As a mentat myself, I feel like mentats are commonly misunderstood. Not surprising as we are just so far superior in intellect to the average peon. Coincidence that mentat and mensa are such similar words? I think not.

Games we played:

2:39 - Neuroshima Hex (2006, Michał Oracz, Portal)

8:29 - Pandemic Legacy Season 1 (2015, Rob Daviau & Matt Leacock, Z-Man)

12:08 - JUMP HERE FOR SPOILER FREE

15:07 - Yokohama (2016, Hisashi Hayashi, Synapses)

21:42 - Cosmic Wimpout (1975, Boston Logical Society & W.W. Swilling, C3 Inc)

100 games before you die:

26:47 - Concordia (2013, Mac Gerdts, Rio Grande)

https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/321471/100-tabletop-games-to-play-before-turning-100

Topic:

32:10 - Characteristics of Games Pt. 4 (chapters 6-7)

Characteristics of Games (2012, George Skaff Elias & Richard Garfield & K. Robert Gutschera, MIT Press)

https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262542692/characteristics-of-games

Songs:

100 Games to Play Before You Die by Michael, Tyler, Devon, and Josh of The Boise RainBeaus

ROT by Bone Haus https://bonehaus.bandcamp.com/album/in-mourning

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/c/ShelfStableCast

All our socials https://linktr.ee/shelfstablecast

A dark anime cloud deepens in the background as Tom loses yet another game of Food Chain Magnate. I don't want to alarm anyone, but Twilight Sparkle did not approve of this episode. Not even the joyous revolt of Spice8Rack is enought to counter the "I should have won" resonating in Tom's dark psyche. Will our heroes ever find solace in just being bad?

6:31 - Intro: Spice8Rack

8:59 - We Have to Know!

Games we played:

32:15 - The King's Dilemma (2019, Hjalmar Hach & Lorenzo Silva, Horrible Guild)

Topic:

38:26 - Being Bad at Games

Where to find Spice8Rack:

Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@Spice8Rack

Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/spice8rack.bsky.social

Where to find Acorn:

https://acorninternational.org

Songs:

ROT by Bone Haus https://bonehaus.bandcamp.com/album/in-mourning

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/c/ShelfStableCast

All our socials https://linktr.ee/shelfstablecast

We gotta record our podcast a thousand times like Tom Lehmann did with Race. Maybe at that point older couples will be playing it before they go to sleep. In the meantime, I guess the pop culture misfires shall continue. I'll take solid bit for $200.

Video Game Jeopardy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5NbCOCGQ_Q

Games we played:

7:35 - My Favourite Things (2015, Daiki Nilgiri Aoyama & Pepe_R, Play for Keeps)

Point de Polgara (in French) on Japanese designers https://www.lepointdepolgara.fr/index.php/2026/02/12/tokyo-game-market-automne-2025/

12:34 - Tucano (2021, Theo Riviere, Helvetiq)

15:25 - Dune Imperium (2020, Paul Dennen, Dire Wolf)

21:12 - El Grande (1995, Wolfgang Kramer & Richard Ulrich, Hans im Gluck)

100 games before you die:

26:58 - Race for the Galaxy (2007, Thomas Lehmann, Rio Grande)

https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/321471/100-tabletop-games-to-play-before-turning-100

Topic:

33:26 - That One Little Rule

Songs:

100 Games to Play Before You Die by Michael, Tyler, Devon, and Josh of The Boise RainBeaus

ROT by Bone Haus https://bonehaus.bandcamp.com/album/in-mourning

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/c/ShelfStableCast

All our socials https://linktr.ee/shelfstablecast