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!
Operation: Game Night
Joint Ops: OGN Takes Over Games Y Mas for Thanksgiving
A podcast takeover with heart, dice, and a little chaos: we hijacked Games Y Mas to say thanks and to build your holiday game bag with confidence. We start by unpacking the three mechanics that made our year brighter—deck building for agency and momentum, push your luck for laughs and energy, and RPG-style progression for that sweet feeling of earned growth—then connect them to real games that work at actual tables with actual families.
Jared makes a spirited case for deck building, from Arnak fandom to a Vegas detour that reminded us why fine-tuning a deck feels like gambling with better odds. Clayton champions push-your-luck designs such as MLEM and Incan Gold, pointing to the big reveals and instant stories that keep everyone engaged after the turkey coma. Travis shares his dive into RPG and legacy mechanics through Hoplomachus: Victorum and solo frameworks, highlighting how leveling up powers re-frames each challenge and rewards persistence.
We each bring two titles we’re grateful for, and the range is intentional: Acquire proves a 1960s classic still hits with stock merges and clean tension, while Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game blends fast turns with theme you can teach to cousins on the fly. Hot Streak and Magical Athlete deliver glorious table chaos; Harvest offers cozy farm-building that scratches a Stardew-like itch without the rules weight. Then we assemble a Thanksgiving-ready shortlist you can actually run with: Wavelength for social calibration and big laughs, Flip 7 for instant push-your-luck tension, and Ready Set Bet for living-room horse races that turn spectators into shouty bettors in minutes. Round it out with travel-friendly sleepers like Strike, Don’t L.L.A.M.A., Spots, and Jurassic Parts when suitcase space is tight.
If you’re staring at shelves wondering what works for grandparents, teens, and board game skeptics, we’ve got you. Hit play, steal our picks, and make the kind of holiday memories people ask to repeat. If you had to pack just one game for family night, what’s your go-to? Subscribe, share with a friend who hosts game night, and leave a review to help more people find the fun.
As always, come interact with us online, let us know if you have any feedback, and leave us a review/comment anywhere you get your favorite podcasts!
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Finger guns?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, here we go.
SPEAKER_01:Here we go. Three, two, one. All right.
SPEAKER_00:That's for you, Vic.
SPEAKER_01:What is up, my nerd family? I am not Vic. I am Travis Smith. You have been taken over. This is a podcast takeover from your boys at Operation Game Night. We are taking over the Games EMOS podcast this week. We are going to be doing a special Thanksgiving episode because I know that Vic is thankful for us and all the joy that we bring to the podcast world. So we're going to be talking mechanics we're thankful for, games we're thankful for, what games you should pack in your bag to take home to play with your grandma on Thanksgiving. Wow, your grandma. Special episode coming your way. Grab your dice. Campagne me a jugar. Nice.
SPEAKER_02:Cue that intro.
SPEAKER_01:All right, boys. We are for those that have not heard us before and have not seen our other appearances on the games emos podcasts. We are the trio, the holy triumphant of the games of not the games emoss of the Operation Game Night Podcast. I am Travis. I'm the host. This is my boy Clayton Gable. What's up? With a salute. And this is my boy with the five million.
SPEAKER_02:So people now people can recognize me.
SPEAKER_01:The bad boy of games media. Yes. Jared Erickson. So if you like what you hear and you're interested in hearing more of our voices, you can check us out at Operation Game Night Podcast on Instagram. We're on Spotify. We're on Apple Podcasts. We're on YouTube. We are anywhere that you get your podcast. So check us out. Uh and leave Vic some love. Uh he just celebrated a birthday. Happy birthday, Vic. Happy birthday. Happy birthday to the real world.
SPEAKER_02:What is he like 29?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think like 20, yeah, 26. Such a young buck. Young in. Young in. So give him some love on his Instagram at the gamezy moss pod. Uh if you're watching this video on YouTube, leave a comment, say happy birthday, Vic, and uh let us know how we do and tell us that you're gonna come check us out at the Operation Game Night Podcast.
SPEAKER_00:That's right.
SPEAKER_01:Should we jump in?
SPEAKER_00:Let's jump in.
SPEAKER_01:Let's jump right in because I have a lot to be thankful for this year. Let's start with question one, which is what is one mechanic, one board game mechanic that you are thankful for this year? Jared.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, this one's an easy one for me. I I'm I'm an open book, I'm a clearly picture book because I have I'm a win one trick pony as well. I am very grateful for a deck builder that brought me and my boys to Vegas. Okay. Um, if you haven't also heard some of our banter on the Operation Game Night podcast, we we did venture out to the uh the deserts of Vegas to partake in the uh World Series of Board Gaming. And uh the three of us shared uh chair bed, uh, a bed uh what do you call it? A hotel room. That's what I meant to say. Yes at the Bellagio and uh competed at the World Series of Board Gaming there. It was a blast, but deck building that's the mechanic that I'm thinking of that I'm thankful for. And Clay even introduced me um to a new deck builder.
SPEAKER_00:Um Star Wars the deck building game.
SPEAKER_02:Star Wars the deck building game. Oh, yeah, Clay, that's you introducing us.
SPEAKER_00:I you're welcome. Travis, I guess, deserves a little credit, but no, I damn you.
SPEAKER_02:I meant the other one. The running across the other the Oh, Quest for El Dorado. Quest for El Dorado. That's the one I meant to cue you. Um oh, sorry. But miscued, as always here at Operation D. Miscued, miss missed opportunity, but that's what I'd say. That's that's Jared.
SPEAKER_00:What about deck building? Really revs your engine, man. Why is this mechanic something that makes you just the most thankful little boy?
SPEAKER_02:It's like your own little, you know, your own little risky thing that's in your hand. You don't know what's in there. Well, you don't know what's gonna pop up, but you know what's in there.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And you really want something to come in. It's kind of like playing blackjack with yourself every time, you know? It's like you think you're gonna get a 21, you know, you think you're gonna get blackjack, you're thinking a king and an ace. Maybe, maybe you don't. You get a fear card and a compass, you know, for Arnak lovers out there. I don't know.
SPEAKER_01:And for those that have not heard our podcast before, Jared is the number one Arnak fan in the world. He competed specifically in that game, traveled across the country coast to coast to compete in the lost ruins of Arnak. And it wasn't it wasn't his year this year. That's okay.
SPEAKER_02:No, yeah, number one fan, not number one, you know, uh competitor, obviously.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, but this year was just a warm-up. I think they got in your head, man. I think they got in your head.
SPEAKER_01:I'm marked, I'm marked this episode, mark this episode 10 years from now, when he has a 10-year streak of being the champion of Lost Ruins of Arnac, we'll look back at this episode and we'll say, Wow, I'm thankful that I listened to that episode because I personally know the Lost Ruins of Arnack champion 10 years running. I think it's Jared Erickson. Thank you, thank you, Clayton. What are you thankful for? What game mechanic gets you going?
SPEAKER_00:You know, no shock here, guys. Jared likes his little mini control game building decks, and I like pure push your luck, gambling chaos, and I have been loving push your luck games for the past few years now. Mlem space agency, Reiner Kenizia's one of one of his newer games, I guess came out last year, has been ascending. I mean, this game landed at number two on my top 10 games of all time, and it's just that push your luck. And it's even better when it's a collaborative push-your-luck. We're talking ink and gold. That's another one that I've just been loving, the push your luck of it. Do you stay and venture deeper into the temple, or do you you know keep what you have and stay? I and these types of games, just no matter what happens, whether you succeed or fail, or somebody else, you know, pushes their luck and gets a huge bounty at the end, it's still exciting. You still appreciate it. It makes everybody you know have those moments at the table that you remember and you laugh about. And those are the ones that have been this past year has been a stressful year. And if it wasn't for the levity of some of those games and moments, it wouldn't have been you know, as as great of a year. But you know, those times coming to the table with people, just pulling out something light and fun that we can all laugh about and you know get around the table and have a good time. And push your luck games, I think, are the ones that I always reach for when I need those moments. So I am thankful for pushing your luck.
SPEAKER_01:Love Travis.
SPEAKER_00:What about you?
SPEAKER_01:So I'm gonna take a different uh approach to this one. I think this year has been a year for RPG mechanics for me.
SPEAKER_00:Ooh.
SPEAKER_01:Uh leveling up your character as you go along. Uh, you know, that legacy type system where between your chapters you are getting stronger, you're getting unique powers, your character and the story is evolving. Played a lot of games like that this year. Uh, we did an episode, if you haven't listened to our podcast, a couple months ago, maybe a couple weeks ago. I did one on strictly solo RPGs, which is more of like a book-driven system, but I also talked about Victorum uh this year, Hoplomacus Victorum. That was a big level up your character's you go along, legacy RPG type game. And man, I I've just been so thankful for the RPG mechanics. It feels good to go out there and face a challenge and earn something from it, to put it towards your character, to level your character up, to you know, change the way that you approach challenges in the future. That's pretty cool. And it's not something that I was super familiar with before this year, and I dove in hard this year and it has paid off swimmingly. And I am a thankful little boy for RPG mechanics in board games.
SPEAKER_00:Oh my gosh. I am God bless us, everyone. I am thankful that we spoiler alert are gonna talk about a little bit of DD at some point here in the future for Operation Game Night. So stay tuned.
SPEAKER_01:Wanna hear more about that? Absolutely. All right, question two. Are we ready? Yeah, what are two board games that you have played this year that you are thankful for? Let's start with uh Clayton.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah, guys, sticking with the theme of fun, chaotic, bringing people to the table. CMYK Games has released two games this year that have been big hits in my household: Hot Streak and Magical Athlete. Hot Streak being a crazy betting game where you have these mascots racing down the field, they fall over, they turn around, they run off the field and get disqualified, and you're betting on who's gonna win. None of it really matters, but it's fun to see it play out. And then Magical Athlete is just a roll and move game with these crazy abilities that interact with each other in these fun ways. You can play these games with anybody, and I have played them with anybody, and pretty much everybody walks away smiling, laughing, talking about where they can buy them. And so I'm thankful for CMYK games and those two games in particular, because again, the I'm I'm in a light era right now, and games like that where I can always pull them out and just have a good time, are really finding a lot of space on my table lately.
SPEAKER_01:Nice. Before you go to your number two, I kind of want to go around the horn on this one.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, I already did. That was two.
SPEAKER_01:He did a one double.
SPEAKER_00:Sorry for again another miscue from Operation Game Night. This you can expect this from us.
SPEAKER_01:Sorry, that's the name of the game. We do it, we do it live. We do it live, and we do it live better than anyone, okay? So Jared, hit me with your two two games.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I mean, I think I also I also have a theme here. Um, I'm going back to Vegas, and uh here we are, the three boys uh sitting around a footstool playing slambo. It's the dumbest little game, but I had the most fun using BSing while we're like it's a it's like a no-brainer, like a no-brainer game that you can still kind of have a little bit of strategy, but like it doesn't matter. You're just still with your with your friends and like throwing down cards. Um, I don't even remember who who's which which one of you guys brought it?
SPEAKER_01:Uh we actually got it from Mike, Mike from Bearwin Plays Board Games, and he gave that to me because he had an extra copy, and we busted out in the hotel room, and you're kind of going around playing different cards to push each other over or under the limit. I don't even remember what the number is. It's like it's like 10 and zero or something. 10 and zero or whatever. Yep. And you're playing these mispronounced, but you say them as loudly as you can, and it's just fun. It's fun to throw some cards down and slam them on the yeah, so yeah, great game. Good choice, Jared.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah. And and then my second one, um it Clay kind of stole the thunder, but I wanted to say, Travis, I need to play this game with you, Star Wars the Deck Builder, because you took off a little early from Vegas. I did. And we were able to get that Star Wars deck builder to the table. I have been thinking about it nonstop, and it's sitting in my Amazon cart. Like it's just chilling right there. It's just a quick, it's just a quick little$30, you know, for the base game. Um, I love that one. It's you know, you you're again a deck builder, you know, you're you're drawing up to five cards, you're playing out these little warriors who's trying to manipulate the force and then also blast each other's bases. Um and then also purchasing and leveling up your deck. Like that's the best parts of a deck builder skinned on top of my favorite nerd-themed Star Wars. Um, so I had a blast playing it, and I've been wanting to play it. Um, because I know that Cole, who lives right down the street from me, is gonna also love it. All right. So I'm waiting to get that one out um and get that one for Christmas, so I can be thankful even more for it. Um, but I am thankful that um that we had the was that uh Dice Tower West Library in in Vegas that we were able to just pick and choose at our will and we were able to find that Star Wars deck builder because when Travis was describing it on our podcast, I was definitely enthralled. And I know there's like so many different um like add-ons that you can do to this game that I will definitely be looking into. Um, so I'm excited to keep keep this one uh within reach. But grateful and thankful that I got it to the table, but just a click away.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Travis, what do you think? One click away. One click away. I have I have two games that I'm thankful for. The first brought us together in Vegas, which was Acquire. It is a game that I never would have picked up by itself. I it was not even on my radar, and we kind of passed by a table that had it already laid out. It looked interesting. Uh Clay You said that you had heard of it. We sat down to learn it, and man, what like a communal experience that was. Like we sat down, we kind of fumbled our way through the rules, and people were like coming out of the woodwork to say, like, oh, I love this game. Let me keep it to you. One guy walks up, foo. Shout out to Foo if you're watching this. He walks up and he's like, I won the Singaporean championship at this, and just like teaches us the game, coaches clay through it, and what a cool coach me.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah. He barely could like touches, just gentle touches.
SPEAKER_01:A little bit of area control mixed with like a market manipulation game, and just a cool experience to one, sit around a table with you guys, which I miss very dearly, and two, like have people come out and say, like, this is my favorite game, let me teach it to you. And you could tell that they're passionate about it, that they're good at it, that they know all the strategies behind it, and like to learn from the best, like, what a cool experience. And that's something that you only really get at those conventions. So that was a highlight of my gaming year for sure.
SPEAKER_00:And oldies can be goodies too. How old is Require?
SPEAKER_01:Came out in like 1963. Yeah, I mean so yeah, it holds up. It holds up for sure. And I don't think that they have changed a single rule. Like, no, it holds up, it's great. It the reprint is nice. So if you see a copy of Acquire somewhere, you should acquire it. Oh the next one that I'm thankful for is uh actually Harvest by Key Master Games. Oh, this is a cute little cozy game where you are building out your farm and clearing lands to sow some crops, and your characters have uh you know different abilities depending on who you select, and you are leveling up your farm and just planting crops and selling them for money. And it's really simple, it's really easy, uh, it's cute and cozy, and it kind of feels a little bit like uh like Stardew Valley to me, but with way less interacting interactive systems. And I've just been really enjoying that game this year. Uh I played it a lot when uh my daughter was born, and it was nice to be like kind of we were all holed up in the house, and it was dreary and drizzly in Germany, and we just like sat around and played Harvest, and it's great online. The implementation on board game arena is nice. Yeah, I love that game, it's so much fun. I gotta try that.
SPEAKER_02:We gotta get it back. No, we haven't we played a couple rounds. Where you can like, yeah, clear more land so you can so you can lay down more like the long wheat tile or the small blueberry patches. Yeah, it is very cutesy and very fuzzy, warm, warm. It feels good.
SPEAKER_01:Feels good, feels good, ban. So yeah, we should run that back because that game is awesome. And yeah, I don't think it got a whole lot of love when it came out. I it's not even rated that high on board game geek. It's like I don't know, three. It's uh what is it? It's a 7.4. That's relatively highly rated.
SPEAKER_00:It's above above the mark.
SPEAKER_02:7.4, yeah. I mean, yeah. That's good for Dave Portnoy, isn't it? Like when he when he does the one bite pizza things, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's I guess so. Uh okay. Are we ready for the next question? Question three. Yes. So Thanksgiving is right around the corner. By the time this airs, Thanksgiving might have been came and went, and people will have missed an opportunity to play games with their families that we are going to recommend right now. So if you had to bring a game to teach to your family, get your grandma to sit down and play with you, something that anybody can pick up and play, that they're all gonna have a blast. What is that game going to be? Let's go, Jared.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so um shout out to my grandmas who are both passed away. Uh rest in peace. One grandma I've never met. Um, she passed away a long time ago, or before I was even born, and then the other one when I was like eight. So it's not like it's fresh, so I apologize uh bringing that up. Um really bringing it down. We're doing this live. Can we do another take?
SPEAKER_00:Um no, one take.
SPEAKER_02:Dang it. Oh no, he hasn't, yeah, he can edit this part out. Roll it, roll it, keep it rolling. Keep going, keep going, keep going. We'll find it. Um but one that I think I really like for big groups and for uh especially when you're you know you're eating turkey, maybe you're a little bit tired, maybe people are coming in and out of teams. Um dial game. Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00:Wavelength. Wavelength.
SPEAKER_02:I was gonna say head head space, but I'm like, no, that's that's an app that I use for meditation. No. Um wavelength. And you just this sweet little game where you got one person given clues, trying to get this dial at the exact right location, like given uh between hot and cold, and the dial this random dial is selected at a certain location, and you're like, okay, this looks like a frappa uh mochacino temperature. So you give you know uh that as your clue, and you're trying to get people to move this dial to a hidden location, and then then there's like this big reveal, the crowd goes wild. It's a crowd pleaser, it's quick, easy. And like I said, people are getting tired, they've eaten a lot of turkey. They're you know, maybe they're not as super interested, but the interest will grow when everyone starts to see how much fun you're having when everyone starts getting on the same wavelength. You could have uh boys versus girls, maybe you have two different families that are coming together for a uh Thanksgiving meal, and you do this family, that family, and you could have like the oldies versus the the young ones, you know, like see how the wavelength really uh differs between the different um groups.
SPEAKER_00:So generates a lot of good combo, too. I mean, because every round you get that that hot wash right after it's revealed, and if it the dial if they didn't hit the dial where you think it should be, then the accusations start flying. Well, how hot do you think a coffee is, Jared?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it's not volcano hot.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's not hot volcano.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, well, yeah, yeah. So yeah, and that's when that's when it's really fun. That's a great one. That's the one I was thinking of.
SPEAKER_00:Great choice. Uh Clayton. Uh, first, I would like to give my grandma's life and death status update. Um I did I did lose one, unfortunately, when I was around eight years old, but I still got two that are kicking and they're doing great. And this game, I have played with them, so I know it works with grandmas. Yes, grandmas love it. It scratches their little gambly itches that they have, and it's flip seven. Oh another push your luck game. I this game has gotten so much playtime in the past year because literally you don't even really need to tell anybody the rules. You just throw a card out in front of them, and you vaguely mention something about the fact that there's 12 12s in the deck, there's 11 11s, there's 10 10s, and you're like, you don't want two of the same card, or you bust, and then you come back around to them, you say, Do you want another card? Do you want to stay and keep your points? They say, I want another card. They bust. You're like, Oh, see you later. All right. So I grab off. It's literally like that easy to get up and running, and people catch on very quickly and they're like, Oh, this is kind of fun. I I see where I can, you know, maybe try and push to get that seven number cards and get that extra 15 points. But I think it's a great game. I think the balance of it, it's for how simple it is, it's very clever. The fact that 12s are worth the most points, but they're also the easiest to bust on. So that's a nice tension. You draw a one, that's not worth a lot, but it also isn't likely to, yeah, it's not gonna make you bust. So, you know, there's those night, nice little tensions there, and it just is a fun push your luck game that you can literally just start dealing out cards and people hop right in. Great shout out. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I was actually gonna get this one out in my. I mean, this is huge news for me. I got a I got a game night together outside of my own family. Some somebody from down the street came to my house and we played board games. I was gonna get flip seven out for that very reason. How simple it is. Yeah, and then I remembered 30 minutes before the board game night, the game night, that I had given it away to a family member because I was like, oh, I'll just buy it. I'll just I'll just rebuy it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And I didn't. So I I went actually this this is super uh scummy plug for Operation Game Night. I went to our Operation Game Night Instagram to our buy guide, and I went in and I got the the flip seven. Nice, nice I got it from Amazon and I threw it in. And I it's it should actually be here right now. It's it's getting delivered tonight.
SPEAKER_00:So that'll never happen again. Yeah, this game's everywhere now. I mean, it it it you Walmart, Target, it's everywhere, and it's in a much smaller package than it was when I bought it.
SPEAKER_02:They did it's less than 10 bucks, too.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's just a deck of cards. And you know, if you did see this post-Thanksgiving, which if I know Vic, this is probably going out post-Thanksgiving. Uh you they do have a gr what is it, a Grinch version of a Grinch flip seven that's just come out. So look out for that if you really want to blow people's nips off at Christmas.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I you stole my thunder a little bit. I was gonna shout out that we have a uh Christmas gift guide coming out for Operation Game Night. Once we get it recorded, we're gonna we always kind of give our the one Christmas that we have done the episode, we give our recommendations for stocking stuffers and such, and that would be an awesome stocking stuffer is the Grinch themed Flip 7. Yeah, it's gonna be hot this year. Oh, yeah. I'm pretty sure I saw Flip 7 like being sold at a gas station the other day. So just keep your eyes peeled. It's got a big seven, the box is kind of shiny. You got it. It's a great one. I think the question.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, let's buy grandmas, Travis.
SPEAKER_01:Uh sadly, grandmas are no longer with us. But you know what? They're they're up in heaven, and they are uh, you know, they're betting on some ponies. And they're hoping that I bet on some ponies because they are uh you show up to Thanksgiving, everyone's gathered around the TV, uh, all the old people are watching sports ball. You go onto your iPad, your laptop, your con your phone, and you hijack that TV and you put on some ready set bet. Yep, you sweep everything off the Thanksgiving table, just send it to the floor, and you lay out the ready set bet deluxe roller edition. Yep, and you roll out the big nice neoprene mat and you lay out all the chips, and the horses start running and people start betting. There they go, and it that party cannot be stopped. It's so much fun. Yep. It's it's as simple as sports betting. Like the horses run across the screen. You don't have to do it this way. But that's my preferred way to play is you put it up on a screen and people get into it because you're it's like watching horse racing. Like you're at the Kentucky Derby, you're on the infield, you already placed your bets, and you're watching them run, and people place their bets, and it's so much fun. They cheer and they laugh, and it's a good time. Ready set bet cannot be beat. Jared picked it up for three dollars at Goodwill. That's crazy. I picked it up for much more than that uh on Kickstarter when it relaunched and did their deluxe roller edition. But even the base game is good and it's worth it. I that game is awesome.
SPEAKER_02:I picked it up on Veterans Day and it was half off all items at the thrift store. I got it for a dollar fifty, boys. Wow, wow, it was not the deluxe edition, um, but and then I opened it up and they individually Ziploc baggied all the different uh betting um tokens and everything. So I'm like, okay, they loved this thing and they wanted to make sure I took care of this. So shout out to your local thrift store. They might be having some absolute bangers waiting for you, but maybe not.
SPEAKER_01:You got any other any other games that you're actually planning on bringing to uh Thanksgiving this year? I I've been kind of scratching my head because I have to fly, I have to get on an airplane, and I don't know how much space I have, but I'm kind of weighing my options. Flip 7 was definitely on the list, but do you have any other games that you would recommend this year to take home to family?
SPEAKER_02:Ruins is an awesome five-player card deck. It's a deck um upgrader, I guess you could say, not building.
SPEAKER_00:It's called card crafting, if you want to use the proper vernacular.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, that's why you're insulated John D.
SPEAKER_01:Clair like that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, it another thing to know about the Operation Game Night uh podcast is every week these two threaten to kick me off the podcast for my misbehavior and my antics. So today is no different. Um for for multiple reasons.
SPEAKER_00:So some 341s written up for you.
SPEAKER_01:That's right. Misconduct 341s.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Uh so Clay, you got any other games that you would want to bring?
SPEAKER_00:Yes. I have been playing Strike with Family a lot lately, okay. And that's another game that you know, you pull that out, people are looking. They're like, why is this box? Has it turned into a gladiatorial arena? And then they come over and you're like, What are you doing? Well, I'm just rolling a dice into the box and hoping to get matches because that's all you're doing on the game. But it's a little push-your-luck game, and basically on your turn, you just roll a die into a box. If you get matches, you get to take the dice out, and now that now they're your die. And basically, the last one standing that didn't run out of die wins, and you have like a little decision you can make. If you don't make any matches, you can decide to roll again, but you're potentially throwing more dice in the box that you're not going to get back. So it's just a simple little game. People like rolling dice again. It's got an interesting table presence because the box turns into this little arena that you throw dice into. And I had some success with that at a family gathering recently, so I figured I'd pass that on to the Thanksgiving crew here.
SPEAKER_01:And then it's like Beyblades. If you pull out the Beyblade's arena at Thanksgiving, it's gonna a crowd's gonna form. People want to see big crowds.
SPEAKER_02:What's happening over there?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, bro. I'm ripping some Beyblades. Big blades, Travis.
SPEAKER_00:I got one more.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, please, Clayton.
SPEAKER_00:Doesn't get enough love. But don't llama.
SPEAKER_01:Oh llama dice.
SPEAKER_00:Nope, I'm talking cards.
SPEAKER_02:Just llama. I mean, you could put that in your back pocket.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, the I mean, dice is great too, but I think cards is a little easier for people to understand. It's you can really draw on their Uno knowledge to get them going on, don't llama. And it's like Uno, but a thousand times better because you actually do have an interesting decision to make every now and then. You can decide when to stop around and you know like pick when you're gonna score points. So it's an interesting game. If you go out, you can get rid of chips. It's just just enough on top of Uno that it's like. Interesting for even a gamer. Interesting in air quotes. It's still a very light game. But I think a lot of people can enjoy in the family gathering setting. So uh there's my shout out for Kenitsia and Don't Llama.
SPEAKER_01:Love it. Love it. Yeah, I uh I've been kind of wringing my hands a little bit because I have so many games that I want to bring and get played. And I know that if I want to get lots of plays in, it will probably be Star Wars a deck building game.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And I can probably manage to like break that down and fit it into a much smaller box. Uh the box is a little larger than it needs to be in some cases. Uh but yeah, I've been kind of at a loss for what to bring. And I'm I'm at the early stages of planning. I still have a week left before we leave.
SPEAKER_02:So you thinking uh you're gonna allow a big box or are you thinking only small boxes?
SPEAKER_01:I think medium box at the largest. I've got I've got Lord of the Ring adventure book game up here. It's kind of a medium box. It's like maybe it's like 11 by 11, but it's pretty flat. And I think that I could flat that, fit that into my uh suitcase, but I that's the largest I'm going, and uh, it's probably only one of those. So I got some choices to make, and I am not sure. Flip seven was on there. I also think I think we played this once, Clay, with you Jurassic Parts. We played that at game night one time, yeah. Where you're laying out the chisels in between the hex tiles to excavate areas of this dinosaur dig, and when you complete them, you or like you complete a loop of chisels to the outside, you flip all the ones inside, and whoever contributed the most chisels gets to draft uh a majority of the dinosaur bones that are within, and you're trying to complete sets, and then you can take those sets and trade them in with like the different traders and researchers to get bonuses later on. And that one's pretty fun. That that gets people going. So and it's a small enough box. That one might be on my list.
SPEAKER_00:Jared, sorry, I feel like I cut you off when you were talking about ruins and I you know had to correct you about calling it a card crafting game. Uh, was there anything else that you were wanting to talk about bringing to Thanksgiving?
SPEAKER_02:Um, I have to go back um to my brain. Spots. Spots. Uh I mean, because you can get young kids, um, not like absolute kids, but you can get an eight-year-old interested in spots. Dogs roll and die. Yeah, push your luck. There's bones involved, you know, a little re-roll bones. You can't beat spots. I mean, that's uh that's a crowd pleaser. So it's a small box.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. CMYK has gotten a lot of love on this podcast. Vic, you should reach out to them before you publish this and ask for you know a little coinage on the side. That's right.
SPEAKER_02:This podcast has been brought to you by CMYK Games and Games EMOS.
SPEAKER_01:Before we sign off, I just want to share a little love for Vic because he has been a great friend of the podcast. Uh, he has been one of our original fans. He was one of the first people to reach out to us and ask us to come on his podcast. And I really appreciate Vic. He shares a lot of love with the board gaming and video game community, with those that are enjoyers of amusement parks, and he is always keeping it fresh. He's got tons of cool people that come on his podcast, including us every once in a while. Especially us, especially us. Yeah, but man, I have so much fun recording with him every time we sit down with him. He is such a bright light in the dark, dim corners of the podcast sphere out there. So, Vic, thank you so much for what you do. Thank you so much for creating Games Emos and spreading joy with those that want to talk about board games, video games, etc. Yeah, emos, emos, emos, especially the emos.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:I want to hang out with Vic so bad, man. I every time I talk to him, like I just want to hang out with this guy for reels, and then he bailed on World Series of Board Gaming. So it wasn't he didn't bail, he had things come up that he had his reason.
SPEAKER_02:I just want to I just want to go get tacos with him. You know, he you know sometimes he got guests come on, they've tacos they tacos like what the heck, man? Yeah, some tacos.
SPEAKER_01:Well, we have uh farted around enough. So if you have enjoyed this episode and you are thankful for the Games EMoss podcast, you can go ahead and follow Operation Game Night Podcast on Instagram, look us up on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast, video or otherwise, and uh hit give us some love. Give us some love, give us a follow, give us a like, give us a subscription. And uh if you are watching this video on YouTube, in the comments, like this podcast, share this podcast, and give Vic some love. Tell him happy birthday, thank you for what you do. Press F in the chat. And uh man, this has been Operation Game Night Takeover of the Games E Moss Podcast. I have been Travis. We we did it. We did it. I have been Travis, he has been Clay, he has been Jared, this has been the Games E Moss Podcast. We are out.
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