FEED YOUR EARS

Output requires input. I generally have an hour or two of commute time each day and so my input of choice is podcasts. Fortunately for the boardgame-inclined there are many podcasts to choose from. Here’s some that I regularly listen to.

Breadth

The Dice Tower podcast has weekly episodes of an hour or so in which hosts Tom Vasel and Eric Summerer do capsule reviews of mostly new games, answer questions and do top ten lists (e.g. Top Ten Cooperative Games). There are other contributors and segments (like Tales of Horror/Amazement) but the main draw is the chemistry between the hosts and their banter which tends to focus on “the cult of the new”.

Depth

Hosts Stephen Conway and Dave Coleson of The Spiel podcast usually focus on a couple of games in their two-ish hour podcast, but they cover those games in detail. Bringing listeners up to speed with the theme of the game, discussing the components and mechanics and then summing up with their opinions, Stephen and Dave dig deep. A recent episode covering two games about Canterbury opened with an examination of the history and importance of that English cathedral city.

Inside Games

For a look at the how’s and why’s of games the Ludology podcast is an excellent choice. Hosts Geoff Engelstein and Mike Fitzgerald, both game designers, spend an hour or so examining a genre, mechanic or concept from multiple perspectives. Interspersed between the regular episodes are shorter GameTek pieces in which Geoff discusses topics which bridge gaming and mathematics, economics, psychology and the like.

Inside the Game Industry

If you want to see how the sausage is made then the Board Games Insider podcast is worth a listen. Hosted by Ignacy Trzewiczek, president of Portal Games, and Stephen Buonocore, president of Stronghold Games, the biweekly episodes share news, advice and a look behind the scenes of two publishers.

LISTEN TO LEAGUERS

You can hear the dulcet tones of some of the League of Gamemakers members in the following podcasts:

Jasmine Butler-Davis is starting a couple podcasts – stay tuned for “The”Diceburgher” where she talks to awesome people more often, particularly game designers. And in conjunction with a few people – “The Expansion Pack”, about nerds in alternative relationships.

Jeff Cornelius on the BoardGames and Brew podcast Founded by Daniel George, Kate Blevins, Jeff Cornelius and Tom Lathos, the BoardGames and Brew podcast is contributing to the hobby and having fun while talking about board games, game design, publication, and libations. Cheers!

While this isn’t just for your ears – the blog would be remiss without mentioning all of the broadcasting hours of our colleague JR Honeycutt who talks all things Kickstarter with content creators on The Nerd Nighters channel on YouTube