#73: LUZ (Taiki Shinzawa 7)

We're climbing the animal mafia ranks in Reiner Knizia's 2022 trick-taking game Pumafiosi! Find out who will marry who to stay on top.Games Mentioned: Pumafiosi, Rooster Booster, Relationship Tightrope, Hot Lead, Soda Smugglers, Take 5, For SaleEpisode Chapters:00:00 - Intro01:35 - Pumafiosi Overview09:50 - Pumafiosi History12:54 - Item Variant Discussion16:30 - Player Count Discussion20:53 - Aha Moments28:57 - Pumafiosi Final Thoughts32:03 - Next Week Teaser//Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'GradyProduced by Sophie ShinSocials by Matt WinquistArt by Samm Ruppersberger

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 5Episode Chapters: 00:00 - Intro00:57 - What We Played This Week: Masters of Maple Syrup04:15 - Foodie Forest Release History & How Does It Work?11:45 - Foodie Forest: Our Thoughts14:59 - Foodie Forest: Is it a Trick Taking Game?21:30 - The Suits and the Special Cards23:57 - Aha Moments28:53 - Version History31:33 - Next Week Teaser//Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'GradyProduced by Sophie ShinSocials by Matt WinquistArt 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 GameEpisode Chapters00:00 - Intro00:54 - What We Played This Week: Hygge07:00 - LUZ release history08:24 - LUZ: How Does It Work?13:30 - LUZ: Our Thoughts and Comparisons17:10 - Luke’s Aha Moments20:55 - Mechanism Discussion: Escalating Scoring30:25 - Chris’ Aha Moment32:58 - Final Thoughts34:39 - Next Week Teaser//Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'GradyProduced by Sophie ShinSocials by Matt WinquistArt 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, SailEpisode Chapters00:00 - Intro02:21 - No Loose Ends: How Does it Work?09:29 - General Discussion and Trick Taking Game Comparisons13:35 - Variants15:57 - Theme20:22 - Aha Moments24:50 - Shinzawa Trick Takers32:52 - The Two Player Game36:53 - Next Week Teaser//Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'GradyProduced by Sophie ShinSocials by Matt WinquistArt 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 GamesEpisode Chapters00:00 - Intro05:36 - Risk Express: Versions and History07:00 - Risk Express: How Does it Work?12:24 - Risk Express: Our Thoughts18:14 - Risk Express: Comparisons and Aha Moments24:47 - Risk Express: Variants & Expansion27:53 - Elder Sign Discussion and Comparison34:21 - Official Risk Games & Camarades Release Discussion40:18 - Next Week Teaser//Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'GradyProduced by Sophie ShinSocials by Matt WinquistArt 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 & BuildEpisode Chapters00:00 - Intro00:34 - The Hobbit & IP Games Discussion07:00 - The Hobbit: There and Back Again - How Does it Work?17:35 - Solo Mode19:57 - The Different Maps and the Draft24:01 - Aha Moments28:28 - Reception31:41 - Comparisons33:57 - The Hobbit Series Wrap-up & Our Win Lose Bananas45:53 - Next Week Teaser//Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'GradyProduced by Sophie ShinSocials by Matt WinquistArt 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 SignEpisode Chapters00:00 - Intro01:00 - Box Damage Discussion06:42 - The Hobbit: AUJ&TDoS: How Does it Work?13:14 - Victory Points, Quarterbacking and Dice Mechanisms24:07 - Production, Art and Iconography27:41 - Stand-alone Sequels and the Cancelled Third Game33:51 - Comparisons37:58 - Aha Moments47:47 - Next Week Teaser//Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'GradyProduced by Sophie ShinSocials by Matt WinquistArt 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 RingsEpisode Chapters00:00 - Intro01:29 - The Hobbit: How Does it Work?07:00 - The Hobbit Discussion: Variants, Our Play and Game Comparisons17:05 - Aha Moments22:47 - The Hobbit Discussion: Mechanisms and Further Comparisons31:01 - Guess the Games: John Howe Art38:24 - Next Week Teaser//Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'GradyProduced by Sophie ShinSocials by Matt WinquistArt 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, QuacksEpisode Chapters00:00 - Intro00:49 - What We Played This Week: Tatsu05:40 - Fuji: How Does it Work?08:26 - Fuji: Discussion, Variants and Our Play26:07 - Aha Moments, Variants and Difficulty Scaling33:15 - Guess the Games Game: Japan Games39:34 - Fuji Final Thoughts and Wolfgang Warsch 2018 Series Debrief45:53 - Next Week Teaser//Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'GradyProduced by Sophie ShinSocials by Matt WinquistArt 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, WingspanEpisode Chapters00:00 - Intro00:53 - What We Played This Week - Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends12:24 - That’s Pretty Clever: How Does it Work?18:20 - That’s Pretty Clever Discussion and Comparisons31:35 - Aha Moments36:56 - Expansions and Sequels42:10 - Next Week Teaser//Hosted & Edited by Chris Lemieux & Luke O'GradyProduced by Sophie ShinSocials by Matt WinquistArt by Samm Ruppersberger