Punching Cardboard

Let me just say this: It's just not nice to kill somebody's dragon before he's had any time to get to know that dragon.  Giants, go for it, but leave the poor dragon alone.

We play a couple rounds of Rune Wars and a few other American style games, and we survive to tell the tale.  Unfortunately someone didn't let Ralph live long enough to tell any tales.  Mean. Just plain mean.

Direct download: PCP_018_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:34am PDT

Spring Break is over and we are back to talk about board game expansions.

What do they add to game play?  Are they worth it? Why such a big box? That little box is cute.  Where the hell is the Trains expansion?  I don't like these giants. You're sacrificing who to whom? You got your Carcassone in my Keyflower!

We want Trains, expanded!

Direct download: PCP_017_Final.mp3
Category:Board Games -- posted at: 11:58pm PDT

Firstly, we really like this episode and feel we were actually good this time out.  B, we apologize for the length as we were so busy being good that we ignored the timer we set to constrain ourselves. Well, not so much ignored as spat in the face of the timer.

In our longest episode to date (and hopefully ever) we announce our Game of Tournaments, review The Agents, and dissect the Kickstarter experience. We do a lot of dissection here.

So please enjoy our novel length show and watch for our Game of Tournaments post announcing the 16 games that will be competing for the Unplaced Worker award.

Direct download: PCP_016.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:36am PDT

It's a Cramer fest!

This week we discuss the merits of making Scotch whisky for clansmen up in Scotland, fighting France for the favor of King Henry, and sewing dresses for the French socialites we just, um, conquered for said King, while drinking the whisky we made, because, well, why make it if you're not going to drink it, and will this sentence ever stop running?!?

What we're trying to say is we look at several games designed by Matthias Cramer. Maybe we should stop drinking.

Direct download: PCP_015_final.mp3
Category:Board Games -- posted at: 1:45pm PDT

Yes, this was it: our show about nothing, our Seinfeld episode.  See what the critics have to say.

"Not since the Pop-O-Matic have we been so enthralled." ~ Gerbil Monthly
"Is this going on the air?" ~ Justin Bieber
"It was a discussion." ~ BBC 13
"A few thoughts were completed." ~ The Journal of Non-Sequitur Dining
"Frank Turner will never hang out with them." ~ Tattoo Weekly

We promise to be much better next time out.

Direct download: PCP_014_final.mp3
Category:Board Games -- posted at: 10:06pm PDT

If you thought that when humans set up a colony on Mars we would have a group of industrious scientists working to unlock the secrets of the red planet, you were wrong.  According to Travis R. Chance, we humans will do what we do best once we colonize Mars: Exploit and corrupt everything.

We cover the excellent game Infamy on this week's show, and we get a little help from our friend Craige, who has recently become a hardcore analog game addict.  He must've taken too much compound in his younger days.

Direct download: PCP_013_final.mp3
Category:Board Games -- posted at: 9:16pm PDT

Episode 12 - No Need to Dumb it Down

Really, you're sitting there with Candyland spread out on the table and the Wiggles on your stereo?  Oh, the humanity!

Save Yourself!  

Trust that your kids can handle something more, something deeper, something that makes you less likely to pack it all in. Throw Galaxy Trucker on the table and Magical Mystery Tour on the turntable (what, no turntable!?!?), and watch your children come alive.

Direct download: PCP_012_final.mp3
Category:Board Games -- posted at: 11:14pm PDT

Beware, low energy conversation ahead!  

The dog days of August are an exaggeration.  It's the dog days of February that really get ya, and as our energy wanes we attempt an intelligent and critical discussion of Russian Railroads.  

Maybe Monday night isn't the best time to record. 

Direct download: PCP_011_final.mp3
Category:Board Games -- posted at: 1:36am PDT

Jim loses his bet that we wouldn't make it to episode 10.  We solve the mystery of the infamous Segway death.  And we discuss our first Kickstarter game, which propels us into a dystopian future that makes utopias look pretty lame.  

Plus, we give Canadians heck for sending us their garbage musicians while keeping the good stuff for themselves.

Where else will you hear "The commodity tokens are adorable."

Direct download: PCP_010_final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:11pm PDT

Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized bone catapults or one bone-catapult-shaped duck?  

Or, as an alternative to dying either way, would you rather listen to this podcast?   "Just look at those bones in the middle there."

All in All a very difficult decision, one similar to the decisions that will break your brain in Vlaada Chvatil's latest invention.  All of this is discussed within. 

Direct download: PCP_009_final.mp3
Category:Board Games -- posted at: 11:30pm PDT

It's a rainy night in Portland.  It's toward the end of a long week, and it's getting late.  Energy levels are low and we are far from progressing to our next power plant upgrade.  

But we push forward and fight through the dead air.  We will not be defeated.  We will discuss this beast called The Capitals.  We will conquer a wonky rule book and fiddly mechanics, and we will be the better for it.  For this Capital can be beautiful.

* FYI - Contrary to the info provided in this podacst the inventor of the Segway is alive and well; however, we were close to the truth in our Segway story.  Tune in to Episode 10 where we solve the mystery.

Direct download: PCP_008_final.mp3
Category:Board Games -- posted at: 3:57pm PDT

Think of this podcast as our "about" page, at least until we think up some really good stuff to write about ourselves.

We try to discuss what brings each of us into the hobby, and then we try to explain why this analog form of gaming bests digital gaming.  Success? Eh??

Direct download: PCP_007_final.mp3
Category:Board Games -- posted at: 1:22am PDT

You run a family of discs.

You send your discs out to the fields to plant crops and tend to the sheep and you send your interior designer discs into the cave to create the dwelling of your dreams.  And you can send your more nomadic discs off on wild adventures.  Some discs will sneak off and then bring back baby discs, which gives you more discs to do your bidding.

In the end, if your discs do your bidding well, you reap the rewards.  Oh, and there are dogs too.  And they chase your sheep.  And donkeys.  Yes donkeys.

It has come to my attention that discs should read dwarves; however, I am too lazy to go back and change it, so you can use your imagination to correct the text above, you know, like when sending your discs on an adventure.

P.S.  We really do like this game.  I think.

Direct download: PCP_006_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:40am PDT

It's that time of year.  Top 10 lists abound.  People pontificate. This is better than that and that is nowhere near as good as the other, all in order, from 1 - 10.

We decide that we too can count to ten, and make lists, but we like to be different.

So, our New Year's Eve episode sees us taking on BGG contributor Sarah Reed's challenge of playing 10 games 10 times each in 2014. We make individual lists (because it's a list episode, and well, it's just the thing to do) and then compare them in an utterly thrilling manner.

Unable to leave well enough alone, we add a special Punching Cardboard rule to the madness and count to 11. It all results in a what seems to be a very logical commitment: we decide to play our games.

Direct download: PCP_005a.mp3
Category:Board Games -- posted at: 2:11am PDT

In our longest episode so far we discuss the longest game we play.  How long is too long? Does satisfaction diminish as the hours drag on? Why are all those little wooden pieces so fiddly? And can we play again, immediately?  Now!

Direct download: PCP_004_final.mp3
Category:Board Games -- posted at: 10:09pm PDT

Do you like deck builders or point salad games?

We take a look at two of the years filler games that have a little more fullness than a filler.  As the argument develops as to which of these games is deserving of your time and money, we also try to determine whether or not each of these games should be classified as a filler.  

We might even come up with a new term while we're at it.

Direct download: PCP_Final_003.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:09pm PDT

We bought a couple of copies of the Pandasaurus release Yedo and played it a ton, and now we discuss whether you should look past its Japanese Pollack splattered board and add this into your own roatation.  The role of Luck is bantered over as well. 

Direct download: PCP_002_final128.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:48pm PDT

We review Francis Drake and discuss the high quality of its components and the trend toward higher game prices.

Direct download: PCP_001_final.mp3
Category:Board Games -- posted at: 4:01pm PDT