How the hell do you make a product called Tony’s Chocolonely and not do a special Valentine’s Day bar with a fentanyl center and a little space on the wrapper to write a suicide haiku.

Games of the Week (3:14)

• I’m giving away creations from The Seahorse and The Hummingbird, Grumpy Spider Games, Long Tail Games and Ada Press. Listen for how to win the whole pile.

• The Fantasy Flight Games golden age retrospective continues with a look at Tannhäuser, an ambitious, glossy FFG rework of an existing alternate-universe squad skirmish game that went for it all. It won us over, at least.

Track of the Week (23:29)
An irresistible internally rhymed hip hop vocal sample leads us from 1997’s “Dirt” by Death in Vegas back to Hip Hop First Lady Roxanne Shanté in her late-career attempt to declare war with every female rapper.

Don’t forget to listen for contest clues in both Games of the Week and Track of the Week in this episode.

This episode is dedicated to the plucky neighborhoods of Minneapolis, out there in the freezing cold and getting blackbagged, maced, shot, harassed, and defamed for their troubles.

Also want to shout out Minnesota native and wargame YouTuber Zilla Blitz, and current Minneapolis resident Liz Davidson of Beyond Solitaire. On successive days, they posted short videos on their channels about what’s happening to the place they love. I was heartened to see it and it encouraged me to start off this way.

Games of the Week

Ninja Borg TTRPG (3:38)
We’re talking to Walton Wood and Rugose Kohn about a bunch of riffs that they processed into an all-you-can-kill buffet called Ninja Borg, a polished book full of freewheeling violence that lets you act out your own hysterical remix of the ridiculous ninja B-movies of the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Fantasy Flight Games’ Golden Age (33:46)
A special guest enriches my retrospective of Fantasy Flight Games that took over our house in the 2010s. Board game reviewer Matt Thrower about what that prodigious era of board game design looked like from his table. I’ll share an excerpt from that talk.

Track of the Week (48:04)
“We’re Gonna Get Ya,” by The Sonarphonics off The Bass That Ate Miami compilation. This entertaining cut is the first I’ve found in which a Miami bass crew (playfully) dared to call out New York at the peak of its grandeur. Then a selection from a NY Golden Era supergroup who, unlike their peers, went out of their way to show Miami and its souped-up electro beats some love.

May I send you a cocktail book full of bad ideas and a charming frog sticker? Here’s how.

Use the code BREAKUP to get 50% off anything on the Quirk Events calendar, including the Indie Boardgame Showcase that’s touring Beantown, Chicago, D.C., New York, Denver, and Philly in ‘26.

Games of the Week (3:40)
• Launching my first probe in SETI was like seeing my soul break the gravitic well of holiday depression. Find out what happened on my first solo play. I also include tips for learning any heavy game on your own when you feel like a piece of shit all November and December.

• The Fantasy Flight Games golden age retrospective continues with a look back at Arkham Horror 2nd Edition. This was the second game we ever bought from the catalog. It summoned a bunch of drunks.

Track of the Week (22:07)
Highlighting selections from The Herbaliser’s FabricLive.26 set at the legendary club of the same name. We’re zeroing in on a three-song blend that I listen to every night.

May I send you a cocktail book full of bad ideas and a charming frog? Here’s how.

Use the code BREAKUP to get 50% off anything on the Quirk Events calendar, including the Indie Boardgame Showcase that’s touring Beantown, Chicago, D.C., New York, Denver, and Philly in ‘26.

Want to demo your indie game design for attendees? You’ve got until Jan. 6 to apply.

Games of the Week (3:41)
• Ryuutama : Natural Fantasy Roleplay: An excerpt from my latest chat with Walt, who lightens the typical mood with a twee-in-the-best-way storytelling game about bards who get into charming entanglements while roaming the medieval Japanese countryside.

• A selection from my latest work with Dwelling a solo RPG for ghosts. We’re at the halfway point of the book, where the narrator descends to the basement of a haunted house for a full-on cocaine flashback. The recall is not euphoric.

• We’re finishing up with Space Hulk: Death Angel, a gripping and cinematic cooperative tactical game that kicked off a multi-year Fantasy Flight Games buying spree that, in retrospect, set the rhythm of our household’s Saturday nights for the next six years.

Track of the Week (23:26)
“Can I Get Open?” by Original Flavor. Follow along as I chase a sample back from this ’93 track and end up finding a well of solstice magic inside the many saxophones of jazz giant Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

May I send you a cocktail book full of bad ideas and a charming frog? Here’s how.

I retract forever my claim that Arkham Horror 2nd Edition can be played on an aircraft.

Game of the Week (2:30)
I interview Fox in the Forest designer Josh Buergel about trick-taking games he admires and plays — and preview his next design in the genre.

Discussed:
• Friedrich
• Maria
• Bridge
• Fox in the Forest
• The Crew
• Arcs
• The Six of VIII
• Torchlit
• Scout
• Bacon
• Haggis
• Sykes-Picot
• Sail
• Knockout Whist
• I’m Out
• Greasy Spoon
• Inside Job
• Fishing

Track of the Week (29:56)
Josh stays on for Track of the Week to show us his favorite slice of Q-Bert’s 1994 tour de force mix, Demolition Pumpkin Squeeze Musik.

Editorial: Board Gaming’s Least Interesting Problem (36:48)
So it looks like a perennial loser from the board game discourse shelf has once again landed on the table. The problem at hand? Buying too many games and not playing them.

Subscription fatigue is real. I ask you to hit me off once and mail you cool stuff for doing so.

Getting cool stuff from real people in the mail is the new Bitcoin. See what might be in your Breakup Gaming Society swag envelope.

Game of the Week (3:17)Final Girl: Madness in the Dark is back on the table. I showed it to a non-tabletop buddy and he got so excited, he got his own base game and the Killer from Tomorrow movie. Hear what happens as one dude in Wyoming struggles against a robot killer for the very first time and another dude in Colorado reacquaints himself with the joys of finding a hook-handled bone hammer in a utility closet just in time.

Drink of the Week (45:16)I just spent Thanksgiving editing audio, putting up signs to sell my house, and trying to nurse myself back from a hideous and painful hematoma. Drinking was out of the question.

Track of the Week (48:31)I’m going to show you one of the most delightful techno-hip hop crossovers of the early 2000s, which teamed up the quicksilver UK duo Mint Royale with Posdnous of De La Soul.

Was happy to learn that Fake Minotaur Buttholes, a game for the whole family, is now available at Target.

Games of the Week (2:29)
• SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence is set up and previewed. It’s going to be a very Euro winter.

• A deep-dive with Walt into the rancid alleys and bleak implications of Lichoma, an impressive indie meatpunk TTRPG.

Drink of the Week (44:06)
Some light work with my favorite winter combo: a stout and a nip of bourbon back. Plus ongoing efforts to get good at Resist!, a solo WW2-era insurgency card game set in Spain.

Track of the Week (49:46)
Checking out DJ Premier’s spare and pristine production on “Tha Realness” by Group Home.

I Just Gave My Secret Wars #11 to a Pal
A possible minor jackpot for Bryan, who did the show a solid and picked Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #11 from a randomized set of three titles from my vintage ‘80s comic book box. Check out what other supporters chose.

Ah, Halloween, when I turn out every light in my house except for a floodlight trained on a pile of cursed items in my driveway.

Game of the Week (4:04)
I chat up fellow Coloradan (and fellow Nate) Nate Hayden, one of the three cats who designed the wild demonic underground wargame, Cave Evil, which became a nigh-unobtainable cult hit in the years following its 2011 release. But the crew who made it never stopped playing and building onto their Stygian world of maps, weapons, creatures and strategies. It’s been re-released.

Drink of the Week (40:50)
We’re still looking for a name for Skrrt_Vonnegut’s homemade plum liqueur and whiskey thing. Learn how to enter. Modest prizes involved.

Track of the Week (42:41)
We’re still looking for a name for Skrrt_Vonnegut’s homemade plum liqueur and whiskey thing. Learn how to enter. Modest prizes involved

New on the Blog: My Latest Dwelling Session, “Eyes of a Boring God”
We start to learn how the narrator became the sole resident of his troubled uncle’s house. We also begin to learn that he’s not just a wistful guy with a broken heart.