This week we share our thoughts Semi-Cooperative games. We're a little loose on the definition of this mechanic a bit. Okay, maybe more than a bit. 

This week we talk recap and review the year 2019 as far as the board game hobby. None of that other stuff. We talk about our game of the year. We talk about some of our greatest game memories. 

Oh, and Nathan plays way too many game and has some way crazy game goals. Like a lot of goals. Think of a lot of games played. Nathan came close to that mark, or maybe blew it away. Find out inside.

This week we discuss the changes we have seen in the board gaming hobby over the last 5 and a half years, since our first episode. 

Also there are some free games to win. Not two or three contests, but four contest where you can win a free game.

This week we discuss Marvel Champions, the new game from Fantasy Flight. This is a 1-4 player, fully cooperative game where players take on the role of one of the five heroes in the core box, Spider-man, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, and Iron Man. The heroes face off against one of the three super villains, Rhino, Ultron, or Klaw.

Tune in to hear our thoughts and to see if it is a game the Ryan will like. (ed. note: why does Nathan keeps wondering if Ryan will like games?)

Last month, Brent and Nathan got to spend the week in Dallas Texas to attend Board Game Geek Con 2019. We talk about the experience of the con, the people of the con, and of course the games we played. Nathan adjusts his game list mid cast. Learn what game Nathan missed playing.

There's an app for that, Nathan.

We continue our discussion of fully cooperative games by focusing on one games each. We discuss three very different games that appeal to us and highlight the mechanic.

Spirit Island, City of Kings, and Chronicles of Crime.

We talk about a bunch of cooperative games, not team, or semi-cooperative games. We are only talking fully cooperative games. Marvel Legendary, you don't count. No one winner, secret winner, secret goals, or extra score steps.

We discuss Hanabi, Arkham Horror the card game, The Mind, Magic Maze, Mysterium, One key, Just one, and we mention many more.

Christmas shopping got you geared up to buy more board games? We feel the same. We put our stocking caps on and came up with a bunch of awesome suggestions to get the gamer in your life or to gift to a home that could use a little more gaming action.

In this episode we discuss Elizabeth Hargrave's widely popular game Wingspan. You play birds, place eggs, gather food, and create engines for fame and glory of the birding world.

If that doesn't sound awesome, you still need to play this game. Wingspan contains just enough player interaction to keep Ryan invested, and lives up to the hype.

This week we discuss Hako Onna which is a creepy deduction game that has a pick up and delivery element to it.

This has a US release through WizKids and plays 3-5 players.

There are a lot of great elements about this game, and Ryan feels its theme.

Does he like a new game?

Tune in and find out.

We'll see you at the game table.

Logan talks about the mild touch of Pick Up and Deliver in Nemesis. Is there more than the aliens picking up larva and delivering it into players chests?

Ryan gushes over crayon rail games again and focuses on Martian Rails. They take the core mechanic and build a wonderful mess of a map. Simplicity and a little magic make these games fabulous.

Train game and pick up and delivery mechanics make a lot of sense.

Nathan brings up Pirates Cove. Ryan likes it but is not a fan of combat system which punishes the losers dramatically through a whole lot of random.

Give us a listen.

We discuss Pick Up and Delivery games, a mechanic that seems to be lacking in our game group, but we have still played some very fun games.

Ryan chats up crayon rail games like Empire Builder, and Nathan tries to understand how Ryan can like a game with so little theme.

We bring up Firefly (of course) and games like Star Wars: Outer Rim, Deep Sea Adventure, and Pandemic. Still hoping for a Pandemic Legacy: Season 3.

Come join us at the game table.

Nathan and Ryan talk Arkham Horror: the card game. Meeple Nation will represent at SaltCon! Our highlight is the Meeple Nation hosted game show.

New games coming out:

• Wingspan European expansion
• Gloomhaven: Subtitle
  • Will it have new content or a retread of the old stuff and who is the target of this game new players, existing players?

Nathan brings up Pandemic Legacy: Season 2. He and his wife have only one game left. David compares Gloomhaven to Agricola.

• Codenames: the Simpsons
• Caroline and the Other Mother from Wizkids.
• Azul: Summer Pavilion
  • Do we need more Azul games?

KickStarters:

• Oathswon
  • Minis vs Standees
• Hard West 
• Rome and Roll
• Hey Cutie? Really Ryan??
  • What happens to a kickstarter when it doesn’t fund
• Tiny Epic Dinosaurs

This week we talk about some great ideas for spooky games for the Halloween season.

We discuss Mysterium, Fury of Dracula, Nycophobia, Horrified, and Fearsome Floors.

We also mention Hako Onna, Arkham Horror, and a host of other games.

Join us for some spooky fun that even Ryan can have.

In this episode we discuss different ways that apps have become a part of the board gaming hobby.

We discuss gaming websites like Brettspiewelt.de, BoardGameArena.com, and Yucata.de. We talk gaming apps for the phone like Dominion, San Juan, and Suburbia app, and Ryan brings up Star Realms for some reason.

We also discuss board games that have app integration.

We talk Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, Arkham Horror TCG, Agricola, Terraforming Mars, Marvel Legendary and Lord of the Rings the Living Card Game, Star Wars: Outer Rim, Chronicles of Crime and The Reckoners.

And then Ryan had to bring up Firefly.

We discuss the art of playing games alone, games designed to be played with only one player. Games discussed:

Proving Grounds, Onirim, Hostage Negotiator, and Ambush!

We don't play games alone that much, but we tried a few out for this episode and were not disappointed.

Some great games coming down the pipe to report about this month.

Clank! In! Space! Cyber Station 11 - We love this game and want more always.

Fox in the Forest Duet

Hako Onna - It's out and we have it in our grasp.

Marvel: Crisis Protocol

Wingspan in Digital

Alien: Covenant expansion for Legendary Encounters: An Alien Deck Building Game. - We love this one too, so this is a great excuse for this one to hit the table again.

Fired Up - A game where you are the spectators. Hmm. Maybe they pull it off.

Moonrakers

Solar Storm

Rare Roses

and more.

We finally review Star Wars Outer Rim. Is this the Firefly killer? Can the rebels and empire dethrone the browncoats in the Verse?

Even though the games are similar and we like both, Outer Rim doesn't blow the ship out of the trenches.

Still, it's fantastic. Check out our podcast review now!

Game of Thrones: Oathbreaker

• Kevin Spak

• Dire Wolf Digital

• 5-8 players

• 30-45 minutes

This is social deduction at it's socialist, to the point that one player's job is to watch people to determine if they are helping or not. Nathan and Logan loved it.

Find out what Ryan thought inside.

Inside your ears. When you listen.

Join your hosts as we discuss some great games. Nathan loves him some hidden roles, and these four games highlight a great use of the mechanic. Games discussed:

Don't Mess with Cthulhu

Bang! and Bang! The Dice Game

Salem

and

Sheriff of Nottingham

We're not sure if that last one is hidden roles or not, but Dave is special, so we didn't tell him to take his sweet voice and go home.

We talk all things hidden roles. What does Nathan find so appealing about seeking out the traitor or becoming one to turn the tables on the heroes?

We discuss: 

• Dead of Winter
• Don’t Mess with Cthulhu
• Battlestar Galactica
• Shadows over Camelot
• One night anything
• Werewolf
• Betrayal at House on the Hill
• Resistance
• Secret Hitler
• Spyfall
• Dark Moon
• Betrayal Legacy
• The Thing: infection at Outpost 31
• Werewords
• TimeBomb Evolution
• Deception: murder in Hong Kong

So much news coming out of GenCon. Join your GenCan'ter hosts as we discuss all of the hot new game announcements.

The Lord of the Rings - Journeys in Middle-earth is an app-driven exploration game in the world of Middle-earth by Fantasy Flight.

This is a spiritual successor to the app-driving plugged into their Imperial Assault and Decent properties, but this game was designed that was from the ground up.

If you love Middle-earth, you will enjoy this game. If you don't mind a phone giving you all of the game's details, this will work.

Ryan is unconvinced.

Dinosaur Island by Pandasaurus Games utilizes Action Points, Dice Rolling, Set Collection, Tile Placement, and Worker Placement all to replicate the great documentary Jurrassic Park.

We only lose a few patron in the process. Well, every turn. It's okay. They keep coming anyway.

Your hosts each pick a tile placement game that make great use of the mechanic and talks about why we like it. Our game choices are:

Nathan - Number 9

Logan - Escape

Ryan - Between Two Cities

Tile placement is awesome. We love it, and we discuss for a half hour our favorite games that use tile placement well. Games we talk about are, in no particular order:

• Carcassonne
• Azul
• Galaxy Trucker
• Suburbia
• Takenoko
• Patchwork
• Castles of Mad King Ludwig
• Dinosaur Island
• Kingdomino
• Tsuro
• Scrabble
• Vikings
• Viceroy
• Magic Maze

We definitely don't mention Attica again. 

Join your hosts as we discuss some great new games coming out soon. We talk:

• Clank! Expeditions: Temple of the Ape Lords
• Magic Maze: On Mars
• Robin Von Locksley
• Aftermath
• Star Wars: Outer Rim
• Proving Grounds
• 3 Laws of Robotics
• Monster Slaughter
• Deep Blue
• Tasty Humans
• The Isle of Cats

We discuss three games or two players or best with two players:

• Reckoners
  • Designers: Brett Sobol, Seth Van Orden
  • Publisher Nauvoo Games
• One Deck Dungeon
  • Designer: Chris Cieslik
  • Publisher: Asmadi Games
• Battle Line
  • Reiner Knizia
  • GMT Games

Nathan finally gets to review Star Wars: Legion by Fantasy Flight and talk about his expanding troops and terrain. SW: Legion is a 2 player game where players pit the rebellion against the might of the Empire.

Assemble your point based squad, heroes, villains and vehicles and try to destroy your opponent. Fun times. Just watch out for Darth Vader.

Join your hosts as we talk about playing awesome games two player. We hit games designed specifically for two people, co-op games, and games of variable player counts, but shine with two players. Also Nathan talks about raising his girls to love games too.

Some games we discuss include:

• Star Wars Rebellion
• Not Attika
• Star Wars X-wing
• Lost Cities
• Ballon Cup
• Patchwork
• Catan Card Game
• Starship Catan
• Star Realms
• Tally Ho
• 7 Wonders: Duel
• Splendor
• Chronicles of Crime
• Codenames: Duet

Dave joins us again as we talk gaming goals and SaltCON Summer. We discuss: 

• Chronicles of Crime

• The Reckoners

• Big Trouble in Little China

• Ultimate Werewolf

• Magic Maze

• Robo Rally

• Shadows over Camelot

• Deception: Murder in Hong Kong

• Don’t Mess with Cthulhu

And others.

Spiel des Jarhes nominees.

Catan: Starfarers, Asmodee

Ecos: First Continent, John D. Clair and AEG

Dead Reckoning, John D. Clair and AEG

Pandemic: Rapid Response and Z-man

Raccoon Tycoon: The Fat Cat Expansion

Fickle: A Fairy Board Game, BARD Games

Tiny Towns: Peter McPherson and AEG

The exciting journey into the world of Aeon's End, Legacy style. Nathan loves legacy games already and Ryan even said that he likes the game at one point! Friend Dave joins us again as we talk about this fun new deck builder!

In this episode, we discuss all things Legendary, including Marvel, Alien, Buffy, and the rest. We talk The Quest for El Dorado, which mixes deck building with a spacial race across platters full of different terrain types. We end on Clank! In! Space!, which is a glorious ride through science fiction pop culture with deck building while stealing artifacts from a space ship. It's beautiful. 

Deck/bag/dice builders are games where your starting deck or pool changes throughout the game as you buy more cards or cull cards. We love this mechanic and talk through the game that started it all: Dominion. Other games we discuss are:

Thunderstone (all varieties)

Clank!

Mystic Vale

Arkham Horror TCG

Star Realms (Hero Realms)

Tyrants of the Underdark

The City of Kings is a co-operative tactical role-playing board game for 1 - 4 players. Your unique hero ventures out from the City of Kings to explore tiles, gather resources and vanquish monsters.

Designed by Frank West and Published by The City of Games 

Meeple Nation talks April 2019 News. We cover

Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein!

Space Base: Command Station

Game of Thrones: Oathbreaker

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Core Set

Kingdom Rush: Rift in Time

Venom Assault: Villains and Valour

Takendo Giant: Chibis

and

Terraforming Mars : Turmoil

Call to Adventure challenges 2-4 players to create the hero with the greatest destiny by acquiring traits, facing challenges, and overcoming adversaries.

Designed by Johnny O'Neal and Christopher O'Neal

Published by Brotherwise Games

Tableau Building is a fantastic family of games. In this episode, your hosts select a game each and detail how their chosen game utilizes tableau building for fun and profit. 

Innovation by Carl Chudyk and Asmadi Games

Charterstone by Jamey Stegmaier and Stonemaier games.

Near and Far by Ryan Laukat and Red Raven Games

Your hosts, Nathan, Ryan and Logan discuss Tableau building games and what makes them great.

From Race for the Galaxy and 7 Wonders to Citadels and Terraforming Mars, tableau builders give players an array or components (cards, tiles, player boards, etc.) to buy, build, manipulate and combine for victory points.

You hopefully create an engine for fun and profit.

Meeple Nation was at SaltCON 2019 and ran a bunch of games. Listen to get our highlights of the con. We hosted Brent Mair's Puzzlehunt, the Game Show, a bunch of Werewolf and a dozen other social deduction games. We had a blast.

The hosts of Meeple Nation deliver your March 2019 News with special guest Ashlee Howard. We discuss a bunch of forthcoming games including:

Star Wars: Outer Rim from Fantasy Flight

Terraforming Mars: Turmoil from Stronghold

Ravnica Inquisition from Wizkids

Time Breaker from Looney Labs

Talisman: Kingdom Hearts from USAopoly

Hako Onna from Ejin and Wizkids

and Kickstarters:

Creature Feature by our friend Kristopher McClanahan of Deeply Dapper Games

Throw Throw Burrito from Exploading Kittens

High Rise from Formal Ferret Games

The Silver River from Robert Burke Games

Join the Nation as we gush about the board game Nemesis by Awaken Realms, designed by Adam Kwapiński. This epic board game is loosely based on the Alien franchise.

You start the game waking from hibernation to find a crew member with a hole in their chest and blood everywhere. Each player has hidden objectives they need to complete in order to win, but you first have to survive.

Mechanics:

• Campaign / Battle Card Driven
• Cooperative Play
• Dice Rolling
• Modular Board
• Partnerships
• Player Elimination
• Variable Player Powers

The theme is spot on, the components excellent, and the play experience tense and exciting.

Nathan has been itching to bring Star Wars Rebellion from Fantasy Flight to the podcast. Nathan is a sucker for all thing Star Wars, and he's pretty lucky because Fantasy Flight always delivers a quality play experience. Logan has Nathan's back.

Ryan just doesn't seem to like games.

Listen as we discuss the flavor and mechanics of Star Wars Rebellion.

Join Meeple Nation as your hosts discuss three of their favorite area control games. We each chose a game that uses the mechanic in different ways, and different than Risk.

The chosen games are:

Carolvs Magnvs (2000) by Leo Colovini

Carcassonne (2000) by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede

A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (Second Edition) (2011) by Christian T. Petersen

All of these are older games. We think they show great and unique ways that area control can be used in board games. Plus, they are fun and a little cutthroat.

Area Control games like Risk tend to have a bad rap in our playgroup, but does that make the mechanic problematic? Many players love area control and seek out games like Heroes of Land, Sea, and Air, Twilight Struggle and Scythe. Join Meeple Nation as we discuss those games as well as Area Control games like El Grande.

Other games discussed:

• Spirit Island
• Terra Mystica
• Carolus Magnus
• Attika
• Carcassonne
• Tyrants of the Underdark
• Bunny Kingdom

Join the Meeple Nation with your hosts Nathan and Ryan as they discuss the board game news for February 2019. Will every property release a roll & write version? Will Nathan buy all the kickstarters? Only one way to find out...

We discuss:

• The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth
• Chronicles of Crime: Noir/Welcome to Redview
• Gloomhaven: Forgotten Circles
• Tuki from Next Move Games
• Imperial Settlers: Roll & Write
• Dracula’s Feast: New Blood
• Aftershock
• Valor and Villainy

Join Meeple Nation with your hosts Ryan, Nathan, and guest host Logan as we discuss Big Trouble in Little China The Board Game. Big Trouble is Nathan's all time favorite movie, so the game has a lot to live up to. Will Nathan ever choose a different character than Jack Burton? Will he stop quoting the movie long enough to take his turn?  Only one way to find out? I'm a reasonable guy. But, I've just experienced some very unreasonable things.

• Year 2018
• Designers
  Christopher Batarlis

  Boris Polonsky

  Jim Samartino
• Artists
  Henning Ludvigsen

  Boris Polonsky
• Publisher
  Everything Epic Games

This week we continue our discussion of press-your-luck in games as we talk card flips in Dead Man's Draw, gear dice selection and dice rolling in Formula D, and progressing deeper and pushing clank in the game Clank!

This week we review the press-your-luck game, winner of the 2018 Kennerspiel des Jahres, Quacks of Quedlinburg

Just flip one more card or roll the dice on more time, right? This week we are talking press your luck games such as Quacks of Quedlingburg, Dead Man's Draw, Incan Gold, or Deep Sea Adventure.

Join us as we talk about gaming goals, what we accomplished and what we didn't. We celebrate Nathan's fantastic gaming year.

We also talk news including

• New Frontiers
• The City
• Suburbia Collectors Edition
• Clank Legacy: Acquisitions Incorportated
• Proving Grounds
• ...More

We dip into the mailbag and answer a few questions from listeners, starting with the question of Time Travel in board games.

We talk everything Pandemic including:

Pandemic 2008

• On the brink 2009
• In the Lab 2013
• State of Emergency 2015

Pandemic: Contagion 2014

Pandemic: The Cure 2014

• Experimental Meds 2016

Pandemic: Legacy Season 1 2015

Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu 2016

Pandemic: Iberia 2016

Pandemic: Rising Tide 2017

Pandemic: Legacy Season 2 2017

Pandemic: Fall of Rome 2018

We discuss NaNoWriMo, Social Deduction, Gaming Goals, App Supported Board Games, and answer a few questions.

Brent and Nathan sit down and talk about their last few days of gaming from BoardGameGeek.Con 2018 in Dallas. 

Games played:

• Poker
• Two Rooms and a Boom
• Capital Lux
• Rebel Nox
• Discover: Lands Unknown
• Lost Expedition
• Sentient
• Dominion: Nocturne and Renaissance.

We are joined by Matt for this news episode.

We talk Keyforge Names, Kickstarter Games, One Dollar Kickstarter Pledges, Errant Uber Drivers, Layoffs and Acquisition during this Golden Age.

Nathan and Ryan made it to BGG.Con 2018. This recording is their coverage of the first 20 games they play which includes:

Downfall

Brikks

Blueprint

Sherlock: Last Call

Sherlock: Tomb of the Archeologist

Flowerfall x3

The Quest for El Dorado Heroes and Hexes

New York Slice

Thunderstone Quest

A Study in Emerald

Ticket to Ride New York

Big Trouble in Little China

Steamrollers

Big Dig

Fuji

The River

Kashgar: Merchants of the Silk Road

U.S. Telegraph

Firefly

Iron Dragon

This is the episode that everyone, or at least one, has been waiting for. In this episode we discuss dozens of games, and a history of what makes up the Cthulhu Mythos. We start with the Fantasy Flight games, labeled Arkham Horror Files, including Arkham Horror 2nd Edition, 3rd Edition, Mansions of Madness 1st and 2nd Editions, Elder Sign, and Eldritch Horror.

Then we discuss a good many games that are not Fantasy Flight properties, including Cthulhu Wars, Towers of Madness, Cthulhu Realms, and many more.

Music Clip provided by: Echoes of Time v2 Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This is our 5th annual Holiday Gift guide. We each bring five recommendations to the table, along with our recommendations for audience.

Nathan

• Muse
• Sagrada
• Space Base
• Azul
• Magic Maze

Brent

• Ticket to Ride
• Pandemic
• Sushi Go Party!
• King of Tokyo
• Exit and Unlock! Escape Room Games

Ryan

• Codenames (Harry Potter)
• The Mind
• Disney's Villainous
• Magic: The Gathering
• Reef

This week we have an intervention of sorts, but who needs intervening, Nathan or Ryan? We discuss how perception, attitude, and enthusiasm affect enjoyment in gaming, for everyone.

What is your attitude towards games? What types of games do you enjoy?

Ryan, Brent and Nathan sit down with Matt and Barb and talk news and Kickstarters.

Make sure you look for us at BGG.con and consider donating to our Extra Life effort at https://extra-life.org/team/nugg

Thanks for listening!

Once again Brent is away which somehow means that Sam comes over to play. Sam Aho from Sam Says Game Reviews joins Ryan and Nathan while they discuss Introducing New Games to Players.

What should you do when an experience player teaches a game to a new player? Should there be strategy discussion, commentary on moves, warnings about game timing and more? Tune in to listen to a few differing opinions on the subject.

We discuss games from the past, ones we consider hidden gems including Taj Mahal, Balloon Cup, Cartagena, Pirates Cove, Around the World in 80 Days (Michael Reinick version), and Mutant Chronicles: Siege of the Citadel, among other games from the listeners.

This week, Sam Aho, of Sam Says, joins Ryan and Nathan to talk about two games from Gamelyn Games and Scott Almes, Tiny Epic Zombies and Tiny Epic Galaxies, including the Into the Dark expansion.

Listen to hear their thoughts!

Nathan, Ryan and Sam Aho from Sam Says sit down to discuss their experience with this Scott Almes creation from Gamelyn Games.

Heroes of Land Air and Sea is a 4X game, and definitely not tiny. Listen to hear their thoughts.

In this month's news episode we discuss expansions including The Quest for El Dorado: Heroes and Hexes, Magic Maze: Hidden Roles, remixed games including Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig, and many more original games.

This week we talk about Raiders of the North Sea along with the Hall of Heroes and Fields of Fame expansions.

These games are now published in the US and are designed by Shem Phillips with art by Mihajlo Dimitrievski.

The many games played at SaltCON end of summer including Hail Hydra, Battleline, Reef and many more.

This week we talk through five games we've been playing. We start with Majesty: For the Realm, Ryan continues with Terraforming Mars: Prelude, Nathan talks Mountains of Madness, I bring up Fast Forward Fortress and we end with more Decrypto.

When you picnic or camp do you game, or just enjoy the outdoors? Do you beat up your cards, watch over them carefully, or choose tile based or pencil games? 

We discuss all manor of games from our past and suggestions from you, Meeple Nation.

It is again time for news. We talk Power Rangers, Unique Games, Keyforge and Discover, the exit of Christian Peterson from Asmodee North America, and the merger of Stronghold Games and Indie Boards and Cards.

We discuss Root, Everdell, Monster Crunch, Flotsam Fight, and many more games.

Join us in the guild or at Meeple Nation Off Air on Facebook.

This week we are again joined by Matt and Barb of the Players Wanted Podcast. We discuss their recent trip to GenCon including Oink Games, Pikoko, Ice Cool 2, and Matt's GenCon Hat, which is not a game.

We cover all that and over a dozen other titles, including Keyforge, Welcome To..., Reef, and more.

We've been deep in the hobby for 20 years now and we are surprised when some games remain for sale continually, or in other words, become evergreen games, and why some don't.

What makes Ticket to Ride, Catan, Pandemic, and many others stand out and sell thousands of times more copies than the average hobby game.

We have some ideas. Let us know what you think.

This episode Ryan, Brent and Nathan each choose five games from the massive list of 615 titles previewed on boardgamegeek.com.

This list is found at https://www.boardgamegeek.com/geekpreview/7/gen-con-2018-preview

We talk Robotech, Alien, Aliens, Towers, and many more.

We are joined this week by friend of the podcast, Thomas Roybal, a university professor that has used games and gaming concepts for years in his classrooms. 

He gives us examples of games he was occasionally able to play with the kids when he taught high school, and his more subtle way of using games at the university.

Brent, Nathan and Ryan are joined again by Barb and Matt for a lot of fun and a little chaos.

We talk Kickstarters, Games ending, games beginning, and for some reason, real news about Big Trouble in Little China

Sam Aho joins Nathan and Ryan while they discuss their favorite games, including Ryan being on a quest.

What do you play when you have seven or more players and splitting into two or more groups isn't an option? We discuss games we enjoy plus ideas from you, the listeners. Let us know what we missed by contacting us in the BGG guild or on the Meeple Nation Off Air Facebook group!

This week we sit down and talk about the fantastic cooperative game from Greater than Games.

Nathan likes it. Brent likes it. What does Ryan think? Does the theme resonate, do the mechanics and theme come together to provide a nice narrative?

Yes.

This episode we introduce and review two games, starting with Space Base from John D Clair and AEG and The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 from Mondo games and Joe Van Wetering.

Could Ryan and Nathan like them both?

Nathan finally plays Starfarers of Catan, he raves about his Game Toppers Tables, we talk Kickstarter, more Asmodee acquisitions and Asmodee's possible desire to be acquired, and more June news.

We talk a bit about the nine Spiel des Jahres Nominees. Brent has played them all and Nathan and Ryan talk Ganz Shon Clever, The Mind and Azul. Ryan sneaks in some Terraforming Mars jabs.

Kinderspiel des Jahres Nominees:

• Shaky Manor
• Emojito
• Dragon's Breath

Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominees:

• Heaven & Ale
• Ganz Shon Clever
• Die Quacksalber von Quedlenburg

Spiel des Jahres Nominees:

• Luxor
• The Mind
• Azul

Ryan and Nathan are joined by Daniel Hadlock. Brent and Sam are conspicuously absent. Daniel is president of Tasty Minstrel Games and caries out a variety of tasks in order to get games out to market. Sit back and listen while Daniel answers Nathan and Ryan's quetions.

We discuss a number of games we have been playing including 7th Continent, Muse, Illusion, Mystic Vale: Conclave and the Estrella Drive expansion for Time Stories

Be sure to support our sponsors: The TMG Podcast and Game Toppers!

This week we talk about what we are playing including a non-spoiler wrap-up of Charterstone, Roll Player, Eldritch Horror, Arkham Horror: TCG, and despite an attempt to move this off 6 months, even more Cthulhu Mythos games.

Pardon some Audio Glitches that caused occasional loss of audio.

Make sure you support our sponsors, the TMG Podcast, and GameToppersLLC.com

Nathan is now interested in Thanos Rising: Infinity War. We talk about games we are playing (or watching) including Clank! The Mummy's Curse, The Quest for El Dorado, Welcome To Your Dream Home, Space Cadet: Dice Duel.

Meatball Nation is now available through Google Home or Amazon Echo. On the Play say: Play Meeple Nation Board Game Podcast. On the Echo say: Enable Meatball Nation then Play Meatball Nation. Yeah, that's right.

X-Wing is getting a second edition, Robotech is getting two new games from a new publisher (despite the issues with the previous licensee), we banter minis vs standees, then talk Kickstarters, Hellboy, a return of Thunderstone Quest, Homesteaders, and The City of Kings.

Remember to support our sponsors, the TMG podcast and Game Toppers! Let them know that Meatball Nation sent you.

A dozen years ago many of us talked about how to grow the gaming community. Now, the chatter has changed. Now, the question is more about when or if this golden age will end, and many of us wonder when we will get to play the games we already own, or possibly have on order.

What do all these games mean to the industry, to gamers, and to me? Why won't anybody play my game?

We often hear people ask what makes a game a game. We've formed our own opinions and parroted others.

Well after some reflection, and with excited and odd new games entering the market, we have come to a different conclusion.

So what exactly comprises our hobby? Many many different types of games. Listen for more.

We talk about the creative process and puzzle hunts, including those created at BGG.Con and those for SaltCON

Please consider supporting our sponsors, The Tasty Minstrel Games Podcast and Game Toppers LLC.

We discuss two new games this episode.

The Mind is a cooperative game of non-communication. What level can you reach?

Thunderstone Quest is the newest iteration of Thunderstone and while it is yet another improvement, how much has it approved?

We are again joined by Matt and Barb while we discuss gaming news including an almost update on Big Trouble in Little China, World War Hulk Legendary, Thanos Rising: Avengers Infinity War

We are excited to announce that Game Toppers is our new sponsor, check them out at http://gametoppersllc.com

We also discuss Kickstarters past and present including Fire in the Library, AuZtralia, Dragon Keepers, and many more.

We review the games that won the Golden Geek Awards for 2017 from Boardgamegeek.com and we talk a bit about the Stonemaier Games and Steve Jackson Games Stakeholder Reports.

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/1955324/12th-annual-golden-geek-awards-winners-2017

https://stonemaiergames.com/2017-behind-the-scenes-stakeholder-report-for-stonemaier-games/

http://www.sjgames.com/general/stakeholders/

This week we discuss Gloomhaven, the monstrous game by Isaac Childres. Ryan, Brent, and Nathan are joined by Dennis Holliday for this podcast.

We talk about more games played at SaltCON including Fast Forward: Flee, Fast Forward: Fear, Verflucht!, Dominion: Nocturne. We discuss Con Games feedback, and have a few more interviews from attendees.

We have just returned from SaltCON 2018 and we have reports on the events we ran for the convention inlcuding a Game Show, Werewolf, and a Puzzle Hunt.

We also (mainly Nathan) played large group games of Deception Murder In Hong Kong and Salem 1692.

We also talk about other convention events, games, dealers, and other SaltCON stuff.

And is that Brent and Sam on the same episode? This episode might explode in 60 seconds.

Ryan, Brent, Nathan and Matt sit down and discuss current news and Kickstarters.

They start by talking about convention expectations, meander into prototypes, then jump into what is new!

We sit down with Tim Fowers of Fowers Games creator of Wok Star, Burgle Bros, Hardback, Paperback, Now Boarding and Fugitive. We talk his company and distribution philosophy and what is going on at his company.

Then we talk pacing in games, strong finishes, and alternate win conditions.

This week we are joined by Shane Larsen as we talk about complexity in games including talks about Puerto Rico, Through the Ages, Lorenzo Il Magnifco, and many more. Are complex games better, or just longer?