The State of Games, Ep. 178: The One About New Editions

The old saying “sooner or later, everything old is new again” is very true in modern board games. With over 3,000 new titles being produced each year, it’s inevitable that some of them are going to be new editions of older games. And why not? There are tons of great games from the past that deserve a face lift or a chance to beguile a new generation of gamers. We’re here this episode to talk about the good, bad, and ugly of new editions – so settle in with your thoughts, Dear Listener, and see how closely they match ours. Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 169: The One About Toyetics

It’s a Christmas miracle – we’re back before the holidays with a new episode! The topic of toys as games and games as toys is one we’ve touched on a bit in the past on the podcast, but we thought it would be fun to dig a bit deeper. Plus, it’s particularly timely since ol’ Saint Nick will be dropping tons of toys down chimneys in a few days. So relax and get ready to reminisce about some of your favorite playthings from the past – and where toy factor in board games may be headed in the future. Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 166: The One About Spoilers

Spoilers are a huge part of our modern culture, and many of us avoid them at all costs. It’s easy to recognize the aversion in blockbuster screen media, and even in the hottest TV shows, but does that culture automatically translate to the board game hobby? In this episode, we dive deep into what sort of spoilers are accepted, which are not, and how best we all might tackle them as consumers and reviewers. We also spoil a couple of parts of Avengers: Endgame, so maybe make sure you’re up to date on your Marvel movies. That’s an official SPOILER ALERT! Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 162 – The One About a Promising Future in Sales

From time to time here on the podcast we let TC take over the reins and dip into his ever-growing bag of industry insights and wistful shower thoughts. This time around, we take another look at past subjects like the possible market and Kickstarter bubbles, but also dig a bit deeper into what it means to sell a game and what it means to sell a product. Are board games that are created and marketed solely as products a good or bad thing for our industry? You’ll just have to listen in to find out! Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 161 – The One About the Year That Was

Another year of gaming has passed, and it was bigger than ever! The hobby saw a record number of new releases in 2018 numbering in the thousands, and we’re here to honor some of the best and brightest of those. Bear in mind, of course, that there are only so many hours in a day and days in a year, so we weren’t able to play all the games. Just the best ones – you can trust us. So sit back and enjoy the year that was, and maybe you’ll even get some sneak peeks at a few games that will make up the year ahead! Read More  Read More

The 2018 Dice Hate Me Holiday Gift Guide

Seasons Greetings, Dear Readers, and welcome to the 8th annual Dice Hate Me Holiday Gift Guide! This year’s guide comes to you a tad late as it has been one busy season here at Dice Hate Me HQ. But there are still two full weeks and weekends before Santa drops off that copy of Fireball Island for you, I mean the kids! Ahem. I’m getting ahead of myself. Grab your Dice Hate Me mug, fill it with cocoa, and enjoy this carefully curated list of awesome treats for under the tree. Happy Holidays and Happy Gaming! Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 160 – The One About Unplugging, Again

Sometimes our gaming podcast is less about games and more about experience. We hope you’ll indulge us a bit this time around, Dear Listeners, as we chat about what it was like to attend PAX Unplugged for the second year. Yes, we talk a great deal about the amazing food in Philadelphia, we debate the greatest cheesesteak, and we gripe about metal detectors, but we also try to convey the awesomeness that surrounds a convention that is now quintessential to the hobby. We hope to see you all there next year! Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 150 – The One About Going Back to the Well

Every now and then on the podcast we like to have a special guest, and it’s especially special when the guest not only wants to be on but also proposes a salient topic. This time around we have Seth Jaffee, who is not only a game designer and head of development for Tasty Minstrel Games, but also a long-time listener of the podcast. We’ve known Seth for about seven years now, and it’s awesome to be able to catch up with him somewhere outside of Twitter and the big conventions. Join us as we go deep into all sorts of territories – this is a long one, but it’s chock full of meat! Read More  Read More

It’s Time to Go Back to the Island!

In this video I’m joined by J.R. Honeycutt, Ruth Boyack, and Lillian Hagmann as we return to Fireball Island and face the wrath of the volcanic tiki god Vul-Kar in the remake from Restoration games! The game is awesome, and still on Kickstarter… but for only a few days! Pledge now and try your best to survive! Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 149: The One About Just Some Games

It’s been a busy year for us here on the podcast and, as such, we’ve had back-to-back episodes that were around 3 hours. Those types of episodes can be a lot of fun but they’re also pretty exhausting, so we figured we’d take it a little easy this time around, keep it simple, and just talk about some of the great games we’ve been playing recently. Enjoy! Read More  Read More