Boardgames To Go 232 - Before I Played Eurogames

Please join us on the Boardgames To Go discord server where you can chat online with other podcast listeners. Openers: Mark: Fishing Steve: Trick Taking Game Conventions (here's one, and here's another) Closers: Mark: What do I think is an OG game? I can tell what it ain't! Steve: What would new boardgamers think is an OG game? Nonsense Junkie @elschmear My friend Steve Paap returns to his set of interview questions for me. A year and a half ago, back on episode 214, Steve turned the microphone around on me. Now he's back with more questions for yours truly.   First, though, he tries to rile me up by having me defend my "favorite boardgame" Entdecker from a variety of BGG comments from folks who didn't like it. They rate it a 4, 3, or 2, and explain why. Does it get under my skin? Not really. He says I'm too nice for that, Maybe that's it, but the truth is that no game is really for everybody, and I'm well aware that Entdecker is less-than-average for many gamers. There are some comments I find just inaccurate and wrong, though--that's true. -Mark

Opener: Noli Closer: Just a few games that caught my eye or attention in other ways coming at Essen. Galileo Galilei, In the Footsteps of Marie Curie, Port Arthur, Amazonia Park, and Flatiron      My call for feedback earlier this year sparked both halves of this podcast. First, there was a request for me to explain my history with the best, most famous, and original CCG, Magic The Gathering. Though I dabble a tiny bit even now, there were a few years in the beginning when I dove in with both feet. It was, as we now say, a lifestyle game. I still think it's incredible, clearly one of my all-time favorites, but it's not easy to keep up with Magic and other games. Therefore it's mostly part of my gaming past, but I have such fond memories and will definitely play a game here or there in the future. Such as on M:tG Arena, the fantastic free-to-play digital version of the game. When Settlers of Catan (and Air Baron! another of my early favorites) showed up, eurogames essentially displaced Magic for me. Though we called them German Games at the time. I was hooked, and now it's been nearly thirty years. That sounds like a a long time--and it is!--but I have a hobby gaming history before Catan and Magic. I've told parts of that history on this podcast before, but when someone who listens to the show was surprised to hear I'd once worked for Steve Jackson Games, I realized it's been about 18 years since I told that story! So you'll forgive the repetition, if by some chance you remember my tale the first time. After talking about Magic, I go back to the beginning of my hobby gaming with a variety of stops along the way. There were years of wargames (both science fiction and some historical) and lots of roleplaying games. Like Magic, my RPG days are something I'll always remember fondly, but I'm not sure if I'll ever play those again.        -Mark

Opener: Wayfarers of the South Tigris David Arnott @Arnott Mike Mayer @Mike Mayer If you're like me, you've been supplementing your in-person boardgaming with the ability to play online. I've been doing that for over 20 years, way before the covid pandemic struck. However, that worldwide event opened up the joys of online boardgaming to many more gamers, especially as they worked to keep connections going with friends they couldn't see across the table for many months. Add in the explosion of titles and popularity of BoardgameArena, coupled with the widespread use of Discord, Zoom, or other voice/video communication tools, and gamers today have more ability to stay in touch than ever before. My two guests have taken that, stuck with it, and done more than I've ever managed to do with all of my online play: make a regular game group out of it. Three years on, no longer with the pandemic as the reason, Dave and Mike continue to get together almost every week to play games together. One's in California, the other in Virginia, but they meet more regularly than most in-person game groups. Sometimes they widen the circle to include some other friends like me, but primarily this is a 2-person game group, another interesting aspect.   Like me, these guys have been around a long time, have favorites going back decades, yet in this online group they're really espousing the Cult of the New. Why is that? Why are they always learning new games, why do they enjoy online roll & writes so much, and what the heck is Tulpenfieber?! Listen and find out.   Closer: The sort of old school games I don't like -Mark

Openers:   Mark: First in Flight Tim: Arcs Closers: Tim: Changing enjoyment (and ratings) of games Mark: Is it possible to go to too many game events? Tim @Denga If you've followed me for any time, especially on our Discord server, you've heard me talk about a couple things: my appreciation for the "new" podcast Board Game Hot Takes, and my observations of how the energy of our hobby has shifted from when I joined it. I get to combine both of those topics into one episode by inviting one of the three BGHT hosts, Tim, to join me on the mic and use him as a representative of the "next generation" of boardgame hobbyists. He chuckles at that characterization, pointing out he's not that much younger than me, and has been playing boardgames for a few years. But that still makes him the New Kid on the Block compared to an old fart like me, and I think it shows in the types of games he & I both love.   That's what we talk about, how the bulk of the hobby may be broadening and unchanging (think about Ticket To Ride, Catan, and Azul at Target stores and on Amazon), but the energetic, active hobbyist part of the hobby appears to be compelled by crowdfunding, plastic figures, and the BGG Top/Hot games lists. I'm not trying to say that's a problem, but I am certain that's it's a difference. At the same time, there are some nice advantages for old-timers like me, whether it's improved game distribution, production enhancements (e.g. double-layer boards), and the most robust online multiplayer options we've ever seen. -Mark

Please join us on the Boardgames To Go discord server where you can chat online with other podcast listeners. Openers: Voyages Closers: Virtual Flea Markets (VFMs) at game conventions and other events It'll be no surprise to any listener that I care about the Spiel des Jahres. In addition to its decades-long strong & beneficial effect on our boardgaming hobby, these awards are a better predictor for me than any other. Predictor of what? Of the games I'll actually continue to own and play with family & friends. True, they skew more toward lighter games, but that's ok with family. And truthfully, that's the preference of myself and several of my longtime gaming friends, too. If you only know the SdJ from recent years when it homed-in on the lightest games, more about parties than strategy, then I'd forgive your feeling that these aren't an award process that means much to a hobbyist. I'm thinking of recent winners like Just One, Pictures, MicroMacro Crime City, and even Dorfromantik. However, while you may long for the days when the award was bestowed on more gamer-ish titles like Tikal, Torres, and El Grande, my own personal highlights are the titles in between those two groupings. I'm thinking of Catan, Thurn und Taxis, Carcassonne, Dominion, Hanabi, Dominion, Ticket to Ride, or Alhambra. Not only the winners, too--I've learned to pay attention to the other nominees and recommended list of games, too. Just last weekend my friends Davebo and Jeff were visiting. Along with some other local gamers we played a lot of great titles, but guess what was on the table, pulled from my collection: Luxor and Imhotep, two fantastic nominees that were merely overshadowed by the steamroller winners those years (Azul and Codenames, respectively). The titles nominated for Spiel des Jahres are Captain Flip, In the Footsteps of Darwin, and Sky Team. In addition to these nominations, the SdJ jury recommended the following six titles: Harmonies, Passt nicht!, Phantom Ink, Schätz it if you can, Trekking Through History, and Trio.    Then for the Kenners the nominees went to Daybreak, The Guild of Merchant Explorers, and Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West. Plus the recommended list: Bier Pioniere, Botanicus, Forest Shuffle, and Ritual.    I think it's July 21 when we'll hear which games are the ultimate winners, but do take a look at the other nominees and recommended games. There's a good chance you'll enjoy those games, too, maybe even more than the winner. -Mark

Openers: Knarr, Faraway Closers: Ordering games nominated for the IGA and SdJ awards Mark Johnson @MarkEJohnson Mark Jackson @akapastorguy Recently I asked my listeners for more feedback about this old podcast. What I heard back was very encouraging--thanks for that. Most of you just tell me to keep doing what I like & want. Good, I will! Some other comments called back to the All About… episodes I used to do, deep dives into individual games. Others remembered the 100 Great Games series fondly, a collaboration I did with Mark Jackson and Stephen Glenn. More ideas came up, too. I’ve mulled those over and devised something that should be fun for me and worthwhile for the listeners. I’ve invited an old friend to join me in discussions about the Spiel des Jahres winner from a particular year. That makes it kind of a deeper dive into that title, but we also talk about the other nominees from that year. Not only that, but the longer list of recommended games, too. Along the way, we briefly mention the winners of the Kennerspiel, Deutscher Spielepreis, and the À La Carte, all notable awards in Germany where the Spiel des Jahres is still the preeminent award for our hobby.     When this podcast is released, we’ll be only a week away from hearing the list of nominees and recommended games for this award year, 2024. I’ll be very interested in that, however this new, occasional podcast series is about the SdJ in prior years. The award itself goes back to 1979--and I may cover those oldies someday--but for this episode I’m starting with something much closer to our present time. Five years ago seems like a good place to start--recent enough that the games are familiar, but distant enough that most gamers will have had plenty of opportunity to play them, if desired. Future episodes may jump around to other years that interest me, like a goofy time machine. My co-host for this episode is Mark Jackson, a well-known writer about boardgames. He’s had multiple websites, is active on social media, is part of the Opinionated Gamers editorial board, a member of the International Gamers Awards panel, and has been on my podcast several times. I’m happy to call him my friend, too. Really, the only downside to this guy is the confusion we generate with our similar identities. Mark & I have similar histories, but not always the same taste in games. Nonetheless, I know I can count on him to appreciate the kind of family strategy boardgames I focus on in this podcast--it’s in the opening to every episode! That’s what the Spiel des Jahres awards and selection jury are all about, too. It’s a great fit.      By setting our Spiel des Jahres Wayback Machine to 2019, Sherman & Peabody Mark & Mark will be going back to when Just One took home the prize over fellow nominees Werewords and L.L.A.M.A. Do you know all of those? How about the list of recommended titles, Belratti, Dizzle, Krass Kacke/Who Did It?, Reef, and Sherlock? We do our best to talk about all of those, while also mentioning that Wingspan won the Kennerspiel & DSP, while Belratti won the À La Carte. Let us know what you think about these games, and the SdJ Wayback Machine itself. Is there a particular year you want us to visit next? With 44 more years to choose from, we’re not going hit them all or go in any order. Future episodes will be occasionally interspersed with the “regular” episodes of Boardgames To Go. Very soon we’ll have this year’s nominees to discuss on our Discord server or elsewhere. I’m looking forward to all of it. -Mark

Please join us on the Boardgames To Go discord server where you can chat online with other podcast listeners. In my last episode's Closer I asked for feedback. Really, all podcasters ask for feedback in every episode. I'm no different. Well, I'm only different in that I've been podcasting forever, and many of my listeners have given me feedback over the years. Other than comments on Discord, however, it had been some time since I received much feedback, which is why I asked for it specifically. And if you'll indulge me, this episode's second half is all about that feedback, and my responses to it.      Before I get to that, however, I talk about a bunch of games played recently. I used to do this, what I called my "Session Report (SR) & Feedback" episodes. However, it's been a while since I published that kind of episode. How long? A decade! By my records, the last time was exactly 10 years ago, in episode 146 from the May 2014. Seems ok to do another. Closer: If it's been 10 years since my last "SR & Feedback" episode, what other old features of this podcast do you recall? Are there any I've forgotten? -Mark

Opener: The final winners for Mark Madness! Castles of Burgundy and  eryn roston @baditude Closer: A specific call for feedback to the podcast. Tell me what you like me to do more of, or do less. Session Report & Feedback episodes, like the old days? All About shows (more old days)? Something else? Over the years I've been to many game conventions, both big & small. However, it wasn't until this past month that I attended a Dice Tower event. The Dice Tower West annual game convention is held in the west, in Las Vegas, which means it's a pretty easy drive for me - four hours across the southwest. Though I'm not really a Vegas kind of guy, this is still a big geek convention of boardgamers, right? Right. In that, it felt very familiar to the multiple times I've visited BGGcon in Dallas...just in a different city, hosted by a different organization. I knew some of my buddies had attended in prior years, and many months I started asking them if they'd attend in 2024. I think most of us were on the fence, but hearing other friends may attend helped collectively push most of us into signing up. A couple had to back out due to unexpected life commitments, but enough of my gang went that we were able to fill game tables the whole time. In this episode, I talk about ALL of the games I played during this Wednesday-Sunday major event. Half of that discussion is about old games, or OG games, or whatever you want to call them. How old? We decided the cutoff should be a quarter-century. Focusing one of our convention days on titles at least 25 years old meant we had a full Friday of pre-2000 games. Games from the last century...the last millennium! Practically speaking, we played games from the 1990s, which is when many of our group got into modern boardgaming, including yours truly. If you appreciate retro gaming like we do, you'll love the first half of the episode. If not, skip ahead to the interlude music break near the 55-minute mark, and then I transition into some newer titles. That represented the other half of what I played at the convention. Including lots of card games, which are having their moment in the sun right now. Wonderful! (Even though I didn't love all of the card games I played, as you'll hear, I love that we're playing so many of them again.) -Mark

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It's the Final Four. Go vote now at https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/328714/boardgames-go-season-20-2024?itemid=10561730&commentid=12083072#comment12083072