The Industrial Revolution | Board Game Biographies - Episode One

[@Heldermaior]

Just a fun tidbit related to the time period covered by this game, Fish and Chips was developed around this time and it came to existance because of the Navvies and exhiled Portuguese jews. There was a shop in Canary Wharf that during the day baked and fried potatoes for the navvies and during the night there was a Portuguese jewish family that fried fish because basically Portugal invented fried fish and it exported that everywhere. One day, one of the Navvies asked the potato shop owners to ask the jewish family to save some fried fish for him to eat with his potatoes. He found it lovely and so did everyone else so they all started to eat it. From there it expanded until it reached Yorkshire where the batter (another portuguese invention btw) was added. Moral of the story, THE traditional English dish was invented by immigrants and if you want to eat really well, visit Portugal. When i was there my breakfast was a special kind of saussage roll they have (Pão com Chouriço), two custard tarts and a glass of brandy.

[@JohnFlower-NZ]

English immigrants then brought it to New Zealand. There is a shop in Miramar, Wellington, run by Chinese immigrants and they do an exquisite version of this cuisine.

[@briannariceweber8834]

I love your sense of humor! I hope this series goes on for a long time, as there are so many settings and themes to explore.

[@tomgp]

Great stuff Elaine! I really enjoy these videos that are not just straight forward reviews and look forward to more. For people who are interested in the relationship between the railway boom depicted in Brass and the slave trade I really recommend searching up the London Reconnections blog’s Slavery and the Railways posts which look at the extent to which former slave owners who were compensated by the British people for their loss of “property” were responsible for capital investments in the railways (spoiler alert: it was quite a lot).

[@thomasalbion1834]

Finally a series that combines my two favourite interests! (History and Tabletop Gaming!) Great idea for a series, wish I could subscribe to the channel twice!

[@luigiscazzari4724]

Same here

[@Skarpo89]

Good news! They have a Patreon! You can literally subscribe twice

[@KSweeney36]

Try some historical games. Like Soldier in postman’s uniforms

[@Daye04]

Wait, what? 1732 before trains? Did the industrial Revolution happen in year 93? Boy, do I have a bone to pick with my history teacher

[@devincross2205]

Any good media should hold to analysis and criticism-and more that "it's fun." You two have always brought more depth to your reviews than the average channel. I really hope to see more of these roundups placing games in their historical context!

[@marknold]

Brass and others inspired me to read and learn more about this period. The best source I found was an Audio course by Patrick Allitt called “The Industrial Revolution”. Fascinating story delivered well. My family listened in to some sections on car rides and enjoyed it. Funny they didn’t want to listen at home though…

[@jakepez11]

I love this. Thank you! I am always looking forward to what this channel is putting out next, but I am really excited about this series. This is the type of video I will go back and watch again.

[@IronSalamander8]

Great stuff! There was a lot of suffering by many people in the time period you discuss, thanks for bringing that up while discussing these games.

[@thefollowingisatest4579]

Y'all just keep elevating the game (the game of board game critique, not the board game itse- you get it). Incredible work!

[@AhJong0]

What an incredible envelope pushing vid - superb work NPI, really getting us to consider more than just the game on the table.

[@TomTom-gx3ye]

A brilliancy. And so funny. Informative and entertaining is a hallmark for NPI, and Elaine hits the mark yet again. Thanks for this new series. I will be here patiently waiting for the next installment. And good work with that spray bottle, Efka. That part should have been credited. Sorry you got the shaft.

[@leeunderwood8232]

Excellent video. And kudos for the obscure Fry and Laurie reference... You can't beat the cystern, John!

[@colingerber5319]

I deeply appreciate the effort and thoughtfulness you all put into these board game essays. There's so much untapped opportunity for this hobby to explore some of these topics in a meaningful, engaging way and videos like these help frame games in their cultural/historical context. It's a bigger question than whether a game is good/bad. Thank you for putting the work into making content like this! I'd put it up there with your previous video on colonialism as some of the best/most interesting content I've seen in this hobby. Bravo!

[@SprtsFrndP]

Boardgames paired with the social, historical and cultural impact of their topics. Thanks for being the only content creators I know that combine these. You guys are really important for the critical progression of thinking in the boardgames community and the medium as a whole.

[@KesSharann]

"wax with brown paint in it" You mean Hershey's? We still have that. People still pay real money for it.

[@JohnFlower-NZ]

Not just where Kes lives, neither. Here in NZ (En Zed) it is an exotic chocolate made in the mighty US of A.

[@Furore2323]

Wonderful! I love every review you make but I live for your topical essays. Thank you!

[@armstronghawkins9183]

There's a lotta big, flashy, popular board game channels out there. But they don't do the in-depth, curious commentary that you find on NPI [and SUSD : ) ]. Fantastid!

[@daveb1101]

Why was I so excited to see the back of a bottle of Tribute? Of course NPI appreciates a quality beer, but it soon became a competition with myself to identify them all. I lost.

[@shades5722]

Is this the like other series of videos that will have 1 entry then go unfinished…or more longstanding?

[@NoPunIncluded]

Great question! And the honest answer is,... maybe? We've got episode two in the works already, but continued output really depends on how people respond to it, how much it's shared and so on. If you check the description of the video, you'll see an overwhelming amount of references. That's because videos like that require an inordinate amount of research. We're definitely enthusiastic about making them, but we need our audience to support them too.

[@xavierpaquin]

Smart move warning that you were about to discuss slavery, otherwise it would have been easy to assume you were an apologist

[@fobmon19]

Thank you for making this! It was such a pleasant keeping experience!

[@Seryn88]

I'm late catching up on this but just wanted to say I love the format. It's one of my favorite things when board games make an effort to represent and reflect real history and culture, I get to pretend I'm actually using my archaeology degree!

[@JohnFlower-NZ]

If it helps with immersion, have other players refer to you as Doug.

[@keithscholes6158]

Really good video, and who would have thought that Elaine could do such a cracking Blur impression.

[@JonTripp115]

In addition to games, I enjoy learning about the history of labour and mishearing Blur lyrics, so this was right up my street. Or my railroad.

[@makerofjam]

Soupy twist m'colleague, soupy twist. #weregonnaputthetownofuttoxeteronthegoddamnmapjohn

[@luigiscazzari4724]

Thank you for going where no other board game review channel have been before

[@damonl9981]

What a great idea for a series. Sure im going to enjoy every episode.

[@whittaker007]

The Hershey's company has built an empire on wax with brown paint in it. (the secret ingredient is sugar)

[@tobyr21]

Thanks for a terrific kind of board game review that goes where no one else does! -toby

[@Viragomp]

Really absorbing. I'm learning so much, thank you!

[@vagvaf]

Great video! Looking forward to the spatial aspect!

[@lostmarble540]

in some games the term "sac" is used as slang for sacrifice, so I did a bit of a double-take when I heard this game involved sacking workers

[@CareyMcDuff]

Excellent! Very enjoyable and interesting. I think exploring history is one of the best aspects of board gaming.

[@mavweirdo]

I must admit I like this video better than the Space one. I appreciate you putting the themes of the games in context with actual history.

[@bruitist]

Growing up in Bristol, we actually got *some* education about the slave trade (though definitely not enough, considering how many people objected to throwing a statue of a slave trader in the river). Fun fact: The old Corn Exchange building in Bristol has a clock with an extra minute hand that shows the old "Bristol time".

[@dsquaredgames9286]

History and games! My favorite! Amazing video. Can't wait for the rest of the series.

[@wilmerholmqvist8705]

Great format idea!

[@GamerPhysics]

Truly incredible, great writing, great performance, and super sharp editing.

[@MistressMissy]

Informative and funny and there was a dog. Excellent.

[@beegica]

This is incredible! Love this new series!

[@ItsBigIan]

Navvies famously loved shopping at tesco

[@JimmySquiky]

This bread looks like a big brioche. Yes I'm french ahah. Loved the video ! Great work Elaine :)

[@NoPunIncluded]

I wish it was brioche. It was actually worse than supermarket square loaves. It looked the part though.

[@grandad1982]

Never surprise me with Priti Patels face again.

[@mrchom]

That really needed a content warning.

[@ericfrancis7816]

This. Is. Brilliant. Thanks so much, Elaine and Efka!

[@salty-horse]

Excellent video, and excited that this is a series. "Trains changed the way we see time" made me think about Einstein's train thought experiment

[@lizochap120]

This! Thank you for educating and entertaining me.

[@spoffette2623]

Great video! How much ham did Bessie try and eat? My mum when she was a kid (post war) remembers been given carnation milk on toast by her nan when growing up in birmingham

[@anastenazontas]

I love this series. Well done you two (mostly Elaine)

[@lobotomiseme1653]

Great vid, very illuminating.

[@timrourke6737]

Brilliant episode - really interesting

[@paulnorthey6712]

"British people mostly know that we are the bad guys for most of history, but ..."😂

[@lisamarin8836]

Excellent video! This is precisely why I have so much innate resistance to playing games themed around this period. Although now I am left wondering, why *was* Brass called Brass?

[@JohnFlower-NZ]

Brass is a synonym for money. "Where there is muck, there is brass." - old English proverb popularised during the industrial revolution. Brass is a very old word that might have meant metal, then bronze coins, and then money in general.

[@phatcat73]

Another great book about the industrial revolution is Empire of Cotton: A Global History by Sven Beckert.

[@RozanovaHunter]

This was absolutely riveting!

[@mcheezy]

This was awesome. Keep it up!

[@rosmith606]

Thank you for this, I found it really interesting. I loved that we got some more musicElaine... musically? Alright the pun doesn't work in written form like it does aloud. I enjoy this foray of discussion or dissections into how the romanticist aspect of game design can detract from the realities of our history, and how this can skew perceptions.

[@Ckapter]

LOVE that this is becoming a thing!!!

[@willmelton7450]

Fantastic! Looking forward to more in this series.

[@venisontron]

Please make the Bristol Home of Laughing Gas sign available for purchase

[@filiplazov5895]

Fantastic video and It made me hungry...

[@sammyg9853]

Great episode. Keep it up 🙂

[@dilarus8231]

A fantastic idea for a series!

[@patricksteele]

Excellent and worthy content, well done

[@estebanrodriguez5409]

I don't now if I dare to ask what's inside that tin at the end...

[@andrewturner9108]

Excellent video Elaine.

[@teypan]

Excellent video, thank you!

[@ArnoVdVelde]

This is a great idea, something I kind wanted to give a gander myself. In a way I wish this was a bit more structured and detailed. Then it might also just become impossible and with no audience xp

[@Shoitaan]

Subtle JGG shirt! :)

[@CreatureMoose]

Do those dungarees happen to be Lucy &Yak dungarees?? Either way, keep rocking them. Also great video.

[@bf1701]

Delightful! Loved the mix of history and tabletop games, especially showing where the romantic portrayal in some games does not match the reality of what happened in the period.

[@gs24-xor]

Quite good video, really liked

[@HeadCannonPrime]

What a great, yet depressing episode!

[@rossjaax]

Loved this

[@sebastiang.5032]

Great video, very well done!

[@tiberiusdw]

Nailed it again-as usual.

[@kronaar]

Brilliant concept!

[@Zvilnik]

I can't help thinking you needed to add a trigger warning for images of Priti Patel.

[@mrchom]

I nearly spat tea at my PC screen when that came on.

[@Zvilnik]

@@mrchom me too, but maybe not for the reason you did

[@xander8016]

This is great! Very informative and interesting. I do have one question though, what song is that at the end? It sounds so familiar and yet I can’t figure out what it’s called. Looking forward to part 2!

[@Jaaskle]

Commenting for the sake of our overlord aka the algorithm. Love your content!

[@DougMogica]

Well done Elaine!

[@meander112]

Engagement for the engagement god!

[@XShrike0]

2:08 I am hearing syrup and wig. If I am hearing those two correctly, am not sure how those two rhyme. Was wig called something else back then? Is it an accent thing?

[@JohnFlower-NZ]

Rhyming slang can start as a rhyme, then that becomes a synonym, then a contraction. E.g.from Wikipedia:- Thus, a wig is a 'prune', from 'syrup of prunes', an obvious parody of the Cockney syrup from syrup of figs - wig. You're welcome me old china. (China = China Plate = Plate = Mate)

[@sambot1910]

More please!

[@necogreendragon]

What was in the can?

[@denvergreene]

I've been loving the videos from y'all recently. I loved them before, but I love them now too!

[@clivewitcomb2839]

Bugger me! You do a trigger warning for slavery discussion, but then don't warn about the full screen photo of PP looming out at 11.25... Shaken... X

[@redsands1001]

I like history lessons

[@PaulDean]

This was very neat. I really like this idea for a series and I'm interested to see what comes next.

[@canalmiokanka]

Where is the second part

[@Wallach_a]

Hey, what is that a can of? 💁🏻

[@NoPunIncluded]

condensed milk

[@Choose2Connect]

Your content is always wonderful. No need for a trigger warning..... ever.

[@dold_]

Great, now I want to watch Buster Keaton movies. Screw board games!

[@daem0nfaust]

I love it!

[@gwenread7115]

this is such a great idea! i cant wait for more!

[@bigsarge2085]

👍

[@charlesvalentine9638]

Don't be sad. We Yanks are very much complicit. I mean we had to form a new country when you all cracked down on our smuggling operations, but we may have actually been worse than your ancestors.

[@yarondavidson6434]

Boo. Several minutes of Elaine just eating more and more of a *single* wheat product, while multiple different barley products are completely ignored. That's both discriminatory and boring. 😛 Other than that, great video.