#345: Essen SPIEL 2025 Hype List

#345: Essen SPIEL 2025 Hype List

Author: Board Game Barrage October 16, 2025 Duration: 58:41

Not perturbed by Kellen's trip to Germany, we're all daydreaming about the motherlode of board game conventions, Essen SPIEL. There's a lot of games coming to the show, and because we're not going, and presumably you aren't either, we'll just tell you what's going to be there instead! The good stuff, anyway. Before we Germinate, we talk about Calimala, Tír na nÓg, and Typewriter.

02:42 - Calimala
09:42 - Tír na nÓg
16:15 - Typewriter
26:15 - Essen SPIEL 2025 Preview
28:49 - Mission: Red Planet (Third Edition)
31:18 - The Other Side of the Hill
33:29 - Severton
36:12 - Harvest Valley
38:11 - Pulitzer
39:26 - Echoes of Time
41:14 - Oopsie
42:55 - Feya's Swamp
43:46 - Baghdad: The City of Peace
45:25 - Ghost Lift
48:07 - Coming of Age
49:33 - The Presence
51:50 - Carnival of Sins
53:37 - The Republic of Rome: Remastered
55:22 - Theocratia

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Board Game Barrage is a weekly conversation with Kellen, Neilan, Mark, and Christina that feels like pulling up a chair at a lively game night. The discussion centers on the board games they’ve actually been playing, from the newest releases causing a stir to older titles that deserve another look. You’ll hear their distinct personalities and opinions clash and align as they debate strategies, dissect mechanics, and share those memorable, often hilarious moments that happen around the table. This isn’t a formal review show, but a genuine chronicle of their hobby. The heart of the podcast lies in its focus on the social experience of gaming-how to navigate different player styles, keep the atmosphere positive, and ultimately enjoy the company and the competition, regardless of who comes out on top. It’s about the shared stories that emerge from a box of cardboard and wood. Each episode is a deep dive into what makes games fun, frustrating, and fascinating, delivered with a blend of enthusiasm and friendly critique. Tune in to Board Game Barrage for an authentic, unscripted look at the modern board gaming landscape through the eyes of four dedicated friends who love to talk about what they play.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Board Game Barrage
Podcast Episodes
#328: Anticipation Auction: Games of 2025 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:14:29
Okay, pay attention, this is gonna be different! We're looking at the rest of 2025, deciding what we think the most well received games of the year are going to be - but then we're going to be bidding on them, auction st…
#327: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2024: 10-1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:31:45
It's finally time to cap it all off with the cream of the cream, Mark and Neilan's final set of ten games each! These are the games that we think are the pinnacle of our respective tastes, that we'd never turn down, that…
#326: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2024: Neilan's 30-11 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:12
Neilan's back to continue the journey down the lazy river of cardboard that is his top 50 board games of all time. It's games 30 through 11! I just counted, and that's twenty amazing games that I can't wait to tell you a…
#325: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2024: Mark's 30-11 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:36
And back to Mark! It's the soggy middle of his top 50, or as he insists on calling it, his numbers 30 through 11. That is twenty more delicious games, and he's here to tell you all about them while we continue to berate…
#324: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2024: Neilan's 50-31 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:25
It's meeeeeeeeeee! So if you care to find my top 50 list, look right here. The first twenty incredible games on the list that early critics are calling "surprisingly tasteful" and "delightfully roomy" is finally yours to…
#323: Top 50 Games of All-Time 2024: Mark's 50-31 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:54
It's time! The grand spectacle that is our greatest games of all time is here at last! We're breaking things out a bit differently this year, so Mark's taking center stage while Kellen & Neilan mock his choices. It's the…
#322: And What a Year It's Been [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:16
As we approach the end of 2024, it's about time we stop, take stock, and dare I say look back at the year that's been. The highs, the lows, the mids - all the stars are here, and we're going to break them down for you wi…
#321: Fire Away, Ghost Turkey [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:33
Gobble Bobble, here comes trouble in the form of a pairing we never thought we'd see - Bob and the Ghost Turkey have delivered us another holiday nightmare. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Before we tuck in, we talk about…
#320: We Played A Clump of Games! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:23:32
We've been to Las Vegas and back for the very unofficial recurring gathering we like to call BarrageCon (which is really just all of us hanging out at Mark's place). We had a lot of games lined up to play, and I daresay…
#319: One Exception To Rule Them All [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:01
I think it's fair to say at this point, that we've pretty firmly established each of our respective tastes when it comes to board games, whether it's for genre, theme, mechanic, whatever. There's always something, though…