Punching Cardboard

Welcome to our annual ranking of the good stuff. Within you will find us telling you about all the drams, tunes and games we really connected with this past year, all organized, categorized, ranked and presented with tidy little bows. This is the whole big cake of goodness, and you might want to cut and ingest a few slices at a time.

Then again . . . we know you guys. Just forget the forks and plates and dive right in. It’ll all be okay in the morning. Right?

LISTS

05:40 — Games 15 down to 11
28:49 — Whisk(e)y of the Year
49:19 — Games 10 down to 6
98:54 — Albums of the Year
131:29 — Games 5 down to 1

Direct download: PCP_102_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:33pm PDT

Just like John Ford filming a classic western, we brave the elements to bring you episode 101 in all it's Technicolor, widescreen glory. Winter may be wicked outside, but we're moseying down the trail, single malt in hand, and we're delivering the low down on a chuck wagon full of games, followed by a full dissection of what life's like on The Great Western Trail. Get 'em up.

CATTLE CALL:

01:37 -- Shirts & Other Business
06:06 -- The Lightning Trail Begins
06:44 -- Forged in Steel (Quick take)
08:35 -- Lorenzo Il Magnifico (Quick Take)
12:29 -- Inis (Quick Take)
20:13 -- Solarius Mission (Quick Take)
34:04 -- Kepler 3042 (Quick Take)
42:21 -- The BIOS:Genesis Rulebook (AARRRGGGHHHHH!)
45:28 -- Oracle of Delphi (Quick Take)
47:33 -- Guild Ball (Quick Take) - Last entry on the Lightning Trail
51:00 -- Bleeding Heart Pigeons - Is
55:09 -- Other spins (The Stones, Leonard Cohen, Thank You Scientist, Car Seat Headrest, L.A. Salami)
61:10 -- Clynelish 14 year old
70:24 -- The Great Western Trail (In-Depth)
133:35 -- The Crazy World of Lego Robotics

Direct download: PCP_101_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 3:11pm PDT

Well, we made it. Episode 100. An epic journey culminating in an epic show. Yea us!

Yep, this one's a long one, filled to the brim with hearty conversation. And while we do what we normally do, including covering two massive releases, Princes of the Renaissance and A Feast for Odin, we do take a few moments toward the end to acknowledge the milestone and heap some praise on ourselves (I mean, someone's gotta do it).

Thanks to everyone who listens because you're the people who really got us here. In other words, it's your fault. Seriously, thank you all for tuning in. We really dig this show, and we hope it makes your day when it lands in whatever podcast app you use. Thank You.

08:07 -- BGG CON 2016
20:00 -- Princes of the Renaissance (1st impressions)
48:03 -- In Search of James Hetfield -- The New Metallica Album!
56:13 -- A World Off Its Axis
65:27 -- A Feast for Odin (in-depth)
115:27 -- Episode 100! (Some Self-indulgence)
131:28 -- VH1's Behind the Podcast: The Hegemonic Years

Direct download: PCP_100_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 3:13pm PDT

Welcome to episode 99 of the podcast; a shorter, more concise episode this time out. Why? because your time is valuable and we care and it was definitely not because we were a little wiped out by time we recorded this week, because there's no reason to be wiped out trying to make a living and raise a family and live life. Nope.

Anyway, we have a Terraforming Mars session report along with an in-depth discussion on Haspelknecht. And some first impressions of A Feast for Odin to boot. All in about 90 minutes. You're welcome.

MENU:

04:15 -- T-Shirts?
09:35 -- Terraforming Mars: The Revenge! (session report)
21:40 -- A Feast for Odin (a Drool for Eric (1st impressions))
37:03 -- Atlanta
41:17 -- Haspelknecht (in-depth)

Direct download: PCP_099_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 12:21pm PDT

If you've ever been to the races, you may have seen a race where one of the horses goes off slowly. He doesn't stumble out of the gate; rather, he lollygags, taking in the sights, smelling the fresh cut of the infield, letting the pack get a dozen or so lengths ahead for the first part of the race. After a bit of this our boy decides to kick it into gear so he can see what all the fuss is about at the front of the pack. With luck he gets there before the race is done.

Well, this is kinda what we do in episode 98. We kick things off with one of our new-ish segments, which isn't fine-tuned to our usual perfection (ahem). But we soon catch up and start plowing through the field, challenging for the lead until the end. You can tell us if we've won or not.

GENERATIONS:

03:00 -- Thank You Jason Dinger
08:20 -- Wayback Machine - October 2013
22:44 -- Vinhos Deluxe (unboxing)
29:19 -- This Hobby's Done! No It Isn't! Yes It Is!, No! 
31:39 -- (a diverion) Doctors!
38:12 -- Back to the Hobby Question
56:30 -- Glengoyne 18 year old
68:23 -- Nick Cave Wants Your Soul - Skeleton Tree
83:33 -- Terraforming Mars (in Depth)

Direct download: PCP_098_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 4:42pm PDT

Well kids, Essen 2016 is right around the corner and it's that time of year when we tell you which games have us drooling. And we are crossing the streams with this one. It's dangerous, I know, but it has to be done.

In order to give you the bestest, biggest, baddest selection possible we are joining forces with Edward and Amanda from the Heavy Cardboard podcast. These lists are so good that we are broadcasting on both channels. Choose your poison and hide your wallets. Oh, and enjoy. Please.

Direct download: PCP_097_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 10:00am PDT

Eric's back, and we're taking old games, new albums, dead presidents and adjective-less baristas. We also discuss how the world could have ended in 1962 if we were in charge. But hey, we weren't. So you're welcome.

More fun than you can fit in your crawl space. Especially when you have at least 14 baristas down there.

COFFEE:

03:25 -- Three Kingdoms Redux (session report)
34:58 -- New Tunes (fea. Ryley Walker, Angel Olsen, Lisa Hannigan, Metallica, The Tragically Hip & more)
49:52 -- The Wayback Machine -- Our Hot Games of September 2014
63:53 -- Baristas in the Crawl Space
66:45 -- 13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 (in-depth)

Direct download: PCP_096_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:09pm PDT

Welcome to episode 95 of the 'cast, another no-nonsense dissection of all things boardgaming. Right? Correct? Well, it is episode 95. I mean, you have to agree to that much. Really, you do. Okay fine. Still, it is an episode. It is.

Anyway, with Eric dividing his time between Patriots training camp and his historic run on the PGA tour, we welcome Marty back to the program for his second pinch-hit appearance. And we're throwing some off-the-beaten-path games at him (and you). C'mon somebody, hit that nasty sinking curve!

PITCH COUNT:

06:39 -- You Got Digital All Up in My Analog!
21:29 -- Argent: The Consortium (revisited)
36:09 -- City of Spies: Estoril 1942 (in-depth)
66:10 -- Nina & Pinta (in-depth)
120:40 -- Goodbye Hip

Direct download: PCP_095_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 3:04pm PDT

Do you like moving pictures? Do you like images streamed to your television? Do you like people talking about people talking about fascinating things? Do you like music, whisky, games? Fun. Do you like fun? Well, take a listen, then maybe sample some of what we discuss here, and you might just have more fun than you can stand. Or not. But hopefully.

Welcome to episode 94, chock full of many things considered.

ENTRIES:

05:45 -- A Little Thing About Social Justice Warriors
11:45 -- The Lowell Observatory
18:08 -- Stranger Things and Sing Street
24:44 -- The Tragically Hip
26:10 -- Giving it Away (Arkwright 1)
29:15 -- The Kindness of Listeners
30:30 -- The Pogues Irish Whiskey
36:08 -- Core Worlds (in depth)
69:55 -- Viking Dalliances
73:23 -- Game Expansions (overview)

Direct download: PCP_094_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 3:27pm PDT

Join us as we take a ride on that old Kickstarter highway, down to the alt-Euro land of Scythe in the years after the Great War. And this is the big one, Elizabeth! Filled to the brim with deluxe goodness and leaving a vapor trail of buzz and hype. 

Fair play, too, as Stonemaier Games offer up the safest bets in the crowdfunding arena. You're gonna get your game on time and it's gonna be pretty. Really pretty.

But does the game play safe or does it's soul rise to the level of it's blinged out exterior. We discuss, very much in-depth, right here in episode 93. Enjoy.

ACTIONS:

02:22 -- That Arkwright Thingy
12:41 -- Castles of Burgundy: The Card Game (in-depth)
32:08 -- Kilchoman, Machir Bay
39:25 -- Mystic Vale (1st impressions)
46:15 -- Scythe (really in-depth)

Direct download: PCP_093_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 2:22pm PDT

How many games is too many? 200? 100? 50? 11? Which games would you eliminate if your significant other decided that the shelves in your house could be put to better use. We look at this question by deciding which ten games we would keep if we had to reduce our collections. Feel free to play along.

ITEMS:

05:32 -- Old Pulteney Navigator
11:55 -- Viewer Mail, Scheduling, and Other Bits-o-Buisiness
15:41 -- Kickstarter Hype, Bookshelf Games and Life Expectancy (Guildhall, Yokohama & others, in brief)
44:17 -- Are You Listening?
53:57 -- Speaking of Radiohead
64:22 -- Nina & Pinta (teaser)
67:50 -- Reducing Our Collection to 10 Games

Direct download: PCP_092_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 3:41pm PDT

Hello and welcome to another packed episode designed to keep you company on your long commutes. Eric returns to the mic and we discuss Radiohead, John Doe, Princes of the Renaissance & Arkwright giveaways, and HeavyCon 2016 before launching into our dissection of Level 99's Millennium Blades. Packed, I said.

This one was interesting to edit. As I listened to our in-depth discussion about Millennium Blades I kept thinking of more things to say about the game itself. And though we gave it about an hour of exposure, I felt we left something on the table. Still, you should get a good idea about this unique, fascinating, maddening, and fun game. Enjoy.

BOOSTER PACKS:

04:43 -- Princes of the Renaissance Giveaway Update
06:22 -- Arkwright Giveaway Teaser
12:23 -- Revisiting the Euro question
21:43 -- Virtuosity: The Soulless Euro of Music
25:31 -- John Doe & The Only Song About Relationships You'll Ever Need.
29:23 -- Radiohead Adoration
45:45 -- HeavyCon 2016
52:28 -- Shameless Prototype Plug
63:33 -- Millennium Blades (in-depth)

Direct download: PCP_091_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 2:24pm PDT

You are about to embark on a journey back in time. Back to harsh landscapes and unforgiving environments. And dice rolls. Lots of dice flying everywhere.

Come with us to find out how to coerce your lowly ape-like ancestors on the path to being human. And then learn how to keep them alive as they hunt and forage in harsh Arctic climes. We're going all in on Phil Eklund's Neanderthal and Greenland in this one. Welcome to the wayback machine.

ERAS:

07:52 -- Princes of the Renaissance contest announcement.
13:36 -- Heading to Heavy Con
15:25 -- MMA or UFC, What???
19:30 -- To Euro or not to Euro, what is the answer?
44:33 -- Neanderthal & Greenland (in-depth)

Direct download: PCP_090_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:27pm PDT

Have you been looking for a living card game that you can dive right in on without worrying about constant updates? Don't want to buy two (or three) core sets? Are you a reformed Magic player who wants to scratch that itch without going back down the rabbit hole? Can Plaid Hat games help you with their entry into the genre, Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn? We'll suss it out for you right here. Right now. Definitively. Or something like that?

Also, gaming with kids. Should you even bother. I mean, of course you want to game with your kids, so let's discuss how to do it. 

All this and more in Episode 89. Don't be fooled by false endings.

CHALKBOARD:

00:34 -- Amrut Fusion Single Malt
13:20 -- Weedy Poker
16:05 -- More Games Acquired
17:54 -- What You Want & What We'll Do
26:50 -- Gaming With Kids
60:30 -- Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn (fairly in-depth)
101:50 -- Get Sleep and Avoid Divorce.

Direct download: PCP_089_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:31pm PDT

Welcome to the PCP Magiporium, performances every Thursday through Sunday. We have mechanics and mystics, apprentices and assistants. Escape artists are chained in tanks of sea water. Illusionists will conjure impossible creatures. Rabbits will pop from hats. Monkeys will fly. Minds will clash. Look! What's behind that cloud of smoke?

You'll want to see a show every week, so arrive early for the best seats. This week, Trickerion! All secrets will be revealed. 

TRICKS:

06:30 -- Port Charlotte Heavily Peated Single Malt
13:07 -- Trickerion: Legends of Illusion (in depth)

Direct download: PCP_088_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:26pm PDT

Scotland or Japan? It's the question on everyone's minds. Who's minds, you ask? Where ya been? No one's talking about Kardashians or Trumps or hunky Canadian dudes who somehow get to run countries where people eat poutine and slide rocks across frozen, swept water. Nope, it's all about a place full of craggy rocks and craggy people vs. the land of Hello Kitty and Karaoke.

And like Chris Hardwick after The Walking Dead we're here to talk you through it, to lend support as you try to sort out your feelings about those places and some games based on them. It's a tough one, too. Do you lightly follow a path through the windswept shores, rocky hills, and green pastures on The Isle of Skye in search of sheep and fine whisky, or do you build and run factories in Nippon, spreading your goods, and ships and trains out across the whole of Japan? Who knows? We don't, but were gonna talk about it anyway.

DESTINATIONS:

04:29 -- Some Games We Encountered
13:30 -- The Joy of Rockin' Live
23:57 -- Isle of Skye (in depth)
73:34 -- Nippon (in depth)

Direct download: PCP_087_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 3:26pm PDT

We’re spinning a few yarns in this week’s episode. Tales of broken people and redemption. Opportunities both taken and abandoned. A few laps around the track. Buttons pushed and games mashed.

A little of everything this week, and just a dram to take the edge off.

NOTATION:

03:50 — BGGcon
09:57 — Panamax (Throwdown #1)
15:25 — New Games
27:05 — Automobiles (in-depth)
55:05 — Powers, Jophn’s Lane Release, aged 12 years
64:27 — Shearwater: Jet Plane and Oxbow
73:27 — All of My Favorite People are Broken (Michael McDermott, The Westies)
81:15 — Thrash’n Roll (in Depth – Throwdown #2)

 

 

Direct download: PCP_086_final_B.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:59pm PDT

I'm sick, and it's difficult to come up with a clever paragraph or two to introduce our 85th episode, so I'll just lay it out in a simple fashion.

On this podcast you will hear our interview with Mercury Games' Richard Diosi, who will be giving you the lowdown on the reprint of Princes of the Renaissance. You will hear a lot of game talk, including an in-depth examination of Pax Pamir. And of course, we have a dram and a little fun along the way. Please excuse the coughing and enjoy.

TIMETABLE

08:52 -- Princes of the Renaissance (interview and specifics)
36:24 -- Park Safely (rant)
40:15 -- Games and our Dynamic Ratings?
57:55 -- Can a Game be too Heavy?
68:46 -- Connemara Peated Single Malt
76:06 -- Pax Pamir (in-depth)

Direct download: PCP_085_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 6:42pm PDT

Welcome to our first episode in 2016. We seem to have settled into a pattern of releasing a show just about once a month. We can sustain this, I think. And maybe add a few more into the mix when time allows. So consider this the first of about 15 for 2016

In this episode we take on a couple of your questions and answer them with a fairly lengthy discussion, trying to turn over every stone in the sandbox. We also take an in-depth look at The Gallerist, including an amazing two-minute drill from Eric (He got the ball all the way to the twelve yard line before the clock ran out).

We throw in a little talk of whisky and philosophy, but games come under a great deal of scrutiny in this one.

ATTRACTIONS:

04:04 -- A Question of Questions
07:04 -- A Question of Balance and Weenies
31:30 -- A Sandbox named Absurd
46:40 -- Horrible Bosses
51:55 -- Oban, Distillers Edition: Distilled 1999, Bottled 2014
61:03 -- No Fun February
62:55 -- Kickstarter Dos (Millennium Blades) & don'ts (Thrash 'n' Roll)
71:56 -- The Gallerist (in-depth)
131:38 -- Russian Railroads: German Railroads (a quick word)
135:50 -- Secret Question

Direct download: PCP_084_final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 7:28pm PDT

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