Every episode of Cult of the Old your hosts Iain McAllister, Nate Owens, and Matt Thrower focus on a title from the history of tabletop games. They’ll look at the impact of the game at the time, their own critical impressions, the games ongoing influence on the modern hobby, and whether or not they would still recommend it!
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.
What are we looking at this episode?
We started this season with Castles of Burgundy, one of the classic tile-laying games of the modern era that spawned its own imitators and wannabes. It was not the first tile-laying game though of course, that DNA runs deeper and ancient. From Mah Jong to Dominoes the tile has been an easily manufactured and ubiquitous part of gaming history, and it is to history we go for the inspiration for our next game.
Coming out in 2000 in an unassuming blue box with a pretty castle on the front, our game this episode took the world by storm. Although it has a long legacy and is still available to this day, perhaps its most enduring impact on the hobby is to popularise the ‘meeple’, those little wooden pieces that seem to star jump through many a game. Let’s go back in time and visit the castles of Carcasonne.
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
Titan (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/103/titan)
Goldgrabber (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2350/eureka)
Sagaland - Enchanted Forest (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/938/enchanted-forest)
D&D (https://www.dungeonsanddragons.com/)
Warhammer (https://www.warhammer.com/en-GB/home)
Tigris & Euphrates (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/42/tigris-and-euphrates) - Episode Link (https://open.spotify.com/episode/7yYiYrl480kCICooliSDsU)
Samurai (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3/samurai)
Dominoes (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2394/dominoes)
Mexican Train (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/11634/mexican-train)
Catan (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13/catan)- Episode Link (https://open.spotify.com/episode/41epWIKop4xQyIUn3yVkqU)
El Grande (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/93/el-grande) - Episode Link (https://open.spotify.com/episode/3S4WMRCyVXJwmW3zKBAkTq)
Carcassonne: The City (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12902/carcassonne-the-city)
Suburbia Inc. (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/123260/suburbia)
Sanctuary (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/441696/sanctuary)
Carcassonne - Catapult (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/38855/carcassonne-catapult)
Kingdomino (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/204583/kingdomino)
Isle of Skye (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/176494/isle-of-skye-from-chieftain-to-king)
Ticket to Ride (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9209/ticket-to-ride)
Pandemic (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30549/pandemic) - Episode Link (https://open.spotify.com/episode/1bWUxK2pHOuQ0Jjbs3o6qn)
Dominion (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36218/dominion) - Episode Link (https://open.spotify.com/episode/1jfePEY0O2A5NcN2QvKcIe)
Other Mentions
Dan Thurot (https://spacebiff.com/)
Digital Antiquarian - Gabriel Knight (https://www.filfre.net/tag/gabriel-knight/)
Deutsche Spielepreis (https://www.spiel-essen.de/de/programm/dsp)
Team Links
Iain
The Giant Brain (https://giantbrain.co.uk/)
Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/giantbrain.co.uk)
Matt
BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/mattthr.bsky.social)
Nate
Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sanildefanso.bsky.social)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/sanildefanso/)
Support us on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/CultoftheOld)
Join our Discord (https://discord.gg/QxPu35sncG)
Email us at cultoftheolduk@gmail.com (mailto:cultoftheolduk@gmail.com)
12 Oct 2026
Cult of the Old - Codenames
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 this cast paints us into a corner. There are games we would love to cover but we have to wait for the inexorable passage of time for those titles to become just that little bit older to fit into our self imposed limits of a ‘decade or more’. Our game this episode has just passed that venerable mark allowing for us to dive into it, especially given it has just had a bit of a refresh.
Just over 10 years ago our game this episode, burst onto the scene bringing new life to the ‘party game’ genre. A simple seeming puzzle of word connections created by one of the most diverse designers ever, Vlaada Chvatil. See if you can work out what we mean as we make the connections between the past and the future with Codenames.
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
Galaxy Trucker (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31481/galaxy-trucker) - Episode Link (https://open.spotify.com/episode/3m6ILRhZOKS4aASMhkbVI0?si=cVZgAlBxTBKWJqsChnFRSw)
Through the Ages (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/182028/through-the-ages-a-new-story-of-civilization) - Episode Link (https://open.spotify.com/episode/3VB8yUqdjiGFjOJkp7jEHJ?si=df8-1WhIQ9eDzd5CxGvE_A)
Codenames: Pictures (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/198773/codenames-pictures)
Codenames: Duet (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/224037/codenames-duet)
Taboo (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1111/taboo)
Password (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1549/password) - TV Show and game
Captain Sonar (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/171131/captain-sonar)
Worldspanner Factions (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/346597/worldspanner-factions-set-1-heroes) - The Giant Brain (https://giantbrain.co.uk/2025/01/16/worlds-to-span-factions-to-fight/)
Hardback (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/223750/hardback)
Paperback (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/141572/paperback)
Apples to Apples (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/74/apples-to-apples)
Res Arcana (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/262712/res-arcana)
Arcs (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/359871/arcs)
Cards Against Humanity (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/50381/cards-against-humanity)
Just One (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/254640/just-one)
Decrypto (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/225694/decrypto)
So Clover (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/329839/so-clover)
The Chameleon (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/227072/the-chameleon)
Whirly Derby (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/449137/whirly-derby)
Mage Knight (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/864/mage-knight)
Sebaton (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/349042/a-battle-through-history)
Tash Kalar (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/146278/tash-kalar-arena-of-legends)
Space Alert (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/38453/space-alert)
Alibis (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/435423/alibis)
French Toast (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/312633/french-toast)
Fiction (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/380439/fiction)
Dominion (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36218/dominion) - Episode Link (https://open.spotify.com/episode/1jfePEY0O2A5NcN2QvKcIe?si=NPWFCSm8SiCvCB_PqYOA_w)
Blood on the Clocktower (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/240980/blood-on-the-clocktower)
Dixit (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/39856/dixit) - Episode Link (https://open.spotify.com/episode/7xardjnzjHzeubOSrpqTsP?si=rWNq0PITS7iae-bvxuOPiA)
Other Mentions
Guardian Interview
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/sep/26/vlaada-chvatil-codenames-board-game-market-czech-phone (https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/sep/26/vlaada-chvatil-codenames-board-game-market-czech-phone)
Tabletop Gaming Magazine Interview
https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/features/the-making-of-codenames-with-designer-vlaada-chvatil/ (https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/features/the-making-of-codenames-with-designer-vlaada-chvatil/)
10000 dollar pyramid (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_(game_show))
Jackbox party games (https://www.jackboxgames.com/)
Big Potato Games (https://bigpotato.co.uk/)
Czech Games Edition (https://www.czechgames.com/)
All Play (https://www.allplay.com/)
Codenames App (https://www.codenamesgame.com/play-online)
Team Links
Iain
The Giant Brain (https://giantbrain.co.uk/)
Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/giantbrain.co.uk)
Matt
BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/mattthr.bsky.social)
Nate
Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sanildefanso.bsky.social)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/sanildefanso/)
Support us on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/c/CultoftheOld?view_as=patron)
Join our Discord (https://discord.gg/QxPu35sncG)
Email us at cultoftheolduk@gmail.com (mailto:cultoftheolduk@gmail.com)
21 Sept 2026
Cult of the Old - Bohnanza
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.
This Episode
We all begin by just playing games, but then the thought grabs you ‘what if I can do better?” From scribbled notes in a dog eared notebook, to early prototypes with questionable art assets, these initial journeys into design can stop at the kitchen table. For the few that push through, the rewards of seeing your work finally in print can be the end of the story. For fewer still it is the spark of a career.
In 1997 an unassuming box of cards became the megaphone announcement of a new designer on the scene. With odd art depicting anthropomorphised legumes, and cartoon pulses, this trading game spawned numerous expansions and is still widely available until this day. It led to a long career for its designer Uwe Rosenberg. Let’s dig up some opinions and plant our flags in the bean trading game that is Bohnanza.
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
Catan (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13/catan) - Episode Link (https://open.spotify.com/episode/41epWIKop4xQyIUn3yVkqU?si=rdQhlq4CR6WDny2pmm_0dw)
Citadels (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/478/citadels) - Episode Link (https://open.spotify.com/episode/7lHuDEOFiRF2jM5aqmhDTZ?si=rlxNrviaQ5O2jsW6iDf1Sw)
Civilisation (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/71/civilization)
Freight Train (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1448/freight-train)
Mega Civilisation (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/184424/mega-civilization)
Pit (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/140/pit)
Mamma Mia (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/49/mamma-mia)
Scout (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/291453/scout)
Agricola (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31260/agricola)
Patchwork (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/163412/patchwork)
Cosmic Encounter (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/39463/cosmic-encounter)
Trade on the Tigris (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/250754/trade-on-the-tigris)
Lords of Vegas (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/20437/lords-of-vegas)
Zoo Vadis (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/368061/zoo-vadis)
I’m The Boss (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/115/im-the-boss)
Other Mentions
Airecon (https://www.airecon.co.uk/)
Uwe Rosenberg interview (https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/394148/article/3286569#3286569)
Team Links
Iain
The Giant Brain (https://giantbrain.co.uk/)
Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/giantbrain.co.uk)
Matt
BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/mattthr.bsky.social)
Nate
Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sanildefanso.bsky.social)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/sanildefanso/)
Support us on Patreon
Email us at cultoftheolduk@gmail.com (mailto:cultoftheolduk@gmail.com)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.6 / 5
10 ratings
Spotify
4.7 / 5
13 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 46 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
40
Social presence
91
YouTube
0
Engagement
82
Contact Cult of the Old
Guest appearances
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