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Hot hogs! Hot Hogs! HOT HOGS!

I have to come clean with you - this die jest features hot hogs. Admittedly, I am writing this description just to see how many times I can get away with HOT HOGS! So far it's five times, but I think I can maybe cram in a sixth. Hot hogs.

On to the timestamps:

0:57 Sidereal Confluence

2:40 Here Lies

7:45 Personal Demons

14:25 Final Titan

21:02 Annulets

28:41 Boast or Nothing

31:45 Daytime Minutes

36:20 Dino Racer

38:26 Hot Streak

38:34 Container

41:07 Wondrous Creatures: Winterfall

46:02 Oath: New Foundations

56:32 Accidental fake out ending, still Oath: New Foundations

58:31 Neon Hope

1:01:21 Glasgow Train Robbery

1:11:28 Kingdom Crossing

1:17:43 Revenant

Hark! The stars align, the constellations merge, the celestial bodies shake as the time is nigh for the die to be jest. Your only chance at salvation - roundup some board games. KARATE CHOP!

On to the timestamps:

1:02 ICE: Unlimited (unfortunate title)

7:25 Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor

12:15 Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor - Exmoor

15:18 Forest Shuffle Smoky Mountain

19:23 Neon Hope

32:39 Sausage Sizzle

33:51 Sidereal Confluence

37:12 My Favorite Things

37:47 Yotei

41:07 The Queen's Dilemma

The month is coming to an end - thus the die is jest. Join us for the monthly roundup of board games poked and proded by the ones at NPI. And what a roundup it is! On to the timestamps:

0:48 Moytura

6:05 Morty Sorty Magic Shop

10:40 Container

15:26 World Order

24:53 Boss Fighters QR

28:25 Yonder

32:29 dnup

35:43 Line of Fire: Burnt Moon

38:22 Slay the Spire: The Board Game

39:22 Here Lies

44:22 Cozy Stickerville

48:41 Wingspan Pocket

Yes, this is the very last episode of Talk Cardboard. It's also the first episode of The Die Jest. Which is how Talk Cardboard will live on. Right here, on patreon.

On to the timestamps!

5:33 The Queen's Dilemma
14:32 Oath
16:03 Torchlit
19:40 Hanami
24:30 Sovereign: Fall of Wormwood
29:37 Strange Slot Simulator
34:26 Container
39:15 Foxglove Farm
42:46 The Old King's Crown
44:46 Typeset

On this bonus episode of Talk Cardboard, seven more games we've played at Spiel Essen.

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:58 Skiwi

4:12 Petal Plotters

6:48 Milch mit Abführmittel

10:29 GODŌ: The Five Paths

12:54 Carnival of Sins

18:40 Whirly Derby

25:14 Winning Ticket

32:43 Tornado Splash

Just for reference, the population of Klaipėda, the third largest city in Lithuania is approximately 161 000 people. The number of attendees in this year's Spiel Essen was 220 000 people, meaning they managed to cram the entirey of Klaipėda and much more into just eight convention halls and every one of those people were buying board games.

I appreciate that that is maybe not everybody's jam, and aspects of it are not our jam either. But getting our mitts into a jar of Bonne Maman filled with gooey new board game releases - put a bib on me and fire up the toaster!

In this special joint episode of No Pun Included and Talk Cardboard we cover 16 new releases from Spiel Essen 2025, which you can either listen to here or partake in the video version https://youtu.be/NHVLn-ZxVWs

SHIRTS! Find them on https://no-pun-included-shop.fourthwall.com/

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Cold Open
2:46 Intro
5:42 Night Soil (Unranked)
9:11 Bouba Kiki
14:14 Nocturnis
17:56 Formidable Farm/Formidabel!
22:00 Tax the Rich
27:44 Echoes of Time
36:30 Fearless
41:30 National Economy
48:23 Thesauros
1:00:34 biD Coin
1:07:20 Kikai/Bricolage Heads
1:16:46 Tag Team
1:26:59 Recall
1:36:14 ???
1:56:10 ??
2:03:33 ?
2:14:53 Outro

Spinning pandas, evolving primates, and... Capitalism! We have all three for you in this episode - thankfully not all in the same game.

We could have had three games about mammals, but we didn't think this through.

Onto the time stamps:

00:00 Cold open
02:09 Intro
03:45 Panda Spin
18:34 Primates
32:51 Tycoon India 1981
48:25 Correspondence

Only three games this episode? What gives? Well, in the tried and true brand tradition, we decided to go back to our original formula. But no sad trombone noises please - we're really, definitely, honestly going to make it work this time...

On this episode, we have Identity - a trick taking game that promises personality, Out of Sorts - a game of inventing a cataloguing system for books in an alien library, and Magical Athlete - a game of racing a banana, a giant baby, and various other quirky things round a track.

On to the time stamps:

00:00 Cold open & intro
05:50 Identity
14:16 Out of Sorts
28:57 Magical Athlete
42:03 Correspondence 

There are episodes where we bring as much knowledge as we can about whatever board game we are talking about. And then there are episodes where we just want to share why something didn't click so much that we didn't want to go beyond game one. Apropos of nothing, today we'll be chatting about Brink, a "trading cubes in space" game that conceptually riffs on Catan but in execution whiffs on us.

SHIRTS! Find them on https://no-pun-included-shop.fourthwall.com/

On to the time stamps:

00:00 Cold Open & Intro

Work in Progress: 

2:08 Tenby

7:26 Railroad Tiles

10:42 Rumble Nation

18:53 Winter Rabbit

Audience Correspondence:

25:05 Vantage, Neurodivergence in Board Games

Main Feature:

31:23 Brink

Hey hey hey, how about that Fram and Sodo? How about the Legoloin and the Aragroin? Do you like Grampalf? Are you a fan of Perry and Mippin? I love those guys! They're very fun. Almost as fun as deliberately mistyping the names of famous fantasy franchise characters to pretend like you're cool and above it.

Well, we are not above it. We are suckers for Saruman, we sip from the founts of Rivendel, we lick the moss that hobbit feet have trod on, we wish we were half as cool as Farmer Maggot. It's just gonna be full on Lord of the Rings fananza and when the game is as good as Fate of the Fellowship, I mean, why not? Right? Why not indeed.

Well, Hot Dog! Do we have an episode for you! We peruse the lofty promises of Vantage, try to keep ourselves on track in Railroad Tiles, discuss whether selling doughnuts at night is really worth your time in Taiwan Night Market, and Efka tells us about angry dice you can chuck about in the bath, in Wroth. 

But wait! That's not all! The main game on our podium is Hot Streak - which not only has a hot dog, but also a fish, a bear, and HM the Queen herself in a game of racing, falling down, getting back up again, and trying all over again. Phew. 

On to the time stamps:

00:00 Cold Open & Intro

Work in Progress: 

00:54 Vantage
19:14 Railroad Tiles
25:01 Taiwan Night Market
28:26 Wroth

Audience Correspondence:

36:19 Gaming Tables

Main Feature:

41:23 Hot Streak

We're back from our holiday and we brought you a souvenir!... of pictures and words. The words you can find in the audio file above. The pictures you can find below, which will hopefully provide some context for the words.

1. Statue of Triton - Düsseldorf. Our first stop was Düsseldorf, where we were immediately greeted by a gang of parakeets. They flew over this moat right in the center of the city. Sadly, I only had my phone camera on me so didn't manage to actually catch a picture of them, but here's a pretty shot of the river!

2. Rhine Promenade - Düsseldorf. A few hundred meters away from there was the Rhine itself and the atmosphere there was very chill and very alcohol. The row of "pub" seemed endless and even when it did end, people were hanging out on steps, chatting and enjoying a beverage or seven. Some parts of the endless pub where less busy than others, like in the picture below, but there were enough busy spots if you were looking for them.

3. East Berlin - Friedrichshain. I was so grateful that Spiel des Jahres was held in this borough of Berlin because it was vibrant and beautiful. Plus, someone managed to climb all the way onto that roof just to spray paint ACAB, and you gotta give them points for dedication.

4. Elaine on drums - Berlin nHow Sadly, I didn't take many pictures of the utterly bizarre hotel we were staying at, but here's a picture of Elaine pretending to drum, just before we were told off by hotel staff. So much for being treated like a rock star.

5. Tom Brewster - Board Game Criticism Day 2025, Berlin Looky here, it's Tom, giving a talk about Adam Sandler of all things. His talk was great, and just below the picture there's a link to that talk as well.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuxxkAzN7LI

6. The Pizza Vending Machine, Kiel Yes, this machine vends pizza, and what's more bizarre, there's a video on the display that suggests that these pizzas are cooked in an actual wood oven. How did they fit the oven inside? Who's operating it? Why is there no chimney and no smoke coming out? First, true AI and now this? Undeniably, we are living in the future.

7. DFDS Victoria Seaways, Kiel. This ship looks so cool on the outside, but if you haven't listened to the audio portion yet - I won't spoil it - I'll just say - yeah, this was the worst part of the trip, including them playing Titanic in the common room just before the ferry departed.

8. DFDS Victoria Seaways, The Baltic Sea. I gotta say though, as bad as this ferry was, the view at the top of the deck was absolutely stunning. Sea as far as you can sea. And the water was so calm, we didn't sway one bit.

9. Nida. I will group a few pictures together below, because they are all of Nida. Nida is not my hometown, but it is the place I think of when I feel homesick, and returning after nine whole years was a treat like no other. I hope these pictures of the Curonian Lagoon capture why. If they look a tad familiar, that might be because you also saw them in our review of Scythe, all the way back in 2016.

10. Parnidžio Dune - Nida. I'm sorry, I know that was a lot of pictures of just one thing, but it's a thing that I love and is close to my heart. I tried to take the best pictures I could. But here's one more. This Dune is fantastic and I got to climb onto it one more time, and also got to show it to Elaine. More on what makes this Dune so cool, unsurprisingly, in our upcoming video of Dune (Imperium).

11. Smoked Eel - Nida. I know it doesn't look it, but this is maybe one of the fanciest meals you can order in Lithuania. Rich in flavour, but not at all fishy, and incredibly pleasant mouthfeel - just melts as soon as you bite into it.

    And wouldn't you know it? I didn't take a single picture in Klaipėda. Sorry! I think by that point we went into full holiday mode and were just enjoying ourselves. Which is a shame because Klaipėda is a beautiful city and I wish I took at least a few to show it off. Maybe next time? Who knows. Hope you enjoyed the travelogue. See you soon!

Pew pew kaboom! That's the sound of every child's living nightmare - their toys coming to life and unleashing an arsenal of deadly weaponry in their bedroom. Many a sleepless night I've had in my youth with this vivid imagery - blood, guts, plastic viscera strewn across my chewbacca rug - which might I add, also comes alive and eats the other toys... anyway, turns out they made my nightmare into a board game and you can now play it.

On to the time stamps:

0:00 Cold Open

Work In Progress

0:56 The Old King's Crown
6:24 Ensemble
12:19 Haggis

Audience Correspondence

16:14 Trick Taking

Main Feature

27:51 Toy Battle

Good news, we're still on holiday. Better news - we're still doing the holiday cast, which means more free podcast more delivered to more yo

Good news, we're still on holiday. Better news - we're still doing the holiday cast, which means more free podcast more delivered to more you. Moorish! You know what else is moorish? Trees! Just can't get enough of those suckers. And you know where trees live? That's right, in Germany. And you know what Germany has? Autobahns. But also forests.

Apropos of nothing, let's talk about a board game called Black Forest which is about a forest in Germany.

Once again, no timestamps because we're still on holiday and it's still just one game in the episode. You'll be fine.

Good news, we're on holiday. Better news, we're not leaving you without podcast. It's a smaller episode, yes, but it is Talk Cardboard deliv

Good news, we're on holiday. Better news, we're not leaving you without podcast. It's a smaller episode, yes, but it is Talk Cardboard delivered right to your door, for free! Mmmmm, free podcast, what could be more delicious? Oh, I know, human suffering! If you feel like what you need more in your life is a cardboard simulation of robots slaughtering endless amounts of flesh bags on the moon, Moon Colony Bloodbath has got you sorted.

Not doing timestamps cause we're on holiday. Also, it's just one game. You'll be fine.

Sharpen your papercuts because it's time to put cards face down in front of you and simultaneously flip them face up! The Old King's Crown is maybe the year's most exciting game and we've got an exciting early scoop!

SHIRTS! Find them on https://no-pun-included-shop.fourthwall.com/

On to the time stamps:

0:00 Cold Open
1:40 Intro

Work In Progress

2:08 Emberleaf
11:19 Hot Streak
22:00 Project L
26:24 Survive the Island

Main Feature

31:06 The Old King's Crown

If you've heard of Air, Land and Sea, Compile is more of that but different. If you've not heard of Air Land and Sea, have we got some cool games for you to recommend in this episode.

Efka opens our review of Eternal Decks with "This is the main candidate for Game of the Year 2025" and if you need a better endorsement to l

Efka opens our review of Eternal Decks with "This is the main candidate for Game of the Year 2025" and if you need a better endorsement to learn about a cool new board game, I can't think of one. And I'm Efka. This and more in this week's Talk Cardboard.

SHIRTS! Find them on https://no-pun-included-shop.fourthwall.com/

On to the time stamps:

0:00 Cold Open
1:30 Intro

Work In Progress

1:59 Barony: Royal Edition
6:25 In the Shadows: Resistance in France 1943 - 1944 (DNF)
10:08 Emberleaf
14:32 The Old King's Crown

Audience Correspondence: 

21:34 Blue Prince

Main Feature

28:46 Eternal Decks

You want me to do what now? Play a board game on the TV? Using my phone? Never! shakes fist at cloud shakes more fist at cloud picks up phon

You want me to do what now? Play a board game on the TV? Using my phone? Never!

shakes fist at cloud

shakes more fist at cloud

picks up phone and starts playing

Wait this thing is good! Like, real good. Okay, I guess today we're talking about a board game that's also a video game that's also a phone game. And you're going to listen and you're going to enjoy it.

On to the timestamps:

00:00 Cold open

01:24 Intro

02:03 'Work In Progress"; Fruit Fight

03:50 Tenby

08:10 Deep Regrets

15:57 Correspondence

20:01 Sunderfolk

Why duel with silly weapons when you can duel with whole cities? In Rival Cities, Hamburg and Altona go head to head to see who will be the

Why duel with silly weapons when you can duel with whole cities? In Rival Cities, Hamburg and Altona go head to head to see who will be the city anyone's ever heard of. I think you probably know who pulled that off IRL.

But if you'd rather fight with fruit or sausages, fear not because we have those for you too - in our Work in Progress.

On to the timestamps:

00:00 Cold open

01:41 Intro

05:18 Work in Progress

06:05 Sausage Sizzle

08:17 (Reiner Knizia's) Fruit Fight

14:47 Corps of Discovery

25:46 Correspondence

27:16 Rival Cities

Get ready to flick your way to victory, or get the flick out of here because it's time to play Ascending Empires: Zenith Edition - a 4X game

Get ready to flick your way to victory, or get the flick out of here because it's time to play Ascending Empires: Zenith Edition - a 4X game - but iiiin flicking spaaaaace! 

We also have the games we've been playing this week in our new segment: 'Work in Progress', where Elaine compares Eternal Decks to being back at school, and Efka tells us about under-salted negotiations in Moonrakers.

Eternal Decks tutorials mentioned in the episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT1d_lHw4yM

On to the timestamps:

00:00 Cold open
01:40 Intro
02:10 'Work In Progress"; Eternal Decks
08:09 Joyride
11:52 Moonrakers
16:01 Correspondence
24:44 Ascending Empires: Zenith Edition

Last week Talk Cardboard was back and this week Bonus Talk Cardboard is back! On today's episode we discuss Morrison Game Factory, an adorable escape room in a box from Post Curious

Have you ever wanted to be a poorly paid miner? What about on an Alien Planet? Whilst being bothered by swarms of beasties? If you answered yes, yes, and yes, then get your drills and ziplines ready for our deep dive into  Deep Rock Galactic: The Board Game, 

If you answered no, then luckily we also have a whole host of other games we're talking about in our new segment "Work in Progress", where we give a quick look to the games we've been playing this week. 

On to the timestamps:

00:00 Cold open
01:14 Intro & "Work In Progress" brief
01:34 Nokosu Dice
03:25 Eternal Decks
07:36 Elden Ring: The Board Game
11:34 Flow
17:20 Dune: Imperium - Bloodlines
22:43 Correspondence
23:12 Deep Rock Galactic: The Board Game

Get your engines warmed up, your fishing rod at the ready, and your knee-pads on as we delve into a crash, bash racing game in Thunder Road:

Get your engines warmed up, your fishing rod at the ready, and your knee-pads on as we delve into a crash, bash racing game in Thunder Road: Vendetta, freeze our fingers building a village in Saltfjord, and co-operatively fight for the freedom of Kaan in Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan.

On to the time stamps:

00:00 Cold open
02:31 Intro
03:39 Correspondance regarding board game libraries
04:56 Thunder Road Vendetta
22:24 Correspondance regarding learning games
25:23 Saltfjord
44:52 Correspondence regarding games made of chocolate
49:40 Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan
1:22:49 Outro

I can't claim that we loved all the games this time, but did we even like any of them? Maybe. At least one. You decide.

On to the time stamps:

00:00 Intro

00:30 Magic Number 11

19:00 Mino Dice

33:40 Defenders of the Wild

58:33 Outro

IMPORTANT PATRON NOTE - we mention at the beginning of the episode that there is a video version of the podcast. There is! But it's not live

 IMPORTANT PATRON NOTE - we mention at the beginning of the episode that there is a video version of the podcast. There is! But it's not live yet. Unlike the audio versions which are live early for patrons - we have to release the video version at the same time as the general release of the podcast - which is on Monday. Please look out for it then if you'd like to watch this on video.

One thousand five hundred plus games released over four days is a HOT WEEKEND in board games and the Elaines and Efkas of this world were in attendance. Did we play all 1500 games? No. Did we play the hot ones? Yes. Did we play the weird ones? Yes. Did we play the good ones? Oh my yes yes yes. So grab a warm beverage, plonk yourself into a comfy chair and write off the next hour and a half because we bring you informed coverage of all the games that we played and what you should be on the lookout for in the next three months of board games. What a time to be alive.

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Cold Open

1:52 Intro

4:24 15 - Milkuro

6:56 14 - Rock Rubber Scissors

9:10 13 - Potato Tomato

11:30 12 - Bomb Busters

17:57 11 - Overparked

21:21 10 - Big Two

26:29 9 - Bottle Imp

31:02 8 - Civolution

41:45 7 - Altay: Dawn of Civilization

50:08 6 - Seas of Strife

53:48 Joint 5,4,3 - ???

1:01:41 Joint 5,4,3 - ???

1:06:26 Joint 5,4,3 - ???

1:18:06 2 - ???

1:23:44 1 - ???

Listen, listen - I understand. Coverage of fifteen games just isn't good enough. Well - for you patrons - we bring a bonus of SEVEN more games in one nifty podcast episode. That is a grand total of 22 games we have played at this year's Essen Spiel and now I am going to bed, where I am sure I will dream of every single one of them. Good night!

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Intro

1:17 7 - Diamant

3:48 6 - Yubibo

6:35 5 - Dead Cells: The Board Game

19:15 4 - 1 AM Jail Break

21:10 3 - Vegetable Stock

22:47 2 - The Gang

29:13 1 - Sausage Sizzle

Folks, folks and folks, please come join us for a marvelous carboard celebration through time, energy and cities. Gaze your eyes to Paris in

Folks, folks and folks, please come join us for a marvelous carboard celebration through time, energy and cities. Gaze your eyes to Paris in 1920 and marvel at the deductive action of Kronologic. Now turn those eyeballs further east towards Germany and amaze yourself with the fantabulous power of Nucleum and finally, fly up and up and up and then look down for a birds eye view of cities in Cities. It’s a show like no other and that show is called Talk Cardboard.

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Cold Open

2:48 Intro

3:42 Audience Correspondence: Convention Demo Learning

8:45 Kronologic: Paris 1920

19:52 Audience Correspondence: Board games in libraries

25:29 Nucleum + Nucleum: Australia

1:09:31 Audience Correspondence: Wilmot's Warehouse

1:13:26 Cities

1:25:40 Outro

I'm sorry that today's episodes are both grouchy but that's just how it is sometimes. Both Conservas and Foundations of Metropolis were a miss for us, and here's why.

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Conservas

23:18 Foundations of Metropolis

Vroom vroom it’s time to kaboom! Or something along those lines because today’s feature game is all about smashing cars into other cars.

Vroom vroom it’s time to kaboom! Or something along those lines because today’s feature game is all about smashing cars into other cars. It feels like we’ve seen this type of game over and over through time, from Rock’n’Roll Racing to Mario Kart to Twisted Metal to Carmaggedon - the world is full of games that let you cause car accidents on purpose. But let me tell you, it’s never been done like that in cardboard. Joyride is a delight!

And there’s other games too! We take a look at the somewhat bland and reliable Invincible: The Hero-Building Game and the charming Wilmot’s Warehouse in its new board game incarnation.

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Cold Open

0:39 Intro

1:44 Audience Correspondence: Qualia

5:29 Joyride: Survival of the Fastest

30:58 Audience Correspondence: Standardized Size

34:29 Invincible: The Hero-Building Game

53:19 Audience Correspondence: More Haggis Letters

55:29 Wilmot's Warehouse

Not gonna lie, most of this episode is just us trying to come to terms with how many twists and turns a heavy euro game can deliver - Pampero is not what you not what you not what you expect. But it wouldn't be a bonus episode if it didn't feature a trick taking game and this one is so trick and so taking that it had to put taking and trick in its title.

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:49 TRICKTAKERs

13:03 Pampero

Cute, but deadly! We used to dance under that name but you could also use those three words to describe today’s selection of games. Harvest

Cute, but deadly! We used to dance under that name but you could also use those three words to describe today’s selection of games.

Harvest is a farming worker placement game so cloyingly sweet you could squeeze condensed milk out of it. Is it good? Jury’s still out.

War Stories: Occupied France is the unlikely combination of Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective and Undaunted - how does that even work? We’ve got the scoop.

And finally… Dorfromantik: The Duel. Last year’s adaptation of Dorfromantik to board game form was low key our favourite light tile layer. But now naturally come the spin-offs and we’ve got some takes.

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Go Listen to So Very Wrong About Games

1:34 Cold Open

3:35 Intro

4:30 Audience Correspondence - Horror Games

12:25 Harvest

28:30 Audience Correspondence - Haggis

30:44 War Story: Occupied France

48:40 Audience Correspondence - More Haggis

51:26 Dorfromantik: The Duel

1:00:24 Outro

Ah, finally there is a board game that is as painful as a knee injury - The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: The Adventure Game is everything that makes us do a little rant - please enjoy. And just for some spice to undercut all that fat - we talk about a cute little puzzle book called LOK

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Intro

1:46 The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: The Adventure Game

30:24 LOK

Hello boardgamers and boardgamees, how are your MEEPLES? Do they need feeding? Watering? Some TLC? Or do they just need a good dose of the T

Hello boardgamers and boardgamees, how are your MEEPLES? Do they need feeding? Watering? Some TLC? Or do they just need a good dose of the Talk Cardboard podcast to refresh that wooden noggin? Well worry not young meeple trainer, we’ve got a new episode digitally bumbling its way to you right now.

A real smorgasboard of delights this week as we take a look at three very different games to suit very different needs. Spectral is a strange melange of deduction and Keyflower style bidding? Does that even work? Does it make sense? Is Ryan Courtney the only designer that can pull this off?

Talking of designers that can pull things off, how about none other than Reiner Knizia himself, who, believe it or not, designed another game. Except he designed this one quite a long time ago and also made a very fresh expansion for it right now. Through the Desert is a mean mean classic and Bazaar is a mixed bag of modules to add some zest.

And finally, a board game based on a beloved video game (unofficially) that doesn’t just work but maybe even surpases its insipiration? Leviathan Wilds is the tabletop version of Shadows of the Colossus and there are moments when it towers above it.

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Cold Open

1:05 Intro

3:03 Spectral

30:25 Through the Desert (+Bazaar Expansion)

56:55 More letters on Salton Sea

1:01:40 Leviathan Wilds

Heyooo it's Slay the Spire the board game and that's it in this bonus episode, just one game, and an early impression at that! We were just so unexpectedly smitten with this adaptation of a beloved video game that we had to jump on and talk about it.

On to the timestamps

0:00 Slay the Spire: The Board Game

I don’t know about you, but I think there’s something special about the momentum of two player games. The tension, the back and forth. The s

I don’t know about you, but I think there’s something special about the momentum of two player games. The tension, the back and forth. The sensation of making a clever move is so much more palpable than in any other player count. Today we’ll take a look at three two player games, each interesting in its own way, and also two more on our bonus episode.

Our friend Jon from JonGetsGames has designed a game called Spring Cleaning, which we mention in the episode, you can pre-order it here: https://www.newmillindustries.com/store/p/spring-cleaning-preorder or you can play it online on boardgamearena.

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Cold Open

2:04 Intro

4:08 Run

24:31 Haggis

37:07 Harrow County

Two more two player games for our two player special to make the special double special! Kelp is a gorgeous hidden movement game that does not require eight brains to play and Fungi puts the fun in fungi WAHEY

On to the timestamps:

4:50 Kelp: Shark vs Octopuss

22:01 Fungi (previously Morels)

Dear listeners, it’s never been clearer to us that board games have entered into a new era - the era of the size race. Each month publishers are competing to release a bigger campaign game than the one before and in terms of scope, Agemonia is definitely in the running for the lead. In terms of box size it’s no slouch either, looking eerily similar to that 32 pound Frosthaven box. To provide some contrast and levity, the second game on this episode is Terra Nova, a sleeker, slimmer, smaller and shorter version of its big sibling - Terra Mystica.

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Cold Open

1:46 Agemonia

41:34 Agemonia content warning start

45:49 Agemonia content warning end

48:22 Audience Correspondence - Salton Sea

55:52 Terra Nova

Just the super-hits on this bonus episode. That's right, we don't mess around with regular hits or even big hits. In bonus episode we accept only super. Nothing less.

p.s. for those curious, the postman arrived 15 minutes after we finished recording. this will make sense after you listen to the episode

On to the timestamps:

0:26 Harmonies

16:13 Nucleum

There is a duality in first time plays, at least when you’re playing with a mind to reviewing. One path leads to potential, the other to the

There is a duality in first time plays, at least when you’re playing with a mind to reviewing. One path leads to potential, the other to the bin. A first time play can reveal quirks and kinks that promise an interesting second or third or fourth and beyond plays; exploration and indulgence. It can equally reveal a design you never wish to revisit. On today’s episode - two board games. Arcs and Salton Sea. A remix of space board games and a trudge through the bleak world of mining lithium. Each a representative of both polar opposites of first impressions.

Articles and websites discussed in the episode can be found here:

Vote for your favourite podcast in the BGG Awards: https://boardgamegeek.com/geekawards/boardgame

From Wingspan to Wyrmspan: An Accesibility Journey - https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/157687/from-wingspan-to-wyrmspan-an-accessibility-journey

Rolling with Two: Wyrmspan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifMREbPv1Zk

Colorbling Games - https://colorblindgames.com/

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Cold Open

1:46 Intro

2:49 Flavor Text

9:13 Salton Sea

41:46 Weight vs Subject

45:02 Arcs

1:15:03 Outro

Last month we were invited to participate in the Board Game Criticism Day, an event in Mannheim, Germany organised by the Spiel des Jahres aimed at elevating board game journalism through seminars and workshops. Not only did we run one of those seminars but Efka also had the honor of giving the keynote! How cool is that? On this bonus episode of Talk Cardboard, we re-present the seminar we ran in podcast discussion form.

On to the timestamps:

There are no timestamps. It's just the one whole thing.

p.s. the picture for the episode is not taken in Mannheim. It's not even in Germany. It's Strasbourg, France, but it was taken on the same trip and I like it so there.

Sometimes things just don't work out. Like the release of a game you've been really anticipating that ends up being quite a let down. On the other hand, sometimes something you've not been holding out hope for comes in as a lovely little surprise. Today's episode is a tale of both.

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Cold Open

0:43 Bloodstones

24:22 Battle of Versailles

This episode we only cover two games, but my what games! We had so much to say it ended up being a full length episode anyway. 

This episode we only cover two games, but we had so much to say it ended up being a full length episode anyway. Which isn’t a surprise really when you end up with two follow ups for two massively succesful games. It’s the follow-up episode! And if you strain your thinking really hard, you could even argue that this very episode is a follow up to previous episodes, and thus thematically represents the games themselves. It’s nice when things like that line up perfectly. Please enjoy our chatter on 7th Citadel (sequel to 7th Continent) and Wyrmspan (sequel to Wingspan).

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Cold Open

0:38 Intro

2:44 7th Citadel

34:15 Wyrmspan

“What’s good?” you might ask me. Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Just board games. Three specific board games that are, in fact, good and COINC

“What’s good?” you might ask me. Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Just board games. Three specific board games that are, in fact, good and COINCIDENTALLY are all featured on this episode of Talk Cardboard. What a treat! A threefer. A co-op boss battler that’s good, a solo  deck-builder that’s good and, wait for it, a EUROGAME that is very good! It’s good games vibes only. Enjoy!

0:00 Cold Open

2:00 Intro

3:17 Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze

22:08 Witchcraft!

38:41 Revive

Maybe I'm just tooting my own horn but I feel like the games appearing on the bonus episodes are more and more interesting. Which is nice! We're really trying to make sure that the coverage we put on Patreon is just as good as on the main episode. And this one's a treat! Halls of Hegra looks to be a solo game that's leaning hard into that This War of Mine vibe but in a strongly grounded historical setting and My Island is just class. Enjoy!

0:00 Cold Open

2:17 Halls of Hegra

24:19 My Island

A remake, a new take and an expansion walk into a bar. The barman says, “what’ll it be?” They all reply “something fresh.”

Was that too mean? I think that was too mean, especially since at least (and also at most) two of the games discussed in this episode are pretty great. And one of them is okay. We revisit the classic Terra Mystica in it’s new more thematically demure incarnation, we explore how Raising Robots riffs on Wingspan and Efka finally gets to play the expansion to his favourite game of all time - Sidereal Confluence. Let me tell you folks - it’s been bifurcated.

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Cold Open

2:48 Intro

3:43 Age of Innovation: A Terra Mystica Game

33:22 Raising Robots

53:23 Sidereal Confluence: Bifurcation

On the bonus episode today we revisit our segment On the Take where we discuss another tricktaker - this time Taiki Shinzawa's Inflation! and take a peek inside a cardboard tower to see if it's hiding a silly wizard in Wandering Towers.

On to the timestamps:

0:51 On the Take: Inflation!

15:54 Wandering Towers

Tune in for our coverage of Dune: War for Arrakis, Daybreak and Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West

More and more board games are adopting eco themes! Whether it’s Daybreak and it’s simulation of climate change or Dune: War for Arrakis and Dune’s enviromental themes and… uh… one or two plastic miniatures or Ticket to Ride Legacy and… um… all the railroad constru…. You know what nevermind, welcome to board games! It’s board games everyone, aren’t they good? So good those board games. Are they good? It depends on which one it is. And thus enters the board game reviews. They’re here. Enjoy it.

On to the timestamps:

00:00 Cold Open

1:27 Intro

2:30 Audience Correspondence: Green Appreciation

6:08 Dune: War for Arrakis

38:26 Daybreak

59:07 Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West

It just dawned on me as I'm posting this that we're effectively covering one board game in its video game form and one video game in its board game form. Have a listen to us gab about me (Efka) revisiting Mystic Vale as an app (and my utter lack of enthusiasm for it) and rediscovering Divinity: Original Sin, a video game we both greatly enjoyed, be faithfully remade as a board game and just how bizarre it is.

On to the timestamps:

0:30 Mystic Vale
12:54 Divinity: Original Sin - The Board Game

Can you believe it’s been a whole year of Talk Cardboard? Incredible!

Can you believe it’s been a whole year of Talk Cardboard? Incredible! What’s a better way to celebrate the end of the year than by revisiting where we began? On the very first episode Efka talked about his most anticipated games for 2023, so today we’ll take a look at how those panned out and also take a peek at his most anticipated games for 2024.

Plus  we’ll talk about Dune: Imperium - Uprising, Efka’s game of the year and  share some of Elaine’s impressions of it. Finally, we saved something a little special for the end of the episode, but you’ll have to listen to find out what that is.

Thanks for sticking with us for a whole year! Here’s to another one.

On to the timestamps:

2:08 Audience Correspondence - Contentification (for the last time)

3:35 The Ones that Got Away

20:47 Dune: Imperium - Uprising

44:09 Most Anticipated 2023 Revisited

54:15 Most Anticipated 2024