Talk Cardboard

Zoe Bee, Race to the Raft, Ra, Obsession

It’s time to get schooled! Always wanted to say that and finally I have a good reason because today’s guest on the show is none other than Zoe Bee who’ll teach us about board games as educational tools.
Oh but wait, there’s also board game reviews. A hot new release that asks us to save cats (again) - Race to the Raft, a hot old classic that’s got a shiny new coat - Ra, and a hot hidden gem that we finally got around to playing - Obsession.
If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded
On to the timestamps:
00:00 Cold Open
3:01 Audience Correspondence - NPI Geometry
8:28 Race to the Raft
31:08 Audience Correspondence - Hidden Movement
33:24 Ra
45:59 Board Game Education with Zoe Bee
1:12:47 Obsession: Pride, Intrigue, and Prejudice in Victorian England

Trailblazers, Isle of Trains: All Aboard, Beast

Everybody always says, “Talk Cardboard is paving the way in board game podcasting!” and this episode it’s certainly true. We have biking, hiking, kayaking, train-ing, and hunting (along routes), which is the most path in any board game podcast ever.
On today’s episode we’ll cover the cute but deadly Trailblazers, the old fashioned but sleek Isle of Trains and the gorgeous, voluptuous and strange Beast.
If you have personal experiences to share about any games discussed in this episode or any topic that's dear to your heart - we’d love to hear from you. Please write to: elaine@nopunincluded.com
If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded
On to the timestamps:
6:12 Audience Correspondence: Methods of Teaching Games
9:32 Trailblazers
29:53 Isle of Trains: All Aboard
47:11 Audience Correspondence: Imperial Onions
52:26 Beast
1:17:15 Elaine hates Hidden Movement games

Undaunted: Battle of Britain, Hamlet, Autobahn

Sometimes you sit down to play some board games for a future podcast episode and you find yourself not particularly digging any of them? It happens. It’s a thing. It could happen to you. This week it happened to us.
Whilst we weren’t especially jazzed about Hamlet, didn’t find Undaunted: Battle of Britain worth the trouble and at least one of us really didn’t get on with Autobahn, that doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t like them either. Or maybe you’ve already played them and disagree - dear listener, you should write in.
If you have personal experiences to share about any games discussed in this episode or any topic that's dear to your heart - we’d love to hear from you. Please write to: elaine@nopunincluded.com
If you’d like to check out our bonus episodes - become a patreon supporter on https://patreon.com/nopunincluded
On to the timestamps:
5:55 Audience Correspondence: Past Games
10:21 Undaunted: Battle of Britain
33:44 Hamlet
46:17 Audience Correspondence: How do you learn games?
51:07 Autobahn

Next Station: London, Skymines, Maquis

Welcome back, welcome back, it’s like we’ve never been gone. After a brief interruption Talk Cardboard returns to your ears and consequentially to your brains to deliver all the board game that it needs.
Today’s brain ticklers include drawing a map of the London Underground in Next Station: London, a dose of helium 3 in Skymines and some good ol’ fashioned resisting in Maquis
If you have personal experiences to share about any games discussed in this episode or any topic that's dear to your heart - we’d love to hear from you. Please write to: elaine@nopunincluded.com
On to the timestamps:
2:12 Audience Correspondence – Crispy Pancake Foods
10:37 Next Station: London
28:39 Skymines
58:36 Audience Correspondence - Board Game Canon
1:08:26 Maquis

Sadly, an Interruption

Oh dear, oh dear, it looks like this week's episode is missing. We'll resume our schedule next week. Until then!

Distilled, Worldbreakers, Res Arcana

Every Talk Cardboard episode is a journey, and in this episode that journey is competitive card games, competitive card games with engine building and destroying the engine with hard alcohol (not necessarily in that order).
Today we’re taking a look at Distilled, an aspirational game about being a small time distillerer in a world of big alcohol, Wordlbreakers: Advent of the Khanate, a magic the gatheringalike card battler that’s punching very far above its weight and Res Arcana, a distillation (no pun intended) of Race for the Galaxy style card engine building with the world’s smolest deck.
If you have personal experiences to share about any games discussed in this episode or any topic that's dear to your heart - we’d love to hear from you. Please write to: elaine@nopunincluded.com
On to the timestamps:
4:14 Audience Correspondence – Past Games
23:13 Res Arcana
42:25 Worldbreakers: Advent of the Khanate
1:03:05 Distilled
You can find the study on game component rolling probabilities here https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/12119/components-dice-tossing-meeples-houses

Adrian Tchaikovsky, Horseless Carriage, Rolling Heights, Ginkgopolis

Building building building. If you like building (or buildings) you will enjoy at least one of the board games covered in this episode in which you build buildings, buildings and also cars. How's that for a build up? No? Let me construct some clarity.
Today we'll talk about Ginkgopolis, a tile laying city building classic hidden gem, Rolling Heights, a city building game where you roll meeples and Horseless Carriage, a car constructing game from famed board game publisher Splotter Spellen. And finally, a real treat, an interview with famed speculative fiction author Adrian Tchaikovsky who reveals which modern board games he wrote into his novels.
If you have personal experiences to share about any games discussed in this episode or any topic that's dear to your heart - we’d love to hear from you. Please write to: elaine@nopunincluded.com
On to the timestamps:
2:49 Audience Correspondence – Past Games
18:04 Ginkgopolis
34:48 Rolling Heights
52:40 Interview – Adrian Tchaikovsky
1:08:09 This is the timestamp to avoid the spoilery question (it will make sense when you listen)
1:15:53 Horseless Carriage

Carnegie, Whaler Riders, Wir Sind Das Volk!

Has it been two weeks already? Time flies when you’re reviewing board games. Or when you’re riding whales for that matter. In real life and also in the game! Does it fly when you’re under Soviet occupation or working for Mr. Carnegie? Who’s to say, but we can at least tell you whether the games based on these events and/or entities are any good and/or bad.
If you have personal experiences to share about any games discussed in this episode or any topic that's dear to your heart - we’d love to hear from you. Please write to: elaine@nopunincluded.com
On to the timestamps:
8:57 Wir Sind Das Volk!
30:17 Whale Riders
40:38 Audience Correspondence: Fueling Consumerism
1:01:12 Carnegie