The Ascent of Board Games

Episode 66,2 - Party Games, Part 2

Happy post-Halloween! Now that everyone's hopped up on sugar (and/or in a sugar crash coma), let's finish our discussion of party games! Come along as we discuss:
Mike's greatest weakness - a limited knowledge of Campbell's Soup varieties!
What game company was founded because of a flooded salmon boat?
"They're Belgian, but that's French enough." (We're sorry.)
A mercifully brief digression into Marcel Proust's 7-volume À la recherche du temps perdu.
And a few video/picture links we mention along the way:
A well-shot, well-edited game of Skull: https://www.youtu be.com/watch?v=rK2locyo-Pc
A look at the Concept board: https://boardgamegeek.com/image/2432884/concept
Polygon plays Wavelength: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS-XT-5R26Q
As always, thank you for listening. We return you now to our monthly begging for an iTunes review. We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofboardgames on Bluesky. Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there, and happy gaming!
Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com
Email: ascentofboardgames@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ascentofboardgames.bsky.social
Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/
And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames
Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved.
Thank you for listening!

Episode 66 - Party Games, Part 1

Hi folks! We're back this month to talk about party games, though the last week or so hasn't been as much fun as we'd like. Between scheduling issues and hurricane-induced power outages, this episode was a bit rushed; as a result, it's ended up a bit on the short side, so we hope you'll forgive us. Also, instead of begging for an iTunes review this month, we'd like to ask that you donate what you can to the American Red Cross or another reputable charity providing relief to those battered by Hurricane Helene. All of us are doing fine, but there are a lot of people out there that need help.
Meanwhile, in brighter news:
Did Burt Reynolds invent Pictionary? Well, kind of...
The very worst game component to have in your airline luggage
Why were so many classic games published by a chemical manufacturer, or a game company owned by a cereal company?
QOTD: "There are probably some rules" - Michael Hanft, September 2024
As always, thank you for listening. We'd love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofboardgames on Bluesky. Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there, and happy gaming!
Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com
Email: ascentofboardgames@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ascentofboardgames.bsky.social
Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/
And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames
Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved.
Thank you for listening!

Episode 65 - 2-Player Fighting and War Games

Remember way back in Episode 33, when we talked about two-player games but excluded fighting and war games because there were too many? Now is when we finally talk about the fighty ones! Join us as:
Brian's tongue stops working.
We talk about chess - good chess channels on YouTube, weird chess games on forums, and absolutely bonkers chess games on the computer.
We look back at an early first-person shooter - in book form.
We haggle about the intricacies of the Avalon Hill game complexity scale.
And we generally correct each other, talk smack, and otherwise have fun.
As always, thank you for listening. If you have the time to give us an iTunes review, please do - it really helps us grow!
We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofboardgames on Bluesky. Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there, and happy gaming!
Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com
Email: ascentofboardgames@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ascentofboardgames.bsky.social
Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/
And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames
Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved.
Thank you for listening!

Episode 64 - Deep Dive: Vlaada Chvátil

It's time for another deep dive - this time into the collected works of Czech game guru Vlaada Chvátil (whose name we hope we pronounced mostly right most of the time, but no promises). Join us as:
We examine some of the...questionable design choices of Vlaada's first board game.
We talk about the metallic composition of these famously flimsy early miniatures.
We learn that Frank likes Talisman, and Mike dislikes that.
Brian gratuitously quotes Walt Whitman.
We talk about excellent digital versions of two of Vlaada's early classics.
We fail to adequately convey the sheer madness of Bunny Bunny Moose Moose.
And we mention the very clever twist that makes Codenames: Duet stand out.
As always, thank you for listening. If you have the time to give us an iTunes review, please do - it really helps us grow!
We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofboardgames on Bluesky. Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there, and happy gaming!
Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com
Email: ascentofboardgames@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ascentofboardgames.bsky.social
Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/
And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames
Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved.
Thank you for listening!

Episode 63 - Turn Order

Hello all! We have a lot of games to get through this month, so everybody please take your turn promptly. But how do we know whose turn it is? Listen and find out!
Mike happily admits that he would rather watch crappy anime than good movies and TV.
Brian explains the original rules to History of the World about four times, and eventually gets them right.
Frank has many game designer shrines in his house.
We do our research live on the air, making corrections as we go!
As always, thank you for listening. Not to rush you, but it is your turn to give us an iTunes review, so please do so!
We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofboardgames on Bluesky. Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there, and happy gaming!
Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com
Email: ascentofboardgames@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ascentofboardgames.bsky.social
Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/
And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames
Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved.
Thank you for listening!

Episode 62.2 - Kingdom Death: Monster Deep Dive, Part 2

Welcome back! This month, we're concluding our deep dive into  Kingdom Death: Monster. This episode focuses more on who should consider KD:M (and who shouldn't), the logistics of getting it to the table, and what impacts it's had on the board game industry.
Start playing KD:M so you can look forward to building things like this!
If you prefer miniatures like this, maybe consider Gatefall instead.
Frank tells Joe that he's wrong about his own opinion.
And we argue about glue.
What do you think about the deep dive format - does it work for you, or do you prefer the old style of talking about a bunch of different games in each episode? If you enjoy the deep dives, what game would you like us to dive into next?
As always, thank you for listening! If you have a few extra minutes, we'd love it if you could give us an iTunes review to help us find new listeners.
We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofboardgames on Bluesky. Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there, and happy gaming!
Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com
Email: ascentofboardgames@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ascentofboardgames.bsky.social
Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/
And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames
Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved.
Thank you for listening!

Episode 62 - Kingdom Death: Monster Deep Dive, part 1

Buckle in - we decided to try something a little different this month (and next month, because as usual we can't shut up once we get started). We're doing a deep dive on a single game, and we're starting with the legendary Kingdom Death: Monster.
If you're interested in the game, you can look forward to two episodes full of discussion and commentary! If not...well, it's a great time to catch up on some older episodes, amirite?
Either way, please let us know what you think - do you want to hear more of these deep dives or not? If so, what games would you like us to dive into next?
For a close (and potentially disturbing and/or sexy) look at the KD:M miniatures, check out KDM Collector.
You can even see a model based on game creator Adam Poots!
As always, thank you for listening! If you have a few extra minutes, we'd love it if you could give us an iTunes review to help us find new listeners.
We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofboardgames on Bluesky. Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there, and happy gaming!
Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com
Email: ascentofboardgames@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ascentofboardgames.bsky.social
Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/
And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames
Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved.
Thank you for listening!

Episode 61 - Non-Verbal Communication Games

Let's talk about not talking! This month, we discuss games in which you have to use things other than words to communicate with your teammates. Highlights include:
Charades may be older than we thought, but maybe not as old as BGG says it is.
Frank's favorite part of Inkognito
We delve into the historical era of...2009?...as Frank breaks the rules again to bring us a game that is literally bonkers.
Mike serves his new AI overlords by promoting their game.
Bad news - Joe has been murdered! Good news - he pronounces a Polish game name almost perfectly!
Is comparing single-digit numbers really math?
As always, thank you for listening! If you have a few extra minutes, we'd love it if you could give us an iTunes review to help us find new listeners.
We'd also love to have you visit our website and let us know what kinds of games we should discuss next. You're also more than welcome to comment on the episode page, or our Facebook page, or tag @ascentofboardgames on Bluesky. Whatever way you prefer to share your opinions with us, we'd love to hear them.  As always, we appreciate your listening - stay safe out there, and happy gaming!
Website: https://www.ascentofboardgames.com
Email: ascentofboardgames@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascentboardgames/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ascentofboardgames.bsky.social
Discord: http://discord.ascentofboardgames.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentofboardgames/
And, occasionally, Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ascentofboardgames
Intro and outro music is "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under a Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
The Ascent of Board Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Some rights reserved.
Thank you for listening!