Board Game Homies

In episode 69, we review Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory. But, first! We chat about what is bringing us joy:TriquetaBrass: LancashireMagical AthleteCKMahjongIn Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory, each player takes on the role of a socio-economic group– the working class, the middle class, the capitalist class, or the state itself–trying to pursue their own goal to drag themselves out of a failing economy with rising political tensions. This highly researched and thematic game with cards with titles like “Health Crisis,” “Civil Unrest,” “Bid Rigging,” and “Denial of Free Speech” took us a very, very, very long time to get this game to the table. We’ve worked through this very asymmetric game, and we’ve come out on the other side with some differing opinions: one of us loves this game and the other three of us don’t need to play it any time soon, but for different reasons.Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies

In episode 68, we review both Kabuto Sumo & Cascadia: Alpine Lakes. But, first! We chat about what is bringing us joy:SCOUTNanatoridoriThe Crew: Mission Deep SeaGachapon TrickKabuto Sumo is a coin-pusher dexterity game for 2-4 players where each player takes on the role of a sumo wrestling insect. Players must line up their shot and sloooooowly slide their piece onto the platform, hoping for pieces to fall off the board to claim for future turns, and to ultimately push the other players out of the ring. Cascadia: Alpine Lakes is a puzzly, pattern building game for 1-2 players and is a standalone follow-up to Cascadia. Instead of single hexagons, the terrain tiles are double hexagons AND instead of focusing on the largest groups of terrain types, players are working to stack their terrain tiles at least three levels high to score for the most animal types at the highest elevations. More hexagons, more scoring conditions, and less wiggle room!The homies enjoy both of these games for very different reasons–some of us like fun and then there are the rest of us. Wait, are we talking about Dune 6 player again??

In episode 67, we’ve finally done it: we played Dune Imperium - Uprising with 6 players. We provide an overview of the changes and dive into our experience playing with the 6 player rules. But, first! We chat about what is bringing us joy:Paul DennenNaishiLacunaEpisode 22 Joy GamesFallingDune Imperium - Uprising’s 6 player rules change the game to three v. three, introducing commanders which lead each team. The play of the game is very familiar with a couple of major changes: the commanders and restricting the use of the Swordmaster to once per game. There are some additional changes to the gameplay to incorporate how the commanders play into the overall flow of the game. Reed has been championing this game for so long, did it live up to the hype?Check out these related episodes:Episode 22: Dune: Imperium & Dune: Imperium - UprisingEpisode 45: An Interview with Paul DennenGet to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies

In Episode 66, we chat about what’s on the table with a focus on mostly small box games. This episode has a mix of smaller and lighter games that we are unlikely to review on the pod; it’s basically an extended joy game episode!00:55 Wingspan Pocket08:36 Somnia left off at 13:22 (trick-taker)14:30 Haunted Mouse (trick-taker)20:01 Origin Story (trick-taker)27:36 Bottle Imp @ 6 Players (trick-taker)31:51 Bacon (trick-taker)37:14 Magical Athlete43:06 The White Castle DuelYes, that is Clans of Caledonia driving a 968 Ferrari 330 GTS with Becky as a passenger. Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies *Ferrari photo by MrWalkr (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:MrWalkr) and has been remixed. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

In Episode 65, we review Clans of Caledonia and its recent and only expansion, Clans of Caledonia: Industria. But, first! We chat about what is bringing us joy: Cascadia: Alpine Lakes, ASHES: Blackout Protocol, and The White Castle: Bōeki. Clans of Caledonia, published by Karma Games, is perhaps a perfect game. A mid-to-heavy game with a variable economic market, thematic mechanics and gameplay (including distilling whiskey!), and delightful thinking space. Over the course of five rounds, players take turns and pass once they have run out of money and options. All players produce basic resources and have the opportunity to refine their goods using any bakeries, distilleries, or cheese dairies they have built. Players then receive victory points based on the scoring tile of the current round, and then the cycle begins again. Clans of Caledonia: Industria adds more of what we already love (contracts, clans, shipping tiles, round goals, and map tiles), thoughtful mini expansions (market dice, farmer’s markets, additional end game scoring tiles, and contract refill board), and the largest module of them all: the train map with delivery bonuses to explore throughout the game and milestones to strive for and achieve before your opponents. Did we mention this game is perfect? It is. (Just maybe don’t ask Reed… 👀) Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies

In Episode 64, we review Container published by Allplay. But, first! We chat about what is bringing us joy…and anti-joy: Haggis, Marrakesh, Trajan, and Sausage Sizzle!Container is a closed economy game for 3-5 players: build factories to produce and store containers while building warehouses to store and sell containers. The catch? You can’t sell your own containers, and everyone sets their own prices. A fairly simple game with complexity created by the individuals sitting around the table. How cheap are your friends? Can you find a way to capitalize on Reed’s big payout? Will you let Angela play and win using the same strategy from the last game? How many loans are you willing to take???Do we like making our own market? The group may be divided, but they all agree on primarily only purchasing from Becky’s warehouses. 💅Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies 

In Episode 63, we review Recall published by Pegasus Spiele. But, first! We chat about what is bringing us joy: Hanami, Tiny Mountain Goats, playing games at Reed’s house, and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Trick-taking Game.Recall is a deep strategy and action selection game for 1-4 players that plays over 13 rounds. Coming from the designers of and one of the artists of Revive, Recall is heavily influenced by Revive’s mechanics, look, and feel. We didn’t go into this episode planning on comparing Recall to Revive, but it was difficult to talk about Recall without recalling its predecessor. 👀Recall, Revive, both? We’ve got varying opinions on this one. Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies

FINALLY! We discuss our individual top 10 games of all time (part 2) in Episode 62! Angela has been resisting this episode since the beginning of Board Game Homies–but we’ve finally convinced her we’ve played enough games to warrant this episode. For our top 10's, we go around the table and each of us share our game for that number. Then, we have some shock and awe, talk a bit about the games, and definitely get judgy. In this episode, we cover #5-#1!What’s your list? Who are you most aligned with? Opposite of?? Who are you inviting to Monday Lunch games?Let us know @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies 02:12 - Intro with a tiny Recap05:06 - #515:41 - #425:56 - #337:44 - #250:06 - #1

FINALLY! We discuss our individual top 10 games of all time (part 1) in Episode 61! Angela has been resisting this episode since the beginning of Board Game Homies–but we’ve finally convinced her we’ve played enough games to create our lists and record this episode.For our top 10's, we go around the table and each of us share our game for that number. Then, we have some shock and awe, talk a bit about the games, and definitely get judgy. We’ve split this episode into two parts, so we’ll be back for 5-1!00:25 - Introduction, Sassing, and How We Approached Our Lists08:42 - #1012:59 - #919:07 - #827:15 - #735:48 - #6Someone at the table cheats immediately, and it’s definitely not Reed. (eyes)Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies

In Episode 60, we review Carnegie designed by Xavier Georges and published by Quined Games. But, first! We chat about what is bringing us joy: Let’s Go! To France, Dragonarium, Zombie Princess x2, Hanami, The Old King’s Crown, and Senet Magazine. Carnegie is inspired by the writings of Andrew Carnegie, an industrialist and philanthropist. Xavier Georges, the designer, acknowledges the complicated and controversial realities of Carnegie’s life and work and has been clear this game focuses on the positive aspects of Carnegie’s life. Evoking this, players work to build up their businesses in order to donate their fortunes to invest in projects connected to education, human rights, welfare, and health.In this game, money is necessary to hire additional employees, produce goods, invest in transport technology, and build transport chains across the United States, but it is critical to continually make donations throughout the game as opportunities are limited and it is the primary way to gain victory points. Although this game is very thematic, the mechanics and related decision spaces draw you in for a very enjoyable play.Get to know us @ https://lnk.bio/BoardGameHomies