Host: Jacob Hall

Welcome to the Die Cast, the tabletop gaming audio cast serving as a supplement to our Chairman of the Board blog. We may have passionate discussions about the latest and greatest board, miniature and role playing games. We may have thoughtful interviews with your favorite game designers. We may even play a game or two…or ten. The Die Cast is a celebration of tabletop gaming at its finest. If you’re not already a board game fan, we’ll convert you.

The Art of Diplomacy

Diplomacy is the half century old game of being excessively cruel to other people in your living room, and there was no way the Die Cast crew was going to pass up that experience. On this week’s show, Jacob, Daniel, Tyler and Paul recount one of the best days of gaming they’ve ever experienced, a full eight hours of threats, showdowns, and friendships nearly ruined. Yes, this is Diplomacy!

 

A Piece of the Resistance

The Resistance is one of the best games of all time. Played in only 30 minutes, it’s a game of bluffing and lying and accusations. It’s a game of cold, hard deduction, where players work together to find the spies in their midst while those very spies attempt to hide themselves by any means possible. There is a great deal of screaming involved.

In this very special episode of the Die Cast, Jacob and Daniel call in their banners and join Brian Salisbury, Toni Salisbury, Luke Mullen and Paul Gandersman for a few games of The Resistance: Avalon, the medieval themed sequel to the original sci-fi themed The Resistance. If you listen closely, you can hear their friendships end.

The Super Special Untitled Card Game Episode

In the world of deck-building card games, there exists two camps: the collectible card games (CCGs) and the living card games (LCGs). Both require dedication and disposable income. Both demand more time and attention than your average board game. Both have plenty to offer gamers who want to really sink their teeth into a game that never stops evolving or growing.

Jacob and Daniel are joined by special guests Brian Salisbury, Luke Mullen, Toni Salisbury and Paul Gandersman to talk about the likes of Magic: The Gathering and the Game of Thrones card game. In between bouts of card game talk, there’s a little too much swearing and plenty of suggested nudity. Viewer discretion is advised.

Let’s Go To Space Jail

What if Australia was founded…IN SPACE?!

That’s the oddball set-up for Durance, a science fiction storytelling RPG that takes the age of colonialism and transports it into the distant future. Inspired by England wrangling control of the Australian continent through penal colonies, this inspired game from designer Jason Morningstar (ofFiasco fame) sees players working together to build a prison colony on a distant and hostile planet. Playing as both the convicts and the authorities, 3-5 gamers tell the bizarre (and usually violent) history of their colony in a totally reasonable 2-3 hour game session.

Tabletop Spacefaring

Twilight Imperium is the biggest, longest, craziest game you’ll ever play, an epic space opera that needs a banquet table to play properly. Rex is its smaller, nastier cousin, a game so intimate and mean that you’ll actually need to stand up to catch your breath.

The Die Cast is back! Jacob and Daniel are joined by a handful of special guests to talk about two of gaming’s best science fiction games. One is a sledgehammer to the face. The other is a shiv to the back. One will cost you an arm and leg. The other is reasonably priced. Both are pretty damn great. But which one is better? Well, you’ll have to listen to find out!

Ghost Stories, or “Screw You, Wu-Feng!”

Four traveling Taoist monks stop in a seemingly ordinary Chinese village, only to discover that all Hell has literally broken loose. The evil demon lord Wu-Feng has gone and resurrected himself and his army of the undead are heading your way. Naturally, it’s up to you to stop the ghostly invasion and defeat Wu-Feng before he conquers the world. For these four monks (and the people playing them), it’s going to be a long, long night.

City of Horror, or How to be a Backstabbing Bastard in the Zombie Apocalypse

Many games claim to be horror games, but City of Horror may be the most horrifying game you’ll ever play. Not because of the hordes of zombies threatening to tear your group of survivors to pieces, but because you and everyone at the table will do everything in your power to keep your team alive…even if it means stabbing you best friend in the back.

Fantastic Fest Tabletop Marathon

Fantastic Fest is a negative experience for anyone who hates great movies, good company, delicious food, copious amounts of alcohol, amateur boxing, karaoke and other things that are amazing.

In between all of the awesome, we still found time to carve out some precious tabletop gaming time! As a matter of fact, OneOfUs.Net hosted a nearly three-hour board game marathon during the festival.

Join the Us and special guest Max Isaacson, director of Fantastic Fest short film Whispers, as we sit down to discuss the best of the fest while engaging in some of the best casual games out there right now.

How The Games Began

Everyone’s got to start somewhere, so on the latest episode of the Die Cast, join a bunch of white, chubby bearded guys (and a token lady) as they sit around a table and talk about the board games that everyone (yes, even you!) should play if they want to get into gaming.

First, Daniel, Paul and Randy join our chairman for a roundtable on tabletops how what inspired them to become gamers. And then Paul, George, and Toni join Jacob for a slightly uncomfortable game of colonialism and trade as they play Archipelago.

Fiasco on the High Seas

Jacob, Brian, Chris, Toni Taylor-Salisbury, and Ashley Moreno sit down for a rather bizarre voyage on a 30s era cruise liner. Ancient daggers, saboteurs, evil god kings, and Lando Calrissian? Our fearless Chairman guides us through this live round of Fiasco on the inaugural episode of The Die Cast.