Podcasts
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Season Two, Episode Two – Power Grid
The Board Boys took the reigns of their own power companies this week in Power Grid by Rio Grande Games. Joined by, the smartest person they’ve ever met, Becca Park, the boys auctioned power plants, bought resources, built cities and powered the crap outta those cities. Which fuel is best between coal, oil, trash, nuclear and green energy? Find out in this week’s episode! The boys also learn a bit about Becca’s PHAT brain (she is getting her PhD in Astrophysics), Ricochet Robot and Hanabi.
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Season Two, Episode 1.5 – Kolossal Games
The Board Boys are back with their first bonus episode of Season Two. In this episode the boys sit down to discuss Kolossal Games with the company’s president, Travis Chance. Kolossal Games made a big name for themselves earlier this year with their monumentally successful Kickstarter title, Western Legends. Travis breaks down the company’s history, gives us an inside scoop on some of their upcoming releases and gives us a quick glimpse at Kolossal Game’s latest Kickstarter success, Imperius.
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Season Two Kickoff
Season Two is here and is kicking off with a bang! To celebrate the launch of Season Two, TBBP held a day-long board game extravaganza, filled with games, pizza and awesome folks, and capped the night off with a live taping.
Joined by Stephen B., President of Stronghold Games, the boys get an inside look at one of their favorite publishers and what is on the horizon for the team at Stronghold Games, talk about their favorite games from Season One and catch-up with all of our guests from last season.
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Season One Finale – Dead of Winter
Our Season One finale is officially here, and we had a heck of a time playing Dead of Winter by Plaid Hat Games. Working together, with local podcaster Brian Campos, the boys ventured into an environment overrun with zombies to scavenge for food, supplies, weapons and additional followers. Did we survive to see another day? Did our colony fall to the zombie hordes? Was there a betrayer in our midst all along? Download the exciting finale to our inaugural season now to find out. We hope you like board games! -
Episode Twelve – Ticket to Ride Europe
The Board Boys took a nice vacation this week heading across the pond in Ticket to Ride Europe. From the craggy hillsides of Edinburgh to the sunlit docks of Constantinople, the boys saw it all; laying track and pounding cold ones along the way with help from Des Moines area photographer, Dani Reed. During their travels the boys also recommend some of their favorite ‘gateway’ games and the toys they loved growing up! Show of hands, who else owned a balancing eagle? -
Episode Eleven – Orléans
The Board Boys got their beignets, black magic (aka vampires and voodoo) and board games on this week in Orléans by Tasty Minstrel Games.Joined by fellow Arkham Games gamer, Jared “Probably Has a Cool Last Name” Bearss, the boys built their engines, recruited their knights and ignored their scholars in this beloved worker placement board game. In addition to Orléans the boys break out some new beefs, provide some more detail on their upcoming live taping and talk about Campbell’s upcoming trip to Peru.
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Episode 10.5 – Twilight
Board Boy Campbell is off galavanting around Peru, but that isn’t going to stop us from dropping an all new BONUS episode of The Board Boys Podcast. We decided it’d be a good (scratch that, great) idea to play Twilight the board game. No not Twilight Imperium, or Twilight Struggle …Twilight … like with Vampires and Werewolves and stuff. We revisited the all-time classic debate, #TeamJacob versus #TeamEdward, with help from one of our favorite guests, “ya boi Bell”. -
Episode Ten – Terraforming Mars
The Board Boys ventured into outer space in this week’s latest episode, colonizing the red planet in Terraforming Mars by Stronghold Games. Joined by local content creator, board game reviewer, Arnold Palmer (the drink) lover and all-around great guy, David Wiley, the boys slowly made life habitable on Mars.In this week’s newest episode the boys also tackle some new beefs, talk an awful lot about Terraforming Mars, discuss the subtle art of solo and two-player board game reviews and make a huge announcement!
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Episode Nine – Puerto Rico
Board Boy Frank’s birthday episode is here! In honor of Frank the boys play one of Frank’s all-time favorite games, Puerto Rico!Joined by Frank’s step-brother, Jimmy Hobbs, the boys get into the nostalgia of games, their mixed emotions on remastering board (and video) games and talk about how good, bad, great and frustrating the game Puerto Rico can be.
The boys also take their first (and last) spin using a soundboard! Get ready to laugh out loud to the sounds of rapper megaphone, sad horn and ‘HAM’.
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Episode Eight – Blood Rage
The Board Boys lived, pillaged and died gloriously this week in Blood Rage by CMON games. Joined by Casey Knue, the boys embraced the coming of Ragnarok while recruiting powerful monsters, upgrading their armies and scoring all the victory points before the ultimate destruction of Earth.This week the boys also get ‘beefy’ identifying the 2018 ‘beefs’ they’re hoping to start (or continue) throughout the year. Spoiler – Marilyn Manson high school lore and Mobb Deep are officially on notice.
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Episode 7.5 – Werewords
The Board Boys are coming in HOT with another bonus episode. In this weekend’s episode we finally completed one of Board Boy Cam’s bucket list desires, playing a board game live on the podcast.To do this we were joined by Casey Knue to play a few rounds of Werewords by Bézier Games. Play along and see if you can figure out the mystery word while also figuring out who the Seeker and the Werewolf may be!
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Episode Seven – Alchemists
Happy New Year!Welcome to the first (and best) episode of The Board Boys Podcast released in 2018. In this week’s episode the boys attended wizarding school, specifically potions class, to brew up some bewitching, bewildering and beautification spells in Alchemists by Czech Games Edition.
Joined by local board game legend, Rob Pearson, the boys break down the history of Des Moines’ growing board game community, the exciting things happening at Arkham Games and Rob shares his tips for starting a quality, lasting game group.
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Episode Six – Village
Members of a 19th-century community fear the strange creatures that inhabit the surrounding forest. PLOT TWIST we didn’t watch The Village, but we did play Village in this week’s episode. Joined by resident cool guy, Brad Turk, the boys took turns strategically killing generations (RIP Great Aunt Judith) to score as many victory points as possible.In addition to growing our village the boys also discuss their favorite games to buy in a last-minute holiday pinch, Frank’s primary sales goal at Target and the cool shows Brad’s bands have coming up!
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Episode Five – Mansions of Madness
Welcome to Episode Five of the Board Boys Podcast! Things got a little spooky in this episode as the Board Boys fought cultists, mobs and a few bad cases of insanity in Mansions of Madness.Joined by Josh’s lovely wife, Sammi, the group fought to their last breath frantically trying to escape Innsmouth alive. To help lighten the mood the boys discuss Sammi’s experiences growing up with Disney board games and discuss Campbell’s winning idea for a Twilight board game (Frank and Josh are totes team Jacob).
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Episode Four – Viticulture
Happy Franksgiving everyone! The board boys celebrated Thanksgiving this year by uncorking a bottle of Viticulture with their friend, and unofficial board boy, Ben.In this week’s episode the boys talk about their favorite games to play with family while home for the holidays, Ben’s podcast The Story to Tell and breakdown the board game Viticulture by Stonemaier Games. Hear the boys thoughts on running a successful winery, and the challenges one encounters when looking kind of like a pervert.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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Episode Three – Eclipse
The Board Boys blasted into outer space this episode to boldly explore wormholes, harvest minerals and wage war in Eclipse! Joined by local wrestling fan, mini-pig owner and comic book author, Dustin Murrell, the boys break down this outer space epic. The boys also learn about the joys of owning a Mini-Juliana pig (spoiler – they’re adorable) and how Mega Chomp (your new favorite superhero) continuously saves Cinderella, the Three Little Pigs, Snow White and many more of your favorite childhood characters.Did the humans finally conquer the galaxy or did one of the alien races come away with the victory? Listen to Episode Three now to find out!
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Episode Two – Clank!
This week the Board Boys donned their best burgle gear as they ventured through a dungeon and eluded (or at least tried to elude) a fierce dragon in Clank!The boys were joined by local IT guy and vintage video game collector, Adam Faircloth. Adam entertained the boys with tales of his experience working at an Apple Store and his quest for the ultimate video game.
Be sure to subscribe to our iTunes channel for new episodes dropping every other Thursday, and follow us on Twitter (@TheBoardBoysPod) and Instagram (@TheBoardBoysPodcast) for upcoming episode announcements and behind the scenes photos!
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Episode One – Terra Mystica
Welcome to the debut episode of The Board Boys podcast. The boys went head-to-head this week, terraforming everything in sight, in Terra Mystica.Joined by local musician (and D&D healer), Josh Adams, the boys battled it out as Chaos Magicians, Engineers, Nomads and Darklings. Tune into this week’s episode to hear our thoughts on the game (spoiler: Darklings are good…really, really good) and learn all about the time Campbell saw someone get hit by a bicycle.