The State of Games, Episode 22 – The One About Two Pairs

Sometimes when you’re gaming, it’s better to be sitting back with an easy pair than dealing with cleaning up after a full house – if you know what we’re saying; and if you listen to this podcast you’ll certainly get the reference. So grab your significant other, pour a glass of your house finest and let The State of Games bring you closer together. You’re welcome. Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Episode 21 – The One About Gaming Memories of 2011

Auld lang syne. Many of you have heard the phrase, and many more of you have sang it as the ball in Times Square has dropped, signifying a new year. Essentially, it translates as “long, long ago” – as in “a galaxy far away.” However, in relation to convential transpirations, it simply means “things that happened this year.” And that’s going to be our featured translation as we take a look back on the year that was – in games. Read More  Read More

A Cosmic Chat with Seth Jaffee

Dice Hate Me and Go Forth and Game have joined forces to bring you some of the best gaming interviews on the web! That’s right, from time to time here on Dice Hate Me, Tom Gurganus will contribute one of his comprehensive conversations. In this interview, Tom delves into game design with Seth Jaffee, designer of the smash Eminent Domain. Enjoy the interview and be sure to let us know if there are other designers, artists or gaming insiders that you would like to know more about! ________________________________________________ Tom: It’s good to talk to you again Seth. Thanks for joining me. I want to talk about how you design... Read More

MACE 2011 Convention Wrap-up

Greetings, dear readers, ’tis the season for gaming! No, not because of the impending holidays (although that’s wonderful, as well), but because it’s the time of the year when we can load up the party wagon and head west – an hour west to our local con, MACE, in High Point. Last year, only three of us made the trek. This year, however, we had a veritable gang of geeky gamers – seven of us in total. The resulting maelstrom of gaming and imbibing manly liquids left me with some fuzzy accounts, but I shall endeavor to do my best to summarize all the geeky goodness. And although there was no bear rape nor freezer incidents... Read More

The State of Games, Episode 19 – The One About the Kickstarter Bubble

Kickstarter is getting kinda big. Like, really really big. Huge, even. And since we put Carnival up there it seems like everybody has a project. There are a lot of Chicken Littles running about, saying that the sky is falling. Are the rumors true? Should we all be selling great big digital umbrellas instead of board games? Read More  Read More

A Particularly Scottish View of Essen Spiel

Although Monkey238 and I were not able to attend the Big Show in Essen this year, we were lucky enough to have a few friends in which we could live – and game – vicariously. One of those friends was Ian L. Smith, of Glasgow, Scotland. Ian and I don’t always see eye-to-eye on games, but we are always equal in passion and respect. When Ian began recounting his tales from Essen on Twitter, I eagerly interjected and learned about a whole bevy of games I need to sink my teeth into. I prodded Ian to share his thoughts with all you, dear readers, and he eagerly agreed. By way of an introduction, let me explain that I and around 9 of... Read More

The State of Games, Episode 15 – The One About Richard Launius

This time, it’s all about the dice. It can be argued that it’s always about the dice around these parts, but this time we mean it. You see, we have a very special guest on the podcast this week – a certain designer whose happy hallmarks are those rambunctious randomizers.  And although dice may be filled with hate whenever they get in these hands, we’ve got nothing but love for this particular designer – even if he does have cube fever. Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Episode 13 – The One About GenCon and the WBC

Phew. Gaming can sometimes be hard. Like when there are tons of cool conventions going on all summer long and you just can’t seem to get to all of them. Lucky for us, we have clones. That’s right, clones. Right now, there are hundreds of little Monkey238s running amok, possibly in your neighborhood. It’s true! Don’t be alarmed, though – they’re mostly harmless. Just have some Doritos and ice cream at the ready. You may need it. Read More  Read More

Guest Impressions: GenCon 2011

Although we weren’t able to make it to GenCon this year, we were lucky enough that a friend of Dice Hate Me was there – Marc Specter. Marc attended GenCon on Saturday and was kind enough to volunteer his impressions of the big show. We’d like to thank Marc for running the gauntlet for us! Also, look for a special episode of The State of Games on Thursday when Patrick Nickell will share his experiences (including interviews with some industry giants) and Monkey238 and I will share our thoughts and experiences at the World Boardgaming Championships in Lancaster, PA! Running the gauntlet of aisle 800 As the grandaddy of all gaming... Read More

WBC Bound!

It’s convention time once again at Dice Hate Me HQ, so time for some road trip preliminaries. I know that a vast majority of you are either not reading this at GenCon, or not reading this because you’re reading someone else’s blog about being at GenCon, but for the other 3% of you out there – welcome to the WBC party! As many of you already know, we have opted out of the big show in Indy this year, and are instead headed to the land of milk and honey – Lancaster, PA, home of delicious pretzels and shoo-fly pie. Lancaster is the home of the World Boardgaming Championships, and we figured that the closer drive, cheaper... Read More