Tabletop Games Blog

This podcast is the audio version of Tabletop Games Blog's written articles. Every week there is a new review and a topic discussion piece about all things board, card, dexterity and other modern games. You can also find here the Let me illustrate podcast series where board game artists answer a catalogue of 17 questions about themselves.

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Top 10 Tabletop Games Blog Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Tabletop Games Blog episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Tabletop Games Blog for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Tabletop Games Blog episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Naylor Games vs CMON Acquisition PR - how announcing acquisitions and PR affects your company (Topic Discussion)

Tabletop Games Blog

04/16/24 • 9 min

The following article is a guest post written by Alexandra Yaverbaum (aka Sasha) and Dina Ramse from Dina Said So Studio and originally published on LinkedIn.

In light of the recent announcement that CMON have acquired some of Mythic Games’ projects, it brought into clear contrast just how well, (or indeed how poorly) these can be handled. I have been involved in previous mergers and acquisitions and most recently worked with Naylor Games to help consider their communication during their acquisition of ITB's assets, which parallels the situation very closely.

Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/04/16/naylor-games-vs-cmon-acquisition-pr-how-announcing-acquisitions-and-pr-affects-your-company-topic-discussion/

Useful Links

Dina Said So Studio: https://www.dinasaidsostudio.com/
original LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/naylor-games-vs-cmon-acquisition-pr-dinasaidsostudio-jabne/?trackingId=%2BPzH2uQg%2FX419uzbUU%2BQPQ%3D%3D
CMON: https://www.cmon.com/
Mythic Games: https://mythicgames.net/
Naylor Games: https://naylorgames.com/
Kickstater campaign for HEL: The Last Saga: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1162110258/hel-the-last-saga/posts/4014026
Mythic Games' update: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1162110258/hel-the-last-saga/posts/4005539
CMON press release: https://www.cmon.com/news/cmon-acquires-hel-the-last-saga-and-anastyr-ips-from-mythic-games
Naylor Games press release: https://naylorgames.com/blogs/blog/naylor-games-buys-all-assets-of-itb-games-and-a-plan-for-saving-its-projects
ITB Kickstarter update: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/itbboardgames/crypt-x-a-narrative-puzzle-game/posts/3776703
Alba project update: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/itbboardgames/alba-an-open-world-adventure-book/posts/3776855

Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

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Ko-Fi:

I’m hooked

Tabletop Games Blog

10/01/19 • 13 min

A hook, as per the dictionary definition, is something that draws you in. In games, a hook can be a number of different things. Often it is something visually exciting, such as beautiful illustrations, amazingly detailed miniatures, realistic resources or some sort of physical component that is integral to gameplay. Hooks can also be an interesting theme, an exciting gameplay mechanism or even the background story behind how a game was made. Certain awards or even the price of a game can be a hook too. Ultimately it's about finding something that grabs your attention and gets you to take a closer look.

Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2019/10/01/im-hooked/

Links

Tzolk’in: https://czechgames.com/en/tzolkin-the-mayan-calendar/
Czech Games Edition: https://czechgames.com/en/
Gizmos: https://cmon.com/product/gizmos/gizmos
CMON: https://cmon.com/
Everdell: https://www.starling.games/everdell
Starling Games: https://www.starling.games/
Rising Sun: https://cmon.com/product/rising-sun/rising-sun
Dwellings of Eldervale: https://dwellingsofeldervale.com/
Breaking Games: https://breakinggames.com/
Scythe: https://stonemaiergames.com/games/scythe/
Stonemaier Games: https://stonemaiergames.com/
Jakub Rozalski: https://jakubrozalski.artstation.com/
Chronicles of Crime: https://luckyduckgames.com/games/chroniclesofcrime.html
Lucky Duck Games: https://luckyduckgames.com/

Music: Snowy Forest by Kabbalistic Village

If you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblog
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlog

Website: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/

The Emperor’s new games (Topic Discussion)

Tabletop Games Blog

02/02/21 • 6 min

We all have a soft spot for the latest and greatest board game that's coming out next. After all, it'll be better and more wonderful than the game that came before it, or so we're told. We are entranced by the playthroughs, we gawp at the beautiful components and we imagine how much fun we'll have playing this amazing new game. Yet, sometimes these new games aren't actually that new and we're too blind to see it. So in this article, I want to explore what this means for us, as the board game buying public. (This topic was inspired by the always wonderful Bez.)

Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/02/02/the-emperors-new-games-topic-discussion/

Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

If you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:

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Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlog
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Website: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/

Under Falling Skies (Saturday Review)

Tabletop Games Blog

01/30/21 • 5 min

The sky suddenly darkened above me. As I looked up, I saw the giant spaceship that was filling up more and more of my view. It towered above the skyscrapers like a huge saucer, dotted in lights and what seemed like openings. It was hard to make out, but it seemed to be bigger than downtown. Suddenly, small aircraft emerged from the spaceship's openings and started to descend. It felt like we were suddenly living Under Falling Skies by Czech Games Edition.

Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/30/under-falling-skies-saturday-review/

Links

Under Falling Skies: https://czechgames.com/en/under-falling-skies/
Czech Games Edition: https://czechgames.com/en/

Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)
Music: Epic Blockbuster and Epic Dramatic Trailer by AShamaluevMusic (https://www.ashamaluevmusic.com)

If you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:

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Website: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/

Change of interest (Topic Discussion)

Tabletop Games Blog

01/26/21 • 6 min

Let's face it. The pandemic has made a huge impact on the world overall, including, of course, board games, which is what I want to focus on in this article. Without being able to meet in person, many of us have changed how we play games, while others have stopped playing board games altogether and turned to other forms of entertainment. All of that has directly impacted the design and development of new games and I want to try and evaluate what that impact is. (This topic was inspired by the always wonderful Bez.)

Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/26/change-of-interest-topic-discussion/

Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

If you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:

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Website: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/

Nikita Sullivan (Let me illustrate)

Tabletop Games Blog

01/20/21 • 6 min

Nikita Sullivan has always been a techie and surrounded by nerds. She has a BSc in Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence and after working as a software engineer, she became a freelance graphic designer. She always loved being creative, so decided to become a board game designer. It allowed her to learn a lot of new [...]

Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/20/nikita-sullivan-let-me-illustrate/

If you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblog
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Website: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/

Learning together (Topic Discussion)

Tabletop Games Blog

01/19/21 • 5 min

It is nice when you have a regular games group, be it friends or family or a mix of both. You get to play games regularly, you can share each others' collections, you can maybe even decide to buy games together and split the cost and there are many other positives when you have a group of people to play games with. What I want to talk about in this article, is why I think it's so wonderful to learn a new game together with a group of people you regularly play with.

Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/19/learning-together-topic-discussion/

Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

If you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblog
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlog
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Website: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/

Perseverance (Topic Discussion)

Tabletop Games Blog

01/12/21 • 6 min

Some games just click. There are very few rules and you can basically start playing after reading a couple of paragraphs. Other games take longer to learn, with pages upon pages of rules, turns that consist of multiple phases or maybe some sort of conflict resolution steps that take a while to grasp. In fact, even seemingly simple games can take a long time to master. So in this article, I want to look at how patient we are with games and why some games deserve our perseverance.

Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/12/perseverance-topic-discussion/

Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)
Music: Acoustic Breeze by Bensound (https://www.bensound.com)

If you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblog
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlog
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Website: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/

Klask (Saturday Review)

Tabletop Games Blog

01/09/21 • 4 min

I could hear screeching tyres and gunshots coming from video game machines, the melodic sounds of fruit machines and some general hubbub of laughter, talking and other noise. I was standing at one end of the air hockey table, with my opponent on the other side. Yet, even though it felt like we were at some sort of amusement arcade, we were both at home and hadn't left the house. We were just about to play a game of Klask.

Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/09/klask-saturday-review/

Links

Klask: https://klaskyourway.com/
Big Potato Games: https://bigpotato.com/

Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)
Music: Motion by AShamaluevMusic (https://www.ashamaluevmusic.com/)
Sound Effects: BBC Sound Effects (http://bbcsfx.acropolis.org.uk/)

If you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblog
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlog
PayPal: https://paypal.me/pools/c/8hovaYouKD

Website: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/

2024 - A Year in Review (and a look ahead…) (Saturday Review)

Tabletop Games Blog

12/28/24 • 8 min

As another year draws to a close, it's time to look back, take stock and also glimpse ahead. So let me share how 2024 was for me and give you an idea of what 2025 has in store.

Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/12/28/2024-a-year-in-review-and-a-look-ahead-saturday-review/

Useful Links

10x10 Challenge: https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/166160/2014-challenge-play-10-games-10-times-each
Knarr review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/07/20/knarr-saturday-review/
Tapestry review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2019/11/09/tapestry-saturday-review/
Prey Another Day review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/08/17/prey-another-day-saturday-review/
Medici review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/04/13/medici-saturday-review/
Sea Salt & Paper review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/07/08/sea-salt-paper-saturday-review/
Terraforming Mars review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/07/31/terraforming-mars-digital-eyes/
Odin review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/03/30/odin-saturday-review/
Mid Sussex Meeples: https://www.facebook.com/groups/midsussexmeeples/events
Make My Game Travel: https://makemygametravel.com/
Spielworxx: https://www.spielworxx.de/
Bright Eye Games: https://www.brighteyegames.com/
Berlin Con 2024 review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/07/27/berlin-brettspiel-con-2024-saturday-review/
UK Games Expo 2024 review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/06/15/uk-games-expo-2024-saturday-review/

Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

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