What's better than a bunch of adorable, flower-pollinating honeybees? Putting those honeybees in space! New worker-placement game Apiary is the buzzworthy debut design of Connie Vogelmann. We invited her on the podcast to see how she went from playtester to a proud creator of a high-production game by a big-time publisher. We also chat about what responsibilities designers, publishers, game teachers, and players have in preventing "bad play" plus some recommendations for smaller-group party game...
Dec 14, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 123
We are back and ready to cover more great Euro games with Daniel Wahlen of The Game Table ! This time, we focus on the new hotness that 2023 has generously brought us, but if you're more into modern-day remakes or sequels to legendary classics, make sure to check out Part 1 . In this episode, we give our impressions on... Timeline: 2:30 - Nucleum. 21:41 - Distilled . 30:45 - 3 Ring Circus . 43:18 - Noteworthy: Darwin's Journey, Stefan Feld's City Collection, Marrakesh, The White Castle....
Nov 30, 2023•51 min•Ep. 122
Euros, Euros, and gyros! We love a good Euro-style strategy game, but we couldn't cover all the great releases this year in just one podcast. Especially when we're chatting with fellow enthusiast Daniel Wahlen of The Game Table -- we just have so much to talk about! So in part one, we cover some fantastic remakes and sequels to some legendary classics. (And yes, we did pause during one of our Euro gaming days to eat some gyros....) Timeline: 3:12 - Age of Innovation . 18:13 - Bruxelles 1893: Bel...
Nov 16, 2023•58 min•Ep. 121
Ten years ago, your Going Analog hosts Christina and Shoe were obsessed with the digital collectible card game SolForge . Sadly, the daily (and nightly) sessions of lane-based combat mixed with a revolutionary upgradable-card system went away when the game eventually sunsetted (solsetted?). But, Richard Garfield ( Magic: The Gathering , Android Netrunner ) and Justin Gary ( Ascension , Shards of Infinity ) knew their co-design still had some...ahem, magic to it, so they revived it via Kickstarte...
Nov 02, 2023•48 min•Ep. 120
Let's be honest: We'll make any excuse to talk with Elizabeth Hargrave , the Kennerspiel-winning designer of Wingspan, Mariposas, and Tussie Mussie. So our current excuse? We wanted to talk to her about her soon-to-be-released The Fox Experiment (published by Pandasaurus) and Undergrove (by AEG). So now we can nerd out about how Elizabeth marries a (usually) nature-related theme to game design -- and all the random things we've learned about the world and each other while board gaming. Timeline:...
Oct 19, 2023•50 min•Ep. 119
We've had so much fun with Friendly Skeleton 's upcoming party game Trash Talk that we wanted to dedicate a whole episode to other light-hearted fare that's great for gaming groups. Are you more of a co-op party gamer...or do you prefer to go at it in teams? We asked Jacob Way, Head Skeleton at Friendly Skeleton (formerly Deep Water Games), to join us to show us how to party (game)! Timeline: 5:50 - Going Analog's game pick: The White Castle. 11:42 - Jacob's game pick: Tichu. 16:04 - Going Analo...
Oct 12, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 118
Prolific content creator/streamer Banzainator joins Christina and Shoe to talk what we love best: video and board games! What do we like better...and when? Also why do we keep going back to co-op games when...we think we don't really like them all that much? What types of games break through that barrier for us? Listen for fun times! Timeline: 3:38 - Banz's game pick: Mice & Mystics. 10:15 - Going Analog's game pick: The Castles of Burgundy: Special Edition (w/ Vineyards Expansion). 17:48 - ...
Sep 28, 2023•50 min•Ep. 117
We haven't played anything quite like The Arkham Asylum Files: Panic in Gotham City . This super premium, augmented-reality, multimedia experience is a pricey box at $149 for a one-time (maybe? -- listen to learn more) playthrough. Is it worth it? To dig into how The A rkham Asylum Files is pushing the boundaries of tabletop gaming, we invited Animal Repair Shop and Infinite Rabbit Holes Senior VP of Interaction Design (and magician!) Michael Borys to discuss the epic design and production proce...
Sep 14, 2023•53 min•Ep. 116
Hosting this podcast isn't all just fun and games...no, wait, it actually is! Check out this episode for our impressions of a hilarious adventure game where monsters thrive in a human-less world, a deckbuilding game with cute robots smashing each other, the sequel to our favorite logic-deduction game, a roll-and-write version of Tetris, and two party games (one involving literal junk and the other guessing your friends' D&D-style alignments). Timeline: 1:45 - Freelancers. 12:19 - Trash Talk....
Aug 24, 2023•43 min•Ep. 115
The 2023 edition of Gen Con, North America's largest board game convention, was the biggest yet -- breaking attendance records and our wallets so we could get the hottest games...to tell you about, of course! We asked American Tabletop Awards committee member, content creator, and general awesome gamer Ruel Gaviola to join us to discuss the show and to share our fave board games that we got to check out....
Aug 10, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 114
We hosted a huge party recently and got a ton of new board games to the table -- so we wanted to dedicate an episode to six of them! You've wondered about the hot new sequel to Scythe , Expeditions , and we played it! Plus Marrakesh from Stefan Feld and Queen Games' City Collection, Vaalbara and Rauha from Hachette Games, Overboss Duel from Brotherwise Games, and District Noir from Pandasaurus Games. We've got opinions.... Timeline: 2:15 - Expeditions. 12:29 - Vaalbara. 17:55 - Overboss Duel. 22...
Jul 27, 2023•42 min•Ep. 113
Forget Terminators. The thing about artificial intelligence that you should be worrying about is how it's creeping into the creative aspects of board-game-making. Plaid Hat Games Marketing Manager Niki Shults and Multimedia Director (and newly minted game designer of Freelancers: A Crossroads Game ) Donald Shults join our podcast this week to tell us about how A.I. is being talked about around the office. We also take a closer look at the publisher's "Crossroads" system and chat about about how ...
Jul 13, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 112
Women and people of color are barely getting proper representation in the board game industry. And how about the LGBTQ+ community? Even worse. Joining us with no shortage of opinions on this matter is Theo, aka GeekyGamerGuy . Theo's a board game content creator on the frontlines, fighting for equality and representation in this hobby he loves so much. Listen to his heartfelt thoughts on this and more. Timeline: 5:08 - Shoe's game pick: Ito. 9:11 - Christina's game pick: Sea Salt & Paper. 14...
Jun 29, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 111
Maybe you've heard of that hefty game called Gloomhaven , the #1 game on BoardGameGeek for over 5 years. Or its heftier sequel, Frosthaven , the highest-funded gaming project on Kickstarter ever. We're not sure how their designer, Isaac Childres , had time to chat with Going Analog, but we weren't going to pass up the opportunity. We pick his brain on all the - havens , his upcoming plans for the franchise, modern-day crowdfunding, and his love for "dry Euros." Timeline: 4:03 - Shoe's game pick:...
Jun 15, 2023•47 min•Ep. 110
We just returned from a whirlwind two-week visit to Japan, and visions of fantastic food and strange (to us) board games still swirl around in our head. What is the board game scene there like? What was it like shopping for games whose titles and descriptions we couldn't read, but whose art was so, so pretty? We teamed up with Monique and Naveen of Before You Play , who happened to tour Japan at the same time we did, to relive our amazing adventures. Timeline: 3:54 - Naveen's game pick: Let's Go...
Jun 01, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 109
We're publishing this episode on May the Fourth, and we somehow wrangled superstar designer Corey Konieczka ( Star Wars: Rebellion , Imperial Assault , Destiny , and Outer Rim ...phew!) for our Star Wars special show. Now at his own studio Unexpected Games ( The Initiative , Voices in my Head , 3000 Scoundrels ), Corey humors our geeky Star Wars board game questions and discusses what makes a design transcend its mechanics. Timeline: 3:05 - Shoe's game pick: Darwin's Journey. 6:17 - Corey's game...
May 04, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 108
The 2023 American Tabletop Awards were just announced, and as brand-spanking-new committee members, we at Going Analog of course wanted to chat about these elite games -- with two of the judges themselves, Nicole Brady of SAHM Reviews and Eric Yurko of What's Eric Playing? Listen to hear our thoughts! Timeline: 2:45 - ATTA nomination process. 10:15 - Early Gamers. 17:40 - Casual Games. 32:18 - Strategy Games. 47:02 - Complex Games....
Apr 20, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 107
We have prolific content creator and Twitch streamer Beneeta Kaur on the show to trade opinions on our favorite expansions and underrated card games. And if you want to become our board game BFF, we discuss what qualities we value in a good gaming partner. Timeline: 3.46 - Shoe's game pick: Earth . 8:47 - Beneeta's game pick: Mille Fiori . 12:51 - Christina's game pick: Rolling Heights . 16:22 - Shoe's topic: Our favorite underrated card games. 38:02 - Christina's topic: What makes a good gaming...
Apr 06, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 106
Indie games publisher Resonym does things differently. Just take a look at its recent Glitch Squad (a party game about faulty forensic science), Surrealist Dinner Party (you can guess what that's about), and Buffalo (a party game that makes you less prejudiced ). We love the company's socially conscious design philosophy, and Mary Flanagan (founder, professor, game designer, and artist) just co-authored an entire book about the history of colonialism in board games, Playing Oppression . We snagg...
Mar 23, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 105
Sometimes substantive board game discussion topics are tiring. And pretty much all the time, we play a lot of new games. So this episode, Shoe and Christina just talk about some new, sexy games in a variety of sizes. HOT! Timeline: 3:19 - Christina's big game: Mosaic: A Story of Civilization. 13:05 - Shoe's big game: Marvel: Age of Heroes. 26:58 - Christina's small game: Fiction. 35:18 - Shoe's small game: Marvel: Damage Control. 43:05 - Christina's expansion: QE: Commodities. 48:00 - Shoe's exp...
Mar 09, 2023•56 min•Ep. 104
Plaid Hat CEO Colby Dauch and Marketing Manager Niki Shults team up to discuss some hot (spiteful content creation, life with mega publisher Asmodee, etc.) and not-so-hot (Candy Land??) on the Going Analog Podcast this week. They've put out some incredible and memorable board games over the years, so give them a listen! Timeline: 4:00 - Christina's game pick: Motor City. 6:20 - Niki's game pick: The Guild of Merchant Explorers. 11:54 - Colby's game pick: Candy Land. Yes, that Candy Land. 17:24 -...
Feb 23, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 103
This episode guest stars prolific and punny content creator Eric Yurko from What's Eric Playing? , a site full of fantastic board game photography and 1000+ (!) reviews. And as a founding committee member of the American Tabletop Awards (and a big fan of cocktails) Eric is THE go-to guy to talk games...especially which ones to play at which drinking establishments. Timeline: 5:45 - Eric's game pick: Mists over Carcassonne. 11:39 - Shoe's game pick: Orichalcum. 18:00 - Christina's game pick: Grea...
Jan 26, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 102
We're a podcast! Therefore, we're contractually obligated to tell you our Games of the Year. But who wants to hear just Christina and Shoe squabble about their faves of 2022? Everyone would rather hear us and Mik and Starla from Our Family Plays Games squabble, so far be it for us to withhold this top-notch content from our listeners! So get ready for lots of discussions (and lots of yelling at Christina for cheating on her picks) in this episode! Timeline: Intro (before we get into the awards):...
Jan 13, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 101
For our 100th episode, we had to make sure everyone's topics were epic. So we rounded up some of the Going Analog crew, including OG contributor Nick Suttner and writer Henry Stenhouse , to discuss... Timeline: 7:19 - Henry's topic: Board games that stand up to 100 plays...or more. 26:56 - Christina's topic: Your favorite board gaming moment ever. 39:22 - Shoe's topic: BoardGameGeek's top 100...save one game, kill one game, swap in one game. 1:02:32 - Nick's topic: Your favorite memory from 100 ...
Dec 30, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 100
We're back from chilly Philly where the PAX Unplugged board game convention just wrapped up. It's our fourth con of the year -- you'd think we've seen it all by now but nope! There were still plenty of new board games to discover and try out. With us to discuss the show are Kasey Girven (better known as Brain in a Jar ) and Miguel Plylar-Moore (aka Johnny Deathhawk ). They create/stream board game content -- and she's a neuroscientist! And they love to talk board gaming, so have a listen as we d...
Dec 15, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 99
We're back from BoardGameGeek's big show, BGG.CON 2022 ! Your hosts Christina and Shoe sit down to talk about their Top 10 games panel with Our Family Plays Games , stand-up comedy with Grant Lyon , our own live Board Game Quiz Show events, and of course, all the great games they got a chance to check out. Timeline: 1:47 - BGG.Con highlights, including our live Board Game Quiz Show! 4:50 - Our Family Plays Games Top 10 games panel 8:21 - Grant Lyon's board game standup 12:09 - Exhibit Hall, Many...
Nov 21, 2022•48 min•Ep. 98
We recently spent six solid days playing board games. Seriously. It was exhausting -- but amazingly fun. We blame Going Analog contributor Jess Yi , who visited and forced us to play one board game after another. At the end, with bloodshot eyes and brains working at half speed, Shoe and Jess picked three games each to discuss. Hear their thoughts on... Timeline: 2:52 - Knight Fall 11:02 - Star Wars: Rebellion, Stars Wars: Rebellion - Rise of the Empire 18:26 - Bequest 23:00 - My Father's Work 31...
Nov 03, 2022•52 min•Ep. 97
Can a board game kill ya? Nah...but Black Mold may try. This "co-op till it's not" survival-horror game has players taking as many actions as they can until they can no longer...hold their breath. You read that right. So we have questions -- lots of questions -- for our guest John de Campos, CEO of Terrible games and co-designer of Black Mold. Timeline: 2:37 - Oceans: Legends of the Deep 7:00 - Veiled Fate 11:59 - Keystone: North America 17:00 - Shoe's topic: What's up with Black Mold? 32:19 - C...
Oct 13, 2022•57 min•Ep. 96
Logic-deduction board game Turing Machine challenges players to figure out a secret code using innovative punch-card verifiers that layer atop each other to "magically" reveal clues. How does it work?! We had to know, so we asked our guests from publisher Scorpion Masqué and Hachette Games to sit there and explain it to us. Oh, we also talk artwork and rulebooks, too. Topics on this episode: Christina (host): How Turing Machine was made (14:43) Matthew (guest): What makes for good or bad ruleboo...
Sep 29, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 95
Game designer Ryan Courtney loves making connections (if you've played Pipeline or Curious Cargo , then you know what we're talking about). His newest creation, Trailblazers from Bitewing Games has you -- you guessed it -- making and blazing connecting trails in nature. We invited Ryan as well as Bitewing co-founder Nick Murray to join our podcast to talk about this new project, other games that travel well, and more. Topics this episode: Christina (host): Games would you pack for travel (18:22)...
Sep 01, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 94
