PODCAST

Decision Space

Jacob Frydman, Brendan Hansen, Pete Wissinger, Paul Salomon

Decision Space is a board game podcast about the decisions in games.

leisure games

All Episodes

89:51

Ra: The Doctor's Greatest Game?

Decision Space ·

2026/01/14

Episode 248 - RaJake and Paul deep dive Reiner Knizia's 1999 classic auction game Ra. They dig into the elegant systems and the unique push your luck element. Also, Paul explores the various Ra spin off titles! Timestamps 4:45- Ra overview 12:30- the decision space 40:00- the tiles 1:00:00- expansions and spinoffs Preplanners Next up is a discussion on what makes a good small box game! Music and Sound Credits Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You

87:02

Arcs is Ambitious, Aggravating... and Awesome

Decision Space ·

2026/01/07

Episode 247 - ArcsPete is joined by Kniziologist and Blighted Reach afficionado Jared Ingersoll to do a deep dive on the hottest game of 2024: Cole Wehrle's Arcs! Timestamps 3:40- Arcs introduction 9:30- rules overview 16:30- personal reviews 23:00- trick-taking system 30:30- actions and resources 36:30- ambitions 46:00- combat 55:30- influencing the court 1:01:30- leaders and lore 1:08:00- player count 1:12:30- frustration points Preplanners Next up is a deep dive on Ra! Music and Sound

90:14

Awarding Our Favorite Decisions in Games from 2025

Decision Space ·

2025/12/31

Episode 246 - The 2025 DecidiesThe hosts continue their now TWO year tradition of awarding our bronze, silver, and gold medal decisions of the year. Congrats to all the winners! Timestamps 11:15- honorable mentions 24:45- Agent Avenue 29:15- Vantage 33:05- Bomb Busters 38:00- Waddle 41:05- Toy Battle 45:15- Old King's Crown 50:50- Formaggio 54:55- Vantage 57:55- Tag Team 1:05:40- Hot Streak 1:11:55- Duel for Cardia 1:18:30- Bid Coin 1:24:00- hopes for 2026 honorable mentions: Bid Coin, Molly

78:52

Podcast Year in Review: Reflections and Ranking All...

Decision Space ·

2025/12/17

Episode 245 - Year in ReviewWe look back at the past year, which was full of changes for the show. We also rank all the games we deep dived LIVE together and chart a course for 2026. Timestamps 4:10- reflections on the past year 21:15- favorite episodes from 2025 27:30- ranking the games we covered in 2025 55:50- what we learned this year 1:00:30- looking ahead to 2026 Preplanners We're taking a week off for Christmas but will return with our awards for the best decisions of 2025! Music and

83:24

Our Favorite Video Games of All Time

Decision Space ·

2025/12/10

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 244 - Our Favorite Video Games Are we allowed to talk about video games instead of board games? Jake, Brendan, and Pete break down some of their favorite games and examine their decision space and potential connections to tabletop games. Timestamps 5:00- personal video game

75:12

Entering the Donkey Space: Agent Avenue and Hanamikoji

Decision Space ·

2025/12/03

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 243 - Donkey Space: Agent Avenue and Hanamikoji Pete and Brendan go head to head with a pair of "I cut, you choose" games. You know that scene in Princess Bride where the guy is talking himself in and out of which cup of win to drink? It's basically like that. Timestamps 4:20-

82:18

"Get Good?": What Motivates Us To Play Games

Decision Space ·

2025/11/26

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 242 - Evaluating Auction Games Ok n00bs, it's time to get good. All four hosts are present to participate in a deep conversation about why we play games and whether getting good at them is a worthwhile endeavor. There are a lot of references to the work of CT Nguyen, who was

89:33

Evaluating Auction Games

Decision Space ·

2025/11/19

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 241 - Evaluating Auction Games Going once, going twice... Pete, Paul, and Brendan chat about their favorite auction games and how different twists on the concept create unique, interactive decision spaces in games. Timestamps 05:15- intro to auctions 24:15- Going Going

74:19

Every Game I'm Shufflin': Deckbuilding 201 and Dune...

Decision Space ·

2025/11/12

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 240 - Deckbuilding 201 Part 2 of our deckbuilding series continues with hybrid designs! Pete and Jake discuss board games that utilize deckbuilding as a mechanism, with a special focus on Paul Dennen's Dune Imperium games. Also Jake comes to the realization that a deckbuilding

83:37

Spatial Puzzles and Tile Laying Tropes

Decision Space ·

2025/11/05

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 239 - Spatial Puzzles and Tile Laying Tropes Brendan and Paul dig deep into the mechanisms behind tile-laying games. What are the different decisions players make with tiles and what makes them special? Also, a mini deep dive on Paris: La Cite de la Lumiere Also, DECISON SPACE

83:59

Fighting Games of Understanding and Tag Team Review...

Decision Space ·

2025/10/29

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 238 - Fighting Games and Tag Team Jake, Brendan, and special guest Luke Williams of the Laughing Table Friends are here to talk about the fighting game video game genre and review a new card game that simulates the very same thing, Tag Team. Also, we announce DECISON SPACE MERCH

74:56

Design Day Recap: Feedback, Feelings, and Fun

Decision Space ·

2025/10/22

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 237 - Design Day Recap Pete, Paul, and Jake share their experiences at Stonemaier Design Day 2025. They discuss games they demoed and played while shooting the breeze about what to do with player feedback and how to figure out the next steps for your designs. Timestamps 04:30-

54:19

The Best Components of All Time

Decision Space ·

2025/10/15

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 236 - The Best Components of All Time The whole gang is together for a VERY silly episode that acts as a finale to our component series. We do a competitive draft to see who has the best collection of components and also pick out some of our favorite board game productions of all

74:12

Chunky Decisions and Other Design Lessons with Jon Perry

Decision Space ·

2025/10/08

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 235 - Design Lessons with Jon Perry Tabletop and video game designer Jon Perry joins us for a discussion of the tabletop design lessons that inspire his own work. Check out the GDC talk that inspired the episode here:

76:53

Deckbuilding 101 and Dominion

Decision Space ·

2025/10/01

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 234 - Deckbuilding 101 and Dominion Pete and Brendan dig into one of the most popular mechanisms in modern gaming: deckbuilding? Why is it so popular? How does a deckbuilding decision space flip engine building on its head? For today's Deckbuilding 101 class, we of course use

73:58

Meeples, Money, and Other Chit

Decision Space ·

2025/09/24

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 233 - Meeples, Money, and Other Chit Our exploration of board game components continues! In this episode Jake, Brendan, and Paul talk about all the bits in a game! How do decisions about specific tokens and trackers impact the experience of playing a game? Do these production

73:28

Brain Burning Decision Spaces and Castles of Mad King...

Decision Space ·

2025/09/17

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 232 - Brain Burning Decision Spaces and Castles of Mad King Ludwig Pete and Brendan explore what types of games give us that satisfying (and sometimes exhausting) feeling of "brain burn". Why do we like this? Are board gamers a bunch of masochists? Also, we deep dive the classic

66:12

Dice Are Nice

Decision Space ·

2025/09/10

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 231 - Dice Are Nice Jake and Brendan present the fourth installment in our component series. This time, they dive deep into dice and all the interesting implications they bring to a game's decision space. Input randomness? We got that. Output randomness? You better believe

114:43

Expanding Root (Deep Dive Part 2)

Decision Space ·

2025/09/03

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games. Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 230 - Expanding Root Pete and Brendan bring you the jumbo sized sequel to episode 219. We dig into the decision spaces of all six Root expansion factions! We also talk about the new boards and cards. This is our sort of farewell love letter to this amazing game. We ran pretty

01:12:36

Trick-Taking With A Twist

Decision Space ·

2025/08/27

Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.Join our active and welcoming Discord community, Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast! Episode 229 - Trick-Taking With A Twist Pete and Paul dive deep into the twists behind the modern trick-taking renaissance. How have designers been keeping this centuries old style of card game fresh for players? How far can you twist the decision space of playing into a trick? Listen to

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Decision Space

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