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Decision Space is a board game podcast about the decisions in games.
Episodes
Wednesday Aug 13, 2025
Wednesday Aug 13, 2025
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.
Join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast!
Episode 227 - All About Boards
Jake and Brendan continue our series on game components with a deep dive on BOARDS! What types of boards exist? How do they enhance the experience of playing a game? What are the best boards? Are tiles also boards?
Timestamps
5:00- what are boards?
13:30- network boards
27:45- other types of boards
32:05- information on boards
46:15- game progress on boards
48:05- scaling boards
50:35- alternate / expansion boards
53:00- players creating the board
57:05- modular boards
59:35- signposting on boards
1:03:05- favorite boards
Games Mentioned
Catan, Quantum, Broom Service, Pax Pamir, Agricola, Ticket to Ride, Root, Castles of Burgundy, Pandemic, Scrabble, Tigris and Euphrates, Blood Rage, Heat, Barrage, Lost Ruins of Arnak, Molly House, Sky Team, Troyes, Santiago, El Grande, Hansa Teutonica, Mexica, Five Tribes, Babylonia, Hey That's My Fish, Arcs, Tikal, Carcassone, Praga Caput Regni, Findorff, Great Western Trail
Preplanners
A few deep dives are in the works, so get in some plays of Apiary, Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Dominion, and more Root!
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Intermission Music:
music elevator ext part 1/3 by Jay_You -- https://freesound.org/s/467243/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
Bell with Crows by MKzing -- https://freesound.org/s/474266/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
hammer v2.wav by blukotek -- https://freesound.org/s/337815/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Contact
Follow and reach us on social media on Bluesky @decisionspace.bsky.social.
If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!
Wednesday Aug 06, 2025
Wednesday Aug 06, 2025
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.
Join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast!
Episode 226 - Exploring Cardboard Worlds
Special guest Dan Thurot of Space Biff joins Pete for a discussion about open worlds games. They get into the different design philosophies of these games in different mediums and use Earthborne Rangers and Vantage as case studies for modern board games.
Check out Dan's excellent writing:
Timestamps
5:35- open world games
24:10- Earthborne Rangers
40:00- Vantage
59:20- Sleeping Gods
Preplanners
A few deep dives are in the works, so get in some plays of Apiary, Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Dominion, and more Root! Also we'll be continuing our series of episodes on game components with an exploration of BOARDS!
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Intermission Music:
music elevator ext part 1/3 by Jay_You -- https://freesound.org/s/467243/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
Bell with Crows by MKzing -- https://freesound.org/s/474266/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
hammer v2.wav by blukotek -- https://freesound.org/s/337815/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Contact
Follow and reach us on social media on Bluesky @decisionspace.bsky.social.
If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!
Wednesday Jul 30, 2025
Wednesday Jul 30, 2025
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.
Join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast!
Episode 225 - Best Games of the 2000s
In a bit of friendly competition, we attempt to draft the best set of games from the first decade of the century that have stood the test of time. Pete is the real villain of this one. Be sure to hop on discord and vote for the host who drafted the best games!
Game Timestamps
07:30- The Resistance
09:20- Dominion
11:15- Ticket to Ride
13:05- Twilight Struggle
15:20- Brass Lancashire
16:15- Coloretto
17:25- Race for the Galaxy
21:10- The Princes of Florence
26:00- Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition
29:50- Tower of Babel
33:50- Mexica
37:10- Puerto Rico
37:40- Agricola
40:30- Cosmic Encounter
44:30- Telestrations
48:40- Glory to Rome
Preplanners
A few deep dives are in the works, so get in some plays of Apiary, Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Dominion, and more Root! Also we'll be continuing our series of episodes on game components with an exploration of BOARDS!
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Intermission Music:
music elevator ext part 1/3 by Jay_You -- https://freesound.org/s/467243/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
Bell with Crows by MKzing -- https://freesound.org/s/474266/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
hammer v2.wav by blukotek -- https://freesound.org/s/337815/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Contact
Follow and reach us on social media on Bluesky @decisionspace.bsky.social.
If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!
Wednesday Jul 23, 2025
Wednesday Jul 23, 2025
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.
Join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast!
Episode 224 - Board Game Junk Food
The gang gets slightly unhinged this week discussing what is the board game equivalent of trashy TV. Also Brendan can't stop thinking about Doritos.
Game Timestamps
10:05- Hot Streak
15:00- Feudum
16:00- A Feast for Odin
16:45- Agricola: Dead Harvest
19:15- Strike
21:05- Pass the Pigs
22:30- Don't Break the Ice
23:00- Junk Art
25:30- My City
29:15- Lost Ruins of Arnak
30:30- Challengers
31:30- Magic the Gathering
32:50- Can't Stop
41:30- Skull King
42:50- Rebel Princess
46:00- The Resistance
50:50- Raiders of the North Sea
51:20- Dune Imperium Uprising
52:05- Marvel United
53:25- Roll for the Galaxy
54:50- Zoo Vadis
56:25- MLEM
59:40- Dominion
1:00:07- Brass Birmingham
1:01:51- Thunder Road Vendetta
1:02:40- Cosmic Encounter
Preplanners
A few deep dives are in the works, so get in some plays of Apiary, Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Dominion, and more Root!
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Intermission Music:
music elevator ext part 1/3 by Jay_You -- https://freesound.org/s/467243/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
Bell with Crows by MKzing -- https://freesound.org/s/474266/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
hammer v2.wav by blukotek -- https://freesound.org/s/337815/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Contact
Follow and reach us on social media on Bluesky @decisionspace.bsky.social.
If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!
Wednesday Jul 16, 2025
Wednesday Jul 16, 2025
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.
Join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast!
Episode 223 - Ode to the Tile
In this quite academic episode, Paul goes into full teacher mode with Brendan to discuss the many ways different types of tiles are used in board games. Stay tuned to hear Paul use the term "recreational mathematics" MULTIPLE times!
Timestamps
2:00- background
5:00- types of tile laying games
9:00- spatial puzzles and math stuff
16:00- tiles and theme
19:30- tiles and interaction
23:00- squares
32:00- dominos
35:20- polyominos
39:40- hexagons
47:00- other shapes
51:00- mechanical systems
Games Mentioned
Tigris & Euphrates, Tetris, Patchwork, My City, Isle of Cats, Stamp Swap, Renature, Blokus, Animalia, Isle of Skye, Glen More, Carcassone, Scrabble, Kingdomino, Dragomino, Renature, Gardlings, Barenpark, A Feast for Odin, Expeditions, Cascadia, Keyflower, Hex, My Island, Aqua, Flow, Alhambra, Miyabi, Akropolis, Llama Land, Honey Buzz
Preplanners
A few deep dives are in the works, so get in some plays of Apiary, Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Dominion, and more Root!
Also, start thinking about what your "guilty pleasure" board games are (if that's even a thing).
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Intermission Music:
music elevator ext part 1/3 by Jay_You -- https://freesound.org/s/467243/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
Bell with Crows by MKzing -- https://freesound.org/s/474266/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
hammer v2.wav by blukotek -- https://freesound.org/s/337815/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Contact
Follow and reach us on social media on Bluesky @decisionspace.bsky.social.
If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!
Wednesday Jul 09, 2025
Wednesday Jul 09, 2025
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.
Join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast!
Episode 222 - What have we been playing?
In this very chill episode, Jake and Pete discuss some recent plays of some new and old games. Listen for such unexpected topics as:
Mac Gerdts designs a rondel game???
Pete talks about a trick-taking game???
Jake plays a Kramer and Kiesling game???
Game Timestamps
3:52- Earthborne Rangers
20:35- Linko
30:01- Nanatoridori
30:48- Calimala
40:08- Confusing Lands
48:05- Xylotar
52:57- Antike II
Preplanners
A few deep dives are in the works, so get in some plays of Apiary, Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Dominion, and more Root!
Also, start thinking about what your "guilty pleasure" board games are (if that's even a thing).
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Intermission Music:
music elevator ext part 1/3 by Jay_You -- https://freesound.org/s/467243/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
Bell with Crows by MKzing -- https://freesound.org/s/474266/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
hammer v2.wav by blukotek -- https://freesound.org/s/337815/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Contact
Follow and reach us on social media on Bluesky @decisionspace.bsky.social.
If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!
Wednesday Jul 02, 2025
Wednesday Jul 02, 2025
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.
Join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast!
Episode 221 - Balancing for Player Count (WWTA)
A game development episode in which Pete, Paul, and Brendan ask the important questions:
What makes games flexible or inflexible when it comes to player count?
Should a publisher put a suboptimal player count on a box?
Are there games that you would only play at one player count?
Timestamps
02:40- main topic begins
05:00- games with fixed player count
18:03- challenges and solutions for player count flexibility
30:00- game design discussion
40:30- player count variants
49:45- games that are naturally scalable
54:15- games you would only play at one player count
58:20- what player counts should go on the box?
1:08:50- closing thoughts
Games mentioned
Unrest, Werewords, Codenames, Star Realms, Magic the Gathering, A Feast for Odin, Fromage, Earth, Planet Unknown, Wingspan, Honey Buzz, Crits & Tricks, Lobby Snacks, Enchanted Plumes, Viticulture, Age of Innovation, Dune Imperium, Watches and Clocks of Dickory Docks, Robotrick, 7 Wonders, The Crew: Mission Deep Sea, Fellowship of the Ring the Trick-Taking Game, Santorini, Race for the Galaxy, Kingdomino, Cascadia, Incan Gold, Not Alone, A Game of Throne: The Board Game (second edition), Unlock, Tigris & Euphrates, Root, Orapa Mine, Santa's Workshop, No Loose Ends, Trinket Trove, El Grande
Pete's dev diary on No Loose Ends
https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1/blogpost/175099/developer-diary-no-loose-ends
Preplanners
Pete is still putting Brenan through the reps of Root expansion factions so we can make part two of our deep dive on that game!
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Intermission Music:
music elevator ext part 1/3 by Jay_You -- https://freesound.org/s/467243/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
Bell with Crows by MKzing -- https://freesound.org/s/474266/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
hammer v2.wav by blukotek -- https://freesound.org/s/337815/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Contact
Follow and reach us on social media on Bluesky @decisionspace.bsky.social.
If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!
Wednesday Jun 25, 2025
Wednesday Jun 25, 2025
Decision Space is the podcast about decisions in board games.
Join our active and welcoming Discord community,
Join the crew today! (Decision Space Patreon), or
Leave us a review wherever you find this podcast!
Episode 220 - Listener Question Mailbag
A loose episode in which Jake, Brendan, and Pete answer such hard hitting questions as:
"Why do you play board games?"
"What designs are you working on?"
"Who is the hottest member of the Fellowship?"
Game Timestamps
02:20- Clockwork Wars
03:40- Fishing
05:30- It's a Wonderful World
11:10- TRICKTAKERs
12:30- Voyages of Marco Polo
14:40- BattleCON
20:36- My Favorite Things
24:28- Enchanted Plumes, Cascadia, Babylonia
25:15- The Crew, Root, El Grande
26:06- Bruges, Challengers, the Resistance
27:10- Honey Buzz, Isle of Skye, Star Realms
44:30- First Class Letters
47:15- Nimalia
48:13- Gudnak
48:44- Typeset, Signal, Here Lies
49:45- Food Chain Magnate
50:50- That's Not a Hat
51:01- Bomb Busters
51:35- Final Binary
53:20- Barrage
56:01- Root
1:06:40- Babylonia
1:07:25- Bottle Imp, Schadenfreude
1:08:50- Chicky Boom
1:09:40- Slap Jack
Preplanners
Unsure what's next, but Pete wants to deep dive Dominion. Play it! It's still amazing! Also, Root expansion episode will happen once Brendan gets enough plays in with those factions.
Music and Sound Credits
Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s
You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/.
Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA
Rules Overview Music:
Way Home by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-music-walker-way... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/pJThZlOuDtI
Intermission Music:
music elevator ext part 1/3 by Jay_You -- https://freesound.org/s/467243/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
Bell with Crows by MKzing -- https://freesound.org/s/474266/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
hammer v2.wav by blukotek -- https://freesound.org/s/337815/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Contact
Follow and reach us on social media on Bluesky @decisionspace.bsky.social.
If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com.
This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com.
Byeee!