Author: Anthony
Anthony
Anthony cofounded Board Gamers Anonymous in 2013 and has been on (almost) every episode. Today, he lives in Philadelphia with his family and teaches first year writing at Thomas Jefferson University.
It's ComicCon week, so Anthony and Jason are diving into three games with pop culture themes, including Harry Potter Deck Building Game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shadows of the Past from IDW, and the Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game. All three games can be played solo, so we dig in and share our thoughts on how they run. Are they worth tracking down? Should you get them for solo-only play? Are they generally too light to be anything more than family or fan-only fare? Find out in our reviews. Make sure to connect with us and carry on the conversation…
Jason sits down with Radomir “Gad” Mirchev to discuss the newest Kickstarter project from Vermin Games, A Place in the Sun. Learn more about the game, now available on Kickstarter, and determine if you’re interested in backing.
Designed by Marco Magi and Francesco Nepitello and Published by Devir One of the things I love most about board games, especially euros, is the back story – the real world happenings that inspired the designer to explore the theme. Sure, there are the fantastical games based on popular fiction or decades old horror stories. But then there are the pockets of history that dig into how a city recovered from disaster or expanded and modernized. Barcelona: The Rose of Fire is just such a game, and part of what makes it so fascinating is the way in which it…
This week, Anthony and Chris dig into the top 10 battle games – board games that are primarily built around combat. These are not wargames, but mid-heavy weight board games that utilize some of the core mechanisms we know and love from wargames and board games alike to create a unique, combat-oriented experience. Listen to our top 10 picks in this category. In addition, we share our recent plays and dig into the question of the week, with answers from the listeners – discussing their most controversial takes in gaming. Next up, we share our acquisition disorders with Twilight of…
Anthony and Jason welcome back Dr. Patrick Rael, History Professor at Bowdoin College to discuss difficult themes in board games, this week focusing on World War II. Specifically, we dig into the politics of managing the war with Churchill: The Big Three Struggle for Peace, and what it means to use Hitler and Nazi imagery in board games with Black Orchestra. The first half of the episode, we’ll provide a brief summary and review of both games, and then dive into a more detailed discussion about the use of this theme in games, how it can be done well, when…
This week, Anthony and Chris dig into euro-mega-designers Uwe Rosenberg and Stefan Feld to determine once and for all, who does it better. In this special designer edition of our VS. feature, we’ll look at the games of both designer, as well as their impact on gaming and overall fun-factor for us to determine which comes out ahead. We also ask the listeners in our question of the week who they’d pick if they could only have one library of games. In our acquisition disorders, Anthony looks at Dragon Island, the new game from R&R Games and Mike Fitzgerald coming…
This week Anthony and Jason welcome Dr. Patrick Rael, History Professor at Bowdoin College, to discuss difficult themes in board games. We’ve split this into two parts with part one this week covering difficult themes of colonialism and slavery in the United States with Comancheria and Freedom: The Underground Railroad. Join us as we discuss both of these games and how they play as games, followed by a more in-depth discussion of the games’ themes and the difficult issues that they bring to the table. Connect with ENGN on Twitter (@engn_podcast), Facebook (BoardGamersAnonymous), and on www.www.boardgamersanonymous.com. You can also connect…
Ricky Royal is on the podcast! This week on a special preview series episode, Anthony and Jason sit down for a mega-sized interview with Richard Wilkins (AKA Ricky Royal), the man behind Box of Delights, and the one who has taught countless solo gamers how to play Mage Knight (among others). We’re chatting about Renegade, Ricky’s first game as a designer, launching on Kickstarter July 18th from Victory Point Games. We both had a chance to play (and you can read Jason’s full review here), and we pick Ricky’s brain about the game, its roots, and the future.
This week on BGA, Anthony and Chris sit down to discuss abstract games, in particular Santorini and games you might like if you also like this instant classic from Roxley Games. Digging into six games that are similar in some ways to Santorini, we provide a few insights into how you can find new games to match your playing preferences. Acquisition Disorders First up this week is a pair of acquisition disorders to look forward to this summer. Anthony kicks things off with Paramedics: CLEAR! a new game from Smirk and Dagger releasing at Gen Con that we had a…
Puzzles and Mystery! This week, Anthony and Jason dive into puzzles and mysteries with a full rundown of solo play for all four major escape room games, including Exit, Unlock!, Escape Room the Game, and Escape the Room. We also look at the classic mystery solving game, Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective (the newer release with the Jack the Ripper mysteries). How do these games play, are they better solo or with other players, and most important of all, why do we always have to ask if a game will work solo? Why the stigma of playing a fun and perceived…