Strategy Board Games: Eclipse, Dune and the Tension Video Games Can’t Match (Ep.92)

Tim and Adam step away from the screen this week to talk about strategy on the tabletop. It turns out board gaming and strategy gaming sit right next to each other, and the two get into what the medium does better than a PC ever could.

They make the case for Eclipse: Second Dawn as the finest strategy board game ever made, argue over whether Twilight Imperium is worth an eight hour commitment, and marvel at the Europa Universalis board game that ate a whole weekend and still only reached the halfway point. Along the way they dig into the real divide in board gaming, victory point optimisation versus everything else, and why direct conflict at the table can end friendships in a way a stranger on the internet never could.

There's plenty on the crossover too: how deck builders like Dune: Imperium shaped Hearthstone and Balatro, why Tabletop Simulator captures the social side more than the play, and where the Civilization adaptations get it right and where they fall flat. The 1979 Dune gets its due as a masterclass in asymmetry, and the episode closes with first game recommendations and a handful of honourable mentions.