There is a duality in first time plays, at least when you’re playing with a mind to reviewing. One path leads to potential, the other to the bin. A first time play can reveal quirks and kinks that promise an interesting second or third or fourth and beyond plays; exploration and indulgence. It can equally reveal a design you never wish to revisit. …

This episode we only cover two games, but we had so much to say it ended up being a full length episode anyway. Which isn’t a surprise really when you end up with two follow ups for two massively succesful games. It’s the follow-up episode! And if you strain your thinking really hard, you could even argue that this very episode is a follow up to pr…

“What’s good?” you might ask me. Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Just board games. Three specific board games that are, in fact, good and COINCIDENTALLY are all featured on this episode of Talk Cardboard. What a treat! A threefer. A co-op boss battler that’s good, a solo deck-builder that’s good and, wait for it, a EUROGAME that is very good! It’s goo…

A remake, a new take and an expansion walk into a bar. The barman says, “what’ll it be?” They all reply “something fresh.”Was that too mean? I think that was too mean, especially since at least (and also at most) two of the games discussed in this episode are pretty great. And one of them is okay. We revisit the classic Terra Mystica in it’s new mo…

More and more board games are adopting eco themes! Whether it’s Daybreak and it’s simulation of climate change or Dune: War for Arrakis and Dune’s enviromental themes and… uh… one or two plastic miniatures or Ticket to Ride Legacy and… um… all the railroad constru…. You know what nevermind, welcome to board games! It’s board games everyone, aren’t …

Can you believe it’s been a whole year of Talk Cardboard? Incredible! What’s a better way to celebrate the end of the year than by revisiting where we began? On the very first episode Efka talked about his most anticipated games for 2023, so today we’ll take a look at how those panned out and also take a peek at his most anticipated games for 2024.…

Winter months are here and a deep chill is setting over the world. A chill that can represent only one thing - Elaine and Efka’s disappointing week of board games. That’s right, it’s one of those episodes - where no one game is a standout and all of them feel like they’re missing just a little warmth. So grab a cup of hot cocoa and settle in for a …

It’s a new episode of the Talk Cardboard podcast and I feel great! Rejuvenated even because today’s games are light, breezy, quirky and fun. And what’s a breezier topic than the collapse of an empire? Just the thought of that warmed something inside of me, like a cozy blanket gently touching the fireplace and setting aflame. If you too would like t…

Every year in board games there’s a new fad. Legacy, polyominoes, roll and writes and trick takers. This year’s fad seems to be less genre based and more societally concious. Here at NPI every week we encounter more and more board games that reduce their use of wasteful material such as plastics. On this episode alone two of the three games discuss…

What’s the biggest event of the year? That’s right, it’s the DFS Winter Mega Sale! But right after that comes Essen Spiel, or as it is now known: Spiel Essen. Every year, just under two hundred thousand board gamers flock to an industrial city in Germany to partake in a mass consumption event where over a thousand board game titles are released ove…

Tell me something, which other board game podcast episode can claim to contain the entire gamut of board games in one episode? Antropomorphic animals? Check. Weirdly themed euro? Check. Fantasy campaign game? Check. Real time? Check. Randomness? Check. Strategy, tactics, abstractification? Check check and check.In this episode we’ll take a long ove…

Are games even real? According to Kieron Gillen, they certainly bleed into reality and reality bleeds into them. According to Great Western Trail, New Zealand isn’t even real. So who’s to say?On this episode of Talk Cardboard we review Schadenfreude, the little trick taking game that could, chat about the absurd comedy that is Freelancers, take an …

From Earth to Space to the abstract void in between, this episode has a little bit of everything, including a game that made Efka feel like he had to give a rating. That’s right, a bona fide numerical value asigned to the perceived quality of a game. What will they think of next? Verdicts? Comparisons? In the future, anything will be possible.On th…

What if we don’t make games that last forever is the question Andrew Navaro, head of Earthborne Games is asking us. His answer is Earthborne Rangers, a game that will perish, but not before it lands on our doorsteps. On this episode of Talk Cardboard we interview Andrew about Earthborne Rangers and his vision for a more eco-responsible board game s…

It’s time to get schooled! Always wanted to say that and finally I have a good reason because today’s guest on the show is none other than Zoe Bee who’ll teach us about board games as educational tools.Oh but wait, there’s also board game reviews. A hot new release that asks us to save cats (again) - Race to the Raft, a hot old classic that’s got a…

Everybody always says, “Talk Cardboard is paving the way in board game podcasting!” and this episode it’s certainly true. We have biking, hiking, kayaking, train-ing, and hunting (along routes), which is the most path in any board game podcast ever.On today’s episode we’ll cover the cute but deadly Trailblazers, the old fashioned but sleek Isle of …

Sometimes you sit down to play some board games for a future podcast episode and you find yourself not particularly digging any of them? It happens. It’s a thing. It could happen to you. This week it happened to us.Whilst we weren’t especially jazzed about Hamlet, didn’t find Undaunted: Battle of Britain worth the trouble and at least one of us rea…

Welcome back, welcome back, it’s like we’ve never been gone. After a brief interruption Talk Cardboard returns to your ears and consequentially to your brains to deliver all the board game that it needs. Today’s brain ticklers include drawing a map of the London Underground in Next Station: London, a dose of helium 3 in Skymines and some good ol’ f…

Oh dear, oh dear, it looks like this week's episode is missing. We'll resume our schedule next week. Until then!על ידי No Pun Included

Every Talk Cardboard episode is a journey, and in this episode that journey is competitive card games, competitive card games with engine building and destroying the engine with hard alcohol (not necessarily in that order).Today we’re taking a look at Distilled, an aspirational game about being a small time distillerer in a world of big alcohol, Wo…

Building building building. If you like building (or buildings) you will enjoy at least one of the board games covered in this episode in which you build buildings, buildings and also cars. How's that for a build up? No? Let me construct some clarity.Today we'll talk about Ginkgopolis, a tile laying city building classic hidden gem, Rolling Heights…

Has it been two weeks already? Time flies when you’re reviewing board games. Or when you’re riding whales for that matter. In real life and also in the game! Does it fly when you’re under Soviet occupation or working for Mr. Carnegie? Who’s to say, but we can at least tell you whether the games based on these events and/or entities are any good and…

There are many famous Paul Deans in the world, but today we’re only interviewing one of them. Maybe one day we’ll get a chance to talk to some of the others, but honestly, why bother, we already got the best one. We got a chance to talk to Paul about what it’s like having left the board game industry and how he feels about board games right now.Thi…

This episode is jam packed with exciting board games and has a reference to clotted cream - that's right - it's the scone episode! A tasty delicious dessert for your ears full of rich indulgent cardboard. What's especially exciting is that we've got a little bit of everything for everyone - from very light to very heavy, all pretty great in their o…

Every day people stop us on the street and say “But, Elaine and Efka, why did you rename the podcast?” What an excellent question real person on the street - we renamed it because Talk Cardboard is all about talking to OTHER PEOPLE about cardboard. All kinds of cardboard. Flat, corrugated and even board game. So we talk to you, dear listeners, espe…

It’s so great to be behind the microphone again talking about something you love! Especially when the thing you love is pancakes. But we also spend a good amount of time talking about what’s fresh in board games, including a sleeper solo hit Resist! from the people that brought you Undaunted, the little asymmetric arena battler Knight Fall and the …

Welcome back to the newly named board game podcast from the duo at No Pun Included! In this new iteration we're starting small and building up each episode, so if you've enjoyed this - there's more to come every second Friday. Today we're taking you through Efka's most anticipated board games of 2023, four board game reviews and lots of words from …

Hey everybody - it’s a calculator party! Bring out your Casios and we’ll get down with spreadsheets like it’s 1799. On today’s podcast not only do we tackle the mini-beast that is Arkwright: The Card Game but give an early scoop on Mind MGMT and a brief glance at Murano: Light Masters.Timestamps:Murano: Light Masters - ( 03:04 )Arkwright: The Card …

Three board games enter, one board game leaves. But only having endured the harsh nature of Elaine’s and Efka’s critique. That’s the No Pun Included podcast and it’s back once again for the twenty ninth time.Timestamps:Dinosaur World - ( 06:50 )Exit Advent Calendar: Mystery of the Ice Cave (no spoilers) - ( 28:31 )Magnate: The First City - ( 41:16 …

Cult of the new? More like “cult of the game that I’ve already played but haven’t played in ages and now there’s a new version so I bought it again just so I could play it and not play the copy I already had!” That’s right, today we discuss three board games that are renditions, re-editions, reimplementations or maybe just second editions.Timestamp…

Ah, rulebooks. Don’t you just love sitting down with a cup of hot beverage and an arcane manual written by what you assume is a “game wizard” and spend four hours of your day trying to understand what exactly phrases like “spend your faucet token to activate the hyrdraulics action space” actually mean, to only inevitably give up and desperately sea…

What two things would you miss if you were to live on the moon? That’s right, it’s coffee, and the ability for sound to echo whilst you’re doing a moonwalk in vacuum. With that tenuous link between this episode’s board games established, I can tell you a little bit more what to expect from each. Luna Capital is yet another spin on the tableau build…

Toot toot, the No Pun Included boat has docked, ready to unload three stormy board games into your harbour. Are these board games fresh as the fruit of the sea, or do they perhaps smell a bit fishy? Quick, someone take away the analogies from me because I’ll starting waxing on about how we spill the board game guts. Oh no. It’s too late - the board…

Following from our Reiner Knizia Special video, here's more Knizia games, this time, all out of print and all (hopefully) coming back soon.07:51 - Tigris & Euphrates + Yellow & Yangtzee32:57 - Ra43:24 - Winner's CircleFor more No Pun Included, visit https://nopunincluded.comעל ידי No Pun Included

In todays episode we'll talk about two games that share a common ancestry: Destinies and Descent: Legends of the Dark.Fun fact, we mention comparing these two games at the end, and then totally forget to do that. But the comparison points should be clear as we go along.Timestaps:Destinies - ( 02:43 )Minor Mechanical Destinies Spoilers - ( 16:29 )Sp…

Hello cheese fans! Hope you brought your cheese along cause it's about to get stinky! Join us in this heatwave for another episode of the NPI Podcast where we'll indulge you in some board game talk.On today's episode we discuss:Summoner Wars ( 05:33 )Khora: Rise of an Empire ( 22:17 )Kemet: Blood and Sand ( 48:05 )If you enjoyed this episode and wa…

Today we discuss one game and one game only - Sleeping Gods. For more information, or to leave a comment, visit:nopunincluded.com/podcastA review copy of Sleeping Gods has been provided by the publisher Red Raven Gamesעל ידי No Pun Included

In this episode we’ll discuss Overboss, a tile laying city builder masquerading as a pixelated fantasy game, Cubitos, a psychedelic game about racing cubes on an alien cube planet, and My City - a Reiner Knizia polyamino tile-laying legacy game.Overboss ( 02:48 )Cubitos ( 20:50 )My City ( 35:30 )If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment at https…

In this episode we’ll seize the farm in Carpe Diem, freeze on an alien world in Cryo and lay some track in Iberian Gauge.Carpe Diem ( 06:45 )Cryo ( 23:18 )Iberian Gauge ( 37:14 )If you enjoyed the podcast and would like to leave a comment, visit its home at https://nopunincluded.com/podcastעל ידי No Pun Included

In today's episode we discuss:Mandala ( 01:27 )Honey Buzz ( 18:29 )BattleCon: Remastered ( 35:16 )Find more of the podcast, or leave a comment at https://nopunincluded.com/podcastעל ידי No Pun Included

In this episode Elaine and Efka go over Hallertau, a game about rural hop farming, Nidavellir, a game of recruiting a fantasy dwarf army and Beyond the Sun, a game about space.02:44 - NPI News04:51 - Hallertau27:46 - Nidavellir42:58 - Beyond the Sunעל ידי No Pun Included

On today's episode we have:Games We’ve Been Playing:Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game ( 7:44 )Marvel Champions - A Brief Mention ( 11:15 )Oceans ( 11:50 )Curious Cargo ( 25:09 )Under Falling Skies ( 36:20 )Bonfire ( 43:01 )Point Salad ( 53:21)Games We’re Looking Forward To ( 58:00 )Efka Grumps A Game - Cartographers ( 59:22 )Elaine Ungrumps A Game …

For more info on the No Pun Included Podcast - please visit our homepage at https://nopunincluded.com/podcastTimestamps:NPI News ( 1:08 )Games We’ve Been Playing ( 02:48 ) The King is Dead ( 03:32 )Super Skill Pinball 4-Cade ( 08:26 )Calico ( 22:57 )Too Many Bones: Undertow ( 33:23 )Games We’re Looking Forward To ( 43:51 )Efka Grumps a Board Game (…

Wow, have we got an episode for you. Not only are we travelling in time (thematically, not literally)… not only are we discussing the Lithuanian word for ‘yuk’…not only are we escaping a rabbit hole…but we’re also having an argument. Actually, more than one. And Efka says the word ‘fart’ at some point too. What more could you want?NPI News ( 03:02 …

Today’s episode is a little different. We recorded this one live as part of Virtually Expo, the online only version of UK Games Expo. Since we had a very strict one hour time slot, we had to truncate our longer format and revert to our previous “here’s three games we played, let’s talk about them” version of the podcast.Ah, but what games were disc…

If someone had said to me I’d be able to visit a Tokyo fish market, a quaint English village green, New York, and Sherlock Holmes all in one day I’d have thought they were doing a silly. But you can - and from the comfort of your own living room - by listening to our latest podcast episode. And who knows, maybe in the future we’ll really be able to…

Today’s episode is a treat because Undaunted: North Africa is just about the cleverest game NPI has put their mits on in a very long time.NPI News ( 04:40 )Games We’ve Been Playing ( 06:43 ) - including Forgotten Waters, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, High Rise, Empyreal: Spells & Steam and Sprawlopolis.Games We’re Looking Forward To ( 36:41 )Efka G…

Welcome back! If you’ve been enjoying the No Pun Included podcast - get ready for something bigger, longer, better. Episode Ten is a big change and we hope you're ready to fall in love with it all over again.NPI News ( 11:16 )Games We’ve Been Playing ( 19:53 )Efka Grumps about a Game ( 42:10 )Escape Game of the Episode ( 50:39 )Feature Review - Teo…

In today’s episode Elaine and Efka discuss: The Crew - ( 02:53 )Isle of Cats - ( 21:23 )On Mars - ( 39:20 )Board games emulating video games - ( 1:00:35 )If you enjoyed the podcast and would like to leave a comment, visit our podcast home at https://nopunincluded.com/podcastעל ידי No Pun Included

In today’s episode Elaine and Efka discuss: The burgundiest castles from The Castles of Burgundy - ( 02:32 ) Get in tune with each other via Wavelength - ( 18:47 )And conduct a conversation on their favourite mode of transportation via Bus - ( 30:16 )על ידי No Pun Included