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, Episode 168: The One About Getting Our Groove Back

Once again, it’s been awhile Dear Listeners. We’ve missed you, but we definitely haven’t forgotten about you. Darrell, TC, and I just needed a little break to enjoy the fall, with some time away from the table and conventions. Feeling like we needed a jump start to get our gaming motors running we turned to the best source of boundless energy and enthusiasm we know – Richard Launius. So settle in, we’ve got a lot of games to cover. And don’t worry, we already have the next podcast scheduled, and we’ve got a great topic we think many of you are going to love – just in time for the holidays. Read... Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 167: The One About What We Did This Summer

We love recording The State of Games, but there are times when our hectic schedules don’t make it easy to make time for the podcast. This summer has definitely been one of those times. We’ve all been stretched thin by new jobs, heavy projects, and just a little bit of board game burn out. But we’re finally back and re-energized after seeing so many people and playing so many games over four conventions. So settle in and get comfy – we’ve got a lot of catching up to do with you, Dear Listeners. Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 163 – The One About Telling Stories

Sometimes we play games that have a certain synergy that set our podcasting minds in motion. Recently that was Arkham Horror and Modern Art. Both games allow for fantastic storytelling but produce that environment in very different ways. We love games that tell stories, but we love telling stories about those games on the podcast even more. And, so, we present to you our discussion about what types of games that tell stories, which are the most successful, and whether we ultimately think it matters. Enjoy! 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 State of Games, Ep. 159 – The One About Played Out Games

Although the meat of this podcast might apply more to those gamers who have been punching cardboard for a few years, it’s still pretty clear that plenty of us have some games that – while they are still really great designs – we’d rather not hit the table as much anymore. And if you truly can’t relate to that we still have almost two hours of impressions for a ton of new hotness that you’ll want to know more about. It’s a big one to be sure, but we promise it won’t disappoint. Happy listening! Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 158 – The One About The Doctor’s Advice

There are certain creative leaders in the game design hobby that pop up from time to time with interesting nuggets of wisdom – Dr. Reiner Knizia is one such creative. With over 600 games and books credited to him over his career, he definitely has the experience and chops to lay down some knowledge, and a lot of that knowledge is extraordinarily valuable. On this particular show we decided to take a couple of his more recent – and infinitely intriguing – statements and break them down for discussion. Should you file them or flush them? Come on in and find out! Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 157 – The One About Just a Little Filler

Last podcast we pulled out all the intellectual stops and dove head deep into the rabbit hole of Game Theory. Judging from the listener numbers that wasn’t exactly what all you dear listeners wanted to hear. Oh well, at least we had fun discussing it! We wanted to get deep again with a chat about rules, if they’re getting worse in board games, and what we might do to fix them, but we decided to table that one for another time, return a bit to formula, and focus on something a little less… filling. Read More  Read More

The State of Games, Ep. 156 – The One About Mutually Assured Destruction

Most of the time on the podcast we’re just riffing on games we’ve played, or conventions we’ve gone to, or the best game with so and so mechanic, but occasionally we like to tackle something a bit heavier. This is just such a podcast. In this episode we brought in some extra brains from Matt Riddle to help us dive deeper into the math and rational thinking behind Game Theory. It wasn’t an easy topic to dissect but we think it was worth it. We hope you do, too. Enjoy! Read More  Read More