Sun, 30 November 2008
This Thanksgiving we packed up the car to drive 300 miles to my folks' house. My brother did the same with his family, coming from the other direction. (California is a long state!) As usual, I packed up a bunch of games, knowing full well we wouldn't play all or even most of them. But we've got room in the minivan, and so why not pack different games so we have options. :-)As it turned out, I
|
Thu, 20 November 2008
This is a session report & feedback show . . . but without the feedback. The reason for that is that I had to record this podcast in the car. I say had to because I spent too much of my at-home podcasting time playing Dominion instead! I started playing this game on brettspielwelt, and then got my own set to play face-to-face games. Hype is a turnoff for me, even buzz makes me suspicious, but in
|
Mon, 3 November 2008
As usual, your best bet to find me is on a play-by-web game. I've recently started the following, all of which can take more players as I write this. The password is the same as ever, BGTG.On Mabiweb: In the Year of the Dragon, Samuari, Kreta, In the Shadow of the EmperorOn Spielbyweb: Amun-Re, Hoity-Toity, Reef Encounter, SantiagoOn michaelshacht.net: Hansa (two of these)On Boardgamegeek: Tigris
|
Fri, 31 October 2008
Essen is behind us now, and the Fairplay scouts & other reports are settling in on the better titles. Remember two years ago when I insisted I'd buy Die Saulen von Venedig? Then the mediocre reports came in, and I got to play it once. It wasn't a bad game, but it didn't shine for me. I didn't buy it. (Though I'll probably play it again some day.)This year the game that fits that description this
|
Fri, 24 October 2008
I mentioned it in the last podcast, and more than ever I recognize how influenced I am by the look of these games. I like reading the Essen first-impression reports, but I like seeing the photos even more. These days, you'd think you could do a search on "Essen spiel" in Flickr and find tons of photos, both from BGGers and average Germans who took photos & uploaded them. I've found a few that way
|
Thu, 23 October 2008
As promised, here's my annual episode running through the new Essen games that have caught my eye. There are games I'm pretty sure I want, others I'm pretty sure I don't, and a whole bunch I need to know more about first (hopefully by playing).Essen opens its doors to everyone tomorrow, and the press-only day has already started. Folks like me will be checking internet sites repeatedly through
|
Mon, 20 October 2008
Essen is now right around the corner, but I'm going to try to squeeze in an "Essen Anticipation" show, as I've done in previous years. I got a few requests for this episode, and that's the best inspiration for doing it.-Mark
|
Tue, 16 September 2008
This blog recently received a great comment from Tristan who re-listened to the 2.5-year old All About Vinci episode after finally getting to try the game in-person. Vinci is still a great favorite of mine, and now I'd like to see if any other listeners would like to join me in a play-by-web version. Now, I'll warn you that the website is all in German, so if you've never played pbw (or Vinci),
|
Fri, 12 September 2008
As promised, here's another All About show, my first in a long time. The way these shows work, I usually employ a guest, and the two of us talk about one game in great detail. This time, that guest is David Gullett, who you've heard on BGTG before, and the game we're talking about is Harry's Grand Slam Baseball.Now, HGSB is a rather small, light game to spend more than an hour talking about. That
|
Thu, 11 September 2008
Hurray! I've wanted to do another "All About" show for some time, and last night I recorded one. It wasn't about Big City, though, as I'd hinted in my last podcast (that's another I still want to do). No, for this one I got my buddy Dave Gullett (BGG's davebo, aka the Big Red Rock Eater) to share the mic with me and talk all about Harry's Grand Slam Baseball. That might seem a little game for a
|
Sun, 7 September 2008
You're in luck. The carcast I recorded earlier about some games played at a recent Games Day was also destroyed accidentally, so I just had to re-record it at home. This way it ends up with better audio quality, and I got to tack on some recent email feedback, too.These are all games I played at a recent Games Day put on by LA's famous Stephanie. You've heard about her on other podcasts, and
|
Thu, 4 September 2008
Oops. I thought I'd finally get around to posting a carcast recorded more than a year ago after I'd played some business-themed games, comparing & contrasting all three of them. They were Shark, Buy Low Sell High (aka Palmyra), and one more I've forgotten. Well, it doesn't matter now because this apparently I deleted this recording I discarded when I was at a low ebb in my satisfaction with
|
Mon, 18 August 2008
One thing this blog is good for is correcting mistakes & omissions in my podcasts. After recording the recent one about Martin Wallace games, I forgot to mention the interesting and authentic-feeling arms races that happened in our complete 3-player game. Though Ryan & I both agreed that Mike was out to a big lead, we ran into trouble going after him during the middle & end of the game. Because
|
Fri, 15 August 2008
Two podcasts in less than a week?! Weird, I know. Not likely to be repeated soon, either. I just figured I might as well jump on the opportunity when I could.Also, I'd mentioned on this blog a couple weeks before that I was thinking of sharing my (changing) thoughts about Martin Wallace games, based on some recent plays of Brass, Tinner's Trail, and Byzantium. Martin's games are so popular on BGG
|
Sun, 10 August 2008
Though I'm too chicken to listen to it, anyone that wants to can go back into my archives to download BGTG #1. In that episode I tried to give an introduction to myself, describing my own likes & dislikes in games. It always helps to know those things about a game reviewer. You get to figure out how my opinions map to yours. Maybe you & I are on the same page, and the games I like are ones you'll
|
Tue, 29 July 2008
First of all, another podcast is coming. Somewhere I've got an old "car-cast" I did last year after our group had played several different business games. I'll post that soon. Before that I want to record my "re-introduction" episode. I believe I did an intro episode way back in BGTG #1, but I'm afraid to listen to it myself! Instead I think I'll redo the introduction, taking this opportunity to
|
Wed, 16 July 2008
Uh...yeah. At the start of this show I say I recorded it back on May 29. Which I did. Then I labeled the file and blog entry June 17, because that's when I edited it. Except that I ran into a technical glitch, and I only just now resolved all of that to get it posted on July 13. Whew!Anyway, it's here now. Not long after my 2007 recap described some new games I hadn't had the chance to try yet, I
|
Fri, 23 May 2008
Memorial Day Weekend is pretty late for a 2007 recap show, but here it is anyway. I said I'd follow this show up sometime with another blog entry to have a written summary of my games played, too. I found that I enjoyed re-reading my reports from earlier years . . . and missed not having them for 2005 & 2006.In a nutshell, I'm still playing 400 games per year, about 180 different titles--the same
|
Sat, 3 May 2008
Finishing up my feedback backlog (my feedbacklog?), here's a show with audio comments from my listeners. Does that include Mr. Reliable for audio feedback, Mark Jackson? Sure does! He's here, along with a couple other guys that offer some good comments or questions related to some earlier episodes of BGTG.Like all my feedback shows, that part is at the end, preceded by some game discussion. This
|
Sat, 19 April 2008
Waaaaay back in show #3 I covered play-by-web boardgaming. I've touched on it since then, and for this show it's "where" my game session took place. That is, on the web, against a variety of friends, playing a variety of games. I spend the most time talking about Mykerinos on Mabiweb, mostly due to the excitement of having a new play-by-web game to try. But I also touch on several more, including
|
Sun, 30 March 2008
I still need to do a feedback show to go through a backlog, but today I couldn't wait for that. You see, I've had a break in my busy schedule--or at least an attitude adjustment after a recent vacation--and just needed to record a podcast again. I'm playing some more games, catching up on some podcast listening, and wanted to share some thoughts about recent games. This particular show happened
|
Fri, 18 January 2008
No, I haven't disappeared again, and this little episode is meant to prove it. I have more to say about other games, my year in review, my new top ten list, and a backlog of feedback to work through. But this is what I could get out right now, and it'll have to do. In it, I talk about some older games I played with my son & other kids (and gamer-dad Dave Gullett) at a recent SoCal Games Day. Then
|