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?

This week we take a half dozen of your questions and answer them. Why do people play cooperative games? How do you make sure that hype doesn't affect you when you are evaluating a game? What do you do when you are mathematically eliminated from the game?

Welcome to episode 201 of the Meeple Nation podcast. This week our opener is our origin story. Then we get into the meat of the podcast where we discuss advice for new people entering our hobby, and a reminder that we need to be aware of others as we game. Be nice, Brent!

We have reached 200 episodes and gather to talk news. We discuss Kickstarters from Brian's Got Game, CMoN Unlimited, TMG, and more. Also news from Plan B, and more.

We take time this episode to discuss four games we have been playing. In addition to Nathan's update on Imperial Assault, we discuss Azul, from Michael Kiesling and Plan B Games, Exodus Fleet from TMG, and Tichu, published in English by Rio Grande Games.

Charterstone has begun, and while we say little about it, Ryan riffs on people trying to make permanence temporary in Legacy games.

We also discuss some games we have played recently, including Crosstalk, Nmbr9, Timebomb: Evolution, and Terraforming Mars: Venus Next.

2017 is in the books! We discuss our highlights and report on how we failed (or did we?) at our gaming goals. Bring on the new year, and Nathan's ambitious, 15x10 challenge.

We love deckbuilding games. We each discuss our top three games, explain what deckbuilders are and talk about our recent experience playing Hero Realms The Ruins of Thandar Campaign and Tyrants of the Underdark.

This week Nathan and Ryan and joined by Sam Aho and Matt and Barb Allen to discuss Kickstarters and other news in the board game industry.

This holiday seasons people make lists and people play games. Some even make lists of games they would play. Do you prefer Nathan's Twelve (mostly short games) that he wants to play 1-12 times in the next few weeks? What do you think about Brent's list of games that have the number of the day in them? Even better, Ryan has ideas for mini goals to do while playing games.

Whatever you celebrate this month, we hope you are surrounded by friends and family and board games.

Brent returns, barely, from BGG.Con and we discuss many of the events he enjoyed and games he played including Nusfjord, Majesty: For the Realm, Reworld, Otys, Roll Player, the Puzzle Hunt, and more.

Brent also conducts and interview with a Ravensburger North America representative about their upcoming games! 

Our Gift Guide:
Family Games
Ticket to Ride
The Quest for El Dorado
Kingdomino
Fast Forward: FLEE
Transamerica
Century: Spice Road
Delve
Splendor
NMBR 9
Can't Stop Express
Clank! In! Space!
Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle

Children Games
Ice Cool
Rhino Hero
Flick 'Em Up
Bang: The Dice Games
Coconuts
Happy Salmon

Group Games
Fuse
Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
Magic Maze

Stocking Stuffers (Small Games)
Pack O Games
Mint Works
Insider
Timeline
Pirate 21
Don't Mess with Cthulhu
Magic Packs

Ryan, Nathan, and Brent sit down and discuss Kickstarters, new games, what we are playing, and board game art and presentation. Join us on Facebook at Meeple Nation Off Air.

This week, Ryan, Nathan and Dennis sit down and talk about the monstrosity that is Massive Darkness. How does it stand up? Is it better as a stand-alone game or in story mode? Listen to their review.

After a few weeks of discussion we sit down and record this episode on Board Game collections. Brent asserts that a person is a collector if, 1. They identify themselves as a collector and have at least two games, and/or 2. They have more games than they could reasonably play.

Ryan uses a sports analogy to explain how he would select games to buy if Nathan, Brent and his other friends didn't keep him supplied in games, and Nathan waffles on whether he is A True Collector.

This episode is filled with quotations from our tribe. Join us on Facebook at Meeple Nation Off Air or on our BGG guild, 1943.

Join us this week while we discuss three games we have recently played. Ryan explains Pirate 21, a quick game from Indie Boards and Cards. Nathan follows with his explanation of Delve from the same company, and finally, Brent leads off discussion about Codenames Duet, a cooperative version of Codenames.

This week we have a shorter episode than normal due to lost audio. We are joined by Matt. He talks Lisboa, and we talk Downfall, Kahoots, Too Many Bones, and the Kickstarter only model of some massive games such as Batman: The Board Game.

Ryan, Nathan, and Brent meet with Matt Allen to discuss October news, including some Kickstarters we are looking forward to and recently fulfilled Kickstarters we have played, including Massive Darkness, 7th Continent, Table Toppers, and more.

We finally put to bed Seafall, and yet again talk Terraforming Mars.

We start out the episode with Ryan's report of his play in the Magic prerelease, include more details than Brent cared to listen to. Then Brent talks Arkham Horror The Card Game and his trip to Italy.

Nmbr9 is a quick and accessible game were players stack numbers in order to gain points.

Power Grid The Card Game is a scaled down version of Power Grid, with no map.

We are raising money for Primary Children's Hospital at https://extra-life.org/team/nugg/

Despite us continually asking that we not receive a Raxxon invite, we did and Nathan now owns a copy. This much hyped game was talked about quite a bit on the web because of the scarcity created through the invite system. Is the game fun? What is it really?

This week we sit down to discuss a few games we have been playing recently, including Thief's Market, Abandon Planet and First Martians.

Then we move into the main portion of the 'cast and we talk about Clank! In! Space, the sequel to our much loved, Clank! How is it different? Is it an improvement? Listen and find out.

This week we cover five different Escape Room Games. Listen for our commentary, but the summary is:

• EXIT the Game - Three current titles, three more announced. Fantastic games with the best puzzles, contents destroyed during play. In game Hints give solutions if you desire.
• Unlock! - Three current titles, three more announced. These are the hosts' favorite with their humor and fun. Extremely easy to reset for play by another group. Free App required.
• Escape the Room - Nathan and Brent played Mystery at the Stargazer's Manor and found it clever and fun, but much more simple than the previous two. Reset instructions online.
• Escape Room the Game - Core set comes with four different games, but the electronic device that is needed to solve and advance the game did not work properly for the hosts. Not recommended. Reset with a printer and less than 30 minutes.
• Escape Room in a Box: The Werewolf Experience - Huge fun that is pretty pricey and probably hard to find. Can be reset with a printer and a half hour of time, or so.

Don't forget to pick up Ryan Decaria's book, Devil in the Microscope, available from Amazon, and check out Brent's Meeple Sing Shirts, also available through Amazon. 

Matt and Barb are recently back from GenCon 50 and have details of the games they purchased and played. They are joined by Ryan, Brent and Nathan and they all discuss additional news out of GenCon and the larger board game world.

We thank Tasty Minstrel games for supporting our podcast. Please support them by buying their great games and listening to the TMG Podcast.

We now have four Meeple Nation shirts on Amazon. Search Meeple Nation there and see our new minimalistic design.

Brent has created 20 board game related shirts with more coming soon. Search Meeple Sing Shirts on Amazon.com

Ryan's book is now published and available on Amazon Kindle and in print. It is called Devil in the Microscope.

This week join Ryan as he talks with enthusiasm about word games! Nathan and Brent are also present.

We discuss a few different categories of word games.

Spelling Games: Scrabble, Boggle, Pick Two, Paperback, Hardback, Word Domination, Boggle Bowl

Guess the Word: Code Names, Word Slam, Werewords, Insider, Codenames, The Chamelon, Mad Gab, Taboo

Matching Words: Apples to Apples, Cards Against Humanity

For years, games made from IPs meant roll and move, trivia, or a reskin of another popular mass market game. Now things are changing as we see more effort and better overall design married to the movies and books we love.

This week we discuss the world of IPs and what we hope to see in future.

Join our guild on Boardgamegeek at https://www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/1943 or our Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/MeepleNationOffAir/

This week Nathan, Ryan and Brent discuss what attracts them to games, and what instantly repels them. They start out with introductions and move into talking about deckbuilders, engine builders, and direct attacks.

Don't forget to pick up Ryan Decaria's book, Devil in the Microscope for Kindle. Print and audio versions will be released later this year.

Nathan, Brent and Ryan sit down to talk about games we are excited about that will be released on the next few months, including more Fable games from Friedemann Friese, a game about Einstein, gaining Sentience, news on a couple of Brandon Sanderson games, and much more.

Don't forget to join us at Meeple Nation Off Air on Facebook!

This week we start off the podcast with a nice little rant about how T.I.M.E Stories is going astray. At least that is what Brent and Ryan think.

We have news from the industry including more Target exclusives and we talk about a slew of Kickstarters that have caught our eye.

Next week we will cover GenCon games.

Are you like Nathan, and you haven't ever met an expansion you didn't like? Do you consider expansions unnecessary, or particular expansions essential?

This week we discuss the sordid world of board game expansions.

Are you interested in asking us an audio question or giving us feedback? Please send mp3 emails to brent@meeplenation.com or call our US phone number, 801-784-0743, any time of the day or night and leave a message.

Ryan Decaria's book is coming out August 15th, 2017. Search for Devil in the Microscope on Goodreads or Amazon!

Nathan has returned and he talks travels with Brent. Ryan is out this week but should return for episode 174.

We talk about Raxxon, a game being shared through viral marketing, Monopoly Gamer and how that suddenly reversed many people's view of the core game, feedback, upcoming questions, Our Boardgamegeek.com guild (number 1943), and the SdJ 2017 winners.

Nathan is out and about in the islands of Hawaii so Ryan and Brent face off across the microphone to talk about the integration of theme. Ryan recreates one of his presentations from FryeCon with Brent as a live and sometimes disruptive audience. What do you think about theme? Continue the conversation on Facebook in the Meeple Nation Off Air group or on Boardgamegeek.com in our guild.

We discuss the fantastic website boardgamegeek.com. This stalwart site is chocked full of resources and user-generated content fit for any style and experience level of gamer, although each person is going to use the site in different ways. We discuss ratings, rankings, reviews, geeklists, guilds, logging games owned and played, and many other features of the Geek, including forums, contests, videos, podcasts, images, and flame wars. Join the conversation!

Board Game News for June 2017.

We talk Pandemic Legacy: Season 2, Big Trouble in Little China, Legendary: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestations: Second Edition, andCentury: Spice Road.

We cover the following Apps: San Juan, Race for the Galaxy, Tsuro, Coup, and Colony Wars in the Star Realms app. Let's just say that not all apps are created equal.

We're excited for Deception: Undercover Allies and Triplock on Kickstarter. And we even mention Master Detective Clue for some retro board game action.

Nathan likes tiny boxes packed with lots of game pieces from the Japanese game company, Oink Games.

We start off talking Deep Sea Adventure, a press your luck, 20 minute game for 3-6 players.

We continue telling you more about Insider, a 20-question style game for 4-8 players in less than 10 minutes.

Third up is A Fake Artist Goes to New York, where players collectively draw a picture while trying to guess which player doesn't know what the group is drawing. This game plays 5-10 players in 20 minutes.

The Pyramid's Deadline is a game of building a beautiful resting spot for the Pharoah, but if you fail you will be executed. 2-6 players can play in 10-25 minutes. 

We end the discussion with Maskmen, a shedding card game with a Lunchadores theme. It should work well with 2-6 players in about 30 minutes.

Brent chats about the games he enjoyed at BGGCon Spring, and Ryan and Nathan interject about the games played at home. We discuss Archipelago, Escape from 100 Million BC, Codenames: Duel, Flamme Rouge, Insider,The Goonies, H.I.D.E. and The Great Dinosaur Rush.

This week we finish the discussion of the Spiel des Jahres 2017 nominees. We start with Kingdomino, talk about Magic Maze, and end with Race to El Dorado.

This episode we talk more in depth about Ice Cool, Mysterious Forest, and Captain Silver, the three Kinderspiel des Jahres nominees.

We then discuss what we know about Raiders of the North Sea, Terraforming Mars, and EXIT The Game.

We start off this episode by bringing the news of the nine nominees for the three Spiel des Jahres awards and talk about two of the three of those that we played.

We also talk news!

Don't forget to support Counter Magazine at https://boardgamegeekstore.com

Ryan Decaria regales us with a discussion of his adventures in gaming without the other hosts. He discusses Vanuatu and Tinners Trail.

Brent talks the GIPF series of abstract games, which leads to a discussion of the misuse of the word Legacy. We update/correct our discussion of Charterstone, a new Legacy game coming from Stonemaier Games.

Brent then talks about Pack O Games 2 from Chris Handy at Perplext.

This we we discuss Hidden Role Games, Nathan's favorite genre. We discuss what we like about these games, including Don't Mess with Cthulhu, Battlestar Galactica, Shadows over Camelot, Burke's Gambit, Dead of Winter, and many others.

What is your favorite Hidden Role Game?

We recap the NUGG sponsored International Table Top Day event. We discuss 7 Wonders: Duel, Colt Express, Ice Cool, Terraforming Mars, Arkham Horror: the Card Game, and Clank!: Sunken Treasure.  We all love Clank!, but we examine a few game-play issues that could be improved through expansions. We also discuss game etiquette when teaching a game to new people.

Good times were had by all!

We cover many subjects including:

• Secrets of the Lost Tomb
• Big Trouble in Little China
• Trick of the Rails
• Diamonds
• Moons
• Solarquest
• Trick-Taking, The Trick-Taking Game
• Deck Building, the Deck Builder Game
• Pathfinder: The Mummy's Mask
• Magic - Amonkhet Cycle
• Arkham Horror: The Card Game - The Path to Carcosa
• Firefly - Big Money
• Kingdom Builder
• Vast - The Crystal Caverns