Player One | Player Two: The Board Gaming Duo
When you exclusively play board games with two players, the hobby can feel a bit like a solitary experience. The purpose of this podcast is to open our door to you, and welcome you into our gaming world, as well as hopefully help introduce other people to the hobby.
Episodes
39 episodes
Episode 39: Don't Look Back in Anger
In April 2016, Kathleen and I played a game that crushed me in disappointment. Checking nearly every box of my gamer wishlist, Sentinels of the Multiverse came into our one bedroom apartment and left a trail of ardent thumbs down in its wake. A...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 15
•
53:31
Episode 38: Badlands
If you've listened to our podcast before or know our gaming history, you probably know that Kathleen and I came to the hobby from Magic: The Gathering. That being said, once we left Magic behind, we didn't look back. Magic: The Gathering and ot...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 14
•
48:36
Episode 37: Blessed & Possessed
Thematically, it feels appropriate that we name this episode after a Powerwolf song, but that may just be because I've not played Bloodborne. Anyway, let's dive into this huge box of plastic Victorian-esque horrors as we look at the Eric Lang/M...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 13
•
58:20
Episode 36: Be Prepared
Deck building as a mechanic is a staple of the hobby, but one that we've both made clear isn't always enough to provide a satisfying gameplay experience. Add in a pretty niche theme and it seems like a recipe for disaster.Or is it?<...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 12
•
49:31
Episode 35: Time in a Bottle
We've gone dark since May 2021, and now we've entered 2022. I'm gettin' tired of reassessing where we are and our general mental and physical well-being, but here we are. Instead of getting mopey, let's talk about what games we're playing and w...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 11
•
37:59
Episode 34: Heroes
On May 5, 2021, Marvel United: X-Men successfully funded on Kickstarter, raising nearly $6,000,000 of their $300,000 goal. I backed it, even though I've got some gripes with the 2020 release of Marvel United. Why did I back it? Because if I had...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 10
•
57:19
Episode 33: Everybody Wants to Rule the World
The American Tabletop Awards have announced their winners for game of the year 2020, and we've just gotten the complex game of the year to the table... and we have thoughts! Now presenting, a deep and hungry pit of choice, waiting to swallow yo...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 9
•
1:03:59
Episode 32: Still Havin' Fun (A Top 10 List!)
A little over 18 months after our last Top 10 Favorite Games countdown finds us in much more subdued spirits, turning to comfort gaming--not too surprising! Some shake ups and some old standbys make their obligatory appearances. Y...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 8
•
1:04:47
Episode 31: The Beautiful Briny
Uwe Rosenberg needs no introduction in regard to worker placement games. Agricola, Le Havre, Caverna, A Feast for Odin, Fields of Arle, At the Gates of Loyang, and a host of others have made him a legend in the community. Rather than make some ...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 7
•
55:25
Episode 30: Fox on the Run
...and we're back. Six months is a long time, and it feels even longer in the dwindling days of a pandemic. Players One and Two have still been playing, still been talking, still been pushin' those cubes, but now they've turned the tape back on...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 6
•
1:01:57
Episode 29: The Longest Year
We’ve been hiding, taking stock of our place in this wild, wild year, and taking care of each other. Hopefully you and your loved ones are doing all right. We may be holed up, but we’re still playing games and pushin’ those cubes. Again, hopefu...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 5
•
39:55
Episode 28: In the Army Now!
Deep in the abyss of the quarantine, Kathleen and I recorded a searching and subdued episode about what is certainly considered a classic: Combat Commander. Yes, it's a war game, but essentially this is an Ameritrash skirmish game with a heavie...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 4
•
58:40
Episode 27: Don't Know Much About History
Pax games are a sort of micro-genre of their own. Medium to heavy-ish opaque games that smash up euro mechanics with some borderline aggressive player interactive. Oh, and they are [nearly] all historically based. I can tell you where I fall, b...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 3
•
1:08:03
Episode 26: More Than a Feld[ing]
There are two kinds of gamers around here: those who like Stefan Feld and those who do not. I would say "and those who are wrong," but I'm furloughed and I'm trying to be nicer to people–hey, we all should do it! Anyway, if you're ...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 2
•
49:18
Episode 25: Should I Stay or Should I Go
All right, so this may be the Player One | Player Two Podcast, but that doesn’t mean we’re happy being locked out of 3+ player games. With that in mind, we realize that some “Two Player Variants” are messier than others.Dummy players, AI...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 1
•
55:44
Episode 24: 2019 in Review
We wrap up our inaugural year of the Player One | Player Two podcast a little late (hey, at least it's still January!), and talk about the 2019 games we played. Some hot hot heat, some IPs, and at least one game about trains. We also manage to ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 24
•
54:21
Episode 23: PAX Unplugged 2019
Hobby gaming is, at its heart, a social hobby. We have lamented before that playing as two players makes it seem like you are living in a bubble–which is why we started this podcast, after all. That being said, we were very excited to get out o...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 23
•
59:38
Episode 22: Let's Call the Whole Thing Off
Scaling is so important in regard to the two-player subset of board gaming. Excellent three or four player games are sometimes incomplete or unsatisfying two-player experiences. But what happens when a game does take scaling into accoun...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 22
•
44:06
Episode 21: Don't Go Breaking My Heart
Kathleen and I are both very happy to go to bat for escape room games. The idea of one-off games rubs some people the wrong way. Is it a good value? Is it a good way to spend an evening? Is it a good analogue for the actual social experience? W...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 21
•
42:52
Episode 20: Picture in a Frame
In this episode, we’ll dig into a big, heavy, and very well-regarded euro. As we go, we’ll discuss a designer known exclusively for his heavy, thematic, and puzzly games, and how his theming is able to instruct the mechanics of this design spec...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 20
•
48:32
Episode 19: Build Me Up Buttercup
Expectations can get you in some trouble, even if a game seems to give fair warning that it’s not necessarily related to its predecessor. People understandably--and that includes us--will come into a game wanting what they (or we) want. It’s no...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 19
•
55:25
Episode 18: Little Pink Houses
So Player Two and I finally played our first Roll and Write game, curious to learn what all the hubbub's about. Just rolling some dice and writing stuff down, no? Well, inside of this small, affordable, and delightfully designed box, there lies...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 18
•
41:11
Episode 17: Know Your Enemy
We’ve evolved a lot as gamers over the past few years, moving decisively away from games with heavily random elements and towards games that are more straight-forwardly strategic or puzzly. But what happens when random elements meet a puzzly, s...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 17
•
42:34
Episode 16: Still the One (A Top 10 List!)
As you'll hear, this episode needs no introduction (literally). Listen as we dip our toes into the fickle and ever-changing pool of ranking games, as we each discuss our top 10 favorite games. No spoilers, but maybe you'll hear mention of some ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 16
•
1:02:01
Episode 15: I Fought the Law
Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game is a new take on the idea of an escape room game. Puzzles + campaign? We're not always great about actually finishing campaigns, but what about Detective? Is Detective strong enough as a narrative to carry u...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 15
•
48:32