Cult of the Old

cultoftheolduk
  • 4.5 (8)
  • GAMES

Every episode of Cult of the Old your hosts Iain McAllister, Nate Owens, and Matt Thrower focus on a title from the history of tabletop games. They’ll look at the impact of the game at the time, their own critical impressions, the games ongoing influence on the modern hobby, and whether or not they would still recommend it!

  1. 06/23/2025

    Cult of the Old - Through the Ages

    Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old! Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape.  Dear listeners, it is once again time for us to part ways. As we come to the end of our third season, let us reflect on the games we have covered. From the family friendly Ticket to Ride, to the genre defining titles like El Grande and Dominion, and the brutal chance of Blood Bowl we have covered a wide range of genre, mechanism, and complexity. However, no game this season has the reputation for sheer scale and difficulty of our final title.  Not only did our last title this season establish its designer as a powerful voice, but it took a venerable genre and turned it inside out. The civilisation style of board games is almost as old as the hobby, and our final title took this genre, stripped out a lot of the fundamentals and made a game that took the world by storm. Join us for one last time this season as we go Through the Ages. Show Links Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mentions during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question. Games Mentioned Pandemic Mage Knight Codenames Francis Tresham Civilisation  Mega Civilisation  Prophecy Sid Meier’s Civilisation New Leaders Through the Ages App Can’t Stop - Playte Version Flip 7 FFG Civilisation Mare Nostrum Imperium Six Sojourns - Eight Minute Empire Carta Impera Victoria Civilisation: A New Dawn Innovation Ark Nova Other Mentions Matt Leacock Boardgame Arena Digital Antiquarian  Team Links Iain The Giant Brain Bluesky Matt BlueSky Nate Bluesky Instagram Support us on Patreon Email us at cultoftheolduk@gmail.com

    1h 7m

  2. 06/09/2025

    Cult of the Old - Blood Bowl

    Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old! Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape.  Nate: Well Iain we are almost at the end of the season Iain: That’s right Nate and the teams have all to play for N: Teams? I: Yes Nate, teams. In no other sport do we get to see the sheer physicality and natural brutality brought out in such a glorious manner N: This isn’t a sports podcast Iain, it’s a board game podcast I: Can’t it be both?  N: I guess it could. If we covered a board game from at least 10 years ago that happens to be focused on sport I: How about a fantasy sport?  N: Tell me more Iain I: Well Nate, let me tell you about a sport that is not only an allegory for the animosity between many fantasy races but also stands as one of the icons of the British gaming scene.  N: Is it from a famous British Publisher? I: You took the words right out of my mouth Nate N: Meat Loaf? I: No thanks I’ve eaten.  N: Enough of this, let’s get on with the show I: You’re right Nate, let’s tell these fine folks about Blood Bowl.  Show Links Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mention during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question. Games Mentioned Warhammer Epic 40k Warhammer 40k Necromunda Warhammer Quest Space Hulk    Monsters of the Midway Football Strategy Avalon Games Terror of the Lichemaster (warhammer campaign) Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game Mordheim Gorkamorka Dune Blitz Bowl Dreadball Blood Bowl: Team Manager Kaos Ball Other Mentions Games Workshop Ltd. Tabletop Simulator Mod we used  Beastie Boys - License to ill  American History X The Producers TSR Team Links Iain The Giant Brain Bluesky Matt Bluesky Nate Bluesky Instagram Support us on Patreon Email us at cultoftheolduk@gmail.com

    1h 15m

  3. 05/26/2025

    Cult of the Old - Power Grid

    Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old! Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape.  Sometimes you hear about games by reputation. The epic length of Twilight Imperium, the complexity of Vita Lacerda designs, the seemingly simple mechanisms behind the games of Reiner Knizia. These reputations can attract or repel in equal measure, and sometimes they are undeserved. The folklore around some games can be a hindrance to their uptake. However some folk tales are firmly based in reality.  The game we are covering tonight is one of those games that I knew by reputation alone. Dry, excruciating downtime, with very little in the way of redeeming features. Despite that description this is a game that has always been available, an evergreen in more ways than one. Now that I have played the game, what do I think? We will get to that. As to what my fellow hosts think, well they are in the ring and ready to fight over the classic that is Power Grid.  Show Links Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mention during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question. Games Mentioned Ticket to Ride - Episode Link  Imperial Railway Rivals McMulti Playboss Age of Steam City of Big Shoulders Chicago Express Bohnanza Puerto Rico - Episode Link Fearsome Floors Plum Island Horror Fish, Flip, and Frikadelen  504 Ark Nova  Seti Thebes Red November Patchwork Ra Modern Art - Episode Link Fishing Other Mentions Brettspielwelt The story of Power Grid - https://opinionatedgamers.com/2016/07/11/funkenschlag-at-fifteen-the-story-of-power-grid/ Team Links Websites you can find the cast on There Will Be Games Iain The Giant Brain Bluesky Matt Bluesky Nate Bluesky Instagram Support us on Patreon Email us at cultoftheolduk@gmail.com

    1h 8m

  4. 05/12/2025

    Cult of the Old - Memoir 44

    Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old! Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape.  A large part of the culture of the tabletop hobby is tied up with games emulating history. From HG Wells’ Little Wars to the early days of Avalon Hill and the modern expressions of the form in GMT Games, wargames are undoubtedly a large part of tabletop gaming’s history and present. We have covered one of the icons of this genre with Twilight Struggle in Season 1, a game that sat atop the BGG rankings for many years. Our next game this season has never had such an accolade, but has still been a massive presence over the years. Taking the more complicated wargames that were available at the time and distilling them into a fast card driven experience, it crossed the aisle into more  mainstream hobby gaming. Soon it was on gamers shelves everywhere and spawned numerous, and we do mean numerous, expansions, campaign books and more. Pull up a chair and reminisce with us as we look back at Memoir 44.  Show Links Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mentions during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question. Games Mentioned Twilight Struggle  Ticket to Ride Battlecry Commands & Colours Ancients Commands & Colours Napoleonic  Commands & Colours series  We the People Combat Commander Heroscape Star Wars Queen’s Gambit Battlelore Netrunner Samurai Battles Other Mentions Vassal  Richard Borg Interview Team Links Websites you can find the cast on There Will Be Games Iain The Giant Brain Bluesky Matt Bluesky Nate Bluesky Instagram Support us on Patreon Email us at cultoftheolduk@gmail.com

    1h 6m

  5. 04/28/2025

    Cult of the Old - El Grande

    Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old! Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape.  Over the last two and half seasons of Cult of the Old we have covered some absolute classics. From the brutal farming of Agricola that kicked off our very first season to Catan that began our second we have looked at games venerable and revered, and some that are just past their prime Some of those games still hold their place in the hobby, but many have been surpassed as designers take the original ideas and improve on them ten fold.  This is not the case for the game we are covering tonight.  Hitting the scene in 1995, the same year as Catan, our next title quickly became a watch word for area control. Though many games have followed in this Grand Dames footsteps, none have managed the combination of simple mechanisms, devilish decisions, and twists of fate that this title nailed. Pick up your caballeros and send them into the depths of the Castillo as we explore El Grande.  Show Links Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mentions during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question. Games Mentioned Catan - Episode Link Civilisation Risk Go 6 Nimmt Heimlich & Co Torres Tikal Heroquest Villa paletti  San Marco Mission Red Planet  Race for the Galaxy Dominion - Episode Link Arcs Root Chaos in the Old World Kemet Wallenstein Shogun Other Mentions Rio Grande Games Z-Man Games Team Links Iain The Giant Brain Bluesky Matt Bluesky Nate Bluesky Instagram Support us on Patreon Email us at cultoftheolduk@gmail.com

    59 min

  6. 04/14/2025

    Cult of the Old - Scrabble

    Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old! Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape.  The three of us on this cast are purveyors of words. We use them to communicate our thoughts on games in the written or audio form. In doing so we hope to convey the emotions, feeling, and mechanisms behind games we love and loathe.  Words have a long history of association with games. From Victorian parlour games to modern expressions of the form in games like Codenames and Paperback Adventures. Of course here on Cult of the Old we are not interested in the modern expressions so much as the origins of word games.  We aren’t going to go back as far as the Victorians this episode. We are instead going to go back to the early 20th century. Then a game that was originally called Criss-Cross words was brought to a wider audience. It is then when it took on its modern name which you will already be familiar with. Scrabble.  Show Links Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mentions during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question. Games Mentioned Codenames Paperback Adventures Kriegspiel Monopoly - Episode Link Tigris & Euphrates - Episode Link Anagrams Go So Clover Upwords Boggle Acquire Letter Jam Other Mentions Words with Friends Rosemary’s Baby Sneakers Team Links Iain The Giant Brain Bluesky Matt Bluesky Nate Bluesky Instagram Support us on Patreon Email us at cultoftheolduk@gmail.com

    56 min

  7. 03/31/2025

    Cult of the Old - Dixit

    Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old! Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape.  Games come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. As consumers and critics of the form we try and categorise, quantify, and contemplate the flaws and virtues of these forms. We have tackled many games over the first two seasons of Cult of The Old from the heavier economic stylings of Brass, the negotiation heavy stylings of Cosmic Encounter, and the gentle , if grim, farming of Agricola. One category we haven’t touched on so far is that of the party game. These games tend to take a large number of players and lie at the lighter end of the mechanical spectrum. Although not the originator of this style of game, the title we are covering today is arguably one of the most influential. Coming in a blockbuster year of titles it was the lightest of that crop to make a mark, and it didn’t really take off properly until a couple of years later. A game that allows the players to express themselves through art, interpretation and surreal imagery. Welcome to the dream world of Dixit.  Show Links Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mention during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question. Games Mentioned Stella on BGA Apples to Apples Cards Against Humanity  Balderdash Charades Monopoly - Episode Link Telestrations Time’s Up Fictionary Mysterium Dixit Journey Dixit Odyssey  Once Upon A Time Old Hellfire Club Scrawl Medium The Chameleon  Spyfall Pictionary Codenames So Clover Decrypto Concept Other Mentions Dixit online - Tixid  Blankety Blank Catchphrase Call my Bluff Team Links Websites you can find the cast on There Will Be Games Iain The Giant Brain Bluesky Matt Twitter Nate Bluesky Instagram Support us on Patreon Email us at cultoftheolduk@gmail.com

    1 hr

  8. 03/17/2025

    Cult of the Old - Dominion

    Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old! Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape.  Many of the games we have covered over 3 seasons have an important place in the hobby landscape. From Catan at the birth of the modern board game renaissance, to the success of Monopoly, and the influence of Agricola we have covered many big titles.  The game we are covering this episode has one of the farthest reaching impacts of anything we have covered so far. Coming out in 2008 this box of cards took the hobby world by storm, spawning numerous expansions and countless imitators. The mechanism it spawned is still everywhere in the hobby, and continues to be innovated upon. Let’s get shuffling and dealing as we dive into the phenomenon that was, and is, Dominion. Show Links Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mentions during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question. Games Mentioned Magic: The gathering St. Petersburg Netrunner - Episode Link Pandemic - Episode Link  Ascension  Star Realms Arctic Scavengers Thunderstone Tanto Cuore  Shards of Infinity Race for the Galaxy  Star Wars Unlimited Arkham Horror LCG Puzzle Strike Undaunted Series Dune: Imperium Automobiles Tyrants of the Underdark Gloomhaven Arkham Horror: The Card Game Clank  Battlestar Galactica Cosmic Encounter  Dixit Star Wars: Deckbuilding Game Millennium Blades Ruthless Quacks of Quedlinburg  Other Mentions Diana Jones Award Gathering of Friends Fortress Ameritrash    Team Links Iain The Giant Brain Bluesky Matt Bluesky Nate Bluesky Instagram Support us on Patreon Email us at cultoftheolduk@gmail.com

    1h 11m
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4.5
out of 5
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About

Every episode of Cult of the Old your hosts Iain McAllister, Nate Owens, and Matt Thrower focus on a title from the history of tabletop games. They’ll look at the impact of the game at the time, their own critical impressions, the games ongoing influence on the modern hobby, and whether or not they would still recommend it!

Information

  • Creator
    cultoftheolduk
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    30
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © cultoftheolduk
  • Show Website
    Cult of the Old