Cult of the Old

Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old!
Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape. 
Games can be many things. They can be journeys back in time, a window to nostalgia or a new and exciting arrangement of ideas. They can range in tone from light to dark. Climb in complexity from breezy to fiendishly complicated. They can be laden with components, stacked high with plastic, or they can be, like our next game, a deceptively simple set of cards. 
This game is, by most people’s measure, a bit of an ugly mess of graphic design, but that hasn’t stopped it getting a cult following. Like many games we have covered over our first 3 seasons, it stamped its designer's name on the history of the hobby. Join us as we look at a game where every card makes you do a second take. It’s time for Innovation. 
Show Links
Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mention during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question.
Games Mentioned
Glory to Rome
Mottainai 
Uchornia 
Impulse
Sidereal Confluence
Innovation Ultimate
Doomtown
7th Sea
Netrunner
Magic the Gathering 
Team Links
Iain
The Giant Brain
Bluesky
Matt
BlueSky
Nate
Bluesky
Instagram
Support us on Patreon
Email us at [email protected]

Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old!
Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape. 
It’s the fourth season of Cult of the Old and we have a new 10 episode arc for you covering games, big and small, but all interesting.
We begin this season with a game that defined a genre, the point salad. A heady mix of random chance, manipulated fate, and multiple paths to glorious points heaven gave us one of the classics of the 2010s. It may be as dry as the desert, but it carved a path through the next couple of decades with remakes, upgrades, reissues, and spinoffs. Come and sip a glass of fine wine with us as we construct the Castles of Burgundy. 
Show Links
Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mention during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question.
Games Mentioned
Battlestar Galactica - Episode Link
Nexus Ops
Cosmic Encounter - Episode Link
Puerto Rico - Episode Link
Alien Frontiers
Kingsburg
Lords of Vegas
Catan - Episode Link
Wingspan
In the Year of the Dragon
Notre Dame 
Power Grid - Episode Link
Ark Nova
Sanctuary
Agricola - Episode Link
Other Mentions
Fortress Ameritrash
Branson Board Game Cafe
Awaken Realms
BGA version
Team Links
Iain
The Giant Brain
Bluesky
Matt
BlueSky
Nate
Bluesky
Instagram
Support us on Patreon
Email us at [email protected]

Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old!
Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape. 
Dear listeners, it is once again time for us to part ways. As we come to the end of our third season, let us reflect on the games we have covered. From the family friendly Ticket to Ride, to the genre defining titles like El Grande and Dominion, and the brutal chance of Blood Bowl we have covered a wide range of genre, mechanism, and complexity. However, no game this season has the reputation for sheer scale and difficulty of our final title. 
Not only did our last title this season establish its designer as a powerful voice, but it took a venerable genre and turned it inside out. The civilisation style of board games is almost as old as the hobby, and our final title took this genre, stripped out a lot of the fundamentals and made a game that took the world by storm. Join us for one last time this season as we go Through the Ages.
Show Links
Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mentions during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question.
Games Mentioned
Pandemic
Mage Knight
Codenames
Francis Tresham Civilisation 
Mega Civilisation 
Prophecy
Sid Meier’s Civilisation
New Leaders
Through the Ages App
Can’t Stop - Playte Version
Flip 7
FFG Civilisation
Mare Nostrum
Imperium
Six Sojourns - Eight Minute Empire
Carta Impera Victoria
Civilisation: A New Dawn
Innovation
Ark Nova
Other Mentions
Matt Leacock
Boardgame Arena
Digital Antiquarian 
Team Links
Iain
The Giant Brain
Bluesky
Matt
BlueSky
Nate
Bluesky
Instagram
Support us on Patreon
Email us at [email protected]

Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old!
Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape. 
Nate: Well Iain we are almost at the end of the season
Iain: That’s right Nate and the teams have all to play for
N: Teams?
I: Yes Nate, teams. In no other sport do we get to see the sheer physicality and natural brutality brought out in such a glorious manner
N: This isn’t a sports podcast Iain, it’s a board game podcast
I: Can’t it be both? 
N: I guess it could. If we covered a board game from at least 10 years ago that happens to be focused on sport
I: How about a fantasy sport? 
N: Tell me more Iain
I: Well Nate, let me tell you about a sport that is not only an allegory for the animosity between many fantasy races but also stands as one of the icons of the British gaming scene. 
N: Is it from a famous British Publisher?
I: You took the words right out of my mouth Nate
N: Meat Loaf?
I: No thanks I’ve eaten. 
N: Enough of this, let’s get on with the show
I: You’re right Nate, let’s tell these fine folks about Blood Bowl. 
Show Links
Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mention during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question.
Games Mentioned
Warhammer
Epic 40k
Warhammer 40k
Necromunda
Warhammer Quest
Space Hulk   
Monsters of the Midway
Football Strategy Avalon Games
Terror of the Lichemaster (warhammer campaign)
Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game
Mordheim
Gorkamorka
Dune
Blitz Bowl
Dreadball
Blood Bowl: Team Manager
Kaos Ball
Other Mentions
Games Workshop Ltd.
Tabletop Simulator Mod we used 
Beastie Boys - License to ill 
American History X
The Producers
TSR
Team Links

Iain
The Giant Brain
Bluesky
Matt
Bluesky
Nate
Bluesky
Instagram
Support us on Patreon
Email us at [email protected]

Welcome to the latest episode of Cult of the Old!
Each episode your hosts Iain McAllister, Matt Thrower, and Nate Owens are going to turn back the clock to look at games that are at least 10 years old. They’ll give their own critical impressions, tell you about the history of the game and its impact, and what relevance these games still have in the modern hobby landscape. 
Sometimes you hear about games by reputation. The epic length of Twilight Imperium, the complexity of Vita Lacerda designs, the seemingly simple mechanisms behind the games of Reiner Knizia. These reputations can attract or repel in equal measure, and sometimes they are undeserved. The folklore around some games can be a hindrance to their uptake. However some folk tales are firmly based in reality. 
The game we are covering tonight is one of those games that I knew by reputation alone. Dry, excruciating downtime, with very little in the way of redeeming features. Despite that description this is a game that has always been available, an evergreen in more ways than one. Now that I have played the game, what do I think? We will get to that. As to what my fellow hosts think, well they are in the ring and ready to fight over the classic that is Power Grid. 
Show Links
Below are links to the games and anything else that the team mention during the course of the cast.  We will be linking to BGG for games, designers, artists, and publishers as that is a good place to start for raw information about the game in question.
Games Mentioned
Ticket to Ride - Episode Link 
Imperial
Railway Rivals
McMulti
Playboss
Age of Steam
City of Big Shoulders
Chicago Express
Bohnanza
Puerto Rico - Episode Link
Fearsome Floors
Plum Island Horror
Fish, Flip, and Frikadelen 
504
Ark Nova 
Seti
Thebes
Red November
Patchwork
Ra
Modern Art - Episode Link
Fishing
Other Mentions
Brettspielwelt
The story of Power Grid - https://opinionatedgamers.com/2016/07/11/funkenschlag-at-fifteen-the-story-of-power-grid/
Team Links
Websites you can find the cast on
There Will Be Games
Iain
The Giant Brain
Bluesky
Matt
Bluesky
Nate
Bluesky
Instagram
Support us on Patreon
Email us at [email protected]