Draft Mechanic

Jake and Danielle talk about their latest board gaming experiences, delicious craft beer, and find any opportunity to join the two together.

#124: Return of the Randowriters 09/07/2020

#124: Return of the Randowriters Roll ‘em! It’s time for another round-up of Randowriters, still the hottest craze in lil’ games with pencils, pens, dice and cards. We’ve got four of ‘em (one is an app). Oh, and just in case you don’t want to be random, we’re also talking about the new word deduction game Decipher. Plus a few Kickstarter notes, Danielle talks about some data gathered from the Untappd “At Home” venue, and our community chimes in on games that were a pleasant surprise. Thanks for tuning in! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/15914801

#123: Bargain Quest 08/24/2020

#123: Bargain Quest I sure hope you like value! In this episode of Draft Mechanic, you get not just ONE game in the feature segment, but ONE and a half! An expansion too! That’s such a steal! But don’t steal Bargain Quest. But if you want to steal, your dexterity is probably high? Right? Is that a good segue to three games that have dexterity or physical mechanics? I don’t know. But we talk about CTRL, Megacity Oceania, and Flash 8. And, as an added value, Danielle’s going to tell you about Sorachi Ace hops! WHAT A DEA /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/15726944

#122: Hats & Chai 08/10/2020

#122: Hats & Chai Hope you’re thirsty, because it’s tea time! We’re maneuvering hat cards in teams or individually in Hats, we’re opening our own tea shops in Chai, and… ok, that’s where the tea metaphors run dry. In other recent plays, we go back to 2006 for Arkadia and back current for Traintopia, and Danielle talks about Sabro hops, one of the trendiest hops going in the biz today. Ok, so there’s not really an overarching theme for this episode. Let that one simmer for a bit. /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/15546569

#121: High Rise 07/27/2020

#121: High Rise Your eyes don’t deceive you, it is for sure a new episode of Draft Mechanic! Thanks so much for sticking with us, and we’re glad to bring you a feature review of High Rise, the latest from Gil Hova’s Formal Ferret Games. In recent plays, we roll, we write, we roar, we stay cool, and we move a wooden pig around a wheel. We hope you’re doing ok out there in podcast land, and thank you for welcoming us back for another round! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/15361448

#120: Mystery House 04/21/2020

#120: Mystery House #stayhome and play some of these mysterious games about houses! It wasn’t intentional, we swear. Mystery House, CYOA: House of Danger and Captive all take place in houses. And the Crusoe Crew - well, it starts at home, so that qualifies too. Seriously though, we hope you’re doing well out there in podcast listener land. Stay healthy & wash your hands! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/14077256

#119: In the Hall of the Mountain King 04/07/2020

#119: In the Hall of the Mountain King Hello again! In this new era of staying at home, why not make that home in a mountain? We’re excavating a mountain cave in our feature review today with In the Hall of the Mountain King. It’s the formation of economy in Lions of Lydia, building a city in Zoned Out, and Felix the Cat in the Sack is also in this sentence. No pun there, sorry. Danielle discusses Mosaic hops, and Jake asked the slack about House Rules back when we were allowed out of our houses. Wash your hands and stay home. /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/13882037

#118: Mechanica 03/05/2020

#118: Mechanica It’s episode beep, beep boop! Or rather, 118, in which we talk about Mechanica, and the bots we make along the way. Plus: Drawing in Draw Your Own Conclusions, Continenting in Ecos: First Continent; and racing down Thunder Alley. Danielle’s hop of choice this episode is Galaxy, and listeners chime in on how they cull their collection. Beep boop! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/13420991

#117: Atlantis Rising 02/20/2020

#117: Atlantis Rising Do you think you have what it takes to save the people of Atlantis from the wrath of the Gods? No? Well, how about in a co-operative worker placement game? We sure hope so because we’re going to talk about Atlantis Rising from Elf Creek Games. We’ve got a pair of Kickstarter previews: Gorinto and Tumble Town, plus we talk about The Isle of Cats. Danielle’s hop primer is about Huell Melon today, and that’s what you’ll get in jam-packed episode 117! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/13227713

#116: The Taverns of Tiefenthal 02/06/2020

#116: The Taverns of Tiefenthal It’s an early episode of the year, and that apparently means a Wolfgang Warsch game! Today we sidle up to the Taverns of Tiefenthal and talk about Warsch’s latest big box game from North Star Games. Also we’re playing the new Azul spinoff, the randowriter Dizzle, and then go back into the Carcazone with the Hunters & Gatherers standalone game. Enjoy! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/13040006

#115: PAX Unplugged & 2020 Convention Outlook! 01/23/2020

#115: PAX Unplugged & 2020 Convention Outlook! Hey, we promised a PAX episode and here it is! There’s a big ol’ list of games we played, and we just got some of them in this episode. Look for more as we work into some reviews in the next few episodes! Danielle also continues on her hop research trek with Columbus, the workhorse of bitterness. Enjoy and say hi on the internet if you enjoyed today’s episode! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/12857486

#114: 2019 In Review 01/06/2020

#114: 2019 In Review Oh hi there! Good to see you again! We’re back from our 2019 Winter Break and ready to talk about our favorites of the year. We’ve got our usual superlative categories, our favorite beers of 2019, and our six favorite games of last year to serve up for you. Thanks so much for sticking around, we’re excited to be back for the first episode of 2020! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/12629372

Draft Mechanic's 2019 Winter Break! 12/02/2019

Draft Mechanic's 2019 Winter Break! Hey all! We're taking a little winter break. Here's what to expect throughout December. See you at PAX Unplugged! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/12242489

SPOILER EPISODE OMEGA: T.I.M.E Stories, Madame 11/19/2019

SPOILER EPISODE OMEGA: T.I.M.E Stories, Madame In this spoiler-filled episode of Draft Mechanic, we look back on the final TIME Stories scenario of the “White Cycle,” Madame. If you listened to our review/discussion in Episode 100, you might know how this one turns out. We have mostly everyone from Team Alpha and Team Beta here for this discussion that clocks in just over an hour. /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/12089336

#113: Fantastic Factories 11/04/2019

#113: Fantastic Factories Factories are all about efficiency, and this episode is gonna be an efficient punch of board game info! We’re reviewing Fantastic Factories in the feature segment, we’ve got the beer pairings as we do; plus a pack of others: Haven, Cartographers and Trapwords! Danielle dives in to the Hop Primers with a look at Cascade hops. Let’s go! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/11893817

#112: Tapestry review & on tap; Escape Tales: The Awakening 10/21/2019

#112: Tapestry review & on tap; Escape Tales: The Awakening We’ve got three heavy hitters in this episode! First, the hottest of the hot with Jamey Stegmaier’s new civilization game Tapestry as our lead feature. Second, the follow-up to our number one game of 2018 with Escape Tales: Low Memory. Third, the highly anticipated expansion to the Quacks of Quedlinburg, last year’s Kennerspiel des Jahres winner! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/11718650

#111: Welcome To... Thematic Neighborhoods; The Search for Planet X preview 10/08/2019

#111: Welcome To... Thematic Neighborhoods; The Search for Planet X preview It’s all about the future on Draft Mechanic 111! We’ve got a Kickstarter preview of The Search for Planet X, plus a look at Slyville coming at Essen from Hexy Studio. Our main feature is five (five!) new neighborhoods for Welcome To! And later in the show, we’re talking with Mark Kale, the organizer of our local board game con, MegaMooseCon about what it’s like to be headed into year four of the event. All this plus more, tune in! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/11554016

#110: Letter Jam review & on-tap 09/23/2019

#110: Letter Jam review & on-tap Happy birthday, us! It’s the start of Season Five and our fourth anniversary, and we’ve decided to be pretty business-as-usual about this one. Especially after that Episode 100 blowout! So we’re reviewing Letter Jam, the delicious, delectable new word game from CGE. We’ve got games with subtitles in the recent plays: Las Vegas Royale, Lanterns Dice: Lights in the Sky, and Keyforge: The Blue Ones. I mean, Age of Ascension. Yep! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/11351981

#109: Sessionable Games Six-Pack; LOTS & Calico 09/10/2019

#109: Sessionable Games Six-Pack; LOTS & Calico We’re dressed to the nines! Episode 109, that is. Releasing on 9-9-19! It’s a coincidence I’m sure. Anyway! On with the show. We’ve got a double six-pack of sessionable games (30 minutes or you’re play’s free!), a double Kickstarter preview with LOTS & Calico, Slide Quest on tap, and a bunch more! Enjoy! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/11190338

#108: Imhotep The Duel 08/26/2019

#108: Imhotep The Duel Hello there! It’s been a minute, but we’re back and ready to board game podcast. This one has games for all: one player, two player, three and four player, old, young, really that covers everything I think. But yeah! We’re talking about Imhotep: The Duel today - how does it translate to a two-player contest? We’ve got a smattering of new HABA content, some puzzles, and more ring stacking than you’d expect on a typical day with Moon Base. Dig in and enjoy! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/10994522

#107: The Gen Con 2019 Recap! 08/05/2019

#107: The Gen Con 2019 Recap! That was Gen Con - and this is the Gen Con recap! Look, I’m sorry, I’m not getting more specific with the timestamps below because then I’d have 100,000 entries. Wait - you actually look at those? Well. I guess. But you asked for it - we talk about a lot of games. Also, there’s two special guests on this episode! Hooray! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/10785902

#106: The Hype List 2019! Gen Con Preview 07/29/2019

#106: The Hype List 2019! Gen Con Preview IT’S TIME, DEAR LISTENER. TIME TO EMBRACE THE HYPE. LET IT WASH OVER YOU. GEN CON IS HERE. /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/10688231

#105: Blue Lagoon review; Proving Grounds & Aerion 07/22/2019

#105: Blue Lagoon review; Proving Grounds & Aerion Ahh, hear that? The relaxing waves, the ocean crashing, yes, you’ve found yourself at a review of Blue Lagoon. It’ll be nice to relax a minute before we fall into the rapids of Gen Con! We’ve got Blue Lagoon on tap and in the review zone. We’ve got solo games with Proving Grounds and Aerion. We’ve got a massive flood of news and Kickstarters. And Jake went on the road for work a whole ton and gives mini-beer-traveler reviews of three cities. All that and more! Right now! Right here! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/10606958

#104: The 2018 Redux! 07/08/2019

#104: The 2018 Redux! There’s no better time to look back on a year than halfway through the next one! In our mid-year tradition, we take a second look at our Top Games lists of the previous year and discuss how they’ve changed since January. There’s new games, moved games and all sorts of movement on the list! We’ve got a kickstarter preview of The Alwaysgreen Garden, plus a fresh batch of recent plays as well. Enjoy and we’ll see you back in two weeks for another round! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/10436744

#103: We're Doomed! six-pack review; Dust in the Wings on tap; Our Favorite Taprooms 06/24/2019

#103: We're Doomed! six-pack review; Dust in the Wings on tap; Our Favorite Taprooms Today’s episode comes right from the source! Jake went to Origins, we talk up our favorite brewery taprooms, and there’s a selection of fresh new games! We pair beers with Board & Dice’s new butterfly-fluttering abstract Dust in the Wings, and review the fifteen minutes of pure absurdity called We’re Doomed from Breaking Games. Enjoy! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/10238630

#102: Variants: Uwe Rosenberg's Puzzle Trilogy 06/10/2019

#102: Variants: Uwe Rosenberg's Puzzle Trilogy Today we’re taking a look at not one, not two but three polyomino-based games from Uwe Rosenberg as we compare his Puzzle Trilogy: Cottage Garden, Indian Summer and Spring Meadow! Plus, we’ve got a few recent plays from years past - Reef stacks big chunky coral, Lotus grows beautiful flowers, and Scoville has the hottest pepper meeples this side of the Carolina Reaper. Enjoy all that plus more in today’s episode! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/10105685

#101: Geekway 2019 Recap! 05/27/2019

#101: Geekway 2019 Recap! I! Hope! You! Are! Ready! To! Hear! About! Some! Games! We’re back from Geekway and fully recovered and comin’atcha with over two hours of Geekway recap. It was a whirlwind of cardboard and wooden bits with a stop or two for a brew. Ok, maybe more than two. We talk up the games we played, what rocked and what flopped, the Geekway bottle share, Southern’s amazing fried chicken, hanging out with pals old and new, and more. /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/9927686

#100: Episode One Hundred! Our Top Tens & Listener Q&A 05/06/2019

#100: Episode One Hundred! Our Top Tens & Listener Q&A Now we’re really old! In this centennial episode of Draft Mechanic, we’re looking at our Top 10s, we have a Listener Q&A segment, Danielle tackles the biggest Beer Primer to date, Jake talks about going to Chicago for the Gaming Hoopla, and Danielle talks about more games played at our local game nights! Plus - new Draft Mechanic merch?!? Thanks so much for making Episode 100 possible! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/9667325

#99: Variants: Hero Realms v. Star Realms 04/22/2019

#99: Variants: Hero Realms v. Star Realms It’s the last two-digit episode of Draft Mechanic, and we’re sizing up a pair of deck builders in our Variants feature of Hero Realms and Star Realms! We talk about Bosk, the latest from Floodgate Games, go 15 years back to St. Petersburg, and dive into the Gold Rush in the CarcaZone. Danielle talks about uses for spent grain from the brewing process in the beer segment, and today’s Kickstarters are 70% Mars. Enjoy! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/9479747

#98: Otys review; Freshwater Fly preview 04/01/2019

#98: Otys review; Freshwater Fly preview Sometimes, you’re able to dig up a gem - and we’ve gone sea-floor salvaging to pull up today’s review of Otys. The Kickstarter wave continues to crest and we’ve got a preview of Freshwater Fly; and in recent plays it’s Pikoko, plus an odd detour into the CarcaZone with The Ark of the Covenant. Jake also recaps his trip through Augusta, GA in this episode’s Beer Traveler segment, and we’ve got a special report on Unpub from friend of the show Will! /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/9218117

#97: Coimbra review; Deep Space D-6 on tap 03/18/2019

#97: Coimbra review; Deep Space D-6 on tap Today on Draft Mechanic, Jake gets to play his most-wanted game from 2018, Coimbra! Does it live up to the hype, or will it fall short of expectations? We also look at the new rondel-icious Winterborne from Brian Suhre and Talon Strikes Studios, plus a pair of Button Shy wallet games and the solo space adventure Deep Space D-6! Danielle wraps it up with a timely Beer Primer on the Dry Irish Stout. /episode/index/show/draftmechanic/id/9042311

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