Nope, I didn't make it back to BGG.con this year. I never manage to be a regular attendee of conventions--even though I've been to many of them once. Last year it was BGG.con, the year before was the Gathering, before that was Essen, and before that was Kublacon when Knizia was there. A few years prior I was lucky enough to go to Gulf Games. All of these have been great fun, and hopefully someday

Whew! Finally a new show. Like the last time I (unintentionally) took a little time off from the podcast, it was a little hard to get back into the swing of things. Last time I thought a simpler Session Report and Feedback show was the way to get back into the podcasting groove, but this time I wanted to try a theme show. That's because I'd been hearing the excellent series hosted by Eric Burgess

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Okay.That was a long break, wasn't it? Too long? I think so. In other words, I haven't quit the podcast. I want to do more... I will do more. But in this episode I explain how a combination of internal choices & external pressures has led to this major slowdown of Boardgames To Go.To be honest, I think I sound a little rusty in this one. But it'll come back to me. I'm looking forward to talking

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Just like last year, I can't help sharing some of my excitement about the Essen game fair happening this week . . . even though I won't be going. I was lucky enough to be there in 2003, something that may never happen again. But you don't have to GO to Essen to be excited about all of the new game releases. Some of them have already been available for purchase from vendors, but most are making

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I'm starting to catch up with some older feedback as I begin to do more Session Report shows again. I had a bit of a cold while recording this one, but I hope it still sounds ok. And I sure hope I edited out all the times I coughed!Something I forgot to mention was the information Gene Pool's designer posted about self-publishing his game. It's on the Board Game Designers Forum.-Mark

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As promised, here's the post-Essen followup show. A few weeks ago I talked about the games I was interested in hearing more about at Essen. Now here's Mike Siggins, coming on the podcast to give BGTG listeners some firsthand accounts of his time at the fair, and impressions of some games. Be sure to also read Mike's column (the "Gamer's Notebook") at Funagain on the same subject. -Mark

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I was getting set up to record another podcast tonight. Took the notes, did the research, printed out some feedback. Yep, I was all set. And then my kids asked to play a game before bed, suggesting Time's Up. Obviously, the podcast was backburnered and we had fun with the game instead!(Later I'll have to talk about how to play Time's Up with kids . . . and with only three players.)

See? I told you I'd get a show out this week. Just had to ignore my family to get it done. (I'm kidding.) Don't know if I will, but I think I should try to knock out a couple more semi-smaller shows featuring session reports and some feedback. We'll see. This one starts with a smattering of news items and whatnot before I get into the discussion of specific games. Stuff like mentioning some new

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Once again, I hope people are reading the blog as well as listening to the podcast. Because I often think of things I missed after the podcast is finished. (It's not just me--the host for the highly recommended BBC Radio 4 program In Our Time does the same thing via post-show emails.)I really want to talk about the family gaming (and other non-gamer gaming) I've been doing lately, but that show

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During the All About Vinci show, my guest Dave Arnott thought to bring up something we'd failed to cover during our previous All About show, covering Medici almost a year ago. Rather than include that in the Vinci show, I clipped that part out to be used later. Something similar happened when Dave turned the tables on me for the "Dark Johnson" interview, when we got into some discussion about

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I've been playing play-by-web Hacienda for a while on Yucata.de. They even just started offering alternate maps (at least one). But now SpielByWeb.com also has Hacienda, and I like their game manager interface much better. For one thing, I'm able to create password-protected games just for my podcast listeners! You know the drill . . . go to the site, look for a game with Boardgames To Go in the

I've been advised in feedback to stop apologizing for being late on my podcasts. So I won't do that anymore, but I will point out that I'm more disappointed than anyone. I think from now on I'll plan on taking a 6-week hiatus from mid-June to the end of July, and another from mid-November to the end of the year. In fact, I've done both of those now--the trick is to plan for that in the future.

Just for curiosity's sake. Those of you with more interest in podcasting ought to at least lurk on the boardgamepodcasters Yahoo group.Measuring the number of folks listening to podcasts is an inexact science. The closest you can get is measuring downloads, but you never know how many people share a single download (such as with an audio CD), how many downloads are trashed without ever being

I was on vacation last week. No, not at the Gathering of Friends, I was in Hawaii with my family. I thought I might catch up on a little podcasting backlog or at least spruce up the web page. Instead, I ended up doing what I should've planned on all along--relaxing! That's why this show recorded at the end of March is just being posted now.But here it is, the All About Vinci show. I announced

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Here's a shorter show that I've wanted to do for a while, talking about how I've ordered games from overseas. Up until just recently that always meant Germany--albeit from a few different webshops--but last week I placed an order through a Dutch website, too. I organize most of these group buys for the Santa Clarita Boardgamers, and there's something to learn from it. The websites are getting

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I wish I could be putting out more podcasts. I've got lots of ideas, some guests lined up (some have been waiting for months!), some partial shows recorded, and outlines for future shows. What I don't have is the time or energy to have finished them already.Actually, that's not true. I do have the time, and sometimes I even have the energy. However, my success in a personal goal for my hobby--

Dave Arnott sprung this show on me, turning the tables on the interviewer. His plan was to expose me for the sinister, heartless gamer that I really am. Of course, the plan backfired and I come out smelling like a rose. :)No, he just asks some fun questions about my changing tastes and even behaviors in this hobby, touching on subjects like game themes, new games vs old, and short games vs long.

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[A technical complication meant this show took the longest to pull together, but I'm pleased to say it worked completely. If you want to read the audio editing story, check out the boardgamepodcasters mailing list. -Mark]This is a combination show, an interview with David Gullett that's about being a boardgame newbie, as well as about playing games with your kids. It's in the latter context that

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Apologies for taking so long to get these shows out. Really--they're very close. I'm proof-listening to the Gamer Dad episode with David Gullett now, and I've already recorded the All About Vinci show with David Arnott. Now, both of these shows are good, but long. Or maybe: good and long. The issue of show length is one I've brought up on the podcast a few times, and though most of the feedback

I'm wrapping up some editing on a show I recorded with David Gullett (davebo on BGG) about gamer dads, as well as his relatively recent entry to this hobby. Fun stuff, especially when we got both his kid and mine on the air for a few minutes near the end. There's just a little technical stuff on my end to work out and I'll get it posted here. (We actually recorded that podcast the day before I