Best Modern Tabletop Board Game
Board games have been popular for more than a century -- some date back to the ancient world. But in the late 20th Century up until now, the buzzword has been tabletop games -- broadly speaking, elaborate games of skill, strategy, and luck that have generated intense fandoms since the late 1990s. While we've already covered the classic board games popular in our youth, the Great Pop Culture Debate now wants to determine the Best Modern Tabletop Game. Games discussed: Settlers of Catan, Pandemic, Codenames, Forbidden Island, Betrayal at the House on the Hill, Azul, Kingdomino, Carcasonne, Splendor, Ticket to Ride, Wingspan, and more.
Join host Eric Rezsnyak, GPCD panelists Bob Erlenback and Trey Radu-Blackburn, and special guest tabletop aficionado Jared Tannenbaum as they discuss and debate 16 of the most popular contemporary board games.
Play along at home by finding the listener bracket here. Make a copy for yourself, fill it out, and see if your picks match up with ours!
For more exclusive content, including warm-up in which we discuss the games we were bummed didn’t make the bracket, become a Patreon supporter of the podcast today.
Round 1 Match-Ups:
Not a Patreon subscriber? Here’s a primer on how we came up with the bracket.
Match-Up 1: Ticket to Ride (1) vs. Gloomhaven (4)
Match-Up 3: Pandemic (1) vs. Forbidden Island (4)
Match-Up 4: Kingdomino (3) vs. Azul (2)
Match-Up 5: Settlers of Catan (1) vs. Terraforming Mars (4)
Match-Up 6: Betrayal at House on the Hill (3) vs. Wingspan (2)
Match-Up 7: Carcassonne (1) vs. Mysterium (4)
Want to play along at home?
Download the Listener Bracket and see if your picks match up with ours!
Sign up for our weekly newsletter!
Subscribe to find out what’s new in pop culture each week right in your inbox!
Vote in more pop culture polls!
Check out our Open Polls. Your votes determine our future debates!
Then, vote in our Future Topic Polls to have a say in what episodes we tackle next.
Episode Credits
Host: Eric Rezsnyak
Panel: Bob Erlenback, Trey Radu-Blackburn
Special Guest: Jared Tannenbaum
Producer: Curtis Creekmore
Editor: Bob Erlenback
