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.

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)

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

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)

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)

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

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)

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)

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.

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)