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

It's Barb day on Meeple Nation where we give you the latest board game news. We talk Kickstarters with Aeon's End: War Eternal, Gloomhaven, Five Seals of Magic, Rise to Nobility, Hardback, Brass, and Bios Genesis 2nd edition, among other bits-o-news and games, such as Esports tournaments, a new GIPF game, a Seafall non-update, and plenty more. Oh, and Matt was there too.

Cheers!

This week Nathan, Ryan and Brent sit down and talk about games and related books that we have played recently. The list includes:

This week Nathan and Ryan sit down with Sam Aho from Sam Says Game Reviews to talk about Mechs vs Minions, the surprisingly good board game from Riot Games. They talk about the mechanisms of the game while skirting those details that some might consider spoilers.

Enjoy this special podcast with Sam since Brent will be returning next week and will definitely not allow Sam on the show again.

Are you ready to defend the underground city of Gravehold from the Nameless and their hordes of monstrous minions? How are you going to fight them? By playing Dominion. But instead of buying action cards and real estate, you buy gems and spells, and attack them nasty bug-eyed demon things with magic.

Colony by Bézier Games, Inc. is a tableau building dice game set in a post apocalyptic world where the players attempt to put civilization back together competitively. Nathan and his daughter embraced the game play, mechanics, variety of building cards, and dice rolling. This seems like a theme Ryan could get behind, but does the game meet his increasingly high standards for theme resonance in game play? Listen to find out.

Lets start with Rising Sun, move to Gloomhaven again, Dinosaur Island, Thunderstone Quest, even Gamer Deck 2. Should companies do second and third editions of games? MeepleCon and the GAMA Trade Show are right around the corner. 

Will Jon Gilmour and team convert Centipede into a compelling board game?

Also check out Counter Issue #75 available now in the boardgamegeekstore.com

Meeple Nation's favorite convention is in the books. We played some games, met with friends, and put on four fantastic events, including a game show, a puzzle hunt, Werewolf and Deception: Murder at SaltCon. Join us as we recap a great weekend, and set your schedule to join us next year! SaltCon is AMAZING!

Exactly one year after releasing episode 98, Consumable Games, we revisit the subject of Legacy games. In this spoiler free episode we talk Seafall, Gloomhaven, Charterstone, and define what we believe Legacy to be, which is a permanence to your choices.

We also contrast these games to other scenario and campaign games and revisit the One Shot games from our past.

Game Companies, we love you! But...get those rules right, let me sleeve my cards, and support the game long term. In other words, make it easy for us to love your games!

Is this game garbage? Tell us what you really think. Seriously. Drop the label and give us the why you didn't enjoy the game.

This week we discuss game audiences and game diversity, and set you free from believing you need to like all games.

This week the Meeple Nation guys sit down with Barbara and Matt Allen to talk about industry news for February 2017. What's going on with BGG.con premium badges? Is Plan B a good idea?

You probably already know that Brent and Nathan love deckbuilders while Ryan is pretty particular on the subject. The Meeple Nation hosts sit down and discuss three small box deck builders.

Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Kings: Afterlife, and Valley of the Kings: Last Rites are all standalone (with interchangeable parts) games from Tom Cleaver and AEG. Playable in under an hour for 2-4 players. Players gain points by obtaining then entombing item cards. Best played with three (maybe four), this game requires you to entomb (place in a scoring pile) the powerful cards you had previously bought.

Dale of Merchants is a cute little game from Sami Laakso and Snowdale Design. Each of the two games, Dale of Merchants and Dale of Merchants 2 comes with six animal sets, allowing each game to be different as different animal sets are combined. It is playable in under an hour for 2-4 players.

Xenon Profiteer is a game from T.C. Petty, III and Eagle-Gryphon Games. It is also playable by 2-4 players in under an hour. Most turns players will add air to their hands then try to remove the unwanted elements while fulfilling contracts and upgrading their distillery.

Do you sleeve your cards before you play with them? Have you invested in a quick start insert, or do you have a favorite game overlay or dice tower?

This week we sit down to talk about the many gaming accessories that enhance our hobby.

You can listen to previous interviews we have done with makers of the gaming accessories in the following episodes:

Episode 116 - Chris Urinko of Daft Concepts, Kris McClanahan of Deeply Dapper

Episode 114 - Greg Spence of The Broken Token

Episode 58 - Ben Hillyard of Daedalus Productions

Episode 41 - Chris Urinko of Daft Concepts

Strap on your armor and get ready to make your way into the deeps beneath the castle. Rumors abound that a sleepy dragon is hoarding artifacts. Can you gain the best treasure and make it out of the dungeon before the dragon wipes you out? Be very quiet!

Nathan, Ryan and Brent review Clank!, a deckbuilder with a map.

Finally, we sit down and talk about Battlestar Galactica. We are joined by Dennis and Adam to talk about this traitorous game and its expansions. Nathan loves it, and is destined for the airlock. Ryan and Brent aren't on that side of the fence (or airlock).

Who is the Cylon? Who wants to be? We discuss these items and more.

Nathan, Ryan and Brent sit down with members of their local game group, Dennis, Everett and Adam, to close out our goals for 2016, discuss our favorite games of the year, and set forth 10x10 lists for 2017. They then take the time to discuss a few news items and a few stats from boardgamegeek.

Sit back while we talk about some of the games we have played but haven't taken the time to talk about.

We start with Freedom: The Underground Railroad, then proceed down the list:

Legendary Encounters: Firefly

Duel of Ages II

Timebomb II

Secret Hitler

Legendary: Big Trouble in Little China

Bloodborne: The Card Game

Holmes: Sherlock & Mycroft

London Dread

Venom Assault 

Tyrants of the Underdark

Nerdy Inventions

Ryan Bruns joins the regular hosts to finish out the first Arkham Horror campaign and talk about the newest expandable card game from Fantasy Flight Games.

One core set allows 1-2 players to explore the dismal buildings and forests of Arkham Massachusetts. Add a second core set to allow a third or fourth investigator.

We recommend this game for the storytelling, discovery, and cooperative gameplay.

This week Sam Aho joins Nathan and Ryan, while Brent is AWOL. He brings his Kickstarter version of Themachy, a game that combines poker, ancient gods, and resource management.

What do we think about this game? Listen and find out. And make sure you catch Sam on his Video Channel, Sam Says

Classic Games

• Ticket to Ride
• Pandemic
• Catan
• Splendor

Family Games

• Fabled Fruit
• Dixit
• Potion Explotion
• Mysterium
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle

Party Games

• Codenames
• Bang! The Dice Game
• Wits and Wagers

Gamers Games

• Star Wars: Destiny
• Clank!
• Quadropolis

Stocking Stuffers

• Fuji Flush
• Deep Sea Adventure
• Rage!
• Love Letter
• Bohnanza
• Star Realms
• Sushi Go! or Sushi Go! Party

We hope for

• Arkham Horror: The Card Game Expansion
• Someone who will play Star Wars: Rebellion with Nathan
• Tyrants of the Underdark
• Magic Cards

This week we sit down with Matt and Barbara Allen to discuss the industry news which mainly comes out of BGG.Con 2016. We start by talking about Matt's favorite game of the con, Lorenzo Il Magnifico, then talk Star Wars Destiny, Tiny Epic Quest, and Clank! We visit Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle, and Fate of Akalon: Tribes.

Ryan then questions why we would travel to a convention, and we talk a bit more about the why, as if we needed a reason.

We then get back to talking games, starting with The Daedalus Sentence, a cooperative game in a massive box. Ryan brings up Cottage Garden and cats, and we wander from there over to A Feast for Odin. Power Grid the Card Game is explained, and we talk about not playing Great Western Trail. Ryan then moves us to talk about Roll Player, another game we haven't yet played.

Kingdom Death Monster 1.5 is newly on Kickstarter and getting plenty of press. Some predict it will become the most successful Kickstarter project ever.

Finally, Ryan starts a conversation about culling our collections, the subject of the first few articles in the most recent edition of Counter Magazine, issue 74. You can find the most recent issue (and previous issues) at boardgamegeekstore.com

Brent has just returned from BGGcon 2016 and sits down with Ryan and Nathan to talk about some of his experiences. What follows is a larger discussion about friendships and different ways to enjoy conventions.

Brent speaks of Haggle with Rikki Tahta, Werewolf with longtime friends, BGGfit, Poker, Puzzle Hunt, and creative use of an elevator.

There is also a couple of interviews with USAOpoly and Victory Point Games along with a short shoutout from Brent's friend, Nick.

What events happen at your ideal convention? Let us know!