http://www.odeo.com/channels/2155-Boardgames-To-Go MarkJohnson no Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames. Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames. Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about strategy boardgames. en 40 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:16:29 -0800 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:16:29 -0800 Hobbies http://www.odeo.com/episodes/25409384-BGTG-99-Ten-Years-of-Essens Chris left a comment after the previous podcast (anticipating this year's Essen), asking what games were my favorites from past Essens. That was the idea behind this show--my favorites, BGG's favorites, and what seemed liked the favorites at the time (Fairplay ratings). I looked up the past decade of Fairplay rankings, compared it against current BGG rankings, and also figured out my favorites from that same Essen. In addition to BGG, the original German boardgame database Luding was very useful, since it allows searches for a particular Essen year. My favorites from all these years are mostly "superfillers," but there are some heavier games as long as they aren't particularly long. A few kids' games and card games, too. What are your favorites from these years? -Mark Chris left a comment after the previous podcast (anticipating this year's Essen), asking what games were my favorites from past Essens. That was the idea behind this show--my favorites, BGG's favorites, and what seemed liked the favorites at the time (Fairplay ratings). I looked up the past decade of Fairplay rankings, compared it against current BGG rankings, and also figured out my favorites from that same Essen. In addition to BGG, the original German boardgame database Luding was very useful, since it allows searches for a particular Essen year. My favorites from all these years are mostly "superfillers," but there are some heavier games as long as they aren't particularly long. A few kids' games and card games, too. What are your favorites from these years? -Mark Chris left a comment after the previous podcast (anticipating this year's Essen), asking what games were my favorites from past Essens. That was the idea behind this show--my favorites, BGG's favorites, and what seemed liked the favorites at the time (Fairplay ratings). I looked up the past decade of Fairplay rankings, compared it against current BGG rankings, and also figured out my favorites from that same Essen. In addition to BGG, the original German boardgame database Luding was very useful, since it allows searches for a particular Essen year. My favorites from all these years are mostly "superfillers," but there are some heavier games as long as they aren't particularly long. A few kids' games and card games, too. What are your favorites from these years? -Mark tag:odeo.com,2009-11-05,25409384 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:16:29 -0800 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/25366325-BGTG-97-All-About-Brass-with-Stephanie-Kelleher If you pay attention to the episode numbers, you'll see this one actually belongs before the previous show about Essen. I only needed to hurry that one out in time for the big game fair in Germany this week. I'd recorded this episode focusing on Martin Wallace's Brass with guest Stephanie Kelleher (songlian on BGG). Stephanie is at Essen right now helping with the BGG/Geekdo booth! We both really enjoy this game. Stephanie has played more face-to-face games, while I've got a lot more online plays. I tend to prefer lighter/shorter games, but Wallace's games always have a strong appeal for their historical themes. Stephanie is more of a fan of heavy games. The interesting part is how much we both like this one. -Mark If you pay attention to the episode numbers, you'll see this one actually belongs before the previous show about Essen. I only needed to hurry that one out in time for the big game fair in Germany this week. I'd recorded this episode focusing on Martin Wallace's Brass with guest Stephanie Kelleher (songlian on BGG). Stephanie is at Essen right now helping with the BGG/Geekdo booth! We both really enjoy this game. Stephanie has played more face-to-face games, while I've got a lot more online plays. I tend to prefer lighter/shorter games, but Wallace's games always have a strong appeal for their historical themes. Stephanie is more of a fan of heavy games. The interesting part is how much we both like this one. -Mark If you pay attention to the episode numbers, you'll see this one actually belongs before the previous show about Essen. I only needed to hurry that one out in time for the big game fair in Germany this week. I'd recorded this episode focusing on Martin Wallace's Brass with guest Stephanie Kelleher (songlian on BGG). Stephanie is at Essen right now helping with the BGG/Geekdo booth! We both really enjoy this game. Stephanie has played more face-to-face games, while I've got a lot more online plays. I tend to prefer lighter/shorter games, but Wallace's games always have a strong appeal for their historical themes. Stephanie is more of a fan of heavy games. The interesting part is how much we both like this one. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2009-10-24,25366325 Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:20:28 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/25314136-BGTG-98-Essen-Anticipation-2009 As before, I've managed to squeeze in a show just before the Essen game fair Spiel that shares my anticipation for the event and a number of games. Nope, I'm not going there, just living vicariously through the preview information about the games about to debut at this enormous event in our hobby. All of this may will change after we start hearing (and seeing!) more about this games from firsthand gamer experience, first at Essen itself, and especially after a month or so at BGG.con. (Unfortunately, I won't be there, either.) If you want to follow along to the titles I run down that I find interesting, you could look through this private geeklist. It's not a polished thing ready for others to comment on. In fact, I disabled the comments, preferring instead to include a link back to this blog entry. Please write your comments here, or else send email/audio feedback to the usual destinations. Thanks. -Mark As before, I've managed to squeeze in a show just before the Essen game fair Spiel that shares my anticipation for the event and a number of games. Nope, I'm not going there, just living vicariously through the preview information about the games about to debut at this enormous event in our hobby. All of this may will change after we start hearing (and seeing!) more about this games from firsthand gamer experience, first at Essen itself, and especially after a month or so at BGG.con. (Unfortunately, I won't be there, either.) If you want to follow along to the titles I run down that I find interesting, you could look through this private geeklist. It's not a polished thing ready for others to comment on. In fact, I disabled the comments, preferring instead to include a link back to this blog entry. Please write your comments here, or else send email/audio feedback to the usual destinations. Thanks. -Mark As before, I've managed to squeeze in a show just before the Essen game fair Spiel that shares my anticipation for the event and a number of games. Nope, I'm not going there, just living vicariously through the preview information about the games about to debut at this enormous event in our hobby. All of this may will change after we start hearing (and seeing!) more about this games from firsthand gamer experience, first at Essen itself, and especially after a month or so at BGG.con. (Unfortunately, I won't be there, either.) If you want to follow along to the titles I run down that I find interesting, you could look through this private geeklist. It's not a polished thing ready for others to comment on. In fact, I disabled the comments, preferring instead to include a link back to this blog entry. Please write your comments here, or else send email/audio feedback to the usual destinations. Thanks. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2009-10-19,25314136 Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:56:11 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/25047389-BGTG-96-Translations-Editions-and-Revisions-with-David-Gullett Let me clear about this--most of the explanation for the delay in this podcast (recorded almost two months ago) is simply that I never got around to finishing & posting it. Part of that is because the show is longer than usual--longer than fits on a CD--and I thought I wanted to edit it down considerably. But as you know if you're a longtime listener, I don't really do that kind of editing. I don't do much editing at all, truthfully. (Feedback welcome on that, by the way.) After I gave up the idea of editing out so much content, I figured I'd just post the show in two parts, spaced about a week apart. Now that it's taken me another few weeks to even do that much, I'm giving up, deciding to post the whole thing. I don't think hardly anybody burns these onto CDs in 2009 anyway, and some gaming podcasts are even longer. So this is part procrastination/laziness, part experiment. Let me know what you think. Whew! This is a topic of interest to the truly geeky, the ones that care a li... Let me clear about this--most of the explanation for the delay in this podcast (recorded almost two months ago) is simply that I never got around to finishing & posting it. Part of that is because the show is longer than usual--longer than fits on a CD--and I thought I wanted to edit it down considerably. But as you know if you're a longtime listener, I don't really do that kind of editing. I don't do much editing at all, truthfully. (Feedback welcome on that, by the way.) After I gave up the idea of editing out so much content, I figured I'd just post the show in two parts, spaced about a week apart. Now that it's taken me another few weeks to even do that much, I'm giving up, deciding to post the whole thing. I don't think hardly anybody burns these onto CDs in 2009 anyway, and some gaming podcasts are even longer. So this is part procrastination/laziness, part experiment. Let me know what you think. Whew! This is a topic of interest to the truly geeky, the ones that care a little too much about their games. That's me, and it's probably you, too. (After all, you're reading a boardgame blog, listening to a boardgame podcast! You've got it bad . . . ) You won't be in this hobby very long before you encounter some opinions, including your own, about which version of a game is best. The original? The one where they changed the artwork & components? Or the one where they redeveloped the game into something just a little different? Small World is the game that triggered me to record this episode. I'm a huge fan of Vinci, which was Small World's differently-themed predecessor. Do I like Small World? Yes. Do I prefer it to Vinci? No way. Why not? Because of the theme. Vinci has a historic theme and map, while Small World has a fantasy theme and map. You know my preferences. I've heard some say that Vinci has no theme, but I don't understand that at all. Clearly we have very different ideas of what constitutes a game theme. (That's another podcast I'd like to tackle some day.) Of the several design modifications in the latter game, I prefer the original, but they're not a big deal. It's the theme that is driving my opinion, more than anything. Which do I recommend? Well, it depends on the gamer, but I have to admit that most will probably prefer Small World. Certainly you can easily buy Small World, while Vinci is now, sadly, Out-Of-Print (OOP). We talk about a lot more than Small World as I tried to generalize what's going on here. All those versions of Settlers, Cosmic Encounter, Medici, and even Careers make it in to the discussion. -Mark Let me clear about this--most of the explanation for the delay in this podcast (recorded almost two months ago) is simply that I never got around to finishing & posting it. Part of that is because the show is longer than usual--longer than fits on a CD--and I thought I wanted to edit it down considerably. But as you know if you're a longtime listener, I don't really do that kind of editing. I don't do much editing at all, truthfully. (Feedback welcome on that, by the way.) After I gave up the idea of editing out so much content, I figured I'd just post the show in two parts, spaced about a week apart. Now that it's taken me another few weeks to even do that much, I'm giving up, deciding to post the whole thing. I don't think hardly anybody burns these onto CDs in 2009 anyway, and some gaming podcasts are even longer. So this is part procrastination/laziness, part experiment. Let me know what you think. Whew! This is a topic of interest to the truly geeky, the ones that care a little too much about their games. That's me, and it's probably you, too. (After all, you're reading a boardgame blog, listening to a boardgame podcast! You've got it bad . . . ) You won't be in this hobby very long before you encounter some opinions, including your own, about which version of a game is best. The original? The one where they changed the artwork & components? Or the one where they redeveloped the game into something just a little different? Small World is the game that triggered me to record this episode. I'm a huge fan of Vinci, which was Small World's differently-themed predecessor. Do I like Small World? Yes. Do I prefer it to Vinci? No way. Why not? Because of the theme. Vinci has a historic theme and map, while Small World has a fantasy theme and map. You know my preferences. I've heard some say that Vinci has no theme, but I don't understand that at all. Clearly we have very different ideas of what constitutes a game theme. (That's another podcast I'd like to tackle some day.) Of the several design modifications in the latter game, I prefer the original, but they're not a big deal. It's the theme that is driving my opinion, more than anything. Which do I recommend? Well, it depends on the gamer, but I have to admit that most will probably prefer Small World. Certainly you can easily buy Small World, while Vinci is now, sadly, Out-Of-Print (OOP). We talk about a lot more than Small World as I tried to generalize what's going on here. All those versions of Settlers, Cosmic Encounter, Medici, and even Careers make it in to the discussion. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2009-08-30,25047389 Sun, 30 Aug 2009 18:43:52 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24746750-BGTG-95-SR-Feedback-Container-Chicago-Express Whoops! I almost let two months go by since my last show. I've been playing plenty of games, so here's a session report & feedback show to describe my inability to play economic games with any skill! But as badly as I've been doing at them, I'm still interested. In fact, I'm even more interested in the games because it feels like there's something everyone else understands about their strategy . . . that I don't! Two plays of one game, four plays of the other, and I'm still struggling. What I really need is for someone to make a play-by-web version of either of these games, then I could really practice. (I've gotten pretty good at Brass that way.) The previous few episodes generated a ton of great feedback, and that's what I really wanted to share on the podcast. Keep 'em coming--all of your podcasters love feedback. Whoops! I almost let two months go by since my last show. I've been playing plenty of games, so here's a session report & feedback show to describe my inability to play economic games with any skill! But as badly as I've been doing at them, I'm still interested. In fact, I'm even more interested in the games because it feels like there's something everyone else understands about their strategy . . . that I don't! Two plays of one game, four plays of the other, and I'm still struggling. What I really need is for someone to make a play-by-web version of either of these games, then I could really practice. (I've gotten pretty good at Brass that way.) The previous few episodes generated a ton of great feedback, and that's what I really wanted to share on the podcast. Keep 'em coming--all of your podcasters love feedback. Whoops! I almost let two months go by since my last show. I've been playing plenty of games, so here's a session report & feedback show to describe my inability to play economic games with any skill! But as badly as I've been doing at them, I'm still interested. In fact, I'm even more interested in the games because it feels like there's something everyone else understands about their strategy . . . that I don't! Two plays of one game, four plays of the other, and I'm still struggling. What I really need is for someone to make a play-by-web version of either of these games, then I could really practice. (I've gotten pretty good at Brass that way.) The previous few episodes generated a ton of great feedback, and that's what I really wanted to share on the podcast. Keep 'em coming--all of your podcasters love feedback. tag:odeo.com,2009-07-02,24746750 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:35:10 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24534856-BGTG-94-Are-any-of-our-games-Classics-with-Greg-Pettit It comes up from time to time in discussions about our hobby--will any of the games we're playing now achieve "classic" status? There are commercial classics like Monopoly, Risk, and Scrabble, as well as cultural or timeless classics like Go, Chess, and Poker. That's an awfully high standard for any game to achieve, even ones we think so highly of on our game nights and gamesdays. What does complexity or availability have to do with it? And is the world just so different today that games have a different path to achieve that status? The conversation is long, but a particularly good one. I think so, anyway. I told my guest, Greg Pettit, afterward that this is just the sort of subject I enjoy tackling in the podcast. Because I always enjoyed reading about it from the likes of Peter Sarrett, Mike Siggins, or Greg Aleknevicus. That's good company to be in! We go back & forth between philosophical descriptions of classics, and considerations of individual titles. Partway through the ... It comes up from time to time in discussions about our hobby--will any of the games we're playing now achieve "classic" status? There are commercial classics like Monopoly, Risk, and Scrabble, as well as cultural or timeless classics like Go, Chess, and Poker. That's an awfully high standard for any game to achieve, even ones we think so highly of on our game nights and gamesdays. What does complexity or availability have to do with it? And is the world just so different today that games have a different path to achieve that status? The conversation is long, but a particularly good one. I think so, anyway. I told my guest, Greg Pettit, afterward that this is just the sort of subject I enjoy tackling in the podcast. Because I always enjoyed reading about it from the likes of Peter Sarrett, Mike Siggins, or Greg Aleknevicus. That's good company to be in! We go back & forth between philosophical descriptions of classics, and considerations of individual titles. Partway through the show, Greg poses a wonderful question about what games we might put in a 50 or 100-year time capsule, wanting to show future generations how wonderful, entertaining, and creative these games are . . . even if those future people are used to playing virtual reality, holographic, full-sensory "videogames" and zipping around in their flying cars. :-) -Mark It comes up from time to time in discussions about our hobby--will any of the games we're playing now achieve "classic" status? There are commercial classics like Monopoly, Risk, and Scrabble, as well as cultural or timeless classics like Go, Chess, and Poker. That's an awfully high standard for any game to achieve, even ones we think so highly of on our game nights and gamesdays. What does complexity or availability have to do with it? And is the world just so different today that games have a different path to achieve that status? The conversation is long, but a particularly good one. I think so, anyway. I told my guest, Greg Pettit, afterward that this is just the sort of subject I enjoy tackling in the podcast. Because I always enjoyed reading about it from the likes of Peter Sarrett, Mike Siggins, or Greg Aleknevicus. That's good company to be in! We go back & forth between philosophical descriptions of classics, and considerations of individual titles. Partway through the show, Greg poses a wonderful question about what games we might put in a 50 or 100-year time capsule, wanting to show future generations how wonderful, entertaining, and creative these games are . . . even if those future people are used to playing virtual reality, holographic, full-sensory "videogames" and zipping around in their flying cars. :-) -Mark tag:odeo.com,2009-05-04,24534856 Mon, 04 May 2009 07:33:29 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/25343171-BGTG-93-All-About-Big-City-with-Eric-Burgess It must be just about time for a boring show with just me on the mic, but you're spared once again! This time I have fellow podcaster Eric "Boardgame Babylon" Burgess with me to talk about another of my favorites, Big City. Turns out it's one of his, too, and when I made a half-serious request for someone to do this episode with, Eric responded right away. We live somewhat far from each other, though still both in Southern California. Better still, we commute our opposite directions to both coverge on our workplaces only a few miles apart. Big City is a game notable for its wonderful plastic pieces--not normally something I'm swayed by--but it's also an outstanding and unique tile-laying game with strong theme. Though out of print by Goldseiber and Rio Grande Games, it is due to be reprinted by Valley Games pretty soon. And there's always the used game market. -Mark P.S. Be sure to check out Eric's "Power Grid: In Depth" podcast, as well as the rest of Boardgame Babylon. It must be just about time for a boring show with just me on the mic, but you're spared once again! This time I have fellow podcaster Eric "Boardgame Babylon" Burgess with me to talk about another of my favorites, Big City. Turns out it's one of his, too, and when I made a half-serious request for someone to do this episode with, Eric responded right away. We live somewhat far from each other, though still both in Southern California. Better still, we commute our opposite directions to both coverge on our workplaces only a few miles apart. Big City is a game notable for its wonderful plastic pieces--not normally something I'm swayed by--but it's also an outstanding and unique tile-laying game with strong theme. Though out of print by Goldseiber and Rio Grande Games, it is due to be reprinted by Valley Games pretty soon. And there's always the used game market. -Mark P.S. Be sure to check out Eric's "Power Grid: In Depth" podcast, as well as the rest of Boardgame Babylon. It must be just about time for a boring show with just me on the mic, but you're spared once again! This time I have fellow podcaster Eric "Boardgame Babylon" Burgess with me to talk about another of my favorites, Big City. Turns out it's one of his, too, and when I made a half-serious request for someone to do this episode with, Eric responded right away. We live somewhat far from each other, though still both in Southern California. Better still, we commute our opposite directions to both coverge on our workplaces only a few miles apart. Big City is a game notable for its wonderful plastic pieces--not normally something I'm swayed by--but it's also an outstanding and unique tile-laying game with strong theme. Though out of print by Goldseiber and Rio Grande Games, it is due to be reprinted by Valley Games pretty soon. And there's always the used game market. -Mark P.S. Be sure to check out Eric's "Power Grid: In Depth" podcast, as well as the rest of Boardgame Babylon. tag:odeo.com,2009-04-14,25343171 Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:16:23 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24450861-BGTG-93-All-About-Big-City-with-Eric-Burgess It must be just about time for a boring show with just me on the mic, but you're spared once again! This time I have fellow podcaster Eric "Boardgame Babylon" Burgess with me to talk about another of my favorites, Big City. Turns out it's one of his, too, and when I made a half-serious request for someone to do this episode with, Eric responded right away. We live somewhat far from each other, though still both in Southern California. Better still, we commute our opposite directions to both coverge on our workplaces only a few miles apart. Big City is a game notable for its wonderful plastic pieces--not normally something I'm swayed by--but it's also an outstanding and unique tile-laying game with strong theme. Though out of print by Goldseiber and Rio Grande Games, it is due to be reprinted by Valley Games pretty soon. And there's always the used game market. -Mark P.S. Be sure to check out Eric's "Power Grid: In Depth" podcast, as well as the rest of Boardgame Babylon. It must be just about time for a boring show with just me on the mic, but you're spared once again! This time I have fellow podcaster Eric "Boardgame Babylon" Burgess with me to talk about another of my favorites, Big City. Turns out it's one of his, too, and when I made a half-serious request for someone to do this episode with, Eric responded right away. We live somewhat far from each other, though still both in Southern California. Better still, we commute our opposite directions to both coverge on our workplaces only a few miles apart. Big City is a game notable for its wonderful plastic pieces--not normally something I'm swayed by--but it's also an outstanding and unique tile-laying game with strong theme. Though out of print by Goldseiber and Rio Grande Games, it is due to be reprinted by Valley Games pretty soon. And there's always the used game market. -Mark P.S. Be sure to check out Eric's "Power Grid: In Depth" podcast, as well as the rest of Boardgame Babylon. It must be just about time for a boring show with just me on the mic, but you're spared once again! This time I have fellow podcaster Eric "Boardgame Babylon" Burgess with me to talk about another of my favorites, Big City. Turns out it's one of his, too, and when I made a half-serious request for someone to do this episode with, Eric responded right away. We live somewhat far from each other, though still both in Southern California. Better still, we commute our opposite directions to both coverge on our workplaces only a few miles apart. Big City is a game notable for its wonderful plastic pieces--not normally something I'm swayed by--but it's also an outstanding and unique tile-laying game with strong theme. Though out of print by Goldseiber and Rio Grande Games, it is due to be reprinted by Valley Games pretty soon. And there's always the used game market. -Mark P.S. Be sure to check out Eric's "Power Grid: In Depth" podcast, as well as the rest of Boardgame Babylon. tag:odeo.com,2009-04-14,24450861 Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:16:23 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/25343172-BGTG-92-Game-Awards-with-Dave-Arnott Part 2 of my discussion with Dave Arnott was about game awards. There are a bunch of them, from the Spiel des Jahres to the Golden Geeks. We talk about a whole range of them, and also consider how game awards are similar or different from other artistic awards, such as the Oscars. (By the way, I did go see Slumdog Millionaire that night, and though I liked it I wouldn't have called it the Best Picture of the year.) -Mark P.S. Let me know if you think the audio levels sound better on this recording. Like most of my guests, Dave has lower lows and (especially) higher highs than my own voice, which makes leveling the audio tricky with my low budget rig. Aldie suggested I pipe it through some software called Levelator, so I'm trying that for this second half of our show. Part 2 of my discussion with Dave Arnott was about game awards. There are a bunch of them, from the Spiel des Jahres to the Golden Geeks. We talk about a whole range of them, and also consider how game awards are similar or different from other artistic awards, such as the Oscars. (By the way, I did go see Slumdog Millionaire that night, and though I liked it I wouldn't have called it the Best Picture of the year.) -Mark P.S. Let me know if you think the audio levels sound better on this recording. Like most of my guests, Dave has lower lows and (especially) higher highs than my own voice, which makes leveling the audio tricky with my low budget rig. Aldie suggested I pipe it through some software called Levelator, so I'm trying that for this second half of our show. Part 2 of my discussion with Dave Arnott was about game awards. There are a bunch of them, from the Spiel des Jahres to the Golden Geeks. We talk about a whole range of them, and also consider how game awards are similar or different from other artistic awards, such as the Oscars. (By the way, I did go see Slumdog Millionaire that night, and though I liked it I wouldn't have called it the Best Picture of the year.) -Mark P.S. Let me know if you think the audio levels sound better on this recording. Like most of my guests, Dave has lower lows and (especially) higher highs than my own voice, which makes leveling the audio tricky with my low budget rig. Aldie suggested I pipe it through some software called Levelator, so I'm trying that for this second half of our show. tag:odeo.com,2009-03-29,25343172 Sun, 29 Mar 2009 17:41:10 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24381873-BGTG-92-Game-Awards-with-Dave-Arnott Part 2 of my discussion with Dave Arnott was about game awards. There are a bunch of them, from the Spiel des Jahres to the Golden Geeks. We talk about a whole range of them, and also consider how game awards are similar or different from other artistic awards, such as the Oscars. (By the way, I did go see Slumdog Millionaire that night, and though I liked it I wouldn't have called it the Best Picture of the year.) -Mark P.S. Let me know if you think the audio levels sound better on this recording. Like most of my guests, Dave has lower lows and (especially) higher highs than my own voice, which makes leveling the audio tricky with my low budget rig. Aldie suggested I pipe it through some software called Levelator, so I'm trying that for this second half of our show. Part 2 of my discussion with Dave Arnott was about game awards. There are a bunch of them, from the Spiel des Jahres to the Golden Geeks. We talk about a whole range of them, and also consider how game awards are similar or different from other artistic awards, such as the Oscars. (By the way, I did go see Slumdog Millionaire that night, and though I liked it I wouldn't have called it the Best Picture of the year.) -Mark P.S. Let me know if you think the audio levels sound better on this recording. Like most of my guests, Dave has lower lows and (especially) higher highs than my own voice, which makes leveling the audio tricky with my low budget rig. Aldie suggested I pipe it through some software called Levelator, so I'm trying that for this second half of our show. Part 2 of my discussion with Dave Arnott was about game awards. There are a bunch of them, from the Spiel des Jahres to the Golden Geeks. We talk about a whole range of them, and also consider how game awards are similar or different from other artistic awards, such as the Oscars. (By the way, I did go see Slumdog Millionaire that night, and though I liked it I wouldn't have called it the Best Picture of the year.) -Mark P.S. Let me know if you think the audio levels sound better on this recording. Like most of my guests, Dave has lower lows and (especially) higher highs than my own voice, which makes leveling the audio tricky with my low budget rig. Aldie suggested I pipe it through some software called Levelator, so I'm trying that for this second half of our show. tag:odeo.com,2009-03-29,24381873 Sun, 29 Mar 2009 16:41:10 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/25343173-BGTG-91-2008-Year-in-Review-with-Dave-Arnott What started as one show with two topics ended up being two shows. This is the first part, where Dave Arnott and I reflect on 2008. That means talking about our games played, totals as well as "fives & dimes." We also consider which were are favorite releases or discoveries in 2008. Along the way are some inevitable discussions about online plays, whether realtime (e.g. brettspielwelt, Game Table Online) or play-by-web (e.g. Mabiweb, Spielbyweb). -Mark What started as one show with two topics ended up being two shows. This is the first part, where Dave Arnott and I reflect on 2008. That means talking about our games played, totals as well as "fives & dimes." We also consider which were are favorite releases or discoveries in 2008. Along the way are some inevitable discussions about online plays, whether realtime (e.g. brettspielwelt, Game Table Online) or play-by-web (e.g. Mabiweb, Spielbyweb). -Mark What started as one show with two topics ended up being two shows. This is the first part, where Dave Arnott and I reflect on 2008. That means talking about our games played, totals as well as "fives & dimes." We also consider which were are favorite releases or discoveries in 2008. Along the way are some inevitable discussions about online plays, whether realtime (e.g. brettspielwelt, Game Table Online) or play-by-web (e.g. Mabiweb, Spielbyweb). -Mark tag:odeo.com,2009-03-20,25343173 Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:22:30 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24334054-BGTG-91-2008-Year-in-Review-with-Dave-Arnott What started as one show with two topics ended up being two shows. This is the first part, where Dave Arnott and I reflect on 2008. That means talking about our games played, totals as well as "fives & dimes." We also consider which were are favorite releases or discoveries in 2008. Along the way are some inevitable discussions about online plays, whether realtime (e.g. brettspielwelt, Game Table Online) or play-by-web (e.g. Mabiweb, Spielbyweb). -Mark What started as one show with two topics ended up being two shows. This is the first part, where Dave Arnott and I reflect on 2008. That means talking about our games played, totals as well as "fives & dimes." We also consider which were are favorite releases or discoveries in 2008. Along the way are some inevitable discussions about online plays, whether realtime (e.g. brettspielwelt, Game Table Online) or play-by-web (e.g. Mabiweb, Spielbyweb). -Mark What started as one show with two topics ended up being two shows. This is the first part, where Dave Arnott and I reflect on 2008. That means talking about our games played, totals as well as "fives & dimes." We also consider which were are favorite releases or discoveries in 2008. Along the way are some inevitable discussions about online plays, whether realtime (e.g. brettspielwelt, Game Table Online) or play-by-web (e.g. Mabiweb, Spielbyweb). -Mark tag:odeo.com,2009-03-20,24334054 Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:22:30 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/25343174-BGTG-90-Veto-Proof-Game-Night-with-Ryan-Wheeler My buddy Ryan Wheeler is part of our local game group, the Santa Clarita Boardgamers. In fact, he's the driving force of the group, hosting most of the game nights, always adding to his collection, and infecting the rest of us with his enthusiasm and sense of humor. When schedules conflicts led to only two of us showing up for games one night, I pressured him into recording another podcast with me. (Later that night we played Risiko Express and Ice Flow, which we don't talk about on the podcast.) The topic I chose was a recent, successful experiment in the group: veto-proof game night. It was the idea of Ryan's wife, Erin, who occasionally plays games with us. That label (and the title of this BGTG episode) isn't what Ryan & Erin called it, and doesn't quite describe what she had in mind. But it was the only name I had for it. Basically, she suggested that each of us gets one week's game group session in the month of December to pick a game from our collection that we really wan... My buddy Ryan Wheeler is part of our local game group, the Santa Clarita Boardgamers. In fact, he's the driving force of the group, hosting most of the game nights, always adding to his collection, and infecting the rest of us with his enthusiasm and sense of humor. When schedules conflicts led to only two of us showing up for games one night, I pressured him into recording another podcast with me. (Later that night we played Risiko Express and Ice Flow, which we don't talk about on the podcast.) The topic I chose was a recent, successful experiment in the group: veto-proof game night. It was the idea of Ryan's wife, Erin, who occasionally plays games with us. That label (and the title of this BGTG episode) isn't what Ryan & Erin called it, and doesn't quite describe what she had in mind. But it was the only name I had for it. Basically, she suggested that each of us gets one week's game group session in the month of December to pick a game from our collection that we really wanted to play, probably one we haven't gotten to the table yet, and as a "gift" everyone would happily play it--no questions asked. It was great. Three of us picked games on successive weeks--games that probably wouldn't have seen play otherwise--and everyone was onboard with just jumping right in. What was interesting for the podcast was the different nature of the three games. I think it made for some interesting discussion, together with side points about session reports and game group dynamics, in general. -Mark My buddy Ryan Wheeler is part of our local game group, the Santa Clarita Boardgamers. In fact, he's the driving force of the group, hosting most of the game nights, always adding to his collection, and infecting the rest of us with his enthusiasm and sense of humor. When schedules conflicts led to only two of us showing up for games one night, I pressured him into recording another podcast with me. (Later that night we played Risiko Express and Ice Flow, which we don't talk about on the podcast.) The topic I chose was a recent, successful experiment in the group: veto-proof game night. It was the idea of Ryan's wife, Erin, who occasionally plays games with us. That label (and the title of this BGTG episode) isn't what Ryan & Erin called it, and doesn't quite describe what she had in mind. But it was the only name I had for it. Basically, she suggested that each of us gets one week's game group session in the month of December to pick a game from our collection that we really wanted to play, probably one we haven't gotten to the table yet, and as a "gift" everyone would happily play it--no questions asked. It was great. Three of us picked games on successive weeks--games that probably wouldn't have seen play otherwise--and everyone was onboard with just jumping right in. What was interesting for the podcast was the different nature of the three games. I think it made for some interesting discussion, together with side points about session reports and game group dynamics, in general. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,25343174 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:46:20 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24280606-BGTG-90-Veto-Proof-Game-Night-with-Ryan-Wheeler My buddy Ryan Wheeler is part of our local game group, the Santa Clarita Boardgamers. In fact, he's the driving force of the group, hosting most of the game nights, always adding to his collection, and infecting the rest of us with his enthusiasm and sense of humor. When schedules conflicts led to only two of us showing up for games one night, I pressured him into recording another podcast with me. (Later that night we played Risiko Express and Ice Flow, which we don't talk about on the podcast.) The topic I chose was a recent, successful experiment in the group: veto-proof game night. It was the idea of Ryan's wife, Erin, who occasionally plays games with us. That label (and the title of this BGTG episode) isn't what Ryan & Erin called it, and doesn't quite describe what she had in mind. But it was the only name I had for it. Basically, she suggested that each of us gets one week's game group session in the month of December to pick a game from our collection that we really wan... My buddy Ryan Wheeler is part of our local game group, the Santa Clarita Boardgamers. In fact, he's the driving force of the group, hosting most of the game nights, always adding to his collection, and infecting the rest of us with his enthusiasm and sense of humor. When schedules conflicts led to only two of us showing up for games one night, I pressured him into recording another podcast with me. (Later that night we played Risiko Express and Ice Flow, which we don't talk about on the podcast.) The topic I chose was a recent, successful experiment in the group: veto-proof game night. It was the idea of Ryan's wife, Erin, who occasionally plays games with us. That label (and the title of this BGTG episode) isn't what Ryan & Erin called it, and doesn't quite describe what she had in mind. But it was the only name I had for it. Basically, she suggested that each of us gets one week's game group session in the month of December to pick a game from our collection that we really wanted to play, probably one we haven't gotten to the table yet, and as a "gift" everyone would happily play it--no questions asked. It was great. Three of us picked games on successive weeks--games that probably wouldn't have seen play otherwise--and everyone was onboard with just jumping right in. What was interesting for the podcast was the different nature of the three games. I think it made for some interesting discussion, together with side points about session reports and game group dynamics, in general. -Mark My buddy Ryan Wheeler is part of our local game group, the Santa Clarita Boardgamers. In fact, he's the driving force of the group, hosting most of the game nights, always adding to his collection, and infecting the rest of us with his enthusiasm and sense of humor. When schedules conflicts led to only two of us showing up for games one night, I pressured him into recording another podcast with me. (Later that night we played Risiko Express and Ice Flow, which we don't talk about on the podcast.) The topic I chose was a recent, successful experiment in the group: veto-proof game night. It was the idea of Ryan's wife, Erin, who occasionally plays games with us. That label (and the title of this BGTG episode) isn't what Ryan & Erin called it, and doesn't quite describe what she had in mind. But it was the only name I had for it. Basically, she suggested that each of us gets one week's game group session in the month of December to pick a game from our collection that we really wanted to play, probably one we haven't gotten to the table yet, and as a "gift" everyone would happily play it--no questions asked. It was great. Three of us picked games on successive weeks--games that probably wouldn't have seen play otherwise--and everyone was onboard with just jumping right in. What was interesting for the podcast was the different nature of the three games. I think it made for some interesting discussion, together with side points about session reports and game group dynamics, in general. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24280606 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:46:20 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24260903-BGTG-90-Veto-Proof-Game-Night-with-Ryan-Wheeler My buddy Ryan Wheeler is part of our local game group, the Santa Clarita Boardgamers. In fact, he's the driving force of the group, hosting most of the game nights, always adding to his collection, and infecting the rest of us with his enthusiasm and sense of humor. When schedules conflicts led to only two of us showing up for games one night, I pressured him into recording another podcast with me. (Later that night we played Risiko Express and Ice Flow, which we don't talk about on the podcast.) The topic I chose was a recent, successful experiment in the group: veto-proof game night. It was the idea of Ryan's wife, Erin, who occasionally plays games with us. That label (and the title of this BGTG episode) isn't what Ryan & Erin called it, and doesn't quite describe what she had in mind. But it was the only name I had for it. Basically, she suggested that each of us gets one week's game group session in the month of December to pick a game from our collection that we really wan... My buddy Ryan Wheeler is part of our local game group, the Santa Clarita Boardgamers. In fact, he's the driving force of the group, hosting most of the game nights, always adding to his collection, and infecting the rest of us with his enthusiasm and sense of humor. When schedules conflicts led to only two of us showing up for games one night, I pressured him into recording another podcast with me. (Later that night we played Risiko Express and Ice Flow, which we don't talk about on the podcast.) The topic I chose was a recent, successful experiment in the group: veto-proof game night. It was the idea of Ryan's wife, Erin, who occasionally plays games with us. That label (and the title of this BGTG episode) isn't what Ryan & Erin called it, and doesn't quite describe what she had in mind. But it was the only name I had for it. Basically, she suggested that each of us gets one week's game group session in the month of December to pick a game from our collection that we really wanted to play, probably one we haven't gotten to the table yet, and as a "gift" everyone would happily play it--no questions asked. It was great. Three of us picked games on successive weeks--games that probably wouldn't have seen play otherwise--and everyone was onboard with just jumping right in. What was interesting for the podcast was the different nature of the three games. I think it made for some interesting discussion, together with side points about session reports and game group dynamics, in general. -Mark My buddy Ryan Wheeler is part of our local game group, the Santa Clarita Boardgamers. In fact, he's the driving force of the group, hosting most of the game nights, always adding to his collection, and infecting the rest of us with his enthusiasm and sense of humor. When schedules conflicts led to only two of us showing up for games one night, I pressured him into recording another podcast with me. (Later that night we played Risiko Express and Ice Flow, which we don't talk about on the podcast.) The topic I chose was a recent, successful experiment in the group: veto-proof game night. It was the idea of Ryan's wife, Erin, who occasionally plays games with us. That label (and the title of this BGTG episode) isn't what Ryan & Erin called it, and doesn't quite describe what she had in mind. But it was the only name I had for it. Basically, she suggested that each of us gets one week's game group session in the month of December to pick a game from our collection that we really wanted to play, probably one we haven't gotten to the table yet, and as a "gift" everyone would happily play it--no questions asked. It was great. Three of us picked games on successive weeks--games that probably wouldn't have seen play otherwise--and everyone was onboard with just jumping right in. What was interesting for the podcast was the different nature of the three games. I think it made for some interesting discussion, together with side points about session reports and game group dynamics, in general. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2009-03-06,24260903 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 07:58:46 -0800 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24120824-BGTG-89-SR-Feedback-Viva-Topo-Slamwich-Tief-auf-Tier Before I can post any new shows, I wanted to clear the decks for some accumulated feedback, as well as follow-through on my previous blog entry about family gaming over the holidays. Again I brought I bag full of specially chosen games, and again we played some of them. Just a few, really, but I knew to expect that. This year my gaming was mostly confined to playing with my young nephews, which I enjoyed even now . . . and expect to enjoy in the future as I turn at least one of them into a gamer. :-) A lot of the feedback focuses on Dominion, since it's still the hot game right now, and I shared my thoughts about it on the previous podcast. Plus there's one golden feedback about a dad playing HGSB with his kid. -Mark Before I can post any new shows, I wanted to clear the decks for some accumulated feedback, as well as follow-through on my previous blog entry about family gaming over the holidays. Again I brought I bag full of specially chosen games, and again we played some of them. Just a few, really, but I knew to expect that. This year my gaming was mostly confined to playing with my young nephews, which I enjoyed even now . . . and expect to enjoy in the future as I turn at least one of them into a gamer. :-) A lot of the feedback focuses on Dominion, since it's still the hot game right now, and I shared my thoughts about it on the previous podcast. Plus there's one golden feedback about a dad playing HGSB with his kid. -Mark Before I can post any new shows, I wanted to clear the decks for some accumulated feedback, as well as follow-through on my previous blog entry about family gaming over the holidays. Again I brought I bag full of specially chosen games, and again we played some of them. Just a few, really, but I knew to expect that. This year my gaming was mostly confined to playing with my young nephews, which I enjoyed even now . . . and expect to enjoy in the future as I turn at least one of them into a gamer. :-) A lot of the feedback focuses on Dominion, since it's still the hot game right now, and I shared my thoughts about it on the previous podcast. Plus there's one golden feedback about a dad playing HGSB with his kid. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2009-02-17,24120824 Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:42:14 -0800 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/23644969-BGTG-88-Dominion-Arkham-Horror-Marrakech-and-En-Garde This is a session report & feedback show . . . but without the feedback. The reason for that is that I had to record this podcast in the car. I say had to because I spent too much of my at-home podcasting time playing Dominion instead! I started playing this game on brettspielwelt, and then got my own set to play face-to-face games. Hype is a turnoff for me, even buzz makes me suspicious, but in this case I'm enjoying the game just as much as everyone promised. I can't help but experience the game as a former Magic:the Gathering player, and I'm not sure what gamers without a CCG background will make of this. I think it's fantastic, and I try to explain why in this podcast. I think it's an incredible application of German boardgame style & elegance to CCGs. This episode was originally planned to feature me gushing about games I really enjoyed, but I threw in Arkham Horror because it goes against that grain. Really, this isn't my kind of game, but that doesn't mean I'll never ... This is a session report & feedback show . . . but without the feedback. The reason for that is that I had to record this podcast in the car. I say had to because I spent too much of my at-home podcasting time playing Dominion instead! I started playing this game on brettspielwelt, and then got my own set to play face-to-face games. Hype is a turnoff for me, even buzz makes me suspicious, but in this case I'm enjoying the game just as much as everyone promised. I can't help but experience the game as a former Magic:the Gathering player, and I'm not sure what gamers without a CCG background will make of this. I think it's fantastic, and I try to explain why in this podcast. I think it's an incredible application of German boardgame style & elegance to CCGs. This episode was originally planned to feature me gushing about games I really enjoyed, but I threw in Arkham Horror because it goes against that grain. Really, this isn't my kind of game, but that doesn't mean I'll never try it (or turn down my friends who want to play it). The last two, Marrakech (aka Suleika) and En Garde are new & old favorites. -Mark This is a session report & feedback show . . . but without the feedback. The reason for that is that I had to record this podcast in the car. I say had to because I spent too much of my at-home podcasting time playing Dominion instead! I started playing this game on brettspielwelt, and then got my own set to play face-to-face games. Hype is a turnoff for me, even buzz makes me suspicious, but in this case I'm enjoying the game just as much as everyone promised. I can't help but experience the game as a former Magic:the Gathering player, and I'm not sure what gamers without a CCG background will make of this. I think it's fantastic, and I try to explain why in this podcast. I think it's an incredible application of German boardgame style & elegance to CCGs. This episode was originally planned to feature me gushing about games I really enjoyed, but I threw in Arkham Horror because it goes against that grain. Really, this isn't my kind of game, but that doesn't mean I'll never try it (or turn down my friends who want to play it). The last two, Marrakech (aka Suleika) and En Garde are new & old favorites. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-11-20,23644969 Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:53:56 -0800 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24120825-BGTG-88-Dominion-Arkham-Horror-Marrakech-and-En-Garde This is a session report & feedback show . . . but without the feedback. The reason for that is that I had to record this podcast in the car. I say had to because I spent too much of my at-home podcasting time playing Dominion instead! I started playing this game on brettspielwelt, and then got my own set to play face-to-face games. Hype is a turnoff for me, even buzz makes me suspicious, but in this case I'm enjoying the game just as much as everyone promised. I can't help but experience the game as a former Magic:the Gathering player, and I'm not sure what gamers without a CCG background will make of this. I think it's fantastic, and I try to explain why in this podcast. I think it's an incredible application of German boardgame style & elegance to CCGs. This episode was originally planned to feature me gushing about games I really enjoyed, but I threw in Arkham Horror because it goes against that grain. Really, this isn't my kind of game, but that doesn't mean I'll never ... This is a session report & feedback show . . . but without the feedback. The reason for that is that I had to record this podcast in the car. I say had to because I spent too much of my at-home podcasting time playing Dominion instead! I started playing this game on brettspielwelt, and then got my own set to play face-to-face games. Hype is a turnoff for me, even buzz makes me suspicious, but in this case I'm enjoying the game just as much as everyone promised. I can't help but experience the game as a former Magic:the Gathering player, and I'm not sure what gamers without a CCG background will make of this. I think it's fantastic, and I try to explain why in this podcast. I think it's an incredible application of German boardgame style & elegance to CCGs. This episode was originally planned to feature me gushing about games I really enjoyed, but I threw in Arkham Horror because it goes against that grain. Really, this isn't my kind of game, but that doesn't mean I'll never try it (or turn down my friends who want to play it). The last two, Marrakech (aka Suleika) and En Garde are new & old favorites. -Mark This is a session report & feedback show . . . but without the feedback. The reason for that is that I had to record this podcast in the car. I say had to because I spent too much of my at-home podcasting time playing Dominion instead! I started playing this game on brettspielwelt, and then got my own set to play face-to-face games. Hype is a turnoff for me, even buzz makes me suspicious, but in this case I'm enjoying the game just as much as everyone promised. I can't help but experience the game as a former Magic:the Gathering player, and I'm not sure what gamers without a CCG background will make of this. I think it's fantastic, and I try to explain why in this podcast. I think it's an incredible application of German boardgame style & elegance to CCGs. This episode was originally planned to feature me gushing about games I really enjoyed, but I threw in Arkham Horror because it goes against that grain. Really, this isn't my kind of game, but that doesn't mean I'll never try it (or turn down my friends who want to play it). The last two, Marrakech (aka Suleika) and En Garde are new & old favorites. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-11-20,24120825 Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:53:56 -0800 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/23523960-BGTG-87-Essen-Anticipation-2008 As promised, here's my annual episode running through the new Essen games that have caught my eye. There are games I'm pretty sure I want, others I'm pretty sure I don't, and a whole bunch I need to know more about first (hopefully by playing). Essen opens its doors to everyone tomorrow, and the press-only day has already started. Folks like me will be checking internet sites repeatedly through the weekend to digest scraps of information and opinions about the new titles. Exciting! -Mark As promised, here's my annual episode running through the new Essen games that have caught my eye. There are games I'm pretty sure I want, others I'm pretty sure I don't, and a whole bunch I need to know more about first (hopefully by playing). Essen opens its doors to everyone tomorrow, and the press-only day has already started. Folks like me will be checking internet sites repeatedly through the weekend to digest scraps of information and opinions about the new titles. Exciting! -Mark As promised, here's my annual episode running through the new Essen games that have caught my eye. There are games I'm pretty sure I want, others I'm pretty sure I don't, and a whole bunch I need to know more about first (hopefully by playing). Essen opens its doors to everyone tomorrow, and the press-only day has already started. Folks like me will be checking internet sites repeatedly through the weekend to digest scraps of information and opinions about the new titles. Exciting! -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-10-23,23523960 Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:35:32 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24120826-BGTG-87-Essen-Anticipation-2008 As promised, here's my annual episode running through the new Essen games that have caught my eye. There are games I'm pretty sure I want, others I'm pretty sure I don't, and a whole bunch I need to know more about first (hopefully by playing). Essen opens its doors to everyone tomorrow, and the press-only day has already started. Folks like me will be checking internet sites repeatedly through the weekend to digest scraps of information and opinions about the new titles. Exciting! -Mark As promised, here's my annual episode running through the new Essen games that have caught my eye. There are games I'm pretty sure I want, others I'm pretty sure I don't, and a whole bunch I need to know more about first (hopefully by playing). Essen opens its doors to everyone tomorrow, and the press-only day has already started. Folks like me will be checking internet sites repeatedly through the weekend to digest scraps of information and opinions about the new titles. Exciting! -Mark As promised, here's my annual episode running through the new Essen games that have caught my eye. There are games I'm pretty sure I want, others I'm pretty sure I don't, and a whole bunch I need to know more about first (hopefully by playing). Essen opens its doors to everyone tomorrow, and the press-only day has already started. Folks like me will be checking internet sites repeatedly through the weekend to digest scraps of information and opinions about the new titles. Exciting! -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-10-23,24120826 Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:35:32 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/23342456-BGTG-86-All-About-Harry-s-Grand-Slam-Baseball-with-David-Gullett As promised, here's another All About show, my first in a long time. The way these shows work, I usually employ a guest, and the two of us talk about one game in great detail. This time, that guest is David Gullett, who you've heard on BGTG before, and the game we're talking about is Harry's Grand Slam Baseball. Now, HGSB is a rather small, light game to spend more than an hour talking about. That is, until you consider that it's a game we both consider favorites, both rate a 10. How can a game that's so simple & small--its detractors say it's all luck, with no real decisions--interest us so much? That's the sort of stuff we talk about. In the process, many more games are brought up for discussion, such as other light card games (e.g. Mille Bornes) and sports board/card games (e.g. Pizza Box Football). Actually, I did my best to cover light board & cardgame treatments of all kinds of sports, since those are a particular interest of mine. We cover Pizza Box Football, Pizza Bo... As promised, here's another All About show, my first in a long time. The way these shows work, I usually employ a guest, and the two of us talk about one game in great detail. This time, that guest is David Gullett, who you've heard on BGTG before, and the game we're talking about is Harry's Grand Slam Baseball. Now, HGSB is a rather small, light game to spend more than an hour talking about. That is, until you consider that it's a game we both consider favorites, both rate a 10. How can a game that's so simple & small--its detractors say it's all luck, with no real decisions--interest us so much? That's the sort of stuff we talk about. In the process, many more games are brought up for discussion, such as other light card games (e.g. Mille Bornes) and sports board/card games (e.g. Pizza Box Football). Actually, I did my best to cover light board & cardgame treatments of all kinds of sports, since those are a particular interest of mine. We cover Pizza Box Football, Pizza Box Baseball, Dirk Nowitzki's Crunchtime Basketball, Gridiron Fantasy Football, Pocket Football, Card Football, En Garde, Scoozie, and Streetsoccer. I should've included Strand-Cup and You Can't Check Me. Towards the end Dave asks me some questions about why I sound so unethusiastic about games most times on BGTG. That's not my intent, and the conversation may lead me to making some changes in how I talk about games in future episodes, especially how I wrap up a segment. This is a longer episode, just past 90 minutes. I think you'll like it. -Mark As promised, here's another All About show, my first in a long time. The way these shows work, I usually employ a guest, and the two of us talk about one game in great detail. This time, that guest is David Gullett, who you've heard on BGTG before, and the game we're talking about is Harry's Grand Slam Baseball. Now, HGSB is a rather small, light game to spend more than an hour talking about. That is, until you consider that it's a game we both consider favorites, both rate a 10. How can a game that's so simple & small--its detractors say it's all luck, with no real decisions--interest us so much? That's the sort of stuff we talk about. In the process, many more games are brought up for discussion, such as other light card games (e.g. Mille Bornes) and sports board/card games (e.g. Pizza Box Football). Actually, I did my best to cover light board & cardgame treatments of all kinds of sports, since those are a particular interest of mine. We cover Pizza Box Football, Pizza Box Baseball, Dirk Nowitzki's Crunchtime Basketball, Gridiron Fantasy Football, Pocket Football, Card Football, En Garde, Scoozie, and Streetsoccer. I should've included Strand-Cup and You Can't Check Me. Towards the end Dave asks me some questions about why I sound so unethusiastic about games most times on BGTG. That's not my intent, and the conversation may lead me to making some changes in how I talk about games in future episodes, especially how I wrap up a segment. This is a longer episode, just past 90 minutes. I think you'll like it. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-09-12,23342456 Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:26:34 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24120827-BGTG-86-All-About-Harry-s-Grand-Slam-Baseball-with-David-Gullett As promised, here's another All About show, my first in a long time. The way these shows work, I usually employ a guest, and the two of us talk about one game in great detail. This time, that guest is David Gullett, who you've heard on BGTG before, and the game we're talking about is Harry's Grand Slam Baseball. Now, HGSB is a rather small, light game to spend more than an hour talking about. That is, until you consider that it's a game we both consider favorites, both rate a 10. How can a game that's so simple & small--its detractors say it's all luck, with no real decisions--interest us so much? That's the sort of stuff we talk about. In the process, many more games are brought up for discussion, such as other light card games (e.g. Mille Bornes) and sports board/card games (e.g. Pizza Box Football). Actually, I did my best to cover light board & cardgame treatments of all kinds of sports, since those are a particular interest of mine. We cover Pizza Box Football, Pizza Bo... As promised, here's another All About show, my first in a long time. The way these shows work, I usually employ a guest, and the two of us talk about one game in great detail. This time, that guest is David Gullett, who you've heard on BGTG before, and the game we're talking about is Harry's Grand Slam Baseball. Now, HGSB is a rather small, light game to spend more than an hour talking about. That is, until you consider that it's a game we both consider favorites, both rate a 10. How can a game that's so simple & small--its detractors say it's all luck, with no real decisions--interest us so much? That's the sort of stuff we talk about. In the process, many more games are brought up for discussion, such as other light card games (e.g. Mille Bornes) and sports board/card games (e.g. Pizza Box Football). Actually, I did my best to cover light board & cardgame treatments of all kinds of sports, since those are a particular interest of mine. We cover Pizza Box Football, Pizza Box Baseball, Dirk Nowitzki's Crunchtime Basketball, Gridiron Fantasy Football, Pocket Football, Card Football, En Garde, Scoozie, and Streetsoccer. I should've included Strand-Cup and You Can't Check Me. Towards the end Dave asks me some questions about why I sound so unethusiastic about games most times on BGTG. That's not my intent, and the conversation may lead me to making some changes in how I talk about games in future episodes, especially how I wrap up a segment. This is a longer episode, just past 90 minutes. I think you'll like it. -Mark As promised, here's another All About show, my first in a long time. The way these shows work, I usually employ a guest, and the two of us talk about one game in great detail. This time, that guest is David Gullett, who you've heard on BGTG before, and the game we're talking about is Harry's Grand Slam Baseball. Now, HGSB is a rather small, light game to spend more than an hour talking about. That is, until you consider that it's a game we both consider favorites, both rate a 10. How can a game that's so simple & small--its detractors say it's all luck, with no real decisions--interest us so much? That's the sort of stuff we talk about. In the process, many more games are brought up for discussion, such as other light card games (e.g. Mille Bornes) and sports board/card games (e.g. Pizza Box Football). Actually, I did my best to cover light board & cardgame treatments of all kinds of sports, since those are a particular interest of mine. We cover Pizza Box Football, Pizza Box Baseball, Dirk Nowitzki's Crunchtime Basketball, Gridiron Fantasy Football, Pocket Football, Card Football, En Garde, Scoozie, and Streetsoccer. I should've included Strand-Cup and You Can't Check Me. Towards the end Dave asks me some questions about why I sound so unethusiastic about games most times on BGTG. That's not my intent, and the conversation may lead me to making some changes in how I talk about games in future episodes, especially how I wrap up a segment. This is a longer episode, just past 90 minutes. I think you'll like it. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-09-12,24120827 Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:26:34 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/23300587-BGTG-85-SR-Feedback-with-Rattlesnake-XiangQi-Citadels-Manila-and-Tribune You're in luck. The carcast I recorded earlier about some games played at a recent Games Day was also destroyed accidentally, so I just had to re-record it at home. This way it ends up with better audio quality, and I got to tack on some recent email feedback, too. These are all games I played at a recent Games Day put on by LA's famous Stephanie. You've heard about her on other podcasts, and heard her directly on Boardgame Babylon. I ought to feature her on one of my own podcasts sometime! -Mark You're in luck. The carcast I recorded earlier about some games played at a recent Games Day was also destroyed accidentally, so I just had to re-record it at home. This way it ends up with better audio quality, and I got to tack on some recent email feedback, too. These are all games I played at a recent Games Day put on by LA's famous Stephanie. You've heard about her on other podcasts, and heard her directly on Boardgame Babylon. I ought to feature her on one of my own podcasts sometime! -Mark You're in luck. The carcast I recorded earlier about some games played at a recent Games Day was also destroyed accidentally, so I just had to re-record it at home. This way it ends up with better audio quality, and I got to tack on some recent email feedback, too. These are all games I played at a recent Games Day put on by LA's famous Stephanie. You've heard about her on other podcasts, and heard her directly on Boardgame Babylon. I ought to feature her on one of my own podcasts sometime! -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-09-07,23300587 Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:44:48 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24120828-BGTG-85-SR-Feedback-with-Rattlesnake-XiangQi-Citadels-Manila-and-Tribune You're in luck. The carcast I recorded earlier about some games played at a recent Games Day was also destroyed accidentally, so I just had to re-record it at home. This way it ends up with better audio quality, and I got to tack on some recent email feedback, too. These are all games I played at a recent Games Day put on by LA's famous Stephanie. You've heard about her on other podcasts, and heard her directly on Boardgame Babylon. I ought to feature her on one of my own podcasts sometime! -Mark You're in luck. The carcast I recorded earlier about some games played at a recent Games Day was also destroyed accidentally, so I just had to re-record it at home. This way it ends up with better audio quality, and I got to tack on some recent email feedback, too. These are all games I played at a recent Games Day put on by LA's famous Stephanie. You've heard about her on other podcasts, and heard her directly on Boardgame Babylon. I ought to feature her on one of my own podcasts sometime! -Mark You're in luck. The carcast I recorded earlier about some games played at a recent Games Day was also destroyed accidentally, so I just had to re-record it at home. This way it ends up with better audio quality, and I got to tack on some recent email feedback, too. These are all games I played at a recent Games Day put on by LA's famous Stephanie. You've heard about her on other podcasts, and heard her directly on Boardgame Babylon. I ought to feature her on one of my own podcasts sometime! -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-09-07,24120828 Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:44:48 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/23300591-BGTG-84-Martin-Wallace-games-Brass-Tinner-s-Trail-Byzantium Two podcasts in less than a week?! Weird, I know. Not likely to be repeated soon, either. I just figured I might as well jump on the opportunity when I could. Also, I'd mentioned on this blog a couple weeks before that I was thinking of sharing my (changing) thoughts about Martin Wallace games, based on some recent plays of Brass, Tinner's Trail, and Byzantium. Martin's games are so popular on BGG, yet I've struggled to enjoy many of them. Yet I still struggle because he attempts some of the most interesting game settings & treatments of any designer out there. They just work for some people better than for me (I guess). I think more highly of Tinner's Trail and Byzantium, though, despite some issues that I still have with their designs. I'm not yet sure what to make of Brass. I've only played it once, and while that felt like enough exposure to draw a conclusion about Tinner's Trail, I find Brass to be much more involved, and it'll take another play or two to form an opinion. M... Two podcasts in less than a week?! Weird, I know. Not likely to be repeated soon, either. I just figured I might as well jump on the opportunity when I could. Also, I'd mentioned on this blog a couple weeks before that I was thinking of sharing my (changing) thoughts about Martin Wallace games, based on some recent plays of Brass, Tinner's Trail, and Byzantium. Martin's games are so popular on BGG, yet I've struggled to enjoy many of them. Yet I still struggle because he attempts some of the most interesting game settings & treatments of any designer out there. They just work for some people better than for me (I guess). I think more highly of Tinner's Trail and Byzantium, though, despite some issues that I still have with their designs. I'm not yet sure what to make of Brass. I've only played it once, and while that felt like enough exposure to draw a conclusion about Tinner's Trail, I find Brass to be much more involved, and it'll take another play or two to form an opinion. Maybe someday I can tackle other Martin Wallace games I enjoy, like Way Out West and (possibly) Liberte. Who knows? Maybe I'll even try Age of Steam again. :-) -Mark Two podcasts in less than a week?! Weird, I know. Not likely to be repeated soon, either. I just figured I might as well jump on the opportunity when I could. Also, I'd mentioned on this blog a couple weeks before that I was thinking of sharing my (changing) thoughts about Martin Wallace games, based on some recent plays of Brass, Tinner's Trail, and Byzantium. Martin's games are so popular on BGG, yet I've struggled to enjoy many of them. Yet I still struggle because he attempts some of the most interesting game settings & treatments of any designer out there. They just work for some people better than for me (I guess). I think more highly of Tinner's Trail and Byzantium, though, despite some issues that I still have with their designs. I'm not yet sure what to make of Brass. I've only played it once, and while that felt like enough exposure to draw a conclusion about Tinner's Trail, I find Brass to be much more involved, and it'll take another play or two to form an opinion. Maybe someday I can tackle other Martin Wallace games I enjoy, like Way Out West and (possibly) Liberte. Who knows? Maybe I'll even try Age of Steam again. :-) -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-08-15,23300591 Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:32:15 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24120829-BGTG-84-Martin-Wallace-games-Brass-Tinner-s-Trail-Byzantium Two podcasts in less than a week?! Weird, I know. Not likely to be repeated soon, either. I just figured I might as well jump on the opportunity when I could. Also, I'd mentioned on this blog a couple weeks before that I was thinking of sharing my (changing) thoughts about Martin Wallace games, based on some recent plays of Brass, Tinner's Trail, and Byzantium. Martin's games are so popular on BGG, yet I've struggled to enjoy many of them. Yet I still struggle because he attempts some of the most interesting game settings & treatments of any designer out there. They just work for some people better than for me (I guess). I think more highly of Tinner's Trail and Byzantium, though, despite some issues that I still have with their designs. I'm not yet sure what to make of Brass. I've only played it once, and while that felt like enough exposure to draw a conclusion about Tinner's Trail, I find Brass to be much more involved, and it'll take another play or two to form an opinion. M... Two podcasts in less than a week?! Weird, I know. Not likely to be repeated soon, either. I just figured I might as well jump on the opportunity when I could. Also, I'd mentioned on this blog a couple weeks before that I was thinking of sharing my (changing) thoughts about Martin Wallace games, based on some recent plays of Brass, Tinner's Trail, and Byzantium. Martin's games are so popular on BGG, yet I've struggled to enjoy many of them. Yet I still struggle because he attempts some of the most interesting game settings & treatments of any designer out there. They just work for some people better than for me (I guess). I think more highly of Tinner's Trail and Byzantium, though, despite some issues that I still have with their designs. I'm not yet sure what to make of Brass. I've only played it once, and while that felt like enough exposure to draw a conclusion about Tinner's Trail, I find Brass to be much more involved, and it'll take another play or two to form an opinion. Maybe someday I can tackle other Martin Wallace games I enjoy, like Way Out West and (possibly) Liberte. Who knows? Maybe I'll even try Age of Steam again. :-) -Mark Two podcasts in less than a week?! Weird, I know. Not likely to be repeated soon, either. I just figured I might as well jump on the opportunity when I could. Also, I'd mentioned on this blog a couple weeks before that I was thinking of sharing my (changing) thoughts about Martin Wallace games, based on some recent plays of Brass, Tinner's Trail, and Byzantium. Martin's games are so popular on BGG, yet I've struggled to enjoy many of them. Yet I still struggle because he attempts some of the most interesting game settings & treatments of any designer out there. They just work for some people better than for me (I guess). I think more highly of Tinner's Trail and Byzantium, though, despite some issues that I still have with their designs. I'm not yet sure what to make of Brass. I've only played it once, and while that felt like enough exposure to draw a conclusion about Tinner's Trail, I find Brass to be much more involved, and it'll take another play or two to form an opinion. Maybe someday I can tackle other Martin Wallace games I enjoy, like Way Out West and (possibly) Liberte. Who knows? Maybe I'll even try Age of Steam again. :-) -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-08-15,24120829 Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:32:15 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/23300598-BGTG-83-Aug-10-2008-Re-Introduction-with-my-New-Top-Ten Though I'm too chicken to listen to it, anyone that wants to can go back into my archives to download BGTG #1. In that episode I tried to give an introduction to myself, describing my own likes & dislikes in games. It always helps to know those things about a game reviewer. You get to figure out how my opinions map to yours. Maybe you & I are on the same page, and the games I like are ones you'll probably enjoy. But it can even help if we don't see eye-to-eye, so you'll know when I'm disappointed in a game that it might be something you'd like anyway. To anchor these preferences of mine, I also talked about my Top Ten games at the time. When I mention En Garde and Entdecker, it helps you understand what else you're going to hear from me on the podcast. That was 2005, now I felt it was time to do this again. I get to talk about the podcast itself, my likes & dislikes (mostly the same, some changes), and a new top ten list. It doesn't replace my old list, it augments it wi... Though I'm too chicken to listen to it, anyone that wants to can go back into my archives to download BGTG #1. In that episode I tried to give an introduction to myself, describing my own likes & dislikes in games. It always helps to know those things about a game reviewer. You get to figure out how my opinions map to yours. Maybe you & I are on the same page, and the games I like are ones you'll probably enjoy. But it can even help if we don't see eye-to-eye, so you'll know when I'm disappointed in a game that it might be something you'd like anyway. To anchor these preferences of mine, I also talked about my Top Ten games at the time. When I mention En Garde and Entdecker, it helps you understand what else you're going to hear from me on the podcast. That was 2005, now I felt it was time to do this again. I get to talk about the podcast itself, my likes & dislikes (mostly the same, some changes), and a new top ten list. It doesn't replace my old list, it augments it with some more recent titles. -Mark Though I'm too chicken to listen to it, anyone that wants to can go back into my archives to download BGTG #1. In that episode I tried to give an introduction to myself, describing my own likes & dislikes in games. It always helps to know those things about a game reviewer. You get to figure out how my opinions map to yours. Maybe you & I are on the same page, and the games I like are ones you'll probably enjoy. But it can even help if we don't see eye-to-eye, so you'll know when I'm disappointed in a game that it might be something you'd like anyway. To anchor these preferences of mine, I also talked about my Top Ten games at the time. When I mention En Garde and Entdecker, it helps you understand what else you're going to hear from me on the podcast. That was 2005, now I felt it was time to do this again. I get to talk about the podcast itself, my likes & dislikes (mostly the same, some changes), and a new top ten list. It doesn't replace my old list, it augments it with some more recent titles. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-08-10,23300598 Sun, 10 Aug 2008 18:32:42 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24120830-BGTG-83-Aug-10-2008-Re-Introduction-with-my-New-Top-Ten Though I'm too chicken to listen to it, anyone that wants to can go back into my archives to download BGTG #1. In that episode I tried to give an introduction to myself, describing my own likes & dislikes in games. It always helps to know those things about a game reviewer. You get to figure out how my opinions map to yours. Maybe you & I are on the same page, and the games I like are ones you'll probably enjoy. But it can even help if we don't see eye-to-eye, so you'll know when I'm disappointed in a game that it might be something you'd like anyway. To anchor these preferences of mine, I also talked about my Top Ten games at the time. When I mention En Garde and Entdecker, it helps you understand what else you're going to hear from me on the podcast. That was 2005, now I felt it was time to do this again. I get to talk about the podcast itself, my likes & dislikes (mostly the same, some changes), and a new top ten list. It doesn't replace my old list, it augments it wi... Though I'm too chicken to listen to it, anyone that wants to can go back into my archives to download BGTG #1. In that episode I tried to give an introduction to myself, describing my own likes & dislikes in games. It always helps to know those things about a game reviewer. You get to figure out how my opinions map to yours. Maybe you & I are on the same page, and the games I like are ones you'll probably enjoy. But it can even help if we don't see eye-to-eye, so you'll know when I'm disappointed in a game that it might be something you'd like anyway. To anchor these preferences of mine, I also talked about my Top Ten games at the time. When I mention En Garde and Entdecker, it helps you understand what else you're going to hear from me on the podcast. That was 2005, now I felt it was time to do this again. I get to talk about the podcast itself, my likes & dislikes (mostly the same, some changes), and a new top ten list. It doesn't replace my old list, it augments it with some more recent titles. -Mark Though I'm too chicken to listen to it, anyone that wants to can go back into my archives to download BGTG #1. In that episode I tried to give an introduction to myself, describing my own likes & dislikes in games. It always helps to know those things about a game reviewer. You get to figure out how my opinions map to yours. Maybe you & I are on the same page, and the games I like are ones you'll probably enjoy. But it can even help if we don't see eye-to-eye, so you'll know when I'm disappointed in a game that it might be something you'd like anyway. To anchor these preferences of mine, I also talked about my Top Ten games at the time. When I mention En Garde and Entdecker, it helps you understand what else you're going to hear from me on the podcast. That was 2005, now I felt it was time to do this again. I get to talk about the podcast itself, my likes & dislikes (mostly the same, some changes), and a new top ten list. It doesn't replace my old list, it augments it with some more recent titles. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-08-10,24120830 Sun, 10 Aug 2008 18:32:42 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/23300601-BGTG-82-June-17-2008-SR-Feedback-Hamburgum-Streetcar Uh...yeah. At the start of this show I say I recorded it back on May 29. Which I did. Then I labeled the file and blog entry June 17, because that's when I edited it. Except that I ran into a technical glitch, and I only just now resolved all of that to get it posted on July 13. Whew! Anyway, it's here now. Not long after my 2007 recap described some new games I hadn't had the chance to try yet, I got to play Hamburgum. Besides being a notable 2007 release, it was my first experience with the rondel mechanism. Very interesting, and I'd like to try the other rondel games some time. I was just as excited to play an older game, Streetcar. Actually we played the German original, Linie 1. And this was back from the days when the German original and American reprint looked quite different, not the co-productions like we're so used to nowadays. I've always really enjoyed this game as one of the best connection games out there. -Mark Uh...yeah. At the start of this show I say I recorded it back on May 29. Which I did. Then I labeled the file and blog entry June 17, because that's when I edited it. Except that I ran into a technical glitch, and I only just now resolved all of that to get it posted on July 13. Whew! Anyway, it's here now. Not long after my 2007 recap described some new games I hadn't had the chance to try yet, I got to play Hamburgum. Besides being a notable 2007 release, it was my first experience with the rondel mechanism. Very interesting, and I'd like to try the other rondel games some time. I was just as excited to play an older game, Streetcar. Actually we played the German original, Linie 1. And this was back from the days when the German original and American reprint looked quite different, not the co-productions like we're so used to nowadays. I've always really enjoyed this game as one of the best connection games out there. -Mark Uh...yeah. At the start of this show I say I recorded it back on May 29. Which I did. Then I labeled the file and blog entry June 17, because that's when I edited it. Except that I ran into a technical glitch, and I only just now resolved all of that to get it posted on July 13. Whew! Anyway, it's here now. Not long after my 2007 recap described some new games I hadn't had the chance to try yet, I got to play Hamburgum. Besides being a notable 2007 release, it was my first experience with the rondel mechanism. Very interesting, and I'd like to try the other rondel games some time. I was just as excited to play an older game, Streetcar. Actually we played the German original, Linie 1. And this was back from the days when the German original and American reprint looked quite different, not the co-productions like we're so used to nowadays. I've always really enjoyed this game as one of the best connection games out there. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-07-16,23300601 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:54:09 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24120831-BGTG-82-June-17-2008-SR-Feedback-Hamburgum-Streetcar Uh...yeah. At the start of this show I say I recorded it back on May 29. Which I did. Then I labeled the file and blog entry June 17, because that's when I edited it. Except that I ran into a technical glitch, and I only just now resolved all of that to get it posted on July 13. Whew! Anyway, it's here now. Not long after my 2007 recap described some new games I hadn't had the chance to try yet, I got to play Hamburgum. Besides being a notable 2007 release, it was my first experience with the rondel mechanism. Very interesting, and I'd like to try the other rondel games some time. I was just as excited to play an older game, Streetcar. Actually we played the German original, Linie 1. And this was back from the days when the German original and American reprint looked quite different, not the co-productions like we're so used to nowadays. I've always really enjoyed this game as one of the best connection games out there. -Mark Uh...yeah. At the start of this show I say I recorded it back on May 29. Which I did. Then I labeled the file and blog entry June 17, because that's when I edited it. Except that I ran into a technical glitch, and I only just now resolved all of that to get it posted on July 13. Whew! Anyway, it's here now. Not long after my 2007 recap described some new games I hadn't had the chance to try yet, I got to play Hamburgum. Besides being a notable 2007 release, it was my first experience with the rondel mechanism. Very interesting, and I'd like to try the other rondel games some time. I was just as excited to play an older game, Streetcar. Actually we played the German original, Linie 1. And this was back from the days when the German original and American reprint looked quite different, not the co-productions like we're so used to nowadays. I've always really enjoyed this game as one of the best connection games out there. -Mark Uh...yeah. At the start of this show I say I recorded it back on May 29. Which I did. Then I labeled the file and blog entry June 17, because that's when I edited it. Except that I ran into a technical glitch, and I only just now resolved all of that to get it posted on July 13. Whew! Anyway, it's here now. Not long after my 2007 recap described some new games I hadn't had the chance to try yet, I got to play Hamburgum. Besides being a notable 2007 release, it was my first experience with the rondel mechanism. Very interesting, and I'd like to try the other rondel games some time. I was just as excited to play an older game, Streetcar. Actually we played the German original, Linie 1. And this was back from the days when the German original and American reprint looked quite different, not the co-productions like we're so used to nowadays. I've always really enjoyed this game as one of the best connection games out there. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-07-16,24120831 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:54:09 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24120832-BGTG-81-May-23-2008-Games-of-2007 Memorial Day Weekend is pretty late for a 2007 recap show, but here it is anyway. I said I'd follow this show up sometime with another blog entry to have a written summary of my games played, too. I found that I enjoyed re-reading my reports from earlier years . . . and missed not having them for 2005 & 2006. In a nutshell, I'm still playing 400 games per year, about 180 different titles--the same as it's been since about 2000. The only thing different in my numbers last year is the number of new-to-me games dropped from around 90 to less than 70. It's my little battle against the "cult of the new." :-) I recap some of the 2007 titles that are definite winners with me, and some losers. Then, there's a whole raft of games I still need to try for the first time! (Collateral damage from that battle I just mentioned.) -Mark Memorial Day Weekend is pretty late for a 2007 recap show, but here it is anyway. I said I'd follow this show up sometime with another blog entry to have a written summary of my games played, too. I found that I enjoyed re-reading my reports from earlier years . . . and missed not having them for 2005 & 2006. In a nutshell, I'm still playing 400 games per year, about 180 different titles--the same as it's been since about 2000. The only thing different in my numbers last year is the number of new-to-me games dropped from around 90 to less than 70. It's my little battle against the "cult of the new." :-) I recap some of the 2007 titles that are definite winners with me, and some losers. Then, there's a whole raft of games I still need to try for the first time! (Collateral damage from that battle I just mentioned.) -Mark Memorial Day Weekend is pretty late for a 2007 recap show, but here it is anyway. I said I'd follow this show up sometime with another blog entry to have a written summary of my games played, too. I found that I enjoyed re-reading my reports from earlier years . . . and missed not having them for 2005 & 2006. In a nutshell, I'm still playing 400 games per year, about 180 different titles--the same as it's been since about 2000. The only thing different in my numbers last year is the number of new-to-me games dropped from around 90 to less than 70. It's my little battle against the "cult of the new." :-) I recap some of the 2007 titles that are definite winners with me, and some losers. Then, there's a whole raft of games I still need to try for the first time! (Collateral damage from that battle I just mentioned.) -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-05-23,24120832 Fri, 23 May 2008 09:45:21 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/23300612-BGTG-81-May-23-2008-Games-of-2007 Memorial Day Weekend is pretty late for a 2007 recap show, but here it is anyway. I said I'd follow this show up sometime with another blog entry to have a written summary of my games played, too. I found that I enjoyed re-reading my reports from earlier years . . . and missed not having them for 2005 & 2006. In a nutshell, I'm still playing 400 games per year, about 180 different titles--the same as it's been since about 2000. The only thing different in my numbers last year is the number of new-to-me games dropped from around 90 to less than 70. It's my little battle against the "cult of the new." :-) I recap some of the 2007 titles that are definite winners with me, and some losers. Then, there's a whole raft of games I still need to try for the first time! (Collateral damage from that battle I just mentioned.) -Mark Memorial Day Weekend is pretty late for a 2007 recap show, but here it is anyway. I said I'd follow this show up sometime with another blog entry to have a written summary of my games played, too. I found that I enjoyed re-reading my reports from earlier years . . . and missed not having them for 2005 & 2006. In a nutshell, I'm still playing 400 games per year, about 180 different titles--the same as it's been since about 2000. The only thing different in my numbers last year is the number of new-to-me games dropped from around 90 to less than 70. It's my little battle against the "cult of the new." :-) I recap some of the 2007 titles that are definite winners with me, and some losers. Then, there's a whole raft of games I still need to try for the first time! (Collateral damage from that battle I just mentioned.) -Mark Memorial Day Weekend is pretty late for a 2007 recap show, but here it is anyway. I said I'd follow this show up sometime with another blog entry to have a written summary of my games played, too. I found that I enjoyed re-reading my reports from earlier years . . . and missed not having them for 2005 & 2006. In a nutshell, I'm still playing 400 games per year, about 180 different titles--the same as it's been since about 2000. The only thing different in my numbers last year is the number of new-to-me games dropped from around 90 to less than 70. It's my little battle against the "cult of the new." :-) I recap some of the 2007 titles that are definite winners with me, and some losers. Then, there's a whole raft of games I still need to try for the first time! (Collateral damage from that battle I just mentioned.) -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-05-23,23300612 Fri, 23 May 2008 09:45:21 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24120833-BGTG-80-Apr-29-2008-SR-Feedback-Galaxy-Trucker-Key-Harvest Finishing up my feedback backlog (my feedbacklog?), here's a show with audio comments from my listeners. Does that include Mr. Reliable for audio feedback, Mark Jackson? Sure does! He's here, along with a couple other guys that offer some good comments or questions related to some earlier episodes of BGTG. Like all my feedback shows, that part is at the end, preceded by some game discussion. This time it's about two newer releases I've played a bit recently, Galaxy Trucker and Key Harvest. Both are releases from last fall's Essen, but that's where the similarity ends. GT is a realtime construction puzzle game with science fiction theming, while KH is a more deliberate and strategic contest themed around medieval farming. Very Richard Breese. -Mark P.S. I've enjoyed playing more play-by-web games with my listeners. Now Hansa has moved from Mabiweb to designer Michael Schacht's own website . . . where new PBW offering Patrician has now appeared. Look for me & my games over there, ... Finishing up my feedback backlog (my feedbacklog?), here's a show with audio comments from my listeners. Does that include Mr. Reliable for audio feedback, Mark Jackson? Sure does! He's here, along with a couple other guys that offer some good comments or questions related to some earlier episodes of BGTG. Like all my feedback shows, that part is at the end, preceded by some game discussion. This time it's about two newer releases I've played a bit recently, Galaxy Trucker and Key Harvest. Both are releases from last fall's Essen, but that's where the similarity ends. GT is a realtime construction puzzle game with science fiction theming, while KH is a more deliberate and strategic contest themed around medieval farming. Very Richard Breese. -Mark P.S. I've enjoyed playing more play-by-web games with my listeners. Now Hansa has moved from Mabiweb to designer Michael Schacht's own website . . . where new PBW offering Patrician has now appeared. Look for me & my games over there, too. Finishing up my feedback backlog (my feedbacklog?), here's a show with audio comments from my listeners. Does that include Mr. Reliable for audio feedback, Mark Jackson? Sure does! He's here, along with a couple other guys that offer some good comments or questions related to some earlier episodes of BGTG. Like all my feedback shows, that part is at the end, preceded by some game discussion. This time it's about two newer releases I've played a bit recently, Galaxy Trucker and Key Harvest. Both are releases from last fall's Essen, but that's where the similarity ends. GT is a realtime construction puzzle game with science fiction theming, while KH is a more deliberate and strategic contest themed around medieval farming. Very Richard Breese. -Mark P.S. I've enjoyed playing more play-by-web games with my listeners. Now Hansa has moved from Mabiweb to designer Michael Schacht's own website . . . where new PBW offering Patrician has now appeared. Look for me & my games over there, too. tag:odeo.com,2008-05-03,24120833 Sat, 03 May 2008 08:21:58 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/23300613-BGTG-80-Apr-29-2008-SR-Feedback-Galaxy-Trucker-Key-Harvest Finishing up my feedback backlog (my feedbacklog?), here's a show with audio comments from my listeners. Does that include Mr. Reliable for audio feedback, Mark Jackson? Sure does! He's here, along with a couple other guys that offer some good comments or questions related to some earlier episodes of BGTG. Like all my feedback shows, that part is at the end, preceded by some game discussion. This time it's about two newer releases I've played a bit recently, Galaxy Trucker and Key Harvest. Both are releases from last fall's Essen, but that's where the similarity ends. GT is a realtime construction puzzle game with science fiction theming, while KH is a more deliberate and strategic contest themed around medieval farming. Very Richard Breese. -Mark P.S. I've enjoyed playing more play-by-web games with my listeners. Now Hansa has moved from Mabiweb to designer Michael Schacht's own website . . . where new PBW offering Patrician has now appeared. Look for me & my games over there, ... Finishing up my feedback backlog (my feedbacklog?), here's a show with audio comments from my listeners. Does that include Mr. Reliable for audio feedback, Mark Jackson? Sure does! He's here, along with a couple other guys that offer some good comments or questions related to some earlier episodes of BGTG. Like all my feedback shows, that part is at the end, preceded by some game discussion. This time it's about two newer releases I've played a bit recently, Galaxy Trucker and Key Harvest. Both are releases from last fall's Essen, but that's where the similarity ends. GT is a realtime construction puzzle game with science fiction theming, while KH is a more deliberate and strategic contest themed around medieval farming. Very Richard Breese. -Mark P.S. I've enjoyed playing more play-by-web games with my listeners. Now Hansa has moved from Mabiweb to designer Michael Schacht's own website . . . where new PBW offering Patrician has now appeared. Look for me & my games over there, too. Finishing up my feedback backlog (my feedbacklog?), here's a show with audio comments from my listeners. Does that include Mr. Reliable for audio feedback, Mark Jackson? Sure does! He's here, along with a couple other guys that offer some good comments or questions related to some earlier episodes of BGTG. Like all my feedback shows, that part is at the end, preceded by some game discussion. This time it's about two newer releases I've played a bit recently, Galaxy Trucker and Key Harvest. Both are releases from last fall's Essen, but that's where the similarity ends. GT is a realtime construction puzzle game with science fiction theming, while KH is a more deliberate and strategic contest themed around medieval farming. Very Richard Breese. -Mark P.S. I've enjoyed playing more play-by-web games with my listeners. Now Hansa has moved from Mabiweb to designer Michael Schacht's own website . . . where new PBW offering Patrician has now appeared. Look for me & my games over there, too. tag:odeo.com,2008-05-03,23300613 Sat, 03 May 2008 08:21:58 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24120834-BGTG-79-SR-Feedback-Play-By-Web-games Waaaaay back in show #3 I covered play-by-web boardgaming. I've touched on it since then, and for this show it's "where" my game session took place. That is, on the web, against a variety of friends, playing a variety of games. I spend the most time talking about Mykerinos on Mabiweb, mostly due to the excitement of having a new play-by-web game to try. But I also touch on several more, including new ones at new sites (Des Jeux sur Plateau, Ludoholic), and new ones at old sites (Yucata.de). Then I round out the show with some feedback from recent and not-so-recent episodes. I'll be working on another SR & Feedback show next, this one covering games played the normal way (face-to-face!), as well as audio feedback. -Mark P.S. In the very beginning of the show I also reflect on the games that debuted the one year I made it to the Gathering of Friends, back in 2004. It's always interesting for me to look back at early impressions to see which games have proved to be keepers. In this... Waaaaay back in show #3 I covered play-by-web boardgaming. I've touched on it since then, and for this show it's "where" my game session took place. That is, on the web, against a variety of friends, playing a variety of games. I spend the most time talking about Mykerinos on Mabiweb, mostly due to the excitement of having a new play-by-web game to try. But I also touch on several more, including new ones at new sites (Des Jeux sur Plateau, Ludoholic), and new ones at old sites (Yucata.de). Then I round out the show with some feedback from recent and not-so-recent episodes. I'll be working on another SR & Feedback show next, this one covering games played the normal way (face-to-face!), as well as audio feedback. -Mark P.S. In the very beginning of the show I also reflect on the games that debuted the one year I made it to the Gathering of Friends, back in 2004. It's always interesting for me to look back at early impressions to see which games have proved to be keepers. In this instance, I think it was a great year. From that introduction, I still own & play my copies of Ticket To Ride, Hansa, Einfach Genial, San Juan, and St. Petersburg. Goa and Power Grid are two heavier games I don't own (but should own PG!). Sunken City was the notable stinker, but that was clear from the first play (same with Oh Pharaoh and the rest of that small line). Dos Rios is the one I was & still am on the fence about. I guess I have to admit that it's not a keeper. In fact I've never owned it. But it's a good idea, interesting mechanics, and a game I "almost really enjoy." Waaaaay back in show #3 I covered play-by-web boardgaming. I've touched on it since then, and for this show it's "where" my game session took place. That is, on the web, against a variety of friends, playing a variety of games. I spend the most time talking about Mykerinos on Mabiweb, mostly due to the excitement of having a new play-by-web game to try. But I also touch on several more, including new ones at new sites (Des Jeux sur Plateau, Ludoholic), and new ones at old sites (Yucata.de). Then I round out the show with some feedback from recent and not-so-recent episodes. I'll be working on another SR & Feedback show next, this one covering games played the normal way (face-to-face!), as well as audio feedback. -Mark P.S. In the very beginning of the show I also reflect on the games that debuted the one year I made it to the Gathering of Friends, back in 2004. It's always interesting for me to look back at early impressions to see which games have proved to be keepers. In this instance, I think it was a great year. From that introduction, I still own & play my copies of Ticket To Ride, Hansa, Einfach Genial, San Juan, and St. Petersburg. Goa and Power Grid are two heavier games I don't own (but should own PG!). Sunken City was the notable stinker, but that was clear from the first play (same with Oh Pharaoh and the rest of that small line). Dos Rios is the one I was & still am on the fence about. I guess I have to admit that it's not a keeper. In fact I've never owned it. But it's a good idea, interesting mechanics, and a game I "almost really enjoy." tag:odeo.com,2008-04-19,24120834 Sat, 19 Apr 2008 07:22:50 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/23300618-BGTG-79-SR-Feedback-Play-By-Web-games Waaaaay back in show #3 I covered play-by-web boardgaming. I've touched on it since then, and for this show it's "where" my game session took place. That is, on the web, against a variety of friends, playing a variety of games. I spend the most time talking about Mykerinos on Mabiweb, mostly due to the excitement of having a new play-by-web game to try. But I also touch on several more, including new ones at new sites (Des Jeux sur Plateau, Ludoholic), and new ones at old sites (Yucata.de). Then I round out the show with some feedback from recent and not-so-recent episodes. I'll be working on another SR & Feedback show next, this one covering games played the normal way (face-to-face!), as well as audio feedback. -Mark P.S. In the very beginning of the show I also reflect on the games that debuted the one year I made it to the Gathering of Friends, back in 2004. It's always interesting for me to look back at early impressions to see which games have proved to be keepers. In this... Waaaaay back in show #3 I covered play-by-web boardgaming. I've touched on it since then, and for this show it's "where" my game session took place. That is, on the web, against a variety of friends, playing a variety of games. I spend the most time talking about Mykerinos on Mabiweb, mostly due to the excitement of having a new play-by-web game to try. But I also touch on several more, including new ones at new sites (Des Jeux sur Plateau, Ludoholic), and new ones at old sites (Yucata.de). Then I round out the show with some feedback from recent and not-so-recent episodes. I'll be working on another SR & Feedback show next, this one covering games played the normal way (face-to-face!), as well as audio feedback. -Mark P.S. In the very beginning of the show I also reflect on the games that debuted the one year I made it to the Gathering of Friends, back in 2004. It's always interesting for me to look back at early impressions to see which games have proved to be keepers. In this instance, I think it was a great year. From that introduction, I still own & play my copies of Ticket To Ride, Hansa, Einfach Genial, San Juan, and St. Petersburg. Goa and Power Grid are two heavier games I don't own (but should own PG!). Sunken City was the notable stinker, but that was clear from the first play (same with Oh Pharaoh and the rest of that small line). Dos Rios is the one I was & still am on the fence about. I guess I have to admit that it's not a keeper. In fact I've never owned it. But it's a good idea, interesting mechanics, and a game I "almost really enjoy." Waaaaay back in show #3 I covered play-by-web boardgaming. I've touched on it since then, and for this show it's "where" my game session took place. That is, on the web, against a variety of friends, playing a variety of games. I spend the most time talking about Mykerinos on Mabiweb, mostly due to the excitement of having a new play-by-web game to try. But I also touch on several more, including new ones at new sites (Des Jeux sur Plateau, Ludoholic), and new ones at old sites (Yucata.de). Then I round out the show with some feedback from recent and not-so-recent episodes. I'll be working on another SR & Feedback show next, this one covering games played the normal way (face-to-face!), as well as audio feedback. -Mark P.S. In the very beginning of the show I also reflect on the games that debuted the one year I made it to the Gathering of Friends, back in 2004. It's always interesting for me to look back at early impressions to see which games have proved to be keepers. In this instance, I think it was a great year. From that introduction, I still own & play my copies of Ticket To Ride, Hansa, Einfach Genial, San Juan, and St. Petersburg. Goa and Power Grid are two heavier games I don't own (but should own PG!). Sunken City was the notable stinker, but that was clear from the first play (same with Oh Pharaoh and the rest of that small line). Dos Rios is the one I was & still am on the fence about. I guess I have to admit that it's not a keeper. In fact I've never owned it. But it's a good idea, interesting mechanics, and a game I "almost really enjoy." tag:odeo.com,2008-04-19,23300618 Sat, 19 Apr 2008 07:22:50 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/18358803-BGTG-78-Back-in-the-saddle tag:odeo.com,2008-03-31,18358803 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 04:58:01 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24120835-BGTG-78-Back-in-the-saddle I still need to do a feedback show to go through a backlog, but today I couldn't wait for that. You see, I've had a break in my busy schedule--or at least an attitude adjustment after a recent vacation--and just needed to record a podcast again. I'm playing some more games, catching up on some podcast listening, and wanted to share some thoughts about recent games. This particular show happened to have more talk about a couple wargames: Hammer of the Scots over email with Paul Tevis (of the Have Games, Will Travel podcast), and Duel In The Dark played face-to-face. I know the latter is marketed as more of a Euro game, published by Z-Man, but I think it's at least as much of a wargame, albeit a light one with flashy components. Really, I think it's a good example of a wargame/euro hybrid. Oh, I talk about some other games, too, such as another look at Kingsburg, and my first play of Take It To The Limit. -Mark I still need to do a feedback show to go through a backlog, but today I couldn't wait for that. You see, I've had a break in my busy schedule--or at least an attitude adjustment after a recent vacation--and just needed to record a podcast again. I'm playing some more games, catching up on some podcast listening, and wanted to share some thoughts about recent games. This particular show happened to have more talk about a couple wargames: Hammer of the Scots over email with Paul Tevis (of the Have Games, Will Travel podcast), and Duel In The Dark played face-to-face. I know the latter is marketed as more of a Euro game, published by Z-Man, but I think it's at least as much of a wargame, albeit a light one with flashy components. Really, I think it's a good example of a wargame/euro hybrid. Oh, I talk about some other games, too, such as another look at Kingsburg, and my first play of Take It To The Limit. -Mark I still need to do a feedback show to go through a backlog, but today I couldn't wait for that. You see, I've had a break in my busy schedule--or at least an attitude adjustment after a recent vacation--and just needed to record a podcast again. I'm playing some more games, catching up on some podcast listening, and wanted to share some thoughts about recent games. This particular show happened to have more talk about a couple wargames: Hammer of the Scots over email with Paul Tevis (of the Have Games, Will Travel podcast), and Duel In The Dark played face-to-face. I know the latter is marketed as more of a Euro game, published by Z-Man, but I think it's at least as much of a wargame, albeit a light one with flashy components. Really, I think it's a good example of a wargame/euro hybrid. Oh, I talk about some other games, too, such as another look at Kingsburg, and my first play of Take It To The Limit. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-03-30,24120835 Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:58:01 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/23300623-BGTG-78-Back-in-the-saddle I still need to do a feedback show to go through a backlog, but today I couldn't wait for that. You see, I've had a break in my busy schedule--or at least an attitude adjustment after a recent vacation--and just needed to record a podcast again. I'm playing some more games, catching up on some podcast listening, and wanted to share some thoughts about recent games. This particular show happened to have more talk about a couple wargames: Hammer of the Scots over email with Paul Tevis (of the Have Games, Will Travel podcast), and Duel In The Dark played face-to-face. I know the latter is marketed as more of a Euro game, published by Z-Man, but I think it's at least as much of a wargame, albeit a light one with flashy components. Really, I think it's a good example of a wargame/euro hybrid. Oh, I talk about some other games, too, such as another look at Kingsburg, and my first play of Take It To The Limit. -Mark I still need to do a feedback show to go through a backlog, but today I couldn't wait for that. You see, I've had a break in my busy schedule--or at least an attitude adjustment after a recent vacation--and just needed to record a podcast again. I'm playing some more games, catching up on some podcast listening, and wanted to share some thoughts about recent games. This particular show happened to have more talk about a couple wargames: Hammer of the Scots over email with Paul Tevis (of the Have Games, Will Travel podcast), and Duel In The Dark played face-to-face. I know the latter is marketed as more of a Euro game, published by Z-Man, but I think it's at least as much of a wargame, albeit a light one with flashy components. Really, I think it's a good example of a wargame/euro hybrid. Oh, I talk about some other games, too, such as another look at Kingsburg, and my first play of Take It To The Limit. -Mark I still need to do a feedback show to go through a backlog, but today I couldn't wait for that. You see, I've had a break in my busy schedule--or at least an attitude adjustment after a recent vacation--and just needed to record a podcast again. I'm playing some more games, catching up on some podcast listening, and wanted to share some thoughts about recent games. This particular show happened to have more talk about a couple wargames: Hammer of the Scots over email with Paul Tevis (of the Have Games, Will Travel podcast), and Duel In The Dark played face-to-face. I know the latter is marketed as more of a Euro game, published by Z-Man, but I think it's at least as much of a wargame, albeit a light one with flashy components. Really, I think it's a good example of a wargame/euro hybrid. Oh, I talk about some other games, too, such as another look at Kingsburg, and my first play of Take It To The Limit. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-03-30,23300623 Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:58:01 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/18358723-BGTG-77-Recent-Game-Rambling tag:odeo.com,2008-01-18,18358723 Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:18:28 -0800 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24120838-BGTG-77-Recent-Game-Rambling No, I haven't disappeared again, and this little episode is meant to prove it. I have more to say about other games, my year in review, my new top ten list, and a backlog of feedback to work through. But this is what I could get out right now, and it'll have to do. In it, I talk about some older games I played with my son & other kids (and gamer-dad Dave Gullett) at a recent SoCal Games Day. Then I spend a little more time talking about some new games I've had a chance to try. For a guy that mostly plays recent & old favorites, I was a bit surprised that I had things to say about Kingsburg, Amyitis, Race for the Galaxy, and Cold War: CIA vs KGB -Mark No, I haven't disappeared again, and this little episode is meant to prove it. I have more to say about other games, my year in review, my new top ten list, and a backlog of feedback to work through. But this is what I could get out right now, and it'll have to do. In it, I talk about some older games I played with my son & other kids (and gamer-dad Dave Gullett) at a recent SoCal Games Day. Then I spend a little more time talking about some new games I've had a chance to try. For a guy that mostly plays recent & old favorites, I was a bit surprised that I had things to say about Kingsburg, Amyitis, Race for the Galaxy, and Cold War: CIA vs KGB -Mark No, I haven't disappeared again, and this little episode is meant to prove it. I have more to say about other games, my year in review, my new top ten list, and a backlog of feedback to work through. But this is what I could get out right now, and it'll have to do. In it, I talk about some older games I played with my son & other kids (and gamer-dad Dave Gullett) at a recent SoCal Games Day. Then I spend a little more time talking about some new games I've had a chance to try. For a guy that mostly plays recent & old favorites, I was a bit surprised that I had things to say about Kingsburg, Amyitis, Race for the Galaxy, and Cold War: CIA vs KGB -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-01-18,24120838 Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:18:28 -0800 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/23300631-BGTG-77-Recent-Game-Rambling No, I haven't disappeared again, and this little episode is meant to prove it. I have more to say about other games, my year in review, my new top ten list, and a backlog of feedback to work through. But this is what I could get out right now, and it'll have to do. In it, I talk about some older games I played with my son & other kids (and gamer-dad Dave Gullett) at a recent SoCal Games Day. Then I spend a little more time talking about some new games I've had a chance to try. For a guy that mostly plays recent & old favorites, I was a bit surprised that I had things to say about Kingsburg, Amyitis, Race for the Galaxy, and Cold War: CIA vs KGB -Mark No, I haven't disappeared again, and this little episode is meant to prove it. I have more to say about other games, my year in review, my new top ten list, and a backlog of feedback to work through. But this is what I could get out right now, and it'll have to do. In it, I talk about some older games I played with my son & other kids (and gamer-dad Dave Gullett) at a recent SoCal Games Day. Then I spend a little more time talking about some new games I've had a chance to try. For a guy that mostly plays recent & old favorites, I was a bit surprised that I had things to say about Kingsburg, Amyitis, Race for the Galaxy, and Cold War: CIA vs KGB -Mark No, I haven't disappeared again, and this little episode is meant to prove it. I have more to say about other games, my year in review, my new top ten list, and a backlog of feedback to work through. But this is what I could get out right now, and it'll have to do. In it, I talk about some older games I played with my son & other kids (and gamer-dad Dave Gullett) at a recent SoCal Games Day. Then I spend a little more time talking about some new games I've had a chance to try. For a guy that mostly plays recent & old favorites, I was a bit surprised that I had things to say about Kingsburg, Amyitis, Race for the Galaxy, and Cold War: CIA vs KGB -Mark tag:odeo.com,2008-01-18,23300631 Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:18:28 -0800 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/18358673-BGTG-76-Summertime-Games tag:odeo.com,2007-11-21,18358673 Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:33:47 -0800 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24120840-BGTG-76-Summertime-Games A quick, little podcast this time, one from my "archives." By that I mean this was one of those shows I recorded last summer, when I wasn't uploading any podcasts. At least one of those recordings was unceremoniously dumped, but this is one I still had lying around. It's another recording made in my car, but I learned from episode 74 that mostly leaving the audio alone is better than trying to get too fancy with the filtering and noise reduction. I called this episode "Summertime Games" as a catch-all term for the rundown of several games I was playing, mostly with my own family, during this time. No real theme other than that--a pleasant reflection that I really am playing more games with them, and that they're games I enjoy, too. This is a show I could bang out quickly before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US. Speaking of Thanksgiving and family gaming, once again I've packed way too many games to bring to grandma's house for the holiday. Only this time I know my own kids ma... A quick, little podcast this time, one from my "archives." By that I mean this was one of those shows I recorded last summer, when I wasn't uploading any podcasts. At least one of those recordings was unceremoniously dumped, but this is one I still had lying around. It's another recording made in my car, but I learned from episode 74 that mostly leaving the audio alone is better than trying to get too fancy with the filtering and noise reduction. I called this episode "Summertime Games" as a catch-all term for the rundown of several games I was playing, mostly with my own family, during this time. No real theme other than that--a pleasant reflection that I really am playing more games with them, and that they're games I enjoy, too. This is a show I could bang out quickly before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US. Speaking of Thanksgiving and family gaming, once again I've packed way too many games to bring to grandma's house for the holiday. Only this time I know my own kids may want to play a couple with me, and we're hoping to involve some of the other relatives, too. Plus, I think my selection of games is getting better suited for a family weekend than I used to bring. We'll see. Maybe that can be a future podcast episode, along with some overdue feedback. -Mark A quick, little podcast this time, one from my "archives." By that I mean this was one of those shows I recorded last summer, when I wasn't uploading any podcasts. At least one of those recordings was unceremoniously dumped, but this is one I still had lying around. It's another recording made in my car, but I learned from episode 74 that mostly leaving the audio alone is better than trying to get too fancy with the filtering and noise reduction. I called this episode "Summertime Games" as a catch-all term for the rundown of several games I was playing, mostly with my own family, during this time. No real theme other than that--a pleasant reflection that I really am playing more games with them, and that they're games I enjoy, too. This is a show I could bang out quickly before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US. Speaking of Thanksgiving and family gaming, once again I've packed way too many games to bring to grandma's house for the holiday. Only this time I know my own kids may want to play a couple with me, and we're hoping to involve some of the other relatives, too. Plus, I think my selection of games is getting better suited for a family weekend than I used to bring. We'll see. Maybe that can be a future podcast episode, along with some overdue feedback. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2007-11-21,24120840 Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:33:47 -0800 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/23300654-BGTG-76-Summertime-Games A quick, little podcast this time, one from my "archives." By that I mean this was one of those shows I recorded last summer, when I wasn't uploading any podcasts. At least one of those recordings was unceremoniously dumped, but this is one I still had lying around. It's another recording made in my car, but I learned from episode 74 that mostly leaving the audio alone is better than trying to get too fancy with the filtering and noise reduction. I called this episode "Summertime Games" as a catch-all term for the rundown of several games I was playing, mostly with my own family, during this time. No real theme other than that--a pleasant reflection that I really am playing more games with them, and that they're games I enjoy, too. This is a show I could bang out quickly before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US. Speaking of Thanksgiving and family gaming, once again I've packed way too many games to bring to grandma's house for the holiday. Only this time I know my own kids ma... A quick, little podcast this time, one from my "archives." By that I mean this was one of those shows I recorded last summer, when I wasn't uploading any podcasts. At least one of those recordings was unceremoniously dumped, but this is one I still had lying around. It's another recording made in my car, but I learned from episode 74 that mostly leaving the audio alone is better than trying to get too fancy with the filtering and noise reduction. I called this episode "Summertime Games" as a catch-all term for the rundown of several games I was playing, mostly with my own family, during this time. No real theme other than that--a pleasant reflection that I really am playing more games with them, and that they're games I enjoy, too. This is a show I could bang out quickly before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US. Speaking of Thanksgiving and family gaming, once again I've packed way too many games to bring to grandma's house for the holiday. Only this time I know my own kids may want to play a couple with me, and we're hoping to involve some of the other relatives, too. Plus, I think my selection of games is getting better suited for a family weekend than I used to bring. We'll see. Maybe that can be a future podcast episode, along with some overdue feedback. -Mark A quick, little podcast this time, one from my "archives." By that I mean this was one of those shows I recorded last summer, when I wasn't uploading any podcasts. At least one of those recordings was unceremoniously dumped, but this is one I still had lying around. It's another recording made in my car, but I learned from episode 74 that mostly leaving the audio alone is better than trying to get too fancy with the filtering and noise reduction. I called this episode "Summertime Games" as a catch-all term for the rundown of several games I was playing, mostly with my own family, during this time. No real theme other than that--a pleasant reflection that I really am playing more games with them, and that they're games I enjoy, too. This is a show I could bang out quickly before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US. Speaking of Thanksgiving and family gaming, once again I've packed way too many games to bring to grandma's house for the holiday. Only this time I know my own kids may want to play a couple with me, and we're hoping to involve some of the other relatives, too. Plus, I think my selection of games is getting better suited for a family weekend than I used to bring. We'll see. Maybe that can be a future podcast episode, along with some overdue feedback. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2007-11-21,23300654 Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:33:47 -0800 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/18358593-BGTG-75-Decade-1-Retrospective-with-Dave-Arnott tag:odeo.com,2007-11-09,18358593 Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:41:08 -0800 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/24120842-BGTG-75-Decade-1-Retrospective-with-Dave-Arnott Last year, my buddy Dave Arnott and I talked on the phone about how we'd now been in the hobby for a decade. In that time the hobby was in many ways the same, but the interesting parts were the differences. Now we have Boardgamegeek, do a lot less overseas ordering, and I can't recall the last time I played a game with a separate page of card translations we all had to hand back & forth while playing. Seemed like a good idea for a podcast. Then my podcast sort of went on hiatus, and so the decade has now become eleven years, or "decade+1." In our retrospective, we talked about a number of changes over the years, trying to talk about the hobby in general, but understandably drifting back to our own local experiences much of the time. We also tried to describe what we know about the hobby before we got into it. The earlier generation (of which my previous guest Mike Siggins was an important part). This is one of my longest shows ever, but I decided to post the whole thing rather t... Last year, my buddy Dave Arnott and I talked on the phone about how we'd now been in the hobby for a decade. In that time the hobby was in many ways the same, but the interesting parts were the differences. Now we have Boardgamegeek, do a lot less overseas ordering, and I can't recall the last time I played a game with a separate page of card translations we all had to hand back & forth while playing. Seemed like a good idea for a podcast. Then my podcast sort of went on hiatus, and so the decade has now become eleven years, or "decade+1." In our retrospective, we talked about a number of changes over the years, trying to talk about the hobby in general, but understandably drifting back to our own local experiences much of the time. We also tried to describe what we know about the hobby before we got into it. The earlier generation (of which my previous guest Mike Siggins was an important part). This is one of my longest shows ever, but I decided to post the whole thing rather than two parts because some of you may need some boardgame material to listen to while on a long trip to BGG.con next week. Sadly, I won't be there, but Dave Arnott will! Be sure to tell him if you see him what you thought of the podcast. -Mark Last year, my buddy Dave Arnott and I talked on the phone about how we'd now been in the hobby for a decade. In that time the hobby was in many ways the same, but the interesting parts were the differences. Now we have Boardgamegeek, do a lot less overseas ordering, and I can't recall the last time I played a game with a separate page of card translations we all had to hand back & forth while playing. Seemed like a good idea for a podcast. Then my podcast sort of went on hiatus, and so the decade has now become eleven years, or "decade+1." In our retrospective, we talked about a number of changes over the years, trying to talk about the hobby in general, but understandably drifting back to our own local experiences much of the time. We also tried to describe what we know about the hobby before we got into it. The earlier generation (of which my previous guest Mike Siggins was an important part). This is one of my longest shows ever, but I decided to post the whole thing rather than two parts because some of you may need some boardgame material to listen to while on a long trip to BGG.con next week. Sadly, I won't be there, but Dave Arnott will! Be sure to tell him if you see him what you thought of the podcast. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2007-11-09,24120842 Fri, 09 Nov 2007 11:41:08 -0800 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/23300733-BGTG-75-Decade-1-Retrospective-with-Dave-Arnott Last year, my buddy Dave Arnott and I talked on the phone about how we'd now been in the hobby for a decade. In that time the hobby was in many ways the same, but the interesting parts were the differences. Now we have Boardgamegeek, do a lot less overseas ordering, and I can't recall the last time I played a game with a separate page of card translations we all had to hand back & forth while playing. Seemed like a good idea for a podcast. Then my podcast sort of went on hiatus, and so the decade has now become eleven years, or "decade+1." In our retrospective, we talked about a number of changes over the years, trying to talk about the hobby in general, but understandably drifting back to our own local experiences much of the time. We also tried to describe what we know about the hobby before we got into it. The earlier generation (of which my previous guest Mike Siggins was an important part). This is one of my longest shows ever, but I decided to post the whole thing rather t... Last year, my buddy Dave Arnott and I talked on the phone about how we'd now been in the hobby for a decade. In that time the hobby was in many ways the same, but the interesting parts were the differences. Now we have Boardgamegeek, do a lot less overseas ordering, and I can't recall the last time I played a game with a separate page of card translations we all had to hand back & forth while playing. Seemed like a good idea for a podcast. Then my podcast sort of went on hiatus, and so the decade has now become eleven years, or "decade+1." In our retrospective, we talked about a number of changes over the years, trying to talk about the hobby in general, but understandably drifting back to our own local experiences much of the time. We also tried to describe what we know about the hobby before we got into it. The earlier generation (of which my previous guest Mike Siggins was an important part). This is one of my longest shows ever, but I decided to post the whole thing rather than two parts because some of you may need some boardgame material to listen to while on a long trip to BGG.con next week. Sadly, I won't be there, but Dave Arnott will! Be sure to tell him if you see him what you thought of the podcast. -Mark Last year, my buddy Dave Arnott and I talked on the phone about how we'd now been in the hobby for a decade. In that time the hobby was in many ways the same, but the interesting parts were the differences. Now we have Boardgamegeek, do a lot less overseas ordering, and I can't recall the last time I played a game with a separate page of card translations we all had to hand back & forth while playing. Seemed like a good idea for a podcast. Then my podcast sort of went on hiatus, and so the decade has now become eleven years, or "decade+1." In our retrospective, we talked about a number of changes over the years, trying to talk about the hobby in general, but understandably drifting back to our own local experiences much of the time. We also tried to describe what we know about the hobby before we got into it. The earlier generation (of which my previous guest Mike Siggins was an important part). This is one of my longest shows ever, but I decided to post the whole thing rather than two parts because some of you may need some boardgame material to listen to while on a long trip to BGG.con next week. Sadly, I won't be there, but Dave Arnott will! Be sure to tell him if you see him what you thought of the podcast. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2007-11-09,23300733 Fri, 09 Nov 2007 11:41:08 -0800 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/18358553-BGTG-74-Post-Essen-2007-with-Mike-Siggins tag:odeo.com,2007-11-03,18358553 Sat, 03 Nov 2007 23:34:24 -0700 no Boardgames To Go http://www.odeo.com/episodes/23300736-BGTG-74-Post-Essen-2007-with-Mike-Siggins Once again I'm pleased to bring Mike Siggins' boardgame commentary to podcasting with our annual show recapping his observations about Essen. Mike writes some of these in his column on Funagain.com, called The Gamer's Notebook, and that piece is a good companion to this BGTG episode. At the end, I also have a brief review on the one Essen title I've managed to play so far, Wolfgang Kramer's Origo. I got to play this one even though I've never seen it in-person, thanks to the wonder of Brettspielwelt's online boardgame portal. -Mark Once again I'm pleased to bring Mike Siggins' boardgame commentary to podcasting with our annual show recapping his observations about Essen. Mike writes some of these in his column on Funagain.com, called The Gamer's Notebook, and that piece is a good companion to this BGTG episode. At the end, I also have a brief review on the one Essen title I've managed to play so far, Wolfgang Kramer's Origo. I got to play this one even though I've never seen it in-person, thanks to the wonder of Brettspielwelt's online boardgame portal. -Mark Once again I'm pleased to bring Mike Siggins' boardgame commentary to podcasting with our annual show recapping his observations about Essen. Mike writes some of these in his column on Funagain.com, called The Gamer's Notebook, and that piece is a good companion to this BGTG episode. At the end, I also have a brief review on the one Essen title I've managed to play so far, Wolfgang Kramer's Origo. I got to play this one even though I've never seen it in-person, thanks to the wonder of Brettspielwelt's online boardgame portal. -Mark tag:odeo.com,2007-11-03,23300736 Sat, 03 Nov 2007 15:34:24 -0700 no Boardgames To Go