Non Relinquam In Arca Operculo!
Gamers 136: 43 Haters
7 days ago
7 days ago
7 days ago
This week, we have completed our epic Seafall legacy campaign! Highlights include:
- Turns out the box told us what would happen all along...
- Buying treasure is a dick move...
- Turns out we're the bad guys...
- Scallywagging for the narrative!!!
- We accidentally found hell. Hate it when that happens...
- If your men say they saw a demon, you should listen to them...
- Maybe it needed more... hell?
Thursday Nov 07, 2024
Thursday Nov 07, 2024
Thursday Nov 07, 2024
This week, we're jetting off to Bosnia and Herzegovina to check out their board game sitch! Highlights include:
- Turns out Sir Walter Raleigh was a bit of a douche...
- General consensus on El Dorado: it's a no, I'm afraid...
- Turns out Mark already explained Chabcha ages ago...
- War. Again.
- Does Purple Pineapple Games actually exist, or is it some kind of trap?
Wednesday Oct 30, 2024
Wednesday Oct 30, 2024
Wednesday Oct 30, 2024
Famous explorer, Percy Fawcett has gone missing in the jungle (true story) - can we follow in his footsteps and discover the lost city of El Dorado? Highlights include:
- Time to explore, FOR YOUR LIFE!!!
- It's similar to a deckbuilder, in the sense that it has cards...
- Turns out the Bushmaster is not a nice helpful man, it's a huge fucking snake...
- Why are insects so positive?
- Roy: What a lad! Bessie: Such a pioneer! Isabelle: Oh...
- Mark's world is completely rocked by a hinged box...
Thursday Oct 24, 2024
Thursday Oct 24, 2024
Thursday Oct 24, 2024
This week, we're off to Bolivia... Highlights include:
- Chabcha... we still don't get it!
- Lost Expedition is actually lost...
- Mark just gave Postman Pat his own multiverse...
- Titicaca will never not be funny...
- New, from 'Goods of the Land...'
- Llamas don't care about borders...
Thursday Oct 17, 2024
Thursday Oct 17, 2024
Thursday Oct 17, 2024
Team JJP are joined by Harry to play the winner of the 2023 Bristol Chance And Counters Game Jam! Highlights include:
- What is the sexiest board game?
- We don't give change in this sweet shop...
- Get ready for lots of 'bag' innuendos...
- Apparently, the game is too mean...
- Pick N Fuck Off - No babies, no whiners!
- You haven't got enough money... here's a bean!
- Is it a sweet or a penis?
Thursday Oct 10, 2024
Thursday Oct 10, 2024
Thursday Oct 10, 2024
This time we're off to Bhutan! It has a cool flag! Highlights include:
- Bhutan is home to Chewbacca...
- We can count, so we should be able to play Chabcha...
- You may only play this game after early dinner...
- The men play with dice while the girls throw rocks at each other...
- Not war, not exploration, but stumpy little cow things!
- Does Tintin have a board game?
- Come on guys, don't ride the Takins...
Thursday Oct 03, 2024
Thursday Oct 03, 2024
Thursday Oct 03, 2024
While the rest of the crew were raiding the Crystal Mines, time to find out what happened to Merlin!
Thursday Sep 26, 2024
Thursday Sep 26, 2024
Thursday Sep 26, 2024
This week, we're (metaphorically) headed to Benin, which we didn't even know existed until now! Highlights include:
- Why would I want a load of rulebooks for games I don't own?
- Well done Benin, you've not really been embroiled in any major wars...
- Space? Ocean? Benin!
- Hey Alice, OMG where are you?
Thursday Sep 19, 2024
Thursday Sep 19, 2024
Thursday Sep 19, 2024
I catch up with Thatcher to talk all things Witchbound, Dark Doll, and the latest project, Rune Rite!
Thursday Sep 12, 2024
Thursday Sep 12, 2024
Thursday Sep 12, 2024
We're off to Belize! Unbelize-able! Highlights include:
- How green are you?
- Get ready for some auditory discrimination...
- I did not play Jacob And Esau with my drama class...
- What is Miss Jennery Jones doing today?
- Turns out I can't read Kriol...
Thursday Sep 05, 2024
Thursday Sep 05, 2024
Thursday Sep 05, 2024
This week we're talking about all things Belarus! Highlights include:
- 'Belarusian Travelling' is it real?
- It sounds like it's more fun to be a boy in Belarus than a girl in Belarus...
- Marxists... IN SPACE!
- A long time ago in a gallery far, far away...
Thursday Aug 29, 2024
Thursday Aug 29, 2024
Thursday Aug 29, 2024
The crew of the AGA-0 venture into the Crystal Mines to liberate them from Slinger control, all so they can find out about the waste product that's been polluting Aquaria... but where's Merlin?
Thursday Aug 22, 2024
Thursday Aug 22, 2024
Thursday Aug 22, 2024
We're back fighting for territory with giant monsters, this time with The Infiltrator and the Mists of Mogoroth! Highlights include:
- Board games are good for cuddles!
- Audio Adventures do exist! Mark wasn't hallucinating!
- BAHRAIN!!!!
- The Infiltrator... basically if Death was a goblin...
- Don't get lost in the fog...
- Usual manufacturing woes apply...
Thursday Aug 15, 2024
Thursday Aug 15, 2024
Thursday Aug 15, 2024
The crew meet back at The Space Bar after their adventures on Nestes and Colony 9, with new paths opening up as the mysteries of the galaxy unfold. What's more important? Solving the mystery of Aquaria's waters, investigating the destruction of Forgia, or something else entirely?
Thursday Aug 08, 2024
Thursday Aug 08, 2024
Thursday Aug 08, 2024
This week, Jane and I visit Tony Boydell's Museum of Board Games and have a right good time! Highlights include:
- Board games basically just make you a better person...
- Don't confuse Newent and Newnham...
- Prepare for Battle Hats!
- If you play the original Booby Trap, you'll legit lose a finger...
- There's a surprising amount of parliament games...
- Hello dear, fancy a game of Ulcers?
Thursday Aug 01, 2024
Thursday Aug 01, 2024
Thursday Aug 01, 2024
This week we have been mostly talking about Bahrain. Highlights include:
- We set a new progress record on Apollo!
- Next week, we pretend we're in a house...
- Bahrain has a Virgin Megastore. Fact.
Thursday Jul 25, 2024
Thursday Jul 25, 2024
Thursday Jul 25, 2024
This week, Riley joins us as we try and pick definitive games for certain categories - but how to choose? Highlights include:
- We are so in synch for Deckbuilding and Worker Placement!
- Area Control... where you have to... control... areas?
- Someone Uno-Reversed my whatever...
- Who's laying all the eggs?
- Auction? What??
- Some categories are extremely suspect...
- What the hell is an elapsed real time ending?
Friday Jul 19, 2024
Friday Jul 19, 2024
Friday Jul 19, 2024
This week, we're off to The Bahamas! Highlights include:
- If you live in The Bahamas, you're not going to be indoors playing board games...
- I was expecting pirates...
- Taxis aren't exactly Bahamas specific...
- There are sheep in The Bahamas...
- Game designer, or Footballer?
- What has Mark spotted this week?
Thursday Jul 11, 2024
Thursday Jul 11, 2024
Thursday Jul 11, 2024
It's our 6th anniversary! Huzzah! Highlights include:
- Audio games - do they actually exist?
- Rest assured, Derek Ring is still alive!
- Pick N Mix is in the post...
- Schrodinger's Cats is a cat game too far...
- Mark gets confused between real and imaginary...
- How exactly do you say duchy?
- We need some listeners from Genovia...
- Is Narnia a country?
Thursday Jul 04, 2024
Thursday Jul 04, 2024
Thursday Jul 04, 2024
What wonderful games does Azerbaijan have to offer? Highlights include:
- Surely Israel has more important things to do than listen to us...
- Mark can't say 'Azerbaijan'
- Would you rather play 'Hounds and Jackals' or '58 Holes?'
- Mark also can't read numerals...
- Backgammon players are held in very high regard...
- Hang on, these are all the same wars as Armenia!
- Turns out Bali isn't a country...
Thursday Jun 27, 2024
Thursday Jun 27, 2024
Thursday Jun 27, 2024
Trying to solve the pollution problem on Aquaria has led the crew of the AGA-0 to a murdered scientist on Psionus. Now they must face some difficult decisions that will put their morals to the test...
Thursday Jun 20, 2024
Thursday Jun 20, 2024
Thursday Jun 20, 2024
We're off to Armenia to see what their gaming sitch is! Highlights include:
- Pigs Vs Dogs...
- I'm sure Mark said 'cinnamons' instead of 'synonyms...'
- Maybe we won't go to Armenia right now...
Thursday Jun 13, 2024
Thursday Jun 13, 2024
Thursday Jun 13, 2024
Have you heard? The Fairchilds have moved to Derbyshire, and they're the most eligible, marriageable people of the land! Can we lure them to our family estates and show them a jolly good time? Highlights include:
- Beware, there's accents...
- Hey, I know you just lost your parents, but... wanna bang?
- If you don't plan the Village Fair, you don't benefit from it. Fact.
- I wasn't good enough to have a ball in the hall...
- Do we have ladies?
- Everyone's talking about the Cavendish Casino...
- Join us on the lawn for Angry Bowls...
- Family planning is super important...
- Is it Whist, or Lesbian Whist?
- A lovely time is have...
- One never FRAGs without one's underbutler...
Thursday Jun 06, 2024
Thursday Jun 06, 2024
Thursday Jun 06, 2024
It's Monopoly, but not as we know it! Can we keep our utopian society alive without bankrupting it with our horrible horrible greed? Highlights include:
- What the hell is a typewriter voice?
- Can't afford it? The community will pay!
- Quinoa!
- Remove a chip...
- Extreme disappointment in McDonalds...
- It's difficult to switch to co-op mode...
- What's with all the roses?
Thursday May 30, 2024
Thursday May 30, 2024
Thursday May 30, 2024
Pesky colonisers have arrived on our sacred island - I hate it when that happens! Luckily, we're all-powerful spirits with a range of abilities to get rid of these interlopers, but can we do it before they wreck the island forever with their filthy filthy blight? Highlights include:
- Ecosystem: Go big or go extinct...
- As usual, we ignore all playing advice...
- Unhelpful rulebook alert!
- Why does this game even exist?
- Fear is good. Fear is what we want...
- It has The Arkham Effect...
- All the Benders have played this one!
- Lucas Durham looks like AI...
Thursday May 23, 2024
Thursday May 23, 2024
Thursday May 23, 2024
We're building ecosystems again, but this time under the sea with fish and that. Highlights include:
- My underwater utopia didn't win me any prizes...
- Fish count as nature!
- Bears are NOT a British woodland creature...
- Plankton floats, right?
- Ellen Macarthur should play this so she knows what she's sailing through...
Thursday May 16, 2024
Thursday May 16, 2024
Thursday May 16, 2024
Leesan is gone, the Fraxis are causing trouble, the pollution on Aquaria is reaching crisis point, and weird creatures are turning up all over the place - what will the crew of AGA-0 do?
Thursday May 09, 2024
Thursday May 09, 2024
Thursday May 09, 2024
This week we are joined by John, who has listened to our entire back catalogue over a couple of months... and survived! We talk through his listener's journey! Highlights include:
- Atmosfear: The Bins...
- Go back 25 paces...
- Chess 2000: don't be fooled...
- Redemption City of Bondage actually looks pretty cool!
- It's NOT a doorbell!
Thursday May 02, 2024
Thursday May 02, 2024
Thursday May 02, 2024
We're off to the Caribbean (I think) to try and entice some new listeners! But what does Antigua and Barbuda have to offer? Highlights include:
- I did bad maths...
- Another country, another Mancala variant...
- Did the Queen play Warri?
- Mark starts laying into a game we haven't even played...
Thursday Apr 25, 2024
Thursday Apr 25, 2024
Thursday Apr 25, 2024
A load of boxes in Schrodinger's lab... Can we hypothesise how many contain alive or dead cats, or are completely empty? Highlights include:
- Neither of us can purr...
- Prepare for a very rudimentary explanation of Schrodinger...
- I make some fundamental errors in gameplay...
- What is the point of this game?
- Bootstrap Bill, you're a liar!
- The cats are NOT cute!
Thursday Apr 18, 2024
Thursday Apr 18, 2024
Thursday Apr 18, 2024
Welcome to the hottest reality show in town, Room 25! Watch some dirty scummers try and escape a complex filled with horrendous booby traps before time runs out! Hooray! Highlights include:
- French translation issues ahoy!
- It's basically Cube: The Game...
- What the fuck game is Sub Zero??
- Special powers? Hard pass!
- Jennifer loves a good vortex…
- Sometimes it just gets to ‘fuck it’ time…
Friday Apr 12, 2024
Friday Apr 12, 2024
Friday Apr 12, 2024
We are amateur dracologists trying to lure dragons into our caves. Do we have the meat? Highlights include:
- Are you an Upgrader?
- Machi Koro: Monopoly without the hatred...
- Beware of box-farts...
- The box gets a bit sensual...
- Never approach a Loyal Fey Dragon with red wings...
- First or nothing!
- Meet Little Miss Five-Egg...
- Amanda becomes the FRAG Dictator...
- Dragons>Birds
- The Bellicose Firevern gets two mentions, whoops!
Thursday Apr 04, 2024
Thursday Apr 04, 2024
Thursday Apr 04, 2024
This week, Mark and I have competed in a challenge to paint a game figure each - despite our limited experience/talent. Highlights include:
- Don't say 'targeted.'
- Mark can't get his head round Games Workshop and Warhammer...
- Games Workshop plus Hornby Railways = the perfect combination!
- Coming soon: Painting Legacy!
- Here's my picture, by William, age 2 1/2...
- Full credit to the employees of Warhammer Cardiff...
- Quit while you're distinctly average...
- Mark knows all the lingo...
- And now here's Riley with the science part...
- Highlighting ALWAYS makes it look better...
- Galaxies of the Guardian??
Thursday Mar 28, 2024
Thursday Mar 28, 2024
Thursday Mar 28, 2024
Guess what? This week, we're coming for Angola! Highlights include:
- We keep getting new territories, but not the ones we've targeted!
- Marbles: not for boys, apparently...
- I can't remember, or in fact find, Space Alert...
- Angolan war, no thanks. Space war? Monster war? Yes please!
Thursday Mar 21, 2024
Thursday Mar 21, 2024
Thursday Mar 21, 2024
This week, can we lure some listeners from Andorra? Highlights include:
- In case you didn't know, Andorra is the 6th smallest state in Europe...
- Andorra may or may not have its own games industry...
- Andorra and Legends of Andor are not the same...
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
This week we try and lure in some Albanians! Highlights include:
- We may not have got Afghanistan, but we got Korea!
- Heritage games... a new category?
- Naturally, the Balkan wars dominate Albania themed games...
- It's hypothetically Albanian...
- Is it a board game, or just a war newspaper?
Thursday Mar 07, 2024
Thursday Mar 07, 2024
Thursday Mar 07, 2024
This week, we attempt to lure in the listeners of Afghanistan! Highlights include:
- Games in Afghanistan seem like non-stop pranks!
- Kite Fighting!!!
- That well known Afghanistan themed board game, Rambo!
- We learn some history with Pax Pamir...
- Afghanistan is not where I thought it was...
- Here's my new BFF, William Hay MacNaghton...
Friday Mar 01, 2024
Friday Mar 01, 2024
Friday Mar 01, 2024
This week, we try to work out another game, but this time it's on Tabletopia, where there is no rules help whatsoever! Can we figure something out? Highlights include:
- Tabletopia proves to be just as intuitive as ever...
- No matching results...
- Pick a random hand size...
- How do we get more cards?
- We actually got a lot of things correct!
- Mark still doesn't know the difference between spades and clubs...
- Is that a 7 or a 2?
- Suites?
- The otters and the anteaters vs the skull people...
- Welcome to the Regiverse...
- Would you rather have a shit rule book, or no rule book?
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
This week, we make the bold assumption that we know enough about games that we should be able to work one out without reading the rules. Highlights include:
- Mark still can't say the motto...
- Surely we've got all the countries by now?
- But why does the hexagon change?
- Building buildings seems like a good thing to do...
- I completed two missions by accident...
- Coffee pots and bird feeders, what?
- Mark loves moving the tortoise...
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
In the pine forests of Colony 9, our heroes find themselves held at gunpoint by a suspicious Reborn, a debt-collecting Monotan and a vengeful Fraxis - Can they talk or fight their way out?
Thursday Feb 08, 2024
Thursday Feb 08, 2024
Thursday Feb 08, 2024
This week, we're raiding a temple for a priceless artifact - watch out for booby traps, the locals, and of course, a giant volcanic eruption! Highlights include:
- Are we the bad guys?
- Can you hear the baby?
- Welcome to the Precarea!
- Templus Non-Cromulus...
- If you're an explorer, wear a fedora...
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
Mark is blasting off into space, while I monitor things from Mission Control... what could go wrong? Highlights include:
- Thank god NASA did it better than we did...
- We hope you like NASA facts...
- I didn't know Gnasher did space missions?
- 1/5 of the mission complete is fine, right?
- We were basically Challenger...
- Do you want to make a space baby?
- Going to space makes you stupid...
- Anyone for space-tennis?
- You have to do this science experiment, but I'm not going to tell you how!
Thursday Jan 25, 2024
Thursday Jan 25, 2024
Thursday Jan 25, 2024
This week, we're hapless writers, trying to get our movies optioned by the studio. Can we win the prestigious yet dubious awards whilst at the same time factoring in the bizarre requests from the studio execs? Highlights include:
- Anti-clockwise????
- Podcast trip to Uzbekistan!
- Would you rather an unknown plot, or an unknown character?
- Theseus what?
- Jane = Cannibal
- Is this Sarah's first 5?
- Uncharacteristically, I miss out a few rules...
- Sarah comes dangerously close to saying the M word...
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
It's a game of cat and mouse, but can the fugitive reach home base before the marshal tracks him down? Highlights include:
- I am lacking in deduction and wit...
- Nought/Zero, Zed/Zee, Aitch/Haitch... whatever!
- Counting is hard...
- You actually need to be intelligent to be the marshal...
- It's Marsha the Marshal!
- If you're careful, you can play this in the bath...
- It's not you, it's me...
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Range based trivia... how confident are you that you're correct, and will you score big because of it? Highlights include:
- Bunty's phone is blowing up because she's so popular...
- 9 years old?
- Copy, Swap or Double?
- How many countries are there in the world?
- Forget Gareth Thomas, how long would it take us to do an Iron Man challenge?
- How wet is a leek?
- I temporarily lose the ability to speak...
- Where's the English?
- It's not even made in Wales...
- What is the average Frag of an Organised Fun game?
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
How close can you put a magnetic stone next to another magnetic stone without them sticking together? Highlights include:
- Don't eat the magnets, even though you want to!
- Neodymium, ooh!
- Everyone knows bigger magnets are more magnetty...
- 24 is a perfect number...
- Beautiful stones surrounded by a bit of coat...
- Little kittens are distracting...
Thursday Dec 28, 2023
Thursday Dec 28, 2023
Thursday Dec 28, 2023
It's that time of year again, where you get to hear us bumble through some Exit puzzles in an attempt to save Christmas!
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
This week, we aim to get to the bottom of the ultimate question: which pet shat on the floor? Highlights include:
- Any poo mentioned is strictly 'in game'
- Memory. Speed. Poo.
- Cat, gerbil, rabbit - all the same, innit...
- Sarah's manicure gives her an unfair advantage...
- No lady should leave home without a turd in a box
- Dobble: like snap but you injure yourself...
- Why is the fish even a suspect?
- This game cannot be played in space...
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
This week, we discuss all things homebrewed! Highlights include:
- Sometimes rules are just bad and need changing...
- What if you break the game forever?
- What exactly goes on in Vermont?
- Don't mix real expansions with fan-made ones, please!
- Codenames: Duet? Thank the fans!
- I made a fan expansion out of malicious intent...
Thursday Dec 07, 2023
Thursday Dec 07, 2023
Thursday Dec 07, 2023
I've homebrewed an expansion for my favourite legacy game - using as many of the previous bits as possible! Highlights include:
- Pat ate a sheep's head
- Why wouldn't you have all the dinosaurs?
- Have I unbalanced the game? Does it matter?
- Sometimes you visit Jurassic Park and it's fun. Sometimes though, people die
- Listen up, Prospero Hall!
- Maybe needs some budget?
Thursday Nov 30, 2023
Thursday Nov 30, 2023
Thursday Nov 30, 2023
Two rival houses warring against each other for control of the land, which just so happens to be watched over by a huge angry dragon. Hate it when that happens! Highlights include:
- It's the first game we can't actually pronounce...
- What is Qoam anyway?
- A dragon is basically a fantasy WMD
- My lair has layers...
Thursday Nov 23, 2023
Thursday Nov 23, 2023
Thursday Nov 23, 2023
This week, we're faced with multiple dilemmas of trolley murder. Who can make the best moral arguments between increasingly ridiculous options? Highlights include:
- You can't cull games from someone else's collection...
- Amanda keeps her games hidden, like she's embarrassed or something?
- Knowing someone is not the same as liking someone...
- Oh, Gandhi no!
- You can't kill your own mother!
- Who cares about young George Washington?
- Not many people can say they've met a leprechaun...
- Literally no-one will miss Justin Bieber...
- Some people are binmen, some people are lawyers, and some people euthanise animals...
- Fuck your boss!
- Malala? She's peaked...
- If you're dumb enough to set up your table on a train track, you deserve everything you get...
- Surely nobody's gonna target me for The Purge?
- It wouldn't be an episode with the girls without some Munchkin bashing...
- I get desecrated...
Thursday Nov 16, 2023
Thursday Nov 16, 2023
Thursday Nov 16, 2023
Don't panic! But we discuss why you might, whether we have, and would we regret culling boardgames! Highlights include:
- You can't move house every time you run out of shelf space
- There's some shocking revelations for Mark
- Monopoly causes an argument
- Do you collect or curate?
Thursday Nov 09, 2023
Thursday Nov 09, 2023
Thursday Nov 09, 2023
Just another day's work for our crew - delivering post/hunting a bounty on Colony 9, planet of the Reborn! What could go wrong, right?
Thursday Nov 02, 2023
Thursday Nov 02, 2023
Thursday Nov 02, 2023
Team PJJ are back, and this time we're trying to escape the plague ridden town of Bristol on an apple cart. As you do. Highlights include:
- Overview!
- The Chandler: one of the lowest ranking citizens of Bristol
- It's simple: get to the front and stay at the front
- Time for a cart party
- I feel sorry for the chickens
- We go on a bardcore tangent
- Did Forbidden Planet exist in 1350?
Thursday Oct 26, 2023
Thursday Oct 26, 2023
Thursday Oct 26, 2023
I did something extremely uncharacteristic and entered a game design contest! Find out how it goes!
Thursday Oct 19, 2023
Thursday Oct 19, 2023
Thursday Oct 19, 2023
Matt joins us IRL for some backstabbing traitorous card action - sadly, Claudia Winkleman is not included. Highlights that ARE included:
- False Business Alarm
- Apologies to anyone called Barbara...
- Everyone likes killing Meriel
- You don't want to out yourself as a murderer
- Prepare to have your faith in humanity destroyed
- Matt FRAGs off the cuff
- 8 year olds should be able to count to 5
Thursday Oct 12, 2023
Thursday Oct 12, 2023
Thursday Oct 12, 2023
Diseases are spreading across the world, and pretty soon they'll be too entrenched for humanity to survive - luckily there's a dispatcher and an operations expert ready to save the day. (They did not save the day) Highlights include:
- Featuring the well known 'Ugh Mechanic'
- Tokyo exploded
- And now, it's the shittery phase
- The game itself is a pandemic
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
This week, we're turning our hand to farming - but can we harvest a crop of lovely cabbages before those bloody cows trample all over them? Highlights include:
- This episode is udderly delightful
- Nobody wants to play Mark's games...
- Hong Kong: it's a mystery
- One cow ruins the cabbage salad
Thursday Sep 28, 2023
Thursday Sep 28, 2023
Thursday Sep 28, 2023
A desolate space station, drifting through space - are we going to try and fix it? No of course not, we're fighting each other, obviously! Highlights include:
- I forgot to tell the girls the name of the game
- We learn all about apostrophes
- Good job nobody got penetrated by the Greys
- The Marines will win. End of.
- Guns are better than Science
- The tragic tale of the Small Laboratory...
Thursday Sep 21, 2023
Thursday Sep 21, 2023
Thursday Sep 21, 2023
Riley joins us for our next design challenge - games that can fit on a single playing card! But will the limitations prove too much? Highlights include:
- Mark almost does an infinite dice roll
- Together, Mark and Riley become a teacher's worst nightmare
- Wait... Maths?
- What is the Mac equivalent of Paint?
- Ever wanted to have a staring contest but not known how? We can help!
- It's Beetle Drive, but with the Key To Time
- No Relinquams In Arkham Horror Operculo
Thursday Sep 14, 2023
Thursday Sep 14, 2023
Thursday Sep 14, 2023
After escaping Fraxia Beta, the crew of the AGA-0 take a much needed break at The Space Bar...
Thursday Sep 07, 2023
Thursday Sep 07, 2023
Thursday Sep 07, 2023
This week, we play around with ChatGPT - can it make a convincing boardgame? How does it know what a boardgame even is? Is it actual magic? Highlights include:
- Dinosaurs? They're so 90s Germany
- I'd actually play Nightmare Manor
- It knows all the buzzwords
- Roll It To 5... otherwise known as Yahtzee
- Aqua Doodle Challenge sounds well shit
- Keep rolling those dice, strategising those moves, and sharing the joy
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
The court is in session as we attempt to solve your gaming dilemmas! Highlights include:
- Judge Judy gets quite a lot of airtime
- Not sponsored by McDonald's, honest
- Fictional Derek takes a bashing
- Most of these problems can be solved by simply uninviting the undesirable guest
- Sometimes you just need to be a bit harsh, and sometimes you need to just chill out
- If you need to confront someone, wait for Nan's birthday
- Who is Hans and why are we holding him?
- You stand accused of Ludophilia
Thursday Aug 24, 2023
Thursday Aug 24, 2023
Thursday Aug 24, 2023
We have to get the ring to Mordor before we're overwhelmed by its corruption - watch out for goblins! Highlights include:
- Gutted for the Diana Jones award
- Get ready for Welsh
- Sarah doesn't know who anybody is
- Check out that field though!
- Dead grandma banter
- There's some disgusting goblin racism
- Turns out in a co-op game, we actually have to work together
- We're all agreed, we don't use the ring, right Sarah? Right Sarah???
- Come on Frodo, stop crying and just get on with it
Thursday Aug 17, 2023
Thursday Aug 17, 2023
Thursday Aug 17, 2023
We play 26 games in a row - one for every letter of the alphabet! Highlights include:
- They didn't know the time in the olden days
- We try and stick to gaming par
- Hostage Negotiator becomes Hostage Murderer
- International Rescue can only help you once they've rolled a 6
- We show the harsh contrast between set up time and play time
- Shadi Torbey gets an official apology
- A 15 year old could eat a meeple
- The Table Is Lava got my child hooked on... lava
- We lose our head start around W
Thursday Aug 10, 2023
Thursday Aug 10, 2023
Thursday Aug 10, 2023
We're back on Fireball Island! Highlights include:
- Strap in for some cool ice puns
- The island gets bastardy
- Would you rather be permanently injured, or lose some treasure?
- We spend a considerable amount of time discussing 'Model Railway: The Board Game'
- I can't get used to saying X instead of Twitter
Thursday Aug 03, 2023
Thursday Aug 03, 2023
Thursday Aug 03, 2023
This time our battle rages across the Dreamlands - watch out for Zoogs! Highlights include:
- Why would you even go to the Underworld?
- The Bhole... sounds shit
- I can't wait to DICER this game
- Can you make a board game out of ice? Why has nobody done this?
- This is the Playmobil of board games
- Mark doesn't care whether he's invading a country or a library
Thursday Jul 27, 2023
Thursday Jul 27, 2023
Thursday Jul 27, 2023
After taking a direct hit to the engines and leaving Jack behind on Fraxia Beta, the crew of the AGA-0 are forced to make some hasty repairs!
Thursday Jul 20, 2023
Thursday Jul 20, 2023
Thursday Jul 20, 2023
A light-hearted boardgame with a fatal curse... can we solve the mystery of The Ghost in the Attic? Highlights include:
- Anybody for Cribbage?
- We wasted the first ten minutes because I can't read
- Who the fuck is Alice Brooks?
- You could wrap this back up and give it to someone else... but I won't
- You get a whole bonus game to play!
- Yeah, but what *is* an armillary sphere?
- Beware the freaky clawboards
- Ghost in the Attic? A fucking monkey could play it!
Thursday Jul 13, 2023
Thursday Jul 13, 2023
Thursday Jul 13, 2023
5 years! Here we look back on the last 12 months of Organised Fun! Highlights include:
- Turns out 41 is a prime number
- I get proper obsessed with the H-Index
- Bad news for Derek Ring fans (he's not dead though)
- Losing your fingers: probably not a dream come true
- Quite often, when you buy something, you know what it is
- Thoughts and prayers for Anneka Rice's washing machine
- The girls are proper harsh
- Sarah starts off with a board game low-light
- Bunty chooses a game from the future!
- Kimmy only likes a game if she wins
- It's a good old time
- Riley forgets Kyle's name
Thursday Jul 06, 2023
Thursday Jul 06, 2023
Thursday Jul 06, 2023
The flat gets trashed as we compete to complete random tasks! Highlights include:
- Things may get untidy
- It's my new obsession
- What would you sacrifice in the name of the game?
- Can you rediscover gravity?
- 'Fish out of water: Everything is connected'
- Meet Rory the Toilet Septopus
- Word types cause way more trouble than expected
- Americans! Have you heard of this?
Thursday Jun 29, 2023
Thursday Jun 29, 2023
Thursday Jun 29, 2023
We join the crew of the AGA-0 on a routine job, delivering a birthday gift for a Fraxis commander's daughter, but all is not as it seems...
Thursday Jun 22, 2023
Thursday Jun 22, 2023
Thursday Jun 22, 2023
We scratch off a poster that lists 100 board games that they think you should play! Highlights include:
- Vietnam: It's the best thing since Saudi Arabia
- What's your tally?
- Gaia from Captain Planet probably doesn't have her own board game
- Why Birmingham?
- Most board games just seem to be 'where can we build a civilisation?'
- Did they make a board game about a cruise ship disaster?
- Where is Mombasa?
- Just because you like games doesn't mean you know every game ever
Thursday Jun 15, 2023
Thursday Jun 15, 2023
Thursday Jun 15, 2023
We start the final game in our Renegade RPG series, Teens In Space! How will it compare to Bikes and Brooms? Highlights include:
- We hear lots more celebrities and fictional characters for game night!
- Will Riley ever shut up?
- Bunty's character gets right slated
- We love a good pressure gauge...
Thursday Jun 08, 2023
Thursday Jun 08, 2023
Thursday Jun 08, 2023
It's the sequel to last week's minisode, and this time we're inviting fictional characters to our game night! Who will have cultivated the best guest list? Highlights include:
- Anneka Rice drops us a tweet
- We're so predictable that we doubled up again
- Ian Malcolm vs Sherlock Holmes
- Sherlock could probably win Cluedo on the first turn
-Have you ever played a game with a fictional character? What??
Thursday Jun 01, 2023
Thursday Jun 01, 2023
Thursday Jun 01, 2023
This week, we answer the age old question of which celebrities would you invite to play boardgames? Highlights include:
- Agatha Christie would be too good at deduction games
- Boudicca would kill you if she lost
- Let's get Napoleon onto Pitchcar
- You'd get nowhere with Jeff Goldblum
- Sam West keeps his games vertically. Oh dear
- Pocahontas is not fictional
Thursday May 25, 2023
Thursday May 25, 2023
Thursday May 25, 2023
It's a small world, after all! Various civilisations are vying for control of the underground territories of Smallworld. Can they successfully spread their influence before they're forced to go into decline? Highlights include:
- I've done the laziest logo ever
- All the tokens did in fact spill out
- Recommended for experienced Smallworld players - whoops
- It's all about the size of your army, right?
- This is my wife, Mystic Crystal Region
Thursday May 18, 2023
Thursday May 18, 2023
Thursday May 18, 2023
The evil Fire Elementals are sweeping across the land, threatening to burn our forest to ash - the total shits! Can we strategically place some water fountains and save the day? Highlights include:
- We were definitely not skilful
- Ravage... pawn?
- Everyone knows the friendliest woodland creature is the whale
- There's lots of flame related bastardry
- What is the point of a strength zero card?
- Is that a pigaphant?
- It shows the harsh reality of forest fires
- It might be dream world, but there still needs to be rules
- Thanks for listening
Thursday May 11, 2023
Thursday May 11, 2023
Thursday May 11, 2023
For some reason, the Sydney Royal Botanical Gardens have built all their landmarks, but haven't got any paths to connect them - I hate it when that happens! Looks like it's up to us to take a walk in the park and join things up. Watch out for Bin-Chickens! Highlights include:
- Has Anneka Rice been there?
- We've never had an 'acknowledgement of country' before
- The landmarks are very pretty, but what actually are they?
- Ibises... Are they precious and protected, or scum of the skies?
- Ladies and gentlemen, it's a Write and Stroll game
- Turns out I was making a graveyard/dinosaur park
- Could you play a game 600 times?
- Practical replayability vs mental replayability
- It's a little bit griddy
Thursday May 04, 2023
Thursday May 04, 2023
Thursday May 04, 2023
Our heroes have returned from the past with the evidence they need to confront Ms Merriweather, but is she just going to allow her plans to be thwarted so easily?
Thursday Apr 27, 2023
Thursday Apr 27, 2023
Thursday Apr 27, 2023
Our crappy spaceship is awash with malfunctions, and we're only five minutes away from getting sucked into a black hole! I hate it when that happens! Can we fix the ship before total destruction? Highlights include:
- Turn on the Gigaflange!
- Oh, that's why Sarah was whispering!
- Is that part of the ship?
- It really teaches you the reality of spaceship repair
- If you leave out the bongs and dildos, you could totally play this with your mum
Thursday Apr 20, 2023
Thursday Apr 20, 2023
Thursday Apr 20, 2023
The Owl and the Pussycat went to space, then had a huge fucking battle to blow the shit out of each other! Highlights include:
- We choose ships for very different reasons
- Mark doesn't know what HUD stands for. Or EMP...
- It's dice chucking fun!
- FIRE!
- Well, that escalated!
- It has major StarFox vibes...
- If you have a plastic spaceship, why would you use a cardboard counter?
- We DO NOT give half scores
- I manage to not do a German accent
Thursday Apr 13, 2023
Thursday Apr 13, 2023
Thursday Apr 13, 2023
It's the final game of our 'Mystery Box Trilogy' - this time we're rolling dice to score points. Simple, right? Highlights include:
- Do you want chapters?
- 'Plays great with 2 players' hint hint!
- It doesn't make you feel very clever
- Do you know the difference between blue and purple? Well here's blurple!
- It's a cross between sudoku and a maths exam
- They've imagined the future, and it's brown
- It's been LTRD at 27
- You'll get clevererer each time you play
Thursday Apr 06, 2023
Thursday Apr 06, 2023
Thursday Apr 06, 2023
We aim to recreate the luxury dining experience of the Pullman car - but can we get everyone's orders sorted before their journey is complete? Highlights include:
- Alice Paster wants teacakes
- Bloody Jeanette Tipple, make your mind up!
- Can you smoke on the train? In those days, probably...
- Mark likes food, Phil likes trains... it's the perfect combo
- This game DOES NOT need a whistle
- Oh sorry madam, I got your order sorted but didn't notice
- This game makes you hungry. And also it makes you want to go on a train
Thursday Mar 30, 2023
Thursday Mar 30, 2023
Thursday Mar 30, 2023
In the second of our Alleycat Games trilogy, it's a race to explore a randomly thrown card galaxy. With cats. Obviously. Highlights include:
- Catstronauts is actually quite difficult to say
- Is it possible to have a strategy?
- Phil can't do orange and Pat can't do blue
- Should Pat start us off?
- It was the allotted amount of fun
- Your kitten needs a face
- 2 and below, that's lose territory
Thursday Mar 23, 2023
Thursday Mar 23, 2023
Thursday Mar 23, 2023
It's clear that Ms Merriweather is up to no good - but where to get the concrete evidence needed to bring her down? It's time to look to the past to find out what really happened on the fateful day of the Hollyfirth Flower Show!
Thursday Mar 16, 2023
Thursday Mar 16, 2023
Thursday Mar 16, 2023
Our school trip has gone horrifically wrong and now we're stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere - but it gets worse! The boat is fucked and there appears to be a psychopathic killer lurking about - who will survive? Highlights include:
- Sarah just can't accept the fact that she was murdered
- What happened to the boat that's wrecked the battery and the propeller?
- Everyone knows killers decide their victims with 'Ip Dip Dog Shit'
- Cables for the radio? Don't need those!
- Amanda is more of a killer than the actual killer
- There's dark and moody, and then there's completely black
- Ah fuck yeah, firewood!
- Did Jane do???
- Cue the interruption shenanigans
- Even now, the Munchkin trauma runs deep
Thursday Mar 09, 2023
Thursday Mar 09, 2023
Thursday Mar 09, 2023
We've binned off Pluto as the ninth planet, then inexplicably gone off in search of another one. Whatever. Highlights include:
- Mark drifts off into space
- Each time you say 'Atlantis' you have to pay someone a dollar
- It's been a while since we've had a font-related FRAG
- We pause for a brief Easter egg hunt
- And now for the tax section of the podcast...
Friday Mar 03, 2023
Friday Mar 03, 2023
Friday Mar 03, 2023
World War 2 is over, and Germany now needs to redevelop its infrastructure, starting with the Autobahn network to connect the cities and get some trade going - the only problem is, we seem to be in charge of this endeavour. Eeeek! Highlights include:
- You can be charitable, you know
- Mark just wanted to drive a truck around the board
- Yes, I'm aware Copenhagen isn't a country
- If in doubt, build a service station
- If you're wondering the food I couldn't remember, it was frankfurter
- Play this game and get a free German history degree
Thursday Feb 23, 2023
Thursday Feb 23, 2023
Thursday Feb 23, 2023
We play another classic, Yahtzee! Highlights include:
- We open the mystery box!
- A Yahtzee with sixes is the king of Yahtzees, surely?
- If you don't know what you're doing by roll 2, you're screwed
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
Hat theft is rife as we play Coppit! There doesn't appear to be any storyline going on here, just hold on to your hats! Highlights include:
- Patrick forgets what colours are
- Play until Meriel gets stupid and bitchy
- What's your strategy? One hat? Two hats? Not... THREE HATS??
- There's gonna be a coppin'
- It's a 'Grandma's House' game
Thursday Feb 09, 2023
Thursday Feb 09, 2023
Thursday Feb 09, 2023
We're enrolled at VGHS - a brutally competitive institution training the elite gamers of tomorrow! Who will rise to the number one top spot, and who will get totally pwnd? Highlights include:
- Amanda has clearly never seen Guinan before
- VGHS is loud
- Jane's speciality = being the worst
- Stupid Ted Wong!
- I'm an ancient looking bully
- Please welcome to the stage, Jenny and the Guns!
- RIP Marvel Dice Masters
- Amanda is a typical American
Thursday Feb 02, 2023
Thursday Feb 02, 2023
Thursday Feb 02, 2023
We embark on an epic legacy campaign chronicling the ups and downs of Isla Nublar and its genetically enhanced dinosaur occupants. Can we successfully build and run a functioning dino theme park, or will a shit load of people get eaten due to management incompetence? Highlights include:
- Do you have a board game limit?
- Kelly Malcolm gets a bashing
- Zones and Sectors... Spaces?
- Is this monster gonna eat me, or the goat next door?
- Hungry? Follow the chomp chart!
- Narratively, how would a dinosaur teleport?
- Jurassic Park, famously created by Richard Hammond
- Because why wouldn't you make a Pythonosaurus?
- Forget all about the dinosaurs escaping and all the industrial espionage, this tour group wants to see the petting zoo
- Patrick has too much whiskey
- Aww you lost - scratch off the sympathy box
- Patrick forgets what his but is
- I accidentally put wolverine DNA in my Spinosaurus
Thursday Jan 26, 2023
Thursday Jan 26, 2023
Thursday Jan 26, 2023
Board games are pretty! Board games are artistic! Show off your best/most creative boardgame photos for a chance to win a game with us! Submit on Twitter or Facebook! Highlights include:
- It's our first actual competition!
- RIP Gloria Goldberg
- Any dilemmas for the Board Game Court?
- Get submitting your pics on the socials, yeah?
Thursday Jan 19, 2023
Thursday Jan 19, 2023
Thursday Jan 19, 2023
There's a way to save Xavier! But how many times will Grace and Jessie have to repeat Thursday before they get it right?
Also, don't forget to vote for your favourite Game Night invite! Let us know either on the Facebook page or the Twitter feed!
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
This week, we're talking about what makes a game night! What's important? Who do you invite? What games do you choose? Do you just follow a spreadsheet? Highlights include:
- The people have voted: the Meeples must die!
- Three courses, like a dinner
- Welcome to game night, here's Onirim
- What's that werewolf one? ...Werewolf
- You have to trick your guests into thinking they have a choice
- No whiners
- If you're not having a good time, just leave
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
It's another December of puzzles as we endeavour to retrieve Santa's Golden Book from a mysterious thief!
Thursday Dec 29, 2022
Thursday Dec 29, 2022
Thursday Dec 29, 2022
After Dorset Applecake was eaten on live TV, the Hydra/Serpent... Hydrant? is searching for more victims - But why? What's the connection? And are our heroes at risk?
Thursday Dec 22, 2022
Thursday Dec 22, 2022
Thursday Dec 22, 2022
Grace is back from her exclusion, but in her absence, frightful machinations have been taking place - what trouble does this spell for Hollyfirth and indeed, the whole magical community?