Board Gamers Anonymous

It's been a little while since the last versus episode we did, and what better time to bring it back than to compare the mega behemoth games from Eric Lang, Blood Rage and Rising Sun?  To kick things off this episode, we share the answers from listeners for our question of the week, "What's a game you can win while ignoring key components of the game?" For our acquisition disorders, Anthony looks at Treasure Island and Chris looks at the Alhambra Designer's Edition.  At the Table this week, Anthony reviews City of Iron Second Edition and Chris looks at Manhattan Project 2: Minutes to Midnight.  Finally, we delve into Rising Sun and Blood Rage to answer the question of whether you can own both, and under what circumstances you'd consider one over the other.  Question of the Week: 3:55 Acquisition Disorders: 7:47 City of Iron Second Edition Review: 12:39 Manhattan Project 2: Minutes to Midnight Review: 19:23 Blood Rage vs. Rising Sun: 26:49 If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook

Kickstarter is ubiquitous with board gaming as a hobby, so we're taking a look this week at the two best and two worst campaigns we have each personally backed on Kickstarter thus far. Plus we ask the listeners about their own KS wins and fails.  Don't miss your chance to enter our board game giveaway, exclusively for Producer-level Patreon backers (https://www.patreon.com/bga).  For our acquisition disorders this week, Anthony offers an early hands on impression of Thanos Rising, the new avengers game out this week, and Chris digs into Rice Dice - A Spirits of the Rice Paddy Dice Game.  At the Table, we review Rising 5 and Roccoco: Jewelry Box this week as well.  Finally, we dig into eight games - four good and four not so good - that we backed on Kickstarter in our time as gamers. Yes we've backed more, but these ones stand out for either great or a not so great experience.  Question of the Week: 3:05 Acquisition Disorders: 5:55 Rising 5 Review: 16:24 Rococo: Jewelry Box Review: 22:46 Best and Wor

This week on BGA, Anthony and Chris are looking at 10 games that need expansions. Seriously, get on it. Make these! First up, though, we have three new Patreon backers - thank you to William, Michael and Antoine. You guys rock!  If you haven't yet, make sure to check out our Patreon page at https://patreon.com/bga. We're having a contest the end of this month only for Producer-level backers and higher. Get in on it now.  We also take a look at the new Terraforming Mars steam beta, and then read listener answers to our question of the week, "what game would you seriously consider buying a giant version of?" For our acquisition disorders, Anthony looks at The Estates from Simply Complex, and Chris digs into Kick-Ass: The Board Game, coming soon from CMON.  At the Table this week, we have new reviews of Stuffed Fables and Castell as well.  Question of the Week: 9:24 Acquisition Disorders: 12:18 Stuffed Fables Review: 15:37 Castell Review: 21:16 Feature: 25:49 If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect w

This week, Anthony and Chris are looking at six games you might like if you also like Azul, focusing on the pattern building and tableau aspect of the mega-hit game from Plan B.  To kick things off, we're talking about our question of the week, Would you buy less expensive versions of big games with cardboard instead of minis? Then we dive into our acquisition disorders for the week, Anthony focusing on Street Fighter: Miniatures Game and Chris looking at Good Dog, Bad Zombie, both on Kickstarter now.  For our at the table reviews, Anthony digs into Michael Kiesling's Heaven & Ale and Chris looks at another Kiesling production, Riverboat.  Finally to top off our delve into all things Kiesling, we look at six games you might like if you also like Azul. Check it out: Question of the Week: 5:57 Acquisition Disorders: 10:42 Heaven and Ale Review: 17:25 Riverboat Review: 24:45 If You Like Azul, Try...: 28:46 If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymo

It's that time of the month again - Anthony and Chris delve into the BGG Hotness for the end of March, including a quick discussion of the top 15 games in the hotness and why they are there.  To kick things off, we discuss our question of the week, "With the launch of Asmodee Entertainment, which hobby board game property would you like to see as a movie or graphic novel?" Next up, Anthony looks at Railroad Rivals and Chris delves into 7 Wonders: Armada for our acquisition disorders of the week. Next up, we offer reviews of Bunny Kingdom and Ora et Labora.  Finally, in our feature, we look at the top 15 games on BoardGameGeek right now Question of the Week: 6:42 Acquisition Disorders: 10:07​ Bunny Kingdom Review: 17:06 Ora et Labora Review: 23:19 BGG Hotness Review: 29:15 If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamersanonymous.com). You can support the show as well by do

It's the last weekend of March and that means we've reached the end of our 2018 March Gamer Madness! Join Anthony and Chris as we reveal the winner of our month-long competition. Congratulations to Walker for winning our bracket challenge as well!  For our question of the week, we asked the listeners what game suffers the most from a long setup or breakdown time?  For our acquisition disorders, Anthony looks at Monumental and Chris dives into the relaunch and expansion for Dinosaur Island, both on Kickstarter right now. Anthony then reviews Fields of Arle: Tea and Trade, and Marco Polo: Agents of Venice. Chris then dives into Charterstone, which his group recently completed.  Finally, we run through the final 8 games in our board game bracket and crown one of them the winner as the most representative with its components.  ​Question of the Day: 2:14 Acquisition Disorder Corner: 7:15 Fields of Arle: Tea and Trade Review: 14:48 Marco Polo: Agents of Venice Review: 19:34 Charterstone Review: 25:23 Boar

It’s that time of year again – Chris and Anthony delve into our 2018 Board Game Bracket, pitting 64 games against each other in an epic, three part showdown to determine which has the best use of components. This year, the theme is Components – and our regions are Cards, Cardboard, Wood and Plastic. In this week’s episode, we're going through Rounds 2 and 3, whittling the list down to just 8 games. Join us on March 26th for the finale, where we’ll announce the winner, and the winner of our bracket contest, along with a full regular episode featuring our newest acquisition disorders and reviews.  If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamersanonymous.com). You can support the show as well by donating on Patreon (www.patreon.com/bga), or using our Amazon affiliate link. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more

It's that time of year again - Chris and Anthony delve into our 2018 Board Game Bracket, pitting 64 games against each other in an epic, three part showdown to determine which has the best use of components.  This year, the theme is Components – and our regions are Cards, Cardboard, Wood and Plastic.   In this week's episode, we're going through all 64 games in Round 1, with 32 unique matchups. Join us next week for Rounds 2-3 and then on March 26th for the finale, where we'll announce the winner, and the winner of our bracket contest.  If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamersanonymous.com). You can support the show as well by donating on Patreon (www.patreon.com/bga), or using our Amazon affiliate link. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Chris and Anthony are diving into the growing world of Fantasy Flight's LCGs and other similar customizable card games with our newest top 10.  Make sure you enter our March Board Game Bracket challenge as well for a chance to win a free game: http://boardgamersanonymous.com/2018-board-game-bracket-contest/ First up, we share answers from our question of the week, "What game has the best stand up and shout moment?" Then we dive into our acquisition disorders for the week, including Kami Sama and Batman: Gotham City Chronicles.  At the table this week, Anthony reviews Town Center and Card City XL, while Chris shares his thoughts on Rise to Nobility, a recently delivered Kickstarter release.  Finally in our feature, we share our top 10 living and customizable card games: Question of the Week: 5:35 Acquisition Disorders: 7:20 Town Center Review: 14:58 Card City XL Review: 18:10 Rise to Nobility Review: 20:28 Top 10 LCGs and Customizable Card Games: 25:19​ If you haven’t yet, be sure to

Another month, another recap of the BGG Hotness. Find out why these games are atop the hot list for February.  To kick things off this week, Anthony and Chris look at answers to our question of the week, "What game have you played the most...ever?"  We also announce the newest version of our annual Board Game Bracket contest. You can learn more and enter directly here: http://boardgamersanonymous.com/2018-board-game-bracket-contest/  For our Acquisition Disorders this week, Anthony looks at Aeon's End: Legacy and Chris dives into Caverna: Lost Peoples.  For our At the Table segments, Anthony reviews Valletta from Stefan Dorra and ZMan Games and Chris looks at A Column of Fire from Kosmos and designer Michael Rieneck.  Finally, in our feature, we dig into the top 15 games on the BGG Hotness as of February 22, 2018.  Question of the Week: 3:39 Acquisition Disorders: 6:28 Valletta Review: 13:30 A Column of Fire Review: 19:07 BGG Hotness: 26:40   If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Fac

This week, we're looking at games you might like if you like video games (or more likely, if your stubborn video gaming friends are hesitant to try board games!) First up, we ask our question of the week, "what one piece of advice would you give to someone brand new to gaming?" For our acquisition disorders this week Anthony is looking at Xia: Embers of a Forsaken Star (and trolling himself in the process), while Chris looks at FINCA - a board game with...fruit! For our at the table segments this week, Anthony reviews Indian Summer from Uwe Rosenberg, yet more tile laying goodness, and Chris looks at his own polyomino game, Santa Maria.  Finally, we delve into some games you might like if you like video games.  Question of the Week: 3:38​ Acquisition Disorders: 10:17 Indian Summer Review: 16:31 Santa Maria Review: 22:20 If You Like Video Games, Try...: 27:18 If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast),

This week, we're revisiting a classic episode (#85) and looking at games that do especially well in representing female characters.  First up, we look at our question of the week. We asked the listeners what games thoroughly blew away their expectations, and share some of our own big surprises.  Next up, we look at CO2, the revamped edition of the classic Vital Lacerda game, now on Kickstarter in our Acquisition Disorder for the week.  For our At the Table reviews, Anthony looks at Rudiger Dorn's Montana, and Chris dives into a little game you may have heard of, Eric Lang's Rising Sun.  Finally, Chris delves into the best games for female characterization in our feature review for the week.  ​Question of the Week: 3:19 Acquisition Disorder: 5:59 Montana Review: 10:03 Rising Sun Review: 17:40 Best Games for Female Characterization: 28:47 If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (ww

This week's episode is sponsored by Academy Games, whose new game, Agents of Mayhem: Pride of Babylon is on Kickstarter now.  We also want to thank all of our new Patreon backers this week: Finn, Eric, Barry, Suppiluliuma, and Jim. This week, we have an all new Top 10 list, featuring the best deck building games out there.  First up, Chris and Anthony dive into our question of the week, looking at your answers to the question, "what game or designer would you attend a dedicated convention for?" For our acquisition disorders, we look at Teotihuacan: City of Gods from one of the designer of the Voyages of Marco Polo and Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar, as well as Coimbra.  In our At the Table segment, we review Pulsar 2849 and Antiquity - find out which of these is worth tracking down.  And finally, in our feature this week, we look at the top 10 deck builders: Question of the Week: 4:50​​ Acquisition Disorders: 7:25 Pulsar 2849 Review: 13:21 Antiquity Review: 19:22 Top 10 Deck Builders: 28:20 If yo

What's hot on BGG right now? Join us for our monthly BGG Hotness review. Chris and Anthony delve into the 15 games atop the hotness this week, along with a pair of new reviews and much more.  To kick things off, we asked the listeners for the most important things a FLGS can do to earn their patronage.  In our acquisition disorder this week, Anthony digs into UBOOT and Chris looks at the lighter, but still very pretty new game from Eagle Gryphon Games - The Scarlet Pimpernel. At the Table this week, Anthony reviews the long awaited reprinting of The Pillars of the Earth, a first time play for him. Chris digs into Spirit Island and shares his thoughts on one of our top games from 2017.  Finally, we delve into the top 15 games on the BGG hotness right now and share why they are there, whether we're equally interested, and what you should keep an eye out for.  If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on o

It's time for another If You Like episode. This week, we're digging into the biggest of them all - Twilight Imperium 4th Edition and six games you might like (at varying weights) if you're a fan of this epic experience. Before we dive into that, however, we asked our question of the week - your favorite asymmetrical implementation of player powers or starting conditions. Next up, we dove into our Acquisition Disorders, discussing Everdell and Fields of Arle: Tea & Trade. Then our At the Table reviews for this week, featuring Gaia Project and Dinosaur Island. Finally, we shared six games you ought to try if you're also a fan of Twilight Imperium: 4th Edition. Question of the Week: ​3:51 Acquisition Disorders: 7:14 Gaia Project Review: 12:03 Dinosaur Island Review: 19:09 If You Like Twilight Imperium 4th Edition, Try...: 30:27 If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamers

It's that time of year again - time for us to run wild with our acquisition disorders and list off 25+ games that we're excited to play in 2018. This year, the list was extra long so we had to do some pruning to make it manageable.  Before we dive into our most anticipated, we asked the listeners what their most anticipated were and the answers were extremely varied. We then dove into our recent plays with reviews of Rajas of the Ganges and Azul.  Finally, we shared the 30 games we're most excited to see in 2018. Check them out: Question of the Week: 6:25 Rajas of the Ganges Review: 8:45 Azul Review: 14:05 Most Anticipated Games of 2018: 19:56​ If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamersanonymous.com). You can support the show as well by donating on Patreon (www.patreon.com/bga), or using our Amazon affiliate link. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPriv

2017 is finally over and before we look too far into the future for 2018, we wanted to take a moment and review the year that was. This week, Chris and Anthony dive into 2017 in review, including a look at our most anticipated games of last year and how they performed.  First up, we asked the listeners which game they would like to see have a campaign-style expansion added to.  Next up we dive into our acquisition disorders, including Gentes Deluxe and Scythe: Rise of Fenris.  For our At the Table segment this week, Anthony reviews Civilization: A New Dawn and Chris dives into Calimala.  Finally, in our feature, we look at the games we thought we'd be most excited for in 2017 and discuss how they performed, followed by a run through of our gaming resolutions for 2018, our biggest surprise of last year and the favorite con of the year.  If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardg

Episode 150! It's a big one for us, so we wanted to do something extra special. Join Chris and Anthony as they revisit and rework the BGA Top 100 games of all time, in a brand new, very-euro heavy list.  Listen to hear if your favorites made it, and where they fell. And if they didn't, let us know which games SHOULD have made it.  If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamersanonymous.com). You can support the show as well by donating on Patreon (www.patreon.com/bga), or using our Amazon affiliate link. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A belated Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to everyone out there! We're a day late in getting this week's episode up, but know you'll appreciate having some extra content to listen to mid-week with the holiday break upon us.  Kicking things off this week, we asked you, the listeners, what games they had spent the most hours playing this year.  Next up, we dive into our biggest acquisition disorders of the last couple weeks, including the hotly anticipated digital implementation of Lord of the Rings Card Game and Uwe Rosenberg's newest, Reykholt.  Anthony Talks about his recent at the table play through of OTYS and Chris discusses The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 from USAopoly.  Finally, we dive into the final Hotness review of the year, including some recently buzzing games and a few oddballs.  If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamersanonymous.com).

Another year, another batch of amazing board games. Chris and Anthony pored over a huge list of 2017 releases (hundreds, you guys!) and chose 25 games they liked above all the rest as the top releases of the last year - some big names and a handful of hidden gems.  At the top of the list, each of us chose two games to be our best of the best for the year, with a couple of no brainers and some surprises. Check out the full list and our thoughts on each of these amazing games and why 2017 was a pretty good year for board games.  If you haven’t yet, be sure to connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boardgamersanonymous), Twitter (http://twitter.com/bgapodcast), and on our website (www.boardgamersanonymous.com). You can support the show as well by donating on Patreon (www.patreon.com/bga), or using our Amazon affiliate link. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices