Of Dice And Men
90 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago - ★★★★ - 7 ratingsAdam, Chad and Ryan host Of Dice & Men, a podcast on board games (and the occasional random tangent).
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Episodes
May 12th - Shepherding New Gamers
May 27, 2022 21:24 - 54 minutes - 47.3 MBChad, Ryan and Adam talk about what it takes to shepherd casual and non-gamers through the hobby to become the die-hard dice-chucking card-flipping gamers you want/need them to be! How else are you going to get TI4 to the table? After that we talk about games we've played recently, including Tobago (with the Volcano expansion), New Frontiers, Pax Pamir, Vagrantsong, and more! (photo from https://www.geograph.ie/photo/5033503 )
March 16th - Rounds and Rummoli
March 23, 2022 04:51 - 1 hour - 54.8 MBRyan, Chad and Adam discuss the variance between different rounds of board games - specifically how the first and last round can feel and play differently from the rest of the game. Referencing a few examples we discuss good and bad takes on the issue and what our personal preferences are. After that we discuss some recent plays, including Throw Throw Burrito, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, Welcome To The Moon, Roll Player Adventures, and more!
February 16th - El Grande!
March 16, 2022 03:12 - 41 minutes - 36.9 MBChad finally got off his butt and edited last month's El Grande episode! Adam, Ryan and Chad discuss the recently-added-to-board-game-arena game, El Grande! See how this 26 year old area majority game holds up to today's board gaming standards as we discuss before and after playing a full game! Could the nobles on the front cover be any more sour? How many Caballeros did Adam put in the Castillo? Find out now! After that we discuss our recent plays, including Townsfolk Tussle, Samurai, ...
January 30th - Production Quality and Performance Art
January 31, 2022 03:44 - 1 hour - 58.8 MBChad, Adam and Ryan discuss production quality! What does it mean? How does it affect gameplay? Are you more or less likely to buy a game because of it? In the second half we discuss our recent plays, including Splendor, The Colonists, What Do You Meme, and Mastermind?
January 6th - New Year's Resolutions
January 10, 2022 05:13 - 1 hour - 70.5 MBAdam, Chad and Ryan discuss our theoretical new years resolutions when it comes to board gaming in 2022! Also discussed - Disney Sidekicks, Joking Hazard, What Do You Meme, Unlock Kids, MicroMacro: Crime City, Rocky Mountain Man, Sleeping Gods, Gaia Project and Terra Mystica
November 20th - Cataclysms and Colonies
November 21, 2021 05:28 - 49 minutes - 43.3 MBAdam, Chad and Ryan do a deep dive into Beyond the Sun, the tech-tree-focused space exploration game published by Rio Grande. We share our first impressions followed by a post-game wrap up after playing on BoardGameArena - find out what we thought! Afterwards we discuss a few recent plays, including Dungeon Degenerates and We're Doomed.
Oct 22nd - Halloween and Horror Games
October 22, 2021 21:59 - 1 hour - 77.8 MBThe Gang talks about their favourite Horror Board Games
May 27th - Name that Game and Nosferatu
May 29, 2021 03:16 - 1 hour - 83.8 MBThe gang plays Name that Game! and discusses the solo game Thousand Year Old Vampire
May 13th - Mechanics we're sick of
May 18, 2021 04:55 - 1 hour - 74.6 MBThe gang talks about board game mechanics that have become distasteful due to over-saturation of the mechanic in modern board game design.
Mar 18 - Video Games and Aviation Gin
March 22, 2021 03:10 - 58 minutes - 69.3 MBThe gang talks about board games that are based video games, and an overly long tangent about super hero movies.
March 2nd - Value in Board Games and Villainous Imposters
March 11, 2021 22:41 - 1 hour - 72.7 MBThe gang chats about the value, and how to derive the value of board games, and Adam tells us about his family playing "live action Among Us"
February 4th - Interruption Mechanics and Irritating Menhirs
February 07, 2021 03:21 - 1 hour - 70.8 MBThe gang talks about the Interruption mechanic in board games and Chad delves into the slightly disappointing Tainted Grail
January 21st - Games that Grew on us
January 29, 2021 05:12 - 1 hour - 89.1 MBThe gang talks about games we didn't fancy at first, but after a while they grew on us ...like some sort of fungus.
December 17th - 2020 and Tons o'Traitors
December 18, 2020 17:16 - 1 hour - 77.6 MBThe gang talks about the year 2020, the games they played and the effect the year had on the culture of boardgaming
November 19th - Tension and Terrors
November 22, 2020 08:45 - 1 hour - 91 MBThe gang talks about gameplay tension, what it is, what creates it and what kills it
November 5th - Roll & Writes and Rieekan's Rebels
November 05, 2020 00:00 - 51 minutes - 72.8 MBThe gang gets into the Roll & Write genre, discussing what it is and throwing out examples of different variants within said genre.
October 13th - RPGs and Pyramid Schemes
October 17, 2020 05:22 - 1 hour - 99.1 MBThe gang talk about Role Playing games and the impact the different RPG systems have on the gameplay and theme
Sept 23rd - Mashups and Mechanics
September 25, 2020 04:05 - 55 minutes - 51 MBThe gang plays the Mashup game, where we take 2 games and make a new one out of the combination of them!
Aug 27th - Redundancy and Rifle Platoons
September 02, 2020 17:03 - 43 minutes - 64.2 MBThe gang talk about redundancy in the board game industry and discusses the redundancy in the board game industry.
July 16th - Playing Online and Pirates
July 16, 2020 00:00 - 55 minutes - 80.2 MBThe Gang talks about how to run your games online and explores the game Forgotten Waters
June 29th - Karaoke Germs and Collection Gems
June 30, 2020 06:09 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBThe gang shows off some of the board games on their shelves: gems, favourites and sentimental pieces
June 18th - Publishers and Pollution
June 19, 2020 04:59 - 1 hour - 94.1 MBThis fortnight, the gang talks about Board Game Publishers, what they do, what makes a publisher good and of course, what makes a publisher bad. Then we discuss some games including Shadows of Malice and CO2 Second Chance!
June 4th - FLGS's and BGG guesses
June 05, 2020 05:06 - 1 hour - 99.5 MBThe gang welcomes back our guest Chad Boudreau, owner operator of our Friendly Local Game Store Comic Readers, to talk about the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on his business, and if when that get's just too depressing to continue, we'll play one of our awesome podcast games!
May 20th - Our Favourite Designers and Our Foolish Discussions
May 20, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 87.6 MBThe gang returns for a live streamed discussion about our favourite game designers, and how thankful we are for what they've done for the hobby.
May 8th 2020 - Pandemic Gaming and Pressing Dilemmas
May 08, 2020 16:51 - 52 minutes - 47.4 MBAdam, Ryan and Chad discuss how certain global circumstances have affected their gaming and the adjustments that they (and the hobby in general) have made to stay in touch with friends over dice and cards. We also discuss the progress we've made with The King's Dilemma since November, playing an online version via chat. No, YOU'VE been missing for 7 months! We've been here the whole time!
October 13th - Voting and Vanishing VIkings
October 14, 2019 10:00 - 59 minutes - 61.9 MBThe guys talk about the Voting Mechanic in board games as well as The Book of Mormon, Spires End and talk about other games and nonsense
September 22nd - Digitization and Disappointment
September 23, 2019 16:04 - 1 hour - 55.5 MB** NEW CONTEST ALERT! Listen for a chance to win a copy of Ethnos from mrdiceguy.com! ** Chad, Ryan and Adam discuss digital board games! The benefits of being able to play your favourite board games using your phone, tablet, or computer, but also the shortcomings of the digital medium compared to sitting around the table with cardboard. Afterwards we talk about some recent plays, including Mansions of Madness (1st Edition), TIME Stories: Madame, Catan, Defense Grid: The Board Game, and o...
September 8th - Emotional Attachment and Artificial Intelligence
September 08, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 73.3 MBRyan, Adam, and Chad reunite after a long cold "ODAMless summer" to talk about games with an emotional attachment, the games they played over the summer, and a unique and mostly undiscovered game Sarah's Vision.
Episode 62 - Drawing Games!
June 24, 2019 01:59 - 1 hour - 42.3 MBChad, Ryan and Adam discuss the genre of drawing board games! Starting from Pictionary and moving forward, we discuss the mental block a lot of players have against drawing games and the ways that modern hits like Pictomania and Telestrations help overcome that hurdle and end with a great time for everyone. Also, why aren't there more exploration or dungeon crawlers that use drawing? As per usual we close out the show with some games we've been playing lately, including The 7th Continent, ...
June 10 - Ultimate Werewolf and Underground Wights
June 10, 2019 07:29 - 1 hour - 72.6 MBThe gang talks about deception in board games and their experiences in an 8 month long game of Ultimate Werewolf Legacy.
June 2nd - 2 Players, 2 Problems
June 02, 2019 22:51 - 50 minutes - 53.8 MBThe gang talks about two player games and some games we've played recently
April 28 - Burnout and Battle Barges
April 29, 2019 00:00 - 1 hour - 66.6 MBAfter our short hiatus, Chad, Adam and Ryan return to the airways to discuss Board game burnout, that feeling that can overtake some people in the hobby when you just don't feel like playing, discussing or even thinking about board games. It can happen to anyone. Then we go deep on some games we've played recently including Forbidden Stars, the 40K Epic space combat game that Adam has owned for a while and finally got to play with Chad.
March 24th - Create! That! Game!
March 25, 2019 02:00 - 57 minutes - 43.4 MBRyan is your host, Chad your Vanna White, and Adam your lucky contestant as we strap in for another round of Create! That! Game! Chad brings up a random mechanic, theme, and victory condition (thanks to boardgamizer.com) and while Ryan explains the mechanic and a few of its best games, Adam comes up with a sales pitch for the next big board game success! After we've successfully drained Adam of his last ounce of creativity we discuss a few recent plays, including Ultimate Werewolf Legacy, F...
March 10th - Metagaming
March 11, 2019 02:00 - 1 hour - 50.3 MBAdam, Ryan, and Chad discuss all the various ways players can influence the outcome of a board game _without actually playing the game!_ That's right, it's metagaming time! Inspired by a recent episode of Space Cats Peace Turtles (an excellent TI4-focused show, check 'em out at https://spacecatspeaceturtles.podbean.com/), we go through the list, starting at "kingmaking" and ending at "stealthing". Are any of these legitimate tactics? Or is it all just in good fun? Find out!
February 24th - One vs Many Games
February 25, 2019 02:00 - 1 hour - 46.4 MBChad and Ryan discuss one versus many games, games where one player leads an overpowered faction or character against the rest of the table. We dissect both Overlord and Cat & Mouse games, reviewing the best and worst of each sub-genre, and discuss why these unique asymmetric games deserve a category of their own. As usual, we close out the show with some recent plays, including Fury of Dracula, Love Letter, A Handful of Stars, Spire's End, and more!
February 10th - The Role of Narrative in Board Games
February 11, 2019 02:00 - 57 minutes - 42.5 MBAdam, Ryan and Chad take a few moments to discuss the role of narrative and story in modern board games. Whether it's a static story or a collection of random events, storywriting has taken more of a prominent role in board game design. We discuss if we think the tales written in-between the mechanics actually add anything to a game's value, and highlight a few good and not-so-good examples in the hobby. We close the show with a few games we've been playing lately, including Between Two Ca...
January 27th - Replayability
January 28, 2019 02:00 - 1 hour - 45.9 MBRyan, Adam and Chad discuss replayability in the world of board games. What does it mean for a board game to be considered replayable? Are there certain mechanics or genres that produce games that are more replayable than others? Do expansions help or hinder the issue? We also discuss a few of our recent plays, including Samurai, Gizmos, Tyrants of the Underdark, Railroad Ink, Gloomhaven, Ultimate Werewolf Legacy, and more!
January 13th - Happy 2nd Birthday To Us!
January 14, 2019 02:00 - 1 hour - 47.2 MBHappy 2nd birthday to us! Join Chad, Ryan and Adam as we celebrate our second year of blabbing on about board games, the people who play them, and the culture surrounding the hobby! Most of the episode is spent entertaining questions from you, the audience, and a few of our favourite podcasts chime in! We also draw for our Chronicles of Crime giveaway courtesy of MrDiceGuy.com, and talk about some recent plays including Western Legends, Kremlin, The Mind, and Telestrations. A special than...
December 30th - 2018 In Review!
December 31, 2018 02:00 - 1 hour - 71.9 MBCONTEST ALERT: Enter our Chronicles of Crime giveaway care of MrDiceGuy.com - details inside! Ryan, Adam and Chad discuss the highs and lows in our annual Year in Review episode! We give our two cents on the BGG hotness in 2018, discuss this year's Kickstarter success stories, and finally hand pick our best and worst games from the last 365 days. We wrap up the episode as usual with the games we've been playing lately, including Adam and Chad's play of Twilight Imperium 4, the mad rush o...
December 16th - Gaming Experiences and Great Old Ones
December 17, 2018 01:41 - 1 hour - 65.4 MB**NEW CONTEST ALERT! Listen to hear how to win Chronicles of Crime from mrdiceguy.com** Chad, Ryan and Adam discuss the various ways a game night can go wrong for the average group, outside of a poorly designed game. Playing with other humans certainly comes with its own array of considerations, but have you ever had a night wrecked by the theme of a game or the gaming environment? We discuss a few things to look for and your best bet to avoid a negative gaming experience. After the conte...
December 2nd - Player Errors and Peace Rivers
December 01, 2018 00:00 - 1 hour - 69.3 MBAdam, Ryan and Chad discuss what to do when players make mistakes while playing boardgames, as well as discussing the ever present classic board game Risk!
November 15th - Holidays and Hidden Messages
November 19, 2018 02:00 - 1 hour - 71.4 MBRyan, Chad and Adam have put together their gift recommendations for the 2018 holiday season! Whether you're buying a gift for a work gift exchange, the kids, or perhaps your favourite podcast hosts, we've got you covered with suggestions for any conceivable scenario. Well maybe not for your pets. Forgot that one. After we make our draw for the winner of our Brass: Birmingham contest (sponsored by Mr. Dice Guy Games) we break out our feature game of the episode, Decrypto! This 2018 relea...
November 4th - Filled Boxes and Fake Artsits
November 04, 2018 19:37 - 1 hour - 60.3 MBChad, Adam and Ryan discuss "big games in small boxes" - those games that surprise you with their strategic complexity relative to the smaller-than-normal packaging. Is it possible to get the same level of satisfaction from a card game as a plastic-filled behemoth? Is replayability proportional to the number of components? Does size really matter? We discuss these topics and more! The second half features A Fake Artist Goes to New York, a big social deduction game in a box the size of you...
October 21st - Villainy and Voraciousness
October 22, 2018 02:00 - 1 hour - 73.8 MBCONTEST ALERT! Listen to hear how you can win your very own copy of Brass: Birmingham! Just in time for Halloween, Adam, Ryan and Chad discuss board games where players take on the role of villains, whether required by the game's theme or mechanics, or where players are just encouraged to become evil masterminds in their own right. We start with the more obvious hidden traitor and one-versus-many board games, and move on to the more obscure as we try to identify which genres are more prone ...
October 7th - Asymmetry and Anthropomorphism
October 08, 2018 02:00 - 1 hour - 64.4 MBRyan, Adam and Chad argue for 30 minutes about the meaning of a big word. Really. We take on the topic of "variable player powers" and how that broad categorization applies to games from Cosmic Encounter to Vast: The Crystal Caverns, and everything in-between. Is there a hard line between variable player powers and asymmetric games? We certainly don't have the answer. As you may have guessed, our feature game is also asymmetric - Root. This recent hit has been the talk of the town, an...
September 23rd - Cuteness and Craighearts
September 24, 2018 02:00 - 1 hour - 73.7 MBRyan and Chad bring you this episode's topic, Deceptive Cuteness. Starting with a few examples from outside the board game sphere, we demonstrate how games can catch you off guard with their cute themes and/or artwork and follow up with an uppercut of complexity, feelings, or straight up meanness when you least expect it. Our feature game for the episode is Gloomhaven, a game that Ryan's recently started and Chad has been solo'ing for awhile now. This massive release from two years ago is ...
September 9th - No Fun and Nazi Falcons
September 10, 2018 00:00 - 1 hour - 62.9 MBChad, Adam and Ryan discuss the topic they've been tiptoeing around for months - co-operative games! From Pandemic onward this style of board game has taken the world by storm, and is distinctively different from the standard competitive game. We discuss trends in the genre as well as our personal picks from the classification. Afterwards, we discuss a recent co-operative hit, Black Orchestra! This game puts players in the role of German citizens during World War II, attempting to assassina...
August 26th - Innovations and Ice Zombies
August 22, 2018 00:00 - 1 hour - 70.1 MBAlert! Keep your ears open for a exclusive discount code from our sponsor, Mr. Dice Guy, available until September 9th! Ryan, Adam and Chad take advantage of the recent GenCon released to talk about innovative design in board games. Is the future of board gaming bright, or just full of derivatives? Can't it be both? The feature game for this episode is one of the most innovative and popular releases from 2014 - Dead of Winter. This zombie game stands apart from the others as the first on...
August 12th - Player Bids and Power Barons
August 13, 2018 00:00 - 1 hour - 65.6 MBAdam, Chad and Ryan discuss bidding and the auction mechanic in board games, breaking down the different types of auctions and what they add to the games that use the mechanic. They announce the winner of the #OnlyAzul giveaway contest and also discuss some of the things they heard about regarding GenCon 2018. The feature game got the episode is classic game Power Grid, there is a small addition to the segment "Adam Struggles to like Twilight Struggle" and the boys talk about Skip Bo, The...
July 29th - Cabin Games and Catacombs
July 30, 2018 02:00 - 1 hour - 59.6 MBLet Chad, Adam and Ryan take you back to those lazy summer days of gaming with our discussion on Cabin Games; the games of our summer youths and the future of these dusty shelf classics. What common characteristics do these games have? What games from our collections will be the future treasures of the next generation? We discuss this and more! Also featured this episode is Descent: Journeys in the Dark 2nd Edition as well as a touch of Imperial Assault. This one-vs-many board game is th...