A Nerdstorian's Guide to Modern Board Games

Jaina Em

Welcome to A Nerdstorian's Guide to Modern Board Games! I'm your host, Jaina, and each episode I'll start with an idea from modern board gaming, then we'll hop in the time machine and trace the idea's history as far back as we can go, moving up through time until we're back in the modern era. This is a biweekly podcast with short and sweet episodes, perfect for your daily commute or after dinner dishes! I can't wait for you to join me as we learn about how we got to this amazing era of tabletop gaming! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

  1. 10/28/2023

    4 - Deckbuilding Games Part I

    For our next topic, we're diving into the history behind one of the most popular mechanisms around: deckbuilding! Deckbuilding games have introduced many people to the modern hobby, which makes sense given how approachable they are, and how intuitive they become once you have the basics down. That's a pretty impressive feat given that the deckbuilding mechanism hasn't even been around for 20 years yet! Or has it...??? Listen in to find out! Timestamps (1:03) Deckbuilding definition (2:22) Deck construction definition (3:14) Defining CCGs/TCGs and LCGs (7:05) StarCraft: The Board Game (8:29) Slapshot (9:13) Scarab Lords (12:26) Seasons: The Calendar Rummy Game Sources Deck Building/Deck Construction: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2848663/deck-building-vs-deck-construction TCGs/CCGs: https://www.dragonshield.com/gaming-inspiration/what-are-trading-card-games/ LCGs: https://www.gameology.com.au/blogs/news/something-new-a-brief-introduction-to-living-card-games#:~:text=LCGs%20operate%20as%20normal%20Trading,packs%20of%20the%20same%20release Magic the Gathering: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/463/magic-gathering Disney's Lorcana: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/369646/disney-lorcana Dominion: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36218/dominion StarCraft: The Board Game: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/22827/starcraft-board-game Simone T's blog, "Dominion invented the deckbuilding genre": https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/67119/dominion-invented-deck-building-genre Slapshot: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1705/slapshot Scarab Lords: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4488/scarab-lords Challengers!: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/359970/challengers Seasons: The Calendar Rummy Game: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9971/seasons-calendar-rummy-game Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  2. 10/06/2023

    Roll and Write Games Part III

    Welcome back for the final episode on the history of roll and writes! We'll start out the episode with a brief tour through the rather sparse history of flip and write games, then take a look at where Jaina thinks the genre is going, and wrap it all up with Jaina's recommendations for some FREE print and play roll and write games! So sit back, relax, and hold on to your petticoats! Timestamps: (1:42) - Letter-Bags (4:15) - Word Squares (5:47) - Sark (6:19) - Make 5 (6:48) - Qwixx Card Game (7:08) - Qwinto Card Game (7:15) - Kokoro: Avenue of the Kodama (9:00) - Let's Make a Bus Route (9:19) - Modern Innovations and Where the Genre is Going (9:38) - Sonora (10:39) - Stellar Drift: Pull and Write (11:24) - Takenokolor (12:36) - Roll and Write Versions of Existing Games (13:38) - Twilight Inscription (14:16) - Increasing Complexity (15:29) - The Fox Experiment (16:26) - Creative Themes (17:30) - Rolling Realms (18:31) - French Quarter (19:12) - Luddite (20:15) - Where are Roll and Writes Going? (21:21) - Long Shot The Dice Game (21:41) - Sea Beasts (22:25) - Free Print and Plays (24:33) - 30 Rails (26:15) - Corinth (27:52) - Woodcraft Roll and Write (30:01) - Rolling Village! (30:58) - Bargain Basement Bathysphere (32:05) - The Simple Life (33:23) - The Blob That Ate the City (34:47) - Paleontologists (35:01) - Polyhedral Park Planner (35:57) - Dungeon Pages Links and Sources (separate from BGG game pages) Letter-Bags Photos: https://www.gamesboard.org.uk/cgi-pub/gardpub.cgi?table=examples&pk=13305&command=view Corinth (Google Drive link for PnP files): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1juhTYboh6Qoh3ENwl07tYrY_lu1gKG5g?fbclid=IwAR36962vNEY4f4MJRplHSjnxL-l_HxCQrkaL2gyPgRFd0VWUDxxIRu6i-zM Dungeon Pages on PnP Arcade: https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/dungeon-pages Credits Intro and Outro Music: Comedy Detective by Onoychenko Music via Pixabay Time machine sound effect: Sci Fi Disappearance by Pixabay Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  3. 09/22/2023

    Roll and Write Games Part II

    Welcome to the second part of the roll and write series, where we'll be exploring some stand-out games that led us to the current explosion of the genre. Do you know which game is widely attributed with starting that modern explosion? Listen in to find out! Credits Intro and Outro Music: Comedy Detective by Onoychenko Music via Pixabay Time Stamps (1:03) - Can't Stop Express (1:09) - Criss-Cross (2:47) - Farkle and Dix Mille (3:37) - The Roll and Write Word Game (4:24) - Ghoulash (5:02) - Reiner Knizia's Decathlon (5:50) - Catan Dice Game (6:14) - Wurfel Bingo (6:35) - Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age (7:56) - Agricola Express (8:37) - Saint Malo (9:15) - Qwixx (10:36) - That's Pretty Clever (11:57) - Railroad Ink (12:13) - Fleet The Dice Game (12:33) - Welcome To... Get in Touch Jaina - gamenerdstorian@gmail.com Sources (in order of appearance/use in episode) https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/217547/cant-stop-express https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/322832/criss-cross/images https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/220988/criss-cross https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2104152/variant-criss-cross-1992-also-knizia https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/10973/dice-games-properly-explained https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3181/farkle https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25149/roll-write-word-game https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2402/ghoulash https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6955/reiner-knizias-decathlon https://knizia.de/wp-content/uploads/reiner/pdfs/Knizia-Website-Decathlon.pdf https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/27710/catan-dice-game https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/29355/wurfel-bingo https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37380/roll-through-ages-bronze-age https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/45020/agricola-express https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/117960/saint-malo https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/131260/qwixx https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/244522/s-pretty-clever https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/245654/railroad-ink-deep-blue-edition https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/245961/fleet-dice-game https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/233867/welcome Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  4. 09/08/2023

    A History of Roll and Write Games

    For this inaugural episode, your host Jaina brings you back in time to learn about the history of dice, and how we got from flipping sticks as dice to the first modern roll and write games. Listen in for a short and sweet tour through time from around 2500 BCE through to the 1970s, and make sure to tune in on September 22 to continue the journey through to some of today's most popular games! Credits Intro and Outro Music: Comedy Detective by Onoychenko Music via Pixabay Time machine sound effect: Sci Fi Disappearance by Pixabay Sources (in order of appearance/use in episode) Board Game Geek (Roll and Write: Mechanisms, accessed on July 30, 2023): https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/41222/mechanism-roll-and-write/linkeditems/boardgamefamily?pageid=35&sort=yearpublished Parlett's History of Board Games (The Updated Edition of The Oxford History of Board Games) by David Parlett (history of dice, pgs. 21-28) The Complete Book of Games by Clement Wood and Gloria Goddard via Wikipedia (Yacht description and rules, accessed September 2, 2023): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yacht_(dice_game) Luck (1943 box of games via Board Game Geek, accessed on September 2, 2023): https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40249/luck Guffy (1952 game via Board Game Geek, accessed on September 2, 2023): https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/283757/guffy Thread on Guffy copyright and trademark infringement and personal correspondence (via Board Game Geek, accessed on September 2, 2023): https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/608254/game-called-guffy-yahtzee-copyrighted-1952 The Yahtzee Manifesto (history and development of Yahtzee, accessed on September 2, 2023): https://www.yahtzeemanifesto.com/History/yahtzee-history.php#ancient Spare Time Bowling (1940 game via Board Game Geek, accessed on September 2, 2023): https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4165/spare-time-bowling 6 Steps (1965 game via Board Game Geek, accessed on September 2, 2023): https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/35564/6-steps The Great Races (1974 game via Board Game Geek, accessed on September 2, 2023): https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/43144/great-races Can't Stop (1980 game via Board Game Geek, accessed on September 2, 2023): https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/41/cant-stop Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  5. Trailer

    A Nerdstorian's Guide to Modern Board Games

    Welcome to A Nerdstorian's Guide to Modern Board Games! I'm your host, Jaina, and I'll be taking you on time travel adventures, looking at the history of modern board game mechanisms to figure out how we got to where we are now. If you love pulling out random facts at inopportune moments to dazzle your friends, then this is the podcast for you! Music: Comedy Detective by Onoychenkomusic via Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/music/bloopers-comedy-detective-127185/) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • 1 Trailer
    4 Episodes

Trailer

About

Welcome to A Nerdstorian's Guide to Modern Board Games! I'm your host, Jaina, and each episode I'll start with an idea from modern board gaming, then we'll hop in the time machine and trace the idea's history as far back as we can go, moving up through time until we're back in the modern era. This is a biweekly podcast with short and sweet episodes, perfect for your daily commute or after dinner dishes! I can't wait for you to join me as we learn about how we got to this amazing era of tabletop gaming! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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