The State of Games, Ep. 127: The One About Intelligent Design

Completely rudderless without our podcast editor, Jessica, Darrell, TC, and I decide to go completely off the rails and talk some inside baseball about game design. Don’t worry, though, it’s not too dark down that rabbit hole, and you may just find a wonderland of marvelous fun and information! Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 122: The One About Bits & Pieces

We love having special guests on The State of Games, and this time around we get to talk to the always awesome Chris Matthew of Panda Game Manufacturing. We take a big look behind the green curtain of game production and all the decisions that go into which components are the best for a game, and how to keep costs down while making sure the production is awesome. We also talk in-depth about some of the changes in the industry over the past couple of years in terms of component quality escalation and how it can affect the board game market. Oh, we also talk about awesome games we’ve played, so there’s that. Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 118: The One About the Good Ol’ Days

Ahhh, the good ol’ days. Many of us look back with great nostalgia on those events, items, shows, and such that bring us warm, fuzzy feelings and help us to combat the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in our daily lives. The board game space is rife with nostalgia nowadays, with many designers and publishers banking on the selling power of happy memories from yesteryear. So pour yourself some Nesquick, put on your superhero jammies, and kick back as we look back on the best of the past and what it could mean for the future. Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Episode 38 – The One About a Little “Guy Time”

The phrase “Winter Is Coming” can mean many things to many people, but around Dice Hate Me HQ that most commonly means that Monkey238 is up to her eyeballs in ballet duties. During this special time, she is typically holed up in a ballet studio somewhere teaching the best and brightest on how to be the premiere snow queen or sugarplum fairy. For poor old Dice, however, that typically means “fend for yourself” when it comes to games. Luckily, I had a November back-up plan to get in as much gaming as possible – and the gaming was superb. Lucky for all of you, however, is that Monkey still has enough time to play –... Read More

Dice Hate Me at the Movies

Everyone is familiar with the tired cliché that Hollywood is out of ideas. Many would argue that cliché is upheld magnificently when it comes to movies about licensed properties, particularly games, but every now and then someone gets it right. Video games are a matter wholly unto their own – for every miserable production like Doom and Super Mario Bros., we get a rare gem like Resident Evil. Board games are another matter entirely; with the exception of the comically-genius Clue, and the entertaining and mostly-harmless Jumanji and Zathura (both “fake” games, fabricated solely for the purpose of the movie), there have been... Read More

Chrononauts – Fourth-Dimensional Fun

What would you do if you had access to a time machine? Would you use it for the (supposed) betterment of mankind, preventing the assassination of a national hero, or guaranteeing the demise of a horrible dictator? Or would you travel to the future, steal a sports almanac, and return to the past to put a bet down on the Red Sox in the World Series? You can do all those things and more in Chrononauts – provided other time-travelling mischief-makers mucking about the timeline don’t get in your way. In Chrononauts, you take on the role of a time traveller who has access to key points along a timestream – represented by a grid of... Read More

It’s a Looney Week!

Attention, game geeks and card crazies, this week at Dice Hate Me, I’m going Looney! Starting Wednesday, I’ll be doing back-to-back-to-back reviews of three of Looney Labs‘ greatest hits: Aquarius, Chrononauts and Monty Python Fluxx. These card games use several of the same insane mechanics, but manage to create three very different and unique game experiences. I found two to be absolute gems and one to mildly resemble fools’ gold. Which is which? Check back each day this week to find out! The reviews aren’t all that’s going on this week – I’m also giving away a brand spanking new copy of Chrononauts.... Read More