Episode 182: A Message from the Stars! Plus Vampire Lords, Altar Quest & More!

Not a top 5, not a top ten.... Today the gang gets together to go over FORTY TWO of the very best board games of 2025! We chat about all of em, and include each of our picks for our favorite game of the year, as well as some games we're looking forward to in 2026! Want to share your thoughts? JOIN THE DISCORD! BGG Compilation of content creator top lists www.levelupgamepodcast.com  

Embark on an intergalactic adventure as today we give an 8-bit breakdown to A Message From the Stars! BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! Recent plays include Altar Quest and Vampire Lords, plus Skippy Brown pops in to chat with us about Lunar Rush Innovations!  Take Lunar Rush to the next level with asymmetric player powers and events! As always, we invite you to keep the fun going by joining OUR DISCORD SERVER!

Happy New Year adventurers! Kick off 2026 with some gaming goodness as King Scott, Navigator Lana, and Just Patrick do the 8-bit breakdown for the hot new euro from Devir: Covenant! As always, we've got a ton of banter and recent plays.  Plus stick around as we look back on last year's review game: Path of Civilization! www.levelupgamepodcast.com

Gear up for another big one!  Season six starts out with a mega episode! This time its King Scott, Navigator Lana, and Just Patrick breaking down a ton of games! Recent plays include The Last Lighthouse, Hercules and the 12 Labors, Magical Athlete, Locus, and more! Today's 8-bit breakdown goes to quite the eye-catcher: 12 Rivers! We play some trivia provided by adventurer Seth, then cap off the episode with the top ten games of season five! Want more adventure?  JOIN THE DISCORD! www.levelupgamepodcast.com

Welcome to our biggest episode since waaaaaaaaaay back in episode 10!  This is the final episode of our FIFTH YEAR! Join King Scott, Navigator Lana, and Just Patrick for a TON of game talk as we recap Pax Unplugged 2025! Plus, we managed to put together an 8-bit breakdown for the follow up to Ark Nova: Sanctuary!   Finally, we want to thank listeners for enjoying the show and coming along on this adventure with us over the last five years.  Here's looking forward to year six! Don't forget, last chance to join the retro commercial contest!  Simply JOIN THE DISCORD and message us what the retro commercials were in season five! Every sentence ends with an exclamation point! www.levelupgamepodcast.com

Today's episode is all about conventions! To begin, King tells tales of his time at Essen: the games played, the folks he met, and more. Then we've got an 8-bit breakdown for the superhero-building, trick-taking game: Origin Story! We look back on Galileo Galilei, then spend the entire back half of the episode talking about all the games we're juiced up for at PAX Unplugged 2025! Did you make your list of all the retro commercials from this season?  GET IN THE DISCORD CHANNEL and click "contests" to submit your list and enter to win a gigantic pile of games! www.levelupgamepodcast.com BGG Guild Facebook X Instagram

LAST CALL FOR CHARITY! CLICK HERE! While King Scott spent some time at Essen, Navigator Lana teamed up with Just Patrick to put together an episode chock-full of games! We chat for a good while about some upcoming games before diving into what we've had on the table recently, including Mythwind, Exit Catan, Unstoppable, Magical Friends and How to Summon Them, Betrayal at House on the Hill and Forest Shuffle Exploration! This 8-bit breakdown has been some time coming.  While we're getting all fired up for Brass Pittsburgh, we've spent a lot of time revisiting Brass Lancashire.   Then we have a look back on Botanicus before finally wrapping things up with a visit from our friend Angry James! Don't forget to JOIN THE DISCORD!  www.levelupgamepodcast.com Facebook X Instagram BGG Guild  

Get ready for a rowdy bunch today as King Scott and Just Patrick are joined by Explorer Josh and Hungry Gamer / Dung Merchant Will Brown! We chat about some upcoming stuff that has us excited, then recent plays include Ra, Mille Fiori, Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Fleet the dice game. Today's 8-bit breakdown goes to Harrow County.  An asymmetric game of gothic horror! We look back on last years review: Windmill Valley, before wrapping up the episode with our top 5 games out of the most recent 10 reviews! Join in on episode discussion and general randomness in our discord channel! www.levelupgamepodcast.com

Join Patrick and King Scott as they talk about shenanigans in the hobby.   They've had a ton to the table recently, including Forest Shuffle Dartmoor, Pentaquest, and some old favorites: Tapestry & River of Gold! We give a few games each that we're looking forward to at Essen this year, before finishing off joined by Navigator Lana and Explorer Josh to chat about all the fun and games had at the Pittsburgh Gaming Expo 2025! www.levelupgamepodcast.com

Today its King Scott, Navigator Lana, and Just Patrick chatting it up about the whats been on the table.  Recent plays include Football Fued, MicroMacro, Bombusters & more. The 8-bit breakdown goes to Lord of the Rings, Fate of the Fellowship; a Pandemic-based system in Middle Earth! We look back on Age of Innovation, then finish things off with a new segment! As always, share your thoughts on the episode, the news, the games discussed and more in our DISCORD! www.levelupgamepodcast.com Facebook Instagram X BGG Guild