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 scene. 

We’ve also got reviews for Spiel des Jahres winner Dorfromantik: The Board game that’s all about a chill time laying tiles, Ancient Realms - a little game that fits in your pocket from the designer of Sprawlopolis and Aeon’s End: Legacy of Gravehold - big legacy campaign deckbuilder that’s more ambitious than it is impressive.

If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded

On to the timestamps:

5:16 Audience Correspondence: Obsession

13:59 Ancient Realm

28:02 Dorfromantik: The Board Game

39:53 Audience Correspondence: NPI Directed by

43:43 Sustainable Board Games with Andrew Navaro (Interview)

1:15:09 Aeon's End: Legacy of Gravehold

1:40:46 Audience Correspondence: Rulebook Assessment

Sustainable Games with Andrew Navaro, Dorfromantik, Ancient Realm, Aeon's End: Legacy of Gravehold

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 to partake in some famine, pestilence, war, etc. you might want to give Empire’s End a spin. And if that wasn’t cozy enough, how about some real time horse gambling? Honestly, all that cozyness put my brain in a twist. Thankfully, we’re also covering Mind Space.

If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded

On to the timestamps:

1:16 Audience Correspondence - Singapore 1819

3:33 Empire's End

13:17 Audience Recommendations

14:49 Ready Set Bet

26:06 Rob Daviau Talks Legacy Games

45:00 Mind Space

56:40 Audience Correspondence - All Time Favourites

Rob Daviau Talks Legacy, Empire's End, Ready Set Bet, Mind Space

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 grumpy cast of some grumpy cardboard talk.

If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded

On to the timestamps:

2:08 Audience Correspondence - Contentification (for the last time)

8:16 Sail

32:23 Thank you to Mark from So Very Wrong About Games https://www.sowronggames.com/

37:46 Trolls and Princesses

55:45 Evacuation

Sail, Trolls and Princesses, Evacuation

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.

Plus we’ll talk about Dune: Imperium - Uprising, Efka’s game of the year and share some of Elaine’s impressions of it. Finally, we saved something a little special for the end of the episode, but you’ll have to listen to find out what that is.

Thanks for sticking with us for a whole year! Here’s to another one.

If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded

On to the timestamps:

3:35 The Ones that Got Away

20:47 Dune: Imperium - Uprising

44:09 Most Anticipated 2023 Revisited

54:15 Most Anticipated 2024

Dune: Imperium - Uprising, Most Anticipated 2024

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 they good? So good those board games. Are they good? It depends on which one it is. And thus enters the board game reviews. They’re here. Enjoy it.

If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded

On to the timestamps:

00:00 Cold Open

1:27 Intro

2:30 Audience Correspondence: Green Appreciation

6:08 Dune: War for Arrakis

38:26 Daybreak

59:07 Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West

Dune: War for Arrakis, Daybreak, Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West

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 more thematically demure incarnation, we explore how Raising Robots riffs on Wingspan and Efka finally gets to play the expansion to his favourite game of all time - Sidereal Confluence. Let me tell you folks - it’s been bifurcated.

If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded

0:00 Cold Open

2:48 Intro

3:43 Age of Innovation: A Terra Mystica Game

33:22 Raising Robots

53:23 Sidereal Confluence: Bifurcation

Age of Innovation, Raising Robots, Sidereal Confluence: Bifurcation

“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 good games vibes only. Enjoy!

If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded

0:00 Cold Open

2:00 Intro

3:17 Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze

22:08 Witchcraft!

38:41 Revive

Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze, Witchcraft!, Revive

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 previous episodes, and thus thematically represents the games themselves. It’s nice when things like that line up perfectly. Please enjoy our chatter on 7th Citadel (sequel to 7th Continent) and Wyrmspan (sequel to Wingspan).

If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded

0:00 Cold Open

0:38 Intro

2:44 7th Citadel

34:15 Wyrmspan

7th Citadel, Wyrmspan

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. On today’s episode - two board games. Arcs and Salton Sea. A remix of space board games and a trudge through the bleak world of mining lithium. Each a representative of both polar opposites of first impressions.

Articles and websites discussed in the episode can be found here:

Vote for your favourite podcast in the BGG Awards: https://boardgamegeek.com/geekawards/boardgame

From Wingspan to Wyrmspan: An Accesibility Journey - https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/157687/from-wingspan-to-wyrmspan-an-accessibility-journey

Rolling with Two: Wyrmspan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifMREbPv1Zk

Colorbling Games - https://colorblindgames.com/

If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Cold Open

1:46 Intro

2:49 Flavor Text

9:13 Salton Sea

41:46 Weight vs Subject

45:02 Arcs

1:15:03 Outro

Salton Sea, Arcs

Dear listeners, it’s never been clearer to us that board games have entered into a new era - the era of the size race. Each month publishers are competing to release a bigger campaign game than the one before and in terms of scope, Agemonia is definitely in the running for the lead. In terms of box size it’s no slouch either, looking eerily similar to that 32 pound Frosthaven box. To provide some contrast and levity, the second game on this episode is Terra Nova, a sleeker, slimmer, smaller and shorter version of its big sibling - Terra Mystica.

If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded

On to the timestamps:

0:00 Cold Open

1:46 Agemonia

41:34 Agemonia content warning start

45:49 Agemonia content warning end

48:22 Audience Correspondence - Salton Sea

55:52 Terra Nova

Sustainable Games with Andrew Navaro, Dorfromantik, Ancient Realm, Aeon's End: Legacy of Gravehold

Talk Cardboard

Related tracks