Opener: 7Seas (Or Scopa, if you want to learn the original) Remember when I used to do "Essen Anticipation" episodes? I know I did several in the past, but it's been a while. This year, Essen sort of snuck up on me. I went through the preview tool on BGG, but never managed to completely make it through. The tool is easier to use than ever, and now includes all of the things I need in a preview (designer, publisher, photo, brief description, and link to more). And yet...it's just too much. Is it too much in an absolute sense? Too much for anybody? Too much for a healthy hobby and industry? I don't know about all of that. I just know that it's now too much for me. Which isn't too say I'm no longer enthusiastic about Essen--I merely let it kind of wash over me, not trying to keep up. I'll certainly hear about the consensus picks for the best new titles, and I may also find out about some more obscure ones for oddball reasons--perhaps my thematic interest, a friend stumbled across it, a weird speculative purchase on Amazon.de... whatever! This year my "Essen episode" starts with mentioning how close I was, on a business trip to Germany and the Netherlands just a few days before Essen. But I didn't make it to Spiel. I bought some games from Europe...but I "cheated" by ordering from Amazon.de instead of packing from local shops into my luggage to bring home.
(The Essen coffee mug is my favorite and lasting purchase from Spiel when I last went in 2016. I may not even own any of the games I purchased then, but I always enjoy this mug!) At any rate, when I went through most of the enormous Essen preview list, only this handful of oddball titles were the ones most interesting to me. Several are demos, most are oddly personal thematic choices that may not prove to be good games (they rarely do!), but they're my personal choices. Not recommended for everyone!
For a more universal, reliable recommendation list of new titles from Essen, you should look to the Fairplay Scoutaktion report. These are the annual feedback collections that Fairplay magazines collects at their Essen booth from any gamer who stops by to share their rating. On the one hand, lots of games are barely demonstrated at Essen, so the ratings may not be based on informed plays. On the other hand, they've been doing these Scoutaktion reports for decades, and they've proven to be reasonably good barometers for the hits of Essen. A long while back, I tried to do some analysis of their track record, and as I recall it just made some errors of omission sometimes. So take a look at the final list of top-rated games from this report. I also recommend Ben Bruckhart's article about this list at Opinionated Gamers. This remains one of the better websites/blogs about our hobby. Ben also takes a retrospective look back at the list from the previous year, something I appreciate.
Finally, another great thing about Fairplay magazine is their annual ranking of the best card games. This is called their A La Carte prize, and I've repeatedly found nice surprises on these top ten lists. Especially since small card games may not be made in English language editions, and can go undiscovered even in 2022.
Closer: At a management retreat for my job I brought a bunch of games. One person had requested them, but really this represented hope that I might get a group of coworkers to enjoy them with me. These days I'm a lot smarter about what to suggest in those settings, and after the recording I was successful! We played Just One and it was an enormous hit. -Mark
Opener: Taverns of Tiefenthal. Plus someone finally got Wingspan online multiplayer right, and it was the BGA team. I've gone through a few waves of downsizing my game collection. The latest was just a month ago, inspired by a friend's visit to organize my collection. In the process, I felt the ability to let several games go. They haven't been sold off yet, but they're stacked up elsewhere in a for-sale pile, letting me consolidate the games I'm sticking with into fewer shelves.
When I stepped back, I saw that several of the games on the shelf were ones that anyone might have in their collection, while others were more personal choices, oddballs for one reason or another. At least they are less popular, I think. I've collected ten of those titles to talk about in this episode. (That includes one of the games that comes from my spillover collection in a credenza at work.)
I've been thinking about a new top ten of more recent games, but I'm not ready with that. Perhaps that will be in a future show, because there ARE plenty of modern titles that I really enjoy. It would be fun to talk about them, in part to contrast them against the "hotness" on BGG and Kickstarter that I often can't connect with. Again...that's a future show. In THIS episode I thought my original top ten was worth discussing all over. In some cases they are games I love just as much as ever. Others are more sentimental favorites, not really making it to the table any longer. In a few cases I think the games represented of a type of game that I still enjoy, and there are newer examples.
Closer: The outcome of our Discord polling about "evergreen" games. In contrast, I almost completely forgot about the "Essen anticipation" shows I used to do! -Mark
Opener: RoyalsPlease join us on the Boardgames To Go discord server where you can chat online with other podcast listeners. For boardgame publishers, I believe there's such as thing as "convention season." Of course game conventions happen all over the world, all across the calendar, but for the industry there's a special significance to Gencon in the US, and Spiel in Europe. Add in Origins, UK Games Expo, the Nuremberg Int'l Toy Fair, events in France or Japan...the list goes on & on. Especially for the domestic North American market, however, the summer season of Gencon and Origins means something for sales & product launches. Both events are located in the middle of the US. Designer (and friend!) David Thompson is also located in the middle of the US. I had the great fortune to stay with him for a weekend recently, and besides playing a bunch of games together, we also recorded a podcast. He'd recently been to Gencon & Origins, as well as Ohio's own Buckeye Game Fest. We sat on his back porch during a summer evening and recorded this podcast together. I hope you enjoy the discussion. https://discord.io/BoardgamesToGo Closers: I sat next to a guy on the plane who played a lot of Catan...but only on the app on his smartphone. He told me how the original game has too much luck, how certain Seafarers maps turn it into more of a game of "pure strategy." I showed him Azul on BGA, Iberian Gauge in a photo, and A Few Acres of Snow on Yucata. It's like we were speaking the same language, but different dialects that could barely understand each other! -Mark
Openers: Root, My Gold Mine, and LAMA DicePlease join us on the Boardgames To Go discord server where you can chat online with other podcast listeners. The Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres awards were announced last month. Congratulations to the designers and publishers of Cascadia and Living Forest. These are still the awards with the most worldwide influence and importance, despite coming from just one corner of it--Germany. However, in this episode I'm not talking very much about those recent winners. Instead, my friend and frequent podcast guest Greg Pettit joins me on the mic to talk about the previous ten years of winners. If these awards are as big of a deal as I say, then shouldn't the winners from the previous decade still be popular & relevant? Still on the table in our game groups? Let's talk about that. The yardstick to compare them against is Catan. Actually, you can add [thing=9209]Ticket to Ride[/ticket], too. Both of those games won the Spiel des Jahres many years ago. We'll be coming to the 30th anniversary of Catan in just a few more years, and Ticket To Ride is approaching its 20th anniversary. In a hobby that bemoans the short shelf life of new titles, these two continue to be everywhere. If you run into a new person at school or work that has played "our games," there's a good chance they've played Catan and Ticket To Ride. THAT'S influence & importance. Do any of the latest decade's Spiel des Jahres winners have that kind of impact? I'm not sure if any of them do, though a few may have some staying power. Greg & I talk about that, combining our own opinions & observations with "data" from BGG Rankings and what's on mass market retail shelves at Target or Barnes & Noble. In the US (and maybe Canada?) those are a good litmus test of staying power with the larger public of game-players. The Kennerspiel winners are a little different. Whether these are more for "gamers" or not is up for debate. Here the BGG ranking is probably a better measure. Interestingly enough, the SdJ's have a more constant "decay" in their popularity and ranking, while the Kenners have more highs & lows: titles that have done a better job sticking around, and others that are dropping off. The nature of this award has been shifting, too. I hope you enjoy the discussion.
Closers: Greg says games need to be introduced & taught more than simply given as gifts. Then Mark mentions the enduring power of Dungeons & Dragons. Somehow they both talk about giving games away. -Mark
Please join my Discord server https://discord.io/BoardgamesToGo There you can find other BGTG (and WargamesToGo) listeners, introduce yourself, share some current gaming thoughts, find online opponents, and maybe even meet someone who lives within driving distance of you in the real world. It's happened!
Opener: Lisbon Tram 28 Year in, year out, I care about the Spiel des Jahres...even though gamers here on BGG grumble about these awards. These are simpler games meant as ambassadors from our hobby to the general population. They're a significant part of the growth of boardgaming that we enjoy & appreciate. Then when those newbies want to take the next step in boardgaming, the Kenners are good for that. All in all, I think it's a great system. I'm not concerned about the heavy gamers--they can look to the DSP, the Golden Geeks, or other awards.
While the SdJs are meant to be lighter, more family-targeted games, the very best ones are capable of being played in two modes: friendly and shark-y. Or family-style and gamer-style. I think Carcassonne, Settlers, and Ticket to Ride are great examples of that, and there are others. The nominations and recommendations for the Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres awards were announced last week...but not before I recorded an episode! Every year some number of other hobbyists who care about the SdJs make their guesses about what games will be on those lists. I like to follow along on those, sometimes making my own guesses. There was some speculation about these games on the BGTG Discord server, too (come join us!). So this episode is kind of foolish, but I did it anyway. I recorded my rundown and commentary about the games people thought MIGHT be nominated for the SdJ and Kenner awards. Then I went back and recorded a shorter addendum since the actual nominees and other recommended titles had been announced after my first recording. You'll hear that the guesses managed to include all of the final nominees, though there were several other contenders that weren't named by the jury. Closer: Games should accelerate to the end. Or, at the very least, they shouldn't slow down! -Mark
May 1, 2022 Please join my Discord server https://discord.io/BoardgamesToGo There you can find other BGTG (and WargamesToGo) listeners, introduce yourself, share some current gaming thoughts, find online opponents, and maybe even meet someone who lives within driving distance of you in the real world. It's happened!
Opener: Playing games with the "correct" player count (e.g. Disney Villainous) The last two episodes have been a look back. Back at my entire time in the hobby, and also back at the first Top Ten list of favorite games I ever made. It was fun for me to reflect on those titles, finding how many of them I still enjoy. But admittedly, it featured a lot of old games. I think the NEWEST game on that list was twenty years old! Now I wanted to make more of an effort to talk about some recent games I enjoy. Because the truth is that I play new games all the time. I'm not a Cult of the New guy, but between my own purchases and those of my buddies, we still fill most game nights with one or more titles that are new to us. I've long maintained that encountering a new game is a significant aspect to the hobby--especially among the most avid hobbyists. I'm not so different. In theory I'd also like to be part of "the conversation" about whatever is topical in our hobby, but in practice I'm usually behind that curve. When I set out to make a list of these recent games I like, I first thought in terms of the past decade. Or just take it back to 2010, to use a round number. Fortunately, everyone around me laughed me out of the room, saying that a dozen years ago isn't anyone's idea of "recent." So I tried harder, limiting myself to games released in the past five years. So that's 2017. It's the best I could do. Then I heard the recommendation to include another gamer friend who's much more focused on the latest releases. Brian Murray has been on my podcast before, but it's been a while. Now I was super glad to have him onhand to share his top five recent games, and he went MUCH more contemporary than I did.
Opener: Please join my Discord server https://discord.io/BoardgamesToGo ! There you can find other BGTG listeners, introduce yourself, share some current gaming thoughts, find online opponents, and maybe even meet someone who lives within driving distance of you in the real world.
I almost can't believe I've made it to episode 200! Even though my boardgame podcast has been around a long time (the longest!), contemporaries like The Dice Tower and Garrett's Games and Geekiness are closer to a thousand episodes. "Newcomes" like Shut Up & Sit Down will be passing me very quickly in terms of episodes...they all passed me in terms of audience long ago. But that's ok--I remind myself that I do this podcast largely to make a contribution to the hobby and get my voice out there. That a loyal handful of you listen & enjoy it is icing on the cake.
I should've asked my wife to take a photo of Dave Arnott and I recording this episode. There's a photo of us recording one long ago, perhaps the earlier retrospective we did about the hobby. That was episode 75, back in 2007, now 15 years ago! At that time we were reflecting on how things were different, mostly better, than when we both entered the hobby after Settlers and Siggins. We were looking back on a decade or so, feeling that we were "old men" in the hobby. Now we can look back on a quarter-century of boardgaming, and we're REALLY the old men now. A lot has already been written about how the hobby is different now than it was in the past. Everything from Kickstarter to under-represented folks to co-op games to social media to "mainstreaming" our games with distribution in Target or Barnes & Noble. Dave & I touch on some of that, but we don't try to analyze the industry or the hobby so much as our changing experience. To some degree, I think all of us go through an "arc" in this hobby: discovery, enthusiasm, purchasing, missing old favorites, downsizing, and a "settling in" for years of enjoyment with old friends. Is that right? What do you suppose is next for me?
Whatever you think about that, thank you for helping me get to 200 episodes, no matter how long it took. I still think about games all the time, play them almost as much as ever, am interested in new trends as well as old favorites...and feel compelled to share my opinions. It's how I came up in this hobby--hearing others' opinions. Boardgames are inherently social and communal. Perhaps it only makes sense that talking about them is a related activity. -Mark
Opener: 7 Wonders: Architects, France's Game of the Year winner (the As D'Or) Do you have a Top 100 list? How about just a Top Ten, and do you update it every year? I have a sort of list, but it's the same one I've had for over twenty years. In fact, I ran through it very quickly on the first episode of this podcast back in 2005! (No need to dig up that old fossil, but my show had to start somewhere. ) I've been thinking about a new top ten of more recent games, but I'm not ready with that. Perhaps that will be in a future show, because there ARE plenty of modern titles that I really enjoy. It would be fun to talk about them, in part to contrast them against the "hotness" on BGG and Kickstarter that I often can't connect with. Again...that's a future show. In THIS episode I thought my original top ten was worth discussing all over. In some cases they are games I love just as much as ever. Others are more sentimental favorites, not really making it to the table any longer. In a few cases I think the games represented of a type of game that I still enjoy, and there are newer examples. Closer: Fragility in boardgame mechanics -Mark
February 1, 2022 Let me see about keeping this going. It's been a long while since I had anything approaching a regular posting schedule. No promises, but for my own sake I'd like to (re)start boardgaming and podcasting a little more often... Opener: Five Games For Doomsday podcast As I explained in the previous episode, I'm not yet living in a post-pandemic world. None of us are. Things have not gone back to normal. Not even "the new normal." At least, I hope not--I hope things can get a bit better, more stable, and more social than they are for me at the moment. My boardgaming hobby is therefore in a hybrid state. Sort of like how we talk about "hybrid meetings" at my work where some people are in the office, but most are at home on their screens--my boardgaming is a mix. Much of it is still with friends (and some random people) on sites like BoardgameArena, Yucata.de, and Brettspielwelt. Other times just two or three of us manage to meet in-person for a real game night over a table, with drinks & snacks. I want the latter to take over my hobby again, but we aren't quite there yet. Consequently, the games I discuss are a blend of ones played with friends across a table, and others played with friends on a screen. As always, I have thoughts, opinions, and questions about the games regardless of the medium.
My main thoughts are about The Adventures of Robin Hood, the Spiel des Jahres nominee from last year (in the podcast I mistakenly say Kennerspiel nominee). The story of Robin Hood is ok, I suppose, but what impresses me is the physical gameplay design of this one. I'm sure there are many great examples of this concept, but I struggled to find a good description or list anywhere. I don't just mean the bits, and I definitely don't mean sculpted miniatures (thankfully, this game doesn't have those). No, I mean gameplay that relates to the physical act of manipulating the boardgame as an object. Dexterity games do this, but they're in a different category. I mean strategy games that do this. I'd love to find more examples.
Images by Tobias Franke & Henk Rolleman
Surprising to me, thoughts about this game leaked over into thoughts about solo boardgaming in general--why I don't like it, even though I love solo wargaming. Next I play pop psychologist on myself to connect this feeling about solo boardgames to my waning interest in fiction...if I'm consuming it alone. Nonfiction is my solo experience, while I want to enjoy fictional stories/shows/games with friends & family. Other games discussed are Isle of Cats, Bosk, So Clover!, and LaCorsa.
December 30, 2021 There were enough good feelings about the previous episode (both my own directly, plus your feedback) that I felt compelled to squeeze in one more episode before the year is out. So this podcast "season" can claim multiple episodes! It's just me this time, rambling on about the year that's just passed. It's not exactly a recap of my games played, though there's some of that. Nor is it about the pandemic we're still living through, though there's some of that, too. It's just what my own 2021 was like for boardgaming. A lot of online gaming before the vaccinations meant we could game together, in-person again...but then some disappointment that we still aren't gaming across a real table as often as before. Perhaps 2022 will be better yet. We shall see. Nonetheless, between online and in-person plays again, I really did get in some good totals this year. My quick numbers are 80 different titles a total of 126 times...and that's only counting in-person plays. I used to include online plays, which would bump that up to 135 & 291, very similar to the 100/300 numbers I would typically get in the years before the pandemic. So while it feels to me like I did less gaming in 2021 than I'd like, the numbers say that I'm doing as well as ever. -Mark
We all know last year's event was cancelled due to covid, but late in 2021 BGGcon was back on! I ended up having to cancel my own plans to attend, but "every-timer" Greg Pettit was there. And he's back on my podcast to discuss. What a good reason to finally issue another episode!
A small, solo episode for me to talk about the boardgaming I'm doing during the coronavirus safe-at-home quarantine that so many of us are under. Mostly that means online gaming of one form another, whether a dedicated website or via videochat. My face-to-face gaming has been extremely limited, almost non-existent. I really miss it, as I miss hanging out with my friends. Fortunately we have this technology to keep us in connection and camaraderie, even during this difficult times. I didn't do an opener & closure in this small episode, but I did wrap up with some anticipation for the upcoming Spiel des Jahres nominations, especially the curve-ball surprises we sometimes get. The announcement comes later this month in May. Looking forward to it! There's a great geeklist where you can read everyone's guesses for games that could be nominated, adding your own ideas or giving thumbs/comments to ones you agree with.
Martin returns to the podcast after five years to talk with me again about the year just passed. This episode we spend less time talking about the raw statistics for our games played, instead having more fun discussing a bunch of "best of" categories for the past year. Best artwork, party game, component, 2-player game, and so on. Fun to reflect on the past year in that way, and there's a special follow-along/participation geeklist for you all to use, as well. -Mark
Opener: Skipped this part since all we're doing is talking about (mostly new) games played! Closers: Skipped this, too, but you can think that my suggestion that listeners subscribe & participate in the Boardgames To Go guild as my unofficial closer
[/floatright]Another year that I didn't make it to BGGcon, but of course Greg Pettit did...he's an "every timer"! Since 2010 (a decade, hmm...) Greg and I have been recording this episode after the event, whether I was able to join him or not. Greg tells us about the event, its new location, and then about a whole lot of games played. Even oldtimers like Greg & I find ourselves playing new games as well as some old favorites at an event like this. Since these are often first plays of a new game, I like to solicit "1-5 star ratings" instead of BGG ratings. What's the difference? Maybe nothing, but in my mind, stars are more of a gut feel after an early play that measures excitement to play again, as well as (or maybe more than) an analysis of a game's long-term evaluation. As Greg says, it's easier to give 5 stars to a game you just had fun with than to say it's a 10. -Mark
Opener: Bukiet (Bloom) Closer: BGG's new look This isn't the first time I've attended the Origins Game Fair, one of the United States' larger national game conventions. But my previous times were once in the 1990s...and once in the 1980s! As far as we're concerned, that's a completely different era. It was before the current wave of boardgames, even before CCGs had their wave. Now in 2019 the event was dominated by our style of boardgaming, with a subset of CCGs, RPGs, and wargaming around the edges. Those other times I attended Origins was back when it moved around--different cities in different years. I went when it was local to me, and I only went for a day or two. Now, of course, the event has its permanent home at the Columbus, Ohio convention center. To get there I had to fly cross-country, staying with friends in a rented apartment for an extended weekend. In fact, these were friends I barely knew before Origins. I knew David already, and his other two buddies I met over Skype. It's another example of what's so great about this hobby, the good people. Partway through our time at Origins, these newfound friends & I gathered around my iPad to record our thoughts. The audio is good enough, I think. Like I always enjoy, we had some meta conversation about the convention itself, the venue, people, and overall experience. Then we dive into the games themselves. The funny thing is that we played a bunch of older games, not all new stuff. I swear I'm not responsible for this (not entirely)! These guys were as excited to play some older titles as the new hotness. We had some of both, as you'll hear (or see below). Wednesday (travel day): Red7, Wildlands, Blood Red Skies, El Grande, Imhotep, The King is Dead, Railroad Ink, The Mind, No Thanks Thursday: Tigris & Euphrates, Silver & Gold, Ringmaster, Museum, Exit (Catacombs of Horror), Cockroach Poker, LAMA Friday: War Chest, Keltis Way of the Stones, Musketeers, Piepmatz, Wingspan Saturday: Gnomopolis, Undaunted: Normandy, unpublished prototype, Shifty Eyed Spies-Mark
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