares Games. Vie for power in ancient Rome by conquering distant lands to bring back spoils and build buildings for the people, but too much wealth and power will incur the wrath of those people! Check out our thoughts on this weighty euro.

This week, Jordan and Thomas discuss the 2023 sensation Dune: Imperium - Uprising, by Paul Dennen, and published by Dire Wolf. Dune: Imperium - Uprising is a worker placement and deck-building game based on the Dune IP. Its thematic elements and excellent design make it one of the best games in our collections.

Your intrepid hosts Thomas and Jordan discuss their current play of Tiletum. The European Renaissance game of trading and cathedral building. This time, at 3 players! Wow!

The Current Plays Podcast is back! In this episode, Jordan and Thomas discuss their recent play of Lost Ruins of Arnak with the Lost Expedition expansion - Co-op Campaign style!

The Hosts discuss getting value out of games with repeated plays, solo games vs. games as a social activity, hobby time, and board game expansions. In our Other Plays, Jordan and Thomas focus on Dorfromantik, 7 Wonders Duel, and Rhino Hero. For our Current Plays, we discuss It's a Wonderful Kingdom, The White Castle, Trickerion: Legends of Illusion, and we revisit Near and Far. Please give us a rating and review to help the show get noticed. If you'd like to support us even further, you can buy us a coffee at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ko-fi.com/currentplays⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or if you think you might want to purchase any of the games we discuss, consider buying them through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠affiliate links here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, which gives a small percentage to the show, but doesn't cost you any extra. You can also find us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://currentplayspodcast.wixsite.com/currentplays⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Timestamps: Other Plays: 0:59:05 - Dorfromantik 1:06:45 - 7 Wonders Duel 1:10:14 - Rhino Hero Current Plays: 1:21:15 - It's a Wonderful Kingdom 2:10:28 - The White Castle 2:46:00 - Trickerion: Legends of Illusion 3:30:11 - Near and Far

For May, 2024. Jordan kicks it off with an exclamation of just how good X-Men '97 is (it really is), Dune, and how they relate to crowdfunding of board games. In our Other Plays, Thomas discusses Gloomhaven: Buttons and Bugs, and Jordan discusses Mother of Frankenstein. Our Current Plays includes Grand Austria Hotel (1:03:24), Unmatched (2:05:00), Tiletum (2:50:52), and last, but not least, Iki (3:39:32).

For April 2024, this episode is jam packed with our plays from March and April including Zavandor, The Hobbit, Forest Shuffle, Dice Thorne Adventures, 20 Strong, and Legacy of Yu! Thomas also mentions several games he claims are not worth mentioning. We end off the episode with our plays of Concordia Venus and Res Arcana.

Your intrepid hosts Jordan and Thomas discuss their time at this year's BreakOut Con in Toronto, including lots of games like Ex Libris, Sobek: 2 Players, Wizards of the Grimoire, Trekking through History, Brass: Birmingham, The Fox Experiment, Battle Tech, and Tiletum.

Jordan and Thomas banter about their thoughts on player elimination and players bending their interpretation of rules. Other plays includes discussions of Dorf Romantik, Monopoly Deal, Horrified: Greek Monsters, and It's a Wonderful Kingdom. Current Plays: 1:16:20 - Age of Innovation 1:53:40 - Wyrmspan

For January 2024 The guys don't have many Other Plays this episode, but manage to fill 40 minutes of banter anyway. Then it's app assisted game Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth, followed by an oldie-but-a-goodie, Viticulture, Essential Edition. Then the guys take a break from games to discuss the merits of hexagonal shaped tables. Exciting, right!? The episodes caps off with the first of the Eric Lang/Adrian Smith/CMON trilogy: Blood Rage and the new re-implementation of a modern classic: Dune Imperium: Uprising. Time Stamps: Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth: 0:40:05 Viticulture, Essential Edition: 1:16:43 Blood Rage: 2:14:30 Dune Imperium: Uprising: 3:03:40

For December 2023 we have a special episode with our first guest. We have the distinct honour of a sit-down and chat with Mr. Jamey Stegmaier of Stonemaier Games! What a way to wrap up 2023! We open the episode with a talk about Jordan's new additions to his collection for the Christmas season. Thomas's additions closely follow this. We switch gears into discussing the fear of missing out (FOMO) in our hobby. Jamey joins us at this point for a visit. After the visit, Thomas gives us an update on the 365 Challenge. We then begin to chat about Thomas's other plays including Battleline, MicroMacro: Crime City, Dragon Realm, and Werewolves. This other plays is capped off with a small talk on Lost Ruins of Arnak: The Missing Expedition. After 40 minutes of chatter, Jorden is able to talk about his other plays including Ticket to Ride, Mandala, Sagrada, and a highlight of Lacuna. Near the end of the banter, we discuss our Board Game Stats Year in review before switching into a talk about the games we reviewed this year. Finally, it's time for our Current Plays Libertalia and Voidfall! Timestamps: 4:15 - Jordan's Christmas Haul 11:40 - Thomas's Addition to His Collection 12:58 - FOMO in Our Hobby 29:06 - Jamey Stegmaier Visit 1:06:50 - An Update to the 365 Challenge 1:07:40 - Thomas's Other Plays 1:24:40 - Lost Ruins of Arnak: The Missing Expedition 1:31:21 - Jordan's Other Plays 1:53:00 - Board Game Stats Year in Review 2:15:20 - End of the Year Favourite Reviewed Games 2:26:30 - Current Plays