2017- 10 by 10

It's the last day of 2017 so it seems only fitting that we have a bit of a retrospective of the year.

Using the BG Stats app I have been diligently recording all our plays on we review the year in gaming for us including some facts and figures from a years worth of data, our progress in our 10 by 10 challenge (a year long challenge to play 10 games 10 times), and some of our gaming highlights for the year.


We also talk about the many games we have been lucky enough to play over the last week with friends and family including Werewords, Junk Art, Deception Murder in Hong Kong, Ex Libris, Schotten-Totten, Ticket to Ride First Journey and Rhino Hero Super Battle.

We also announce the winner of our star realms competition so make sure you listen right till the end of the episode to find out the winner!

Thanks for Listening to us this year! We have really enjoyed recording the podcast and we hope you continue to listen in the new year!

Happy Holidays

Christmas is tomorrow! We will be spending it with Kelly's family so this week we have been catching up with all our friends, exchanging gifts and eating food. So much food.

Since we (I) have no patience we have already opened a few gifts which just so happened to be board games!

This week we are discussing the board game gifts we have given and received- and now even played including Celestia, Scythe, Flick 'Em Up: Dead of Winter and Letters to Santa.

We also discuss the etiquette of playing games you have given someone as a gift.



Remember there is still time to enter our competition to win Star Realms, you have three ways to enter:

• Email us at boardgamesinbed@gmail.com saying "I want to win Star Realms"
• Like and Share our post on facebook - www.facebook.com/boardgamesinbed
• Like and Retweet our post on twitter - https://twitter.com/boardgamesinbed

We will be drawing the winner on next weeks episode on 31st December 2017.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Family Games

You may have noticed its Christmas time! And as well as the food, drink and general merriment another fortunate side affect of the holiday period is that its pretty much mandatory for families to play board games.

Over the last week we have found ourselves playing a lot of family friendly board games. As a result this week we are talking about family games, what makes a good family game, what types of family game there are as well as discussing a few of our favourites! 

As well as family board games we had an eventful game of Battlestar Galactica and beat the clock playing Escape the Room: Secret of Dr Gravely’s Retreat which we discuss (no spoilers).

Finally, we are in the giving mood and are holding a competition to win a copy of one of our favourite games - Star Realms!

There are three ways to enter (and you are welcome to enter all three ways!)

• Like and Share the post on Facebook, just visit our facebook page for details
• Like and Retweet the post of Twitter
• Send us an email saying 'I want to win Star Realms' to boardgamesinbed@gmail.com

We will be drawing a winner in the new year - good luck!

If you want to listen to more great podcasts check out insidevoicesnetwork.com

Team Building

If you have ever worked within a team (especially if you also work for a large corporation) its likely you may have had to attend some form of team building event designed to help you work better with your colleagues.

Having just joined the team Kelly's manager was keen to run such an event but fortunately for Kelly - she wanted to do with board games!

This week we discuss what games you could use for this and how effective we think board games are for team building and team bonding.



We also have our usual discussion about games we have played this week including our favourite Christmas Game - 12 Days and our favourite puzzle games - Sagrada and NMBR 9.

Follow us on social media to catch up with us in the week and check out insidevoicesnetwork.com for more great podcasts.

Also a reminder that next weeks episode will be a day late as we are away for the weekend!

The Gift of Board Games

It can be difficult deciding what to buy for people for Christmas.

You want to get something that someone is going to like and appreciate but sometimes what that thing isn't completely obvious. I'm guilty of buying more than my fair share of novelty tat - useless gadgets, books that just have funny titles, I've even brought someone nothing before.

Something I do feel confident buying people however, is board games. I love selecting something I think they will like and know that is going to played and enjoyed over and over.

But is that confidence misplaced? We discuss whether you should buy people board games, and if you do - what games should you get them.



We also discuss what we have been playing this week including Descent, Tokaido and Android Netrunner with some mixed opinions about those games.

If you have any Christmas present suggestions let us know on social media - we are on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you are curious whats on my Christmas wishlist check it out here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/printview/3HWC04GPGFBPM

Also check out insidevoicenetwork.com for more great podcasts!

Party Time!

It should be no surprise that in my eyes, parties are just another golden opportunity to play some board games!

But parties often have large numbers of people, there is  often drinking involved, maybe some food to be found somewhere and lots of people to chat too. All these factors can make finding a game to play a little tricky. 

But where there is a will there is a way, and that way is Party games! 

We discuss what we think makes a good party game (and what doesn't) and give a couple examples of some of our favourite games including talking about some that we got to play at an actual party the night before.

As always we also discuss the games we have been playing this week including Province, Saboteur 2 and New Angeles in particular if some of those games have some superfluous roles!

Keep up with us the rest of the week by following us on social media - find links at the bottom of the page and check out the Inside Voices Network for other podcasts at insidevoicenetwork.com.

Board Game Sommelier

You get into the hobby, you start to amass games, you form a gaming group, maybe even start a podcast. At some point your friends and family notice you have a new hobby and they have questions.

If you are lucky one of those question is 'What board game would you recommend playing?'

Suddenly all those hours you spent playing games, watching youtube reviews and reading blog posts  have paid off. You scour your collection looking for that perfect game that's going to grab them and make a gamer of them too...

Or you just pull out pandemic because that's the gateway game that got you hooked. Either way.

This week we discuss the art of recommending board games for others. What factors do you take into consideration and is it even possible to predict what someone is going to enjoy if they have never played a modern board game?



We also discuss some of the games we have been playing this week including the Goonies Adventure card game, Pandemic and Werewords.

If you have any recommendations for games or thoughts on what we discussed feel free to leave comments below or contact us on social media - we love hearing from you guys! Links to all our Social media can be found to the right!

Also remember to check out the Inside Voices Network www.insidevoicesnetwork.com for links to more great shows!

Negotiation Games

I'm not what you would call 'a haggler'. I'm not confident enough to push for a good deal on something and I'm much happier to go with whats on the table than to face awkwardness and confrontation by trying to negotiate for more.

But board games are all about escaping reality and despite my poor skill in real life I happen to really enjoy negotiation games. This week we were lucky enough to play two great ones - New Angeles and Chinatown.

We discuss how these games use negotiation in there game-play, as well a comparing how real life negotiation skills compare to their board game counterparts. 



We also discuss some of the other games we have been playing this week including Go Nuts for Donuts, New York Slice and One Night Ultimate Alien.

There are also details of the Inside Voices Network competition to win a copy of Stop Theif, to enter just tweet a #SleepyBandit picture to @InsideVoicesNet. To enter multiple times check out the other podcasts in the network at Insidevoicesnetwork.com.

If you want to catch up with us during the rest of the week check out the links to our social media.

Social Gaming

Unless you are a solo gamer, board gaming is quite a social hobby. It provides a shared experience that can be the centre piece of a social get-together.

But when your hobby is board games and a lot of your friends are 'gamers' sometimes it can feel like board gaming is the only way you socialise.

In this weeks episode we discuss some of the pros and cons of socialising around board games and question if its something we do too much of?



We also discuss some of the games we played in what turned out to be quite a social week, including the Great Dinosaur Rush, Oh My Goods, Kingdom Builder and Star Realms.

Keep in touch with us during the week by visiting out social media (links at the side of the page) or check out insidevoicesnetwork.com for more great podcasts.

Can board games be Scary?

Last Halloween we threw a Board Game Halloween party. I gathered up any games we had with monsters, zombies, murder or ghosts in and we had a day just playing these 'scary' games!

Everyone had a lot of fun and good time had by all but - at no point do I believe anyone was genuinely scared of these games we were playing. Despite hoards of zombies, murdering hotel guests and hidden traitors these 'scary' board games all failed to scare us.

Personally I don't think the designers of these games were going for fear and that's fair enough, but there is something weirdly enjoyable about being scared for entertainment, that's why so many people go to theme parks, watch horror movies or jump out of planes.

This week we discuss if its possible, or desirable, for a board game to be truely scary.



As always we also discuss the games we have been playing this week including the potentially scary Dead of Winter and the definitely not scary Rhino Hero Super Battle.

Keep in touch with us during the week by visiting out social media (links at the side of the page) or check out insidevoicesnetwork.com for more great podcasts.

Also check out the We're Not Wizards podcast, we were pleased to be invited on as guests this week where we discussed a bit of our gaming history as well as what games we would want in a zombie apocalypse.  https://werenotwizards.podbean.com/e/boardgamesinbed/

Sportsmanship

Its not about the winning, its the taking part that counts!

With board gaming, I genuinely believe that's true. I usually consider a day spent gaming as a day well spent regardless of the outcomes of the games played.

But sometimes... just sometimes, we can all get a little bit too wrapped up in the game. We might gloat a little too much about our glorious victory or find ourselves sulking over a crushing defeat. 

Having played so many games together Kelly and I have both experienced less than sporting behaviour from the other.

This week we discuss how we can be better winners and losers, and what makes a sore loser or bad winner in the first place. 

We also have our weekly discussion on games we have played this week, including our final thoughts on BLANK, as well as getting the chance to play some of our favourite games One Night Ultimate Werewolf and Isle of Skye.

If you want to hear more from us in the week, check out our links to our social media pages below and if you have the time, we really would appreciate it if you could leave us a review on iTunes.

Battlestar Galactica

I don't like to play favourites with my games. I have lots of different games I like for lots of different situations.

But... if I had to pick, Battlestar Galactica would be up there. I've probably played it over 20 times, and given each game takes 3-5 hours, that means I've spent about 4 whole days of my life playing. That's a pretty glorious long weekend.

BSG is an older game (so old its currently out of print) but it is a classic. An epic space pursuit, pitting humans against hidden Cylons. It's got politics, space battles and a brig. Other than in Monopoly, in how many other games can you send your opponents to jail? Can the humans survive and reach their destination or can the Cylons defeat them before they get there?

Our good friend Chris has even stronger feelings about BSG than us, and just last week we completed his legacy variant. Played over multiple games, it follows the 4 seasons of the show, and when characters die in the game they are gone for the rest of the game (unless they are Cylons - because as you know there are multiple copies!) It seemed like the perfect time to have him on the podcast to discuss all things BSG.




We will be back to our normal format next week, but if you want to keep up with us in the mean time we have links to all our social media at the bottom of the page, and check out www.insidevoicenetwork.com for podcasts that probably aren't covering BSG!

Cult of the new... to me

Before we start, this weeks pillow talk topic was completely stolen from a blog post I recently read, by Dave Roy. Go check it out here (and the rest of his blog "Dude, Take Your Turn").

In his article he discusses how he doesn't really feel like he belongs to the "Cult of the New" - that brand of board gamer that keeps up with all the latest releases and only plays the new hotness, but instead reserves his excitement for board games he has recently discovered regardless if they were released in 2017 or 1977 (Cosmic Encounter anyone?)

Having limited funds, I definitely find myself a member of this cult and a happy one at that. I can get all the thrill and excitement of playing a new game, but know that it must be good enough to have stood the test of time.. something I could not guarantee if I only purchased new releases.

We explore this concept and discuss what might make a gamer crave new games and also why might we want to play old favourites.



As always we also discuss what we played in the week including old classics Survive Escape from Atlantis, Incan Gold and Harry Potter Clue(do); and so-new-its-not-been-released yet Blank.

Until next week catch up with us on social media - just use the links at the bottom of the page to find us, or if you want to find more great board gaming podcasts checkout insidevoicesnetwork.com.

Lets all Co-operate

As you know from last week I was ill,  and the house is upside-down because we are decorating and it was Kelly's birthday- so we had to celebrate that about 3 times. All these factors added up to very little gaming time so our list of games this week was pitifully short.

I was however able to catch up with a lot of gaming podcasts last week, so in light of International Podcast Day which was the day before this episode released I thought I would do a round up of some of the many gaming podcasts I listen to, including our fellow inside voices podcasts The Five By, Greatway Games and Ding and Dent as well as many more!

 

For Pillow talk this week we discuss Co-operative games and have a think about why we like them, how does luck in co-op games affect our enjoyment and what we think of the alpha gamer issue and Kelly asks the question - is a co-op still a co-op if you play it solo? 

If you want to hear more from us in the week the check us our on our social media using the links at the bottom of the page. Also this week we will be on the Botch Games Podcast (Episode 78 I believe) so check that out too!

Also check out www.insidevoicesnetwork.com for other awesome podcasts!

Back and sicklier than ever!

We have been away for two long weeks but now we are back! We are been away on our honeymoon to California which was amazing, so amazing we didn't actually have time for any games on our travels! (except Star Realms - there is always time for Star Realms).

You might think that didn't leave us a lot to talk about but fortunately we had had a couple of gaming sessions just before we left so we cast our minds back to two weeks ago and discussed those games instead. This episode we discuss  Arboretum, Bohnanza, Liars Dice and Paperback as well as a couple of IOS games. (This is a link to the poorly titled The Game app I was talking about)

 

As you might be able to tell from my voice I'm a little bit under the weather at the moment, so my energy levels didn't quite stretch to a pillow talk but we do go off on quite a few tangents this week such as my mothers favourite word games, the practicality of playing games on a plane and the terrifying prospect of all you games being stacked on top of each other and the potential crushing that could occur!

However if that wasn't enough BGIB for you can always follow us on social media - just use the links at the bottom of the page.

Also we are now a proud member of the Inside Voices network, so check out the website www.insidevoicesnetwork.com for more awesome podcasts!
 

Going Mainstream

It's easy to forget when you are heavily involved in the hobby that what you are doing is still fairly niche. Most people people think of the Beatles when they hear Ticket to Ride and a fortified french town when they think of Carcassonne. Board games to the masses are playing monopoly at Christmas or playing snakes and ladders as a kid.

This week we discuss in that perception will ever change, and if hobby games will ever break into the mainstream like video games have done and the factors that might be stopping that from happening now. As well as the things that are being done right now to tackle these issues, including the current indigogo campaign from Dized.



We also have our usual discussion of games we have played this week including Arctic Scavengers and Star Realms, and what it feels like to find you have been playing a rule wrong in a game after 30+ plays!

We also have a big announcement this week! We have joined the Inside Voices Network, a network of other board gaming podcast. We were so flattered to be asked to join, being fans of all three other shows in the network: Ding and Dent, the Five By and Greatway Games. All the shows are different from each other and different from a lot of the other podcasts out there. We recommend checking them out if you haven't already!

We are now going away for 2 weeks so the next full episode won't be until 24th September, in the mean time catch up with us on the social media platform of your choosing - just use the links at the bottom of the page, you will find us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or you can always email us at boardgamesinbed@gmail.com. We love receiving your emails!

Consumable Games

Believe it or not, we don't often plan what our pillow talk is going to be until the day before the episode (sometimes not even until just before we start recording!) but this week we found ourselves playing both Exit the game and T.I.M.E stories. Two games which both have the unusual feature of being designed to be played only once. So it seemed only fitting that we based this weeks episode on this particular mechanic.

In this episode we discuss some of the different ways these types of games are implemented. If this type of game offers value for money and if it would ever be worth playing them again.



Also in case you were wondering, we stole the term Consumable Games from the king of Consumable Games, Rob Daviau, inventor of Legacy games, who was on the excellent Creators Cast podcast this week. I highly recommend you give it a listen!

We also discuss the other games we played  this week including Castles of Mad King Ludwig and Star Realms, as well as revisiting some games we have recently discussed - Go Nuts for Donuts (episode 17) and A Dogs Life (episode 16).

We hope you enjoy this weeks episode and if you want to get in contact with us then please use links to our social media/ email below, and if you have a moment please leave us a review on iTunes - it helps people find us and we love hearing from you!

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Kickstarter

If you have a computer and you enjoy playing board games chances are you are at least aware of kickstarter. Even if you haven't ever backed a project you may find you have a game in your collections whose origins being there.

The crowdfunding platform has allowed game designers a new way of realising their designs without having to have a large amount of capital up from or needing a publisher to release their games. It's so popular in the hobby, that some of the highest funded kickstarters of all time have been board games.

In this weeks episode we barely scratch the surface of this topic, instead focusing on our experiences and opinions.



 We discuss our two latest Kickstarter games to arrive - Go Nuts for Donuts (delicious fun) and Tiny Epic Quest (where we some how forget to mention the coolest thing about the game - the ITEMeeples, seriously look them up!).

We also discuss some Kickstarter games we own but didn't back - but just happened to have played at the games day we had last week- Blood Rage, Burgle Bros. and Sagrada as well as the excellent Great Western Trail.

We hope you enjoy this weeks episode and if you want to get in contact with us then please use links to our social media/ email below, and if you have a moment please leave us a review on iTunes - it helps people find us and we love hearing from you!

Our first review

When Kelly and I started the podcast, it was just to have a place to talk about our experiences playing games and just another way of become even more immersed in the board gaming hobby. We have both treated it more as an audio diary, that hopefully people enjoy listening too, so we were surprised to be approached about reviewing a game and were excited to try something different!

This week's podcast is a little different to our normal format. Pillow talk has been temporarily  replaced by our first attempt at an actual review of a game, though we do have a little discussion about how this is different to the way we normally talk about games and the different considerations we made.


We will be back to normal format next week. If you have any ideas for things you would like to hear us talk about on the podcast please contact us on twitter, facebook or via email - links to all our social media are at the bottom of the page!

Let's get this website started!

OK, so I'm a little late with this as the podcast has been going for over 3 months now, but going forward I will be posting on here along with each episode, and maybe a few one off posts - who knows!

This site is designed to be a one stop shop for all things related to the Board Games in Bed podcast. You can also find out a bit more about us on this site and find links to our social media from here.

If you haven't listened to this weeks podcast already check it out:

This week we are discussing different types of non competitive board games.

If you have just found this site and have never listened to us before, why not start with our very first episode to find out a little bit more about us:


If you enjoy the podcast - why not subscribe! We are on iTunes and Stitcher- just search for Board Games in Bed in your preferred podcast app!