Board Game Hot Takes

In Episode 284 we give our hot take review on Echoes of Time covering the mechanisms, the production, and our overall feelings of the game.
We cover a poll on motivations to engage with the board game hobby and then discuss some games that have been on our tables including Sanctuary and Fearsome Floors and a first look at some games that have recently arrived including Chaosmos: The Temple and Speakeasy.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:21 Poll: What is your primary motivation for being a part of the board gaming hobby?
09:18 Echoes of Time Description
10:57 Gameplay and Mechanisms
27:08 Production and Theme
37:26 Final Thoughts
47:00 Sanctuary
56:06 Recent Arrivals: Chaosmos: The Temple and Speakeasy
59:51 Fearsome Floors
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In Episode 284 we take a look back at 2025 and discuss some of the great (and no so great) games we played last year. Most of them were even published last year.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
2:27 Biggest Surprises in 2025 (Dead Cells, Hot Streak, Slay the Spire: The Board Game)
16:45 Biggest Disappointments in 2025 (Wroth, Scoville 2nd Edition, SETI: Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence)
25:04 Best New to Us in 2025 (Lords of Vegas, Thurn and Taxis, Crokinole, Nokosu Dice)
30:23 Best Production Published in 2025 (Hot Streak, March of the Ants Evolved Edition, Stupor Mundi)
36:51 Lookback at Best Games of 2024 (Unconscious Mind, Fromage, Civolution)
40:35 Best Games of 2025 (March of the Ants Evolved Edition, Luthier, Moon Colony Bloodbath)
48:40 Board Game Resolutions
If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us at https://www.patreon.com/boardgamehottakes
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Join our Board Game Arena Community: https://boardgamearena.com/group?id=11417205
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In Episode 282 we discuss the current state of the hobby and if it's the best it's ever been. Are we in peak board gaming? Where do we go from here?
If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us at https://www.patreon.com/boardgamehottakes
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In Episode 281 we look back at the games we played once for the first time in 2025. Great games and we want to play them more.
We briefly look at last year's list and see how we did.
00:00 Introduction
04:24 Last Year's List
04:34 Luthier
05:04 Marrakesh
05:21 Dune
06:12 Unconscious Mind
07:25 Thunder Road: Vendetta
08:27 Lancaster
09:44 Dune: Imperium Uprising (6 Player)
09:53 Biohack
10:01 Ceres
10:39 March of the Ants
11:36 Clockwork Wars
12:38 Hallertau
12:55 Walnut Grove
15:01 Black Forest
15:42 Endeavor: Deep Sea
16: 32 Top 5 Games We Only Played Once in 2025
16:44 Moon Colony Bloodbath
20:14 Modern Art
23:45 Crokinole
27:56 Chaosmos
30:51 Frozen Frontier
32:30 Rebirth
34:34 Manhattan Project: Energy Empire
36:27 Stroganov
39:35 SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
41:17 Crystal Palace
43:57 Ada's Dream
If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us at https://www.patreon.com/boardgamehottakes
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Join our Board Game Arena Community: https://boardgamearena.com/group?id=11417205
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In Episode 280 we look back at last year's list of games we wanted to get played and then we discuss the games that are top of mind we hope to get to try over the next year.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
02:12 Last Year's Top 5 we wanted to play in 2025 (and how we did)
02:21 Civolution
05:40 Joyrides: Survival of the Fastest
06:08 Wroth
06:32 SETI: Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence
09:58 Dune: War for Arrakis
10:48 Windmill Valley
12:21 Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth
13:46 Endeavor: Deep Sea
15:18 Resafa
16:05 Andromeda's Edge / Rock Hard: 1977
17:26 World Order
18:47 Wondrous Creatures
19:44 Rats of Wistar
21:35 Power Vaccuum
22:40 Top 5 Games we want to play in 2026
22:40 Coming of Age
25:04 Primacy: A Coyote and Crow Card Game
29:31 Eternal Decks
34:12 Echoes of Time
38:55 Lords of Baseball
41:33 Everdell: Silverfrost
43:54 Burn the Fort
48:57 Rise and Fall
52:08 Ants
54:15 Rebuilding Seattle
1:00:33 Unicorn Fever
1:03:20 Sanctuary
1:09:03 Speakeasy
1:12:42 Ayar: Children of the Sun
If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us at https://www.patreon.com/boardgamehottakes
Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/boardgamehottakes.bsky.social
Join our Board Game Arena Community: https://boardgamearena.com/group?id=11417205
Join our Discord server at: ⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/vMtAYQWURd