It’s an episode of excess for Joel and Chris, where Chris watches the entire Marvel franchise, Joel plays games with his college friends for three days straight, and we tackle one of the questions at the heart of our consumerist hobby: how much is too much when it comes to board games? We’re not done there, either: Joel puts Perch on the Chopping Block to see whether cute stacking birds justify mean gameplay, and then Joel challenges Chris to a game of Two Truths and a Lie to see whether Chris can determine which 2026 releases are real and which are fake. Doing all that while we’re both still sleep deprived means we never know what we’ll say on this episode of Oak and Onion!

Segments:

• 00:00:00—Welcome and Introduction
• 00:00:33—What we've been up to
• 00:22:00—What we've been playing
• 00:43:31—Chopping Block: Perch
• 01:05:36—Game: Two Truths and a Lie
• 01:17:23—QOTE: How Much is Too Much?
• 02:03:37—Closing and Sign Off

Chris spent the weekend at his local convention, TokenCon, in Oklahoma City. He, and his wife Kaitlin, recap their experience at the convention, including their favorite moments, favorite games, and more. You’ll also hear interviews from Scott Brady, designer of boop., Hues and Cues, and Caution Signs, as well as Paula Deming, a few Oklahoma game publishers and designers, the TokenCon founder, and several con goers throughout the episode. Segments:

• 00:00:00—Welcome and Introduction
• 00:00:51—Meet our guest host: Kaitlin
• 00:02:17—Interview: Mike, Co-Director of TokenCon
• 00:08:05—Interview: Brandon, Art Director of TokenCon
• 00:11:04—Overall Thoughts on the Con
• 00:13:52—Interview: Cassie Sikes, Designer of Jibber Jabble
• 00:20:32—Favorite Moments of the Weekend
• 00:23:41—Interview: Paula Deming, Things Get Dicey
• 00:32:38—Interview: Scott Brady, Game Designer
• 00:44:24—#3 Game of the Weekend
• 00:49:19—Interview: Baron's Game Room
• 00:53:30—Interview: Scrapper Games
• 00:56:24—Interview: Absurdist Productions
• 01:00:45—#2 Game of the Weekend
• 01:05:38—Interview: The Guilded Grayland Game Store
• 01:10:12—Interview: Bearded Rat Mysteries
• 01:12:56—Honorable Mentions
• 01:16:59—Attendee Favorites of the Weekend
• 01:21:01—#1 Game of the Weekend
• 01:27:30—Closing and Sign Off

Joel and Chris can’t stop talking about crowdfunding in part one of a two part episode. In this episode we do a quick check-in on what we’ve been watching, as well as games on BGA and in person, and then Chris cleans off the Chopping Block for the new Stonemaier expansions Wingspan Americas and Viticulture Bordeaux. We wrap up with all the crowdfunding games on our radar, from the recently closed to the still in-progress, as well as several that have yet to launch. We react to the new Awaken Realms Concordia Special Announcement that has the game-o-sphere aflutter, and then decide we better cut out some segments if we want to keep it under two hours. Spoiler alert: we don’t keep it under two hours. But just barely!

Segments:

00:00:00—Welcome and Introduction

00:00:36—What we've been up to

00:09:06—What we've been playing

00:28:48—What we've been watching

00:46:40—Review Disclaimer

00:47:17—Chopping Block: Wingspan Americas

01:01:23—Chopping Block: Viticulture Bordeaux

01:17:28—Highlight Reel

02:03:37—Closing and Sign Off