This year has been a lot for the world, but our guest Ruel Gaviola (board game contributor for Geek & Sundry, committee member of Tabletop Writers Guild and The American Tabletop Awards) has also been playing a new game every weekday so far in 2020! We chat with Ruel about online board gaming communities and their role during COVID, which recent games have flown under the radar without physical gaming conventions to hype them up, and the board games we're willing to risk in the great outdoors. Plus, we're forced to reveal which board game genres we don't like. Yuck.

Catch Ruel's daily Tabletop Tonight stream on Twitch every weekday at 7:30 pm PT!

This week's topics:

1. Mike Zipkin (editor): Games that are sturdy enough to play outside (3:57)
2. Shoe (producer): Recent under-the-radar board games (24:56)
3. Ruel Gaviola (guest): Online gaming communities and how COVID-19 has affected our participation in them (44:54)
4. Christina (host): Board game genres we personally tend to dislike -- and their exceptions (57:59)

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Here's a full list of games discussed on the show:

Mike's topic: Games we can play outdoors

• Heckmeck
• Pickomino
• Q.E.
• Hanabi Deluxe
• Shobu
• Backgammon
• Dominoes
• Secrets
• Wavelength
• Pinnacle
• Jenga
• Azul

Shoe's topic: Recent under-the-radar board games

• The Shipwreck Arcana
• Deep Vents
• Oceans
• Pre-a-Porter
• London
• Mechanica
• Steam Park
• Brass
• MonsDRAWsity
• Telestrations: Upside Drawn
• Telestrations
• FUSE
• Dead Men Tell No Tales
• Stellar
• Arboretum
• Little Town
• Tiny Towns

Ruel's topic: Online gaming communities

• Wingspan
• Railways of the World
• 18XX
• City of the Big Shoulders
• Tokaido
• 7 Wonders
• Viscounts of the West Kingdom
• King's Dilemma

Christina's topic: Board game genres we tend to dislike (and their exceptions)

• Cthulhu Wars
• Rising Sun
• Kemet
• Eclipse
• Twilight Imperium
• The Shipwreck Arcana
• Werewolf
• Mafia
• Poker
• Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
• A Fake Artist Goes to New York
• Let's Make a Bus Route
• Kokoro
• Cartographers
• Fleet: The Dice Game
• Magic: The Gathering
• Level 7: Omega Protocol
• Star Wars: Imperial Assault

Final thoughts

• The Oracle of Delphi
• Time's Up
• Trial by Trolley
• Carpe Diem
• Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion

• Podcast