Episode 410 - Hey Yo

Release Date: November 7, 2022

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Running Time:  40 min

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Yo! You and your crew are about to jump on stage for your first rap battle. The DJ will lay down the beat and it is up to you to follow along, connecting cards and phrases in rhythm. The beat won’t stop for anyone so it will take concentration, communication and quick thinking to keep your group from being booed off the stage. If you can get everyone in synch, you will wow the crowd and maybe even level up.

Hey Yo is a rhythm-based card game driven by a small electronic gizmo that lays down a beat for your team to follow. Connect cards and symbols in time with the beat and you’ll have a chance to score well before the song ends.

Listen in to explore the game and discover how Hey Yo finds its rhythm and earns the Major Fun Award.

Episode 409 - Nidavellir

Release Date: October 24, 2022

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Running Time:  127 min

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Nidavellir, the kingdom of the dwarves, faces a threat that could doom everyone. Fafnir, the dragon of myth and legend, is bent on gathering the riches of the realm and will stop at nothing to add to its hoard. The King calls upon you to raise an army.

Naturally, the best place to find skilled dwarves is at the pub! Each turn, you’ll make the rounds at three different taverns, bidding for the services of warriors, blacksmiths, hunters, miners, and explorers, hoping to amass the greatest assembly of talent and power - enough to defeat the dragon, impress the king, and earn the undying gratitude of all dwarves across the land!

Nidavellir is a set collection game driven by a series of auctions. Each auction comes with a twist. Once per round, you may upgrade the coins you have, giving you more power to pay the best dwarves to join your army.

Listen in to explore the game, learn about the myths that inspired it, and discover how it earns our Spiel of Approval!

Episode 408 - Mountain Goats

Release Date:  October 17, 2022

Download: PDF

Designer: Stefan Risthaus  Art: A. Gavril, D. Profiri

Publisher: Boardgametables

2-4 players  | 10 min  |  ages 6+  | 3 min to learn | MSRP $19

 

What a beautiful day. The sun is shining on the mountains, and the goats are out to play! As they leap from rock to rock, the goats start to get hungry. Where are the most delicious flowers found? At the tops of the mountains, of course. Let’s go!

Mountain Goats is a game of dice rolling and set collection. Each turn you’ll roll the four dice and then combine them to move your goats up the mountains. The longer your goats stay on the peak, the more score tokens you collect. But beware! There are other goats climbing behind you, trying to knock you off. Collect the highest total and you'll become the Queen (or King) of the Mountain!

Read on to learn how this quick compact game offers just the right balance of chance and strategy to be Major Fun.

Written review continues after the break.

Episode 407 - Disney Mad Tea Party

Release Date: October 10, 2022

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Running Time:  38 min

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Welcome to the Mad Hatter's tea party! It’s always six o clock and that means it’s always tea time. Here’s another plate of biscuits. Take two. There's no time to wash, so the cups and saucers pile higher and higher. Just make sure you’re not the one to crash the party, smashing stacks of cups, making them tumble and topple from the table. That would be ever so rude.

Disney Mad Tea Party is a nerve wracking cup stacking game atop a very precarious table. Be the first to play all your cards or stack every last cup to win. Tension tuned by skill, strategy and a touch of luck drives each decision you make.

Listen in to explore the game and discover why we think it's Major Fun.

Episode 406 - Golem

Release Date: Sept 26, 2022

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Running Time:  150 min

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Prague, 1584. A small group of rabbis study the Kabbalah, hoping to unlock the hidden language of Creation. With the Jewish Quarter under threat, the time has come to put that secret knowledge into action. A lump of clay shaped into human form is brought to life with a single word.

You are its creator. Your creation is the golem.

Golem is a game of cosmic forces and practical magic. Over four turns you will select marble and rabbi actions from the synagogue, studying ancient books, constructing powerful artifacts, and building golems to serve the community. The problem is control. Each decision you make leads to a chain of consequences filled with reward and ruin. The burdens of creation are great. Only those with wisdom and foresight will be able to reign in this massive, beautiful, unweildy monster of a game.

Take a deep dive into Golem with us, explore the history that inspires the game and discover how it celebrates the many joys of thoughtful play.

ALSO FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE:

A Game Night Grab Bag segment with Gubbins!

Episode 405 - Café

Release Date: Sept 12, 2022

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Running Time:  101 min

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The coffee craze has hit Portugal and there's a fortune to be made supporting its growing café culture. Can you create a successful supply chain harvesting, drying, roasting and delivering coffee beans to meet the demand for this magic drink?

Café is a game of engine building and efficiency. Over eight short turns, can you arrange your cards so the connected icons provide you with the actions you need? Café presents players with a puzzle-within-a-puzzle of enterprise and order fulfilment. Play with precision and purpose and your coffee will fill the finest cups with lattes, cappucinos, and espressos from Lisbon to Porto.

Listen in to explore Café and discover how it earns our Spiel of Approval.

ALSO FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE:

A Meal segment featuring a delicious chicken stew recipe paired with a political game

AND... a brand new segment called TARDIS games!

 

Episode 404 - Picture Perfect

Release Date: August 29, 2022

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Running Time:  38 min

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This party is in full swing. The food is a sumptuous feast for the senses. The music is lively and many are dancing. The conversations are a buzzing mixture of laughter and wit on subjects mundane and profound. There’s just one last detail to capture the moment… a picture!

You have been hired to commemorate the event with a group photo, showcasing the guests. It seemed like a simple job until each guest pulls you aside with a list of requests: I cannot stand next to him. I need to be on the left but make sure I am in front of her. I’m allergic to dogs, make sure that mutt is as far away from me as possible. It will take your expert skills to accommodate all their special needs, arranging and rearranging the guests and get everyone lined up just right.  

Picture Perfect is a game of logic and space with a technological twist. Over six rounds, can you puzzle out how to arrange all the party guests in a cardboard diorama? When you’re ready, snap a a photo with your phone and compare to see whose picture is closest to perfect.

Listen in to explore the game and discover why we think it is Major Fun!

Episode 403: Kabuto Sumo

Release Date:  August 15, 2022

Download: PDF

Designer: Tony Miller  Art: Kwanchai Moriya

Publisher: Boardgametables

2-4 players  | 15 min  |  ages 6+  | 3 min to learn | MSRP $44

 

If you listen closely you can hear it… KLONK! The mighty Kabutomushi, the magnificent Rhinoceros beetles are knocking heads, sumo wrestling. Their epic duels in the World Insect Wrestling Championship are the stuff of legend! Now, you and a swarm of challengers are here to contend for titles and your place in history. Position is everything. It will take balance, steady hands (and maybe a little luck) to push and pivot your opponents from the ring!

Written review continues after the break.

Episode 402 - Mind MGMT

Release Date: June 30, 2022

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Running Time:  115 min

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Hidden in plain sight, Mind Management, is a shadow organization renting space in your head. They’ve been there for years. And if you believe them, life would be incredibly worse without their efforts to keep major disasters from becoming global catastrophes. Psychic espionage they call it. They can bend reality as you know it. Or break it.

Right now, Mind Management is recruiting new agents in Zanzibar. But today won't be easy. There’s a rag-tag group of Rogue Agents scouring the city, trying to stop the Recruiter at any cost.

Mind Management is a one against many game of hidden movement and deduction based on the brilliant graphic novel series of the same name by Matt Kindt. Rogue Agent players race against time to locate the Recruiter before that player rounds up enough new trainees. The game can be played as a stand alone experience or as part of a series, where the rules and the stakes are raised with each new game.

Tune in for a deep dive into the game and the books, as well as a round table discussion with an intrepid group of dedicated Spielers recounting their adventures exploring Mind MGMT over many months.

SPECIAL GUESTS: Gubbins, Erwin Susara, Mike McMann

Episode 401 - Ouch!

Release Date:  June 29, 2022

Download: PDF

Designers: Romain Caterdjian, Théo Rivière

Publisher: Devir

2-5 players  | 10 min  |  ages 5+  | 3 min to learn | MSRP $10

 

You and your friends are out in the desert and everything is blooming, especially the cactus. You shouldn't touch… but they have so many pretty flowers! Risking a little prick, you can’t help but pick a few.

The goal in Ouch! is to pick the most flowers. Select a card, grab it by one side, and flip it over. If the side is clear, huzzah! Add it to your collection. If you're holding onto a side with thorns... cry "OUCH!" and drop it! There are bonuses for assembling colorful bouquets and gathering dangerous red blooms, plus snakes and foxes hidden in the desert who can help you.

 

Written review continues after the break.

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