We’ve been playing abstract games all month and we’re here to tell you about it! Marc, Matt, and Orion go in depth about five different abstract games, both classic and new. We’ve all fallen in love with Go, and Tak was a pleasant surprise. What’s so compelling about these games that some have survived for millennia? We’ve gotten a taste of it.
3:57 – What actually is an abstract game?
10:28 – Go
26:52 – Chess
46:30 – Santorini
55:01 – Onitama
1:01:18 – Tak
1:13:28 – Lines of play
1:16:46 – The unique beauty of abstract games
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Please join the discussion below. Stay in touch by subscribing, joining our BoardGameGeek Guild, or by following The Thoughtful Gamer on facebook or twitter.

5 thoughts on “Podcast Episode 46: Abstract Games”
Great episode. If you guys are interested in trying out a multiplayer abstract, you should give Ekö a try.
Interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that game before. It has a good look to it.
Ooo… I played a quick demo of Ekö at PAX East a (few?) years ago… I think I played it at 2p, and it kind of got lost in the shuffle of PAX, but I remember being intrigued. Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll seek that one out.
If you ever do a followup episode, you should play review (some of) the GIPF series.
I tried to find a way to play some of those, but didn’t have the time/ability. At some point I definitely want to do a follow up with GIPF games and Hive.