“No luck gameplay,” “strategic decisions,” and “no luck!” are all common phrases on both Kickstarter and BGG store pages for some of our favorite games! But why is that? Why is there a stigma around luck in games? Should there be? Is luck a boon in game design or a bust? Join Robert, Steve and Evan as they roll the dice on how we perceive luck in games! Want to ask a question or give us your two cents? Hit us up at cardboardphilosophypod@gmail.com! Cites and Sources Acquire - https://boardgamege...
Dec 20, 2023•34 min•Ep. 21
Does a mechanic a board game genre make? We talk about how a game is a “deck builder” but does that actually answer the question of what genre the game is? Or is it merely one of the mechanics that makes up the game? This is certainly sounds like a weird philosophical question the Cardboard Philosophy boys would tackle… Join Steve, Robert and Evan as they discover that classifying games by genre is sometimes easier said than done! Want to ask a question or give us your two cents? Hit us up at ca...
Dec 06, 2023•31 min•Ep. 20
Board games are basically just paper video games… right? RIGHT? While I don’t think anyone will agree with that, I think we can all agree that there sure are a lot of board game adaptations of video games floating around these days! Why? And more importantly, what makes them work? What separates video games from board games? Evan, Robert and Steve aim to find out! Want to ask a question or give us your two cents? Hit us up at cardboardphilosophypod@gmail.com! Cites and Sources Adrenaline - https...
Nov 23, 2023•26 min•Ep. 19
Board game rules are all made up! It’s true! I read about that in a rule book once. But how arbitrary are those made up rules? Are some rules more inherently intuitive and less arbitrarily than others? What makes those other rules feel arbitrary? This is certainly sounds like a weird philosophical question the CP boys would tackle… and would you believe it? This week they do! Join Robert, Steve and Evan as we get into the nitty gritty of what feel arbitrary in rules! Want to ask a question or gi...
Nov 08, 2023•31 min•Ep. 18
Art is everywhere! From the screen on your phone to the paintings in a museum. It’s also all over the board games we know and love! It’s also more than just something pretty to look at… but how far can art in board games take us? How much does it effect our enjoyment of the game? Can there be too much of it? This is a big subject, so who better to pull onto the show than our friend Peter McPherson (Fit to Print, Tiny Towns)? Join Robert, Steve, Evan and Pete as we dive into all things art on thi...
Oct 25, 2023•42 min•Ep. 17
From the “winner take all” to the “second place is the first loser” people really like to win! But why is winning so important? Is winning actually a key ingredient for enjoying a game? This week on the show the boys dive into the highs and lows of winning! Want to ask a question or give us your two cents? Hit us up at cardboardphilosophypod@gmail.com! Cites and Sources Age of Steam - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4098/age-steam Blood on the Clocktower - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame...
Oct 11, 2023•32 min•Ep. 16
We’ve all been there. Everyone sitting down to dive into a board game, excited at the prospects before us. After 3.5 hours the dreaded sentence is uttered “this game is too long.” But what makes something too long? What makes it too short? This week on the show, Steven, Evan and Robert aim to find out! Want to ask a question or give us your two cents? Hit us up at cardboardphilosophypod@gmail.com! Cites and Sources Aquashpere - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/289223/aquasphere Bullet - https...
Sep 27, 2023•34 min•Ep. 15
From the flip of a card to the roll of a die, there is a lot of randomness in games! But is all randomness created equally? Why do some things feel more random than others? Is one form of random number generation better than another? This week on the show: Steve, Robert and Evan are getting random and diving deep into all the nitty gritty of what makes generating random numbers tick! And, most importantly, what makes them fun! Want to ask a question or give us your two cents? Hit us up at cardbo...
Sep 13, 2023•30 min•Ep. 14
At some point in all of our lives here at Cardboard Philosophy - we’ve been called squares. So today, we lean into it by talking about the squarest part of our hobby – box sizes! What is the perfect box size? Why so much empty space and are boxes really the optimal way to store games? All of that and so much more on this week’s show! Want to ask a question or give us your two cents? Hit us up at cardboardphilosophypod@gmail.com! Cites and Sources Avocado Smash - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardga...
Aug 30, 2023•24 min•Ep. 13
Game weight has been a discussion in board gaming for as long as Board Game Geek has been on the internet! Today, this topic is usually based on how much the latest Kickstarter box will weigh during shipping, but in yesteryear it was all about that difficulty. Crunch. Brain chew. This week on the show Steve, Robert and Evan flex their brains to talk about why we like brain flexing in games. We'll cover everything from what makes games heavy to how that impacts the player experience. Want to ask ...
Aug 16, 2023•39 min•Ep. 12
This week on the show we review our thoughts on reviewers… or more specifically… should we really care what they say? Or shouldn’t we? Does length of time in the hobby matter? And who are these people anyway? I don’t know, I just write these episode synopsizes. I leave the philosophizing to Evan, Robert and Steve! Want to ask a question or give us your two cents? Hit us up at cardboardphilosophypod@gmail.com! Cites and Sources Ankh: Gods of Egypt - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/285967/ankh...
Aug 03, 2023•32 min•Ep. 11
House rules are everywhere from the tables of aspiring game designers to the most casual of hobbiests. But why? Are they a way to give a game more of the player’s personality? To fix broken mechanics? And when does that fun little rules twist change the game enough to become something more than what is printed on the box? This week Steve, Robert and Evan dive into the topic of house rules with special guest Austin Harrison from IV Studios (Moonrakers, Veiled Fate, Fractured Sky). Want to ask a q...
Jul 19, 2023•36 min•Ep. 10
Interaction! All games are built on a foundation of interaction… well, most games. With multiplayer solitaire style games becoming more and more popular, how do you define interaction? At what point does something make the jump from solitaire to interactive? What makes interaction anyway? Evan, Robert and Steve dive into this and more on this week’s show! Want to ask a question or give us your two cents? Hit us up at cardboardphilosophypod@gmail.com! Cites and Sources Age of Steam - https://boar...
Jul 05, 2023•35 min•Ep. 9
We LOVE board games! We love them so much we talk about them and what makes them tick on a weekly basis! But we’ve noticed a weird trend in society which begs the question - why doesn't EVERYONE love board games? This week on the show Evan, Robert and Steve try to get to the heart of the issue! Is it a lack of minis? Too much beige? Or is there something deeper afoot?! Only one way to find out! Want to ask a question or give us your two cents? Hit us up at cardboardphilosophypod@gmail.com! Cites...
Jun 21, 2023•37 min•Ep. 8
You are on a long and winding trail and you come to a fork in the road, but unlike most forks, this one has 36 different tines! All the tines lead to the same place – a cabin filled with modern euro games… which path do you take? This week on the show Evan, Robert and Steve choose which path to take and get to the nitty gritty of multiple paths to victory! Why do they work? When don’t they work? And the biggest question of all – are they fun? Evan would also like to make it clear that he should ...
Jun 07, 2023•27 min•Ep. 7
Today on the show, the boys celebrate making it to 6 episodes without a single table flipped by digging into the mystery and magic of “the teach!” Or more specifically - what separates a good teach from a bad one? We’ll find out how they approach teaching and the reason a good teach is good and a bad teach is… well, generally a good way to have a bad time! Want to ask a question or give us your two cents? Hit us up at cardboardphilosophypod@gmail.com! Cites and Sources Age of Steam - https://boa...
May 24, 2023•37 min•Ep. 6
Where do board games go when they die? Better yet; can they go anywhere other than a recycling center? I guess the nicest way to put this is – do games have a soul? Better yet, what gives a game "soul?" What makes a game feel "soulful" versus "soulless?" Those are just some of the questions that Evan, Robert and Steve tackle on this week’s show! Want to ask a question or give us your two cents? Hit us up at cardboardphilosophypod@gmail.com! Cites and Sources 18xx - https://boardgamegeek.com/boar...
May 10, 2023•33 min•Ep. 5
They say knowledge is power… but what if you have too much knowledge? Does that mean you have too much power? If absolute power corrupts absolutely will this power from knowledge corrupt you? Will you become some sort of unhinged board game demigod if there is too much information given to you on the table? We’ll never know! What we will know by the end of this week’s episode is what makes perfect information tick! Evan, Robert and Steve dive into why it is fun, when it isn’t fun and why we woul...
Apr 26, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 4
For years mankind has pondered and debated the question – Does size matter? Perhaps you have sized up this discussion for yourself. In fact, it has many branching thoughts: How does component size effect our emotional response to a game? Do certain sizes imply certain complexity levels? Is CMON overcompensating for something? Today on the show, under the unparalleled hosting stylings of Steve; Evan, Robert and Steve also throw this topic under the magnifier of sizable discussion! Want to give yo...
Apr 12, 2023•37 min•Ep. 3
For years we've been told that space is the final frontier, but who decided that? This week Evan, Robert and Steve discuss what decision space is, how important it is to the board gaming experience and why some spaces feel better than others! Join us at the table, share your thoughts and ask your own question at cardboardphilosophypod@gmail.com! Games We Talked About Bus - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/552/bus Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/338957/c...
Mar 29, 2023•37 min•Ep. 2
Robert, Steve and Evan take a deep dive into the world of being mean in games! Take that, social deduction, war games... Is it fun to be mean? Should it be? Join us at the table, share your thoughts and ask your own question at cardboardphilosophypod@gmail.com! Games Mentioned - Age of Steam - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4098/age-steam Azul - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/230802/azul Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37111/battlestar-galacti...
Mar 15, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 1
