Four Corners Of The Board Podcast

Dean and Graeme are working on recording our Top 100 Games of all time and I noticed that neither of us had no Abstract Strategy games (or almost none) on our lists. So we decided to have a closer look at this mechanism and find out why. Then we give our Top 5 Abstract Strategy Games.

This week Dean and Graeme have a look at gimmicks in games. What do we mean by gimmicks? What are some examples of gimmicks? Are minis in games just gimmicks? We then do our Top 5 Games with Gimmicks

This week Dean and Graeme look at learning. Since our kids have gone back to virtual school, we wanted to look at games that can teach you something. Do these types of games attract us? Or have we done our time in school and want to distance ourselves from learning? We then do our Top 5 Games That Can Teach You Something

This week Dean and Graeme have a look at multiplayer games that we like at 2 players. Since many of us are looking for things to do while social distancing we wanted to look at our collections to see what games we prefer at 2 players. We then end off with our Top 5 Multiplayer Games we like best at 2 Players

This week is a little different, Graeme is asking Dean about solo games. Is there a difference between a solo mode and a solo only game? Are there different kinds of solo modes? Which does Dean prefer? We then do a Top 5 - Dean is recommending 5 Solo Games for Graeme to try, and Graeme picked 5 games he has not played but sounded interesting. Any cross over? Listen to find out!

This week Dean and Graeme have a look at 2nd editions on kickstarter. What defines a 2nd edition? How long should there be between 1st and 2nd? How do we feel when we get the 1st edition then see soon after there is a 2nd edition? We then do our Top 5 2nd Editions we want to get.

This week Dean and Graeme look at games we feel are underappreciated. Do we go out of our way looking for those hidden gems? Does the increasing cost of games reduce our willingness to take a chance on a game? We then do our Top 5 Games Only We Seem To Like

This week Dean and Graeme have a look back at 2015. Was it as good as everybody seems to say? Is it just rose coloured glasses? We then do our Top 5 2015 Games OUTSIDE the top 1000

This week Dean and Graeme look at overhyped games. These are games that people were hyped about after the games were released and were so eager to get, but when we tried them they fell flat. Why? How do we feel when a game is hyped by gamers after it has been released? Then our Top 5 Games that were hyped up after release but we did not enjoy.

It's the start of the new year so Dean and Graeme have a look back at the last decade (2010-2019). For each year we will have a look at the number of games published, how many are in the top 100/1000, the #1 game from that year, then finally our pick from the year.  

So it's that time of year when we get some really big sales on everything, and with Dean and Graeme being pretty cheap we discuss games on sale. Does it mean they are bad games? We play a bad game that is cheap, does it still sting? Top 5 Games We'd Only Buy on Sale

Dean and Graeme look at our own cynicism as it relates to board gaming. Are we becoming more cynical and hard on games released now? Was it always better in the old days? Are we still excited to crack open a new game? We then do our Top 5 Games that we have liked it we played them years ago.

This week Dean and Graeme discuss teaching games. Which one of the hosts likes to teach and which one doesn't? Is there a reason one of them usually ends up teaching games? We then do our Top 5 Games We Like Teaching!

This week Dean and Graeme have a looking at diving deep into games. What do we mean? We are looking at games we feel have a lot of depth to them that we have not explored. Do deep games have to be complex? What about abstract strategy games? We then do our Top 5 Games we want to further explore!

This week Dean and Graeme have a look at randomness in games. Are there different types of randomness? Do we prefer one type over another? Is it necessary to be able to mitigate all randomness? Will Graeme embrace his inner love for randomness? We then have a look at our Top 5 Games with Randomness

In our (now) yearly tradition of looking at the games from the Essen Game fair in Germany, we first look back at our picks from last year. How many have we played? How many of them are actually any good? We then give our top 10 Games we are looking forward to from Essen 2019.

Warning - Dean's side of the recording has some technical issues. But in this episode we talk about narrative in games - not story telling games, or the theme, but games that tell a story. What types of games do this best? Are there some games we play strictly for the story? We then do our Top 5 Games with Narrative

This week Dean and Graeme take a look at dexterity games. Are these games we week out? What are the different types of dexterity games? What about action games or speed games? We then do our Top 5 Dexterity Games.

Due to the Labour Day long weekend and technical issues this is going up a day late. This week Dean and Graeme have a look at games for new comers to the hobby. We first discuss what we've done to introduce people to hobby board games, and what mechanisms we think work. We then do out Top 10 Games that are NOT New Gamer Friendly and why.

In this episode, Dean and Graeme look at good games that we won't play again. What does that mean? Is it the same as highly ranked games we don't like? Why would we not want to play a good game again? Find out, then hear our Top 5 Good Games We Won't Play Again!