Episode 102 – Best & Worst: Gateway Game Expansions

Whether you’ve been gaming for years or are just getting into the hobby, you likely have at least a handful of gateway games on your shelves. Did you know there are multiple expansions for most of those games? Don’t run to the store just yet – some of these expansions are better than others. On this episode, we’re taking a look at the best and worst of these expansions, when you should consider an upgrade and which ones you should absolutely avoid. Plus our recent acquisition disorders, at the table plays, and a run through of the Dice Tower Award nominees.

Introduction – Dice Tower Award Nominees

It’s that time of year – awards! We take a look at the full slate of nominees for this years Dice Tower Awards, announced at the end of April, with winners being announced in July at Dice Tower Con. Check out our rundown or read the full list on the Dice Tower website.

Acquisition Disorder Corner

A month is a long time to build up a list of must-have games. We bite our tongues and keep it to just one apiece with May’s list of acquisition disorders including Descent: Road to Legend – the new app from Fantasy Flight Games and a much wanted game for Anthony. Chris discusses the newest game in development for Stonemaier Games – Charterstone – and Daniel is interested in a current Kickstarter campaign for This War of Mine.

At the Table

We got a lot of great games to the table this month, including some that are just hitting store shelves in the last few weeks. Anthony kicks things off with his recent play throughs of Quadropolis, Chris discusses World’s Fair 1893 and Stockpile, and Daniel most recent RPG of choice is The Sprawl.

Best and Worst: Gateway Games

Finally, in this month’s feature, Anthony, Chris and Daniel look at the best and worst expansions for 10 of the most popular gateway games currently on the market, with selections for Smash Up, Catan, 7 Wonders, Dominion, Small World, Carcassonne and more.

Listen to Episode 102

Check out the full episode below or subscribe on iTunes and listen on your personal device:

Make sure to check out BGA on Twitter (@BGApodcast), Facebook, and BoardGameGeek. We’re also on Patreon so let us know if you think this episode is worth at least $1!

  • Anthony lives and plays games in Philadelphia, PA. A lover of complex strategy, two-player war games, and area control, Anthony is always eager to try a new game, even if he's on rule-reading duty.

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