Operation Game Night
Travis Smith, Jared Erickson, and Clay Gable get together to discuss the latest and greatest in board games in this weekly podcast. What's hot, what's hitting the table, featured discussions about board games and the board gaming culture, and the primary mission objective- to play more board games!
Episodes
120 episodes
Fives, Gachapon Trick, And Rebel Princess For Fans Of Clever Card Play
A great trick-taking game doesn’t need a thousand rules, it needs one twist that rewires your instincts. Clay and I sit down to debrief three modern trick-taking card games and what they teach us about design, tension, and the weird joy of tryi...
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22:04
Moon Colonization is not for the faint of heart
A board game where everything you build comes crashing down in front of your eyes is our kind of problem. Jared jumps back on the mic to talk through Moon Colony Bloodbath, the new standalone design from Donald X. Vaccarino, and why our table c...
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21:38
A Quick State Of The Podcast OTF
One host, one hotel room, and zero room for pretending everything is perfectly on schedule. Travis checks in solo to share a quick state of Operation Game Night Podcast, give a real update on where Jared’s been, and say thank you to everyone wh...
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11:59
Dungeon Crawler Board Game Draft!
We build two complete dungeon crawlers through a 10-round draft, weighing combat feel, map design, AI, loot, campaign arcs, and components. One becomes a two-player ant colony crawl; the other a four-player zombie lab thriller with branching pa...
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36:01
Playing Games to Strengthen Communities
We share how a simple board game day for a good cause sparked joy, trust, and belonging, then map easy paths for giving back without making it a heavy lift. From libraries to café shelves, we outline practical ways to turn your hobby into commu...
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16:02
Our First D&D Campaign, Part 2
We finish our first Dungeons and Dragons campaign and unpack how four players grew from hesitant dice rollers into a confident party with distinct voices. Fantasy terms, party synergy, and a villain’s escape shaped how we think about storytelli...
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42:26
We Binge So You Don't Have To!
We swap stories from the fence about parenting phases, shrinking free time, and how we still find room for TV, books, and games. From Stranger Things to a warmer Westeros and a clever mystery book, we share what sticks when life won’t slow down...
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19:11
Cozy Stickerville by Unexpected Games
What if the most satisfying legacy campaign isn’t about winning at all, but about watching a small town come to life one sticker at a time? We dive into Cozy Stickerville from Unexpected Games and explore why this 10-session, 30-minute-per-year...
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19:52
Twilight Imperium by Fantasy Flight Games (ft. Vic from Games Y Más)
Ten hours. Six players. One planet daring everyone to blink first. We sat down with our friend Vic Diaz from the Games EMoss podcast to unpack why Twilight Imperium turns a day-long session into a story you’ll retell for years—equal parts senat...
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33:24
3 Witches from Allplay
A three-player card game that dares to say “only three” and actually earns it. We sat down with Three Witches from Allplay and found a lean, tense trick taker that turns familiar rules into a focused 2v1 puzzle. One player steps into the role o...
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15:38
Overplayed and Underplayed Board Game Themes
Tired of yet another cozy mushroom harvest or another horde of shambling minis? We take a scalpel to today’s most overused board game themes—nature deluges, zombie burnout, Cthulhu overload, space saturation, and farm fatigue—and talk about why...
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23:32
Hercules The 12 Labors by Envy Born Games
The moment the Hydra spawns a second die, you realize this isn’t just another solo dice chucker. We dive into Hercules and the 12 Labors, a compact, gold-trimmed card-and-dice battler that turns Greek myth into a tight sequence of allocation pu...
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19:18
It's a Quick Games Roundup! (Yeehaw)
Eight games. One wild ride. We corral a posse of quick, high-impact titles you can teach in minutes and replay all night, from clever card shedders to a pocket-sized area control gem and a fresh twist on roll-and-writes. If your game night need...
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37:37
Donuts & Downsizing
A friendly debate about donut etiquette spirals into a funny, honest look at indulgence, shame, and small comforts. We pivot to downsizing a board game collection, handheld story games, coaching youth wrestling, and the media that keeps our spi...
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22:15
Gazebo by Reiner Knizia & Bitewing Games
A calm garden on the table, a knife fight under the hood. We’re diving into Gazebo, the newly tuned abstract from Reiner Knizia and Bitewing Games, to unpack how a simple one-tile turn creates tempo races, bold steals, and those delicious patio...
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22:33
Star Wars: Battle of Hoth from Days of Wonder
We put Star Wars: Battle of Hoth on the table, compare it to Memoir ’44, and test how well the Hoth theme holds up under fast, card-driven tactics. Quick scenarios, clean rules, and cinematic moments make this a strong gateway war game with a f...
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21:56
Regicide Legacy by Badgers From Mars
A classic card battler grows fangs when you turn it into a legacy campaign. We unpack how Regicide Legacy transforms a tight solo-friendly system into twelve tough chapters with mercenaries, sleeves, and exact-damage recruits that make every de...
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21:13
Do Stats Make Games Better?
We break down a year of board gaming through data, stories, and the people who make play matter. From family tables to BGA marathons, we share what 564 plays reveal about habits, favorites, and how tracking changes the way we choose games.<...
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31:02
We Bought Too Many Games & a Pizza Oven...No Regrets
Holiday chaos meets game night comfort, and it turns out that’s the perfect combo. We swap stories from six Christmases, a last-minute MC gig, and a road trip wedding that turned into a used-game treasure hunt—then zero in on the party games an...
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22:27
Why We Keep Playing Board Games
Ever wonder why some hobbies fade while others become part of your identity? We open the door to our game closets and our calendars to unpack why board gaming keeps its grip—through job changes, parenting, and a hundred other distractions—when ...
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27:02
The Best Reiner Knizia Game for Every Table (Chosen by Knizia)
What if you could choose the perfect board game for any table, every time? We sit down with Dr. Reiner Knizia and put his legendary catalog to the test—throwing real game-night scenarios at him and asking for exact recommendatio...
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32:49
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OTF: Holiday Fun with Mike & Tiff
The plan was simple: hop the fence and talk about life beyond the table. What followed was a tour of real projects, real rest, and the stories that keep us curious. Mike is in the final stretch of transforming a 1950s metal trailer into a cozy ...
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26:58
Special Ops: Holiday Grab Bag of Games!
Looking for fresh games that actually hit the table? We dig into a stack of recent plays that span fast fillers, tight two-player duels, a chewy co-op, a welcoming auction classic, and even a solo RPG you can toss in your bag. The throughline i...
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48:54