Going Analog Podcast

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, Codis 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.

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.

What's your favorite movie genre? And which board games can you play to relive those feels? We ask performer and board game writer Mx. Tiffany Leigh to chat about this. 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: The 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: 3:54 - Naveen's game pick: Let's Go! To Japan. 9:48 - Monique's game pick: Hanamikoji. 15:11 - Christina's game pick: Rumble Nation. 19:03 - Christina's topic: attending the Tokyo Game Market. 34:58 - Naveen's topic: Japanese vs. Western board games. 46:56 - 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.