Latest Neilan Podcast Episodes
#280: Equal and Opposite Interactions
Board Game Barrage - June 08, 2023 07:03 - 45 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsWe're veering into the dark roads of board game classification, but this time with a goal in mind - how to best highlight games that feature strong interaction. Shouldn't BoardGameGeek have a scale for that somewhere? And while we're at it, BGG ... Before we put our thoughts in the suggestion bo...
#279: Let the Golden Age Begin
Board Game Barrage - June 01, 2023 07:01 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsAre we living in a golden age of board games? It's a simple question, but there's a lot to unpack - what even qualifies as a golden age, have we already had one, and if we are living in one, when does it end? Before we go for gold, we talk about That's Not a Hat, Pulsar 2849, and Barrage. Time...
#278: Check Check Check
Board Game Barrage - May 25, 2023 07:34 - 56 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsWe're lucky to have covered wide swathes of the board game world, but there was a time when some of those things were aspirational. Like achievements to cross off on the great board game check list ... or like that Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson movie. You know they invented that phrase? Wild...
#277: Definitely Not a Mailbag Episode
Board Game Barrage - May 18, 2023 06:51 - 51 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsIt's just two of us, so we turn our attention to the burning questions that you've been asking us, in a feature we're calling Topic Talk Back. This is not to be confused with the format we've used before, mailbags are old news now, and we'd appreciate it if you'd stop bringing it up. Before we d...
#276: Fantasy Draft: BoardGameGeek 801-900
Board Game Barrage - May 11, 2023 07:24 - 54 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsIt's the penultimate draft of the BGG Top 1000 series, and all of these games are garbage ... but it's up to us to sift through that garbage, and each find a collection of five games that's worthy of you. Vote for your favourite, and you could win a $50 gift voucher! Before we find diamonds in t...
#275: Building and Breaking Conventions
Board Game Barrage - May 04, 2023 09:08 - 51 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsAny creative work is built on a lot of conventions - things that we take as granted, the unspoken rules that must be followed. We get a lot of really great games by following design conventions, but some times, in order to innovate we have to break them. Before we try to find the balance between...
#274: Guessing Golden Geeks
Board Game Barrage - April 27, 2023 08:51 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsWe can all agree the Golden Geeks peaked last year, but I suppose we can continue the facade if we must. Nominees are out for BoardGameGeek's annual awards, and as the presiding champions of taste, we're declaring our favourites. Before we prognosticate, we talk about Big City, Spots, and Horsel...
#273: Bob Chat
Board Game Barrage - April 20, 2023 07:42 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsBoard games are a social medium, which is a big part of their appeal for us. It's not just about being heads down solving a puzzle, they facilitate conversation. Some games are better at this than others, so we put BGBBOB on the case to find our favourites! Before we natter away, we talk about B...
#272: Cool Story, Bro
Board Game Barrage - April 13, 2023 07:39 - 51 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsGood storytelling isn't easy, and board games seem to struggle with it especially - which makes the ones that do pull it off, all the more memorable. We delve into the ways that games can engage us and create lasting experiences through stories. Before we spin a yarn, we talk about Star Wars: Th...
#271: The Un-Episode
Board Game Barrage - April 06, 2023 07:02 - 45 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsI mean, I don't know. Before we do whatever, we talk about Circle the Wagons, El Gaucho, Roller Coaster Rush, and Applejack. Timecodes: 01:48 - Circle the Wagons 07:49 - El Gaucho 14:58 - Roller Coaster Rush 19:05 - Applejack 25:34 - What do I do with old campaign games? 25:48 - Frostha...
#270: You May Feel a Little Discomfort
Board Game Barrage - March 30, 2023 07:01 - 48 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsBoard games are great! Mostly. But as great as they are, we've probably all had a moment where, through no fault of the game itself, things got uncomfortable. Whether it's because of an awkward play, or just particulars of the group dynamic, we look back at some of our most uncomfortable moments...
#269: Keep On Rollin', Bob
Board Game Barrage - March 23, 2023 07:15 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsBGBBOB's back, and he's rollin' (rollin') rollin' on a river of amazing games, all of which feature some incredible dice play. As is our sacred duty, we won't rest until we've arranged them in some sort of numerical order, a ranked list, if you will. Before we rattle the bones, we talk about The...
#268: We Played a Slew of Games!
Board Game Barrage - March 16, 2023 07:01 - 55 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsWe (well some of us) made it back from Vegas, and what happened there didn't stay there - we're reporting in from Dice Tower West 2023, a fun week of friends, casinos, and all you can eat sushi. To everyone we met, thank you for saying hey! We also played a lot of hot games, including Heat: Peda...
#267: Our Listeners’ Top 20 Board Games of All-Time 2023
Board Game Barrage - March 09, 2023 08:05 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsI always love this one. It's the time of the year where we look at what your favourite games are, and discover whether there are any exciting movers and shakers in what you've been playing! It's the BGB Listener Top 20! Before we check in with all of you, we talk about Tower of Babel, Great West...
#266: Don't Mess with Cathala
Board Game Barrage - March 02, 2023 08:12 - 42 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsBruna Cathala is the focus of this episode's BGB DOG, the unfortunately acronymed series where we showcase a designer whom we love, and talk through the history of their career and designs. Before we pay tribute to the two player king, we talk about Smart Four Connected, Skytear Horde, and Endle...
#265: Fantasy Draft: BoardGameGeek 701-800
Board Game Barrage - February 23, 2023 08:05 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsThe draft is back, and while the lists are getting really thin at this point, that's not going to stop us doing our damndest to pick out a killer selection of five games each. Whose is the best? That's up to you - and if you vote, you stand a chance to win a gift voucher for $50! Before we put o...
#264: Kellen
Board Game Barrage - February 16, 2023 08:01 - 57 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsWe've done deep dives into games before, but really when you get down to it, games are just the medium. The substrate. What it's always been about is people. We hope to pick at the minds of some of the hobby's best with this format - and until then, we have Kellen. Before we unpack the man, the ...
#263: Our Most Anticipated Games of 2023
Board Game Barrage - February 09, 2023 08:17 - 54 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsIf there's one thing I can say for sure about 2023, it's that it will certainly be a period of time. We're casting our eyes forward to the year ahead, and getting excited about some of the board games that (we hope) will actually be coming. Before we look ahead, always ahead, we talk about Make ...
#262: The Sweet Sound of Mailbag
Board Game Barrage - February 02, 2023 08:30 - 36 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsWhere would we be without the mailbag? We get such lovely questions from you lot, that we rarely get the chance to answer, so when the opportunity comes, one has to strike. Time to hear what's on your minds, kids. Before we rustle in the cloth, we talk about Dinosaur Gauge, and Starship Captains...
#261: Resolutions and Ramifications
Board Game Barrage - January 26, 2023 14:21 - 57 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsYou know how at the start of the year you make a lot of promises to yourself that you have no chance of holding yourself to? Yeah, this isn't like that, we absolutely, definitely will not see out 2023 without following through on all of these whims. Before we hold ourselves accountable, we talk ...
#260: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2022: 10-1
Board Game Barrage - January 19, 2023 10:43 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsHere it is, the one we've all been waiting for, the Board Game Barrage top ten games of all time! It's been a long road and we'll wrap it up by seeing some old favourites ... and maybe a few new faces? Old or new, these are the thirty games we enjoy the most (at least, right now.) We loved shar...
#259: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2022: 20-11
Board Game Barrage - January 12, 2023 08:07 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsWe've reached the penultimate part of our five part series, the great series that is sometimes called our top fifty greatest games of all time! We're barreling close to the end now, but not without a lot of moving and shaking first. Here's another fine selection of thirty amazing games we love. ...
#258: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2022: 30-21
Board Game Barrage - January 05, 2023 08:27 - 56 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsIt's a new year, but the list must go on. The list, that is, of our top fifty greatest games of all time! It's part three, which everyone knows is the dark middle chapter of every pentalogy, so expect some swoops, some turns, some revelations. Brace yourself for another thirty incredible games t...
#257: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2022: 40-31
Board Game Barrage - December 29, 2022 08:05 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsI hope you all had a good holiday break, but it's time to get back to business. The very serious business that is the top fifty greatest games of all time. We return to our heroes in what the enthusiasts call phase two, and boy are things heating up! Thirty more incredible games that we absolute...
#256: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2022: 50-41
Board Game Barrage - December 15, 2022 09:11 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsIt's top fifty season! That's right, it's the time to reflect on every single game we've ever played, and see how we feel about them in the year of our lord, 2022. We sort through the chaff, and from it we weave a beautiful golden strand we call our top fifty greatest games of all time. Grab a g...
#255: Kellen Played a Hop of Games!
Board Game Barrage - December 08, 2022 08:21 - 48 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsKellen won't stop rubbing in that he went to PAX Unplugged without us, but at least he came back with a lot of cool games to talk about. Join us as he regales us with the latest from Philadelphia. Before we eat our Philly, we talk about Sea Salt & Paper, and Chicago Express. 03:49 - Sea Salt &...
#254: A Celebration of Innovation
Board Game Barrage - December 01, 2022 09:26 - 47 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsOne of the greatest things about taking part in this hobby, is seeing new and novel ideas bubble to the surface. We're looking at some our favourite recent innovations - stuff that makes us think, "Huh, why haven't we seen that before?" Before we do anything but imitate and iterate, we talk abou...
#253: The Ghost of Turkeys Past
Board Game Barrage - November 23, 2022 21:41 - 20 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsHow do you all keep falling for this? The Ghost Turkey moves in mysterious ways, and this year he's moving us to 2019, to atone for our sins. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! 04:48 - ICECOOL 06:24 - Meeple Circus 06:49 - Root 07:57 - Sheriff of Nottingham 08:48 - Piepmatz 09:29 - Fauna 10:1...
#252: Digital Killed the Tabletop Star
Board Game Barrage - November 17, 2022 08:34 - 54 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsWe all saw this coming. The inevitable digital future has come, and suddenly Mark is a book store owner who just discovered Kindles. It'd be sad if it weren't so inevitable. We discuss the rise of digital gaming, and how it can, at least in some ways, replace parts of the hobby. Before we go dow...
#251: Tabling the Teach
Board Game Barrage - November 10, 2022 07:36 - 34 minutes ★★★★★ - 381 ratingsLook, I wasn't there, but my understanding is that Kellen got very mad about certain board game words and decided to change the course of the episode midstream. Which, you know, would be one thing, but I once had to hear about how mad Kellen was about the word "apricot", so it's just like every ...
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