It's a trick-taking double feature extravaganza as Chris and Luke kick-off the new Taiki Shinzawa miniseries with Nine Lives and Ghosts of Christmas!
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
I! AM!! BEOWULF!!!
Join the crew as they check in on Chris’s 2025 board game challenge—playing games based on movies! This week, we’re diving into a reimplementation of Reiner Knizia's Kingdoms: Beowulf: The Movie Board Game.
Chapters
00:00 - Spoiler warning
00:46 - Introduction
03:01 - Beowulf (movie) recap
13:27 - Beowulf: The Movie Board Game discussion
31:56 - Aha! moments
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
In today's episode (alt title 'How to Master your Dragon') Chris & Luke bandy words about the notoriously rules-light yet compelling game, Dragon Master. 🐉
We also debate whether this is a tile laying game at all! 🤷
Tally ho!
Chapters:
00:00 - Hello
00:47 - Intro & what we played this week (Halo Flashpoint)
05:20 - Dragon Master Rules & Basics
11:52 - Game Discussion
27:08 - Aha! Moments
This week, Pangea is splitting and the crew fight for world dominance as they chat through Knizia's pre-historic dice rolling/tile laying classic: Genesis (2006).
Chapters
00:00 - Intro
02:38 - What did we play this week?
09:06 - Genesis discussion
16:50 - Aha! moments
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
This week, Chris and Luke are praying to the gods of Easter Island as they chat through Knizia's blind auction / tile laying (maybe?) game: Orongo (recently re-released as Nyakuza).
Chapters
00:00 - Intro
00:55 - What did we play this week?
09:03 - Nyakuza discussion
21:44 - Aha! moments
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
What do freelance fantasy space-whale photography and the establishment of profitable medieval realms have in common? That the boys talk about both of those themes in this episode!
Chris and Luke bandy words about the classic tile-laying game Cosmolancer (originally released as Kingdoms), as well as the 2025 Spiel des Jahres awards (a very timely discussion), and the warm feeling of harming your friends* without facing any consequences.
*in the game
Tally ho! 🐳💫
00:00 - Intro
00:41 - Banter: on the 2025 Spiel des Jahres
09:53 - Cosmolancer background info
13:33 - Rules summary
16:49 - Game discussion
25:21 - Aha! moments
29:40 - 'I could harm you and then have no retribution personally!'
32:45 - Outro
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin & Chris Lemieux
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
In this ✨premier episode✨, the lads continue laying tiles in order to collect gems and/or guide butterflies. Join Chris and Luke as they highlight the classic Knizia game Indigo (re-released & re-themed as Butterfly Garden)!
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:49 - Banter: On Rulebooks
08:46 - Butterfly Garden explanation
13:42 - Butterfly Garden discussion
18:08 - Theme & Production
21:49 - Aha! moments
31:42 - Fun Fact!
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced By: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
We continue our adventures in Tile Laying with The Boys as Luke & Chris chat Mille Fiori - on glassblowing, card drafting, and pattern building in beautiful Venice.
Featuring surprise banter topic - going to Deep Space!
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
01:00 - Going to Deep Space (MLEM Banter)
04:48 - Mille Fiori explanation
09:01 - Mille Fiori (boardgame) discussion
19:16 - Theme discussion
22:22 - Mille Fiori (real life art form) discussion
26:25 - Aha! moments
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced By: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
The crew is back with a shiny new Knizia series: Tile Laying with the Boys! Luke & Chris welcome our very own Mechanic Mechanic Matt to chat about the first game in the series: Rebirth.
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:02 - Get to know Mechanic Mechanic Matt!
12:50 - How to play Rebirth
19:09 - Rebirth Discussion
36:56 - Aha! moments
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Guest: Matt Winquist
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
It’s time for a challenge check-in! The crew returns to see how Sophie’s board game resolution is going, diving into the depths of deduction in Sleuth and the wordy wheeling and dealing of BuyWord—both from the prolific designer Sid Sackson.
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
This week, the crew present you an offer you can't refuse: Gang of Dice! Plus, they rank all the games of their Cubes So Nice They Named it Dice: Dice Guys Finish Last series.
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:33 - What did we play this week?
08:28 - How to play Gang of Dice
12:00 - Gang of Dice Discussion
17:45 - Aha! moments
27: 02 - Series rankings
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
Lace up your sneakers! This week, the crew are diving headfirst into Reiner Knizia's Decathlon — ten dicey events, one questionable champion...
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:27 - What did we play this week?
11:53 - How to play Reiner Knizia's Decathlon
14:56 - Reiner Knizia's Decathlon Discussion
26:19 - Aha! moments
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
This week, Luke and Chris are joined by our very own Mechanic Mechanic Matt to chat Einfach Genial: Das Würfelspiel, the dice rolling entry part of Knizia's Ingenious Challenges!
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:37 - What did we play this week?
08:51 - How to play Einfach Genial: Das Würfelspiel
12:26 - Einfach Genial: Das Würfelspiel Discussion
32:10 - Aha! moments
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
This week the crew dives into the simple, chaotic, and sneakily strategic Don't L.L.A.M.A Dice!
00:00 - Introduction
01:12 - Breakout Con
08:57 - How to play Don’t L.L.A.M.A. Dice
13:17 - Don’t L.L.A.M.A. Dice Discussion
25:38 - Aha moments
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
The crew keeps rollin' through their push-your-luck dice series with Knizia's Excape!
Episode Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:55 - What have we played this week?
09:27 - Excape discussion
18:04 - Aha moments
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
Get your worms fried and hold onto your chickens! The crew kicks off their new series exploring the world of push-your-luck dice games in the Knizia-verse with Pickomino!
Episode Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:40 - What have we played this week?
05:39 - Pickomino discussion
20:35 - Aha moments
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
This week the crew tests out their symbiotic connection to the fungi in our final chapter of the Elizabeth Hargrave series: Undergrove!
Episode Chapters
00:00 - Intro
02:06 - What we played this week
15:00 - Undergrove Discussion
43:24 - Series rankings
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
This week we don our lab coats to talk about Elizabeth Hargrave's The Fox Experiment, a game about raising curly-tailed canids who are predisposed to love you. Join us as we discuss this unique game, grounded - as per usual - in fascinating real-world science!
Episode Chapters
00:00 - Intro
01:05 - What we played this week (The Gang)
09:44 - Pirate non-sequitur
09:59 - Fox Experiment Discussion
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
This week, the crew gift each other flowers and feed some pixies as they play through Hargrave's Button Shy wallet games: Tussie Mussie and Picky Pixie!
Episode Chapters
00:00 - Intro
01:40 - What Luke played this week & challenge update
06:46 - Tussie Mussie discussion
23:54 - Picky Pixie discussion
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
This week, the crew takes a round-trip to Mexico, embracing their inner butterflies as they continue their Elizabeth Hargrave side quest with her Wingspan follow-up: Mariposas!
Episode Chapters
00:00 - Intro
01:50 - Check-in on 2025 game challenges
09:15 - Mariposas discussion
26:30 - Aha! moments
Hosted by: Luke O'Grady & Chris Lemieux
Produced by: Sophie Shin
Socials: Matt Winquist
Artwork by: Samm Ruppersberger
