Paul Dean, Wind the Film!, That Time you Killed me, Koi Koi

There are many famous Paul Deans in the world, but today we’re only interviewing one of them. Maybe one day we’ll get a chance to talk to some of the others, but honestly, why bother, we already got the best one. We got a chance to talk to Paul about what it’s like having left the board game industry and how he feels about board games right now.

This is far from the end though. Brace yourselves because you are entering the land of numbers, voxels and vertices and you can only emerge by listening to us review three abstract board games (which may or may not be card games).

If you have personal experiences to share about any games discussed in this episode or any topic that's dear to your heart - we’d love to hear from you. Please write to: elaine@nopunincluded.com

On to the timestamps:

5:53 Audience correspondence - GWT: Argentina, Aeon Trespass Publisher Write-in, Colour Vision Difference

16:06 Wind the Film! (Photograph)

31:11 That Time You Killed Me

44:16 Intereview Guest: Paul Dean

1:19:56 Koi Koi

1:43:48 Audience correspondence - Torturing Efka

Aeon Trespass: Odyssey, GWT: Argentina, Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game, Yokai Septet

This episode is jam packed with exciting board games and has a reference to clotted cream - that's right - it's the scone episode! A tasty delicious dessert for your ears full of rich indulgent cardboard. What's especially exciting is that we've got a little bit of everything for everyone - from very light to very heavy, all pretty great in their own ways so if you're looking to enrich your collection - this week is definitely full of good recs. Enjoy!

If you have personal experiences to share about any games discussed in this episode or any topic that's dear to your heart - we’d love to hear from you. Please write to: elaine@nopunincluded.com

On to the timestamps:

4:00 Audience correspondence - Historical Wargames and MILDA MATILDA

13:02 Yokai Septet

23:23 Audience correspondence - Rulebooks

30:10 Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game

44:58 Great Western Trail: Argentina

1:04:12 Aeon Trespass: Odyssey (first impressions)

Jessie Gender, Heat, Votes for Women, Turncoats, Canvas

Every day people stop us on the street and say “But, Elaine and Efka, why did you rename the podcast?” What an excellent question real person on the street - we renamed it because Talk Cardboard is all about talking to other people about cardboard. All kinds of cardboard. Flat, corrugated and even board game. So we talk to you, dear listeners, especially when you write in. But we also talk to our guests! And today’s episode features our very first and so far very best guest. That’s right, it’s Jessie Gender, you can find more of her things on https://www.youtube.com/@JessieGender1

Also in today’s episode: Heat, Votes for Women, Turncoats and Canvas.

If you have personal experiences to share about any games discussed in this episode or any topic that's dear to your heart - we’d love to hear from you. Please write to: elaine@nopunincluded.com

On to the timestamps:

4:53 Canvas

14:06 Heat: Pedal to the Metal

38:24 Jessie Gender a.k.a. Jessie Earl

1:03:35 Turncoats ( https://mildamatildagames.wordpress.com/turncoats-2/ )

1:20:17 Votes for Women

GOTY Runner ups, Resist!, Knight Fall and Lands of Galzyr

It’s so great to be behind the microphone again talking about something you love! Especially when the thing you love is pancakes. But we also spend a good amount of time talking about what’s fresh in board games, including a sleeper solo hit Resist! from the people that brought you Undaunted, the little asymmetric arena battler Knight Fall and the somewhat sprawling choose your own adventure on a map game Lands of Galzyr.

Today’s bonus feature is the three contenders for Efka’s game of the year title that didn’t quite make the cut.

If you have personal experiences to share about any games discussed in this episode or any topic that's dear to your heart - we’d love to hear from you. Please write to: elaine@nopunincluded.com

On to the timestamps:

9:00 Resist!

32:52 Knight Fall

48:30 Meaty Questions

1:04:18 Efka's Runners Up for GOTY 2022

1:12:22 Lands of Galzyr

1:27:26 More Write-ins

Most Anticipated Games 2023, Artisans of Splendent Vale, Scout, Evergreen, Ostia

Welcome back to the newly named board game podcast from the duo at No Pun Included! In this new iteration we're starting small and building up each episode, so if you've enjoyed this - there's more to come every second Friday. Today we're taking you through Efka's most anticipated board games of 2023, four board game reviews and lots of words from our listeners.

If you'd like to write in about any of the games discussed or any topic that's dear to your heart: elaine@nopunincluded.com

On to the timestamps:

2:13 Scout

19:14 Evergreen

29:03 Efka's Most Anticipated Games of 2023

45:13 Artisans of Splendent Vale

1:02:47 Write-ins

1:15:52 Ostia

Episode Thirty - Mindwright

Hey everybody - it’s a calculator party! Bring out your Casios and we’ll get down with spreadsheets like it’s 1799. On today’s podcast not only do we tackle the mini-beast that is Arkwright: The Card Game but give an early scoop on Mind MGMT and a brief glance at Murano: Light Masters.

Timestamps:

• Murano: Light Masters - ( 03:04 )

• Arkwright: The Card Game - ( 20:00 )

• Mind MGMT - ( 37:35 )

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment below.

You can also subscribe to the Podcast via:
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Episode Twenty Nine - Dinosaur Building Blocks

Three board games enter, one board game leaves. But only having endured the harsh nature of Elaine’s and Efka’s critique. That’s the No Pun Included podcast and it’s back once again for the twenty ninth time.

Timestamps:

• Dinosaur World - ( 06:50 )

• Exit Advent Calendar: Mystery of the Ice Cave (no spoilers) - ( 28:31 )

• Magnate: The First City - ( 41:16 )

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment below. Unlike our YouTube videos, there’s no other sensible way for you to have a nice chat with us, or maybe even some other listeners. Who knows? You might even find a friend.

You can also subscribe to the Podcast via:
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Episode Twenty Eight - Reimplemented

Cult of the new? More like “cult of the game that I’ve already played but haven’t played in ages and now there’s a new version so I bought it again just so I could play it and not play the copy I already had!” That’s right, today we discuss three board games that are renditions, re-editions, reimplementations or maybe just second editions.

Timestamps:

• A Brief Note on our Too Many Bones Video - ( 00:55 )

• Dinosaur Island: Rawr'N Write - ( 07:56 )

• Mobile Markets: A Smartphone Inc Game - ( 30:59 )

• Great Western Trail: Second Edition - ( 45:53 )

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment below. Unlike our YouTube videos, there’s no other sensible way for you to have a nice chat with us, or maybe even some other listeners. Who knows? You might even find a friend.

You can also subscribe to the Podcast via:
RSS, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, and also searchable on Google Podcasts

Episode Twenty Seven - Ambitious Kickstarters With Bad Rulebooks

Ah, rulebooks. Don’t you just love sitting down with a cup of hot beverage and an arcane manual written by what you assume is a “game wizard” and spend four hours of your day trying to understand what exactly phrases like “spend your faucet token to activate the hyrdraulics action space” actually mean, to only inevitably give up and desperately search YouTube for a Watch it Played video? Well, this episode of the No Pun Included podcast is delivered to you by this exact feeling. Not all games in today’s episode have bad rulebooks - but the ones that do excel at it.

Timestamps:

• Sheepy Time - ( 04:00 )

• Beast - ( 18:21 )

• The Great Wall - ( 40:19 )

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment below. Unlike our YouTube videos, there’s no other sensible way for you to have a nice chat with us, or maybe even some other listeners. Who knows? You might even find a friend.

You can also subscribe to the Podcast via:
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Episode Twenty Six - Coffee Coffee coffe coffee

What two things would you miss if you were to live on the moon? That’s right, it’s coffee, and the ability for sound to echo whilst you’re doing a moonwalk in vacuum. With that tenuous link between this episode’s board games established, I can tell you a little bit more what to expect from each. Luna Capital is yet another spin on the tableau building formula, Echoes brings something fresh by giving us our very first audio mystery game, and Coffee Traders is this episode’s chunky boy, giving most euro games a run for their money in terms of complexity.

Timestamps:

• Luna Capital - ( 08:35 )

• Echoes - ( 24:23 )

• Coffee Traders - ( 38:45 )

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment below. Unlike our YouTube videos, there’s no other sensible way for you to have a nice chat with us, or maybe even some other listeners. Who knows? You might even find a friend.

You can also subscribe to the Podcast via:
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Episode Twenty Five - Boats Boats Robin Oats

Toot toot, the No Pun Included boat has docked, ready to unload three stormy board games into your harbour. Are these board games fresh as the fruit of the sea, or do they perhaps smell a bit fishy? Quick, someone take away the analogies from me because I’ll starting waxing on about how we spill the board game guts. Oh no. It’s too late - the board game guts - they are everywhere.

Timestamps:

• Fleet: The Dice Game - ( 02:39 )

• The Crew: Mission Deep Sea - ( 19:59 )

• The Adventures of Robin Hood - ( 36:05 )

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment below. Unlike our YouTube videos, there’s no other sensible way for you to have a nice chat with us, or maybe even some other listeners. Who knows? You might even find a friend.

You can also subscribe to the Podcast via:
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Episode Twenty Four - The Reiner Knizia Special - Part Two - Out of Print Edition

Following from our Reiner Knizia Special video, here's more Knizia games, this time, all out of print and all (hopefully) coming back soon.

Timestaps:

• Tigris & Euphrates + Yellow & Yangtzee - ( 07:51 )

• Ra - ( 32:57 )

• Winner’s Circle - ( 43:24 )

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment below. Unlike our YouTube videos, there’s no other sensible way for you to have a nice chat with us, or maybe even some other listeners. Who knows? You might even find a friend.

You can also subscribe to the Podcast via:
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Episode Twenty Three - Destinies vs Descent

What if you want an app based adventure game? Sorted, we’ve got you covered with our coverage of a hot new board game - Destinies. What if you want two app based adventure games? Well, we’ve got our coverage covered by covering not one but two app based adventure games, because we’ve got the scoop on Descent: Legends of the Dark and you might want to tune into that.

Fun fact, we mention comparing these two games at the end, and then totally forget to do that. But the comparison points should be clear as we go along.

Timestaps:

• Destinies - ( 02:43 )

• Minor Mechanical Destinies Spoilers - ( 16:29 )

• Spoilers end at - ( 17:50 )

• Descent: Legends of the Dark - ( 41:24 )

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment below. Unlike our YouTube videos, there’s no other sensible way for you to have a nice chat with us, or maybe even some other listeners. Who knows? You might even find a friend.

You can also subscribe to the Podcast via:
RSS, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher.

Episode Twenty Two - The Cheese Whiz Episode (feat. Summoner Wars, Khora and Kemet: Blood and Sand)

Hello cheese fans! Hope you brought your cheese along cause it's about to get stinky! Join us in this heatwave for another episode of the NPI Podcast where we'll indulge you in some board game talk.

On today's episode we discuss:

Summoner Wars ( 05:33 )

Khora: Rise of an Empire ( 22:17 )

Kemet: Blood and Sand ( 48:05 )

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment below. Unlike our YouTube videos, there’s no other sensible way for you to have a nice chat with us, or maybe even some other listeners. Who knows? You might even find a friend.

You can also subscribe to the Podcast via:
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Episode Twenty One - Sleeping Gods

Today we discuss one game and one game only - Sleeping Gods. But wait a minute, hasn’t NPI already done an excellent review of Sleeping Gods on their YouTube channel? Why yes, hypothetical questioner - we have. However, we had so much to say about this wonderful game that we thought it was worth tackling from a second angle.

Review copy of Sleeping Gods has been provided by the publisher - Red Raven Games.

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment below. Unlike our YouTube videos, there’s no other sensible way for you to have a nice chat with us, or maybe even some other listeners. Who knows? You might even find a friend.

You can also subscribe to the Podcast via:
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Episode Twenty - My Cheese City

Hello everyone and welcome to the podcast description. In your average peas and potatoes board game podcast description, you’d normally have a list of games we’ll be talking about and maybe some words about them. For example, I could say: in this episode we’ll discuss Overboss, a tile laying city builder masquerading as a pixelated fantasy game, Cubitos, a psychedelic game about racing cubes on an alien cube planet, and My City - a Reiner Knizia polyamino tile-laying legacy game. Then there would be a sprinkle of a witticism, perhaps a meta joke. Sadly, at NPI we have run out of all creativity and instead of a good description of what things are all you’re getting is this brief sad note on what it isn’t. Hope you didn’t enjoy this. On to the timestamps.

• Overboss ( 02:48 )

• Cubitos ( 20:50 )

• My City ( 35:30 )

Review copies for Overboss and My City have been provided by their respective publishers.

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment below. Unlike our YouTube videos, there’s no other sensible way for you to have a nice chat with us, or maybe even some other listeners. Who knows? You might even find a friend.

You can also subscribe to the Podcast via:
RSS, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher.

Episode Nineteen - Seize the Freeze

What’s cold, old and trainy all over? It’s the No Pun Included podcast covering not one, not two but three board games - one about cold, one about old and one about the industrialization of the Iberian peninsula. Today we’ll be taking a look at Carpe Diem, the new-ish tile laying spiky point salad from Stephan Feld, the resource optimization via dying on an inhospitable planet conundrum called Cryo and the newest entry in the Iron Rails series - Iberian Gauge. Are they good? Are they fun? Are they maybe a bit of a let-down? The NPI podcast has all the answers.

Review copies for Cryo and Carpe Diem have been provided by their respective publishers.

• Carpe Diem ( 06:45 )

• Cryo ( 23:18 )

• Iberian Gauge ( 37:14 )

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment below. Unlike our YouTube videos, there’s no other sensible way for you to have a nice chat with us, or maybe even some other listeners. Who knows? You might even find a friend.

You can also subscribe to the Podcast via:
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Episode Eighteen - Smellovision

Look at that! Or should I say, smell at that? The podcast, for the first time in a long time is precisely on time. And with not one, not two but three very fragrant board gamers plucked from the musky shelves of No Pun Included. Today we plunge our olfactory senses into the sweaty world of fighting games, the scent ambivalent kaleidoscopic paterns of coloured sand and dip our schnozzes into the tangy gloop of selling honey.

• Mandala ( 01:27 )

• Honey Buzz ( 18:29 )

• BattleCon: Remastered ( 35:16 )

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment below. Unlike our YouTube videos, there’s no other sensible way for you to have a nice chat with us, or maybe even some other listeners. Who knows? You might even find a friend.

You can also subscribe to the Podcast via:
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Episode Seventeen - Beyond the Hallertau

The podcast is back from its deep 2020 slumber, ready to embrace the 2021 rays of sunlight. What better way to start the year than a discussion about three board games that are definitely good enough to be talked about on a board game podcast.

A note to long time listeners. This latest episode sees a reversion to our original form of the podcast. Whilst we enjoyed how we expanded the podcast and how it grew, in conjuction with our video review work it became unsustainable. We hope you enjoy this shorter, albeit hopefully more frequent form once again.

• NPI News ( 02:44 )

• Hallertau ( 04:51 )

• Nidavellir ( 27:46 )

• Beyond the Sun ( 42:58 )

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment below. Unlike our YouTube videos, there’s no other sensible way for you to have a nice chat with us, or maybe even some other listeners. Who knows? You might even find a friend.

You can also subscribe to the Podcast via:
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Episode Sixteen - The Search for Planet X

Hello and welcome - today it’s time to rejoice for this is but the grumpiest episode of the No Pun Included podcast yet. Not only does Efka grump, but also Elaine grumps. Much like squirrels, we have been gathering grumpy nuts for the winter to now unleash all of them onto you, our unsuspecting listeners.

Today we’ll be grumping about:

• Games We’ve Been Playing

  • Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game ( 7:44 )

  • Marvel Champions - A Brief Mention ( 11:15 )

  • Oceans ( 11:50 )

  • Curious Cargo ( 25:09 )

  • Under Falling Skies ( 36:20 )

  • Bonfire ( 43:01 )

  • Point Salad ( 53:21)

• Games We’re Looking Forward To ( 58:00 )

• Efka Grumps A Game - Cartographers ( 59:22 )

• Elaine Ungrumps A Game - Special Grump Edition ( 1:05:34 )

• Puzzle Deduction One and Done Escape Room Segment

  • IDVentures - The Unsolved Case of Holmes ( 1:13:53 )

• Feature Review - The Search for Planet X ( 1:23:41 )

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment below. Unlike our YouTube videos, there’s no other sensible way for you to have a nice chat with us, or maybe even some other listeners. Who knows? You might even find a friend.

You can also subscribe to the Podcast via:
RSS, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher.