Welcome to Clickbait Board Games: How to avoid mismatched expectations when choosing games. This episode we talk about how not to be fooled by a game and how to make sure you get what you expect in the box. Then we get into what we’ve been playing lately, which features a mix of new and old games. Plus we have three featured reviews, Caution Signs,…

Welcome to Managing the Mess, board games that need better box inserts. Besides each of us sharing five games we think need a component control upgrade we also have a lot of game plays to talk about including many first time plays of some of the hotness we brought back from Origins. As for reviews, we’ve got three: Guild Academies of Valeria from D…

Welcome to a special episode of The Tabletop Bellhop Gaming Podcast, Highlights from Origins 2024A day by day breakdown of Origins Game Fair 2024 with a focus on the games we played and are hyped about. We will be back answering your gaming and game night questions next week! Tabletop Bellhop Gaming Podcast Episode 246, was recorded on June 26th, 2…

We discuss what defines a game to us. Then we talk about what games we’ve been playing including Mare Nostrum Empires, Robot Quest Arena, and first plays of both Sentinels of Earth Prime and Words of a Feather. We’ve got some big announcements, including our first ever Origins meet up, a little award we’ve been nominated for, and some upcoming loca…

This episode is all about fantasy games. We share our favourite fantasy board games and have three fantasy game reviews. Learn what we thought of the core book for The One Ring Roleplaying in the world of The Lord of the Rings, EXIT The Game: The Lord of the Rings, Shadows over Middle-Earth and Tír na nÓg from Grand Gamers Guild. We also talk about…

We answer a question about our favourite classic games, starting off with a bit of a debate about what makes a game classic. That is followed by a short talk about the games we’ve been playing. Then we wrap up with a trio of reviews, including Dragon Dice, a classic TSR game that’s still going strong thanks to a new publisher, Targi from KOSMOS, wh…

We talk about icebreakers and get to know you games. We follow that up with two weeks worth of game plays including first thoughts on Cytosis, a cell biology board game, Tir Na Nog from Grand Gamers Guild, a not-quite-yet-released cooperative card game called Ultimatch, Point City, and more! We finish up with three small box card game reviews, Matc…

We start off tonight with a get to know you segment letting fans ask our latest addition to the live show, Deanna, anything they want. After that we’ve got a ton of recent plays to share including Telestrations, Matches, Point Salad, Icecool, boop, Wreck Raiders, The A.R.T. Project, Zensu, Medium, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Elector Counts, Dragon D…

In this episode, we share some of our favourite fan-created tabletop accessories. We follow that with talk about the games we’ve been playing like Pirate Tails, Holotype, Gelatinous, Matches and The Artemis Project (with its expansion) plus first thoughts on Kittin and Vinyl Jukebox. Then we’ve got three reviews: Holotype: Mesozoic North America, T…

In this episode, we suggest some great next-step board games for Stratego fans.We also talk about games we’ve been playing, including first thoughts on Dragon Dice, Tiger Stripes, Pirate Tales, and a new Supers RPG coming out soon, Indominant.Then we wrap up with reviews of Sushi Boat, from Japanime Games, and both Endangered and the Endangered: Th…

In this episode, we tackle an interesting question about dealing with people playing favourites at the board game table. We also talk about what we’ve been playing lately, including Stool Pigeon, Distilled with the Cask Strength Expansion, The Artemis Project with the Satellites and Commanders Expansion, and tons more. Then we wrap up with three re…

We start off this episode by answering questions from The Lobby, our chatroom here on Twitch. We talk about merch, 18XX, a game room update, live-streaming games, game artwork, and more. After that, we get into first thoughts on Targi, Terraforming Mars Ares Expedition, the Lower Decks board in Star Trek Super Skill Pinball and Star Wars Unlimited.…

Part two of our GAMA Expo 2024 coverage, discussing the tabletop gaming trade show which happened a couple of weeks ago in Louisville Kentucky. Tonight we’re going to be talking about the event in general and who we think should be looking to attend next year. This is an edited version of our live show recorded 03/20/2024. Join us live on https://w…

This is a special GAMA Expo 2024 re-cap episode, the first of two shows where we will be talking about what happened at GAMA Expo in Louisville, Kentucky. The focus tonight is on the games Deanna and Moe played, demoed, and saw. Next week we will be back with an overall GAMA Expo recap. This is an edited version of our live show recorded 03/13/2024…

Tonight we’re tackling a question from a long time fan of the show about games that are best played with the players sitting on the same side of the table. After that we’ve got three reviews, Marrakesh, the Point Salad app, and Cartographers Heroes. We wrap up with thoughts on Holotype, the Chameleon, Dubious and Kiss the Goblin This is an edited v…

Sean was out of town due to work, so we figured we would try something new and record an episode with Moe and Deanna. The two of them discuss one of her favourite styles of games, mystery and escape room board games, and share some of their favourites. They then go on to review Ghost in the Machine from the Mysterious Package Company, Deanna’s favo…

This episode we share a list of great kids games that experienced gamers will also enjoy. To go with that we review a couple of family friendly games. The first is Wreck Raiders from Kids Table Board Gaming and the second is an abstract strategy game called Zensu from Outset Media. We wrap up with a significant Bellhops Tabletop including Moe’s fir…

In this episode, we spend some time talking about our favourite sci-fi board games. To go with that we will also be reviewing Starship Captains, a game with a familiar theme, and MLEM Space Agency. We wrap up with a longer-than-usual week in review including first thoughts on My City, Cartographers Heroes, Zensu, and the recently re-released digita…

Tonight is a follow-up to last week's episode where we talked about the best games to come from Kickstarter. After discussing the evolution of Kickstarter, we’re going to be reviewing the Robots expansion for MonsDRAWsity from Friendly Skeleton Games and The Artemis Project from our sponsor Grand Gamers Guild. We wrap up with a week in review that …

In this episode, we share what we think are some of the best board games to come through Kickstarter. We follow up with a review of The Groundhog Gambit, just in time for the holiday, and then return to Kickstarter with a review of Block and Key. Then we wrap up with a short week in review where Moe shares the games he got for his birthday and some…

With Valentine's day 2024 right around the corner, we return to one of our most popular topics: two-player games for date nights. In fitting with this theme, we review The Cupid Crisis and Distilled, a game my wife and I first played on a date night. We wrap up talking about the games we’ve been playing lately including our first thoughts on Disney…

This is a lighter (but not shorter) episode with us talking about the Holidays, looking back at the games we played in 2023, and sharing a few 2024 plans. If this happens to be your first time listening, just be aware this isn’t our usual format. After the year-end chat, we do have two reviews for you. Bah! Humbug and the 12 Games of Christmas foll…

'Tis the season and we are sticking with the holiday theme tonight with a question about holiday game nights with family. We share tips for gaming with family and each share our top five games to play with our family this time of year. We follow that with a review of a Christmas-themed escape room game, The Kringle Caper from Grand Gamers Guild and…

Happy Holidays. Since not everyone has the privilege of being able to gather together during the holidays, tonight we’re going to be sharing some great games you can play together online. After that, we’ve got a review of one such game, MonsDRAWsity followed by a review of the Sea Monster Edition of Seas of Havoc. We wrap up with a talk about the g…

In this episode, we each share the top ten items from our 2023 Holiday Wishlists. Some practical and others, not so much.After that, we’ve got a review of Star Realms Frontiers from Wise Wizard Games. We discovered this newer entry point to one of our favourite deck-builders and Origins earlier this year. This is an edited version of our live show …

Welcome to the second part of our discussion on miniatures in board games. Last week we talked about the pros and cons of miniatures, this week we’re going to be sharing some of our favourite fantasy games with lots of miniatures. After that, we’ve got two unrelated reviews: Tome: The Light Edition and its expansion, another trick-taking game, and …

Tonight we share our thoughts on miniatures in board games and whether we personally prefer meeples or minis. After that, we’ve got three featured reviews, The Turkey Trial, Aurum, and Reality Shift Deluxe. Then Moe’s got four new-to-him game plays to talk about in the Bellhop’s Tabletop. Hear first impressions on Astra, The Artemis Project, Starsh…

It is late October so we thought it would be a good time to revisit the topic of great games for the spooky season. We follow that up with two unrelated reviews, The Castle Panic Big Box Second Edition from Fireside Games and the new Cryptex from Escape Welt. We wrap up talking about a bunch of card games we played at a local gaming event. This is …

This episode Deanna joins to help us go through the pile of feedback we got from the survey we included as part of our 5th Birthday Celebration. After that we’ve got a couple of reviews: The Pumpkin Problem a Holiday Hijinks game and The Deadlies. We wrap up talking about games all three of us played together the past weekend. This is an edited ver…

In this episode, we recommend some games we think would be great for older teens, both games we think teens would enjoy and games for parents to play with their teens. We follow that with reviews of boop. and Tapple. We finish with a look at the games we’ve played recently, including our first thoughts on Seas of Havoc. This is an edited version of…

Where we’ve been, and potential future disruptions to the show. Once we get everyone up to speed we move on to two puzzle reviews, a murder mystery from Mysterious Package Company, and a look at a new sci-fi-themed Quezzle from Unidragon. We wrap up with some vacation gaming talk. Tabletop Bellhop Gaming Podcast Episode 218, September 13th, 2023. J…

This week’s episode is a live Q&A. Topics include games that give a Momento-like experience, meat, RPG settings we want to see made into video games, higher player count games, keeping players with different likes happy, and more! We also had a ton of games to talk about during the week in review including first thoughts on Distilled, more Kapow!, …

(00:00:00) Intro (00:01:36) Suggestion Box (00:06:02) Announcements (00:07:46) Ask The Bellhop (00:42:03) Review: Shobu (00:51:25) Review: PsychoBabble (01:09:14) The Bellhop's Tabletop (01:32:11) VIP Guests (01:32:39) End of show Tonight we’ve got someone looking for great games to bring out for a night at the pub. That’s followed by reviews of tw…

This episode we discuss quality of life board game improvements we’ve found and those that we would love to see more of in the games we play. That’s followed by reviews of the At the Ready Expansion for Disney Sorcerer’s Arena, Birds of a Feather, and the Siege of Valeria Campaign Expansion. Then we finish up with a pretty busy week in review. Tabl…

This is a special episode celebrating our 5th birthday as a podcast. We start off with a couple of quick reviews, including a preview of the latest puzzle box from EscapeWelt and then a review of a birthday-themed escape-room-in-a-box. We then reminisce about the past year, talk about some future plans, and then wrap up by answering questions from …

In this episode, we talk about art in board games and how it can be taken too far. We then have a preview of the latest rendition of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. That is followed by two reviews, Illiterati, a co-op word game, and The Independence Incident, a small escape room in a box style game. We then wrap up with a rather busy week in review…

We try to help someone decide what cooperative game to buy next, including a list of our favourite cooperative board games. We then have three reviews: Trickdraw, a fast flipping card game, Outsmarted!, a modern take on trivia board games, and The Orbital Box x2, a puzzle box you have to build yourself. This is followed by our usual week in review …

Welcome to our Origins 2023 recap where we spend the majority of the episode talking about our experience at the Origins Game Fair held last week in Columbus Ohio. Along with that we do talk a bit about some games we played before our trip to Ohio as well as some first thoughts on some of the games we’ve already played since getting back. Tabletop …

We’re taking it easy this episode, answering some shorter questions from our questions pile, as well as answering questions in real time from The Lobby, our chatroom on Twitch. Interestingly all of these questions end up evolving into a longer discussion on the relation between video games and board games. After that, we review Siege of Valeria, th…

In this episode, we discuss board game pacing, what affects it, and what you can do to keep a game moving. We also review the Leading the Charge expansion for Disney Sorcerer’s Arena Epic Alliances and Dr Lovenstein Presents: No Context, a new party game due to be released on May 31st! Then we wrap up with the Bellhop’s Tabletop which includes firs…

Ask the Bellhop: “How can I protect my board games?” Reviews: Thrills & Chills expansion for Disney Sorcerer’s Arena and Castellans of Valeria PreviewWe also talk about Kitara, Aqualin, Kings in the Corner, Skip Bo, Destination Retro and The New GME in Chatham, and more. Tabletop Bellhop Gaming Podcast Episode 208, May 18th 2023. Join us Wednesdays…

In this episode we talk about games that look like they are made for kids but then when you sit down to play them you find out they are not. We’ve got two reviews to go with that, My Little Pony Adventures in Equestria Deck Building Game from Renegade Game Studios and the Turning the Tide expansion for Disney Sorcerer’s Arena Epic Alliances. Then w…

This episode we talk about all of the games we played and the other things we did this past weekend as part of SeanCon Spring 2023. That will be followed by a review of the most epic and long game that we played during SeanCon, Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game. Then we wrap up with a couple of non-SeanCon games in our week in review. Tabletop Bell…

Tonight is all about board game expansions, including our list of must have board game expansions. This is followed by three board game expansion reviews including Rise of Titans for Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria, The B-Movie Expansion for Roll Camera! and the Winter Expansion for Dice Kingdoms of Valeria. Then we’ve got even more expansion play, alon…

Tonight we’re talking about games that we keep for other people to play. After that we’ve got two puzzle game reviews, first up the Space Box from Escape Welt and then La Famiglia from Puzzling Pursuits. We wrap up with my first thoughts on Siege of Valeria from Daily Magic Games, the first solo Valeria game. Tabletop Bellhop Gaming Podcast Episode…

Tonight we’re talking about achieving thematic depth in board games, including games that get it right and games that get it wrong. We review a game themed on Belgian beers and talk about the games we’ve been playing, including first thoughts on a Dice Kingdoms expansion, the new My Little Pony deck-builder, Downforce and more. Tabletop Bellhop Gam…

This episode we’re talking about board game budgets and funding our board game hobby. We also review Court, a modern trick-taker with lots of twists, and the Quest Pyramid puzzle box from Escape Welt. Plus we share the games we’ve been playing lately, including Disney Sorcerer’s Arena and its first expansion, Flash Point Fire Rescue, Azul Queen’s G…

This episode we’re talking about hidden gem board games. Games we don’t think got the attention they deserved. That’s followed by a detailed review of Disney Sorcerer’s Arena, one of the games currently in our big 200 episode celebration giveaway. We wrap up talking about the games we’ve been playing with first thoughts on Crystallized, Court and m…

We start off with a special piece of feedback, then show off, and talk about some new artwork for the video side of the show. Next, sharing our top 25 games. Followed by our biggest giveaway, you won’t believe the number of games we are giving away from truly awesome sponsors. Then we interact with our Twitch Chatters. Tabletop Bellhop Gaming Podca…

In this episode we go through some viewer feedback, hype up our 200th episode, let you know where we’ve been, answer three shorter questions, review Dulce from Stronghold games, and talk about the games we’ve played since we last recorded. The questions include; the best Star Trek Games, games for a kid to play with Grandparents over Zoom, and why …