Last episode we left off with having crowned Dominion the grandfather (grandmother? Grandparent? Not sure why I’m trying to gender a board game here…), okay, let’s go with the grandparent of the genre of deck building. But how did that develop? And where did we go from there? Let's continue on this adventure of exploring deck building in Part II of…

Today we are taking a look at two games that were introduced to us on a double-date! We take a look at a hockey based drafting game called All-Star Draft and a family game by Paolo Mori called Captain Flip. Are these two games worth a spot on your shelf? Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/4pVkZUPhJm Check out our Youtube: www.youtube.com/@TheBoar…

When was the last time we had 3 games that we recommend? I don't even know and honestly I don't want to scroll down and look. We start with Furnace, an economic engine building game that really should be talked about more than it is. We then go on to Word Wolf, a popular werewolf variant from Japan! Finally, we get to the puzzle game called Turing …

For this Nerdstorian’s Board Game History episode, we're diving into the history behind one of the most popular mechanisms around: deck-building! Deck-building games have introduced many people to the modern hobby, which makes sense given how approachable they are, and how intuitive they become once you have the basics down. That's a pretty impress…

Today we have the 3 podcast hosts together to talk about February! We talk about our favorite games of the month, what we learned from our podcasts, and also just talked about a lot of nonsense. This episode is something new we are trying so let us know what you think on our Discord, where you can talk to all of us and some other great people! Join…

Welcome to today's lecture! Today we are talking about one of the biggest bug bears in gaming, analysis paralysis. Why does it happen? What kinds of games or features of games tend to invoke this kind of reaction? And what can games do to avoid it? We cover important topics like decision fatigues, choice overload, and what game designers can do to …

Pancakes! Pancakes! Get your bunny pancakes here! Today we are going over Bunny Kingdom from 2017, a drafting game frequently recommended as a great gateway game, and Okonomi, a new dexterity release from Tokyo Game Market that has you flipping pancakes! Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/4pVkZUPhJm Check out our Youtube: www.youtube.com/@TheBoar…

To celebrate our 2nd anniversary, Tsumachan joins Eric to talk about our favorite games to play 2gether! That's right, our 2 anniversary on 2/22 which means we were married 2 years ago on 2/22/22 on 2sday! These are not necessarily the best "couples games" or "best 2-player games" but rather games we have the most fun playing with eachother specifi…

Okay so a train walks into a stock market and buys a word game. The broker asks which one? The train asks the broker, "well which one would you recommend I CHOO-CHOOse?" Don't worry, it doesn't get any better than this on this episode because Eric is back to reviewing games. In this episode, we cover the 18xx Trick Taking game CitytriXX, the stock …

Welcome to the first Nerdstorian segment, where Jaina will take you through the history of trick-taking! But before you listen, let’s do a pop quiz: what century do you think trick-taking games got their start in? And a bonus question: where do you think they first originated? Listen in to find out if you were correct, and don’t forget to hand in t…

Taiki Shinzawa is one of the most prolific trick-taking designers out there, but he does so much more, including: puzzles, abstract games, and murder mysteries. Today we chat with him about his inspirations, his favorite games, and what to look forward to next! Taiki Shinzawa Twitter: https://twitter.com/shzwtk Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/…

Today on another guest episode, we are joined by Ben to talk about games we've been playing from the Tokyo Game Market as well as some final FAQs before the Tokyo Game Market Mystery Boxes are released on January 26. This episode is split in half, with the first half being game reviews and the second half being about the Tokyo Game Market boxes. Jo…

New host! New host! It's time to meet a new host! Today's episode is all about getting to know a new host who will be joining the Dojo starting in February, bringing a lot of new perspectives and knowledge to the show. Note: The audio quality of the new software was very poor, sounding like we recorded using a microwave in a tunnel. I apologize to …

Today we are going over some games we played while visiting the UK, including the very out-of-print Discworld Ankh-Morpork, the deduction puzzle that is technically a game Paint the Roses, and, we aren't kidding you, a game that has this as the tagline on BGG "Finger the cards you want to win prizes," Last Penguin. I don't even know how to follow t…

Hello and welcome to 2024! After our hope episode there's no better way to kick off 2024 with our Top 10 Games of All Time! And yes, I mean our because for the first time ever, Tsumachan is here! That means 20 unique games and some occasional Japan discussions that all leads to an exciting episode. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we ha…

Happy New Year! 明けましておめでとうございます! To start the New Year, we have invited lots of people onto the podcast to share with you their hopes and goals for 2024. We hope this kicks off 2024 in a positive way! Board Game Dojo Stuff: Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BoardGameDojo Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theboardgamedojo Follow us on: Twitter: …

It's the end of 2023 and it's time to reflect on our year...and get some stuff of our chest! Whether it's a failure of the year, hot takes, or something on our mind that we just need to get out, join the Board Game Dojo and some guests to help us clean out some of these pestering thoughts so we can start our New Years with a fresh start! Thank you …

On Youtube we brought you our Top 10 Games to Bring to the Holidays but we thought some of those were really group dependent, so we wanted to make a list of games we thought are safe options no matter the family. Here are our top 5 crowd-pleasers/safe options/best bets to bring this holiday season! And by 5 we mean that we definitely included more …

Today we talking about 3 games that might interest you! We talk about Welcome To...Collector's Edition, the team trick-taking game Hasp, and the chess-themed 2-player game Match of the Century. Did I ramble? Of course. But are they good reviews? I don't know...maybe? Please follow/subscribe and rate 5-stars if you're enjoying the podcast! Support u…

Welcome to our 2023 Board Game Holiday Gift Guide, where we give you over 50 unique options to give (or ask for) this holiday season. We pick 2 each (1 import, 1 non-import) of 2-player games, Family games, Party Games, Casual Games, and Strategy Games in 3 different price ranges to give you a great variety of possible gifts! We further go into mor…

Today we are joined by Ben from Travelgames.co.uk to talk about Tokyo Game Market, some games we've been playing recently, and a HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT. Seriously, we are so excited about this one. Have a listen to be one of the first people to learn about this! Please follow/subscribe and rate 5-stars if you're enjoying the podcast! Support us on Patre…

Today we are doing a review of all the Itten Funbrick Series games thus far! Which are the best and the worst? Which are worth your hard earned money to Import? Please follow/subscribe and rate 5-stars if you're enjoying the podcast! Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/BoardGameDojo Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theboardgamedojo Follow us on: https://lin…

Today we start our holiday coverage by talking about 3 small-box games that would make good gifts, including Itten's Wonder Bowling, Ravensburger's That's Not a Hat, and Jelly Jelly Games's Word Drop. Please follow/subscribe and rate 5-stars if you're enjoying the podcast! Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/BoardGameDojo Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/th…

Today on our longest episode yet, we talk about a range of topics with designer and publisher Pedro Pereira (Violet & the Grumpy Nisse, Agie Games). This episode is packed with a wide range of topics including what it takes to develop board games, publishing board games, parenting and board games, and how board game culture is abroad. Timestamps fo…

Happy Halloween everyone! We have 3 spooky games to talk to you about today. Today we are reviewing Nightmare Millionaire, a family-weight climbing/shedding game, Somnia, a modernization of traditional Swiss trick-taking game, and Heaven, Here I Come, a social deduction scapegoat style game! Support us on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theboardgamedojo W…

Eric is a bit long-winded. I mean, that's always the case, but especially today. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe it's Maybelline. Today we are talking about Oink Games's Town 77, Saashi & Saashi's Newsboys, and Wonderful World Board Game's Rubber Paper Scissors. We also follow up on our review of Art Frenzy after a chat with the designer! Please foll…

We are back! Ben with his healthy voice and Eric with, well, not that, talk about our times at Essen, some games we have played, and honestly just whatever popped into our brains at the moment! Support us on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theboardgamedojo Ways to Join Giveaways Subscribe to our Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpNqwAiQpSxCeGVAUo…

Essen beat us up a little but we have our voices back enough to bring to you an episode of the....games not from Essen? That's right! We are all about the hotness. Don't worry, that stuff starts next week. Today we are talking about Trick or Bid, a (as-of-now) unpublished family-weight bidding trick-taker, we talk about FTW?!, a climbing/shedding g…

It's a 2-player only, Geonil-centric, card game extravanganza here at the Board Game Dojo today. We are reviewing Dracula vs. Van Helsing, the spiritual successor to Jekyll vs. Hyde. We are reviewing the 2-player shedding game Ptolemy. And we are reviewing the 2-player trick-taking game Hipparchus. What a day! Please follow/subscribe and rate 5-sta…

With Essen coming up, it made us think. How did Germany become such a force in board gaming? Why do people from around the world come to a relatively small city in the Ruhr Valley to buy and sell games? Join us for our Quick Hits series, where we cover a topic in less than 15 minutes. Let's talk German Board Games! Rate us 5-stars and subscribe if …

This year, Ben and I are going to Essen for the first time. We chat about some games we are looking forward to, our rules for conventions, and honestly we didn't have any kind of plan for this episode so we just kinda chatted about random things that popped into our heads as well. Hope you enjoy! Support us on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theboardgamed…

Today we are joined by Jonathan Barron, designer of Tricky Time Crisis and Best Candy on the Block. We talk about some of the design process of his newest game, what he thinks of the "trick-taking renaissance," and what he's going to be up to! Where to find him: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/96702/jon-barron Tricky Time Crisis: https:…

Today we are joined by Sam from the BoardGameDuel to talk about our favorite asymmetric characters in factions in games. These are not the best games or even the strongest factions, but they're ones that we think are unique, fun, and change their games drastically! What do you think of our list? Let us know! Board Game Duel can be found on your fav…

You asked, we answer! It's a mailbag episode! We received your questions from Discord, Instagram, and Twitter. Thank you and hope you enjoy our answers! Episodes we mentioned in this podcast below ----- Support us on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theboardgamedojo Check out our Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpNqwAiQpSxCeGVAUosYfPw Instagram: …

Whoa an episode about 3 Japanese games? It's been awhile since we've done that. Actually, it's really feels like it's been awhile since we've been in the groove. But we have 2 good games for you this week, and a 3rd that is garbage. Find out which is which! Support us on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theboardgamedojo Check out our Youtube: https://www.y…

Nothing goes together like 12 chips and a coffee right? No? Just us? Today we are going over a couple of newer games: 12 Chip Trick, a game that shows just how minimalist a trick-taker design can be, and....wait...oh my goodness....are we cover something that has kinda been the hotness? Since when do we do that? We are going to be covering an insta…

Wow 2 Japanese trick-takers and a push-your-luck game out of Korea? And wait a second, they're all good?! We are making up for some lost time by catching you up on three good games we've been playing recently. From Saashi and Saashi, to Reiner Knizia, to a rare indie game, we have quite the variety covered in this episode. Don't forget, visit https…

Today we are traveling the world with board games! We are joined by Ben Davenward, owner of Travel-games.co.uk, a site dedicated to travel games and imported games (including many we have covered on the channel). The rules is the games have to either have the name of the location we are visiting or are representative of something from that country.…

Today we are joined by Jason Perez (One Stop Co-Op Shop/Shelf Stories) to talk about orientalism in board games. What is orientalism? Why does it matter? Why should we care? And what can game designers do to avoid it? This episode is Part I of a two-part series on representation in board games. Part II will air next week. Jason can be found here: h…

Today in this outdoor edition of Board Game Dojo, we will review 7 Wonders Duel and its two expansions. But that got us thinking, what is an essential expansion? And what are some of the best examples of them? So we will also go over some that we think don't get enough love on Top 5 Essential Expansion Lists. Support us on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/…

Today we are joined by Sai Beppu, illustrator of games like Nana, Nokosu Dice, Somnia, 535, Haggis, and so much more. We talk to her about her favorite games, how she got started making art, her career story, what her design process looks like, and much much more. The original interview was in Japanese, but Tsumachan came through with her amazing t…

Today I am joined by Sam from the Board Game Duel to talk about our Top 10 Best Two Player Only Board Games. We talk about more than 25 unique games that we find to be awesome games, so if you're looking for a great game to play with your gaming partner, great couple games, great duelers, great two player trick takers, and great two-player games fo…

We are back and better than.....last week? Wait, we didn't have a podcast last week. So I mean I guess that's true. Today we are talking about 3 small box games that we really like. It feels kinda good to have a fully positive episode, I have to tell ya. We are going to be experimenting with different types of content in the next few weeks and also…

Board Game Dojo Podcast

Board Game Dojo Podcast

Board Game Dojo Podcast

Board Game Dojo Podcast

Board Game Dojo Podcast

Board Game Dojo Podcast

Board Game Dojo Podcast