The State of Games, Ep. 146: The One About Expanding Your World

Love ’em or hate ’em, board game expansions are a huge part of the industry. Some companies survive just on expansions for their most popular titles, which can sometimes lead to consumer fatigue. They can often feel like cash grabs, but on occasion an expansion is released that not only provides more content for a game – it also makes that game better. So settle in Dear Listeners – we’re here to separate the suck from the essentials, all just for you. Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 145: The One About One-Hour Wonders

If there’s one thing that’s awesome about board gaming it’s that we are spoiled for choice when it comes to variety. There are great card games that play in about 15 minutes, meaty Euros that burn your brain for 2 hours, or Ameritrash juggernauts that might take you a full day to play. But there’s also this super sweet spot in gaming where a certain type of game exists – one that plays in about an hour, isn’t overly-taxing, and yet makes you feel smart, fulfilled, and like you’ve just experienced something truly magical. These are the one-hour wonders, and herein we craft our ode. Read More  Read More

Dice Hate Me Game of the Year Awards 2017

Happy New Year, dear readers! It’s been an amazing year in the board game industry for for publishers and gamers alike, with tons of new titles to explore including some awesome Greater Than Games hits like Fate of the Elder Gods, Spirit Island, Lazer Ryderz, and the Bottom of the 9th: Clubhouse Expansion. And there’s even more to look forward to in 2018 as our gargantuan project Legends of Sleepy Hollow and the Sentinels of the Multiverse RPG will be released! But before we look forward to next year, it’s time on Dice Hate Me to look back at some of the best and brightest board games from 2017. The categories are always tough... Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 144: The One About The Best Games of 2017

Whether 2017 was great or terrible for you, there’s no denying that there were a ton of new game releases last year – more than any year on record, in fact. Add those to the already hugemongous collection of quality game titles from the past few years and gamers had a cornucopia of gaming goodness from which to choose. Now, there’s no way for everyone to play every single title that comes out, but we do pride ourselves on playing as many as we possibly can here on the podcast and we love sharing those experiences with all of you, dear listeners. So sit back and enjoy our takes on our absolute favorites of the past year, straight... Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 143: The One About Holiday Road

It’s been almost a month since our last episode, but the holidays seemed to ambush us this year, keeping us busy and away from our microphones! It certainly hasn’t been an uneventful month, however, as we all managed to get together in Dover, Delaware for our traditional Dice Hate Me Holiday gathering with good food, grand festivities, and gaming galore. So gather round, Dear Listeners, and ring in the New Year with your good friends from The State of Games. May 2018 be filled with peace, love, and games! Read More  Read More

The 2017 Dice Hate Me Holiday Gift Guide

Grab some cocoa and join me by the fireside, Dear Readers – tis the season to gab about gifting games! Believe it or not, this is the 7th annual Dice Hate Me Holiday Gift Guide, and nothing gets me more in the spirit than sharing some great games with all of you that you can share with everyone else. The list might be a tad late this year, but there’s still plenty of time before Santa loads up that sleigh and flies past Boardwalk and Park Place with all the Rolex and diamonds from Tiffany’s. I hope you enjoy the list, but most of all I hope you enjoy time with family and friends and get everything you wish for. May all your rolls be... Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 142: The One About Unplugging

November is usually the time when gaming conventions come to a close and the holidays kick into high gear. For the past few years, only one con has ruled the November calendar – BGGCon. This year, however, a new contender reared its head, and in Philadelphia, PA! Thus, PAX Unplugged was born. And it was huge. And we all went to it. And we ate pretzels and brats and drank our Yeungling and played our games and T.C. actually bought things and all manner of unheard of activities ensued. This… this is our story. Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 141: The One About Perception of Value

We love it when listeners send in podcast topic suggestions; not only does it mean that there are actually people out there paying attention to what we have to say, it also means that we don’t have to wrack our brains thinking of something interesting to talk about! This podcast topic comes to us from long-time listener Neil Biggs. He asked us to dig really deep into the retail and Kickstarter sides of what makes certain games hold a high value both for gamers & publishers. You’ll also get to hear about Darrell’s adventures at Essen Spiel, how TC designed a whole Euro about a boring city in 5 hours, and how I just had to... Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 140: The One About Getting in the Spirit

I LOVE HALLOWEEN. I almost celebrate Halloween more than I celebrate Christmas. Which is why it’s a bit of a shock that we haven’t done more Halloween-centric State of Games in the past few years. Well, all that obviously needed to change, so we drafted a little help from Keith Ferguson to really dig into the spirit of the holiday. I’ll just say that this is in my top 5 episodes that we’ve ever done; I hope you all have as much fun listening to it as we did recording it. Read More  Read More

Nice Work, Detectives

In this video, I’m joined by Lillian, Josh Mills, and Matt Wolfe to do a complete playthrough of Case 1 of Detective: City of Angels by Van Ryder Games. The game is currently on Kickstarter and is also totally awesome – I’m a backer! WARNING: This video contains spoilers! Read More  Read More