Talking Across the Game Board podcast

This is it, the final episode of Talking Across the Game Board. We have a look back at the history (briefly) of the shows on the network. We also give a behind the scenes look - what do we use to edit the audiofiles? How do we record remotely? How do you publish a podcast? What equipment do you need? We also look at why we are stopping, then look at what is next.

This week Dean and Graeme have a look at light games. How do we classify light games? Can you have a long light game? What about a simple rule set but lots to think about? Do we look down our noses at light games? We then do our Top 5 Light Games (rated 1.5 or below on BoardGameGeek)

This week Dean and Graeme discuss gaming as relaxation. Can we play games to relax or is there always some level of stress in games? What would make a game relaxing? Are there certain genres of games that are more relaxing? We then look at our Top 5 Games We Play To Relax.

We look back at 2020, and look at the games we never got a chance to play. We also have a discussion on older games in general. Do we only look at the New Releases section or do we have a list of older games we always keep an eye out for? If we miss a new release, is it out of sight out of mind? We then do a Top 5 2020 Games We Want To Play

This week Graeme had some sticker shock while looking at games! We look at deluxe editions - do we buy them? Do we want them? How much is too much? Given the option, would we get a Deluxe edition or a normal edition? Top 5 Games We Want As A Deluxe Edition

Only a few episodes left of the Podcast, please make sure you send in any questions/comments for the finale ASAP! This week Dean and I look at games that are Stuck in Time - that is games that have a strong connection to the time period in which they are set (not just historical, but could be future time period as well). Do we have a preference for the time period? With our different backgrounds in gaming, does that make a difference in what we call a "Historical Game"? We then do a Top 5 Games Stuck in Time (pick 5 different Eras and pick one game from each).

This week Dean and Graeme talk about disappointments. What would cause our disappointment in a game? Hype? Designer Expectations? Recommendations? Have gotten wise in our old age and can avoid disappointments? We then do our Top 5 Games We Wanted to Like but Were Disappointed

This week we look at the BGG Top 100 games - and specifically the ones we have not played. How many do you need to play to get your "gamer" badge? Is there a need to play them? What about genres you like - should you try those from the top 100? We then do our Top 5 Games we have NOT played in the top 100 that we want to.

It's that time of year! Essen Spiel just finished where publishers show off shiny new games. In our yearly tradition we look back at the 10 games we picked from last year's Essen Spiel to see if we've played them and what we thought of them. Then we give out Top 10 Games we are looking forward to from Essen Spiel 2020.

This week we look at large publishers. Do we seek out large publishers? Do we trust the games they put out? Are we more willing to take a chance on an unknown game from them? Are their brands diluted? We then do our pick from 5 large publishers.

This week we start with a brief announcement, then we talk about game endings. What are our favourite ways for a game to end? Can the ending of a game feel anticlimactic? Do we have a favourite way for a game to end? We then do our Top 5 Game Endings

This week we look at bad expansions. Have you ever disliked an expansion to a game you love? What about an expansion that made you dislike the base game? We look at what makes a bad expansion and decide what exactly the role of an expansion is. We then do our Top 5 Bad Expansions.

This week we look at what games would we back into an evacuation box if we had to leave our houses in a hurry. Do we have insurance on our games? Would we replace our games if something happened to them or start afresh? We then look at our Top 5 Games We'd Pack into our Evacuation Box.

Dean and Graeme talk competitiveness in this episode. Since neither one of us is remotely competitive in any way we try and understand the need to do well. Does it effect our enjoyment of the game? Do we wish we were more competitive? We finish with our Top 5 Games We Are Always Competitive In.

Both Dean and Graeme use BoardGameGeek on a regular basis and agree it is the best board game site out there. But in our perfect world, what would we add to the site to make it even better? We also look at the stats that are available on BGG and see which ones we find useful. We then do our Top 10 Games from the Most Voted On Games from BoardGameGeek.com

This week we talk about gaming with our families. How often do we get to play? What types of gamers do we have in the house? How do we pick games for them? Do we buy games for them? We then do our Top 5 Games We Play with our Family

This week we look at heavy games - what makes a game heavy? Do we like them? Do we seek them out? Are there things that a heavy game must have? What about length? We then do our Top 5 Heavy Games (outside of our Top 100 games of all time).

After finishing our Top 100 Games of All Time and seeing how many different designers there were, we thought it would be a good idea to revisit the topic of Designers. Do designers make a difference to our gaming choices? Are there automatic buys/skips? Is there one designer where we have to get all their games? We then do our Top 5 Games Designed by Non-male Designers.

This week Dean and Graeme discuss "one hit wonders". What do we mean? What/Who qualifies? Is it more of a percent of games we like/dislike? This is a very subjective topic. We then do our Top 5 One (or two...) Hit Wonders

This week Dean and Graeme have a look at the Spiel des Jahres nominations. We discuss how useful we find awards and which awards, if any, we follow. Do they influence our purchasing? And what type of jury for awards do we prefer? We then do our top 5 Spiel des Jahres Games (either nominated or winners)

Dean and Graeme are working on recording our Top 100 Games of all time and I noticed that neither of us had no Abstract Strategy games (or almost none) on our lists. So we decided to have a closer look at this mechanism and find out why. Then we give our Top 5 Abstract Strategy Games.

This week Dean and Graeme have a look at gimmicks in games. What do we mean by gimmicks? What are some examples of gimmicks? Are minis in games just gimmicks? We then do our Top 5 Games with Gimmicks

This week Dean and Graeme look at learning. Since our kids have gone back to virtual school, we wanted to look at games that can teach you something. Do these types of games attract us? Or have we done our time in school and want to distance ourselves from learning? We then do our Top 5 Games That Can Teach You Something

This week Dean and Graeme have a look at multiplayer games that we like at 2 players. Since many of us are looking for things to do while social distancing we wanted to look at our collections to see what games we prefer at 2 players. We then end off with our Top 5 Multiplayer Games we like best at 2 Players

This week is a little different, Graeme is asking Dean about solo games. Is there a difference between a solo mode and a solo only game? Are there different kinds of solo modes? Which does Dean prefer? We then do a Top 5 - Dean is recommending 5 Solo Games for Graeme to try, and Graeme picked 5 games he has not played but sounded interesting. Any cross over? Listen to find out!

This week Dean and Graeme have a look at 2nd editions on kickstarter. What defines a 2nd edition? How long should there be between 1st and 2nd? How do we feel when we get the 1st edition then see soon after there is a 2nd edition? We then do our Top 5 2nd Editions we want to get.

This week Dean and Graeme look at games we feel are underappreciated. Do we go out of our way looking for those hidden gems? Does the increasing cost of games reduce our willingness to take a chance on a game? We then do our Top 5 Games Only We Seem To Like

This week Dean and Graeme have a look back at 2015. Was it as good as everybody seems to say? Is it just rose coloured glasses? We then do our Top 5 2015 Games OUTSIDE the top 1000

This week Dean and Graeme look at overhyped games. These are games that people were hyped about after the games were released and were so eager to get, but when we tried them they fell flat. Why? How do we feel when a game is hyped by gamers after it has been released? Then our Top 5 Games that were hyped up after release but we did not enjoy.

It's the start of the new year so Dean and Graeme have a look back at the last decade (2010-2019). For each year we will have a look at the number of games published, how many are in the top 100/1000, the #1 game from that year, then finally our pick from the year.

So it's that time of year when we get some really big sales on everything, and with Dean and Graeme being pretty cheap we discuss games on sale. Does it mean they are bad games? We play a bad game that is cheap, does it still sting? Top 5 Games We'd Only Buy on Sale

Dean and Graeme look at our own cynicism as it relates to board gaming. Are we becoming more cynical and hard on games released now? Was it always better in the old days? Are we still excited to crack open a new game? We then do our Top 5 Games that we have liked it we played them years ago.

This week Dean and Graeme discuss teaching games. Which one of the hosts likes to teach and which one doesn't? Is there a reason one of them usually ends up teaching games? We then do our Top 5 Games We Like Teaching!

  This week Dean and Graeme have a looking at diving deep into games. What do we mean? We are looking at games we feel have a lot of depth to them that we have not explored. Do deep games have to be complex? What about abstract strategy games? We then do our Top 5 Games we want to further explore!  

This week Dean and Graeme have a look at randomness in games. Are there different types of randomness? Do we prefer one type over another? Is it necessary to be able to mitigate all randomness? Will Graeme embrace his inner love for randomness? We then have a look at our Top 5 Games with Randomness

In our (now) yearly tradition of looking at the games from the Essen Game fair in Germany, we first look back at our picks from last year. How many have we played? How many of them are actually any good? We then give our top 10 Games we are looking forward to from Essen 2019.

Warning - Dean's side of the recording has some technical issues. But in this episode we talk about narrative in games - not story telling games, or the theme, but games that tell a story. What types of games do this best? Are there some games we play strictly for the story? We then do our Top 5 Games with Narrative

This week our two incredible dexterous hosts have a look at dexterity games. What types of dexterity games do we know of? What about action and speed games, do they count? Do we enjoy this type of game? Then we do our Top 5 Dexterity Games.

Due to the Labour Day long weekend and technical issues this is going up a day late. This week Dean and Graeme have a look at games for new comers to the hobby. We first discuss what we've done to introduce people to hobby board games, and what mechanisms we think work. We then do out Top 10 Games that are NOT New Gamer Friendly and why.

In this episode, Dean and Graeme look at good games that we won't play again. What does that mean? Is it the same as highly ranked games we don't like? Why would we not want to play a good game again? Find out, then hear our Top 5 Good Games We Won't Play Again!

This week Dean and Graeme have a look at deduction games. What types of deduction games are there? Do we like some sub genres better than others? Do we think we are good at them? Are traitor games deduction games? We then do our Top 5 Deduction games

This week Dean and Graeme look at replacement games. Are we actively searching for replacement games? Are there games we really want to replace? Ever had that "never going to play that old game again" moment when playing a new game? Ever gone back and played games you had previously "replaced"? We then do our Top 5 Replacement Games (original game and it's replacement)

This week Dean and Graeme have a look at player elimination in games. Do we like it or avoid it? Is it a dated mechanism? What about introducing it to new members to the hobby? Are there different types of player elimination? We then do our Top 5 games with Player Elimination

This week we look at rule books and some good and not so good points in rules books. Do we like 2 rule books (learn to play and rules appendix)? What about GMT-like rule books? Are there things all rule books must have? We then have a look at our Top 5 Worst Rule Books (and what makes them bad!)

This week Dean and Graeme have a look at large group games (or games that play 5+ players) that are not party games! Is the higher player count something we look for in games? Do we like playing with the full complement of players? Are there some genres/styles where the more players the better? Then we do our Top 5 Large Group Games.

Dean and Graeme have a look at party games! What type of games do we like to play at a party? Do we bring games to all the parties? Do we want to get everybody involved? Are there "party" games that we think are misclassified as party games? Do we like party games? How many in our collections? We then do our Top 5 Games to play at a party

Dean and Graeme have a look back 10 years ago. This is a time before Graeme was into hobby board games, and dean was mostly a war gamer. So how many games from 2009 do we have in our collections? Looking back at it, was it a good year in games? Any games we feel need a 10th anniversary edition? Oh, and Dean did some math! We end with our Top 5 games from 2009.

Dean and Graeme have a look at small box games. Are they all just filler games? Can a grand game be put into a small box? If our favourite designer makes a small box game, does that excite us or are we a little disappointed? We then finish with out Top 5 Small Box Games.

This week Dean and Graeme look at reprints. Why do games go out of print? When games are reprinted, should they be kept the same or updated? When is a reprint really just a new game with the same theme? Would you ever go back and buy the original when there is a reprint? We end with the Top 5 Games We Want Reprinted (for whatever reason)

  In this episode Dean and Graeme have a look back at 2014. How much were we into the hobby at that time? How many 2014 games do we own? Was it a good year in gaming? We then do the Top 5 Games from 2014.  

Now that we are a few months into 2019, Dean and Graeme have a look back at 2018. Was it a good year in gaming for us and for the hobby? What were the highlights/lowlights/regrets from the year? We then answer 5 questions : Biggest surprise, Best gaming experience, Top Expansion, Top Older game you got back to the table, and the 2019 game you are looking forward to.