The month is coming to an end - thus the die is jest. Join us for the monthly roundup of board games poked and proded by the ones at NPI. And what a roundup it is! On to the timestamps: 0:48 Moytura 6:05 Morty Sorty Magic Shop 10:40 Container 15:26 World Order 24:53 Boss Fighters QR 28:25 Yonder 32:29 dnup 35:43 Line of Fire: Burnt Moon 38:22 Slay the Spire: The Board Game 39:22 Here Lies 44:22 Cozy Stickerville 48:41 Wingspan Pocket
Yes, this is the very last episode of Talk Cardboard. It's also the first episode of The Die Jest. Which is how Talk Cardboard will live on. Right here, on patreon. On to the timestamps! 5:33 The Queen's Dilemma 14:32 Oath 16:03 Torchlit 19:40 Hanami 24:30 Sovereign: Fall of Wormwood 29:37 Strange Slot Simulator 34:26 Container 39:15 Foxglove Farm 42:46 The Old King's Crown 44:46 Typeset
On this bonus episode of Talk Cardboard, seven more games we've played at Spiel Essen. On to the timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:58 Skiwi 4:12 Petal Plotters 6:48 Milch mit Abführmittel 10:29 GODŌ: The Five Paths 12:54 Carnival of Sins 18:40 Whirly Derby 25:14 Winning Ticket 32:43 Tornado Splash
Just for reference, the population of Klaipėda, the third largest city in Lithuania is approximately 161 000 people. The number of attendees in this year's Spiel Essen was 220 000 people, meaning they managed to cram the entirey of Klaipėda and much more into just eight convention halls and every one of those people were buying board games. I appreciate that that is maybe not everybody's jam, and aspects of it are not our jam either. But getting our mitts into a jar of Bonne Maman filled with gooey new board game releases - put a bib on me and fire up the toaster! In this special joint episode of No Pun Included and Talk Cardboard we cover 16 new releases from Spiel Essen 2025, which you can either listen to here or partake in the video version https://youtu.be/NHVLn-ZxVWs SHIRTS! Find them on https://no-pun-included-shop.fourthwall.com/ On to the timestamps: 0:00 Cold Open 2:46 Intro 5:42 Night Soil (Unranked) 9:11 Bouba Kiki 14:14 Nocturnis 17:56 Formidable Farm/Formidabel! 22:00 Tax the Rich 27:44 Echoes of Time 36:30 Fearless 41:30 National Economy 48:23 Thesauros 1:00:34 biD Coin 1:07:20 Kikai/Bricolage Heads 1:16:46 Tag Team 1:26:59 Recall 1:36:14 ??? 1:56:10 ?? 2:03:33 ? 2:14:53 Outro
Spinning pandas, evolving primates, and... Capitalism! We have all three for you in this episode - thankfully not all in the same game. We could have had three games about mammals, but we didn't think this through. Onto the time stamps: 00:00 Cold open 02:09 Intro 03:45 Panda Spin 18:34 Primates 32:51 Tycoon India 1981 48:25 Correspondence
Only three games this episode? What gives? Well, in the tried and true brand tradition, we decided to go back to our original formula. But no sad trombone noises please - we're really, definitely, honestly going to make it work this time... On this episode, we have Identity - a trick taking game that promises personality, Out of Sorts - a game of inventing a cataloguing system for books in an alien library, and Magical Athlete - a game of racing a banana, a giant baby, and various other quirky things round a track. On to the time stamps: 00:00 Cold open & intro 05:50 Identity 14:16 Out of Sorts 28:57 Magical Athlete 42:03 Correspondence
There are episodes where we bring as much knowledge as we can about whatever board game we are talking about. And then there are episodes where we just want to share why something didn't click so much that we didn't want to go beyond game one. Apropos of nothing, today we'll be chatting about Brink, a "trading cubes in space" game that conceptually riffs on Catan but in execution whiffs on us. SHIRTS! Find them on https://no-pun-included-shop.fourthwall.com/ On to the time stamps: 00:00 Cold Open & Intro Work in Progress: 2:08 Tenby 7:26 Railroad Tiles 10:42 Rumble Nation 18:53 Winter Rabbit Audience Correspondence: 25:05 Vantage, Neurodivergence in Board Games Main Feature: 31:23 Brink
Hey hey hey, how about that Fram and Sodo? How about the Legoloin and the Aragroin? Do you like Grampalf? Are you a fan of Perry and Mippin? I love those guys! They're very fun. Almost as fun as deliberately mistyping the names of famous fantasy franchise characters to pretend like you're cool and above it. Well, we are not above it. We are suckers for Saruman, we sip from the founts of Rivendel, we lick the moss that hobbit feet have trod on, we wish we were half as cool as Farmer Maggot. It's just gonna be full on Lord of the Rings fananza and when the game is as good as Fate of the Fellowship, I mean, why not? Right? Why not indeed.
Well, Hot Dog! Do we have an episode for you! We peruse the lofty promises of Vantage, try to keep ourselves on track in Railroad Tiles, discuss whether selling doughnuts at night is really worth your time in Taiwan Night Market, and Efka tells us about angry dice you can chuck about in the bath, in Wroth. But wait! That's not all! The main game on our podium is Hot Streak - which not only has a hot dog, but also a fish, a bear, and HM the Queen herself in a game of racing, falling down, getting back up again, and trying all over again. Phew. On to the time stamps: 00:00 Cold Open & Intro Work in Progress: 00:54 Vantage 19:14 Railroad Tiles 25:01 Taiwan Night Market 28:26 Wroth Audience Correspondence: 36:19 Gaming Tables Main Feature: 41:23 Hot Streak
We're back from our holiday and we brought you a souvenir!... of pictures and words. The words you can find in the audio file above. The pictures you can find below, which will hopefully provide some context for the words. Statue of Triton - Düsseldorf. Our first stop was Düsseldorf, where we were immediately greeted by a gang of parakeets. They flew over this moat right in the center of the city. Sadly, I only had my phone camera on me so didn't manage to actually catch a picture of them, but here's a pretty shot of the river! Rhine Promenade - Düsseldorf. A few hundred meters away from there was the Rhine itself and the atmosphere there was very chill and very alcohol. The row of "pub" seemed endless and even when it did end, people were hanging out on steps, chatting and enjoying a beverage or seven. Some parts of the endless pub where less busy than others, like in the picture below, but there were enough busy spots if you were looking for them. East Berlin - Friedrichshain. I was so grateful that Spiel des Jahres was held in this borough of Berlin because it was vibrant and beautiful. Plus, someone managed to climb all the way onto that roof just to spray paint ACAB, and you gotta give them points for dedication. Elaine on drums - Berlin nHow Sadly, I didn't take many pictures of the utterly bizarre hotel we were staying at, but here's a picture of Elaine pretending to drum, just before we were told off by hotel staff. So much for being treated like a rock star. Tom Brewster - Board Game Criticism Day 2025, Berlin Looky here, it's Tom, giving a talk about Adam Sandler of all things. His talk was great, and just below the picture there's a link to that talk as well.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuxxkAzN7LI The Pizza Vending Machine, Kiel Yes, this machine vends pizza, and what's more bizarre, there's a video on the display that suggests that these pizzas are cooked in an actual wood oven. How did they fit the oven inside? Who's operating it? Why is there no chimney and no smoke coming out? First, true AI and now this? Undeniably, we are living in the future. DFDS Victoria Seaways, Kiel. This ship looks so cool on the outside, but if you haven't listened to the audio portion yet - I won't spoil it - I'll just say - yeah, this was the worst part of the trip, including them playing Titanic in the common room just before the ferry departed. DFDS Victoria Seaways, The Baltic Sea. I gotta say though, as bad as this ferry was, the view at the top of the deck was absolutely stunning. Sea as far as you can sea. And the water was so calm, we didn't sway one bit. Nida. I will group a few pictures together below, because they are all of Nida. Nida is not my hometown, but it is the place I think of when I feel homesick, and returning after nine whole years was a treat like no other. I hope these pictures of the Curonian Lagoon capture why. If they look a tad familiar, that might be because you also saw them in our review of Scythe, all the way back in 2016. Parnidžio Dune - Nida. I'm sorry, I know that was a lot of pictures of just one thing, but it's a thing that I love and is close to my heart. I tried to take the best pictures I could. But here's one more. This Dune is fantastic and I got to climb onto it one more time, and also got to show it to Elaine. More on what makes this Dune so cool, unsurprisingly, in our upcoming video of Dune (Imperium). Smoked Eel - Nida. I know it doesn't look it, but this is maybe one of the fanciest meals you can order in Lithuania. Rich in flavour, but not at all fishy, and incredibly pleasant mouthfeel - just melts as soon as you bite into it. And wouldn't you know it? I didn't take a single picture in Klaipėda. Sorry! I think by that point we went into full holiday mode and were just enjoying ourselves. Which is a shame because Klaipėda is a beautiful city and I wish I took at least a few to show it off. Maybe next time? Who knows. Hope you enjoyed the travelogue. See you soon!
Pew pew kaboom! That's the sound of every child's living nightmare - their toys coming to life and unleashing an arsenal of deadly weaponry in their bedroom. Many a sleepless night I've had in my youth with this vivid imagery - blood, guts, plastic viscera strewn across my chewbacca rug - which might I add, also comes alive and eats the other toys... anyway, turns out they made my nightmare into a board game and you can now play it. On to the time stamps: 0:00 Cold Open Work In Progress 0:56 The Old King's Crown 6:24 Ensemble 12:19 Haggis Audience Correspondence 16:14 Trick Taking Main Feature 27:51 Toy Battle
Good news, we're still on holiday. Better news - we're still doing the holiday cast, which means more free podcast more delivered to more yo Good news, we're still on holiday. Better news - we're still doing the holiday cast, which means more free podcast more delivered to more you. Moorish! You know what else is moorish? Trees! Just can't get enough of those suckers. And you know where trees live? That's right, in Germany. And you know what Germany has? Autobahns. But also forests. Apropos of nothing, let's talk about a board game called Black Forest which is about a forest in Germany. Once again, no timestamps because we're still on holiday and it's still just one game in the episode. You'll be fine.
Good news, we're on holiday. Better news, we're not leaving you without podcast. It's a smaller episode, yes, but it is Talk Cardboard deliv Good news, we're on holiday. Better news, we're not leaving you without podcast. It's a smaller episode, yes, but it is Talk Cardboard delivered right to your door, for free! Mmmmm, free podcast, what could be more delicious? Oh, I know, human suffering! If you feel like what you need more in your life is a cardboard simulation of robots slaughtering endless amounts of flesh bags on the moon, Moon Colony Bloodbath has got you sorted. Not doing timestamps cause we're on holiday. Also, it's just one game. You'll be fine.
Sharpen your papercuts because it's time to put cards face down in front of you and simultaneously flip them face up! The Old King's Crown is maybe the year's most exciting game and we've got an exciting early scoop! SHIRTS! Find them on https://no-pun-included-shop.fourthwall.com/ On to the time stamps: 0:00 Cold Open 1:40 Intro Work In Progress 2:08 Emberleaf 11:19 Hot Streak 22:00 Project L 26:24 Survive the Island Main Feature 31:06 The Old King's Crown
If you've heard of Air, Land and Sea, Compile is more of that but different. If you've not heard of Air Land and Sea, have we got some cool games for you to recommend in this episode.
Efka opens our review of Eternal Decks with "This is the main candidate for Game of the Year 2025" and if you need a better endorsement to l Efka opens our review of Eternal Decks with "This is the main candidate for Game of the Year 2025" and if you need a better endorsement to learn about a cool new board game, I can't think of one. And I'm Efka. This and more in this week's Talk Cardboard. SHIRTS! Find them on https://no-pun-included-shop.fourthwall.com/ On to the time stamps: 0:00 Cold Open 1:30 Intro Work In Progress 1:59 Barony: Royal Edition 6:25 In the Shadows: Resistance in France 1943 - 1944 (DNF) 10:08 Emberleaf 14:32 The Old King's Crown Audience Correspondence: 21:34 Blue Prince Main Feature 28:46 Eternal Decks
You want me to do what now? Play a board game on the TV? Using my phone? Never! shakes fist at cloud shakes more fist at cloud picks up phon You want me to do what now? Play a board game on the TV? Using my phone? Never! shakes fist at cloud shakes more fist at cloud picks up phone and starts playing Wait this thing is good! Like, real good. Okay, I guess today we're talking about a board game that's also a video game that's also a phone game. And you're going to listen and you're going to enjoy it. On to the timestamps: 00:00 Cold open 01:24 Intro 02:03 'Work In Progress"; Fruit Fight 03:50 Tenby 08:10 Deep Regrets 15:57 Correspondence 20:01 Sunderfolk
Why duel with silly weapons when you can duel with whole cities? In Rival Cities, Hamburg and Altona go head to head to see who will be the Why duel with silly weapons when you can duel with whole cities? In Rival Cities, Hamburg and Altona go head to head to see who will be the city anyone's ever heard of. I think you probably know who pulled that off IRL. But if you'd rather fight with fruit or sausages, fear not because we have those for you too - in our Work in Progress. On to the timestamps: 00:00 Cold open 01:41 Intro 05:18 Work in Progress 06:05 Sausage Sizzle 08:17 (Reiner Knizia's) Fruit Fight 14:47 Corps of Discovery 25:46 Correspondence 27:16 Rival Cities
Get ready to flick your way to victory, or get the flick out of here because it's time to play Ascending Empires: Zenith Edition - a 4X game Get ready to flick your way to victory, or get the flick out of here because it's time to play Ascending Empires: Zenith Edition - a 4X game - but iiiin flicking spaaaaace! We also have the games we've been playing this week in our new segment: 'Work in Progress', where Elaine compares Eternal Decks to being back at school, and Efka tells us about under-salted negotiations in Moonrakers. Eternal Decks tutorials mentioned in the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT1d_lHw4yM On to the timestamps: 00:00 Cold open 01:40 Intro 02:10 'Work In Progress"; Eternal Decks 08:09 Joyride 11:52 Moonrakers 16:01 Correspondence 24:44 Ascending Empires: Zenith Edition
Last week Talk Cardboard was back and this week Bonus Talk Cardboard is back! On today's episode we discuss Morrison Game Factory, an adorable escape room in a box from Post Curious
