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PODCAST

The Ascent of Board Games

The Ascent of Board Games

A monthly podcast dedicated to the history, evolution, present state, and future potential of our favorite board games.

leisure games

All Episodes

56:24

Episode 60.2 - Wildlife Games, Part 2

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2024/03/01

We're back with more adorable animals (and some that you may not think of as adorable, but that's just, like, your opinion, man). This month's selection includes:Scythe With Wolves, or, The Dangers of Peer Pressure A lovely, solid game that just feels a little...icky Mike gets to make a picture panorama! The fox experiment that inspired The Fox Experiment The search for lost species that inspired The Search for Lost Species And an octopus escape room! As always, thank you for listening! If you

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53:06

Episode 60 - Wildlife Games, Part 1

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2024/02/02

Wildlife games! They're full of adorable meeples, heartwarming themes, and...interesting mechanics (which lead to some differences of opinion between us and the mainstream). Come join us as we talk about:Big chonky animeeples! We stump Frank on a Phil Eklund game, which turns out to not belong in this episode at all. Possibly the most useless insert ever to darken a game box. Contrariwise, here are some very GOOD component storage tools. Why does Mike hate birds? Their eggs are so pretty! Why does

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01:07:20

Episode 59 - Looking Ahead to 2024

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2024/01/02

Happy New Year, everybody! To kick things off right, here's an episode looking at all the cool games we're hoping to play in 2024. It's full of plenty of laughter, largely because of the maniacal giggling of Curtis, our newest cohost! Among the things we're laughing at: This map from The Stifling Dark amuses Joe. There is much wailing and gnashing of teeth as we pre-empt each others' picks (although no one else wants any of Brian's picks) This terrifying array of tokens from Magic Realm, which is

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01:07:37

Episode 58.2 - 2023 Year-End Wrap-Up, Part 2

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2023/12/01

Happy December, everybody! It's time to conclude our year-end wrap-up episode, during which we each count down our top 5 games or game-related things from the year that was, from #5 to #1. We covered our #4 and #5 entries last month, so here are our top 3 from 2023, including several unexpected entries. You'll also hear: Frank continues to assure us that our opinions are wrong. A subtle but delightful piece of box cover art. Mike and Joe both rate games at #2 that they haven't bought. An

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56:00

Episode 58 - 2023 Year-End Wrap-Up, Part 1

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2023/11/02

Welcome, everybody! It's time once again for our year-end wrap-up episode, during which we each count down our top 5 games or game-related things from the year that was, from #5 to #1. ...or rather, from #5 to #4 this episode, with the rest coming next month, because BOY, do we like to talk about games. Highlights (and/or lowlights) include: Use This One Weird Trick to Diversify Your Damage Portfolio - Glyphids Hate It! PLEASE LET MIKE PLAY THE GAMES HE BOUGHT Sometimes, more is just more. The

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01:10:46

Episode 57 - Hotel Lovecraft

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2023/10/01

Happy spooky season, everybody! It's October, which means it's time for a horror game playthrough. This time, Frank brings us Hotel Lovecraft, an audio-powered paragraph-style game from Story Master's Tales. We've trimmed the game down to make for a reasonable episode length - and we got a few rules wrong along the way, to be honest - but hopefully you'll find it entertaining! Frank and Sandi's character develops a taste for blood. (Metaphorically. (We think.)) Mike introduces us to the concept of a

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47:36

Episode 56 - Vagrantsong Interview with Kyle Rowan

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2023/09/01

It's time for another game designer interview! Kyle Rowan is the lead game designer at Wyrd Games and the main brain behind last year's smash hit Vagrantsong. In addition to talking about how Vagrantsong came to be and the exciting pair of expansions coming up on Kickstarter, we discuss: The game's esoteric set of inspirations, including the works of Jack Kerouac, the comic book Harrow County, and the computer game Kentucky Route Zero. Why some people (*cough* Mike *cough*) bounce off the Runaway

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56:39

Episode 55.2 - Science Games, Part 2

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2023/08/01

We're back with even more SCIENCE! The nerdery continues as we discuss more recent science-themed board games, and offer such tidbits as: "BoardGameGeek - full of lies." - Joe Streeky, 2023 A brief digression on the interior starship lighting design of Picard season 3. The cards in Space Race mix English and iconography, but for why? The overarching threat of an all-Phil Eklund episode Frank's last minute addition this month is Expedition Zetta, with space exploration plus intrigue and

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57:04

Episode 55 - Science Games, Part 1

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2023/07/01

SCIENCE! It's certainly closer to our areas of expertise than sports. In fact, Mike (a science teacher) says a lot of impressive-sounding science words when discussing various games, which some of you may understand. In addition: Smog plumes! Didja ever notice that most "evolution" boardgames are actually "intelligent design" boardgames? The most terrifying game board - oh, I'm sorry, "math map" - ever. Frank says, "It's a decent game for people who like that crap." Best score track ever? Thanks as

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01:13:40

Episode 54 - Sports Games

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2023/06/02

WARNING: This episode is cursed. We had to record it (or parts of it) no less than three times, and we still had Frank drop out unexpectedly for a few minutes. (Don't worry, he didn't say anything important.) But it's here now, and it's full of sports games! Rotisserie Baseball! Electric Football!! SO MUCH GOLF!!! Tipp-Kick, still going strong after 100 years! (Here's video of a few professional soccer players from Germany's Bundesliga having a game.) Electric Football, where plastic players slowly

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55:33

Episode 53.2 - Paragraph Games Revisited, Part 2

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2023/05/02

More paragraphs! More stories! More smart-assery! More great quotes like: "Yay for Finns!" "Like Tales of the Arabian Nights, but much better." (!!!) "The story is a lot more...wordful." "I'm not the final boss..." "Frank gets a point for Arc Knight Miniatures, which I don't know if we even talked about on the episode." Welcome to all of our new listeners, and welcome back to our returning friends! If you have a few extra minutes and a generous heart, why not leave us an iTunes review? It really

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58:24

Episode 53- Paragraph Games Revisited, Part 1

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2023/04/02

To listen to our new episode, read paragraph 234. To listen to our original paragraph games episode, read paragraph 191. 234: You listen to a podcast in which: Jayson scores 3 points with a single game. Joe's discussion of Awaken Realms games becomes a meditation on time and aging Germany (and KOSMOS, specifically) steal Frank's and Brian's childhoods We learn about "The Adventures of Robin Hood, Little John, Maid Marion, and the Other Guy" Mike underestimates the value of a light source As

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44:05

Episode 52.2 - Expansions, Part 2

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2023/03/02

If this is the expansion to our first expansions episode, does that make it an Expansionception? We find Joe's definition of Hell. Mike and Joe dislike the Venus Next expansion for several reasons, but mostly because they're 12 years old. Frank introduces us to The Death Book, an essential expansion which has no effect on the rules or play of the game. As always, we'd love it if you took the time to write us an iTunes review, as it really helps us find new listeners We'd also love to have you visit

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54:42

Episode 52 - Expansions, Part 1

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2023/02/01

Hi folks! Are you enjoying our podcast? Do you want even MORE of our podcast? Good, because here's the first part of our Expansion episode, wherein we talk about the first, worst, and best game expansions in our experience. Discussions include: What was the first expansion? This thread on the Geek suggests that Frank's choice (and thus ours) may be wrong. Joe has trouble remembering the name of a spaceship that is also the name of the expansion the spaceship is in, which he's already said several

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01:26:49

Episode 51 - Looking Forward to 2023

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2023/01/02

Happy New Year! Last month, we took a look back at our favorite gaming things from 2022; this month, we're talking about some of the games we're looking forward to in 2023. Contents include, but are not limited to: Jayson sounds very, very sad post-sinus surgery (but he's doing fine now, promise). Donations of giant mecha or plastic miniatures should be sent to Jayson. Donations of cash should be sent to the podcast. Brian has some serious questions for past Brian. We explore the value of

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01:07:54

Episode 50 - Year-End Wrap-Up 2022

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2022/12/01

50 episodes? Who'da thunk it??? Regardless, thank you for your support, whether you've been with us since the beginning or are just joining us for the first time. We wouldn't keep doing this without you! This month, we take a look back at our favorite gaming things from 2022 - mostly, but not exclusively, board games. Among them: Jayson says, "I don't know anything about this game, but I'm gonna wait in this big line to get a copy!" (Turns out to have been a good decision.) Many of the games on our

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44:15

Episode 49.2 - Batteries Still Included, Part 2

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2022/11/02

Happy day-after-Halloween! First off, next month will be EPISODE 50, and we'd love to hear about anything you'd like us to cover in that momentous episode. Whether it's a game or a topic you've always wanted us to cover, or something we're all terribly wrong about, email us and let us know! Or, if you like, record a question or comment, send it to us, and we may include it in the episode! This month, we conclude our update to Episode 3 with a look at some more recent app-enabled board games. In this

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51:45

Episode 49 - Batteries Included Redux, Part 1

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2022/10/02

It's a blast from the past with an eye towards the future, as we look back at the new developments in computer-assisted and app-enabled board games since way back in Episode 3. In this episode: Frank risks death...possibly by crossbow. Space. What is the minimum that a board game needs to qualify as "app enabled"? (Joe says "a timer with music, but it gets FASTER.") We posit the existence of mirror-universe Brian and Jayson Jayson knows more about the future of a game than Frank! More to come next

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43:42

Episode 48 - Roll and Move Games, Part 2

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2022/09/01

More rolling! More moving! More Sandi! Less Careers! It's part two of Roll-and-Move Games, wherein you can hear about: "Ice cream and pizza are OP, plz nerf." Frank calls this the best roll-and-move ever made. This picture may help you understand Nizza. "German games have to be based on a city" Spreadsheet wars! Art books! One of Mike's former favorites has not aged well...but Sandi still likes it And stick around until the end for a chance to participate in an upcoming episode! Next month, we'll

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54:26

Episode 47 - Roll and Move Games, Part 1

The Ascent of Board Games ·

2022/08/02

We've threatened it long enough, so we hope you're prepared for this - it's the Roll-and-Move episode! (Well, the first half of it, anyway...we have a lot to say.) Sandi fills in for the absent Joe as we discuss: Careers Careers for Girls ("Most Condescending Game Ever") Careers for World War II British Military RPG Characters Careers for Dinosaurs (in Cinemascope!) Hexentanz - like Pachisi, but you don't know which pieces are yours What IS the opposite of widdershins? (Turns out it's "sunwise" -

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