Cloudspire, Pret-a-Porter and Foothills: Three Tabletop Games Put to the Test

Three games stood out in Episode 182 for very different reasons. Cloudspire asks players to invest time in its factions, Pret-a-Porter turns an expected business puzzle into a source of table friction, and Foothills makes a short two-player session count through tight resource choices. The common thread is that each game got the group talking about what happened at the table, though none offered the same kind of challenge.

Cloudspire rewards a group that returns

Cloudspire, from Chip Theory Games, made a strong impression, but the group found its learning curve more demanding than its basic mechanics might suggest. The core rules felt manageable; the factions were where the game opened up. Each one asks for practice and patience, so a first session may show only part of what the game can do.

That distinction matters for prospective players. A game can be easy to begin and still take considerable work to understand well. Here, faction familiarity seems central to the experience: players need time to learn their own options and to anticipate what others can do. The group’s view was that players should be on roughly equal footing, which makes repeated games with the same people especially appealing.

With a regular group, Cloudspire can develop into a contest of anticipating moves and responding to an opponent’s plans. That tactical back-and-forth is the draw described in the episode, but it depends on players being willing to return and explore. For a group looking for a deeper, longer-term game, that commitment may be part of the appeal. For a group expecting every faction to click immediately, the early learning may feel like work.

The episode doesn’t lay out a full turn sequence or explain the factions individually, so it’s best read as a report on the table experience rather than a rules overview. Its clearest advice is practical: give the game repeated plays, allow time to learn the faction differences, and aim for a group whose experience levels are reasonably close.

Pret-a-Porter brings conflict to the fore

Pret-a-Porter surprised the group because it played differently from the enterprise-focused euro they expected. The players had anticipated a contest centered on managing a business well. Instead, they found themselves trying to disrupt one another’s plans, with complaints about derailed turns coming up as the rounds went by.

That tension became a defining part of the session. The hosts acknowledge that they may have made more of the back-and-forth than the game strictly demanded, so the episode leaves room for a different group to read the interaction another way. Still, the table’s response is telling: when players keep reacting to interference, the game has put conflict at the center of the conversation, whether or not that was the expectation going in.

For groups considering Pret-a-Porter, the useful takeaway is to prepare for direct competition alongside business management. Players who enjoy adapting when their plans are interrupted may find that friction entertaining. Those who prefer to focus on building an engine without much interference may want to keep the group’s tastes in mind. The episode doesn’t detail the specific actions or decisions behind each setback, so it doesn’t support a more precise account of how the disruption works. It does make clear that the resulting table mood was sharper and more combative than expected.

Foothills keeps the decisions compact

Foothills was a welcome two-player game for the group, pairing a quick session with decisions that could feel difficult. The hosts singled out its card mechanic as a favorite and found resource management tight at points. That combination gives the game a clear appeal: a short play can still ask players to weigh what they want against what their limited resources allow.

The episode doesn’t spell out the card system, so it would be a stretch to explain its timing or options in detail. What comes through is the rhythm of the experience: choices carry weight, resources can pinch, and the game fits a two-player slot without dragging on. For players looking to fill that niche, Foothills sounds like a focused option when there’s time for a brisk contest and appetite for decisions that don’t feel automatic.

Follow the episode’s table notes

The full episode moves beyond these three featured impressions, with segments on Diamonds Second Edition, City of the Big Shoulders, Raiders of the North Sea, Pandemic, Final Hour and Tiny Epic Dinosaurs. The recording also includes an appearance by Vanessa during the Final Hour discussion. Those timestamps can help listeners jump to a specific topic or hear how the hosts’ impressions fit into the wider conversation.

Cloudspire is the standout for players willing to build familiarity over multiple sessions. Pret-a-Porter is the one to consider when a group welcomes plans being disrupted, while Foothills offers a tighter two-player outing where resource decisions matter. The episode’s most useful lesson is to match the game to the group: patience and repeat plays for Cloudspire, tolerance for friction in Pret-a-Porter, and a taste for compact, demanding decisions in Foothills.

Episode segments: 00:00:32 Intro; 00:01:56 Episode 181 Cleanup; 00:05:10 It is that time again; 00:09:10 Diamonds Second Edition; 00:10:03 City of the Big Shoulders again; 00:12:56 Short Term Memory stinks; 00:14:33 Fall movie drought; 00:17:40 Portal Games; 00:19:29 Pret-a-Porter; 00:40:27 The Broken Token; 00:41:57 Foothills; 00:46:37 No Quarter Required: Raiders of North Sea & Pandemic; 00:56:39 Cloudspire; 01:09:34 Final Hour with Vanessa; 01:23:34 Tiny Epic Dinosaurs; 01:28:02 Outro; 01:33:08 Miniature Market.

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