I don’t know about you, but when I pack for a trip, there’s no extra room in my luggage for anything. My guest on this episode, Jeremy Ward, apparently doesn’t have that problem. Through our work together, he and I have traveled to attend a couple of events together. Both times he’s shown up with a collection of board games in tow. A practice I may need to copy moving forward.
Jeremy is the biggest boardgame fan I know. In this episode, we talk about games, games, and more games. To be a little more specific, we talk about game design, game mechanics, different game types, backing games on Kickstarter, and a bit more about games in general. If you haven’t caught on, this episode is all about games!
The two games I’ve been playing recently with my family are Castle Panic & Azul. Both are a lot of fun!
At the end of the episode, I asked Jeremy for recommendations of some games that would be a good introduction into the newer style of games being produced. Here’s his list:
“Classic” games for newer gamers – these are well-known introductions to some of the concepts and mechanics of euro-style games:
- Carcassonne (tile placement/area control)
- Ticket to Ride (network building/set collection)
- Settlers of Catan (hand management/negotiation)
- Dominion (deck building)
- Pandemic (cooperative, hand management/point-to-point movement)
More recent, lighter games great for families and new gamers:
- Santorini (abstract strategy – grid movement/tile placement)
- Splendor (card drafting/set collection)
- Azul (pattern building, set collection)
“Modern Classics” for introducing newer gamers:
- Agricola (worker placement, card drafting, variable player powers)
- Lords of Waterdeep (worker placement)
- Viticulture (work placement, hand management)
- Orléans (pool building, worker placement)
