310 – Magic: The Gathering Bloomburrow, Umbrella, Dungeons & Dragons

Podcast, Conor, Joe, Jules /

In this week’s episode, Conor, Jules and Joe share what has been hitting their tables. Jules gives us a blast from the past revisiting his humble beginnings with Magic: The Gathering. Joe has been enjoying his latest cup of tea rainy day game in Umbrella, though some of the strategy went over his head. Conor takes the best of both, stirring up storms with an even bigger throwback to the iconic PRG, Dungeons & Dragons. 

There’s also the Question of the Pod, what has us fired up lately, and all the regular podcast shenanigans. 

New Question of the Pod: What are your thoughts on the popularity of RPGs compared to board games?

Timestamps:
Magic: The Gathering Bloomburrow [34:40]
Umbrella [46:58]
Dungeons & Dragons [0:52:20]
Question of the Pod Recap: [1:08:12]
What has us fired up? [1:15:26]

Check out our Eventbrite page for all of our upcoming Game Days: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/board-game-bbq-32833304483 

Has this episode left you with a thirst for more? Here are all of the games that we discussed:
Art Society – https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/395375/art-society 
Linx – https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/399757/linx 
Cutlass – https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/232588/cutlass 
Unsettled – https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/290484/unsettled 
Rebel Princess – https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/381249/rebel-princess 
Magic: The Gathering Bloomburrow – https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/425700/magic-the-gathering-bloomburrow 
Umbrella – https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/402125/umbrella 

 

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Dana

Episode Dana Is On

Hi everyone! It’s Dana here or as everyone knows me, Dana Banana. I’m a stay-at-home mother of three children in Brisbane, and I’m new to the podcast as of 2023. It’s so wonderful to be able to talk about board games and this hobby I love. I love the look and feel (and yes the smell …) of a physical board game. But not just that, board gaming has given me confidence and a social outlet as well. Board gamers are some of the most accepting people I’ve ever met and I feel really lucky to be a part of this community.

I love medium to heavy Euros, particularly anything with animals or a nature theme. To be honest any game with a strategic or tactical puzzle just makes me so happy. It always amazes me how broad our hobby is. There’s something for everyone! My other passions are travel, photography and spending time with my family and our two dogs and cat.

Dana’ top-10 games (as of Dec 2023)

1. Ark Nova
2. Dwellings of Eldervale
3. Viticulture Essential Edition
4. Wingspan
5. Obsession

6. Castles of Burgundy
7. Meadow
8. Lost Ruins of Arnak
9. Great Western Trail 2 nd Edition
10. Space Base

joe

Episode Joe Is On

I’m Joe, originally a Darwin boy but currently live in the Inner North of Melbourne. My love of gaming started with the original Super Mario Bros on the NES at age 5yo and have been hooked on gaming ever since! I love gaming in its many forms and actively play video games, tabletop RPGs and best of all: Board Games. One of my favourite things about board gaming is its ability to bring together a group of strangers around a game and come away with new friends by the end of it.

While I have a special place in my heart for games that have high conflict, I tend to like games of many types and themes and have even been known to get stuck into a heavy euro or two!

Joe’ top-10 games (as of Dec 2023)

1. Root
2. Kanban EV
3. Scout
4. Revive
5. Veiled Fate

6. Vast: The Mysterious Manor
7. The White Castle
8. Na Na (Trio)
9. Res Arcana
10. Hegemony

Conor

Episode Conor Is On

Hi all, I’m Conor and I’m from Warrnambool in South West Victoria. I’ve been playing board games with my family all my life but have been collecting them myself for the last 6 or so years. After playing lots of Magic The Gathering with my dad and brothers I adore card games, such as my favourite game of all time, The Arkham Horror Living Card Game!

I play a whole range of games, and I’m always looking for new ones to learn! Feel free to find me on conors_boardgame_corner on Instagram to see what I’m playing lately!

Conor’ top-10 games (as of Dec 2023)

1. Spirit Island
2. Arkham Horror: The Card Game
3. Too Many Bones
4. Gaia Project
5. Cloudspire

6. Root
7. Underwater Cities
8. Beyond the Sun
9. Imperial Settlers Empires of the North
10. A Feast for Odin

Lauren

Episode Lauren Is On

Hi there, I’m Lauren and I live in Sydney. Back in high school I played hundreds of games of werewolf with my friends, and we even developed our own werewolf megagame that we played over several weeks. I also played regular games of Settlers of Catan and other classic gateway games, though absolutely credit Wil Wheaton’s show Tabletop for introducing me to what other board games were out there. Since then it has been a steady decline into board gaming madness *gestures to wall of Kallax shelving*

Outside of gaming, I am passionate about mental health advocacy, reading and learning about psychology, and I’m always looking for games that work in a therapeutic context.

Lauren’ top-10 games (as of Dec 2023)

1. Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
2. Arkham Horror: The Card Game
3. Eclipse Second Dawn for the Galaxy
4. Caverna: The Cave Farmers
5. Food Chain Magnate

6. MicroMacro: Crime City
7. Blitzkrieg: WW2 in 20 Minutes
8. The Search for Planet X
9. Tigris & Euphrates
10. Hansa Teutonica

Dan

Episode Dan Is On

I’m Dan, I’m a Melbourne boy, and I’ve been obsessed with games and puzzles since I was a kid. When I wasn’t playing games, I was cutting up bits of paper and inventing them and then forcing my little brother to play them with me. As I got older the distractions of life took me away from gaming but I rediscovered my passion in my late 30s and never looked back.

When I’m not playing two-player games with my beautiful Player 2, hosting games nights for friends, or teaching my two boys the wonders of boardgaming, I’m sharing my love for this rewarding hobby as @PlayerOnYourLeft on Instagram.

Dan’ top-10 games (as of Dec 2023)

1. Marvel Champions
2. Aeon’s End
3. Final Girl
4. Hadrian’s Wall
5. 7th Continent

6. Skyteam
7. Arkham Horror TCG
8. Teotihuacan
9. Cartographers
10. Inside Job

Adrian

Episode Adrian Is On

Hi I am Adrian. After backpacking around the world for a few years, I have finally settled in Brisbane, Australia. My partner and I play a lot of co-op games including Pandemic and Arkham Horror. I have really only just started to get more dedicated to the hobby, we’ll play games almost everyday. I have a son who is almost 5 and being able to teach him games like Rhino Hero and Sushi Go has been a great way to spend out time.

I have only just recently got into competitive games like Terraforming Mars and Unfair. I love learning new games as much as I like to play games i know very well.

Adrian’ top-10 games (as of Dec 2023)

1. Barrage
2. Kingdom Death Monster
3. Bristol 1350
4. On Mars
5. Pipeline

6. Teotihuacan
7. Gaia Project
8. Horseless Carriage
9. Brass: Birmingham
10. High Society

Mitch

Episode Mitch Is On

I’m Mitch and I hail from Lonely Island – I mean, I’m from Northwest Sydney. The others in the BBQ say I live on Lonely Island because I LOVE playing solo games! Don’t get me wrong, I love playing with a group as well. Ultimately I just love playing all types of games. I started playing RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons, Cyberpunk 2020 and a few other titles when I was in high school and gradually our group stopped playing as with a day job, a beautiful wife and 3 amazing kids I had less and less time to put in the prep work. Then in 2016 I discovered board games!! A way to get similar enjoyment that I’d get from RPGs without the prep work overhead. A perfect solution!

Since then I’ve spent way too much money on board games, created my own game company, Hyper Vyper Games, run a successful Kickstarter campaign and started an awesome podcast with a bunch of strangers from across the country who I now consider my good friends.

Mitch’ top-10 games (as of Dec 2023)

1. Too Many Bones
2. Great Western Trail
3. Fleet: The Dice Game
4. Nemo’s War
5. Sleeping Gods

6. Nyet!
7. A Feast for Odin
8. Freedom: The Underground Railroad
9. Dice Throne
10. Condotierre

Jules

Episode Jules Is On

I’m Jules and I currently live in Melbourne. I love everything about board games! The social bonding, mental workouts and endless entertainment. I grew up playing board games and other tabletop war games such as Warhammer 40k but I got more serious about the hobby in 2016 when I was introduced to games such as Cosmic Encounter. My favourite genre of board games is area control/war games aka “dudes on a map”. I have the smallest board game collection in the BBQ crew but to me, the collection is the cream of the crop!

As a photographer I decided to combine these two passions and start an Instagram account dedicated to board game photography called Mates and Meeples. I also do a lot of commission miniature painting which I love! You can see my work here https://julesminipainter.com/

Jules’ top-10 games (as of Dec 2023)

1. Kingdom Death Monster
2. Super Fantasy Brawl
3. Root
4. Pax Pamir Second Edition
5. Black Rose Wars

6. Inis
7. Cloudspire
8. Brass: Birmingham
9. Bus
10. Oriflamme