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We're piling ingredients into a soup as we playanother trick-taking game but this time it's a Knizia game! What twists in the genre do we have in store? Will we make delicious soups? Games Mentioned: Foodie Forest, Masters of Maple Syrup, Puerto Rico, Race for the Galaxy, Tichu, Haggis, Ruins, Relationship Tightrope, Tarot, Poison, No Thanks!, Take 5 Episode Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:57 - What We Played This Week: Masters of Maple Syrup 04:15 - Foodie Forest Release History & How Does It Work? 11:45 - Foodie Forest: Our Thoughts 14:59 - Foodie Forest: Is it a Trick Taking Game? 21:30 - The Suits and the Special Cards 23:57 - Aha Moments 28:53 - Version History 31:33 - Next Week Teaser // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Samm Ruppersberger

This week we take a look at your opponents cards but NOT our own in a newly uncovered Shinzawa trick taking feat: LUZ. Games Mentioned: LUZ, Hygge, Photograph, Coffee Roaster, Get On Board, Hanabi, Ghosts of Christmas, 9 Lives, No Loose Ends, Bomb Busters, Xylotar, Wizard, Skull King, Spades, Lost Cities, Beowulf: The Movie Board Game Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 00:54 - What We Played This Week: Hygge 07:00 - LUZ release history 08:24 - LUZ: How Does It Work? 13:30 - LUZ: Our Thoughts and Comparisons 17:10 - Luke’s Aha Moments 20:55 - Mechanism Discussion: Escalating Scoring 30:25 - Chris’ Aha Moment 32:58 - Final Thoughts 34:39 - Next Week Teaser // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Samm Ruppersberger

We've uncovered another Taiki Shinzawa gem! This time we're planning and pulling off a heist and then hiding the evidence through trick taking! Surprise! Games Mentioned: No Loose Ends, Shut the Books, Spades, Wizard, Skull King, Sluff Off!, Skat, Bridge, The Crew, Euchre, Hearts, dnup, Scout, 9 Lives, Ghosts of Christmas, Fives, Cat in the Box, Jekyll vs. Hyde, The Fox in the Forest, Sail Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 02:21 - No Loose Ends: How Does it Work? 09:29 - General Discussion and Trick Taking Game Comparisons 13:35 - Variants 15:57 - Theme 20:22 - Aha Moments 24:50 - Shinzawa Trick Takers 32:52 - The Two Player Game 36:53 - Next Week Teaser // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Samm Ruppersberger

This week we are entering an Age of War and talking Risk Express and its various incarnations as well as its link to the Cthulhu co-op dice game Elder Sign. Games Mentioned: Risk Express, Camarades: La Bombe ext., Elder Sign, Hasbro Express Games, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Pick-omino, Farkle, Gang of Dice, Official Risk Games Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 05:36 - Risk Express: Versions and History 07:00 - Risk Express: How Does it Work? 12:24 - Risk Express: Our Thoughts 18:14 - Risk Express: Comparisons and Aha Moments 24:47 - Risk Express: Variants & Expansion 27:53 - Elder Sign Discussion and Comparison 34:21 - Official Risk Games & Camarades Release Discussion 40:18 - Next Week Teaser // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Samm Ruppersberger

It's the last episode in our The Hobbit series (for now...) as we discuss the new-ish roll & write-ish path building-ish game: The Hobbit: There and Back Again! We also wrap-up the series and discuss the games with our beloved Win, Lose, or Banana segment. Games Mentioned: The Hobbit: There and Back Again, Monopoly, Clue, The Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation, LOTR: The Card Game, LOTR: Trick Takers, Duel for Middle-earth, LOTR: Fate of the Fellowship, The Hobbit: The Defeat of Smaug, The Hobbit Card Game, Beast, The Hobbit Adventure Boardgame, The Hobbit Deck-Building Game, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Das Kartenspiel, Railroad Ink, Welcome To, My City, Hanami, Rebirth, Welcome to the Moon, My City: Roll & Build Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 00:34 - The Hobbit & IP Games Discussion 07:00 - The Hobbit: There and Back Again - How Does it Work? 17:35 - Solo Mode 19:57 - The Different Maps and the Draft 24:01 - Aha Moments 28:28 - Reception 31:41 - Comparisons 33:57 - The Hobbit Series Wrap-up & Our Win Lose Bananas 45:53 - Next Week Teaser // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Samm Ruppersberger

It's a two game doozy this week as we discuss the board game adaptations of the film adaptations of The Hobbit. How does it compare to Knizia's other co-operative Tolkien adaptation? And why is there no third game? Listen and find out! Games Mentioned: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Beyond the Sun, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Gang of Dice, Excape, Risk Express, Elder Sign Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 01:00 - Box Damage Discussion 06:42 - The Hobbit: AUJ&TDoS: How Does it Work? 13:14 - Victory Points, Quarterbacking and Dice Mechanisms 24:07 - Production, Art and Iconography 27:41 - Stand-alone Sequels and the Cancelled Third Game 33:51 - Comparisons 37:58 - Aha Moments 47:47 - Next Week Teaser // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Samm Ruppersberger

We're returning to Middle-Earth! This time we're playing Knizia's 2010 competitive-ish game: The Hobbit! Games Mentioned: The Hobbit, Take 5, Candy Land, Relationship Tightrope, Dark Moon, Quacks, Pandemic, The Lord of the Rings Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 01:29 - The Hobbit: How Does it Work? 07:00 - The Hobbit Discussion: Variants, Our Play and Game Comparisons 17:05 - Aha Moments 22:47 - The Hobbit Discussion: Mechanisms and Further Comparisons 31:01 - Guess the Games: John Howe Art 38:24 - Next Week Teaser // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Samm Ruppersberger

On the final episode of our Wolfgang Warsch in 2018 series we discuss the oft-forgotten dice comparison cooperative game about escaping lava: Fuji! Games Mentioned: Fuji, Tatsu, Forbidden Island, Gang of Dice, Sky Team, The Gang, Pandemic, The Crew, Family - Country: Japan, Win, Lose, or Banana, That’s Pretty Clever, Illusion, The Mind, Brikks, Quacks Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 00:49 - What We Played This Week: Tatsu 05:40 - Fuji: How Does it Work? 08:26 - Fuji: Discussion, Variants and Our Play 26:07 - Aha Moments, Variants and Difficulty Scaling 33:15 - Guess the Games Game: Japan Games 39:34 - Fuji Final Thoughts and Wolfgang Warsch 2018 Series Debrief 45:53 - Next Week Teaser // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Samm Ruppersberger

Luke and Chris are feeling pretty clever this week as they discuss another dice drafting roll & write masterpiece(??) in the penultimate Wolfgang-Warsch-2018-designed-game episode. Games mentioned: That’s Pretty Clever!, Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends, Codenames, Galaxy Trucker, Mage Knight Board Game, Star Trek: Frontiers, That’s a Question!, Through the Ages, Roll Through the Ages, Brikks, The Castles of Burgundy, Wingspan Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 00:53 - What We Played This Week - Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends 12:24 - That’s Pretty Clever: How Does it Work? 18:20 - That’s Pretty Clever Discussion and Comparisons 31:35 - Aha Moments 36:56 - Expansions and Sequels 42:10 - Next Week Teaser // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Samm Ruppersberger

Test your eyes with us this week as we play another 2018 Warsch game: Illusion! What will we see and will we like it? Games Mentioned: Illusion, Take Five, El Grande, Tikal, Mexica, Java, The Princes of Florence, Timeline, SET, MicroMacro: Crime City, Cockroach Poker, Liar’s Dice, Figment, The Fox in the Forest, The Fox in the Forest Duet, Jekyll vs. Hyde, Jekyll & Hyde vs Scotland Yard, Pandemic, Pandemic: On the Brink, Coloretto, Red7, Qwirkle, Quacks, Ganz Schön Clever, The Taverns of Tiefenthal, A Feast for Odin, Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 01:03 - What We Played This Week: The Princes of Florence 08:32 - Illusion: How It Works 12:36 - Illusion: Discussion 20:44 - Illusion Reimplementation: Figment 26:01 - Aha Moments 28:25 - BGG Top 100 Percentages Game 34:08 - Next Week Teaser // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Samm Ruppersberger

In an attempt at redemption, we play a game this week! This cut-for-time segment features us attempting to name games in the BGG Top 100 without the Deck, Bag, and Pool Building mechanism. SPOILERS AHEAD Games Mentioned: Anachrony, El Grande, Welcome To..., Puerto Rico, Isle of Skye, Cascadia, Clans of Caledonia, Harmonies, Trickerion // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Samm Ruppersberger

It's time to telepathically communicate in Wolfgang Warsch's award winning card game. We break down how we feel about this game emotionally and philosophically. Games Mentioned: The Mind, Azul, Quacks, That’s Pretty Clever!, The Gang, Hanabi, Bridge, The Game, Take Time, Bomb Busters, The Mind Extreme, The Mind Soulmates Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 01:56 - The Mind: How It Works 04:16 - 2018 Spiel des Jahres awards 05:35 - The Mind Discussion: Is it a Game? 24:29 - Aha Moments 33:20 - The Mind Spin-offs 38:22 - Next Week Teaser // // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Samm Ruppersberger

This week we are using paper, pencil and dice to drop non-branded tetrominoes in the digital space of Wolfgang Warsch's Brikks! (I'll be honest, it's basically a Tetris roll-and-write game). Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 01:00 - Wolfgang Warsch Biography 06:06 - Brikks: Overview and How it Works 12:13 - Roll and Write Discussion 24:53 - Aha Moments 37:26 - Brikks: Duel Mode 39:30 - Brikks: Final Thoughts 42:21 - Next Week Teaser // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Samm Ruppersberger

It's a bag-building-push-your-luck-try-not-to-explode fiasco this week in our new series! We discuss the games that Wolfgang Warsch made in the year 2018 starting with The Quacks of Quedlinburg. It's a real place! Games Mentioned: Orleans, Automobiles, Coffee Roaster, Clank!, Mystic Vale, Dominion, Ascension, Star Realms, Cubitos, The Quest for El Dorado, Legendary Encounters: Alien, Wingspan Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 00:40 - A New Quest! Intro to Wolfgang Warsch 01:40 - Corrections, Clarifications and Apologies 03:43 - Quacks: Overview and How it Works 05:08 - Bag Building and Push Your Luck Game Comparisons 18:23 - Version and Expansion Discussion 31:31 - “Fun” Facts: Quedlinburg 32:41 - Aha Moments 36:55 - Next Week Teaser // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Samm Ruppersberger

We're elevating the podcast to a higher echelon with special guest Graeme Goldthorpe! We ask him about his favourite Knizia games and we dig deep on the pure auction game High Society. Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 00:51 - Guest Introduction 08:25 - High Society: How Does it Work? 13:05 - High Society Discussion: Extra Cards 16:35 - Aha Moments 23:04 - High Society: Release and Art Comparison 35:23 - Art Nouveau Board Game Auction Game 48:02 - High Society: Final Thoughts and Comparison to For Sale 53:52 - Next Week Teaser // Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'Grady Produced by Sophie Shin Socials by Matt Winquist Art by Samm Ruppersberger