Episode 222 up.

Is FTB turning into a board game podcast? Only one way to find out...

On the topic of the overlap inter-connectedness between roleplayers and boardgamers I think that many roleplayers are (or will be) boardgamers. While not quite as many boardgamers are (or will become) roleplayers.

And the reason that long-time roleplayers are "discovering" boardgames more recently is probably because their popularity have increased a lot lately. It might be that I am more in tune with boardgaming these days (because I too discovered it) but those gateway games like Carcassonne and Catan didn't exist ten years ago.

Before those most of my "boardgaming" was playing dungeon crawling miniature games (and Blood Bowl). I think that the exposure of "good" boardgames have increased a lot lately and I don't think that the upcoming generation will have the same "roll and move"-bias that many people have today.

Then of course on the other side of the spectrum you have the roleplaying hobby going further and further into the niche. So it really stands to reason that many roleplayers who may "grow out of" roleplaying (by no longer having the time/wanting to invest the time that it takes to roleplay) are easily drawn in by boardgames because they have the same "interacting and having fun with friends" factor.as roleplaying games do. (and you actually can have a two-month long break from boardgaming and not "kill the campaign off")


Also Power Boats is a fun game. As is Formula D. And also Snow Tails. It's crazy how much I like these "racing mechanic" games but I have yet to own a single one of them.

EDIT: Alright I just checked and Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne did exist ten years ago. But I'm pretty certain they weren't in a lot of toy stores back then as they are nowadays.

First of all, I think the timing on dropping this episode was great. Stepping away from talking about RPGs to talk about approaching board games as roleplayers (which is what I got out of it) is a great diversion.

Dan, if your family is into trivia games you may want to look into a game called Bezzerwizzer. It takes a pretty traditional "answer question, score points" game, but it introduces a bit of strategy and some tactics.

Basically, every turn you or your team draws four tiles out of a bag, those tiles will give you your question categories. Then you will place those tiles on your tableau with places numbered 1-4. The question asked of you based on your category tile on position 1 will be worth one point, the second position worth 2 points, and so on. So your team has to prioritize categories in order of what they think they have a better chance of answering.

In addition every team has another set of tiles that allow them to swap tiles with other teams, or allowing them to answer another team's question.

The trivia aspect of the game is very traditional, but the outlying strategies will have them on the road to hobby board games without them even knowing it.

As far as an intro co-op games goes, I'd probably take Jeff's suggestion one step further and go with Forbidden Island, Matt Leacock's follow up to Pandemic. It struck me as a good deal more accessible than Pandemic in both theme and rules, although I think Pandemic is the better game if you're an experienced gamer.

Yaay! Another reference to me!

I'm starting to feel like people might enjoy my company here.

Seriously though, I'm listening to the episode now, and I am very very enjoying it muchly. Though it is getting near the end (About 12 minutes) and I haven't heard anyone mention possibly the greatest board game ever.

Betrayal At the House on the Hill.

That's what I would introduce people to, also it is the board game that everyone, even the miserable epic losers, can enjoy. And it has SO MANY PIECES, but the best part? You only use X pieces per game. And it is a game that in theory you can literally play forever.

Just my thoughts.

Just an addendum. Here's a "boardgame" that's really, IMO, a wargame: All Things Zombie. And it's RPG-able, too.

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I hear the new version moved the pool out of the attic.

And into the library?

No no, basement.

Our group started on board games, back in 1979, so I am talking about Risk (of course).

One of our friends, who hasn't RP'ed in 25 years or more, recently mentioned having a Risk party.

I've been wanting to get a good board game to play for weeks when no DM is available. I lucked into a copy of Catan, but I haven't been able to play it yet - or get many people interested.
Ravenloft might be a better bet.

If you're trying to replace your RP fix via board games, Descent is another good pick.