Top Four 6: Board Games
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okay dogs in silent mode dog is silenced
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well I should say stealth mode okay
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let's uh let's do this thing
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you know today's topic I picked board
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games no we love playing board games yet
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we are both big fans and we have played
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many of the geeky board games that have
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mostly originated from Germany at least
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at least a while ago and we always try
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to get people to play board games with
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us but sometimes you never know what
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kind of crowd you're with if they want
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to play board games or not so we know
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not to ask Merlin yes there's certain
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people you know not to ask not like
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Merlin's been over our house at all ever
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Oh million times you know how much you
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love to travel unnecessarily yeah anyway
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so yeah I have a short list I bet you
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have nothing prepared because there's
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nothing in your lap right now I'm
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looking at you and you are devoid of any
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kind of information I have a list oh you
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picked up your iPhone my god I do have a
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list it is not though strictly ordered
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and it is only six things long oh that's
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pretty short I have a lot yeah cuz I
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went into the game closet and just wrote
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down all the games oh that's a good move
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I should have done that do you want my
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shortlist first so maybe you can add
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some things yeah let's try that okay TIF
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we have Settlers of Catan we have Puerto
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Rico Scrabble Agricola power grid power
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grid factory manager Mille Bornes corkle
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blackest Ticket to Ride balderdash the
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construction game pictionary monopoly
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clue and Bananagrams okay those are the
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games I have on okay my short list in no
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particular order my order was meant to
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deceive I believe everything on my list
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is on your list that's no surprise we
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play games together so yeah so I want so
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first of all let me disclaim upfront
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there are certain games like Settlers of
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Catan or Agricola Agricola there are
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certain games like this where we are
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probably not pronouncing the names
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Agricola that sounds pretty good I
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thought it was Agricole of it I don't
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know Agricola I don't know it's like
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well it's agriculture agriculture I
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so it sounds like Agricola yeah kula
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however you pronounce that there's
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somebody screaming while listening to
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this right now that they know the
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correct the right answer and we are
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butchering it and they were just
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screaming do you think we should never
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had a chatroom show maybe maybe if the
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listeners demanded enough there because
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they're demanding all ten yeah they were
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really ten people in there it would be
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it would be not a lot of people
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so especially because we record so
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erratically whenever we can yeah we
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would give people like thirty seconds
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notice oh we're recording right now
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alright so do you want to talk about
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maybe some of the games in your list
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that didn't make your top four before we
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go into the top four um well I have a
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really big list so a lot of the games
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didn't make it and I'm pretty sure
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probably some of them didn't make it for
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the same reason that yours didn't make
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it because I know you don't like games
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with a lot of chance correct and that
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drives you crazy when there's too much
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chance and you feel like that nothing
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you do will help you win or lose so you
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want to feel in control of your gameplay
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and the possibility of winning if every
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game has a small amount of chance but
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you're more happy with games with the
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least amount of chance right in fact so
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I mean I could I because I haven't even
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picked my number my number one yet I'll
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talk about the first one I put on my
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list which is Puerto Rico it's the very
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first one I thought of we haven't played
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that one in so long I have it I don't
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have it on my top 4 list because we
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haven't played it in so long I don't
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know and I feel like now that I know
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spoiler if you buy your own boat you win
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every time well not not every time I
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approach win every time when I when you
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get to buy your own boat I think well so
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I've played a lot more than you except
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played on the iPad and I've played it
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more recently just because of that I pad
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ones boring oh I like it anyway so and
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one thing that very few of these like
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awesome board games actually have good
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iPad or computer versions and so it's a
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pretty rare luxury when you find one and
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Puerto Rico and Agricola Agricola
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however it is they both have good iPad
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versions neither of them are great but
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both are good enough that if you enjoy
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the game you will enjoy the iPad
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versions anyway so I like Puerto Rico
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because is what you just said that that
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it doesn't have almost any luck like the
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only random element in the game
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is you know who you choose to go first
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and and then the order in which the the
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tiles come up for the the plantation
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choice like when you get those tiles are
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random that as far as I can't remember
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that's the only random element in the
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game and so almost everything you do is
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you know you have made this decision it
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will affect you like it is yours to win
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or lose and besides that it is it you're
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about to buy or not exactly it is you're
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about to buy or not or you can buy all
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the boats and blocked if out of them but
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everyone knows I'm going to be buying
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the boat get out of my way what is it
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the wharf is the item that's it's one of
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like the nine or the eight yeah
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something like that but I always just go
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for the boat and then there's one other
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one too that if you get with the boat
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the harbor I believe is so there's like
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it's the one where you get one bonus
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victory point for everything you ship
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yes if you have those two together
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because you're shipping on your own boat
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yet is a clincher you are always gonna
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win yeah it would you'd have to be very
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bad at the game to have both of those
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things and not win and I think see I
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can't put it on my top four because now
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that I figured that out as a player I
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can't I know that that's the strategy to
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win and I know if it doesn't happen for
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me in the game I'm not going to win so I
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kind of like it the magic is lost on me
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well see to me that see what what makes
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this game great is that everything you
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do affects everyone else as well like
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like you know in a game you take turns
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and and like there's a certain number of
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things you can pick from and you when it
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comes to your turn you pick the thing
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you want to do that round and you as the
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person who picked it gets a small
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advantage of that but every but whatever
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you picked everyone else gets gets most
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of that same benefit so if you pick for
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instance the the mayor rate which which
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lets you add more people to your
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plantation then you know everyone else
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gets to add people of their plantations
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also you just get one more than they do
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so it's a game where you have to very
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much consider not only what is best for
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you when it's your turn trying to pick
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what to do but you got to make sure that
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you're not going to really super
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strongly benefit someone else you know
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it to actually agree that it might hurt
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you but at the same time if you don't
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pick that thing then they probably will
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when it come to comes around to them
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so it's it's as weird tragedy that you
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have to think about but I disagree with
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you about about your hardware plus Wharf
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thing in that that isn't just the one
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strategy to win that is that is a
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strategy that can win if if other people
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are doing certain other things are not
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doing them but the great thing about
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this game is that you can't do the same
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thing every game because whether that
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can win will depend on what everyone
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else is doing and if if so if the game
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conditions are such like for example the
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harbour and Wharf combo takes a long
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time to get because those are two very
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expensive items and money is pretty
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scarce in this game so at least early on
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so those are very hard to get for that
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to work you have to you have to be in a
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game where it's gonna it's gonna go on
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for a while it's gonna take a lot of
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turns and if if someone else is racing
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towards one of the other conditions that
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can end the game like filling up their
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space with cheap buildings or filling up
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their plantation you know with or
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running out of people I forget some of
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the other ones running out of victory
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points in other ways like that strategy
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only works if you have a long time with
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those things to ship tons of goods with
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them see now I think that this is where
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you're getting all bogged down your
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stupid iPad game because we play when we
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play with people it's often someone who
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hasn't played it as much as us and it is
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or the or they are people who just
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aren't as from like or they're just
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totally new to the game right so they
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either are less skilled than us or
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totally new I don't think we've ever
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played with someone who is at our skill
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level of the game because we just don't
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run into gaming nerds that cook that
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often when we feel like hey let's play
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so important go so whenever we're
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playing live and in person no one else
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has aggressive strategies so I get bored
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playing it because I feel like I can
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just slaughter everybody you should play
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the iPad game it doesn't sound fun I
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like anyway so Puerto Rico is it might
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be my number one they thought it's close
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and and I'm not alone in this decision
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BoardGameGeek calm which is I think one
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of the biggest if not the biggest
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authorities in the geeky board game
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world I already have to put a link in
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BoardGameGeek maintains this like top
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ranking list of like the top ranked
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board games you know every you know
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whatever all time every year whatever it
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is and Puerto Rico was number one on
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that list for a very long time four
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years I think and I think it's still I
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don't think it's number one anymore but
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but I think it is still within the top
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of you you know I I think all of my top
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games are gonna be games that I haven't
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really played much so I'm not very good
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at yet because I find it enjoyable when
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I can actually play the game and write
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and enjoy the strategy of it without
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knowing exactly how to win and play it
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so yeah I'm totally bored of Puerto Rico
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so what do want to talk about next I
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think we should talk well I don't know
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what what's yon you're shorty short list
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so the next one I have on my list is
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Agricola yeah that's my number one
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really that's so it right now I have it
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as number two below Puerto Rico but that
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that's soft I could change that of
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course Agricola's don't leave my number
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one so why do you like it so much
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I like it because you can stack all of
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the animals so you like it because I
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know as you're waiting for other people
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to take their turns too slowly you can
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have something to fidget with that's
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pretty cool yeah they have very good
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stackable pieces I love like making a
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little cow towers good so yeah I like a
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good fidget piece and I like when
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they're stackable so that's a major plus
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on why it moved up to number one slot
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also it's fairly complicated I think
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there's a lot of elements to the game
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that even if you play it a lot you don't
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get a chance to play every part of the
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game in one round in one sitting of the
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game so there was like a whole bunch of
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things that you didn't get a chance to
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do whether it's like some of the
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occupation cards or building certain
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types of cooking apparatus --is well
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yeah you know you can that helped the
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improvements yeah because I'm like once
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the game starts going it starts off slow
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but then it it just it rolls so quickly
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into the end and everyone's like whoa I
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just got a hang of this game and now
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it's over and so you want to play again
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and we've often played two rounds in
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one night of that of that game because
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once you get the hang of it and you
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remember and you know because it goes a
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long time between playing them when you
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play it with people that you you just
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want to play it again to see where how
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far you can go and how far you can take
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it and I still don't feel like I've
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maxed out this game there still parts of
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it that I find really intriguing and I
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find yeah I don't always win and you
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don't always win and you know that it's
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it's still very random on who wins but
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yet the luck factor is not that like the
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chance the chance luck factor isn't very
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great in this game either it's I think
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it's a lot more skill yeah I'm trying to
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think so B so I guess the most random
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element in this game is the cards that
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you're dealt the occupation and minor
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improvement cards right but then you
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kind of have a chance to get more and
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you can kind of like use them or not use
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them you don't have to focus on like the
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randomness that you get it's more of
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your deciding how you're filling up your
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board and where you're focusing your
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attention and if you're improving your
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house if you're making a lot of grain if
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you're making a lot of cooking a lot of
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meat like you know so it's basically in
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the game you have to the goal of the
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game is to feed your family right yeah
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and then to build like a big farm and
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build a big farm and then make your
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family larger and then so therefore you
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can do more things if your family is
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larger because you have more people in
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order to accomplish more tasks and then
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at the end of the game you have rounds
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so the rounds go pretty regularly
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there's nothing you can do to stop or
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halt around from approaching you just
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have to make sure you can feed your
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family at the end of each round and
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unless you then you get a penalty if you
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can't then at the end of the game you
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kind of tally up what you have and you
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gain points from that and then the
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winner it's the person with the most
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points and there's also elements in the
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game that will subtract points from your
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total score so if you it it's also that
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so it's all contingent on your own
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gameplay you know there are other people
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playing but you're kind of only playing
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against them in the end right and and
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it'll start competing for certain
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resources but it's not as aggressive as
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I'm gonna take this resource from you
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it's more of this might be running out
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so if you buy that first then you have
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to buy the more expensive oven-like but
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you know no one's gonna get locked out
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of things completely well that's a big
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game I don't know because there's only
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two ovens if you play with more than two
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but there's more there's more ways to
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cook this you can't like you won't get
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locked out of being able to you know
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cook your own you know or or you can you
◼
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can just avoid cooking your animals and
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get food in other ways right but at the
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same time if you were you know gaining
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money to buy your oven then that and
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then the other person who wasn't with
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gaining something else you know what I
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mean so there's always a give-and-take
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of what someone is working on I mean
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plus they should have spotted you
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stacking up all your clay exactly yeah
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no I mean and that that game like you
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mentioned the scoring like such certain
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things will subtract once what I like
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about it is you know it's your building
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this farm and it's like you know you
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have a house with a certain number of
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people in it that you have to feed and
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then you have you have cattle and you
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have sheep you have all the animals you
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have the pastures and they really get
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this deck yeah and and you have like
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these you have different crops you can
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plant vegetables and and and grain to to
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grow that and any of these things that
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you don't do let's say you get to the
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end of the game and you have no cows you
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actually lose points for things that you
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don't do so you really have to diversify
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yeah like it it kind of forces you like
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you you basically can't win if you like
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hunker down and only do one strategy
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because it's also there's a maximum
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number of points you can earn from any
◼
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one category so it kind of forces you to
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to really like try to do everything and
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I think it is a little more competitive
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than than what you just how you just a
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curette described because every round
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there's like certain spots on the board
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that you that you can choose what to
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take and whatever you take you only you
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get that no one else gets that's true
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that's where it's different from Puerto
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Rico we're not like a round where it's
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like okay you do you plate you decide to
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play this way and then everyone else
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gets to do it too and you get a bonus no
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this is like you take the spot and
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you're the only one that can so a field
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or something for that entire round then
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and and so and you know if you have a
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bigger family which is a risk because
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you have to feed them every round but if
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you have a bigger family then you can
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take more spots and so like there's the
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there it's this game of really
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calculated risk of like how long can I
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wait before feeding time comes I don't
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have enough food but if I pee it you
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by if I instead of getting food right
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now if I take the risk that I'll be able
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to find some later and right now I go
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for that other cool thing on the board
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cause no one's taken it yet you know
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there's all these calculated risks you
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have to you have to figure during that
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game and and the bolder and riskier you
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are generally the better you will do
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►
like you know spanning your family
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earlier so you can you can do more
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►
things per turn but then you have to
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feed those people so it is actually I
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think pretty competitive I like it a lot
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it is it if I would have played it more
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than I have it might have become my
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number one but because I played Puerto
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►
Rico so much both in person and on the
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iPad right now Puerto Rico is my number
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►
one but I think Agricola is a solid
◼
►
number two for me and it might
◼
►
eventually become number one that's so
◼
►
funny that your criteria for number one
◼
►
is playing more and mine is playing
◼
►
no it's Agricole is a great game you
◼
►
know and and we haven't I mean as you
◼
►
mentioned earlier we've barely scratched
◼
►
the surface because there's this whole
◼
►
this whole like different deck of cards
◼
►
that you can that you can blend in and
◼
►
we have used none of those we've only
◼
►
there's like a super simple family mode
◼
►
we don't play that we play that the
◼
►
standard mode so it's like it's not the
◼
►
super simplified one but it's the
◼
►
regular set of cards with no extra cards
◼
►
and that's all we've played so far and
◼
►
even that like one one thing that that
◼
►
Agricola has which I think Puerto Rico
◼
►
does too but I think I recall is the
◼
►
most aggressive on this front that the
◼
►
game all of a sudden just ends like it's
◼
►
over it's like I was planning I was
◼
►
building this thing up and I was gonna
◼
►
do it and then yeah like it's like these
◼
►
awesome German games like a style of
◼
►
this is like is it right as everything
◼
►
starts to get going the game's over so
◼
►
your biggest challenge really is is just
◼
►
number of turns time it's like it's how
◼
►
much you can get done before the game
◼
►
ends and the game always ends before you
◼
►
want it to like there's never enough
◼
►
time and that I think that that alone
◼
►
just doing it that way I think is a cool
◼
►
way to do it because it's not like and
◼
►
I'll get to things like monopoly in a
◼
►
bit it's not like traditional style
◼
►
board games where they just go on
◼
►
please monopoly people don't worry I got
◼
►
your covered there but you know it it's
◼
►
not like that these games they end
◼
►
before you even want them to so it's
◼
►
really hard to get boy
◼
►
while playing these games yeah exactly
◼
►
you don't get bored on these board games
◼
►
nice thanks all right you want to take
◼
►
our sponsor break oh yeah we have a
◼
►
sponsor isn't that crazy
◼
►
so we're we're gonna only gonna do one
◼
►
sponsor show if we continue doing
◼
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sponsors but we have one this week we're
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really excited about it this episode of
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trying a bed in the showroom for like
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three seconds at a mattress store that
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doesn't really tell you anything
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actually being able to sleep on it for
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more than three months that's how you
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really know whether it's a good mattress
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or not and some of our friends have
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Casper's we hear only a
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and things about them everyone seems to
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love them I want to get a Casper
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mattress oh that can probably be
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arranged we can because I hate our
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guestroom mattress that we spent two
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►
seconds testing in a showroom and it was
◼
►
awful that was that was that alone was
◼
►
the biggest reason to get a Casper
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because that way now I was right because
◼
►
we didn't know about Casper then oh we
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totally would have done it because that
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mattress is total crap no Kay and
◼
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because because that one like we went
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cheap because it wasn't it was at our
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so we went with like the cheapest
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reasonable thing we could get and it was
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about the same price as a Casper would
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have been Casper would have been way
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better well we ended up having to get
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that stupid phone memory topper to make
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it even comfortable at all right which
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it was even more money yeah it's yeah
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Casper would have been a way better idea
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had we known about the Casper when we
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bought this mattress like three years
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ago or four years ago by now jeez have
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differently so if anyone wants our
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crappy mattress you can have it so we
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could buy a Casper and we can buy Casper
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conditions do apply thank you so much to
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Casper for supporting top four and all
◼
►
so we have Puerto Rico we have Agricola
◼
►
and also I want I do want to mention
◼
►
again Agricola has a great iPad version
◼
►
the only thing is that it it try it
◼
►
mimics too closely the board like Puerto
◼
►
Rico you just in order to fit everything
◼
►
on screen it has to like real rings away
◼
►
certain things look and kind of compress
◼
►
it down to its essence Agricola doesn't
◼
►
do that it just like pans around this
◼
►
giant so it's a little clumsy yeah if
◼
►
you play Agricola you really need like a
◼
►
pretty big table yeah because there
◼
►
everyone has an individual board and
◼
►
then there's like all these Center
◼
►
boards and all these cards and yeah it's
◼
►
it's pretty spread out you almost need
◼
►
to play it on the floor yeah so anyway
◼
►
moving on I wanted to next talk about
◼
►
power grid the power grid didn't make my
◼
►
list because I played it too much I'm
◼
►
thinking good so one really good game
◼
►
think of it one of the problems with
◼
►
power grid is that our most common board
◼
►
our tips parents and it is among all the
◼
►
games that we seem to play like this
◼
►
they they've they've played almost all
◼
►
of them and they are like they're not
◼
►
geeks and so what's interesting is like
◼
►
teaching them these games because some
◼
►
of these games I think like oh this is
◼
►
gonna be way too geeky for them they're
◼
►
not gonna want to sit through all these
◼
►
rules and everything and I'm wrong about
◼
►
that every single time yeah like they
◼
►
always get into it they always like it
◼
►
even games like Agricola or Puerto Rico
◼
►
that have a lot of rules and it's very
◼
►
complex and takes a long time to set up
◼
►
they first look at it and they're like
◼
►
but then as soon as like as soon as we
◼
►
explain it all and we start playing then
◼
►
everyone's into it and there has never
◼
►
once been a game where where anyone that
◼
►
we've introduced it to whether it's them
◼
►
are like you know my sister or brother
◼
►
in law or anybody else like or you know
◼
►
tips brother like we've introduced games
◼
►
to lots of family members who are not
◼
►
normally geeks you and Ryan my brother's
◼
►
name is Ryan when you guys played power
◼
►
grid like after everyone else did like
◼
►
everyone else is kind of done like we
◼
►
all probably around and you wanted to
◼
►
play another round together and you play
◼
►
like this lightning-fast round and that
◼
►
was fantastic yeah guys yeah so anyways
◼
►
a fun game these games are are if you
◼
►
have been withholding these games from
◼
►
like non geek members of your family or
◼
►
friends because you don't think they'll
◼
►
get it give them give them credit give
◼
►
them a try because we have had only
◼
►
fantastic luck introducing non geeks to
◼
►
all these geeky games but we also kind
◼
►
of hostage situation put them into
◼
►
playing these games because we refuse to
◼
►
watch movies with them because our taste
◼
►
in movies are so different so it's
◼
►
either like well if you want to spend
◼
►
time with us at night we're gonna have
◼
►
to play a board game that's there it in
◼
►
our defense board games are way better
◼
►
than watching movies with your parents
◼
►
oh well because at least you get to talk
◼
►
during board games and see each other
◼
►
and during movies everyone just falls
◼
►
exactly it's so late and everyone's
◼
►
tired yeah so power grid so yeah as you
◼
►
mentioned this this was this is the most
◼
►
commonly picked game by your parents it
◼
►
is their favorite it seems
◼
►
and so you are sick of it I am not yet
◼
►
your brother-in-law's 11th plains game
◼
►
that's true yeah I have not yet sick of
◼
►
power grid and part of that is because I
◼
►
generally don't get sick of things I can
◼
►
have the same thing and do the same
◼
►
thing every day and be very happy really
◼
►
you yeah surprising and but but part of
◼
►
I really do like it I don't think it is
◼
►
I don't think it's number one I would
◼
►
never put it as number one but it is a
◼
►
really good game all around and I think
◼
►
it is it might be among all the games
◼
►
that we have introduced people to I
◼
►
think it is one of the more accessible
◼
►
ones and I think it's definitely we can
◼
►
definitely say that it is like the
◼
►
committee favorite it the crowd favorite
◼
►
of like if you survey everyone like what
◼
►
do you want to play tonight we have all
◼
►
the different choices you know I'll want
◼
►
to play something like power grid or
◼
►
like Puerto Rico Riker Cola that's Mike
◼
►
more complex or more crazy everyone
◼
►
always agrees on power grid it's like
◼
►
the cheese yes we can all agree on power
◼
►
great pretty much that's how it happens
◼
►
I mean the power grid also has like that
◼
►
element of monopoly to it where you are
◼
►
making money you know see you have
◼
►
there's money in the game you have like
◼
►
the paper money just like monopoly you
◼
►
have little houses that represent towns
◼
►
that you you know very similar to
◼
►
monopoly where you have hotels that
◼
►
you're you're taking land I guess in the
◼
►
game and you have to kind of go through
◼
►
a round in order to gather your
◼
►
resources to power your town to then
◼
►
make more money so and then the next
◼
►
round starts and then you spend that
◼
►
money getting what what's the word
◼
►
yeah well game resources to buy power
◼
►
plants to to power your power plants and
◼
►
then therefore power your cities and
◼
►
then build more cities and so it's it's
◼
►
very it's logical when you think about
◼
►
how it's played it's not deep nothing's
◼
►
buried in like secret cards or anything
◼
►
it's all kind of laid out on the table
◼
►
really simply but at the same time
◼
►
there's a lot of strategy involved
◼
►
there's very little luck and there's
◼
►
very little chance right and and in
◼
►
power grid it really is first and
◼
►
foremost it is an economics game and it
◼
►
is and you have to kind of judge like
◼
►
you know what is the value of this power
◼
►
plant to me and they're like the power
◼
►
plants are sold by auction so you can
◼
►
have to fight against everyone else but
◼
►
that kind of gets fun because you get to
◼
►
bid out loud you know and it's more
◼
►
interactive it's not so stuck on the
◼
►
board that's yeah that's a good point
◼
►
that becomes more of like talking to
◼
►
each other and making
◼
►
jokes and bidding people up and you know
◼
►
watching their eyes you have someone
◼
►
that needs to play auctioneer because
◼
►
otherwise someone would sit and think
◼
►
about purchasing a power grid for like
◼
►
80 years so it gets really fun yeah and
◼
►
and it is also competitive like and
◼
►
we've been lucky in areas like like you
◼
►
know you it is kind of like a true
◼
►
market on the resource side in that like
◼
►
every round there's like only a certain
◼
►
number of you know things of coal things
◼
►
of oil etc and then your power plant
◼
►
needs like one of those things and the
◼
►
more people are buying something that
◼
►
more expensive it gets automatically and
◼
►
you can also run out of something
◼
►
entirely so like if you buy resources
◼
►
before someone else which is a strategic
◼
►
element like if you kind of hang behind
◼
►
in the game the way it's scored you get
◼
►
all the advantages kind of like Mario
◼
►
Cart so anyway there's all these
◼
►
different facets of this game and you
◼
►
can you can like screw somebody out of
◼
►
like the last of the coal or something
◼
►
and you also want to diversify from your
◼
►
other players because if everyone's
◼
►
going for coal powered power plants then
◼
►
there's not going to be enough coal
◼
►
resource in order to power these power
◼
►
plants so if you see that everyone else
◼
►
is bidding on coal power plants then you
◼
►
might want to bid on the one that like
◼
►
converts garbage into power so because
◼
►
then you eventually will be paying less
◼
►
than everyone else on your resource yeah
◼
►
and in our games because our family is
◼
►
either liberals or liberals in denial we
◼
►
no one ever wants to buy garbage or
◼
►
nuclear and so the and and whenever
◼
►
someone's not buying something it
◼
►
automatically gets cheaper and so
◼
►
usually the eventually like I'm like I'm
◼
►
like art fine I'll take the nuclear
◼
►
because it's so cheap at this point it
◼
►
makes no sense to buy anything else and
◼
►
no one else wants it like yeah it helps
◼
►
to kind of know who you're playing with
◼
►
and and the clean-burning power plants
◼
►
always the bidding the prices they go
◼
►
for absolutely insane and that's the
◼
►
thing there's no cap on how much you can
◼
►
spend on a power plant right you just
◼
►
how much money you have yeah it says
◼
►
kind of what it's worth on the card but
◼
►
as the bidding goes on you can just you
◼
►
can spend as much as you want I mean
◼
►
Ryan was went crazy and even over a
◼
►
hundred dollars right yeah and kind of
◼
►
paid off right or did it no it didn't he
◼
►
lost by a dollar at the end of the game
◼
►
yeah and so at the end of this game so
◼
►
can win by other means but we've had
◼
►
many games where it's like you know you
◼
►
win by a number of cities you power in
◼
►
the last turn but if you tie with
◼
►
somebody on that which often happens
◼
►
then whoever has the most money between
◼
►
those two players wins and so then like
◼
►
all of your decision-making for the
◼
►
entire game with like who do I spend the
◼
►
extra two dollars for this expensive
◼
►
coal here all that catches up to you at
◼
►
the very end if you tie with somebody
◼
►
which happens all the time
◼
►
and we have we have really had many
◼
►
games to be decided by one dollar or
◼
►
three dollars yeah it's it's crazy like
◼
►
how how tight it gets cuz it really is a
◼
►
it's it's all about economics and and
◼
►
cost efficiency and managing cost
◼
►
efficiency and it does this in a way
◼
►
that isn't boring because it sounds
◼
►
really boring if we say the head but it
◼
►
doesn't know what it isn't boring and
◼
►
that people really get into now I want
◼
►
to talk about power grid factory manager
◼
►
which is a game we just recently started
◼
►
playing I think we even played it just
◼
►
once I think we did only played it last
◼
►
Christmas because that's when we bought
◼
►
it yeah it has very little to do with
◼
►
power grid it really it's like the same
◼
►
really different but it has very good
◼
►
stackable pieces because it has a little
◼
►
working men yes they stack in very great
◼
►
little triangles and they look like
◼
►
little cheerleader yeah like the
◼
►
but I have that impossibly entering into
◼
►
my top 4 list because I don't feel like
◼
►
it's overplayed and I'm very interested
◼
►
in playing it again I'm very excited
◼
►
about it I had a lot of fun when we did
◼
►
play it I can't remember the gameplay
◼
►
for the life of me I can picture the
◼
►
board but I can't remember how to play
◼
►
it but it actually might make mine odd
◼
►
because it doesn't bore me that's
◼
►
amazing so and we should also point out
◼
►
like power grid also has a pretty good
◼
►
number of add-ons that you can buy to
◼
►
either add more cards to the game which
◼
►
we haven't done yet or what we have done
◼
►
they actually sell alternate boards so
◼
►
it comes with tool I can come to the
◼
►
board is too sorry I did a lot like
◼
►
Ticket to Ride from what I'm hearing is
◼
►
that ticket to like which is what I have
◼
►
on my short list but it didn't make the
◼
►
top four I don't think it made the top 4
◼
►
for you there's no a lot of chance in
◼
►
that game but power grid and Ticket to
◼
►
Ride also have varying maps that you can
◼
►
play on that that bring more diversity
◼
►
to each round yeah if you get bored
◼
►
alright so I do feel like I have before
◼
►
we get too far into anything else we
◼
►
have to mention Carcassonne
◼
►
because this is a game that is extremely
◼
►
popular that we've never played so I'm
◼
►
not judging it because I've just never
◼
►
played it okay so many and check yeah so
◼
►
just know that tell us about it we know
◼
►
it exists it is on our list of things to
◼
►
try but I like your feedback I do I like
◼
►
oh yeah no feedback about everything
◼
►
else is fine just know that we are aware
◼
►
of Carcassonne existence and we have use
◼
►
never played it okay I want to talk
◼
►
about the construction game it's still
◼
►
closed in our closet because we've only
◼
►
played it at my parents house but it's
◼
►
another game that I feel like is very
◼
►
interesting the dynamic is really great
◼
►
it's really fun to play in a group it's
◼
►
competitive it is also kind of a it's
◼
►
it's like a finance monopoly game again
◼
►
yeah I would say it really bears a very
◼
►
strong resemblance to Monopoly but it's
◼
►
not just like monopoly the lost edition
◼
►
you know it's not like that it's not
◼
►
like construction monopoly it's not like
◼
►
that it's actually called the
◼
►
construction game it looks kind of just
◼
►
like monopoly and you have to buy
◼
►
equipment and you have to perform you
◼
►
have to do jobs and you have to get win
◼
►
bids to do the jobs with your equipment
◼
►
and if you don't have the right
◼
►
equipment to do the job
◼
►
you know like anything you spend your
◼
►
money to do all the stuff and then you
◼
►
eventually win the game with the most
◼
►
they made it a long time we've played
◼
►
Italy twice I know but it sounds like
◼
►
five years ago I know and it lasts a
◼
►
really really long time it is a
◼
►
ridiculously long game but it's a lot of
◼
►
fun it's it's very competitive it's very
◼
►
energetic when you're playing with a
◼
►
whole bunch of people who care very much
◼
►
about playing the game yeah and I'm not
◼
►
bored of it so it's like hovering I have
◼
►
three I have three games that are
◼
►
starred that I never get to play much
◼
►
while you're on the subject let's
◼
►
briefly talk about monopoly okay because
◼
►
I need to talk I need to I need to talk
◼
►
about it if you don't yeah I don't need
◼
►
to talk about monopoly all right I'll
◼
►
okay so I have I have a history of when
◼
►
I was growing up I was a massive
◼
►
monopoly geek during the summer as I had
◼
►
this group of friends that I see every
◼
►
summer and we would play almost every
◼
►
day at least once almost every day for a
◼
►
good three or four summers that's a lot
◼
►
of Monopoly we were really bored I mean
◼
►
we were nerds we were too young to do
◼
►
anything interesting and there weren't
◼
►
any good German board games yet
◼
►
we I mean we were like you know 13 or
◼
►
something mean we were you know it
◼
►
wasn't it wasn't a good time so so we
◼
►
could do that so we did anyway so so
◼
►
I've played a lot of Monopoly I've read
◼
►
a couple of Monopoly books when I was a
◼
►
teenager like the various strategy books
◼
►
yeah I got my library anyway so monopoly
◼
►
gets it gets a worse rap it is a better
◼
►
game than those people think and there
◼
►
have been a couple of other podcasts
◼
►
about this I there I believe there was
◼
►
an episode of unjust Amon lying about it
◼
►
anyway I'll find it link to it but any
◼
►
more links sorry more show notes anyway
◼
►
you're the one dropping all these show
◼
►
know that all over the place anyway so
◼
►
monopoly gets it gets a worse rap than
◼
►
it deserves because most people don't
◼
►
actually do the rules most people have
◼
►
that quote make it more fun that usually
◼
►
and involve injecting more money into
◼
►
the game and when and then then they all
◼
►
complain that takes forever and they
◼
►
don't never connect the two dots to
◼
►
realize monopoly ends when people go
◼
►
bankrupt so if you inject money into the
◼
►
game it will take longer for people to
◼
►
go bankrupt that never crosses people's
◼
►
mind and and so they and or they've just
◼
►
they think they know how to play the
◼
►
game and they never actually read the
◼
►
rules like because they were just taught
◼
►
when they were a kid and they just keep
◼
►
playing the way they always have and
◼
►
they ever actually read the rules which
◼
►
are surprisingly short and so yeah rule
◼
►
Monopoly rules are pretty much word of
◼
►
mouth at this point yeah one's gonna
◼
►
pick up that book like have you ever
◼
►
read the rules to Scrabble I haven't no
◼
►
I don't even know I have no idea what
◼
►
the rules are I just know how to play I
◼
►
think you know yeah it's one of those
◼
►
things that you just learn how to play
◼
►
right you're like as you're
◼
►
indoctrinated into being a human you
◼
►
just kind of play right so but you know
◼
►
in in short if you think that you get
◼
►
extra money for letting on free parking
◼
►
or if you think that you don't get to
◼
►
collect rent or anything in jail or if
◼
►
you think that there's no auctions you
◼
►
need to go read the rules no it's like
◼
►
the big ones that most people don't know
◼
►
turns out jail is awesome in late game
◼
►
and free parking does nothing and
◼
►
auctions are a critical part of the game
◼
►
and yeah also buy the oranges anyway
◼
►
everyone knows that by now I think
◼
►
anyway monopoly is a very good game now
◼
►
there there was a thing that was put out
◼
►
some article I will not be able to find
◼
►
this for the show notes but some article
◼
►
that was put out about like what makes
◼
►
games seem more fun and fair versus
◼
►
others and monopoly does very poorly on
◼
►
this kind of test so like one thing that
◼
►
makes you gain like more fun for most
◼
►
people to play is like do people get
◼
►
eliminated midway through and they just
◼
►
can't play and have to wait for everyone
◼
►
else to finish the game because like
◼
►
that's no fun for those people you
◼
►
talked about that in our first show I
◼
►
did youdid I know I talked about it was
◼
►
on ATP anyway no sorry it was our very
◼
►
first show of anyway games all right so
◼
►
so there's there's that kind of thing
◼
►
where like you know they're there or
◼
►
certain factors like you know does one
◼
►
person like really tear away at the
◼
►
beginning and just have a huge lead that
◼
►
just is insurmountable and you can tell
◼
►
early on and then it's not fun to
◼
►
continue that game right so there's
◼
►
there's things like that that makes
◼
►
certain games more or less fun a
◼
►
monopoly does very badly on all those
◼
►
things it is really a very old-school
◼
►
kind of game there is a lot of luck
◼
►
involved although not as much as most
◼
►
people think if you if you kind of you
◼
►
know know the numbers and you know the
◼
►
stats of what could land it on but
◼
►
anyway I'm gonna start cutting you off
◼
►
about your monopoly time let's know but
◼
►
so so I do think overall though I'll
◼
►
close it out here I do think overall
◼
►
monopoly is a better game than most
◼
►
people give it credit for and it is
◼
►
overall a pretty good game it does not
◼
►
make my top 4 but it would probably make
◼
►
my top 10 okay I have another old-school
◼
►
game I want to bring up okay it's clue
◼
►
really I really really like clue I do
◼
►
well come on monopoly is monopoly but
◼
►
clue is not clue clue clue it's clear
◼
►
there was a movement it was really good
◼
►
I love clue the movie okay so I really
◼
►
like the game clue no one ever wants to
◼
►
play clue I had it as a kid and no one
◼
►
ever wants to play this is the story of
◼
►
your life but no one ever wants to play
◼
►
or you know whatever wants to play my
◼
►
favorite games I don't know I just like
◼
►
the little rooms and I like the little
◼
►
pieces and I'll you know having them all
◼
►
in the different rooms and making
◼
►
guesses and accusing people I was like
◼
►
where you get to talk to people a little
◼
►
bit yeah so I clue as a contender I
◼
►
don't know if I'm gonna put it on my
◼
►
list there's there's one slot open on my
◼
►
list for a power grid factory manager
◼
►
construction game or clue is what I have
◼
►
hovering in the lot but I don't know
◼
►
thank you so Peregrine factory manager
◼
►
and concession game are both games that
◼
►
you've played almost never and clearly
◼
►
there's a game that what was the last
◼
►
time you played games that I haven't
◼
►
played a lot because I'm not bored with
◼
►
them it's not like you just hate games I
◼
►
love I don't like tired games I don't
◼
►
like things that I'm tired of yeah well
◼
►
you're the kind of person you get sick
◼
►
of things pretty easily and I'm I'm the
◼
►
guy to never get sick of things on from
◼
►
everything you've been like jobs you're
◼
►
the only thing that's stuck around
◼
►
everything except me yeah I like you
◼
►
maybe our dog and kid yeah our dog and
◼
►
kid are good too games and stuff and
◼
►
yeah hobbies I just move on I'm a
◼
►
renaissance woman I know a little bit of
◼
►
a little a whole bunch of things okay
◼
►
well I think that's a fair analogy we're
◼
►
gonna move on in case it isn't so I've
◼
►
only played clue maybe twice and it was
◼
►
a play clue I I can't judge it I like I
◼
►
don't think I've ever played it as an
◼
►
adult and so I don't really know like
◼
►
objectively I might like it also because
◼
►
I do really like the movie so maybe them
◼
►
together that's most like movie and the
◼
►
game I really like together is that what
◼
►
if you watch the movie while playing the
◼
►
game sounds of me it's like my dream of
◼
►
eating Chinese food while people in
◼
►
movies are eating Chinese food well I
◼
►
really I just want to be eating Chinese
◼
►
food out of a box with chopsticks while
◼
►
I happen to accidentally be watching a
◼
►
movie that the characters do that to and
◼
►
I will feel so satisfied if that happens
◼
►
because I always want Chinese food when
◼
►
I see people eating Chinese food that
◼
►
makes sense okay anyway please somewhere
◼
►
on your list maybe a number four yeah
◼
►
about another game that nobody ever
◼
►
plays with me let's do it it's
◼
►
I love the game folder - I think it's
◼
►
balderdash close enough and I played it
◼
►
for the first time when I was a kid at
◼
►
my friend's house and ever since then I
◼
►
have asked for it for Christmas and I
◼
►
never got it my entire childhood my
◼
►
entire young adult life my entire
◼
►
teenage life like I just I would always
◼
►
be like what you offer Chris Ivy I love
◼
►
that game folder - and no one would ever
◼
►
ever get it and then one day one amazing
◼
►
amazing Christmas my dear loving husband
◼
►
finally finally after like six years he
◼
►
finally bought me the game of balderdash
◼
►
and now nobody plays it with me yeah and
◼
►
no one ever ever plays it with me
◼
►
everyone wants to play something else
◼
►
every time and I and I feel so bad now
◼
►
because I like beg people I'm like it's
◼
►
gonna be really fun and then I get
◼
►
nervous it's not gonna be fun because I
◼
►
really like it because you've hyped it
◼
►
up so much how many so I was high wait
◼
►
wait wait and in addition to that so the
◼
►
incomparable they play balderdash
◼
►
and every time I have not been able to
◼
►
join them yeah I've had something really
◼
►
like I really could not change the times
◼
►
that I could play like I could not play
◼
►
any time they've invited me to play it's
◼
►
the game that just is just right at the
◼
►
reach of my fingertips and I cannot grab
◼
►
on to it I love balderdash
◼
►
and so after all that how many times
◼
►
have you actually played the game
◼
►
probably like six times but it's so good
◼
►
I love making up stuff and I love when
◼
►
people make up stuff it's funny it's
◼
►
like pictionary but words and it's great
◼
►
maybe we're doing you a favor by not
◼
►
playing it with you because I would've
◼
►
liked it otherwise it wouldn't make my
◼
►
list yeah because you just hate
◼
►
everything you play too much we don't
◼
►
want to keeping me interested maybe like
◼
►
I like the mystery will agree to play it
◼
►
like every 10 years I love the mystery
◼
►
that is bolder - and this one of this
◼
►
game is to where you need more than two
◼
►
you do it yeah it's not as fun you need
◼
►
like a group and you need to be in a
◼
►
certain mindset to like you have to be
◼
►
like an active group that's willing to
◼
►
start like making up stuff and being a
◼
►
little funny and you know you can't just
◼
►
be a sleepy well let's play a board game
◼
►
kind of group you have to be ready for
◼
►
it right and it's and like that's one
◼
►
thing to mention like a lot of these
◼
►
games unfortunately like a lot of the
◼
►
best ones can't be played with just two
◼
►
people you know lots of people can get
◼
►
one other person who agree to agree to
◼
►
play a game with them you know whether
◼
►
it's your partner or your sibling or
◼
►
whatever like lots of people can get
◼
►
like you know one person to agree but
◼
►
but many of these games require at least
◼
►
yeah and that's where we get all tripped
◼
►
up yeah that we never get to play those
◼
►
games cuz we're just two people yeah and
◼
►
then by the time Adams old enough he's
◼
►
not gonna want to hang out with us no no
◼
►
no or or he will hate all these games
◼
►
cuz they'll be they'll be you know when
◼
►
they'll frustrate him you know and when
◼
►
he gets older then he won't wanna hang
◼
►
out with us yeah yeah we'll find out
◼
►
eventually anyway maybe when he's 30
◼
►
he'll be willing to play with us why do
◼
►
you have one game on my list that we
◼
►
have a two-person version that we've
◼
►
never played well PowerGrid has a tube
◼
►
that's how ryan and i played but what's
◼
►
your what you--what is your other one
◼
►
block Asst yeah block is totally made
◼
►
like my list i love block and it made my
◼
►
list as well really yeah that's so
◼
►
surprising because it's a really really
◼
►
it's a really really simple game it's
◼
►
pretty much like it's almost like a
◼
►
board game version of Tetris with other
◼
►
players yeah you you're the goal is you
◼
►
have a gridded a gridded did you have a
◼
►
grid board yes it has like ridges and
◼
►
you have little clear kind of colored
◼
►
tie like um and they look like Tetris
◼
►
pieces but it isn't just things with
◼
►
five blocks in them and you eat each
◼
►
person has a color and you have to fit
◼
►
them on to this grid in a certain way
◼
►
touching the other players pieces in one
◼
►
certain way and the goal is to get rid
◼
►
of all of your pieces and fill up this
◼
►
board so it's kind of like a land grab
◼
►
kind of game and it's really very fun
◼
►
because you can play it very quickly
◼
►
there's an almost notes that there's no
◼
►
setup really besides giving out the
◼
►
pieces but we have them all in neat
◼
►
little bags because we are totally nerds
◼
►
so the setups really easy the teaching
◼
►
people how to play is really easy so
◼
►
um what's that word when there's no
◼
►
learning curve learning curve to play
◼
►
this game and it's it's just really
◼
►
simple and fun and it's difficult to be
◼
►
bored of it because it's every game is
◼
►
yeah Blancas has often been our dessert
◼
►
game like we will play one of the big
◼
►
complicated or an appetizer game yeah
◼
►
right yeah like so we'll play like one
◼
►
of the big complicated games like I
◼
►
could Cola or Puerto Rico that takes it
◼
►
the whole table and lots of setup time
◼
►
we'll play one of those and at the end
◼
►
of that it'll be like you know 10:30 I'm
◼
►
like well we don't really want to start
◼
►
a whole other one of those but how about
◼
►
a quick round of blacas or while
◼
►
someone's cleaning up the kitchen which
◼
►
is usually unfortunately my mom and the
◼
►
rest of us are like let's play a game
◼
►
real quick but while we wait for
◼
►
everyone to be done you know to go down
◼
►
and actually play the big game then we
◼
►
play a quick round to block us because
◼
►
it's so quick yeah but they have a - you
◼
►
have to buy a separate board to play two
◼
►
people yeah there's also a three player
◼
►
like a triangular version right there's
◼
►
that one yeah I saw it online there
◼
►
there is a three player version but the
◼
►
so that's so the only limitation with
◼
►
placas is that you have to play four
◼
►
players yeah you can't play like three
◼
►
to five people on the same board it's
◼
►
like no this board this board requires
◼
►
exactly four flame so you really have to
◼
►
think about strategy and how you're
◼
►
gonna play these gonna place your pieces
◼
►
and how you're gonna block somebody and
◼
►
how you're going to because if you play
◼
►
a certain piece at the very end you get
◼
►
super bonus points and you're super cool
◼
►
but it is actually it's very very
◼
►
difficult to to play all of your pieces
◼
►
yeah it is it is a surprising like it
◼
►
looks really simple but it is not easy
◼
►
you it yeah you can learn it very
◼
►
quickly but it is very hard to master
◼
►
yeah and it's it that's another game
◼
►
where like everybody we have introduced
◼
►
it to not only gets it immediately but
◼
►
also likes it pretty much you know
◼
►
pretty well yeah and every time you play
◼
►
it you're like okay let's play again
◼
►
yeah another one yeah dump it out play
◼
►
again or like if you if you have a
◼
►
situation like a bigger gathering where
◼
►
you have like multiple people cycling in
◼
►
and out of playing the game then it's a
◼
►
good it's a good game for that because
◼
►
like a round of lock it only takes like
◼
►
a half-hour maybe and then you can you
◼
►
can like bring in a new a new person in
◼
►
case oh yeah okay I'm done whoo let's
◼
►
play next and it's it you can rotate in
◼
►
and out it's really great that way
◼
►
that's cool we should have one of those
◼
►
out next time we have a party yeah it's
◼
►
a good idea the block is station yeah I
◼
►
would rent I rank block is right now I
◼
►
Blagh into my number-4 spot i have
◼
►
blockage I might move it up we'll see I
◼
►
think I might move it up to number two
◼
►
because my number two spots empty now
◼
►
that we're talking about it I thought
◼
►
that once we started discussing these I
◼
►
would start loving them more or less
◼
►
depending on how we talked about them
◼
►
out loud so I think Bacchus will be my
◼
►
number two nice because it's exciting
◼
►
you know it's fun and it's quick it's
◼
►
great and the only other other game on
◼
►
my list is that we talked about which
◼
►
kind it was also on your list and then
◼
►
we'll talk about any extras that you
◼
►
have is Bananagrams I have Bananagrams I
◼
►
love that that's another quick fun it's
◼
►
another game because it has you know
◼
►
it's basically like speed Scrabble
◼
►
almost like it's it's very you I mean
◼
►
because real Scrabble is just too long
◼
►
it is it takes too long everyone thinks
◼
►
about their words too long yeah and like
◼
►
everyone gets bored waiting for the
◼
►
person like waiting for each person to
◼
►
think about their word oh yeah you know
◼
►
words with friends is actually better
◼
►
than playing Scrabble better it is
◼
►
because you don't have to actually like
◼
►
you could go on with your life while
◼
►
you're waiting for someone to play yeah
◼
►
what it feels like when you're really
◼
►
sitting there playing Scrabble you're
◼
►
like I could just be doing anything else
◼
►
right now yeah yeah I don't really do
◼
►
not like playing Scrabble in person and
◼
►
and most games I would prefer to play
◼
►
like the hardcopy Scrabble is one of the
◼
►
few where that's not the case
◼
►
me too but anyway so but Bananagrams is
◼
►
really great because so you know so it
◼
►
literally is a bag shaped like a banana
◼
►
full of little Scrabble tiles and
◼
►
there's no points to them it's just the
◼
►
letters and the game is you dump them
◼
►
all out in the pile in the middle and
◼
►
then like you like speed try to assemble
◼
►
what is basically a valid Scrabble board
◼
►
in your own little place at the table
◼
►
that's like low Scrabble board yeah like
◼
►
so you aren't competing with anyone else
◼
►
on anything except so on yeah all your
◼
►
words have to connect and they have to
◼
►
all be real words yeah but and there's
◼
►
no scoring so it's like whoever whoever
◼
►
wins first basically right once all the
◼
►
tiles are gone whoever has like a legit
◼
►
finished board first wins right like no
◼
►
no word no tiles that you haven't placed
◼
►
in 2,000 words yet yeah yeah and I so it
◼
►
it's a very quick very low effort
◼
►
in a very low barrier game so again
◼
►
perfect game for the end of a night or a
◼
►
time when you don't have a lot of you
◼
►
know a much time to play it also is is
◼
►
very tolerant of different numbers of
◼
►
players and you could probably play with
◼
►
anything to an upright probably yeah
◼
►
yeah so you're on a piece is basically
◼
►
another game like this so that we should
◼
►
mention is corkle that a lot of people
◼
►
have really liked and we've showed them
◼
►
that game and that is matching colors
◼
►
and shapes so it's not good for your
◼
►
colorblind friends but other than that
◼
►
yes that it that's also a really good
◼
►
fun kind of making grids of colors and
◼
►
shapes in different patterns and
◼
►
configurations yeah it's almost like
◼
►
dominoes in a way but it's like it's
◼
►
different rules you know yeah if you
◼
►
haven't played corkle and you like
◼
►
little fast kind of appetizer dessert
◼
►
games then you should check out corkle
◼
►
it so it's a good one to buy for
◼
►
Christmas actually because yeah it's fun
◼
►
family game yeah if you if you have a
◼
►
family gathering and and you want to
◼
►
like bring something for the family to
◼
►
do quark roll Bananagrams and block it
◼
►
yep those three things are our solid
◼
►
picks and I also really like the sets
◼
►
the card game set set set that's right
◼
►
yeah I like that one a lot
◼
►
that one hurts my brain I like that
◼
►
one's really fun I love that game the
◼
►
best thing either the colorblind not
◼
►
compatible no game the the best thing
◼
►
about set is how ridiculous you look
◼
►
while you're playing it because
◼
►
everyone's just staring at yes like have
◼
►
a grid of cards that you placed out and
◼
►
everyone is silently very intently
◼
►
almost never blinking staring at this
◼
►
game it looks so weird if you walk fast
◼
►
a group of people playing with that they
◼
►
look like they're possessed it's it's
◼
►
amazing that that to me is the best part
◼
►
it isn't a bad game it just I don't I
◼
►
don't like it as much I love that game
◼
►
so that's that's my whole list what do
◼
►
you what else do you have on yours that
◼
►
we haven't talked about on the big list
◼
►
pictionary I guess would be one of the
◼
►
big ones that we haven't really talked
◼
►
about I've had a number of pictionary
◼
►
birthdays yes it turns out a pictionary
◼
►
Ballack we just play it kind of like the
◼
►
where we just have groups of people on
◼
►
teams and we go back and forth and we
◼
►
just try and draw like an entire card in
◼
►
what five minutes or less yeah well you
◼
►
knew it like when when you first wanted
◼
►
a pictionary party like six years ago I
◼
►
went and bought like the cheapest like
◼
►
office easel stand I could get in Haven
◼
►
and the giant flipchart paper pads it
◼
►
ended up being so much fun everyone got
◼
►
really really into it yeah you spend
◼
►
like 40 bucks and you have like this
◼
►
awesome pictionary set and we played it
◼
►
multiple times with at the end of
◼
►
parties and it's gone over really well
◼
►
and again we don't really adhere to the
◼
►
rules very much it's more like here's a
◼
►
card let's draw the whole card as fast
◼
►
as you can and have your team guess yeah
◼
►
or you know you have two minutes draw as
◼
►
much of the card as you can and then you
◼
►
know it's like tally points and yes we
◼
►
do it really very um yeah I don't
◼
►
laissez I'm not sure I've ever used the
◼
►
board in pictionary no the board's
◼
►
pretty boring yeah like when you do it
◼
►
actually it's like yeah it's too boring
◼
►
drawing on a giant flip chart is is much
◼
►
better like speed speed drawing and you
◼
►
like every one and it it's a fun game
◼
►
whether you can draw or you can't
◼
►
because people who can it's amazing how
◼
►
much they can get out but yet people
◼
►
still can't guess it and the people who
◼
►
can't draw that's what's also extremely
◼
►
funny seeing horrible stick figures and
◼
►
like just completely deformed animals
◼
►
that they're trying to convey pictures
◼
►
of and it's great but what I like about
◼
►
about that though is that artistic skill
◼
►
does not seem to correlate to how good
◼
►
you are pictionary exactly like it
◼
►
because it isn't about draw a version of
◼
►
this that looks good it's it's closer to
◼
►
like icon or sign design in that it's
◼
►
more like you have to communicate this
◼
►
idea with imagery how how quickly and
◼
►
effectively can you communicate this
◼
►
idea which is it's it's a similar but
◼
►
not the same skill and so like like I
◼
►
can't draw for crap but I'm a little bit
◼
►
better at that at that other skill than
◼
►
I am at drawing so I can I can do okay
◼
►
in fiction airy and I'm okay in picture
◼
►
you do very long pictionary
◼
►
yeah well it's icon design basically but
◼
►
you also need a good to a team that can
◼
►
guess - I mean we yes I'm the worst
◼
►
guesser someone the true like this
◼
►
amazing pagoda right or
◼
►
something like that they drew it it
◼
►
looked exactly like it but nobody on the
◼
►
team knew what a pagoda was so they
◼
►
couldn't get yeah it's like that was
◼
►
such a good drawing but it's still fail
◼
►
yeah yeah I'm much better at the drawing
◼
►
part that I'm the guessing part yeah I
◼
►
think you are a very good guesser aren't
◼
►
you I don't know I just really like
◼
►
playing the game it's it's one of those
◼
►
things like the same kind of group that
◼
►
would get into playing balderdash would
◼
►
get into playing pictionary the way we
◼
►
play it you just want us to play
◼
►
balderdash so much only cuz we know
◼
►
whatever plays balderdash with me
◼
►
alrighty more no just being sad about
◼
►
balderdash alright so but we have Mille
◼
►
Bornes that was the other one I forgot
◼
►
my Mille Bornes man you played that I
◼
►
played that a lot in my childhood my
◼
►
parents with my mom yeah my mom was
◼
►
really into it as well and so I
◼
►
discovered that like as a teenager she
◼
►
really brought it back out there's old
◼
►
ones in the 70 yeah I've played the one
◼
►
from the 70s too and then we went on
◼
►
eBay when we became our own little
◼
►
family and also bought a set from the
◼
►
70s because that's what we were used to
◼
►
playing the new ones look really weird
◼
►
yes it was like because the arts the
◼
►
arts all different now and yeah and this
◼
►
is this is a French driving game it's
◼
►
played with cards and you have to get up
◼
►
to speed and drive and so you get like
◼
►
these speed cards it's show you how fast
◼
►
your car is going but then same time you
◼
►
get sabotages where like your tire gets
◼
►
flat you run out of gas or and you have
◼
►
to accomplish a thousand miles that's
◼
►
yeah it's a meal mi yeah yeah Mille
◼
►
Bornes 2000 1000 miles yeah and it's all
◼
►
the games also call a thousand miles in
◼
►
some places but yeah like France maybe
◼
►
but yeah so and that too else yeah that
◼
►
yeah I haven't played in a long time but
◼
►
I did play it a lot recently together
◼
►
you know and when we lived above Pizza
◼
►
Grill so five years ago yeah so yeah ok
◼
►
so so we played it recently five years
◼
►
ago and before that like I I had that
◼
►
game on my Palm Pilot and so I played I
◼
►
played it a lot I remember like when I
◼
►
worked at Staples in college I played it
◼
►
a lot in the staples break room nothing
◼
►
else to do well meal war is a really
◼
►
good game so if anyone hasn't played it
◼
►
and hasn't heard of it I highly suggest
◼
►
it it's a really fun it's again you can
◼
►
play with two players so that's really
◼
►
good yeah it's one of the few it's a
◼
►
really good rainy afternoon
◼
►
if you want to teach your kids to it's a
◼
►
yeah and it's and there's a little bit
◼
►
of a little bit of aggression because
◼
►
you can't like throw hazards at people
◼
►
like cuz like you you don't just come
◼
►
upon a flat tire you're you know wife or
◼
►
mom gives you the flat tire and yes
◼
►
anyway it's it's a good game it is not
◼
►
like - the level of quality oh you know
◼
►
what we should really talk about
◼
►
no I don't want to talk about Sadler's
◼
►
but we if you don't talk about settlers
◼
►
we're gonna hear from what time is it
◼
►
well this is the last thing we're
◼
►
talking about so and then well then
◼
►
we'll say our list and we'll be done
◼
►
yeah so settlers settlers we have so
◼
►
many expansion packs that we've never
◼
►
ever opened because we play this game
◼
►
there's and for us and especially I
◼
►
think for you how we open the show I
◼
►
guess it's a good way to close the show
◼
►
is this is a game with tons of chance
◼
►
yes and so the chance aspect of this
◼
►
game kind of keeps us from really
◼
►
enjoying it I like playing it a lot more
◼
►
than you do because I find that the
◼
►
chance element actually keeps a little
◼
►
bit more fun for me but yeah it's not I
◼
►
I want to play other things more than I
◼
►
always want to play settlers yeah
◼
►
settlers to me it's a I say this with
◼
►
all the good and bad that comes with
◼
►
this it is the Starbucks of modern geeky
◼
►
games in the sense that Starbucks kind
◼
►
of rescued the world in a way and that
◼
►
they weren't the only ones to do but
◼
►
they're like the biggest like the
◼
►
headliners and the most popular who
◼
►
rescued the world from like the old like
◼
►
50s way of just like the cheapest
◼
►
possible cheap crap Coffee gas station
◼
►
coffee Folgers etc and they introduced
◼
►
the world to the concept of you know
◼
►
what coffee can be better than that and
◼
►
I don't like Starbucks really I think
◼
►
you can do way better than Starbucks if
◼
►
you put some care and effort into it
◼
►
yourself but I can't deny that Starbucks
◼
►
has had the effect on the world of
◼
►
reintroducing the world to good coffee
◼
►
and I feel like settlers has kind of
◼
►
done that to boardgames like it geeks
◼
►
have known about settlers since the late
◼
►
90s early 2000s it has come like
◼
►
our mainstream and I'd say the last you
◼
►
know five years or so but it's not new
◼
►
and and it was the game that geeks who
◼
►
knew about it could use in like 2002 to
◼
►
introduce the rest of their friends to
◼
►
the concept of better board games than
◼
►
monopoly in Candyland you know it's very
◼
►
accessible board game yeah and so it is
◼
►
often the first or only modern and geeky
◼
►
board game that people have played and
◼
►
so I give a credit for that it does
◼
►
deserve that credit we loved it in the
◼
►
beginning you played it a lot and we
◼
►
really really liked it but then we just
◼
►
started finding new things yeah I used
◼
►
to go to Starbucks every day for like a
◼
►
year I'm gonna Starbucks every day we
◼
►
still go to Starbucks over on road trips
◼
►
we have no choice don't tell anybody
◼
►
sorry I took that picture of you once my
◼
►
miserable face yeah no I mean Starbucks
◼
►
you know Starbucks is fine it's not
◼
►
great it's fine that's what I think
◼
►
about settlers it's fine
◼
►
you know it is better than a lot of
◼
►
games that came before it and it really
◼
►
does deserve credit for assuring in the
◼
►
mainstream to the idea of better newer
◼
►
geekier games than what we all played
◼
►
growing up but you can do a lot better I
◼
►
think yeah that makes sense
◼
►
that's how I feel all right so what you
◼
►
talk for oh okay so number one I have
◼
►
Agricola number two I have block as'
◼
►
number three uh I kind of want to like
◼
►
dump all the quick board the quick games
◼
►
all like together like oh so you have
◼
►
three number three's is that what you're
◼
►
saying this is going horribly I want to
◼
►
put balderdash on there but I feel like
◼
►
I love it so much and no one ever ever
◼
►
plays it with me it's like it's so hyped
◼
►
up in my mind I did I'm so nervous about
◼
►
playing it with other people at this
◼
►
point because I think it's just gonna go
◼
►
horribly I'm melting I'm melting okay
◼
►
Agricola block is balderdash and
◼
►
Bananagrams that doesn't feel good clue
◼
►
Bananagrams that doesn't feel good clue
◼
►
also doesn't feel good power grid
◼
►
factory manager that you played once did
◼
►
I played once here we go this this is
◼
►
how bad I was video games this is how
◼
►
bad you are at the board game ranking I
◼
►
feel so bad good like wow okay Agricola
◼
►
I'm blackest and balderdash and a whole
◼
►
I love you alright my top four number
◼
►
one Puerto Rico number 2
◼
►
Agricola number 3 block s number 4 power
◼
►
grid Wow see for me it's all about what
◼
►
alright now we have some important
◼
►
follow-up yeah it's now follow-up what
◼
►
is it oh I don't know news new it is
◼
►
news I guess yeah good isn't something
◼
►
we missed you know or got wrong mmm-hmm
◼
►
so in our last episode so now that's one
◼
►
to ago right we did an episode on the
◼
►
the top four worst Weezer singles not
◼
►
worst Weezer songs the worst songs that
◼
►
Weezer has that we chose to release as
◼
►
singles yes for their albums and let me
◼
►
just say right now we have heard el
◼
►
Scorcho so many times since that I I'm I
◼
►
hey I ended the show saying I liked el
◼
►
Scorcho so I I stopped well I like it
◼
►
even more now I don't hate it as a song
◼
►
but it was a terrible choice of a single
◼
►
for that time like that was yeah anyway
◼
►
and you keep playing the greatest man
◼
►
that ever did something or other
◼
►
yeah in the bathroom anyway it goes
◼
►
great there so I got stuck in my head
◼
►
too it's like you know how it's the the
◼
►
most frustrating thing to have a bad
◼
►
song stuck in your head it's a bad
◼
►
single and and to be fair and Weezer
◼
►
actually is pretty good at releasing bad
◼
►
songs as singles that gets stuck anyway
◼
►
so what we're getting around to is that
◼
►
apparently Weezer released another
◼
►
single yeah they released a single today
◼
►
yeah and a whole bunch of people were
◼
►
tweeting it at us and I started
◼
►
listening to women on the couch and
◼
►
Marko runs in he's like no no no stop
◼
►
because we're gonna listen to it on the
◼
►
show yeah I don't and I I just could
◼
►
tell that's what it was
◼
►
I haven't heard it yet at all except for
◼
►
like the little bit that you played in
◼
►
the couch and like that
◼
►
first about like five seconds yeah so
◼
►
this is gonna be the first time we are
◼
►
hearing it at all we're doing it live on
◼
►
the show okay you're gonna have to put
◼
►
not the whole thing all right let's go
◼
►
okay I'm ready I'm scared I'm scared of
◼
►
Amy here we go she's trying to be Eminem
◼
►
what's he saying thank God for girls
◼
►
they just say getting sweaty over rolls
◼
►
I think so this is terrible
◼
►
it's catchy come on is it I like all the
◼
►
crazy lyrics I think that's the first
◼
►
time a Ganesha was ever in a song yeah
◼
►
that's it I really liked when they were
◼
►
like rap talking I like that part
◼
►
I like when all of a sudden they throw
◼
►
in a lyric that doesn't rhyme or just
◼
►
like stops everything kind of dead in
◼
►
its musical tracks I think that's really
◼
►
finally that's a very Weezer of them
◼
►
they do that a lot that see to me I kind
◼
►
I don't think that was bad enough to
◼
►
make my top four worst singles no I it's
◼
►
too it's too catchy mmm yes you to me
◼
►
maybe it's only cuz I only heard it once
◼
►
I don't care for the subject matter the
◼
►
whole thank God for girls things what
◼
►
about the cannolis in echinacea I don't
◼
►
know I like a hope I like words so I had
◼
►
a lot of words I like a lot of words yes
◼
►
they can guarantee you that there were a
◼
►
lot of words in that song besides I hear
◼
►
this again that's not gonna happen right
◼
►
oh yeah not right now but I think I
◼
►
would listen to it again so I don't
◼
►
think I would put it on my top four
◼
►
I wouldn't even play it in the bathroom
◼
►
whoa be it be it not because it's worse
◼
►
than the greatest man who ever lived but
◼
►
because it has nothing going for it like
◼
►
it is it the greatest man that ever
◼
►
lived is at least somewhat catchy at
◼
►
least get stuck in your head I like this
◼
►
because I like Macklemore and like that
◼
►
kind of stuff and you don't like that so
◼
►
right right you're not gonna like this
◼
►
right like they are doing what is more
◼
►
likely to be popular today and I give
◼
►
them credit for that because they are
◼
►
keeping themselves relatively Road
◼
►
relevant I feel like they're keeping
◼
►
themselves modern but they're kind of
◼
►
sticking to who they are with their
◼
►
quirkiness and thence a lot like
◼
►
barenaked ladies kind of thing where
◼
►
lot of lyrics sometimes it sounds like
◼
►
it doesn't make sense together it's kind
◼
►
of nerdy it's I really like it but
◼
►
they're a little bit more rock than make
◼
►
it then barely a few ladies but like our
◼
►
is I don't know what is that
◼
►
I think if you're if you're if you're
◼
►
English then like companies and bands if
◼
►
are plural right but if you're American
◼
►
I don't know when a band's name is
◼
►
barenaked ladies that's yeah but they're
◼
►
one band it's pretty second hands know
◼
►
ladies right sometimes they're naked
◼
►
though yeah anyway so I like it I think
◼
►
it lacks what usually makes Weezer songs
◼
►
it is neither I would say it's neither
◼
►
of those things really I think it fits
◼
►
into the whole modern music stuff this
◼
►
stuff that's coming out now that people
◼
►
really like that's fair so I don't think
◼
►
it's a bad choice I mean and we haven't
◼
►
we haven't heard much the album yet but
◼
►
it's like one sweater song came out
◼
►
sweater song was super weird but it fit
◼
►
into the grunge culture that it came out
◼
►
of so that's why I never made our list
◼
►
it's a weird single but it fit when it
◼
►
came out but sweater song I would say
◼
►
sweater song was a much better song than
◼
►
yes sweater song wasn't much better song
◼
►
but you also don't like modern music you