March 11th - Second Editions and Shoguns

by Chad, Adam, Ryan
in podcasts

Ryan and Chad deliberate over the various enumerations of editions that permeate the board game landscape. Beyond simple reprints, we chat about re-theming, retooling, re-imagining, and repackaging of games that already existed, and which ones are worth your time and money.

Afterwards we feature a game that has been both rethemed AND repackaged, Shogun - the area control game where attacks are few and far between and battles are resolved with a cube tower. Listen to why this game from 13 years ago is still one of the better area control games out today.

Finally we reflect on some of the games we’ve played recently, including an epic defeat in Battlestar Galactica, some difficult spirits in Spirit Island, and killing the same lion over and over in Kingdom Death: Monster.

Of Dice and Men is broadcast live on 91.3 FM CJTR, Regina Community Radio - our next broadcast will be March 25th at 8 PM CST.

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February 24th - Mechanics and Machinations

by Chad, Adam, Ryan

Disclaimer: the board game talk starts at about 8m10s :)

Adam, Ryan, and Chad do their best to get you up to speed with some of the latest trends in board game design as we play “Make Up a Game”! Chad, with the help of boardgamizer.com, comes up with some goofy board game constraints, Ryan describes the mechanic in more detail, and Adam comes up with an entirely off-the-cuff idea for a game! Not only is it a fun way of learning more about some trendy game mechanics, but also a source of inspiration for aspiring board game designers!

After that, we discuss the card game that inspired our impromptu design session, Snake Oil. How does Snake Oil and games like it supplant go-to party staples like Cards Against Humanity? What’s involved in convincing a high school cheerleader that he needs a tube of Laughter Grease? Why isn’t Adam in marketing? All that and more in our feature game discussion!

Finally we wrap up with some games we’ve been playing lately, including Here I Stand, A Fake Artist Goes to New York, and Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar.

Of Dice and Men is broadcast live on 91.3 FM CJTR, Regina Community Radio - our next broadcast will be March 11th at 8 PM CST.

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February 11th - Expansions and Space Empires

by Chad, Adam, Ryan
in podcasts

Chad, Adam and Ryan discuss exactly where expansions fit into the board game ecosystem. Are they honest attempts by the designer to extend the longevity of their creations? Or evil corporate plans to milk the last nickels from your wallets? Why not both? :) We discuss why you as a gamer might be interested in an expansion, and examples of the best and worst kind of board game expansions.

In the second half, we finally have a serious talk about Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition, two of the three hosts’ favourite game. Chad gives an “after the first game” perspective while Adam and Ryan plead their case, after which we hold a quick burial for the game, never to speak of it again. Or at least the 3rd edition. We finish the episode off talking about CO2 (currently on Kickstarter), Gloomhaven’s helper apps, Keyflower, Azul, and oddly enough, Cribbage.

Of Dice and Men is broadcasted live on 91.3 FM CJTR, Regina Community Radio - our next broadcast will be February 24th at 8 PM CST

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Ryan and Chad do their best to justify their purchase history as we talk about curating the perfect board game collection. Is it okay to own more than you can play? How much research goes into your purchasing decisions? When do you trade or sell your games? All this and more in our first episode of our new season.

After we’re finished feeling better about ourselves, we discuss the 2011 release Dungeon Petz by Vlaada Chvátil (or at least a member of the conspiracy). Listen how using imps as workers fundamentally changes the worker placement game, and learn the best way to ensure your pet doesn’t grow too large, get aggressive, and injure your stable workers in an attempt to escape its cage and mutate out of existence. Yup, that all happens in this game.

Chad finishes the episode off talking about Assault on Doomrock, Fog of Love, Terraforming Mars, and Ryan reflects on a recent play of Modern Art.

Of Dice and Men is broadcast live on 91.3 FM CJTR, Regina Community Radio - our next broadcast will be February 11th at 8 PM CST.

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January 14th - Happy Birthday To Us!

by Chad, Ryan, Adam
in podcasts

It’s our one year anniversary! Adam, Chad, and Ryan spend the episode talking about our favs and not-so-favs, our highs and lows, and our last year of board games, the people who play them, and the culture surrounding the hobby. We also answer a few questions from the audience, and Adam does his best to give each of them his own personal touch. The questions, not the audience.

Of Dice and Men is broadcast live on 91.3 FM CJTR, Regina Community Radio - our next broadcast will be January 28h at 8 PM CST.

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December 31st - 2017 in Review!

by Chad, Ryan, Adam
in podcasts

Chad, Adam, and Ryan review the year in board games, highlighting the top games released in 2017 and then focusing on our own picks for best and worst board games of 2017.

Of Dice and Men is broadcast live on 91.3 FM CJTR, Regina Community Radio - our next broadcast will be January 14th at 8 PM CST.

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December 17th - RPGs and Zombies

by Chad, Ryan, Adam
in podcasts

Chad, Adam, and Ryan discuss one of their favourite topics - role playing games! We also welcome a guest, Chad Boudreau, proprietor of our local gaming store and Game / Dungeon master with 20 years experience. What is an RPG? Where do you start? Why do you care? We answer all this and more!

Our featured game is the End of the World RPG published by Fantasy Flight Games, where the three of us played ourselves doing our best to survive a zombie apocalypse (which our guest Chad GM’d). We also feature clips from our recorded session, and discuss why the EotW is a great starting point for new players.
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Fallout sucks.

Maybe it’s because of the hype that I set up for myself (although Man vs Meeple played no small part in that), or my experience with the very successful video game franchise of the same name. At the end of my first game there weren’t a lot of adjectives I could use to describe my experience other than “… this sucked”.

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End of the World RPG

by Chad, Adam, Ryan
in sessions

As recently discussed on our December 17th RPG episode, the three hosts of Of Dice and Men as well as Roxanne (previous guest, Gaming Groups), Blake, and Chad B as the Game Master got together to see how well they’d each fair in the zombie apocalypse. Below are a few bite-sized segments of the entire 4+ hour experience - tune in to see how a game of End of the World RPG is run, and to see which of the three hosts survive!

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December 3rd - Our Holiday Special!

by Adam, Ryan
in podcasts

Stuck on ideas on what to get your loved ones this holiday season? Adam and Ryan have the answer! We take the whole hour to make a few suggestions for stocking stuffers, gateway gamers, serious strategists, and everything inbetween in this, our 2017 Holiday Special!

Of Dice and Men is broadcasted live on 91.3 FM CJTR, Regina Community Radio - our next broadcast will be December 17th at 8 PM CST.

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Of Dice and Men

Adam, Chad and Ryan host Of Dice & Men, a talk radio show on board games. New episodes every 2nd Sunday!


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Regina, SK