Ambie and Crystal host the 2023 Blitzies, the annual awards show about the best games of the year! If you like our podcast, please nominate us for a Golden Geek Award! 0:00-Intro 0:37-Announcements 1:51-The 2023 Blitzies 2:40-Best 2 Player Game 4:39-Best Strategy Game 6:37-Most Epic Game 8:30-Most Unique Theme 9:51-Best Dexterity Game 10:47-Best Pa…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a jubensha game they played together at Dice Tower West - Conspiracy to Commit! We have a discussion including Amy, the host of the game, and Dan, Crystal's partner, right after playing the game, and then we share our thoughts a week later. Check out White Rabbit Jubensha for more information on the Jubensha we played! Che…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Murder Mystery Party: The Night Hunter Game and Freelancers: A Crossroads Game. Then, we talk about board games that can fit in your pocket! 0:00-Intro 0:46-Announcements 2:35-Recent Games - Murder Mystery Party: The Night Hunter Game 8:28-Freelancers: A Crossroads Game 13:58-…

Ambie is all alone this episode discussing a couple games she played recently, including Picture Perfect and Sherlock 13. Then, since she's solo podcasting, she decides to talk about solo board gaming. 0:00-Intro 1:39-Recent Games - Picture Perfect 5:21-Sherlock 13 8:33-Solo Games 21:43-Outro 22:47-Bloopers Join our discord Support us at https://ko…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Key Enigma: Hack Forward, Suspects: Claire Harper Takes the Stage, and The Grand Carnival. Then, we talk about board games that subvert social norms. Here are the YouTube videos mentioned: Designing Board Games Which Break the Rules (Adam in Wales) The Murder Game Revolution T…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Almost Innocent and Vaalbara. Then, we talk about what our perfect board game day/night would be like! Vote for Ambie (ambierona) in the Thinky Awards! (and play Chants of Sennaar) Check out Tabletop Live Network for monthly board game streaming marathons! 0:00-Intro 0:39-Anno…

Ambie and Crystal celebrate 200 episodes of the podcast with a full episode dedicated to answering questions from our listeners! 0:00-Intro 0:36-Listener Q&A 2:32-What advice would you give to a content creator starting out? 9:59-What are your best "I was there when..." travel stories? 12:27-Have you ever had a dream so realistic you assumed it had…

For our annual bonus episode Ambie is once again joined by two special guests as they talk about some of their favorite games. First they talk about a couple games they played recently, including Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Merry Madness. Then, they split up as one talks about his favorite games with skeletons in them, and t…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Ra and Rafter Five. Then, we talk about which five board games we would buy back first if our entire game collection suddenly disappeared! 0:00-Intro 0:44-Announcements 3:08-Recent Games - Ra 7:52-Rafter Five 13:19-5 Rebuy Games 28:28-Outro 29:32-Bloopers Join our discord Supp…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including The Secret of Langton Manor, Linkto Food, and Kingdomino Origins. Then, we talk about which five board games we would bring with us if we got stuck on a desert (but not quite deserted) island! Check out the Five Games For Doomsday podcast 0:00-Intro 0:44-Recent Games - The Sec…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played (or books they read) recently, including Around the World in 80 Games, Keep it 100, and Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Renovations. Then, we talk about some past, present, and our hopes for future trends in board gaming! Watch Cut and Kovray on YouTube! Here’s the Polyomino collaboration video we we…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a game they played recently, including The Emerald Flame, The Morrison Game Factory, and Hadrian’s Wall. Then, we talk about our thoughts on giving board games as gifts, and some recommendations for good gifts! Check out Ambie’s book Board Game Day! 0:00-Intro 0:46-Recent Games - The Emerald Flame & The Morrison Game Facto…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a game they played recently, including Ariana Trench: The Ultimate Puzzle Book for Pirates, Head Trip, and Eye My Favorite Things. Then, we talk about our top 5 favorite games that have fruits and/or vegetables in them! 0:00-Intro 0:43-Recent Games - Ariana Trench: The Ultimate Puzzle Book for Pirates 3:13-Head Trip 7:42-E…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a game they both played recently - Glitch Squad. Then, Ambie goes over her adventures in print and play (PnP) games and answers some of Crystal's questions. Learn some beginner tips on PnP - supplies to use, why to PnP, and some games to start with! 0:00-Intro 0:40-Recent Games - Glitch Squad 12:41-Print and Play 26:52-Out…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Bat Flip and Hello Kitty: Day at the Park. Then, we talk about board game media and how it compares to media coverage in other areas. 0:00-Intro 0:43-Announcements 1:41-Recent Games 3:50-Bat Flip 7:39-Hello Kitty: Day at the Park 13:34-Board Game Media 27:36-Outro 28:40-Bloope…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including KuZOOkA and Mind Up! Then, we talk about trivia games - what we like or dislike about them, and some of our favorite trivia games. 0:00-Intro 0:39-Recent Games - KuZOOkA 6:39-Mind Up! 13:53-Trivia Games 35:32-Outro Join our discord Support us at https://ko-fi.com/boardgameblit…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including the My First Adventure series (Journey to Ochre Land, Discovering Atlantis, and Finding the Dragon) and Okanagan: Valley of the Lakes. Then, we talk about games that we love but that we don't hear other people talk about much. Listen to Stolen: Season 2: Surviving St. Michael’…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Illiterati, Artisans of Splendent Vale, and Challengers!. Then, we talk about electronic components in board games and some games that use electronics in creative ways. 0:00-Intro 0:36-Announcements 1:34-Recent Games - Illiterati 7:25-Artisans of Splendent Vale 13:00-Challenge…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Mahjong and Blueprints. Then, we talk about board game tournaments - which ones we've competed in, our experiences with them, and why we like or dislike them. You can try out Mahjong with Mahjong Soul! Tournaments/events mentioned: Double Exposure Envoy World Series of Board G…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Challengers! and Sagani. Then, we talk about what we think about when bringing games on vacation, and examples of what games we recently brought while we traveled. 0:00-Intro 0:37-Recent Games - Challengers! 6:45-Sagani 13:42-Travel Games 28:12-Outro 29:25-Bloopers Join our di…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Dog Park: New Tricks, Blitzschnell!, and My First Escape Game: The Magical Forest. Then, we talk about real life escape rooms games and what we love and don't love about them (and how that's similar to our board game interests). Watch the playthrough of Dog Park: New Tricks (n…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Shikoku 1889 and First Ascent. Then, we talk about times when we really don't feel like getting together to play board games (but then we usually still do). 0:00-Intro 0:43-Announcements 1:38-Recent Games - Shikoku 1889 6:24-First Ascent 12:10-Dreading Gaming 25:45-Outro Join …

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including In the Palm of Your Hand, Codex Naturalis, and Kingdomino. Then, we talk about the tactile nature of board games and what components we like physically handling. 0:00-Intro 0:48-Recent Games - In the Palm of Your Hand 5:37-Codex Naturalis 9:33-Kingdomino 12:12-Components 25:25…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Phantom Ink, Fiction, and My City: Roll & Build. Then, we celebrate our 7 year podcast anniversary by taking you on a behind the scenes tour of how an episode of Board Game Blitz gets made!! Follow us on Twitch for the anniversary stream! 0:00-Intro 0:43-Announcements 2:24-Rec…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including The LOOP, Exit: The Game - The Lord of the Rings: Shadows over Middle-earth, and Exit: The Game - The Professor's Last Riddle. Then, we celebrate Star Wars Day by talking about all the Star Wars board games! Thanks so much for the nomination - please vote for us for the Board …

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Kites, Agent Decker, and Descent: Legends of the Dark. Then, we talk about what factors go into making your own perfect board game collection. Please nominate us for a Board Game Geek Golden Geek Award! Intro: 0:00 Announcements: 0:43 Recent Games: 1:50 Perfect Collection: 15:…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Escape the Room: Murder in the Mafia, Suspects: The MacGuffin Affair, and The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era. Then, we talk about our time at Dice Tower West last month! Watch Ambie's (and her kids') Dice Tower West Recap video! Please nominate us for a Board Game G…

Ambie and Crystal have their annual awards show about the best games of the year in the 2022 Blitzies! The 2022 Blitzies: 0:40 --Best Party Game: 1:49 --Best Card Game: 2:58 --Best Trick Taker: 4:38 --Best Family Game: 6:07 --Best Cooperative Game: 8:19 --Best Roll & Write: 9:54 --Best Theming: 11:38 --Biggest Surprise: 13:49 --Most Innovative: 16:…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including El Grande and Marvel SNAP. Then, we stop talking about board games for a bit as we talk about our five favorite video games of all time! Announcements: 0:37 Recent Games: 2:04 Top 5 Video Games: 12:16 Outro: 36:26 Join our discord El Grande: 2:04 Marvel Snap: 7:37 Support us a…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Tiny Turbo Cars and The Great Split. Then, we talk about house rules and when might be a good time to implement them. Announcements: 0:40 Recent Games: 2:24 House Rules: 14:28 Outro: 31:24 Bloopers: 32:27 Join our discord Tiny Turbo Cars: 2:24 The Great Split: 7:34 Support us …

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Weather Machine and Wicked & Wise. Then, special guest Pam joins us to catch up and talk about a bunch of things related to gaming - gaming groups, gaming online, and gaming at conventions! Announcements: 0:39 Recent Games: 1:40 Gaming Potpourri: 12:44 Outro: 33:31 Bloopers: 3…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Hunt a Killer: Body on the Boardwalk and Artisans of Splendent Vale. We then talk about gaming remotely, but with physical board games, not digital games! Make sure to check out our new Ko-Fi page! Announcements: 0:41 Recent Games: 2:17 Gaming Remotely: 12:07 Outro: 22:12 Bloo…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Sleuth, MANTIS, and Color Brain: Disney Edition. We then talk about some gaming resolutions and goals we may or may not have made for 2023. Recent Games: 0:36 Gaming Resolutions: 12:24 Outro: 29:29 Bloopers: 30:29 Join our discord Sleuth: 0:36 MANTIS: 4:36 Color Brain: Disney …

In this now annual special bonus episode, Ambie facilitates while her two guests talk about some of their favorite games they've played recently, including Stuffed Fables and Teddy's Colors & Shapes. They then talk about some more of their favorite games and why they like them. For a video version of the podcast with subtitles, click here. Recent G…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Break the Cube, the Key Enigma escape room games (Wizcape Academy, Kalinasu, and The Butterfly Curse), and My Father's Work. We then talk about some holiday traditions we have and how gaming factors into our holidays. Happy holidays to everyone! Announcements: 0:41 Recent Game…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Décorum and FORK. We then talk about organizing our game collection, or theoretical ways we would organize our collection if it were organized! Recent Games: 0:37 Organizing the Collection: 11:18 Outro: 27:44 Bloopers: 28:48 Watch our Décorum playthrough on YouTube: https://yo…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a whole bunch of games they played recently, and that's all we do this episode! We talk about Escape Team, Cursed Tales (online escape rooms), Cold Case: Murder with Interest, the EXIT: The Game - Advent Calendars, Cryptid: Urban Legends, Namiji, Orp: The Market for Space Merchant Translators, Oh Really?, Stay Cool, and La…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Draw the Line, Dexterity Jane, Soundbox, Echoes The Microchip, and Jekyll vs. Hyde. We then talk about games that are good for playing with children. Recent Games: 0:42 Children's Games: 13:52 Outro: 30:01 Bloopers: 30:57 Top 10 Kid Games with One Pip Wonder: https://youtu.be/…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Venn, Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Merry Madness, and Ready Set Bet. We then talk about games that take less than 15 minutes to play! Announcements: 0:42 Recent Games: 1:36 Short Games: 15:11 Outro: 28:23 Bloopers: 29:19 Join our discord: https://discord…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Pocket Book Adventures, The Mysterious Case of Dancing Mania, Connected Clues, and Gutenberg. We then talk about what "gateway games" are and some games we like using to show people what's out there in the board gaming hobby! And finally, Crystal goes over the etymology of the…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including LOK, The Mysterious Case of Dancing Mania, and Nicodemus. We then talk about turning video games into board games and which video games we'd like to see as board games. Announcements: 0:41 Recent Games: 1:12 Video Games as Board Games: 12:44 Outro: 30:43 Bloopers: 31:38 Join o…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Desktop HEBOCON Battle Kit and The Cupid Crisis. We then talk about board game.... boxes! And other containers, receptacles, or holders that board games can come in. Recent Games: 0:38 Board Game Boxes: 11:52 Outro: 28:01 Bloopers: 28:57 Join our discord: https://discord.gg/Wv…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Village Green and Living Forest. We then take a break from a specific topic of the week and just chat with each other about Crystal's new gaming table, Ambie's Kickstarter, the board game community, and Ambie's kids. Recent Games: 0:35 Chit Chat: 11:10 Outro: 28:36 Check out o…

Ambie, Crystal, and special guest Nick (@Nyobari) discuss a couple games they played recently, including Master Word, Voices In My Head, and Cat in the Box: Deluxe Edition. We then ask Nick about his time at Gen Con and hear some of his hot takes! Announcements: 0:38 Recent Games: 4:18 Gen Con Hot Takes: 17:04 Outro: 38:16 Bloopers: 39:20 Check out…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including The One Ring RPG and Paint the Roses. We then talk about some good etiquette you can have while gaming, hosting, or attending a game night. And then Crystal revives the etymology segment with the origin of the word 'Etiquette'! Announcements: 0:47 Recent Games: 2:55 Game Etiqu…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including echoes: The Cocktail, echoes: The Microchip, and Birds of a Feather. We then list off our top 5 favorite word games! Announcements: 0:37 Recent Games: 1:33 Top 5 Word Games: 8:54 Outro: 36:22 Bloopers: 37:17 Check out Ambie's book at https://ambievaldes.com/boardgameday/ or ht…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Disney Sorcerer's Arena: Epic Alliances Core Set and Quirky Circuits: Penny & Gizmo's Snow Day! We then talk about games that we think a non-hobby gamer could learn on their own. Recent Games: 0:43 No Teacher Games: 13:34 Outro: 24:28 Check out Ambie's book at https://ambieval…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including The Hinck's Gazette Boxed Set, Origins: First Builders, and PUSH. We then are joined by Pam, a patron of the show, to talk about campaign games, what we like and dislike about them, and some of our favorite campaign games. Recent Games: 0:46 Campaign Games: 12:14 Outro: 34:39 …

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth and Colt Express. We then are joined by Matt, a patron of the show, to talk about what board games might be good to play at a wedding reception for people who don't want to dance! Announcements: 0:42 Recent Games: 2:00 Wedding Ga…

Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Hidden Leaders and Get on Board: New York & London. We then reminisce about the past 6 years of Board Game Blitz and celebrate our 6 year podcast anniversary! Announcements: 0:37 Recent Games: 1:26 6 Year Anniversary: 12:18 Outro: 40:09 Bloopers: 41:13 Watch our 6 year anniver…