In episode 20, Craig and Duke do their best to derail any kind of board game discussion semblance while discussing a myriad of games. They talk in depth about Keyflower from R&D Games, Star Wars Imperial Assault from Fantasy Flight Games, and Pina Pirata from Iello Games. In Kickstarter talk, they look at Wizard's Academy from 3D Total Games and Battle Arena Show from KOTI Games. Lastly, they do a topic round up where they discuss the controversy surrounding Gen Con 2015 and Indiana Law, the replacement of slave cards with fakir cards in Five Tribes from Days of Wonder, and then talk about innovative game components which are still functional. 

Show Times:

Keyflower (R&D Games): 4:45

X-Wing (Fantasy Flight): 15:00

Star Wars Imperial Assault (Fantasy Flight): 18:00

Pina Pirata (Iello): 31:30

Wizard's Academy (3D Total Games): 39:15

Battle Arena Show (KOTI Games): 46:30

Topic Roundup:

Gen Con 2015 and Indiana Law: 53:30

Five Tribes Slaves to Fakirs: 1:02:15

Beautiful Yet Functional Components: 1:14:00

In our first fifth week minisode we take a look at the different learning stlyes of our little group from the mouths of each group member. Each of us talks for a few minutes about how we learn to play new games and how our group can accomodate each learning style to promote an atmosphere of fun and learning. 

We hope you enjoy this little episode and we'll be back next week with a full length episode!

Show Times:

Craig's Spiel: 3:00

Erin's Speech: 5:55

Tyler's Summary: 7:10

Duke's Sales-Pitch: 9:30

B's Story: 11:25

Chuck's Scoop: 12:50

Wrap-up: 13:55

In episode 18, Craig and guest co-host Duke discuss the struggle of scaling their four and five player games down to a two player format for spousal gaming: What games do it right? What games do it wrong? How can designers better figure in scalability?

They also discuss a number of games including Deus from Pearl Games, XCOM The Board Game from Fantasy Flight, and Star Realms from White Wizard Games. They talk some kickstarter games such as Vault Wars from Floodgate Games, Entropy from Allen Chang, and Valeria Card Kingdoms from Daily Magic. In their What the What?! segment, Craig defines what a 4x game is and what must exist for a game to be called a 4x game. Lastly, they recap some local gaming events with the grand opening Pi day celebration at the Malted Meeple, and the Board Game flea market at Underhills Games before subjecting Duke to a little game of Know Your Podcaster Lightning Round.

Show Times:

Deus (Pearl Games): 2:15

XCOM The Board Game (Fantasy Flight): 9:15

Star Realms (White Wizard): 19:45

Entropy (Allen Chang): 20:45

Vault Wars (Floodgate): 22:45

Valeria Card Kingdoms (Daily Magic): 25:45

Castles of Mad King Ludwig Expansion (Bezier): 27:30

Malted Meeple Opening and Underhills Games Flea Market: 30:45

What the What?! 4x Defined: 43:15

Topic: Scalability of Games to 2 Players: 46:00

Know Your Podcaster Lightning Round: 1:26:00

In Episode 17, Craig and guest-co-host B discuss a few games they've played this week: Aquasphere from Stefan Feld and Tasty Minstrel Games, and Kingsburg from Fantasy Flight. In Kickstarter news, they talk about Above and Below from Ryan Laukat and Red Raven Games. During the What the What?! segment, Craig defines what a pasted on theme which leads to a discussion on what came first, the Mechanic or the Theme? In the main topic of this episode, Craig and B set up a theme game night with a plethora of Antoine Bauza games, ranging from the simplistic to the complex and everything in between, and their ideas on implementing a Bauza game night, including games like Tokaido, Hanabi, Ghost stories, and 7 Wonders. Finally Craig subjects B to the "know your podcaster lightning round"!

Show Times:

Kingsburg (Fantasy Flight): 3:45

Aquasphere (Tasty Minstrel): 11:15

Above and Below (Red Raven Games): 23:00

Between Two Cities (Stonemaier Games): 27:00

What the What?! Pasted-On Theme: 28:30

Main Topic: An Evening of Bauza: 36:30

Hanabi (RnR Games): 38:00

Tokaido (Passport Games): 43:30

Takenoko (Asmodee): 46:45

Ghost Stories (Asmodee): 51:00

Samurai Spirit (FunForge): 54:15

7 Wonders (Repos Productions): 57:30

Know Your Podcaster Lightning Round: 1:08:15

In Episode 16, Craig and Dave tackle the fringes of the role of art in hobby games, touching on the characterisctics artwork and design adds to the look, play style, and theme of games. They discuss a few games they've played this week including Samurai Spirit from Funforge and Antoine Bauza, Ancient Terrible Things from Pleasant Company Games, and Wizard Dodgeball from Peter Newland and Mind the Gap Studios. They talk some kickstarter hype with Dragoon from Lay Waste Games, Between Two Cities from Jamey Stegmaier, and Project Dreamscape from Ben Haskett. In their What the What segment, they take a few minutes to define and describe the term point salad weighing the advantages and disadvantages of the mechanic. Lastly, in a new segment, you get to learn a little bit about everyone's favorite bearded co-host, Dave, in out "Know Your Podcaster Lightning Round"

Show Times:

Samurai Spirit (Funforge): 4:00

Ancient Terrible Things (Pleasant Company Games): 11:30

Wizard Dodgeball (Mind The Gap Studios): 16:15

COMING SOON:

Steam Donkey (Ragnar Brothers): 29:15

X-COM (FFG): 30:30

Dragoon Kickstarter (Lay Waste Games): 32:30

Between Two Cities Kickstarter (Stonemaier Games): 37: 00

Project Dreamscape Kickstarter (Ben Haskett): 40:00

Bad Medicine--Botch Plays Plug (Formal Ferret): 50:45

What the What?! Point Salad: 53:45

Main Theme: The Importance of Art: 59:00

Know your podcaster: Lightning Round: 1:25:00

In our third special episode of Botch Plays, Craig, Erin, Chuck, and Lindsay sit down to play a game of "Bad Medicine" by Gil Hova of Formal Ferret studios. Listen to nearly a full game as Craig sits with three actual nurses while we attempt to cure the world of a myriad of ridiculous maladies in this pharmaceutical party game!

In Episode 15, Craig and guest-host Sound-Editor-Chuck enter into a world of Euros and discuss the games Panamax from Stronghold Games, Viticulture from Stonemaier Games, and Agrocila from Z-Man. They talk about their plays of Titans of Empyrean from 9 Kingdoms and its Kickstarter Campaign. In their What the What? segment, Craig defines ALpha Gamer and the fine line between helping and hindering fellow players. In their main segment, they discuss the recent trend of App integration into board gaming looking at titles like X-Com, Golem Arcana, Alchemists, and World of Yo-Ho. Finally they answer a listener question from Todd Kauk about strategy per minute games, and getting the most strategical bang for your time investment buck!

Show Times:

Viticulture (Stonemaier Games): 6:00

Panamax (Stronghold Games): 14:00

Agricola (Z-Man Games): 26:00

Titans of Empyrean (9 Kingdoms): 30:15

Bad Medicine (Formal Ferret): 41:15

Trickerion Kickstarter (Mindclash Games): 45:00

What the What? Alpha Gamer: 48:00

Main Theme: App Integration: 53:45

Listener Question: 1:23:00

In Episode 14, Craig and Dave gear up for another midnight recording in an attempt to live like children again. They had an amazing week of games and picked four to discuss this week: Diamonds from Stronghold Games, Yardmaster from Crash Games, Elder Sign from Fantasy Flight, and Scoville from Tasty Minstrel. Craig tracks down the etymological roots of the word Meeple in their "What the What" segment. In their Kickstarter discussion they look at the final numbers of Conan and talk about Epic Dice Tower Defense. They hype up X-men Mutant Revolution from Wizkids and GF9 and Uncharted Seas from Spartan Games. Lastly, they dive into their main topic which is going in depth with a few expansions which completely change the rules of a game, but not in a good way.

Show Times:

Diamonds (Stronghold): 5:00

Yardmaster (Crash Games): 12:00

Elder Sign (Fantasy Flight): 22:00

Scoville (Tasty Minstrel Games): 29:45

What the What?! Meeple Etymology: 39:45

Conan Kickstarter: 44:15

Epic Dice Tower Defense Kickstarter: 48:00

X-Men Mutant Revolution (Wizkids, GF9): 52:15

Uncharted Seas (Spartan Games): 54:00

Antidote (Bellwether Games): 56:00

Main Theme: Step Sideways Expansions: 57:15

In our second special episode of Botch Plays, we bring But Wait, There's More (Toyvault, Bamboozle Bros.) back to the Table, but this time with a different cast of characters. Join Craig, our sound editor Chuck, Craig's 12 year old son, Tyler, and our group staple, Brandon, as we once again try to pitch products that will change the world!

In Episode 13, Craig and Dave discuss the important topic of what criteria, mechanics, or other qualities make a board game a keeper, one they keep going back to. They also take a look at a number of small games, like Spyfall, releasing later this year from Cryptozoic, Lost Legacy: The Starship from Alderac, Bandu from Zoch, and the Bravest Warriors Cooperative Dice Game from Cyptozoic. They also announce their Valentines Day Games for Two Giveaway where they're giving away a copy of Patchwork, designed by Uwe Rosenberg and published by Mayfair and Akrotiri, designed by Jay Cormier and Sen-Foong Lim and published by Z-Man Games. They also discuss upcoming reviews from the Indie Game Alliance line of games, define FLGS in their What the What? segment and talk about a bunch of games on Dave's list. Lastly, they pick up the guantlet thrown down by a fellow podcaster. Ball's in your court now.

Show Times:

Spyfall (Cryptozoic): 3:00

Lost Legacy: The Starship (AEG): 10:45

Bandu (Zoch): 16:30

Bravest Warriors Dice Game (Cryptozoic): 22:30

Botch Games For Two Valentine's Giveaway! (Akrotiri, Patchwork): 27:30

Indie Game Alliance: 32:00

What the What? FLGS defined: 34:45

Dive Dice Games (Diceperados, My Neighbor Monster, Downgo Dungeon): 42:30

Wrath of Kings CoolMiniOrNot): 46:45

Mini Theme: Crag > A-Aron: 51:30

Main Theme: Keeper Games: 53:00