A later than planned look back at the year 2007. Jim and Mark talk about their top 5 games of the year, and what makes them so good. There is only one game on both of our lists, which we guess makes it The Metagamers' pick for game of the year 2007.

Games Mentioned

What fun would that be??? Listen and find out!

Vikings image by gamephotos

This episode is all about Auctions.  We get into some news and recently played games, and then jump right in to our main topic.  We discuss (among other things):

- brother story (EG, Taj, Ra, Goa, AoS, PoF....Maharaja!) it might be that they bring a game out of the casual realm you can't just choose something reasonable when it's your turn you have to fight for resources and be able to set values for them

- granularity/scale

- types: open/sequential/fixed price/dutch/blind, restrictions on bids

- unusual auctions: Taj (6 simultaneous rewards), Beowulf (changing currency, bidding for reward selection order), SoE (turn order and alliances)

- stretch: isn't area influence an auction?  EG: bidding cubes over many turns to win VP's

- evaluation: this is one skill that auction games stress, there are games where you compete for items or actions by simply selecting them in sequence (caylus, perikles) with auctions, there's the additional layer of having to evaluate the available item(s) compared to the resources you can afford to spend for example, something is "worth" 6 gold, and you have 6, but spending it all is going to kill you this turn not necessarily the same value per player you may need to bid on items just to make sure another player doesn't get it too cheaply, can be risky, fun?

- balance mechanism

- income: where does money go?

- close: auctions are not all the same, if you hate one game because of auctions don't automatically dismiss other auction games

Hosts
Mark Haberman (habermanm)
Jim Cote (ekted)

Index
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:48 News
00:01:51 On the Radar
00:04:13 Recently Played
00:15:44 Victory Points
00:19:00 Main Segment (Auctions)
01:13:06 Outro

Modern Art image by Moviebuffs

We're finally back!

We have a sad announcement, followed by happy retelling of our recent but separate con experiences.  Mark went to Great Lakes Games, and Jim went to Lobster Trap.  Once again, we talk about a ton of different games, most of them new.  We promise the next episode won't be as far away!  Enjoy!

Hosts
Mark Haberman (habermanm)
Jim Cote (ekted)

Index
00:00 Intro
00:57 News
03:12 Recently Played
19:34 Great Lakes Games / Lobster Trap
22:35 Convention Games Played
71:22 Outro

Games Mentioned
Main Segment: 1960: The Making of the President, Gheos, Pandemic, Twilight Struggle, Wallenstein, Mr. Jack, Die Kutschfahrt zur Teufelsburg, Bang, Aquaduct, Die Siedler von Catan - Das Würfelspiel, Tichu, Ubongo Extrem, Bug Bluff, Cuba, League of Six, Merchants of Amsterdam, Gyges, GIPF, Cold War, Vikings, King of Siam, Galaxy Trucker, Factory Fun, Through the Ages, Chang Cheng, Jantaris, Felix: The Cat in the Sack, In the Year of the Dragon, Giganten der Lüfte, To Court the King, Key Harvest, Deduce or Die, Brass

Links
Mr. Jack online
Cold War online

Galaxy Trucker image by garyjames

Just in time for Essen, this is our Essen Overload episode, where we discuss all the games we're looking forward to at and around the Spiel fair in Essen.

A couple of corrections to make:
Mordred Correction: If Mordred wins, the player who is the LEAST EVIL wins. That is, the player who has moved the fewest
spaces on the Mordred track.

Cuba:  This was before the rules were released, so there is a lot of incorrect information.  Most importantly, there isn't simultaneous action selection.

Hosts
Mark Haberman (habermanm)
Jim Cote (ekted)

Index
00:00 Intro
01:11 Agricola
07:19 Cold War: CIA vs KGB
11:29 Cuba
16:48 Roma II
21:14 Ra Dice Game
22:57 Through the Ages
29:45 Race for the Galaxy
34:14 Kingsburg
39:36 TZAAR
40:50 Akkon: Machtkampf der Tempelritter
43:09 Jantaris
50:29 Amyitis
51:06 Galaxy Trucker
53:58 Chang Cheng
54:14 Ghost For Sale
55:27 Im Jahr des Drachen
56:55 Gangster
57:54 Neuroshima Hex
61:50 Mordred
64:17 Pandemic
65:04 Brass
65:51 Utopia
67:01 Big Boss
67:28 Great American Rail Game
68:41 Container
69:30 King of Siam
70:32 Hamburgum
70:48 Ming Dynastie
71:22 Im Reich der Jadegottin
72:22 Municipium
72:52 Key Harvest
73:06 Veritas
73:51 Merchants
74:06 League of Six
75:47 Essen Wrap Up
78:00 Outro

Games Mentioned

image by

Jay is finally back!  We discuss the social contract of gaming, what makes gaming fun, and what we find fun in games.

There is an extended news segment, in which Jim talks about the some recently released game rules.  We also share some of our recently played games.

Hosts
Mark Haberman(habermanm)
Jay Little (ynnen)
Jim Cote (ekted)

Index
00:00 Intro
01:30 News
20:55 Recently Played
41:28 Main Segment
73:30 Outro

Games Mentioned

Recent Gaming: Lord of the Rings - Battlefields, Roads and Boats, Caylus Magna Carta, Caylus, Puerto RicoA Victory Lost, Jungle Speed, Vegas Showdown, Ponte del Diavolo, Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation

Links
1960 vs Twilight struggle comparison
Game Rules Wiki Page
LOTR:TC Fellowship Starting Positions
LOTR:TC Sauron Starting Positions
Jay's Geeklist - Social Contract of Gaming

Dice and Water image by chuckles2000

This episode we are joined by special guest Michael Webb to talk about Age of Steam.  We talk about basic game strategies such as determining the best starting position, figuring out how many shares to issue, and when to choose the different actions.

We also talk a little bit about Railroad Tycoon and the current state of Age of Steam affairs, including the flood of new expansions.

In addition to the Age of Steam discussion, Jim talks about his recent trip to Unity games, and we announce the latest contest winner.

Hosts
Mark Haberman (habermanm)
Jim Cote (ekted)
Michael Webb (cortexbomb)

Index
00:00 Intro
01:42 Contest and Donation
03:58 Unity Games
10:25 Age of Steam
78:14 Outro

Games Mentioned
Main Segment: Age of Steam, Railroad Tycoon

Age of Steam image by Thommy8

After a short delay and many technical problems, The Metagamers are proud to present the Boardgame Podcaster's Award for Best Game of the Year.

We discuss the nominees and the awards in general, as well as mention our continuing contest and new supporters of the show.

Hosts
Jim Cote (ekted)
Mark Haberman (habermanm)
Jay Little (ynnen)

In this episode we talk about the GIPF series of abstract games with our special guest Joe Gola.  We get into general strategies for each of the games, and discuss issues such as balance and tension as it relates to each game. 

As usual, our discussion assumes that you are already familiar with the games, so if you aren't, head over to BoardGameGeek and check them out there first.  The Abstract Gamer podcast also has nice introductory episodes on YINSH and GIPF. 

Jay is off this episode, but look for all three of The Metagamers to return to form in the next one.

Hosts
Jim Cote (ekted)
Mark Haberman (habermanm)
Joe Gola (Gola)

Index
00:00 Intro
00:32 Contest Winner / New Contest
02:52 Unity Games
03:23 GIPF
14:45 TAMSK
21:36 ZERTZ
25:23 DVONN
36:48 YINSH
46:13 PUNCT
57:44 Wrap Up
63:22 Outro

Games Mentioned
Main Segment: GIPF, Abalone, TAMSK, Space Dealer, ZERTZ, Dots and Boxes, Samurai, DVONN, Fjords, YINSH, PUNCT

Links
Abstract Gamer Podcast
Play YINSH Online
Play PUNCT Online
Boîte à jeux
Boardspace

GIPF image by fehrmeister