Going Analog Podcast: Recent Episodes
Dan "Shoe" Hsu and friends
Three board gamers, each bringing a unique topic for the group to discuss. Hosted by Christina Ha and Dan "Shoe" Hsu, with new industry guests each episode!
The 2025 American Tabletop Awards were just announced! (Whispers offstage inform us that they were announced back in April....)
Well, we're now ready to talk about them after our extended break. With ATTA cofounder and content creator Eric Yurko of What's Eric Playing?, we react to the recently crowned finalists and winners -- and tell you how we each voted as part of the judging panel.
Timeline:
- 7:08 - Early Gamers category.
- 17:54 - Casual Games category.
- 30:29 - Strategy Games category.
- 40:03 - Complex Games category.
We're back! Again! Tune in to hear all our excuses about why we haven't been podcasting recently, then stay to hear our guest, fabulous designer (Evolution, Wits & Wagers, Oceans) and North Star Games founder Dominic Crapuchettes! We talk about the upcoming Evolution sequel Nature, tariffs (gah), and Dominic's process when designing a science-based game.
Timeline:
- 1:39 - Nature.
- 8:45 - Going Analog's game pick: Super Boss Monster.
- 12:26 - Dominic's game pick: The Gang.
- 17:32 - Going Analog's topic: tariffs impacting the board game industry.
- 29:42 - Dominic's topic: designing science/real life games.
Imagine the longest, most suspenseful drumroll ever.......
Sorry we've been MIA, but real life has been unforgiving and busy. Luckily, we're making it up to you by commemorating our 150th episode with our TOP 10 GAMES OF ALL TIME! We invite Ultimate Beige Gamer and Going Analog Editor Mike Zipkin to join us to share our individual top 10 lists. Whose taste will reign supreme? Which Going Analog-er is your favorite board game soulmate? You'll have to listen to find out.
Did someone say Phil Walker-Harding? Praise be!
The prolific designer (Sushi Go!, Barenpark, Imhotep, Gizmos, Adventure Games, and so many more!) joins Christina and Shoe to talk about how his film background has surprisingly influenced his design process. Plus, Phil's been noticing the "playfulness" inherent in some games recently. Why is he excited about this, and what does it mean for his own designs? Watch or listen to find out!
Timeline:
- 3:01 - Going Analog's game pick: Rivages.
- 5:32 - Phil's game pick: Acquire.
- 9:27 - Going Analog's topic: How Phil's film background influences his game design.
- 25:56 - Phil's topic: Playfulness in game design.
We just wrapped up last year with our 2024 Games of the Year episode, so naturally, it's time to move on with our lives and think about what gets us all excited about 2025. What are we looking forward to playing? What have we previewed previously and are now eagerly awaiting the retail release? What's the buzz we're hearing from others in the biz? Comedian and board game content creator Grant Lyon joins the show to share his thoughts on the biggest offerings for this new year. Plus, with the roller coaster that's TikTok and the continued rise of online toxicity, just how are we looking at board game social media these days?
Timeline:
- 4:45 - Going Analog's game pick: Andromeda's Edge.
- 14:18 - Grant's game pick: Dice Throne.
- 19:38 - Going Analog's topic: 2025 games we're looking forward to.
- 45:44 - Grant's topic: the state of board game social media.
We did it, folks! We recorded our 2024 Games of the Year episode before the end of the year! (We didn't say anything about releasing it before the end of the year, though.) Joining us just under the wire is content creator and Twitch streamer Beneeta Kaur who contributed her own picks. We actually played a good number of games in-person with Beneeta this year, so we know she has great taste!
Tune in for our favorite party, light, medium, and heavy games of the year. What did we miss? What do we NEED to play? Tell us on our socials!
Timeline:
- 2:42 - 2024 Party Games of the Year.
- 13:42 - 2024 Light Games of the Year.
- 25:22 - 2024 Medium Games of the Year.
- 46:40 - 2024 Heavy Games of the Year.
How is it almost the end of 2024?! Christina and Shoe sneak in some more recent games and tell you about them.
Timeline:
- 1:02 - Small-box games: Bottle Imp, Codex Naturalis.
- 14:10 - Medium-box games: Looot, In the Footsteps of Marie Curie.
- 26:30 - Big-box games: Rallyman: Dirt, Creature Caravan.
BoardGameGeek's BGG.CON is always a good time: just days and days of straight gaming (with some delicious Texas BBQ sprinkled in throughout). So what did we play? And what stuck out to us? Christina and Shoe talk through the games, the show, and more in their big post-BGG.CON update.
Timeline:
- 2:41 - SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
- 11:04 - Windmill Valley.
- 19:14 - Video Game Champion.
- 27:26 - Pixies.
- 32:23 - Castle Combo.
- 36:49 - Quick hits: Black Forest, Forges of Ravenshire, Fishing, Wine Cellar, Everbloom.
We just finished Halloweeeen! What are your favorite board games for spoopy season? We ask Creepshow: The Suspense-Building Game co-creators Ben Kepner and Dan Stong about what they like to play during this holiday...plus how they feel about designing while working in-house at a publisher compared to working independently.
Timeline:
- 3:45 - Going Analog's game pick: Babyon.
- 9:46 - Ben & Dan's game pick: Rattus.
- 21:19 - Ben & Dan's topic: spooky games.
- 45:40 - Going Analog's topic: indie vs. in-house design work.
Publisher Bitewing Games has a thing for designer Reiner Knizia (most recently with Zoo Vadis and the Mythos Collection's Illiad and Ichor). Now they're back at it with a new three-part, big-box, Knizia-palooza Kickstarter campaign. We had the opportunity to play one of those parts, SILOS (Secret Interlopers from Outer Space), a retro sci-fi (with cows!) rethemed version of Municipium...and we instantly fell in love. So we invited Bitewing founders Nick Murray and Kyle Spackman to chat about SILOS, other great area-control games, and board game series and franchises.
Timeline:
- 3:25 - Going Analog's game pick: Magic Maze Tower.
- 11:22 - Bitewing's game pick: Moonrollers.
- 19:48 - Going Analog's topic: SILOS and other great area-control games.
- 47:57 - Bitewing's topic: gaming series and franchies.
Tired of hoarding resources, majority-ing areas, and adding up victory points? Want to make your frenemy continuously act like they're milking a cow instead? Then let's talk party games!
Shoe and Christina run through a bunch of new big-group activities to help you with your next big game night.
This episode was sponsored by Magic Mind, our favorite Mental Performance Shot. As a special offer for our listeners, they're giving 40% off the next 10 (and only 10!) uses of this promo code. Go to https://magicmind.com/ANALOG40 and use our code ANALOG40 to get this deal.
Timeline:
- 1:09 - Christina's game pick: Minos: Dawn of the Bronze Age.
- 6:09 - Shoe's game pick: Nature.
- 12:44 - Games that tweak party game formulas: Sync, Rabble, Lovestruck.
- 24:59 - Team games: Belratti, Blank Slate: Challenge, Mini-Game Party.
- 35:27 - Drawing games: Caution Signs, Speed Colors.
- 42:37 - Quick hits: Task Team, Ultimate Dibs, I'm Kind of a Big Dill.
We were thrilled to meet Ben Rosset, co-designer of our favorite deduction games The Search for Planet X and The Search for Lost Species (as well as the classic Between Two Cities), at Gen Con 2024. Find out why that first meeting was ridiculous (in our eyes), what's Ben's creative process on his deeply thematic designs, and how we feel about the various types of second-edition board games.
Timeline:
- 2:58 - Christina's game pick: Kronologic: Paris 1920.
- 9:58 - Shoe's game pick: Sacred Valley.
- 14:58 - Ben's game pick: Century: Spice Road/Golem Edition.
- 23:05 - Going Analog's topic: designing board games around interesting themes.
- 34:13 - Ben's topic: the good and bad of second editions.
Board games = cardboard. It's in the name of the material itself! But...what about An Age Contrived, a new Euro-style, action-programming strategy game designed by Chris Matthew of indie publisher Bellows Intent? It has magnetic bits, chunky Azul-style tiles, and in the Founder's and Collector's Editions, the player boards are set into solid metal frames. What? And you can shoot those tiles out with a spring/lever mechanism. Whaaaat? We had to bring Chris on to ask how he balanced the component "wow" factor with manufacturing affordability -- and as a big gamer himself, Chris wanted to talk about how games have surprised and delighted us. We were delighted to chat with him, so give us a listen! Timeline: * 4:05 - Going Analog's game pick: Open Season. * 9:40 - Chris's game pick: Revive. * 16:36 - Going Analog's topic: An Age Contrived, balancing cool components with high costs. * 41:20 - Chris's topic: how games can surprise and delight us.
Last episode, we gave a quick recap of North America's largest board game convention, Gen Con 2024. But what everyone really wants to know is, what was best in show? We did our due diligence, played as many games as we could during and after the con (we know -- our lives are so hard), and are ready to report back. Plus, we tapped Twitch streamer Amanda Panda for her top picks, too, so listen up!
Timeline:
- 5:48 - 2024 Party Games of Gen Con.
- 10:33 - 2024 Light Games of Gen Con.
- 17:59 - 2024 Medium Games of Gen Con.
- 27:30 - 2024 Heavy Games of Gen Con.
We're back from Gen Con! North America's largest tabletop gaming convention is now behind us, but our coverage is just beginning. In this episode, we share our stories from the massive show, plus a few impressions of our favorite games that we got to play. Stay tuned for lots, lots more.
And make sure to check out Magic Mind, the "Mental Performance Shots" that we took to keep us going through the long days and nights in Indianapolis. Our sponsor is offering our listeners up to 48% off a monthly subscription! You'll get Magic Mind delivered right to your home, and you can cancel at any time. Find energy for your long gaming sessions -- plus, you'll be supporting Going Analog! Just go to magicmind.com/ANALOG20 and use promo code ANALOG20 to save up to 48% now.
Timeline:
- 2:13 - Stories from Gen Con 2024.
- 16:57 - The Gang.
- 23:37 - Seers Catalog.
- 30:26 - River of Gold.
- 37:10 - Flip 7.
- 41:36 - Rebel Princess.
It's almost time for North America's largest board game convention, Gen Con! We've been frantically trying to cram in all the hot new games on our shelf of shame/opportunity before we discover...even more hot new games at the big show. We ask the busy Ruel Gaviola (board gaming showrunner, producer, podcaster, and host of several YouTube and Twitch channels) to tell us what he's looking forward to at Gen Con and which cool games he's been playing lately.
Timeline:
- 1:44 - Gen Con preview.
- 17:51 - our thoughts on a bunch of new board games: What On Earth Are You Talking About?, Landmarks, Biomos, Finca, Clash of Magic Schools, Archeos Society, Evenfall, Pax Pamir: Second Edition, The Search for UAPs.
Do you have a favorite movie genre? Which board games can you play to relive those feels? We ask permormer and board game writer Mx. Tiffany Leigh to chat -- as someone who worked in movie production and a real deal old-school video store, she has fantastic movie and game recs! We got so into the movie topic that we ran out of time for Tiffany's topic -- raincheck!
Timeline:
- 3:51 - Christina/Shoe's game pick: Galactic Renaissance.
- 14:30 - Tiffancy's game pick: Taverns of Tiefenthal.
- 24:24 - Christina/Shoe's topic: games for movie lovers.
We were sitting on a new stack of word games, so we asked our editor Mike Zipkin (he of fancy game upgrades and beige game tastes) to join us in covering Word Traveler, Illilterati, Mind Map, and ContraBanter. Plus, upgrading your board games is old news -- how do you upgrade your entire game room?
Timeline:
- 2:00 - Christina/Shoe's game pick: Captain Flip.
- 9:13 - Mike's game pick: StreetCar (San Francisco).
- 16:28 - Christina/Shoe's topic: new word games.
- 48:14 - Mike's topic: upgrading your game room.
Who doesn't love a beautiful nature game? Shoe doesn't, the grump. He just hates nature. But did he like the upcoming Everbloom, designed by our guest Ian Moss (Bunkers & Badasses, Dinosaur Island, Wonderland's War), from publisher Nerdvana Games? (Check out the Kickstarter!)
We also discuss what makes a new deluxe or big box edition of a game worth a purchase.
Timeline:
- 2:50 - Going Analog's game pick: Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy.
- 8:06 - Ian's game pick: Canvas.
- 15:30 - Going Analog's topic: favorite nature games.
- 39:53 - Ian's topic: deluxe and big box versions of games.
We've got so many new board games to talk about this week that we decided to skip having a guest on, so we can just blab and blab and blab about what we've been playing lately. So yup, you're just getting all Christina, all Shoe this episode. And they're ready to dish on what they liked and what they didn't about each of these.
Timeline:
- 1:16 - The Vale of Eternity.
- 9:19 - Faraway.
- 16:50 - Monumental.
- 24:36 - The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era.
- 32:47 - Heroes of Might & Magic III: The Board Game.
- 45:59 - Converge: Catalysts of Change/Sparks of Hope/Engines of Progress.
- 54:17 - Evergreen.
Legacy games can often light a classic franchise back on fire, as demonstrated by Flash Point: Legacy of Flame's successful Kickstarter.
We asked Legacy of Flame codesigner Ken Franklin (The Mansky Caper, Back to the Future: Dice Through Time, Tsuro: Phoenix Rising) to share some insight into how they turned the long-running co-op series into an evolving legacy experience. And while we're on the subject, what are other legacy games that we're fond of? And on a very unrelated topic, Ken educates us on the recent wave of gameplay-focused, Christianity-themed board games.
Timeline:
- 3:53 - Going Analog's game pick: ArcheOlogic.
- 10:03 - Ken's game pick: Kingsburg.
- 14:57 - Going Analog's topic: The development of Flash Point: Legacy of Flame, plus other legacy games we like.
- 32:37 - Ken's topic: Christian themes in gaming.
The 2024 American Tabletop Awards winners were just announced, so we invited ATTA founder, fellow judging member, and content creator Eric Yurko of What's Eric Playing? to hash them all out. How did Eric, Christina, and Shoe vote?
Timeline:
- 3:30 - Early Gamers category.
- 19:45 - Casual Games category.
- 35:51 - Strategy Games category.
- 53:52 - Complex Games category.
We knew Connie Vogelmann, designer of Apiary, was holding something back the last time we talked to her. So we brought her and Elizabeth Hargrave back to interrogate them about Wyrmspan, the new dragon-themed sequel to Elizabeth's now-classic and award-winning Wingspan!
What was it like designing a new game under the Wingspan name? How much did Connie and Elizabeth work together? And what counts as a dragon anyway?
Plus, the two have been busy on the convention circuit, so we discuss various board gaming shows and which ones we enjoy the most.
Timeline:
- 4:19 - Going Analog's game pick: Wroth.
- 9:11 - Connie and Elizabeth's game pick: Knarr.
- 16:10 - Going Analog's topic: Wyrmspan's development.
- 33:35 - Elizabeth and Connie's topic: Our favorite gaming events each year.
We spend a lot of time with our friends playing board games, so we're bound to bond. But how well do we really know these people we've invited to our table?
We teamed up with our pals Raina and Phil from 1 Minute Board Games to take the next step in our gaming relationship: not just play "normal" board games (which we still do plenty of with them) but play ones designed to really dig down deep and get us talking about things that would normally not come up during sessions of Sea Salt & Paper. Listen in to see what we've learned about these experiences...and each other.
And on a very related note: social deduction! What's new and what are our faves in this class of games that have us lying to and manipulating each other?
Timeline:
- 4:41 - Going Analog's game pick: Great Western Trail: New Zealand.
- 11:52 -1 Minute Board Game's pick: Dune: Imperium - Uprising.
- 18:33 - Going Analog's topic: "Getting to know you" games.
- 39:32 - 1 Minute Board Game's topic: Social-deduction games.
When we read that Eric Slauson (designer MonsDRAWsity, the upcoming Chucky game, and many more) likes to deal cards in a...very unique way, we knew we wanted to invite him on to discuss just how weird his board gaming habits are. Are we weirder? And how do YOU compare?
Plus, gamers always talk about how some games aren't "worth" the price -- how do we value each game's worth?
Timeline:
- 3:41 - Going Analog's game pick: Wyrmspan.
- 12:03 - Eric's game pick: Kinfire Chronicles.
- 19:25 - Going Analog's topic: Bizarre board gaming habits.
- 34:27 - Eric's topic: How do you value board games?
Though we fancy ourselves "omnigamers" -- gamers who enjoy all genres -- we're kind of fooling ourselves. There are certainly specific categories of board games we try to stay away from. But! With every "rule" (if you can call it that), there's gotta be exceptions, right? So we explore ours with Peter C. Hayward. The game designer (That Time You Killed Me, French Toast, Fiction) is very...discerning, so we couldn't wait to hear his thoughts on these matters.
Separately, we recently played a game of Istanbul with Peter, and he couldn't stop raving about how it got "quick turns" down just right. So that got us thinking...what other specific things do specific games get "just right"?
Plus: Play along with us on a round of Peter's new game, Apropos of Board Games!
Timeline:
- 3:31 - Going Analog's game pick: Apropos of.
- 12:06 - Peter's game pick: boop.
- 14:56 - Going Analog's topic: Specific things that specific games get right.
- 38:29 - Peter's topic: Games you like in genres you don't.
I know we just finished our 2023 Games of the Year episode, but we're so over last year. It's cult-of-the-new time -- what are the badass games we're looking forward to in 2024? We invited gaming sommelier Alex Hart of Might I Suggest a Game to help us out since he also just put out his list!
And while we're frequent boardgame recommenders, sometimes we run into a few that are super difficult to endorse for some reason. Which ones? Listen to find out!
Timeline:
- 3:15 - Going Analog's game pick: Last Light.
- 8:44 - Alex's game pick: Daybreak.
- 15:07 - Going Analog's topic: Our most anticipated games of 2024.
- 35:35 - Alex's topic: Games that we love that we have a hard time suggesting.
The end of 2023 means only thing: time to talk about the best board games of the year. And for this awards season, we invited board game content creator and standup comedian Grant Lyon to discuss our favorite party, light, medium, and heavy games that released over those 365 days. Do you agree with our picks? Did we miss any that would have changed our lives? TELL US.
Timeline:
The 2023 Games of the Year (see below for the full list of winners and runners up):
- 2:51 - 2023 Party Games of the Year.
- 14:03 - 2023 Light Games of the Year.
- 34:00 - 2023 Medium Games of the Year.
- 58:11 - 2023 Heavy Games of the Year.
New year, new(-ish) games! Christina and Shoe pit some newer board games against their predecessors or competitors: the new co-op King of Monster Island vs. the original free-for-all King of Tokyo, two-player Tokaido Duo vs. the original Tokaido, and head-to-head dice-chuckers Kapow! vs. Dice Throne.
Timeline:
- 1:39 - Shoe's game pick: The Fox Experiment.
- 10:36 - Christina's game pick: Ancient Knowledge.
- 17:56 - King of Tokyo vs. King of Monster Island.
- 27:44 - Tokaido vs. Tokaido Duo.
- 38:13 - Kapow! vs. Dice Throne.
What's better than a bunch of adorable, flower-pollinating honeybees? Putting those honeybees in space! New worker-placement game Apiary is the buzzworthy debut design of Connie Vogelmann. We invited her on the podcast to see how she went from playtester to a proud creator of a high-production game by a big-time publisher. We also chat about what responsibilities designers, publishers, game teachers, and players have in preventing "bad play" plus some recommendations for smaller-group party games.
We're giving away a copy of one of those small-group party games, Stool Pigeon! To enter, just subscribe to our newsletter (look for the "subscribe" email field on the front page of our website).
Timeline:
- 3:33 - Going Analog's game pick: Apiary.
- 19:06 - Connie's game pick: Life of the Amazonia.
- 23:15 - Going Analog's topic: small-group party games.
- 46:41 - Connie's topic: protecting against "bad play."
We are back and ready to cover more great Euro games with Daniel Wahlen of The Game Table! This time, we focus on the new hotness that 2023 has generously brought us, but if you're more into modern-day remakes or sequels to legendary classics, make sure to check out Part 1. In this episode, we give our impressions on...
Timeline:
- 2:30 - Nucleum.
- 21:41 - Distilled.
- 30:45 - 3 Ring Circus.
- 43:18 - Noteworthy: Darwin's Journey, Stefan Feld's City Collection, Marrakesh, The White Castle.
Euros, Euros, and gyros! We love a good Euro-style strategy game, but we couldn't cover all the great releases this year in just one podcast. Especially when we're chatting with fellow enthusiast Daniel Wahlen of The Game Table -- we just have so much to talk about! So in part one, we cover some fantastic remakes and sequels to some legendary classics.
(And yes, we did pause during one of our Euro gaming days to eat some gyros....)
Timeline:
- 3:12 - Age of Innovation.
- 18:13 - Bruxelles 1893: Belle Époque.
- 33:19 - Zhanguo: The First Empire.
- 43:22 - Other fantastic remakes/sequels! (Great Western Trails, Stefan Feld City Collection, Ultimate Railroads, The Castles of Burgundy...)
Ten years ago, your Going Analog hosts Christina and Shoe were obsessed with the digital collectible card game SolForge. Sadly, the daily (and nightly) sessions of lane-based combat mixed with a revolutionary upgradable-card system went away when the game eventually sunsetted (solsetted?). But, Richard Garfield (Magic: The Gathering, Android Netrunner) and Justin Gary (Ascension, Shards of Infinity) knew their co-design still had some...ahem, magic to it, so they revived it via Kickstarter as a tabletop experience, SolForge Fusion.
Now SolForge is full-circling its career by returning to its original format. This time, however, the new digital game will work with its physical counterpart on a truly ambitious new platform.
We chat with Richard and Justin about SolForge and SolForge Fusion's interesting journey, with its ups and downs and ups again -- and what fans can expect from the franchise moving forward.
Timeline:
- 3:32 - Going Analog's game pick: Critter Kitchen.
- 6:36 - Richard & Justin's pick: Dominion.
- 13:01 - Richard & Justin & Going Analog's combo topic: SolForge's journey from digital to physical and back to digital.
Let's be honest: We'll make any excuse to talk with Elizabeth Hargrave, the Kennerspiel-winning designer of Wingspan, Mariposas, and Tussie Mussie. So our current excuse? We wanted to talk to her about her soon-to-be-released The Fox Experiment (published by Pandasaurus) and Undergrove (by AEG). So now we can nerd out about how Elizabeth marries a (usually) nature-related theme to game design -- and all the random things we've learned about the world and each other while board gaming.
Timeline:
- 2:13 - Going Analog's pick: Virtual Revolution.
- 6:26 - Elizabeth's pick: The Search for the Lost Species.
- 13:56 - Going Analog's topic: Behind the scenes of Elizabeth's design process.
- 26:27 - Elizabeth's topic: What have you learned (about the world, yourself, or your friends) from games?
We've had so much fun with Friendly Skeleton's upcoming party game Trash Talk that we wanted to dedicate a whole episode to other light-hearted fare that's great for gaming groups. Are you more of a co-op party gamer...or do you prefer to go at it in teams? We asked Jacob Way, Head Skeleton at Friendly Skeleton (formerly Deep Water Games), to join us to show us how to party (game)!
Timeline:
- 5:50 - Going Analog's game pick: The White Castle.
- 11:42 - Jacob's game pick: Tichu.
- 16:04 - Going Analog's topic: Great co-op party games.
- 41:30 - Jacob's topic: Great team-based party games.
Prolific content creator/streamer Banzainator joins Christina and Shoe to talk what we love best: video and board games! What do we like better...and when? Also why do we keep going back to co-op games when...we think we don't really like them all that much? What types of games break through that barrier for us? Listen for fun times!
Timeline:
- 3:38 - Banz's game pick: Mice & Mystics.
- 10:15 - Going Analog's game pick: The Castles of Burgundy: Special Edition (w/ Vineyards Expansion).
- 17:48 - Going Analog's topic: board games vs video games.
- 29:32 - Banz's topic: co-op games, why we don't like them, why we still play them.
We haven't played anything quite like The Arkham Asylum Files: Panic in Gotham City. This super premium, augmented-reality, multimedia experience is a pricey box at $149 for a one-time (maybe? -- listen to learn more) playthrough. Is it worth it?
To dig into how The Arkham Asylum Files is pushing the boundaries of tabletop gaming, we invited Animal Repair Shop and Infinite Rabbit Holes Senior VP of Interaction Design (and magician!) Michael Borys to discuss the epic design and production processes, the countless creative and budgetary challenges, and how "being the dot" influences everything he works on.
Timeline:
- 4:55 - Christina and Shoe's game pick: The Arkham Asylum Files: Panic in Gotham City.
- 17:14 - Michael's game pick: Wiz-War.
- 22:30 - Christina and Shoe's topic: bringing augmented reality to tabletop.
- 40:35 - Michael's topic: being the "dot"!
Hosting this podcast isn't all just fun and games...no, wait, it actually is! Check out this episode for our impressions of a hilarious adventure game where monsters thrive in a human-less world, a deckbuilding game with cute robots smashing each other, the sequel to our favorite logic-deduction game, a roll-and-write version of Tetris, and two party games (one involving literal junk and the other guessing your friends' D&D-style alignments).
Timeline:
- 1:45 - Freelancers.
- 12:19 - Trash Talk.
- 19:49 - The Search for Lost Species.
- 27:23 - Kiss the Goblin.
- 31:10 - Robot Quest Arena.
- 37:28 - Number Drop.
The 2023 edition of Gen Con, North America's largest board game convention, was the biggest yet -- breaking attendance records and our wallets so we could get the hottest games...to tell you about, of course! We asked American Tabletop Awards committee member, content creator, and general awesome gamer Ruel Gaviola to join us to discuss the show and to share our fave board games that we got to check out.
We hosted a huge party recently and got a ton of new board games to the table -- so we wanted to dedicate an episode to six of them!
You've wondered about the hot new sequel to Scythe, Expeditions, and we played it! Plus Marrakesh from Stefan Feld and Queen Games' City Collection, Vaalbara and Rauha from Hachette Games, Overboss Duel from Brotherwise Games, and District Noir from Pandasaurus Games. We've got opinions....
Timeline:
- 2:15 - Expeditions.
- 12:29 - Vaalbara.
- 17:55 - Overboss Duel.
- 22:32 - District Noir.
- 29:05 - Marrakesh.
- 35:41 - Rauha.
Forget Terminators. The thing about artificial intelligence that you should be worrying about is how it's creeping into the creative aspects of board-game-making.
Plaid Hat Games Marketing Manager Niki Shults and Multimedia Director (and newly minted game designer of Freelancers: A Crossroads Game) Donald Shults join our podcast this week to tell us about how A.I. is being talked about around the office. We also take a closer look at the publisher's "Crossroads" system and chat about about how our non-board-game hobbies affect our board gaming.
Timeline:
- 5:49 - Christina's game pick: Next Station: London.
- 8:55 - Niki's game pick: Mountain Goats.
- 13:37 - Donald's game pick: Skate Summer.
- 17:42 - Christina's topic: The evolution of Plaid Hat's "Crossroads" system.
- 35:28 - Niki's topic: The rise of A.I. in the board game space.
- 47:05 - Donald's topic: Have your hobbies influenced what board games you play?
Women and people of color are barely getting proper representation in the board game industry. And how about the LGBTQ community? Even worse.
Joining us with no shortage of opinions on this matter is Theo, aka GeekyGamerGuy. Theo's a board game content creator on the frontlines, fighting for equality and representation in this hobby he loves so much. Listen to his heartfelt thoughts on this and more.
Timeline:
- 5:08 - Shoe's game pick: Ito.
- 9:11 - Christina's game pick: Sea Salt & Paper.
- 14:45 - Theo's game pick: Resist!
- 19:55 - Christina's topic: What are your "guilty pleasure" games?*
- 33:11 - Shoe's topic: LGBTQ representation in board gaming.
- 51:06 - Theo's topic: Great solo games.
Note: Theo inadvertently called his "guilty-pleasure game" No Dice when he meant Roll Out!*
Maybe you've heard of that hefty game called Gloomhaven, the #1 game on BoardGameGeek for over 5 years. Or its heftier sequel, Frosthaven, the highest-funded gaming project on Kickstarter ever. We're not sure how their designer, Isaac Childres, had time to chat with Going Analog, but we weren't going to pass up the opportunity. We pick his brain on all the -havens, his upcoming plans for the franchise, modern-day crowdfunding, and his love for "dry Euros."
Timeline:
- 4:03 - Shoe's game pick: Familiar Tales.
- 7:22 - Isaac's game pick: Gaia Project.
- 13:00 - Christina's game pick: nana.
- 15:12 - Shoe's topic: the growing Gloomhaven/Frosthaven universe.
- 26:40 - Isaac's topic: the current state of crowdfunding.
- 35:19 - Christina's topic: how Isaac's love of "dry Euros" plays into his design philosophy.
We just returned from a whirlwind two-week visit to Japan, and visions of fantastic food and strange (to us) board games still swirl around in our head. What is the board game scene there like? What was it like shopping for games whose titles and descriptions we couldn't read, but whose art was so, so pretty? We teamed up with Monique and Naveen of Before You Play, who happened to tour Japan at the same time we did, to relive our amazing adventures.
Timeline:
- 3:55 - Naveen's game pick: Let's Go! To Japan.
- 9:49 - Monique's game pick: Hanamikoji.
- 15:12 - Christina's game pick: Rumble Nation.
- 19:04 - Christina's topic: attending the Tokyo Game Market.
- 35:00 - Naveen's topic: Japanese vs. Western board games.
- 46:57 - Monique's topic: Japanese-themed games -- just how accurately thematic are they?
We're publishing this episode on May the Fourth, and we somehow wrangled superstar designer Corey Konieczka (Star Wars: Rebellion, Imperial Assault, Destiny, and Outer Rim...phew!) for our Star Wars special show. Now at his own studio Unexpected Games (The Initiative, Voices in my Head, 3000 Scoundrels), Corey humors our geeky Star Wars board game questions and discusses what makes a design transcend its mechanics.
Timeline:
- 3:05 - Shoe's game pick: Darwin's Journey.
- 6:17 - Corey's game pick: Betrayal Legacy.
- 11:40 - Christina's game pick: Wicked & Wise.
- 15:47 - Shoe's topic: Designing Star Wars games.
- 32:10 - Christina's topic: Favorite Star Wars tabletop experiences.
- 41:29 - Corey's topic: Games that transcend mechanics.
The 2023 American Tabletop Awards were just announced, and as brand-spanking-new committee members, we at Going Analog of course wanted to chat about these elite games -- with two of the judges themselves, Nicole Brady of SAHM Reviews and Eric Yurko of What's Eric Playing? Listen to hear our thoughts!
Timeline:
- 2:45 - ATTA nomination process.
- 10:15 - Early Gamers.
- 17:40 - Casual Games.
- 32:18 - Strategy Games.
- 47:02 - Complex Games.
We have prolific content creator and Twitch streamer Beneeta Kaur on the show to trade opinions on our favorite expansions and underrated card games. And if you want to become our board game BFF, we discuss what qualities we value in a good gaming partner.
Timeline:
- 3.46 - Shoe's game pick: Earth.
- 8:47 - Beneeta's game pick: Mille Fiori.
- 12:51 - Christina's game pick: Rolling Heights.
- 16:22 - Shoe's topic: Our favorite underrated card games.
- 38:02 - Christina's topic: What makes a good gaming friend?
- 50:46 - Beneeta's topic: Great expansions.
Indie games publisher Resonym does things differently. Just take a look at its recent Glitch Squad (a party game about faulty forensic science), Surrealist Dinner Party (you can guess what that's about), and Buffalo (a party game that makes you less prejudiced). We love the company's socially conscious design philosophy, and Mary Flanagan (founder, professor, game designer, and artist) just co-authored an entire book about the history of colonialism in board games, Playing Oppression. We snagged Mary and fellow Resonym game designer Max Seidman to discuss all of the above -- plus how much cooperation we really want in cooperative games.
Timeline:
- 4:11 - Christina's game pick: Shamans.
- 5:47 - Max's game pick: Lost Ruins of Arnak.
- 7:01 - Mary's game pick: MonsDRAWsity.
- 8:46 - Max's topic: The four categories of interaction in co-op games.
- 23:22 - Mary's topic: The long, sordid history of colonialism in board games.
- 41:36 - Christina's topic: Hiding social good in games (embedded game design).
Sometimes substantive board game discussion topics are tiring. And pretty much all the time, we play a lot of new games. So this episode, Shoe and Christina just talk about some new, sexy games in a variety of sizes. HOT!
Timeline:
- 3:19 - Christina's big game: Mosaic: A Story of Civilization.
- 13:05 - Shoe's big game: Marvel: Age of Heroes.
- 26:58 - Christina's small game: Fiction.
- 35:18 - Shoe's small game: Marvel: Damage Control.
- 43:05 - Christina's expansion: QE: Commodities.
- 48:00 - Shoe's expansion: Unmatched: Houdini vs. The Genie.
Plaid Hat CEO Colby Dauch and Marketing Manager Niki Shults team up to discuss some hot (spiteful content creation, life with mega publisher Asmodee, etc.) and not-so-hot (Candy Land??) on the Going Analog Podcast this week. They've put out some incredible and memorable board games over the years, so give them a listen!
Timeline:
- 4:00 - Christina's game pick: Motor City.
- 6:20 - Niki's game pick: The Guild of Merchant Explorers.
- 11:54 - Colby's game pick: Candy Land. Yes, that Candy Land.
- 17:24 - Colby's topic: The intersection of video gaming and board gaming.
- 35:36 - Christina's topic: Talking Plaid Hat's life before, during, and after the huge Asmodee aquisition.
- 53:33 - Niki's topic: Mean and spiteful content creation -- does it have a place?
This episode guest stars prolific and punny content creator Eric Yurko from What's Eric Playing?, a site full of fantastic board game photography and 1000+ (!) reviews. And as a founding committee member of the American Tabletop Awards (and a big fan of cocktails) Eric is THE go-to guy to talk games...especially which ones to play at which drinking establishments.
Timeline:
- 5:45 - Eric's game pick: Mists over Carcassonne.
- 11:39 - Shoe's game pick: Orichalcum.
- 18:00 - Christina's game pick: Great Western Trail: Argentina.
- 23:25 - Shoe's topic: Which American Tabletop Award winner would you keep?
- 36:40 - Christina's topic: Which games would you bring to a beer hall, vineyard, and cocktail bar?
- 56:45 - Eric's topic: What's our process for culling games?
We're a podcast! Therefore, we're contractually obligated to tell you our Games of the Year. But who wants to hear just Christina and Shoe squabble about their faves of 2022? Everyone would rather hear us and Mik and Starla from Our Family Plays Games squabble, so far be it for us to withhold this top-notch content from our listeners! So get ready for lots of discussions (and lots of yelling at Christina for cheating on her picks) in this episode!
Timeline:
Intro (before we get into the awards):
- 2:32 - Starla's game pick: Wonderland's War.
- 4:40 - Mik's game pick: Heat: Pedal to the Metal.
- 5:55 - Shoe's game pick: Keystone: North America.
- 8:37 - Christina's game pick: Blackout: Hong Kong.
The 2022 Games of the Year:
- 10:35 - Party games of 2022.
- 23:32 - Light games of 2022.
- 35:44 - Medium games of 2022.
- 50:22 - Heavy games of 2022.
Check out website to read the list of winners!
*Note: Our Family Plays Games is still working on their own Games of 2022, so their picks for this show are "as of today" but not necessarily final. Also, some games appear in different categories due to everyone's subjective opinions on weight.
For our 100th episode, we had to make sure everyone's topics were epic. So we rounded up some of the Going Analog crew, including OG contributor Nick Suttner and writer Henry Stenhouse, to discuss...
Timeline:
- 7:19 - Henry's topic: Board games that stand up to 100 plays...or more.
- 26:56 - Christina's topic: Your favorite board gaming moment ever.
- 39:22 - Shoe's topic: BoardGameGeek's top 100...save one game, kill one game, swap in one game.
- 1:02:32 - Nick's topic: Your favorite memory from 100 episodes of The Going Analog Podcast.
We're back from chilly Philly where the PAX Unplugged board game convention just wrapped up. It's our fourth con of the year -- you'd think we've seen it all by now but nope! There were still plenty of new board games to discover and try out.
With us to discuss the show are Kasey Girven (better known as Brain in a Jar) and Miguel Plylar-Moore (aka Johnny Deathhawk). They create/stream board game content -- and she's a neuroscientist! And they love to talk board gaming, so have a listen as we discuss...
Timeline:
- 3:29 - Shoe's game pick: Deal with the Devil
- 12:34 - Kasey's game pick: Electropolis
- 21:47 - Miguel's game pick: Bitoku
- 32:56 - Kasey's topic: The most exciting or promising games we saw at PAXU that aren't out yet
- 55:34 - Miguel's topic: The games we were surprised to see at PAXU and the ones we wish were there
- 1:05:50 - Shoe's topic: How does PAXU stack up to other board game cons?
We're back from BoardGameGeek's big show, BGG.CON 2022! Your hosts Christina and Shoe sit down to talk about their Top 10 games panel with Our Family Plays Games, stand-up comedy with Grant Lyon, our own live Board Game Quiz Show events, and of course, all the great games they got a chance to check out.
Timeline:
- 1:47 - BGG.Con highlights, including our live Board Game Quiz Show!
- 4:50 - Our Family Plays Games Top 10 games panel
- 8:21 - Grant Lyon's board game standup
- 12:09 - Exhibit Hall, Many Worlds Tavern
- 13:59 - Gaming stories
- 19:50 - BGG Top 5 games we played
- 20:07 - Starship Captains
- 27:13 - Lacrimosa
- 31:40 - Tiletum
- 36:40 - Atiwa
- 42:28 - Splendor Duel
We recently spent six solid days playing board games. Seriously. It was exhausting -- but amazingly fun.
We blame Going Analog contributor Jess Yi, who visited and forced us to play one board game after another. At the end, with bloodshot eyes and brains working at half speed, Shoe and Jess picked three games each to discuss. Hear their thoughts on...
Timeline:
- 2:52 - Knight Fall
- 11:02 - Star Wars: Rebellion, Stars Wars: Rebellion - Rise of the Empire
- 18:26 - Bequest
- 23:00 - My Father's Work
- 31:58 - Disney Sorcerer's Arena: Epic Alliances, Disney Sorcerer's Arena: Epic Alliances – Turning the Tide
- 44:40 - The Guild of Merchant Explorers
Can a board game kill ya? Nah...but Black Mold may try. This "co-op till it's not" survival-horror game has players taking as many actions as they can until they can no longer...hold their breath. You read that right.
So we have questions -- lots of questions -- for our guest John de Campos, CEO of Terrible games and co-designer of Black Mold.
Timeline:
2:37 - Oceans: Legends of the Deep
7:00 - Veiled Fate
11:59 - Keystone: North America
17:00 - Shoe's topic: What's up with Black Mold?
32:19 - Christina's topic: Other games with great/interesting pitches
46:59 - John's topic: Pairing the right music with your board games
Logic-deduction board game Turing Machine challenges players to figure out a secret code using innovative punch-card verifiers that layer atop each other to "magically" reveal clues. How does it work?!
We had to know, so we asked our guests from publisher Scorpion Masqué and Hachette Games to sit there and explain it to us. Oh, we also talk artwork and rulebooks, too.
Topics on this episode:
- Christina (host): How Turing Machine was made (14:43)
- Matthew (guest): What makes for good or bad rulebooks? (34:51)
- Danni (guest): How does artwork influence gameplay? (50:12)
Game designer Ryan Courtney loves making connections (if you've played Pipeline or Curious Cargo, then you know what we're talking about). His newest creation, Trailblazers from Bitewing Games has you -- you guessed it -- making and blazing connecting trails in nature.
We invited Ryan as well as Bitewing co-founder Nick Murray to join our podcast to talk about this new project, other games that travel well, and more.
Topics this episode:
- Christina (host): Games would you pack for travel (18:22)
- Nick (guest): Games that work well at all (stated) player counts (25:17)
- Ryan (guest): Heavy games and their matchmaking problems (40:18)
Gen Con 2022 was the return of over 50,000 attendees over four days of gaming in Indianapolis -- and, most importantly, the return of Christina and Shoe to Gen Con! We invited Twitch streamer and content creator Amanda Panda to join us to discuss our experiences and the hot new games.
Topics this episode:
- Christina (host): Hot games of Gen Con (15:31)
- Amanda (guest): Lighter party games of Gen Con (34:16)
- Shoe (producer): Games that flew under the radar (50:34)
Since you can download the fantastic and completely free Sunshine City from Coffee Bean Games, we invited designer Peter C. Hayward to talk some of our favorite lighter and heavier games in the roll & write genre. Shoe tries to articulate the idea of "hybrid" games of multiple ideas coming together to form one new product, and we discover Peter's complete fascination and almost encyclopedic knowledge of games you can play in a car.
Plus, Peter reveals details about an upcoming game to be published by BoardGameTables.com called Fiction!
Topics this episode:
- Christina (host): Favorite lighter and heavier roll-and-writes (16:35)
- Shoe (producer): "X meets Y" games (35:41)
- Peter (guest): Games for road trips or Disneyland lines (47:31)
Johnny O'Neal, one of the brother cofounders of Brotherwise Games (publisher of Unearth, Call to Adventure, and the recently successfully funded Castles by the Sea), drops by Going Analog to discuss his design philosophy and asserts that every game needs to be shorter. We're pretty sure that's the takeaway.
We also figured the co-designer of Boss Monster (in which you play as, well, the end-of-dungeon boss monster) would have thoughts about why it's so fun to to be so bad (ahem, play the "bad guy") in games. And with Gen Con and BGG.CON coming up, what's our take on the continuing return to in-person conventions?
Topics from this episode:
- Johnny (guest): How games end (11:18)
- Christina (host): Playing as the "bad guy" (26:57)
- Shoe (producer): Return to conventions (41:25)
Tim Fowers, indie designer and publisher at Fowers Games, intrigues Christina and Shoe with the concept of "anticipation" and how it plays into dopamine-filled play. And because Tim is such a marketing mastermind, he drops a Fugitive 2 tease about...46 minutes into this episode.
Christina talks to Tim about Paperback and Hardback, Fowers Games's two popular word/spelling games...and listen for a shocking revelation from Tim!
Topics in this episode:
- Tim (guest): Anticipation in games (15:12)
- Shoe (producer): Escape (not escape room!) games (25:44)
- Christina (host): Our favorite word (spelling) games (39:40)
Matt from YouTube's Board Game Bollocks drops by to (somehow successfully!) not swear while chatting about his gaming lifestyle, nihilism, and how Americans are so "happy and bouncy." Our topics this week:
- Christina (host): Our favorite animal-themed games (10:36)
- Mike (editor): Board gaming as a lifestyle (19:59)
- Matt (guest): The rising prices of board games and their implications (32:27)
It's rematch time! Amanda Panda, board game Twitch streamer and content creator, returns to argue over three fresh new matchups -- and we're throwing hands!
Our matchups for this sequel:
- Christina (host): Namiji vs. Tokaido (12:27)
- Shoe (producer): G.I. Joe Deck-Building Game vs. Transformers Deck-Building Game (23:31)
- Amanda (guest): Kingdom Builder vs. The Guild of Merchant Explorers (40:48)
Mik and Starla of Our Family Plays Games join Going Analog to talk about the state of diversity and inclusion in the board gaming community, why they felt the need to start their new OFPG Voices channel, and which crowdfunding games we're most excited to get delivered soon!
Topics this week:
- Starla (guest): The current state of diversity and inclusion in the board gaming community (8:22)
- Mik (guest): Why we started OFPG Voices (21:53)
- Christina (host): Crowdfunding games that we're most excited to get delivered (35:22)
The Going Analog gang has recovered from their Vegas trip to Dice Tower West. So how does this convention stack up to their other faves? What did they play? And how's the new remake of one of their fave board games?
Topics this week:
- Christina (host): Our highlights from Dice Tower West and our tips for attending a convention (11:01)
- Jess (contributor): Comparing our favorite board game cons (23:35)
- Shoe (producer): Libertalia vs. Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest (37:57)
The Going Analog Podcast hosts our first full-time board game illustrator, and it's KWANCHAI MORIYA. He even showed up to our house with beef jerky! The prolific and versatile illustrator of many of your favorite games (including Dinosaur Island, Capital Lux, In the Hall of the Mountain King) recently commemorated his 100th piece of board game art, so we had to celebrate with him on our show. Topics this week: * Kwanchai Moriya (guest): What are some board games that you consider hidden gems? (12:42) * Christina (host): What themes would we want Kwanchai to illustrate? (32:55) * Shoe (producer): Which games would we like to give an art or graphic-design makeover to? (44:31)
Some friends from The Op join Christina to swap gaming stories and imagined celebrity gaming stories! Pat Marino (Game Design Manager and designer of Court of the Dead: Mourner's Call and Cuphead: Fast Rolling Dice Game) and Wes Ferrer (Lead Playtest Coordinator), with topics in hand, get on the Going Analog Podcast to discuss: * Christina (host): If you could teach a game to any celebrity, real or fictional, whom would you pick? (9:38) * Wes (guest): What makes a game an "instant classic"? (19:07) * Pat (guest): What about a game can stick with you after playing it? (29:20)
Agricola vs. Caverna? We've discussed that hundreds of times, and the obvious right answer is Caverna. But what about 7 Wonders vs. 7 Wonders: Architects? Calico vs. Cascadia? And a more recent classic clash, Funkoverse vs. Unmatched? We brought on Amanda Panda, aka Panda8ngel, board game Twitch streamer and all-around enthusiastic gamer, to give us her opinions, we all agree: Shoe is wrong.
Our match-ups on this episode:
- Shoe (producer): 7 Wonders vs. 7 Wonders: Architects
- Christina (host): Calico vs. Cascadia
- Amanda (guest): Funkoverse vs. Unmatched
Mike Gnade, founder/CEO of Rock Manor Games (Set a Watch, Lawyer Up, and the upcoming Seas of Havoc) is our guest this week. The topics we each picked: * Christina (host): What deck-building games do we first show to newbies? And then after they need to graduate to something more advanced? * Mike Gnade (guest): Which Kickstarter board games pleasantly surprised you? And which disappointed you? * Shoe (producer): How do you go about culling your board game collection?
David Sirlin, President of Sirlin Games, drops by to do a deep dive into video game influences on his tabletop designs, especially with the new Puzzle Strike 2! We also discuss how push-your-luck mechanisms and designing a board game universe.
Our chosen topics this week:
- David Sirlin (guest): How his game design draws from video game influences
- Christina (host):Push-your-luck in game design and some favorites in that genre
- Shoe (producer):Building a board game universe
We're slamming the door on 2021 and looking forward to the new year! Older games we're itching to get to the table, long-awaited games we're anxiously waiting for, and neglected shelf-of-opportunity games that are finally coming due -- we bring back prolific content creator Ruel Gaviola to talk about them all!
Topics this week:
- Shoe (producer):Which older games are we excited to get to the table this year?
- Christina (host): Which 2022 games are we excited to play?
- Ruel (guest):Which games are you pulling off the shelf of shame/opportunity this year?
Even though we've cautiously emerged from our social bubble, we figured we'd bring back our neighbor-friends and former bubble-ers James Hudson (Senior Director of Tabletop Games at Skybound) and Tom Twedell to discuss/argue about the games we played this year!
- Party Game of 2021
- Light Games of 2021
- Medium Games of 2021
- Heavy Games of 2021
- Favorite New-to-Us Games of 2021
What's a medium vs. heavy game anyway? Turns out we obviously don't know! Check out a list of our winners below.
2021 Game of the Year (Party Game) * So Clover! (everyone)
2021 Game of the Year (Light Games) * Cascadia (James) * The Crew: Mission Deep Sea (Shoe) * Canopy (Christina) * The Crew: Mission Deep Sea (Tom) * Runners up: Dice Throne: Season One ReRolled, Cubitos, Night Cage
2021 Game of the Year (Medium-weight Games) * Genotype (James) * Genotype (Christina) * Sleeping Gods (Shoe) * Ankh: Gods of Egypt (Tom) * Runners up: Red Rising, Shelfie Stacker, Summoner Wars (Second Edition), Kemet: Blood and Sand, Merchants Cove
2021 Game of the Year (Heavy Games) * Sleeping Gods (Christina) * Ankh: Gods of Egypt (James) * Coffee Traders (Tom) * Great Western Trail (Second Edition) (Shoe) * Runners up: Grand Austria Hotel: Let's Waltz, Hadrian's Wall, Genotype
2021 New-to-Us Games of the Year * Ginkgopolis (Christina) * Nemesis (Shoe) * Tapple (Shoe) * Obsession (Tom) * Meeple Land (Tom) * The King's Dilemma (James)
We love playing games in-person! But sometimes you want to scratch that board-gaming itch for a few minutes in the middle of the workweek. Or during a "break." Or, well, all the damn time. Playing asynchronously on Board Game Arena lets you do just that...a lot. Just don't tell our bosses.
Our BGA play pals Emerson Matsuuchi (designer of the Century series, Specter Ops, Reef, and the upcoming Foundations of Rome) and Jess Yi (frequent Going Analog contributor) join Christina and Shoe to gab about Board Game Arena vs. Tabletop Simulator, which games work best on the platform, and whether we can learn how to play (and enjoy) an entire game online without ever reading the rules.
Our topics this episode:
- Jess (contributor): Board Game Arena vs. Tabletop Simulator
- Christina (host):Which games are better on Board Game Arena, and which are worse?
- Emerson (guest): Our experiences playing "blind" on Board Game Arena
Peter C. Hayward (founder of Blue Beard & Jellybean Games and designer of quirky games like Scuttle!, The Lady and the Tiger, and the upcoming That Time You Killed Me and Robotopia) joins Christina and Shoe to gush about so many mutually favorite games!
Topics this episode:
- Shoe (producer): What are some of your favorite board games that feature robots?
- Christina (guest): Which game do you secretly wish you had designed?
- Peter (guest): What have different games done with the worker-placement mechanic?
Yes, our show is called Going Analog, so you know we love our video games -- but how do board games bring in the digital vibe that we love into the tabletop medium?
Luckily, we found the perfect guests to ask: Level 99 Games, the publisher of video-game-inspired fare such as the recent Bullet series, BattleCON, and Exceed! Joshua Van Laningham, Production and Design Lead at Level 99, and Ferdinand Capitulo, Head of Media at Level 99 and the Cardboard Stacker himself, join us to discuss which aspects we've seen in board games and how they designed the "feel" of certain video game genres into their lineup.
Plus, how is theme symbiotically integrated into certain game designs, and when does it pay to abstractify certain thematic steps (and when does it not)?
Topics this episode:
- Christina (host): What are some other games that have given us the "video game" vibe?
- Ferdinand (guest):What are some great examples of crafting mechanisms we've seen in games?
- Josh (guest): Abstraction in board games
Kellen Laker, Red Tank from the popular podcast Board Game Barrage, joins Christina and Shoe to discuss Innovation and...fine, some games other than Innovation, too.
Plus, we're old hands at gaming these days, so what do we try to keep in mind when introducing brand spanking newbies to tabletop games? And what stands out to us as the best marketing we've seen in the board game biz?
Topics this week:
- Christina (host): Which games do you consider your favorite "Forever Games"?
- Kellen (guest):Maintaining perspective when introducing new gamers to the hobby
- Shoe (producer):What are some examples of the coolest game marketing you've seen?
Designer Nikki Valens (Legacy of Dragonholt, Eldritch Horror, Quirky Circuits) drops by Going Analog again to discuss recent favorite co-op games, crafting mechanisms, and their latest project, the ambitious co-op, campaign-based Artisans of Splendent Vale.
Plus, which designers and artists would we pair together for our ultimate game-design dream teams?
Games mentioned on this show:
Intro:
- Eldritch Horror
- Mansions of Madness
- Arkham Horror
- Legacy of Dragonholt
- Quirky Circuits
- Artisans of Splendent Vale
- MicroMacro: Crime City
- Nemesis
- Grand Austria Hotel
Christina's topic: Recent co-op faves
- The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine
- The Crew: Mission Deep Sea
- Forgotten Waters
- Shipwreck Arcana
- Team3
- Gloomhaven
- Artisans of Splendent Vale
- Sleeping Gods
- The Night Cage
Nikki's topic: Crafting examples in games
- Caverna: The Cave Farmers
- Descent: Legends of the Dark
- Le Havre
- Artisans of Splendent Vale
- Star Wars: Imperial Assault
- Mottainai
Shoe's topic: Board game design dream teams
- Caverna: The Cave Farmers
- Le Havre
- Feast for Odin
- Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef
- Wonderland's War
- Descent: Legends of the Dark
- Mansions of Madness
- Wingspan
- Mariposas
Have a bunch of two-player games you want to play? You and your partner can't agree on which ones to play? Try a Partner Swap (trademark forthcoming, and get your mind out of the gutter)!
Board game TikTok champions Raina and Phil from 1 Minute Board Games took a random Wednesday off and swapped partners with Going Analog: Phil and Shoe played head-to-head two-player card games, and Christina and Raina played twice as many games together in the same amount of time.
Were we still all friends afterward? Did we leave our partners for the new and shiny? Listen and find out!
Topics for this episode:
- Phil (guest):What can two-player games bring to the table that higher player-count games can't?
- Raina (guest):Gaming with your significant other versus with friends
- Shoe (producer):Thoughts on booster-less card games (Keyforge, Summoner Wars, Ashes Reborn)
Famed board game designer Dr. Reiner Knizia (Tigris & Euphrates, Lost Cities, Modern Art, and tons more) graces Going Analog with his bowtied presence. (You won't be able to hear the bowtie, but trust us that it was there, and it was glorious!)
We ask Reiner for some juicy stories about some of his most acclaimed designs and what he thinks about current board game trends...and then we spring a trivia quiz on him at the end -- just a sampling of what we do on The Board Game Quiz Show.
How well did the good doctor do? Listen to find out!
Games mentioned in this episode:
Intro:
- Tigris & Euphrates
- Modern Art
- Ra
- Ingenious
- Lost Cities
- The Quest for El Dorado
- L.L.A.M.A.
- Ankh: Gods of Egypt
- Dominion
- Magic: The Gathering
- Coffee Roaster
Three influential Reiner Knizia games:
- Modern Art
- Tigris & Euphrates
- Lost Cities
- Pickomino
- Lost Cities: Roll & Write
- Lost Cities: The Board Game
- Keltis
Gaming trends:
- The Quest for El Dorado
- My City
- Dominion
- Lost Cities: Roll & Write
- Criss Cross
- Exit
- Gorilla Marketing
Quizzing Reiner Knizia:
- Lost Cities
- Tigris & Euphrates
- Medici
- Taj Mahal
- The Lord of the Rings
- Ra
- Blue Moon
- Blue Lagoon
- Friday the 13th
New game publisher Bitewing Games has not one, not two, but THREE Reiner Knizia games to offer in their upcoming Kickstarter. How does a brand spanking new publisher sign the famous, prolific (famously prolific?) German designer Reiner Knizia?
We invited Nick Murray and Kyle Spackman, cofounders of Bitewing Games, to chat with Christina about how it all went down! Plus, we have opinions about our favorite game genres and game length vs. enjoyment.
Topics for this week:
- Christina (host): What are the challenges of being a first-time publisher? How did you sign Reiner Knizia?!
- Nick (guest): Which game genres do you never get tired of? Which ones are you over?
- Kyle (guest): Are game length and game satisfaction proportionally related? What are our faves on either side of the spectrum?
Games mentioned in this episode:
Intro:
- Soda Smugglers
- Pumafiosi
- Hot Lead
- Social Grooming
- Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile
- Ticket to Ride
- Mandala
- Lost Cities: Roll & Write
- Lost Cities
- Ra: The Dice Game
Christina's topic: Challenges of being a first-time publisher, signing Reiner Knizia
- Con Artist
- Chinatown
- Hanabi
- Soda Smugglers
- Sheriff of Nottingham
- Pumafiosi
- Hot Lead
- ShipShape
Nick's topic: Insatiable genres that you never get tired of or genres that you're over
- Crystal Palace
- Tigris & Euphrates
- Yellow & Yangtze
- Brass: Birmingham
- 7 Wonders
- Lost Ruins of Arnak
- Dune: Imperium
- Lost Cities: Roll & Write
- My City
- Ultimate Werewolf
- Mysterium
- Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
- Werewords
- Insider
Kyle's topic: Game length vs. satisfaction
- Dune
- Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition
- Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile
- Root
- Pax Pamir
- Scythe
- Terra Mystica
- Love Letter
- Lost Legacy: The Starship
- Social Grooming
- Nine Tiles Panic
- Wordsy
- Tussie Mussie
Outro:
- Junk Art
- Akrotiri
- Kingdom Rush
- Belfort
Jeremy Howard, solo gaming expert from Man vs. Meeple, joins Christina and Shoe to personally recommend some great solo games and convince everyone that solo gaming is here to stay! But which games need that multiplayer aspect?
Topics for this episode:
- Shoe (producer): What are some good solo games we should check out?
- Jeremy (guest): Solo gaming during the pandemic...here to stay or no?
- Christina (host): What do we look for in multiplayer games that solo gaming can’t scratch the itch for?
Games mentioned in this episode:
Intro:
- On Mars
- Tapple
- Exit: The Sacred Temple
Shoe's topic: Jeremy recommends some solo games!
- Sky Towers
- Sprawlopolis
- Agropolis
- Coffee Roaster
- Warp Speed
- Bullet♥︎
- BattleCON
- Pixel Tactics
- Argent: The Consortium
- Dawn of the Zeds
- Tainted Grail
- A Gentle Rain
- Caverna
- Terra Mystica
- The Pursuit of Happiness
- Tiny Towns
- Villagers
- Smartphone, Inc.
- Chronicles of Crimes
Jeremy's topic: Is solo gaming here to stay?
- Terraforming Mars
- Agricola
- Caverna
- A Feast for Odin
- Merchants Cove
- Mr. Cabbagehead's Garden
- Shahrazad
- Folklore
- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Christina's topic: What do we look for in multiplayer games that solo gaming can't provide?
- Snowdonia
- Alubari: A Nice Cup of Tea
- The Pursuit of Happiness
- Anachrony
- Atlantis Rising
- Cthulhu: Death May Die
As US game groups start meeting up again, we chat with fellow social bubble-r James Hudson (Skybound Games) about quarantine's effects on us as gamers, which games surprised us, and the unintended effects of COVID on board game shipping and logistics. (Last topic = sad James)
Our topics for this show:
- Shoe (producer): Board gaming outside of the social bubble: what it's been like so far, what's changed, what are the challenges?
- Christina (host): Games that surprised you over the pandemic
- James (guest): How publishers are evaluating the short-term future, with current COVID conditions/trends
The games mentioned in this episode:
Intro:
- The Grimm Masquerade
- Guardian's Call
- Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef
- Wonderland's War
- Valor & Villainy: Lludwik's Labyrinth
- Robot Quest Arena
- Sky Towers
- Beyond the Sun
Shoe's topic: Board gaming outside of the social bubble
- Beyond the Sun
- Dune: Imperium
- Lost Ruins of Arnak
- Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef
- P for Pizza
- Dark Harvest
- Gorilla Marketing
- Eclipse
- Dwellings of Eldervale
- Monopoly
Christina's topic: Games that surprised us over the pandemic
- P for Pizza
- Forgotten Waters
- Sovereign Skies
- Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun
- The Gallerist
- Sheepy Time
- Lost Ruins of Arnak
- Dune: Imperium
- The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine
- Obsession
James's topic: How publishers are evaluating the short-term future, with current COVID conditions/trends
- Wonderland's War
Suzanne Sheldon and Mandi Hutchinson from the Dice Tower Podcast take some time off to do...another podcast with Christina! Listen for our board gamer origin stories, how we balance other hobbies, and Christina and Suz strongly recommend some games to Mandi from Uwe Rosenberg (one of our favorite designers).
The games mentioned in this episode:
Intro:
- Fields of Arle
Christina's topic: Our board-gamer origin stories
- Monopoly
- Mouse Trap
- Power Grid
- Bohnanza
- Chess
- Checkers
- Trouble
- Frustration
- Dominoes
- Risk
- Magic: The Gathering
- Big 2
- Bridge
- Hearts
- Euchre
- Poker
Suz's topic: Other hobbies
- First Ascent
Mandi's topic: Which Uwe Rosenberg games should Mandi play?
- Patchwork
- Fields of Arle
- Ora et Labora
- Le Havre
- Caverna
- Agricola
- Fields of Arle: Tea & Trade
- At the Gates of Loyang
- A Feast for Odin
- Spring Meadow
- Cottage Garden
- Second Chance
- Halltertau
- Bohnanza
- Agricola: All Creatures Big & Small
- Le Havre: The Inland Port
- Caverna: Cave vs. Cave
- Caverna: The Forgotten Folk
- Notre Dame
- Fairy Trails
- Bargain Hunter
Final thoughts:
- Second Chance
- Yahtzee
- Bonfire
- Destinies
- A Gentle Rain
Things are a mess around the world, but many of us are just starting to socialize again. So what will we be playing first with our long-lost gaming buddies?
The prolific Jonathan Cox from JonGetsGames joins us to discuss this and more. Our chosen topics:
- Christina Ha (host): What board games are you most excited to play with your friends, post-lockdown? (2:24)
- Jonathan Cox (guest): How do we define "elegant design," and what are our favorite examples? (17:20)
- Mike Zipkin (editor): What difficulties are there in making board games media a full-time job? (35:28)
The games mentioned in this episode:
Christina's topic: Games you're excited to get to, post-quarantine
- Beyond the Sun
- Lost Ruins of Arnak
- Taxi Derby
- Fast and Furious: Highway Heist
- Ginkgopolis
- Anno 1800
- Trans-Siberian Railroad
- Irish Gauge
- Iberian Gauge
- 18XX
- Ticket to Ride
- Paris Connection
- Praga Caput Regni
- Telestrations
- Dixit
Jonathan's topic: Elegance in game design
- Taxi Derby
- Go
- Azul
- Gentes
- Concordia
- Calimala
- Hansa Teutonica
- Wingspan
- Pandemic Legacy
- A Feast for Odin
- Terraforming Mars
- Coloretto
- Arboretum
- Isle of Skye
- Tichu
- City of the Big Shoulders
- Whale Riders
- Irish Gauge
- Iberian Gauge
- Ride the Rails
Mike's topic: Board game content creation
- Ginkgopolis
Final thoughts
- Genotype
All the cool kids are on TikTok, so Raina and Phil from 1 Minute Board Games make Christina and Shoe honorary Gen Z-ers this week! We discover Raina's allergy to real-time games, Phil's addiction to Android: Netrunner, and Christina needs to shut up about Innovation.
Our topics for this episode:
- Christina (host): Favorite real-time games (3:57)
- Raina (guest): Which games do you and your partner not agree on? (15:21)
- Phil (guest): Games that we feel are the epitome of a board game mechanic (35:51)
The games mentioned in this episode:
Intro
- Don't Get Got
Christina's topic: Favorite real-time games
- Sorcerer City
- 5-Minute Marvel
- Captain Sonar
- Space Cadets: Dice Duel
- Magic Maze
Raina's topic: Which games do you and your partner disagree on?
- Azul: Summer Pavilion
- Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra
- Azul
- Memoir '44
- BattleLore
- Cthulhu Wars
- War of the Ring
- Werewolf
- Werewords
- Innovation
- Glory to Rome
- Medieval Academy
- Cosmic Encounter
- Android: Netrunner
- Star Wars: Rebellion
- Chess
- Exit: The Game
- Unlock
Phil's topic: Which games epitomize certain board game mechanics?
- Chinatown
- Twilight Imperium
- Dominion
- Ascension
- Moonrakers
- Lords of Waterdeep
- Agricola
- Caverna: The Cave Farmers
- The Quacks of Quedlinburg
- Deep Sea Adventure
- Clank!
Final thoughts
- Targi
- Hadrian's Wall
YouTube creator and BoardGameCo founder Alex Radcliffe stops by the show! Our picks for topics this week:
- Alex (guest): How important is theme? Have you kept mediocre board games purely because of a great theme? And what games do you love despite their theme?
- Shoe (producer): What are some interesting facts that we've learned from playing board games?
- Christina (host): How did the pandemic affect online retail sales? What gaming trends popped up during stay-at-home?
The games discussed in this episode:
Alex's topic: Theme in board games
- Cthulhu: Death May Die
- Arkham Horror
- Eldritch Horror
- Robinson Cursoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island
- First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet
- Terra Mystica
- Gaia Project
- Gentes
- Crusader
- Surrealist Dinner Party
- Ugly Gryphon Inn
- Marvel United
- Obsession
- Photosynthesis
Shoe's topic: Things we've learned from board games
- Goa
- Keystone: North America
- The Search for Planet X
- The Crew
- Timeline
- Wits and Wagers
- Terraforming Mars
- Brass: Birmingham
- Tinners' Trail
- Deep Vents
- Formosa Tea
- Viticulture
Christina's topic: Online retail trends during COVID
- Monopoly
- Risk
- Catan
- Splendor
- Codenames
Final thoughts:
- Red Rising
- Fantasy Realms
- Viticulture
- Zombicide
- Valor & Villainy
- Drawn to Adventure
- Merchant's Cove
- Root
- Vast
- Gods Love Dinosaurs
- Ecos
Husband-wife team Ryan and Malorie Laukat of Red Raven Games (Sleeping Gods, Above and Below, Megaland) stop by with a few gaming topics in hand:
- Christina (host): Our ideal "3-course meal" of board games
- Malorie (guest): Culling our collections
- Ryan (guest): How our gaming tastes have evolved over time
The games discussed in this episode:
Intro:
- Above & Below
- Near & Far
- Empires of the Void II
- Eight-Minute Empires
- Roam
- Sleeping Gods
- Megaland
- Now or Never
- Surrealist Dinner Party
Christina's topic: Ideal 3-course meal of games
- Point Salad
- A Feast for Odin
- Letter Jam
- Blue Moon City
- Agricola
- Caverna
- Codenames
- Great Western Trail
- Race for the Galaxy
- Roll for the Galaxy
- Jump Drive
- New Frontiers
Malorie's topic: Culling games/hoarding games
- Yinzi
- Arkham Horror
- Twilight Imperium
Ryan's topic: How our gaming tastes have changed
- Tawantinsuyu: The Inca Empire
- War of the Ring
- Arkham Horror
- Strozzi
- Thunderstone
- Lords of Waterdeep
- Rising Sun
- Sleeping Gods
- Roam
Final thoughts:
- Tawantinsuyu: The Inca Empire
- Paladins of the West Kingdom
- Viscounts of the West Kingdom
Isaac Vega (designer of Ashes Reborn, co-designer of Dead of Winter and Forgotten Waters) and Lindsey Rode (designer of Labyrinthos) take a quick break from managing their new company, Rose Gauntlet Entertainment, to discuss gaaames!
Our topics: our favorite board game names, mixing technology with tabletop, and how we feel about attending conventions this year.
The games discussed in this episode:
Intro:
- Dead of Winter
- Forgotten Waters
- Ashes Reborn: Rise of the Phoenixborn
- Keystone: North America
- Countdown: Action Edition
- Labyrinthos
Christina’s topic: Your favorite names for board games
- So, You’ve Been Eaten
- Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn
- Dead of Winter
- Abyss
- Terra Mystica
- Above and Below
- Roam
- Alice is Missing
- Gravwell
- Bärenpark
- A Fake Artist Goes to New York
- Campy Creatures
- Curious Cargo
- Pipeline
- The Quacks of Quedlinburg
- Frenemy Pastry Party
Lindsey’s topic: Technology in board games...what are you excited about and what don’t you want to see
- Forgotten Waters
- The Search for Planet X
- Chronicles of Crime
- Life After Dungeon
- Dread
Isaac’s topic: Conventions in a post-COVID world
- Atheneum: Mystic Library
Final thoughts:
- Keystone: North America
Great board game discussions with Monique and Naveen of Before You Play! What games did we change our minds on (either way) after a second play? What games have we invested the most in? And what ones do we find hardest to get to the table...for whatever reason?
Here are the games covered in this episode:
Christina’s topic: Games you’ve invested the most in
- Lost Ruins of Arnak
- Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein
- Killer Bunnies
- Dead of Winter
- Scythe
- Scythe: Rise of Fenris
- Wingspan
- The Quacks of Quedlinburg
- Innovation
- Grand Austria Hotel
- Kanban EV
Naveen’s topic: Games you’ve changed your mind about after a second play
- Root
- Medium
- Just One
- Hansa Teutonica
- Ticket to Ride
- Terraforming Mars
- Loot of Lima
- The Search for Planet X
- Cryptid
- Alchemists
Monique’s topic: The hardest games to get to the table
- The Gallerist
- Lisboa
- Vinhos
- On Mars
- Pandemic Legacy
- Sleeping Gods
- King’s Dilemma
- Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy
- Twilight Imperium
- Two Rooms and a Boom
- Witness
Final thoughts:
- Root
- Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef
The always fun, always funny Paula Deming from Things Get Dicey joins the podcast this week to discuss:
- Board games that really get us riled up (in good and bad ways)
- The games in our "shelf of opportunity" that we're most excited to get to
- Why we livestream playthroughs -- or not
The games discussed on this episode:
Intro:
- Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef
- Kingdom Rush: Rift in Time
Christina’s topic: Games that get you hyped
- Dominant Species
- Targi
- Twilight Imperium
- Draw Your Own Conclusions
- Telestrations
- Escape: The Curse of the Temple
- Dungeon Fighter
- Flip Ships
- The Quacks of Quedlinburg
- Wonderland’s War
- Libertalia
- Modern Art
Shoe’s topic: What are the games in your backlog that you're most excited to get to (and why haven't you yet)?
- Too Many Bones
- Sleeping Games
- Near and Far
- Above and Below
- Adventure Tactics: Domianne’s Tower
- Space Base
- Space Base: The Emergence of Shy Pluto
- Machi Koro
- Lisboa
- Gallerist
- Formosa Tea
- Great Western Trail
- Viticulture
- CloudAge
- Pandemic Legacy: Season 0
- Clank Legacy
- Cutthroat Caverns
- Space Park
- Herd Mentality
- P for Pizza
- Gentes
- Pioneer Days
- Happy Salmon
- Power Grid
- Blockbuster
- MTV: The Throwback Music Party Game
Paula: Playing and live-streaming games online
- Hallertau
- Fort
- Coatl
- Targi
- Carcassonne
- The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine
- Lisboa
- Modern Art
- Blank Slate
- Wavelength
Final thoughts:
- The Lost Expedition
- Praga Caput Regni
- City of the Big Shoulders
Sarah Shah of Board Games in a Minute slows down just long enough to record a podcast with us. We chat about our favorite games centered around animals, our big pet peeves when teaching (or learning) a new board game, and publisher Capstone Games.
The games mentioned in this episode:
Christina’s topic: What are some of your favorite games centered around animals?
- Everdell
- Ecos: First Continent
- Gods Love Dinosaurs
- Evolution
- Oceans
- Endangered
- Calico
- Isle of Cats
- Beez
- Honey Buzz
- Aqua Garden
- Heaven and Ale
Shoe’s topic: What are your pet peeves when learning or teaching games?
- Innovation
- The Mind
Sarah's topic: Capstone Games
- New York Zoo
- Crystal Palace
- Terra Mystica
- Gaia Project
- The Estates
- CloudAge
- Coffee Traders
- Pipeline
- Cooper Island
- Renature
- Curious Cargo
- Watergate
- Iberian Gauge
- Ticket to Ride
Final thoughts:
- Mr. Cabbagehead’s Garden
- Whistle Mountain
- Sleeping Gods
- 7th Continent
This is a special Voltron Podcast episode with Boards Alive's Aaron Cassidy!
(Touchy subject) We talk about the recent drama and controversies in the board game biz (and whether we can separate the art from the artists).
(And not-so-touchy) On a lighter note, we also discuss video-game-licensed board games and deckbuilding in games we wouldn't call deckbuilding games.
Shoe: Board games based on video game licenses that you've enjoyed or are excited about
- Bloodborne
- Kingdom Rush: Rift in Time
- Bloodborne: The Card Game
- The Witcher
- Civilization
- Civilization: A New Dawn
- X-Com
- This War of Mine
- Level 7: Omega Protocol
- Rampage/Terror in Meeple City
- Exceed
- BattleCON
- Portal
- Mechs vs. Minions
- Railways of the World
- Megaland
Christina’s topic: Deckbuilding in games you wouldn’t call deckbuilding games
- Dune Imperium
- Lost Ruins of Arnak
- Viscounts of the West Kingdom
- Dominant Species
- Dice Throne
- The Gallerist
- On Mars
- Lisboa
- Great Western Trail
- Newton
- Food Chain Magnate
- Concordia
- Rococo
- CloudAge
- Mombasa
- Blackout Hong Kong
- Paladins of the West Kingdom
- Luxor
- Taverns of Tiefenthal
- Shards of Infinity
- Ascension
Aaron’s topic: Can we separate the artist from the work?
- Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
- Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun
- Pax
- Bios
- High Frontier
- Puerto Rico
- Great Western Trail
- Mombasa
- Maracaibo
- Lewis and Clark
- Teotihuacan: City of Gods
We're so obsessed with board games, that we enjoy them...even when we're not actually playing them. What are these "play-adjacent" activities that we love so much?
And what are our favorite components? And why on earth are we talking about jigsaw puzzles on a board game podcast?
The board games we discuss on this episode:
Christina’s topic: your favorite game components
- Everdell
- Tidal Blades
- Honey Buzz
- Wingspan
- Wavelength
- Blockbuster
- Potion Explosion
- Portal
- Dragoon
- Ascension
- Life Siphon
- Guts of Glory
- Mouse Trap
- Trouble
- Hungry Hungry Hippos
- HeroQuest
- Scrabble
- Jenga
- Junk Art
- Fireball Island
- Crokinole
- Pinnacle
- The Climbers
- Riff Raff
Shoe’s topic: What do you like doing with board games...outside of playing them?
- The Castles of Burgundy
- Viscounts of the West Kingdom
- Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun
Final thoughts:
- P for Pizza
- Scapegoat
- Air, Land, and Sea
- Viscounts of the West Kingdom
- Grifters
Party game of the year! Light game of the year! Medium-weight game of the year! Heavy game of the year!
We grab two of our social-bubble gaming crew (James Hudson of Skybound and Shoe's co-worker Tom Twedell), and we all give our picks for the #1 games in all those categories for 2020.
Plus: What trends did we see in 2020 (and what might we see in 2021? And how did gaming get us through the rough patches of last year?
The games covered in this episode:
Intro:
- Bloodstone
Tom’s topic: Party and Light Games of the Year
- Cross Clues
- Codenames
- P for Pizza
- Telestrations: Upside Drawn
- MonsDRAWsity
- Silver: Dagger
- Silver
- My City
- Santa Monica
- The Crew
- Calico
- D&D Adventures Begin
- Fossilis
- The Crew
- The Mind
Christina’s topic: Medium and Heavy Games of the Year
- Smartphone, Inc.
- Tidal Blades
- Dune: Imperium
- Lost Ruins of Arnak
- The Search for Planet X
- Sorcerer City
- Dwellings of Eldervale
- The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire
- Forgotten Waters
- Viscounts of the West Kingdom
- Rococo
- Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun
- Beyond the Sun
- Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy
- Alma Mater
- The Magnificent
Shoe’s topic: Top gaming trends of 2020 and what we are expecting for 2021
- MonsDRAWsity
- Rolling Realms
- Sorcerer City
- Tidal Blades
- Lost Ruins of Arnak
- Dune: Imperium
- Dominion
- Fort
- Honey Buzz
- Beez
- Queen Bee
- Hive Mind
- Mariposas
James’ topic: How gaming has helped us through rough patches in 2020
- Fantastic Factories
- Star Wars: Destiny
- My City
- Pandemic Legacy: Season 0
Final thoughts:
- Mage Knight
- War of the Rings
- Tidal Blades
- Valor & Villainy
- Wonderland’s War
Professional comedian Grant Lyon (who also creates board game videos and co-designed Curmudgeon) joins us on the podcast this week. We talk about "old" (pre-2018) games that need more live, mechanics that we seek out or actively avoid, and more party games we love playing.
Games mentioned on this episode:
Intro:
- Curmudgeon
Christina’s topic: “Old” games that don’t get enough love
- Love Letter
- Lost Legacy
- Grand Austria Hotel
- Taverns of Tiefenthal
- High Society
- Take 5
- Take a Number
- Cover Your Assets
- Cover Your Kingdom
- Potion Explosion
- Sea of Clouds
- Lords of Waterdeep
- Raiders of the North Sea
- Dominions
- Raiders of Scythia
- Descent: Journeys in the Dark
- Gloomhaven
- Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
Shoe’s topic: More party games
- Cross Clues
- Codenames
- Curmudgeon
- MTV: The Throwback Music Party Game
- Blockbuster
- Who’s the G.O.A.T.?
Grant’s topic: Seeking out or avoiding games based on mechanics
- Lords of Waterdeep
- Champions of Midgard
- Everdell
- Tidal Blades
- Architects of the West Kingdom
- Paladins of the West Kingdom
- Viscounts of the West Kingdom
- Kingswood
- Raiders of the North Sea
- Raiders of Scythia
- Sagrada
- Alien Frontiers
- Marco Polo
- Castles of Burgundy
- The Godfather
- The Godfather: A New Don
- Eclipse
- Beyond the Sun
- The Crew
- Gudetama: The Tricky Egg Card Game
- The Fox in the Forest
- The Fox in the Forest Duet
- Skull King
Final thoughts:
- Curmudgeon
- Honey Buzz
- Beyond the Sun
Plaid Hat Marketing Manager Niki Shults and Multimedia Director Donald Shults talk board games -- and tons of D&D -- with us. Our topics:
-
What are some new party games you can play over Zoom or within one average household?
-
Is Catan still the perfect gateway game? If not, what is?
-
What are your best childhood memories of playing board games?
-
House rules: How do you feel about them?
Here are the games covered on the show:
Intro:
- Forgotten Waters
- The Settlers of Catan
Shoe’s topic: Great party games for quarantine or households
- Telestrations
- Telestrations: Upside Drawn
- P for Pizza
- Herd Mentality
- Forgotten Waters
- Wavelength
- Just One
- Dungeons and Dragons
- Mastermind
- Master Word
- Corinth
Donald’s topic: Is Settlers of Catan still the best gateway game?
- Monopoly
- Magic the Gathering
- Clue
- The Settlers of Catan
- Pandemic
- Dungeon Twister
- Dungeons and Dragons
- Ticket to Ride
- Azul
- Wingspan
- Hanabi
- Starfarers of Catan
- Tokaido
- Megaland
- King of Tokyo
- Welcome to
- Yahtzee
- Dominion
Niki’s topic: Your first boardgame memories
- Uno
- Fireball Island
- Mouse Trap
- Dungeons and Dragons
- HeroQuest
- Big 2/Deuce
- Go to the Head of the Class
- Dungeons and Dragons
Christina’s topic: Do you use house rules?
- Bye, Felicia
- Starfarers of Catan
Final thoughts:
- Forgotten Waters
Guest Elizabeth Hargrave (Wingspan, Mariposas) drops a hint about her next project while we discuss our four new topics:
-
Learning factoids in non-educational games
-
How we can make board gaming more inclusive for everyone
-
Games whose themes have inspired innovative gameplay
-
Designing games and finishing prototypes
Games discussed in this episode:
Intro:
- Wingspan
- Tussie Mussie
- Mariposas
Christina’s topic: How theme can lead to innovative gameplay
- Wingspan
- Mariposas
- Photosynthesis
- Wind the Film
- Remember Our Trip
- Here Comes the Dog
- Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein
- Castell
- The Search for Planet X
- Viticulture
- Dead of Winter
- Battlestar Galactica
- The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31
- Scooby-Doo! Escape from the Haunted Mansion
Shoe’s topic: Educational games that aren’t educational games
- Wingspan
- Mariposas
- Tussie Mussie
- The Search for Planet X
- Beez
- Arraial
- Tokaido
- Cytosis: A Cell Biology Board Game
- Virulence: An Infection Card Game
- Pandemic
- Photosynthesis
- Castell
- Ticket to Ride
- 7 Wonders
Nick’s topic: How do you know which prototypes to move forward with; how do you know when a game design’s finished?
- Mariposas
- Wingspan
Final thoughts:
- Mariposas
- Wingspan: Oceania
- Beez
- The Search for Planet X
- Morels
- 7 Wonders
- 7 Wonders Duel
- 7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon
- Tokaido
- Hanabi
Guest Timm Metivier of Meepleville (a board game cafe in Vegas and a channel for board game content) joins us to discuss the top 3 games we can't wait to get to the table, the business of running a board game cafe (you'd be surprised how he works around COVID), how we discover the games we want to buy, and more.
The games talked about on this episode:
Timm’s topic: The top games we can’t wait to get to the table
- Food Chain Magnate
- Trickerion
- Pax Porfiriana
- Telestrations: Upside Drawn
- Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun
- Tzok’in: The Mayan Calendar
- Teotihuacan: City of Gods
- Master Word
- Anachrony
- Barrage
- The Gallerist
- City of the Big Shoulders
- 18XX
- Escape Plan
- Vinhos
- On Mars
- Viscounts of the West Kingdom
- Sleeping Gods
Shoe’s/Christina’s topic: Running a board game cafe during COVID + how we discover games
- Bridge
- Pinochle
- Backgammon
- Catan
- Ticket to Ride
- Life
- Connect Four
- Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun
- Scooby-Doo: Betrayal at Mystery Mansion
- Pendulum
- Trois
- Ginkgopolis
Mike’s topic: What does a board game cafe’s business model look like?
- Cards Against Humanity
- Monopoly
- Sorry
- Risk
- Ticket to Ride
- Pandemic
- Battleship
- Lorenzo il Magnifico
- Hansa Teutonica
Final thoughts:
- Fingabol
- Crokinole
The big games of the year have been announced. What do we think of them? The Dice Tower's Roy Cannaday joins us to discuss the Spiel and Kennerspiel des Jahres 2020 nominees/winners; if we still use "Euro" and "Ameritrash" to define those genres; video production during quarantine times; and his new, upcoming game, Last Light.
The games we talk about on this episode:
Intro:
- Last Light
- Eclipse
- Twilight Imperium
- Concordia
Christina's topic: Spiel des Jahres 2020 nominees/winners
- My City
- Nova Luna
- Pictures
- Just One
- Machi Koro Legacy
Shoe's topic: Kennerspiel des Jahres nominees/winners
- Hearts
- Spades
- The Crew
- Cartographers
- The King’s Dilemma
Roy's topic: "Euro" vs. "Ameritrash"
- Settlers of Catan
- Carcassonne
- Arkham Horror
- Risk
- Century
- Concordia
- Black Angel
- The Magnificent
- Pret-A-Porter
- Abomination
Final Thoughts
- Luna
- Belfort
- Loot of Lima
- The Search for Planet X
- Marvel Champions
Game designers Jon Gilmour (Dead of Winter, Dinosaur Island) and Ian Moss (Duelosaur Island, Wonderland's War) join us to discuss video games that would make cool board games, what video games have taught them about game design, our ideal gaming group, and how new RPGs make themselves stand out from the crowd.
Here are the games covered on the show:
Intro
- Dead of Winter
- Dinosaur Island
- Wasteland Express
- I Dissent
- Duelosaur Island
- Wonderland’s War
- Bunkers and Badasses
Ian’s topic: How do newer RPGs make themselves stand out?
- Bunkers and Badasses
- Kids on Bikes
- Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall
- Kids on Brooms
- Blades in the Dark
- Apocalypse World
- Fiasco
- ATMA
- The Quiet Year
Jon’s topic: What video games have you played recently that would make cool board games?
- Path of Light and Shadow
Shoe’s topic: What have video games taught Jon and Ian about game design?
- Dinosaur Island
- Duelosaur Island
- Taverns of Tiefenthal
- Quadropolis
- Dead of Winter
- Slide Quest
- Machi Koro Legacy
- My City
Christina’s topic: What makes the ideal gaming group for you?
- Innovation
- Sagrada
- Azul
- Concordia
Final thoughts:
- Sonora
- Crokinole
- Bunkers and Badasses
- Santa Monica
- Smartphone
- Food Chain Magnate
It's our 50th episode! We celebrate by discussing:
- Our top 3 games in BoardGameGeek's top 100
- Our favorite genres (and our favorite game in that genre)
- The best moments from our podcast so far
- The board game that got us into board gaming
Here are the games we mention on the show:
Mike's topic: Favorite game in our favorite genre
- Gloomhaven
- Hansa Teutonica
- 7 Wonders
- Libertalia
- Campy Creatures
- R (BraveRats)
- Orleans
- Caverna
- A Feast for Odin
- Alien Frontiers
Shoe's topic: Top 3 games in the BGG Top 100
- Caverna
- Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
- Codenames
- 7 Wonders
- La Boca
- Wingspan
- Innovation
- Caverna: The Forgotten Folk
- Terra Mystica
- Crokinole
- Lords of Waterdeep
- The Castles of Burgundy
- Broom Service
- Hansa Teutonica
- Lords of Vegas
- Troyes
- Terraforming Mars
- Chess
- Boggle
- Monopoly
- Go
- Black Angel
- San Juan
- Concordia
Nick's topic: The game that got us into board gaming
- HeroQuest
- Magic: The Gathering
- Vampire: The Masqerade
- Talisman
- Catan
- Monopoly
- Monopoly: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Edition
- Sorry!
- Trouble
- Puerto Rico
- Bohnanza
- Thunderstone
- Illuminati
- Car Wars
- Arkham Horror
Final thoughts
- War of the Ring
Two guests! Nick Brachmann (Leder Games) and John de Campos (Terrible Games) join us to discuss their upcoming games (Fort and Token Terrors Battlegrounds, respectively) and our four new topics:
- Deckbuilding games with a unique twist
- Our other hobbies that we'd like to see brought to life for tabletop gaming
- The differences between "design" and "development"
- Establishing a visual identity for a game company
Here are the games discussed/mentioned in this episode:
We're talking so many "favorites" today: our favorite games where points don't matter, favorite games that revolve around illustrations (not necessarily drawing), favorite board game universes, and favorite game-induced social interactions.
Our guest is Eric Slauson, designer of Tattoo Stories, Nerd Words, and the upcoming MonsDRAWsity.
Here's a list of the games discussed on the show:
Intro * Tattoo Stories * Nerd Words: Science! * MonsDRAWsity * Welcome To... * Tumblin' Dice
Christina’s topic: Favorite type of social interactions * Twilight Imperium * Exit * Unlock! * Level 7: Omega Protocol * Forgotten Waters * Charterstone * Arcadia Quest * Dead of Winter * Telestrations * MonsDRAWsity * The Crew * Deckscape
Eric’s topic: Favorite games where the points don’t matter * Medium * Mobscenity * Bye, Felicia! * Just One * Wavelength * Telestrations * Alcatraz: The Scapegoat * Flip Ships * FUSE * Tokaido * Namiji
Shoe’s topic: Great games that revolve around illustrations (not drawing) * MonsDRAWsity * Dixit * Muse * Visitor in Blackwood Grove * Pictures * Imagine * Drawful * Mangaka: The Fast & Furious Game of Drawing Comics * Cartooner: The Fast & Furious Game of Drawing Comics * Escape the Dark Castle
Jess’s topic: Favorite game universes * Above and Below * Near and Far * Roam * Sleeping Gods * Roll Player * Cartographers * Lockup: A Roll Player Tale * Kingdomino * Queendomino * Dragomino * Ex Libris * Star Trek Ascendancy * Scythe * Eclipse * Cthulhu Wars
Final thoughts * Stellar * MonsDRAWsity * Tattoo Stories * Nerd Words: Science!
What do we really mean when we want to play a "storytelling" game? Designers Sen-Foong Lim and Banana Chan join to discuss this as well as the upcoming Jiangshi RPG, our favorite board game themes, and board game cultural appreciation vs. appropriation.
Here's a full list of games discussed on the show:
Intro
- Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall
- Scooby-Doo: Betrayal at Mystery Mansion
- Sea of Legends
- Dune RPG
- Junk Art
- Dungeons & Dragons: Rock Paper Wizard
- The Legend of Korra: Pro-Bending Arena
- Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion
- Mind MGMT
- Kingdom Rush
- Betrayal at House on the HIll
Christina's topic: What are inspirations for the settings in your games?
- Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall
- Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion
Banana's topic: Favorite game themes that you don't see as often
- Succulent
- Pret-a-Porter
- Abomination: Heir of Frankenstein
- Alice is Missing
- Wait for Me
- Anachrony
- T.I.M.E Stories
- Belfort
Shoe's topic: Story-based/RPG-style board games
- ATMA
- Forgotten Waters
- Mice & Mystics
- Aftermath
- Dead of Winter
- Sea of Legends
- Warp's Edge
- Tales of Arabian Nights
- Once Upon a Time
- Fiasco
- Paranoia
- Kobolds Ate My Baby
- Apocalypse World
- Monster Hearts
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Pathfinder
- Kids on Bikes
- Samurai
Sen's topic: Cultural appreciate vs. appropriation
- Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall
- Arkham Horror
- Puerto Rico
Final thoughts
- Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall
- Wait for Me
- Dissident Whispers
- The Shivers
- Gloomhaven
- Surrealist Dinner Party
- Mechanica
Uber content creator Ruel Gaviola (Geek & Sundry plus a million other things) joins us this week to talk about under-the-radar games that need more love, games we can play outside that won't get blown away, genres we don't like (and exceptions to them), and online communities.
Here's a full list of games discussed on the show:
Mike's topic: Games we can play outdoors
- Heckmeck
- Pickomino
- Q.E.
- Hanabi Deluxe
- Shobu
- Backgammon
- Dominoes
- Secrets
- Wavelength
- Pinnacle
- Jenga
- Azul
Shoe's topic: Recent under-the-radar board games
- The Shipwreck Arcana
- Deep Vents
- Oceans
- Pre-a-Porter
- London
- Mechanica
- Steam Park
- Brass
- MonsDRAWsity
- Telestrations: Upside Drawn
- Telestrations
- FUSE
- Dead Men Tell No Tales
- Stellar
- Arboretum
- Little Town
- Tiny Towns
Ruel's topic: Online gaming communities
- Wingspan
- Railways of the World
- 18XX
- City of the Big Shoulders
- Tokaido
- 7 Wonders
- Viscounts of the West Kingdom
- King's Dilemma
Christina's topic: Board game genres we tend to dislike
- Cthulhu Wars
- Rising Sun
- Kemet
- Eclipse
- Twilight Imperium
- The Shipwreck Arcana
- Werewolf
- Mafia
- Poker
- Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
- A Fake Artist Goes to New York
- Let's Make a Bus Route
- Kokoro
- Cartographers
- Fleet: The Dice Game
- Magic: The Gathering
- Level 7: Omega Protocol
- Star Wars: Imperial Assault
Final thoughts
- The Oracle of Delphi
- Time's Up
- Trial by Trolley
- Carpe Diem
- Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion
We talk (non-roll-and-write) board games that are perfect for streaming to your friends, and we delve into how a game company like The Op works with so many big-name licenses (Marvel, Harry Potter, and...um, Golden Girls).
Plus, what is that X factor that makes a game really great? And Mike Zipkin gives impressions on Nintendo's Clubhouse Games.
Here's a full list of games discussed on the show:
Intro
- Star Wars: Dark Side Rising
- Harry Potter: Death Eaters Rising
- Die Hard: The Nakatomi Tower Heist
- Monopoly
- Yahtzee
- Scrabble
- Trivial Pursuit
- Telestrations
- Clubhouse Games
- Russian Railroads
- Grand Austria Hotel
Christina's topic: Streamable non-roll-and-write games
- Blank Slate
- Just One
- Hues and Cues
- Codenames
- MonsDRAWsity
- Telestrations: Upside Drawn
- Telestrations
Shoe's topic: Game design when working with different licenses
- Courth of the Dead: Mourner's Call
- Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion
- The Shining: Escape from Overlook Hotel
- Monopoly Hallmark Channel Board Game
- Unlock!
- Munchkin
- Codenames
- Match-o-Rama
- Quests of Yore: Barley's Edition
Pat's topic: That X-factor in gaming
- Russian Railroads
- Just One
- Codenames
- Hansa Teutonica
- The Gallerist
- Kanban
- Terraforming Mars
- The Quacks of Quedlinberg
- Hues and Cues
- Court of the Dead: Mourner's Call
- Tiny Towns
- Medium
Mike's topic: Nintendo's Clubhouse Games
- Clubhouse Games
- Chess
- Checkers
- Yacht Dice
- Mancala
- Shogi
- Go
- Connect 4
- Uno
- Hanafuda
- Texas Hold 'Em
- Ludo
- War
- Takoyaki
- Air Hockey
- Darts
- Bowling
Final thoughts
- Blank Slate
- Court of the Dead: Mourner's Call
- The Batman Who Laughs Rising
- Plankton Rising
- Quests of Yore: Barley's Edition
- Forgotten Waters
- Era: Medieval Age
- The Shipwreck Arcana
- Smartphone Inc.
How should game publishers and designers respond to recent political events? We also talk about premium components (the business behind them and how we do our own upgrading) and reissued/remade games like King of Tokyo Dark and Kemet: Blood and Sand.
James Hudson, senior director of tabletop gaming at Skybound Games (Sorcerer City, Superfight, Tidal Blades) joins us this week for this discussion.
Here's a full list of games discussed on the show:
Intro
- The Grimm Masquerade
- Guardian's Call
- Sorcerer City
- Wonderland's War
- Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef
Christina's topic: How should game publishers respond to calls for more inclusiveness vs. "less politics" in games?
- Dead of Winter
- Summoner Wars
- Bloodstone
- The Grimm Forest
- Guardian's Call
Shoe's topic: Board game remakes...do you buy them?
- Dune
- King of Tokyo
- King of Tokyo: Dark
- Kemet
- Kemet: Blood and Sand
- Caylus
- Caylus 1303
- Tribune
- Last Bastion
- Ghost Stories
- The Castles of Burgundy
- Carpe Diem
- Egizia
- Egizia: Shifting Sands
- Tokaido
Mike's topic: What are some premium upgrades you've personally added to games?
- The Castles of Burgundy
- The Estates
- Blood Rage
- Rising Sun
- Concordia
- The Grimm Forest
- Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game
- Chaos in the Old World
- Dune
- Crusaders
- The Crew
James's topic: Deluxe components from the manufacturer's perspective
- The Grimm Forest
- Sorcerer City
- Zombicide
- B-Sieged
- Copenhagen
- Ticket to Ride
- Blood Rage
- Gloomhaven
- Gùgōng
- Bloodstone
- Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef
- Valor & Villainy
- Pebble Rock Delivery Service
Final thoughts
- The King's Dilemma
- Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
- Lords of Vegas
- Star Trek: Ascendancy
- Twilight Imperium
We talk about Plaid Hat's new storytelling adventure game Forgotten Waters, our other favorite pirate-themed games, and some of the most memorable characters in board gaming.
But...is quarantining slowly killing our love for board games?
We have three special guests! Video game designer Tim Schafer (whose work on The Secret of Monkey Island influenced Forgotten Waters), and Forgotten Waters co-designers Isaac Vega and Joe Ellis.
Here's a full list of games discussed on the show:
Intro
- Forgotten Waters
- Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn
- City of Remnants
- Dead of Winter
- Crystal Clans
- Raxxon
Christina's topic: What are our favorite pirate-y games?
- Forgotten Waters
- Sea of Legends
- Tiny Epic Pirates
- Sea of Nadia
- Jamaica
- Sea of Clouds
- Libertalia
- Citadels
- Merchants and Marauders
- Pirate's Cove
- Loot
- Xia: Legends of a Drift System
Joe's topic: Inspirations behind Forgotten Waters
- Forgotten Waters
Isaac's topic: What are the most memorable characters you've enjoyed in board games?
- Scythe
- Scythe: The Rise of Fenris
- Magic: The Gathering
- Twilight Imperium
- Dead of Winter
- Mice and Mystics
- Tales of the Arabian Nights
- Camp Grizzly
- T.I.M.E Stories
- Star Wars: Rebellion
- Dune
- Aftermath
- Abomination
- Takenoko
- Forgotten Waters
Tim's topic: How has quarantine affected how we think about board games?
- Descent: Journeys in the Dark
- The 7th Continent
- Sea of Nadia
- Smartphone Inc.
- Santa Monica
- Forgotten Waters
Final thoughts
- Forgotten Waters
What are our favorite two-player, solo, and roll-and-write games? Do you want to restart or fail forward when you lose a cooperative adventure? And we all love designer Uwe Rosenberg!
With guest Jamey Stegmaier of Stonemaier Games (Wingspan, Tapestry, Scythe).
Here's a full list of games discussed on the show:
Intro
- Wingspan
- Viticulture
- Scythe
- Euphoria
- Tapestry
Shoe's topic: What are our favorite two-player and solo games?
- Lost Cities
- Hanamikoji
- Jixia Academy
- Onitama
- 7 Wonders Duel
- 7 Wonders
- Shards of Infinity
- Shards of Infinity: Shadow of Salvation
- SHOBU
- Jaipur
- War Chest
- War Chest: Nobility
- Patchwork
- Pathfinder: Adventure Card Game
- The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
- Arkham Horror: The Card Game
- Coffee Roaster
Jamey's topic: How do we feel about replaying scenarios vs. "failing forward" in cooperative games?
- Forgotten Waters
- Gloomhaven
- Pandemic Legacy
- Legacy of Dragonholt
- The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth
- T.I.M.E Stories
- Forbidden Desert
- Atlantis Rising
- Arkham Horror
Christina's topic: Favorite beginner-friendly and heavy-duty ___-and-writes
- Second Chance
- Qwixx
- Ganz Schon Clever
- Fleet: The Dice Game
- Rolling Realms
- Welcome to...
- Silver & Gold
- On Tour
- Cartographers
- Doppelt So Clever
- MetroX
- Welcome to New Las Vegas
Jess's topic: What are our favorite Uwe Rosenberg games?
- Agricola
- Patchwork
- Caverna: Cave vs. Cave
- Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small
- Viticulture: Moor Visitors Expansion
- A Feast for Odin
- Caverna
- Caverna: The Forgotten Folk
- Bohnanza
- Cottage Garden
- Fields of Arle
- Le Havre
- Ora et Labora
Final thoughts
- Kingdomino
- Pinnacle
- Scythe
- My Little Scythe
- My Little Scythe: Pie in the Sky
- Rolling Realms
- Euphoria
Which games transport us to new places or worlds? What makes a good asynchronous digital game? And how does sheltering in place change how a designer goes about his business?
Board game designer Emerson Matsuuchi (Century series, Metal Gear Solid, Specter Ops) joins us to discuss.
Here's a full list of games discussed on the show:
Intro
- Century
- Metal Gear Solid
- Foundations of Rome
Christina's topic: What are your top board games that help you escape?
- Tokaido
- Namiji
- Tales of Arabian Nights
- Hive Mind
- King of Tokyo
- Mansions of Madness
- Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island
- Dead of Winter
- Above & Below
- Near & Far
- Mice & Mystics
- Aftermath
- Forgotten Waters
- Suburbia
Emerson's topic: How important is it for a game to have something innovative?
- The Mind
- Dead Man's Cabal
- In the Hall of the Mountain King
- The Castles of Burgundy
- Lost Cities
- Codenames
- Paladins of the West Kingdom
- Architects of the West Kingdom
Nick's topic: Asynchronous digital games
- The Castles of Burgundy
- Lost Cities
- Carcassonne
- Patchwork
- Ticket to Ride
- Tokaido
- Ascension
- Shards of Infinity
- Lords of Waterdeep
- Kingsburg
Shoe's topic: How does shelter-in-place impact game design work?
- Infiltrator
Final thoughts
- Just One
- Rising Sun
The world has changed. How are we playing games now? How has coronavirus impacted the game-publishing business? And why is community more important than ever?
We cover these big topics with Nolan Nasser (CEO) and Jacob Way (COO) of Deep Water Games (Welcome To..., Hanamikoji).
In lighter news, we go on and on about one of our favorite games of 2020 so far: The Crew. It's so amazing, we guaranteed our guests their money back if they bought it and didn't like it.
Here's a full list of games discussed on the show:
Intro
- Hanamikoji
- Realm of Sand
- Welcome to...
- Fantastic Factories
- Spirit Island
- New Bedford
- Fleet: The Dice Game
- The Crew
Jacob's topic: Importance of community during COVID-19
- Monstrosity
- Diplomacy
- Gloomhaven
Christina's topic: What do our board gaming lives look like during shelter-in-place?
- Ascension
- Shards of Infinity
- Patchwork
- Tang Garden
- Sagrada
- Ganz Schon Clever/That's So Clever
- Doppelt So Clever/Twice as Clever
- Chronicles of Crime
- Aftermath
- Clank! Legacy
- Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Glaaxy
- Hive Mind
- Codenames
- Wavelength
- Time's Up
- Time's Up: Title Recall
- Monikers
Nolan's topic: How has COVID-19 affected Deep Water as a company?
- Floor Plan
- Jixia Academic
Shoe's topic: The Crew
- Claim
Final thoughts
- Welcome to New Las Vegas
How do we pick which board games to cull when we move? What is gaming life like in the military? What's considered a classic nowadays? And what's our ideal convention experience -- deadly viruses aside, that is?
Lizzy Funkhouser (Board Game Spotlight) and Derek Funkhouser (Skybound Games) join us to discuss!
Here's a full list of games discussed on the show:
Intro
- Medium
- Q.E.
- The Walking Dead: Something to Fear
- Herbaceous Sprouts
Derek's topic: What makes an evergreen or classic board game?
- Axis & Allies
- Azul
- Ticket to Ride
- Dominion
- Settlers of Catan
- 7 Wonders
- Risk
- Paladins of the West Kingdom
- Marvel Champions: The Card Game
- Nemesis
- Terraforming Mars
- Twilight Struggle
- The Castles of Burgundy
- Viticulture
- Architects of the West Kingdom
- Quacks of Quedlinburg
- Tidal Blades
- Gloomhaven
- Blood Rage
- Carcassonne
- Monopoly
- Scrabble
- The Game of Life
- El Grande
- Wingspan
Christina's topic: What's your ideal convention experience?
- MetroX
- The Taverns of Tiefenthal
Lizzy's topic: How do you decide which games to cull or keep?
- Azul: Summer Pavilion
- Herbaceous
- Mombasa
- Gears of War: The Board Game
- Chaos in the Old World
- World of Warcraft: The Board Game
- StarCraft: The Board Game
- T.I.M.E Stories
- Small World
- Ginkgopolis
- Rococo
- Orleans
- Arboretum
- Lords of Hellas
Shoe's topic: What is board gaming like while deployed or in the armed forces?
- Magic: The Gathering
- The Crew
- Skull King
- The Resistance
- The Resistance: Avalon
- Hanabi
- Hive Mind
- Codenames
Final thoughts
- The Godfather: Corleone's Empire
Why we'll never get some of our friends to play board games; the best laugh-so-hard-we-always-cry games; board game movies (our faves and the ones we'd like to see); and whether high-production trailers are good -- and bad -- for Kickstarter campaigns.
Games discussed on the show:
Mike's topic: board game movies -- the good, the mostly bad, and what we want to see * Clue * Jumanji * Battleship * The Castles of Burgundy * Pandemic * Pandemic: Legacy * Settlers of Catan * One Night Ultimate Werewolf * Gloomhaven * Root * T.I.M.E Stories * Scythe * Nine Tiles Panic * Mice & Mystics * Aftermath * Above & Below * Near & Far
Christian's topic: Is there really a game for everyone? * Lost Cities * The Mind * Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective * Crokinole
Christina's topic: What are your funniest board game experiences? * Telestrations * Draw Your Own Conclusions * A Fake Artist Goes to New York * Head's Up * Skull * Cards Against Humanity * Funemployment * Hive Mind
Shoe's topic: Are fancy video trailers too fancy? Or are they necessary to stand out?
- Unsettled
- SHASN
- Dogs of War
Final thoughts * Imperial 2030 * Cry Havoc * Nokosu Dice
Mike Young (Plan B) explains why game publishing is so tough! Plus, our fave board game franchises and imports.
Games mentioned on the show:
Shoe's topic: Game franchises
- Azul
- Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra
- Azul: Summer Pavilion
- Century
- Century: Golem Edition
- Chess
- Othello
- Ticket to Ride
- Settlers of Catan
- Codenames
- Cottage Garden
- Indian Summer
- Spring Meadow
- Funkoverse Strategy Game
- Unmatched
- Android: Netrunner
- Magic: The Gathering
- Mexica
- Tikal
- Java
- Terraforming Mars
- Castles of Tuscany
- Castles of Burgundy
- Blood Rage
- Rising Sun
- Ankh
Christina's topic: Favorite import games * 5211 * 5 Colors * Aquatica * Modern Art * Nokosu Dice * Orchard Ocean * Let's Make a Bus Route * Sunflower Valley * Great Western Trail * Oh My Goods! * Broom Service * Tybor the Builder * Startups
Final thoughts: * Team3 * Nyctophobia * Oceans * Evolution * Tuki * Junk Art * Camel Up * SOS Dino * San Juan * Beez * Era: Medieval Age * Alma Mater * Tzolk'in * Teotihuacan
BoardGameGeek just turned 20! Owner/co-founder Scott Alden and Director of Media Lincoln Damerst stop by to talk about the two-decade making of the do-everything board game website, its most underrated games, and much more.
Games discussed:
Intro & Scott's topic: How did you first hear about BoardGameGeek?
- Settlers of Catan
- Manhattan
- Die Hanse
- Magic: The Gathering
- Chess
- Poker
- UNO
- Risk
- Mahjong
- Scrabble
- Carcassonne
- Black Box
- Lost Cities
- Wingspan
- Thunderstone
- Dominion
- Android: Netrunner
- Love Letter
- Coup
- Puerto Rico
Lincoln's topic: The history of BoardGameGeek media
- Power Grid: Factory Manager
- Aquatica
- Space Dealer
Shoe's topic: What do you use BoardGameGeek for the most?
- Throne of Allegoria
Christina's topic: The most underrated games on BoardGameGeek
- Lost Legacy: The Starship
- Lost Legacy Legend
- Billabong
- Speculation
- Wyatt Earp
- Koryo
- Choson
- Alcatraz: The Scapegoat
- A Game of Thrones: Hand of the King
- Secrets
- Werewolf
- Mafia
Final thoughts:
- Root
- Russian Railroads
- Kingdom Death Monster
It's time for Going Analog's 2019 Games of the Year! The crew offers their picks for the best of last year, talks about the state of their board game collections, and makes New Years gaming resolutions. Plus: What are we most excited to play in 2020? Games discussed: Shoe's topic: Games of 2019 * Medium * Silver: Bullet * Letter Jam * Ecos: First Continent * Sorcerer City * Paladins of the West Kingdom * Maracaibo * Egizia: Shifting Sands * Klask * Pipeline * Q.E. * Wavelength * 5211 * In Front of the Elevators * Remember our Trip * Let's Make a Bus Route * PARKS * Painter Detective * Portrait Robot * Nine Tiles Panic! * Point Salad
Mike's topic: Current state of our gaming shelves * Acquire * Murano * The Palaces of Carrara * L.L.A.M.A. * Set & Match * Team3 * Tuki
Nick's topic: Gaming resolutions * Calimala
Christina's topic: Games we're looking forward to in 2020 * Loot of Lima * Honey Buzz * Calico * Isle of Cats * Grand Carnival * Nouvelle-France * Mariposas * Die Crew/The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine * Rallyman: GT * Smartphone Inc. * Cleopatra and the Society of Architects * Burgle Bros 2: The Casino Capers * Inhuman Conditions * Unsettled * Wonderland's War * Foundations of Rome * Namiji * Ankh: Gods of Egypt
Final thoughts: * T-Rex's Holiday * Nokosu Dice * Food Chain Magnate * Bus * Kobe * Abomination: Heir of Frankenstein
BoardGameGeek's Scott Alden (owner) and Lincoln Damerst (host of GameNight!) stops by to offer their thoughts on all three Azul games, the monsterous Abomination, and our favorite popular and under-the-radar games from BGGCON.
Games discussed:
Intro:
- Abomination
- Azul
- Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra
- Azul: Summer Pavilion
Christina's topic: Best game of BGGCON * Aquatica * Marvel Champions: The Card Game * Silver * Silver Bullet * Medium
Aldie's topic: Best game at BGGCON...that no one's heard of * Soviet Kitchen Unleashed * Colorful * Match Me: What Color Is This? * Tokyo Series * The Magnificent * Escape: The Curse of the Temple * Automania * Santa Maria * Rebel Nox * Capital Lux * Offshore * Horticulture Master * Orchard Ocean * Draw Your Own Conclusions * Telestrations
Lincoln's topic: Abomination * Tapestry
Final thoughts: * The Mind * The Mind Extreme * Wavelength
John D. Clair (Ecos, Mystic Vale) talks us through his mechanics-first approach to game design. And the group discusses our favorite Star Wars, deckbuilding, and engine-building games.
Games discussed:
Intro:
- Mystic Vale
- Custom Heroes
- Space Base
- Edge of Darkness
- Ecos: The First Continent
- Ascension
- Ascension: Skulls & Sails
Shoe's topic: Engine-building games
- Rise of Augustus
- Gizmos
- Great Western Trail
- Innovation
- Dominion
- Magic: The Gathering
John's topic: From inspiration to game
- Downfall
- War Chest
- Dead Reckoning
- Black Angel
Christina's topic: Deck-building games
- Shards of Infinity
- Tyrants of the Underdark
- The Big Book of Madness
- Aeon's End
- Path of Light and Shadow
- Thunderstone
- Thunderstone Quest
- Concordia
- Res Arcana
- Clank!
- Clank! In! Space!
- Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated
Jess's topic: Star Wars board games
- Star Wars: Rebellion
- Star Wars: The Card Game
- Star Wars: Destiny
- Star Wars: Imperial Assault
- Star Wars: Outer Rim
- Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures
- Star Wars: Legion
- Star Wars: Armada
Final thoughts:
- Slide Quest
- Draw Your Own Conclusions
Rob Manuel (Indie Megabooth, ex-G4TV/Geek & Sundry) discusses what it takes to be a successful board game content creator, plus how to talk to non-gamers about board games over the holidays, why there aren't more negative game reviews, and some Ravensburger appreciation
Games we mentioned:
Intro:
Age of Steam Christina's topic: How to talk to people about board games over the holidays Monopoly The Settlers of Catan Agricola Caverna Risk Small World Kingdomino Wind the Film Broom Service Hive Mind Scattergories Red Dragon Inn Happy Salmon King of Tokyo Lost Cities Hanabi Codenames Just One Taboo Love Letter Ticket to Ride Rob's topic: What it takes to be a successful board game content creator in 2020 Wingspan Tapestry Shoe's topic: Why isn't there more negative coverage or reviews in board game media? Fog of Love The Grizzled Pandemic Legacy Nick's topic: Ravensburger love Journey Around the World Labyrinth Enchanted Forest Heimlich & Co. Flying Carpet Scotland Yard Disney Villainous Puerto Rico San Juan The Castles of Burgundy Carpe Diem Bora Bora Jaws Troll
Jerry Hawthorne (Mice and Mystics, Stuffed Fables) talks about how he world-builds for his story-rich adventure games. Also: kid-friendly family games, dopamine (and how game design taps into it), and what we do with the content we never see in adventure/legacy games.
Intro:
Mice & Mystics Stuffed Fables Comanauts Aftermath Battlelands Christina's topic: How do we feel about the content we might not see in campaign/legacy games? Pandemic Legacy Mike's topic: Game recommendations for kids of different ages Penguin Trap Don't Break the Ice Bugs in the Kitchen Loopin' Louie Buckaroo! Jenga Pie Face Celestia Fireball Island Mysterium Dixit Muse Snake Oil Apples to Apples Jerry's topic: Dopamine and board games Agricola Final Thoughts: Pret-a-Porter Tussie Mussie Betrayal Legacy Betrayal at House on the Hill Horrified Skulk Hollow
Bebo (Be Bold Games) brings the strangest/coolest topic to date. Also: most anticipated Essen releases, the biggest problems in the industry, and games that are/aren't worth the setup time.
Games we discussed:
Bebo's topic: Which 3 games in a trench coat are you?
- Caverna
- Battleline
- Junk Orbit
- Rebel Nox
- Wingspan
- Flamme Rouge
- Web of Spies
- Detective: City of Angels
- Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
- Caverna: The Forgotten Folk
- Barenpark
- Tokaido
Mike's topic: Essen Spiel games we're looking forward to
- Terramara
- Maracaibo
- Ecos
- Cat Lady
- Evolution
- On Mars
- Deep Blue
- Abyss
- Azul: Summer Pavilion
- Marco Polo 2
- Vast
- Root
- Merchant's Cover
- Pret-a-Porter
- Paranormal Detectives
Christina's topic: Games that are and aren't worth the set-up time
- Yinzi
- A Feast for Odin
- Mysterium
- Dixit
- Muse
- Eclipse
- Terra Mystica
- Pipeline
- Teotihuacan
- Star Wars: Imperial Assault
- Gloomhaven
- Aftermath
- Mice and Mystics
- Stuffed Fables
- Twilight Imperium
Shoe's topic: What are the biggest problems with the board game hobby/industry today?
- Cards Against Humanity
- Monopoly
- The Settlers of Catan
- King of Tokyo
- Ticket to Ride
- Pickomino
- Mousetrap
- Care Bears: On the Path to Care-a-Lot
- Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game
Final thoughts:
- Munchkin
- Crown of Emara
- The Primary
- Hive Mind
- Decrypto
- Blockbuster
- Time's Up: Total Recall
- Monikers
- Taboo
Why are some games so hard to buy? Scott Morris of GTS Distribution explains the manufacturing/distribution process for us -- plus recent faves that we've been playing and some of the best worker-placement games (with a twist).
Games we discussed:
Scott's topic: How games get into stores, why they sell out, why they take so long to restockRoot
Batman: Gotham City Chronicles
7th Continent
Shoe's topic: Recent favesLetter Jam
Boggle
Scrabble
Parks
Campy Creatures
Space Park
Paladins of the West Kingdom
Raiders of the North Sea
Architects of the West Kingdom
Christina's topic: Worker placement twists and favesAgricola
Caverna
Tzolk'in
Everdell
Everdell: Pearlbrook
Vindication
Alien Frontiers
Caverna: Forgotten Folk
A Feast for Odin
Near and Far
Above and Below
Final thoughts:Sorcerer City
Abomination
28: Nikki Valens (Mansions of Madness, Quirky Circuits) tells us how she goes from designing horror games to cute and adorable ones, plus our fave co-op games, how legacy games use legacy elements, and escape-room games
Games we discussed:
Intro:
Quirky Circuits Eldritch Horror Mansions of Madness Arkham Horror Legacy of Dragonholt Cloudspire Shoe's topic: Designing horror-themed vs. family-friendly games Dread Jess's topic: Favorite co-op games The Mind Magic Maze Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island Detective Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle Hanabi Team3 Mental Blocks Letter Jam Scrabble Pandemic Legacy: Season One Nikki's topic: Legacy games Charterstone Betrayal Legacy Risk Legacy Rise of Queensdale Machi Koro Legacy Aeon's End: Legacy Christina's topic: Escape room design and games Exit: The Game -- Dead Man on the Orient Express Unlock! Escape Adventures The Tale of Ord Mystery House: Adventures in a Box Final Thoughts: Vindication Vinhos Viticulture Brass; Birmingham Brass: Lancashire Trogdor!!
27: Scott Alden (BoardGameGeek co-founder) asks if there are too many games being published, Christina wants to know the top 3 non-obvious things we look for in games, Shoe tackles the baggage of BoardGameGeek reviews head-on, and Nick raves about an all-time import favorite, Wind the Film
Games we mentioned:
Intro:
Tricks and the Phantom Scott's topic: Too many games? Monopoly Shoe's topic: Board Game Geek ratings Gloomhaven Tapestry Tigris & Euphrates Wingspan Christina's topic: Top 3 qualities you look for in a game (besides gameplay and fun) Dead Man's Cabal Architects of the West Kingdom Azul Time Barons Castles of Burgundy Broom Service Space Park Castles of Mad King Ludwig Yinzi Rising Sun Nick's topic: Wind the Film! Wind the Film! Let's Make a Bus Route Blend Coffee Lab. Take the "A" Chord In Front of the Elevators Lost Cities Coffee Roaster Final thoughts: Vindication Sabotage Edge of Darkness Mystic Vale Gloom Parks
Tech journalist/author and first-time designer Dan Ackerman chats with us this week. Our new topics: the making of his board game Techlandia, how important winning is, the current state of board game media, and how the indie tabletop scene feels like the indie video game scene from five years ago.
Games we mentioned:
**Intro:** Techlandia Pipeline **Mike's topic: Importance of winning a board game** Terra Mystica Foundations of Rome Fleet: The Dice Game Heroes of Land, Air, and Sea **Christina's Topic: Current state of board game media** Flocks & Flyways **Dan's topic: How the indie board game scene is similar to indie video games five years ago** Mansions of Madness Zombicide Star Wars: Imperial Assault **Final Thoughts:** The Estates Wingspan Le Havre Resident Evil 2: The Board Game Arkham Horror Deck Box Dungeons Silver Ecos
Mega gaming convention Gen Con 2019 is over! We team up with Board Game Spotlight to announce our games of the show, our favorite early prototypes (of games we won't see until 2020), why we buy what we buy at the show, and building communities.
Intro:
The Walking Dead: Something to Fear Christina's topic: Gen Con Game of the Show Dead Man's Cabal Abomination Medium The Mind Unmatched Star Wars: Epic Duels Foundations of Rome Letter Jam Lizzy's topic: What's worth the Gen Con haul, and what do we wait to order later? Black Angel Troyes Solenia Sininster Six Welcome to... Draftosaurus Quacks of Quedlinburg Silver Nine Tiles Panic Team3 Time Chase Ishtar Funkoverse Strategy Game Century: Golem Edition Era: Medieval Age SHOBU Derek's topic: Importance of building community at conventions Just One Lisboa Shoe's topic: Favorite prototypes/games to look forward to Foundations of Rome Namiji Tokaido Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game Wonderland's War Adventure Tactics Time of Legends: Destinies Time of Legends: Joan of Arc Chronicles of Crime The Isofarian Guard Holi: Festival of Colors Tidal Blades Fossilis Detective: City of Angels Final Thoughts Point Salad Deck Building: The Deck Building Game Q.E.
Gen Con 2019 is this weekend, and we’re too excited not to do a show all about it! Christina shares her favorite Gen Con memories, friends of the show Jess Yi and Joe Canalin talk about what to plan for as a first timer and lesser-know things to do there, while Nick bucks the trend with a review of the unique new bidding game Q.E.
Christina's topic: Favorite Gen Con memories Abyss Unearth Scarabya Race for the Galaxy Campy Creatures Control Jess's topic: Gen Con rookie advice FUSE Flip Ships Sentient Passing through Petra Artsy Capital Lux Terror Below Coimbra Imhotep: The Duel Kingdomino Duel Exit: The Game Adventure Games Century" Golem Edition - Eastern Mountains Tokaido Namiji Joe's topic: Lesser-known Gen Con activities True Dungeon Villainous Nick's topic: Q.E. Q.E. Codenames Final thoughts: Glory to Rome Innovation Import/Export In Front of the Elevators Wind the Film Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game Hail Hydra Wakanda Forever Sinister Six Moon Base
Only three podcasters this time but still plenty of games to talk about! Shoe asks how we're doing with the pre-Gen Con glut of Kickstarter deliveries, Mike wants to know which games we've purchased second (or third) editions of, and Christina talks recent Epic Space Games.
Shoe's topic: Kickstarter rush The Ancient World Thunderstone Quest Tiny Epic Mechs Tiny Epic Defenders Tiny Epic Kingdoms Tiny Epic Quest Tiny Epic Western Fantastic Factories Metal Campy Creatures Detective: City of Angels Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Chronicles of Crime ShipShape SpyMaster Luxor: The Mummy's Curse Mike's topic: Buying newer editions of older games Acquire Magic: The Gathering Monopoly Orleans Yokohama Homesteaders Gentes Suburbia Alien Frontiers Tokaido Innovation Glory to Rome Council of 4 Thunderstone Advance Thunderstone Christina's topic: Epic space games Twilight Imperium Empires of the Void II Arkham Horror Star Wars: Outer Rim Firefly Xia: Legends of a Drift System Star Wars: Rebellion Final thoughts: Agricola Caverna Caverna: The Forgotten Folk Luxor Chronicles of Crime: Welcome to Redview
Grant Rodiek of Hyperbole Games (Cry Havok, Farmageddon, Solstice) wants to know our three desert island games, while Shoe asks him about the life of an indie game designer, Christina shares what type of collector she is, and Nick attends Tokyo Game Market
Games we discussed:
Intro:
Cry Havoc
Farmageddon
SPQF
Imperius
Christina's topic: What Kind of Game Collector Are You? Isle of Cats Puerto Rico dibdib/Moneybags Ginkgopolis 6 Nimmt Cockroach Poker The Mind Arboretum No Thanks! Coloretto
Grant's topic: Top 3 Games Carcassonne Brass: Lancashire High Society La Boca Alien Frontiers Libertalia The Mind Codenames Small World: Designer Edition War of the Ring Star Wars: Rebellion Terra Mystica Gaia Project Caverna Agricola A Feast for Odin 7 Wonders Chess Scrabble Lost Cities Hanabi Campy Creatures
Shoe's topic: Life of an Indie Game Designer
Hocus Solstice Nick's topic: Tokyo Game Market Nine Tiles Panic Dual Clash Poker Here Comes the Dog Tokyo Highway Tokyo Series
Final thoughts:
Gugong Q.E. The Estates The Tale of Ord (PostCurious) Wingspan
Pandasaurus Games's Hunter Shelburne drops some industry knowledge as we preview the big Origins show, dissect this year's nominees for gaming's most prestigious awards, and reminisce over how we grew up with Steve Jackson Games.
Games we discussed: Intro:
The Castles of Burgundy
Hunter's topic: Arraial Dead Man's Cabal Puerto Rico Draftosaurus 7 Wonders Sushi Go Teotihuacan: Late Preclassic Period Mississippi Queen Detective: City of Angels Machi Koro The Mind Machi Koro Legacy Century: New World Lanterns Dice: Lights in the Sky Set a Watch Second Chance Escape Plan Pipeline
Mike and Christina's topic:
Azul Just One L.A.M.A. Werewords Keltis El Grande Hanabi Taboo Chronicles of Crime The Quacks of Quedlinburg Camel Up Kingdomino Codenames Colt Express Kingdom Builder Carpe Diem Detective Wingspan Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
Shoe's topic:
Illuminati Munchkin Car Wars Ogre
Final thoughts:
Naga Raja Small World Yokohama Carcassone Alhambra Thurn and Taxis Liar's Dice Rummikub Broom Service Istanbul
Nicole Amato of Cardboard Fortress - co-creator of Lazer Ryderz, Resistor_, and Atari's Centipede - joins our chat! We discuss licensed board games, social deduction (without the lies), what it's like to co-design, and what themes we'd like to see more of.
Games we discussed:
Intro:
Lazer Ryderz
Atari's Centipede
Resistor
Shoe's topic: Social Deduction Games without Bluffing
Werewolf
Hail Hydra
Secrets
Moneybags
Coup
Grifters
Cryptid
The Mind
Growl
The Grimm Masquerade
Spyfall
Insider
A Fake Artist Goes to New York
Werewords
Christina's topic: Board Game Theme Wishlists
Tokyo Series Games
Food Chain Magnate
Dune
Imperius
Planetarium
Starfall
Seikoro
And Then There Were Stars
Photosynthesis
Caterpillar Fungi
Beluga
Mayfly
Fog of Love
First Martians
Terraforming Mars
Nick's topic: Co-designing Board Games
Nicole's topic: Licensed Games
Tiny Tina's Robot Tea Party Borderlands Card Game The Tea Dragon Society Card Game Portal: The Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game XCOM: The Board Game The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game Star Wars: Rebellion A Game of Thrones: The Board Game War of the Rings Chocobo's Crystal Hunt Uncharted: The Board Game BioShock Infinite: The Siege of Columbia Fallout Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle Villainous
Final thoughts:
Lord of the Rings: The Card Game Concordia Venus Nine Tiles PANIC Rocky Road a la Mode Inhuman Conditions
The OG crew are reunited, as Shoe celebrates some recent Kickstarter arrivals, Christina takes stock of the rise of the Roll & Write genre, Mike reflects on the role of ‘super filler’ games, and Nick pens a love letter to Castles of Burgundy.
Games we discussed:
Intro segment:
Splendor
Shoe's topic: The Ancient World Gentes Resident Evil 2: The Board Game Dark Souls: The Board Game Airdeck 2.0 Mech Command RTS Christina's topic: Welcome to... Avenue Kokoro: Avenue of the Kodama Let's Make a Bus Route Ganz Schon Clever In Front of the Elevators Mike's topic: Calimala Hansa Teutonica Teotihuacan: City of Gods Nick's topic: The Castles of Burgundy Shards of Infinity The Settlers of Catan Outro: Arkham Horror Eldritch Horror El Grande Inhuman Conditions Campy Creatures Metal Tokyo Series Stonehenge and the Sun Parks Life Syphon Wavelength
18: Our friend Laura Hubbard stops by to talk math in games (and how much is too much), plus Christina complements it by discussing games about science (naturally), Shoe wants to know our favorite games we play with our significant others, and Nick has early game prototypes on the mind
Shoe's Topic: Lost Cities Jaipur Crokinole Asante Jambo Targi Tokyo Highway Hatsuden Hounded Raptor Spirit Island Spirit Island: Branch & Claw Arkham Horror: The Card Game The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game The Mind Hanabi Onitama The Reclamation 7 Wonders 7 Wonders: Duel Fields of Arle Patchwork Laura's Topic: The Castles of Burgundy Five Tribes Clans of Caledonia Age of Steam Christina's Topic: Evolution Wingspan Virulence Nerd Words: Science Play with Your Food Photosynthesis Parks Lost Valley: The Yukon Goldrush 1896 Planetarium Nick's Topic: Can't name these games! Round-Up: Terraforming Mars First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet Robinson Crusoe Realm of Sand Splendor Strange Vending Machine Innovation
Anna Kipnis (ex-Double Fine) joins us to discuss games with uniquely human interactions, while Nick shares his favorite modern pub games, Christina highlights games that reveal players’ personalities, Shoe muses on how working in video games has influenced our board game preferences.
Games we discussed:
Intro: Orleans Yokohama Scoville Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done Small World Nick's Topic: Skull Liar's Dice Kobayakawa Lie The Mind Illusion A Fake Artist Goes to New York Dead Last Just One A Game of Thrones: Hand of the King Christina's Topic: Pandemic Legacy Pandemic Ascension Lost Cities Werewolf Shadows Over Camelot Coup Battlestar Galactica Secret Hitler The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 Anna's Topic: Codenames Dead of Winter Shoe's Topic: Gloomhaven TIME Stories Puerto Rico Round-Up: Hanabi Rising Sun Doro-Doko
This week, guest Theresa Duringer joins the board game discussion. She's the co-founder of Temple Gates Games, the developer responsible for digital ports of several popular tabletop games like Roll for the Galaxy or Shards of Infinity. And she's a pretty damn good baker, too.
Games we talked about:
Intro:
Ascension Race for the Galaxy Roll for the Galaxy Shards of Infinity Shoe: Carcassonne Settlers of Catan Risk Monopoly The Castles of Burgundy Ticket to Ride Mike: Mansions of Madness, 2nd edition Chronicles of Crime Werewords Exit: The Game Unlock! Escape Adventures SolForge Christina: Edible Games Cookbook by Jenn Sandercock Mice and Mystics Resident Evil 2 Pretense Theresa: All games can lead to democratization! Final Thoughts: Starfarers of Catan Porta Nigra Through the Ages
Designer Jordan Draper (Tokyo Series, Import/Export) joins us to discuss his innovative oeuvre, and integrating diverse themes into games, while Nick reps his favorite travel games, Christina ponders expectations of game length, and Shoe tells us how games changed his life.
Games we discussed -
Intro:
Tokyo Series Tokyo Jutaku Tokyo Metro Tokyo Jidohanbaiki Tokyo Game Show Tokyo Tsukiji Market Tokyo Coin Laundry Metal Tribe Cactus Import/Export Glory to Rome Container Nick's topic: Celestia A Fake Artist Goes to New York Kobayakawa Modern Art Nine Tiles Maskmen Troll The Game The Mind This Is It Praise Startups Turin Market Rights Hanabi Love Letter Lost Legacy Pack O Games R (BraveRats) Campy Creatures Pickomino Sushizock im Gockelwok Shoe's topic: Perfect Hotel Kamakura Collection Jordan's topic: Archipelago Christina's topic: Antiquity Hab & Gut 18XX Monopoly Final Thoughts: Scythe Castles of Burgundy Nothing to Talk About
Our friend James Hudson, head of Druid City Games and the tabletop division of Skybound Games, joins us to revisit ethics in board game media, as well as answer the many questions we throw at him. Plus Christina asks how ugly game art happens, Shoe discusses the importance of story in games that don’t center around story, and Mike shares some of his favorite board game influencers.
Games we discussed -
Intro:
Tidal Blades Valor & Villainy The Grimm Forest The Grimm Masquerade The Walking Dead: Something to Fear Sorcerer City Christina's segment: The Castles of Burgundy Innovation Fairy Tile Rising 5: Runes of Asteros Hansa Teutonica Shoe's segment: Tales of the Arabian Nights Steampunk Rally Brass: Birmingham Near and Far Above and Below Dogs of War Wonderland's War Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective James's segment: Orleans Mike's segment: No games mentioned, but lots of people to follow Final Thoughts: Gugong Treasure Island Cryptid Tobago Rise of Queensdale Broom Service Broom Service: The Card Game Songbirds
Steve Nix (Gen7) joins us to discuss how game mechanics can trigger emotions, as well as how he built the world of his game, while Christina compares worker-placement to dice-placement games, and Mike goes over the pros and cons of game promo goodies
Games we mentioned:
Shoe's topic Gen7 Steve's topic Dead of Winter Gloomhaven Pandemic Arkham Horror Robinson Crusoe Forbidden Island Forbidden Desert Forbidden Sky Tokaido Nyctophobia Letters from White Chapel Fury of Dracula Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space Christina's topic Agricola Caverna Lords of Waterdeep Voyages of Marco Polo Teotihuacan Bora Bora Alien Frontiers Kingsburg Cosmic Run Regeneration Architects of the West Kingdom Lords of Vegas Castles of Burgundy Mike's topic Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle Yedo Dixit Mysterium Android: Netrunner Star Wars Destiny Wrap-up Urban Tribes Shards of Infinitiy Ascension Kashgar: Merchants of the Silk Road Hollywood Golden Age
Emerson Matsuuchi (Century series, Reef, the upcoming Metal Gear Solid game) ponders what qualities of board games attract video gamers, Christina goes over what makes for a fun and helpful rule book, Nick pits Tales of Arabian Nights against Betrayal Legacy to discuss giving players meaningful story choices, and Shoe asks Emerson how he approaches designing games that can be merged together.
Emerson's games we mentioned: Reef Century: Spice Road Century: Eastern Wonders Century: From Sand to Sea Century: A New World Specter Ops
Emerson's segment: Metal Gear Solid Settlers of Catan Monopoly Ticket to Ride Carcassonne Christina's segment: Castles of Burgundy Broom Service Space Alert Dungeon Petz Galaxy Trucker Brass: Lancashire
Brass: Birmingham Nick's segment: Tales of Arabian Nights Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Betrayal Legacy Betrayal at House on the Hill Forest of Fate Dungeons and Dragons Agents of SMERSH Shoe's segment: Tokyo Game Series: Jidohanbaiki, Jutaku, and Metro 504 Final Thoughts: Wingspan Castles of Mad King Ludwig Quacks of Quedlinberg Time Barons Detective: Modern Crime KeyForge
The crew are back to wrap up their favorite games of 2018, with final Game of the Year picks and other favorites that almost made the cut. And stick around until the end, as an array of very special guests share their GOTY as well!
It’s a holiday miracle! The crew are united in person, and we dole out awards for some of board gaming’s best - and worst - distinctions of 2018. From best components, to the most disappointing sequel, to the best beige game, to the most stressful game.
Ryan and Malorie Laukat from Red Raven Games join us to talk about board games we want to see made into video games, the most gorgeous game artwork, what makes for a good open-world board game experience, and how games encourage us to use our imagination.
The OG crew are back together - in Mike’s living room! Nick has some best practices for teaching games, Shoe brings tales from a trip to BGG.CON, Christina screams about games that make us yell, and Mike gives us a hot tip on an unsung party game.
Jamey Stegmaier of Stonemaier Games (Scythe, Viticulture) asks what we want out of a Civilization-style game, Mike blings out his components, Christina talks games that sound lame but are actually great, and Shoe explains why we go to game conventions.
Tim Schafer (Double Fine) joins us to discuss why so many digital game creators are “going analog,” Shoe covers the best gateway games for video gamers, Christina talks unique game components, and Mike muses on being a responsible gaming parent.
Special Guest Game Designer Jon Gilmour (Dead of Winter) tells us how board game experiences impact design, Mike shares some spooky games for Halloween, Christina tells us how to be a better gaming host, and Shoe craps on games that other people love.
Mike gives us the lowdown on Western Legends’ cowboy-in-a-box experience, Christina nerds out on the best modern word games, Shoe get tough on ethics in board game coverage, and Nick spends way too much money game-shopping in Japan.
Nick brings us back to the seminal games of our childhood, Shoe gives his first impressions of Richard Garfield’s Keyforge, Christina wants to know how we organize our game collections, and Mike sets the mood with custom soundtracks. Your turn!
Mike gets the crew talking about what makes a great gateway game, Nick extolls the polished pleasures of Keymaster Games, Christina wants to know everyone’s favorite 2-player games, and Shoe takes us on a roleplaying adventure with Kids on Bikes!
Dan "Shoe" Hsu shares his favorite games of Gen Con, Christina Ha discusses an unfortunate part of con culture, Mike Zipkin chooses his own adventure with House of Danger, and Nick proclaims his love for the minimalist brilliance of Oink Games. Join us!