Boardgames To Go 257 - Summer Season 2026
Boardgames To Go
Opener: Closer: 3D printing and game aids/enhancements During the summer I always get in plenty of gaming…but not always with my normal game group. Often I’m away on vacation, or at a game convention. Or they are. Regardless, it means I get together with those local friends a little less often, and I miss it. Of course I enjoy going on my own vacations, but it’ll also be nice when things get back to normal. This shouldn’t shock anyone…I’m very much a “back to normal” kind of guy. This episode is normal in the sense that it’s just me, talking about stuff that...
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Boardgames To Go 256 - Spiel des Jahres Deep Dive 2026 (with Jonathan Takagi)
Boardgames To Go
Please join us on the where you can chat online with other podcast listeners. Openers: Mark: and old podcasts like Jonathan: , and what will I do when the "old masters" pass away? Closers: Jonathan: Do we have too many good games? scroll down for English Mark: How old is "an old game"? Does 2019 count? My friend Jonathan Takagi returns to the podcast to talk about the upcoming Spiel des Jahres award. Not just the SdJ, we also talk about the Kennerspiel and Kinderspiel awards for "expert" and kids' games, too. And not only that, but...
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Boardgames To Go 255 - Cult of the New...for an Old Guy
Boardgames To Go
Opener: Another online Games Day for podcast listeners Closer: Games BGG-weighted over 4 are never for me! (Never say never...) The folks on Discord gave me several good ideas for an episode. So good, in fact, that I decided to save them for a time when I could to more prep, have a co-host, or both. That meant I needed something else to feature this time. Since I often talk about the old games I play (10+ or even 25+ years old), this time I decided to change it up and highlight several new games I'd played. Because really--I'm always playing new games, usually...
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Boardgames To Go 254 - Officially Old?
Boardgames To Go
Opener: I encourage listeners to join me at the OG guild's online game convention, Within the last month I turned 60. Does that make me old? Officially? Whether it does or not, I'm still playing games. Which is what I discuss in this episode--what it's like to turn 60 in this hobby, as well as reflecting on what it was like when I turned 50, 40, 30, 20, 10...and even 0! Those were all personal milestones in some way--what did it mean for me as a gamer? In getting ready for this episode, I realized I kept thinking about time in three major ways: • When I turned another...
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Boardgames To Go 252E - Mark Madness 2026 (Conclusion) with Adam Brocker
Boardgames To Go
My annual Mark Madness contest is over, and co-host Adam Brocker joins me to wrap it up. Adam won the prediction contest last year, and this was his prize...a side job to work with me! Now we have a new winner, Mark363, who I am working to locate. If he's willing, in 2027 he will join me to run the next version of this contest. In 2026 Adam had suggested we take a closer look at games that were designed by pairs or teams of designers, in contrast with their solo work. With that in mind, we set up four divisions of sixteen game titles apiece. One division was centered around Wolfgang Kramer's...
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Boardgames To Go 253 - Retro Games at Dice Tower West (with DaveO)
Boardgames To Go
For the third year in a row I made it to Dice Tower West. Not only that, I enjoyed that convention with DaveO and other buddies. Not only that, but once again DaveO was my partner-in-crime for insisting we dedicate one day of our convention to focus on older boardgames. By "old" we mean games that are at least 25 years old. When we started this tradition that mean games published in in the last century, last millenium--1999 or earlier. Now, however, we can include games published all the way up to the year...2001 or earlier! That still leaves plenty of old favorites and dim memories we...
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Boardgames To Go 252D - Mark Madness 2026 (Elite Eight with Adam Brocker)
Boardgames To Go
The Sweet 16 is already done and we're on to the Elite Eight. That means just two remaining titles in each of our four divisions, so almost like a mini, division-level championship in each one. From Germany it's either Azul or 6 Nimmt, then from America it's Diamant or Ticket to Ride. From France we'll either have 7 Wonders Duel or Sea Salt & Paper, and from "Italy" it's either Grand Austria Hotel or Barrage.
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Boardgames To Go 252C - Mark Madness 2026 (2nd Round of 32)
Boardgames To Go
BGTG 252C - Mark Madness 2026 (2nd Round [of 32]) 1st round votes are in, now each successive round moves quickly—just three days. 2nd round voting due March 18 at noon BGG-time in Texas (UTC-5). How are you voting? For the games you enjoy the most or the ones you predicted to win (based on what you imagined OTHERS would vote for)? I’ve heard the latter is like how a political primary works. Close calls & Blow-outs • Vikings squeaked by Wandering Towers via a single vote • Same for Nucleum over Anachrony • Meanwhile, Top & Down only GOT one vote...
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Boardgames To Go 252B - Mark Madness 2026 (1st Round of 64)
Boardgames To Go
The first round is underway! Go vote at https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/375187/mark-madness-2026-designer-teams
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Boardgames To Go 252A - Mark Madness 2026 (Introduction) with Adam Brocker
Boardgames To Go
Please join us on the where you can chat online with other podcast listeners. Play along and predict the winners at Predictions must be submitted by March 13 to be in the contest The calendar says March so that means it's time for "Mark Madness" again, my podcast-hosted voting contest. Like its namesake sports tournament, Mark Madness is where 64 games are pitted against each other in successive rounds of single-elimination votes. As before, I took the winner of llast year's contest, Adam Brocker, and asked him to co-host this year's contest. Adam...
info_outlineAnnouncement! Please join other podcast listeners for the next online BGTG Mini-Con, scheduled for September 6. I plan to be online from 9am-9pm Pacific time, including Discord for voice & video. The games will mostly be played on BoardgameArena, but adventurous gamers can also use Yucata, Brettspielwelt, Boardgames.io, Steam, apps, or whatever. It's free, and no RSVP or signup is necessary.
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Opener: Qwinto
Closer: The SdJ awards ceremony, which we watched/listened to live on the drive back from a convention
Over the years you've heard me talk about a number of game conventions. Usually that's recounting the games I played, and my enthusiasm for them in a 5-star rating. This time, I'm taking more of a meta approach to the topic. Yes, I'm still talking about a convention I went to recently, and some games played there, but half of the episode is about the idea of game conventions in the first place. The different types, which ones I prefer, and so on.
Then the second half was recorded at a recent convention, meant to highlight the sort of fun, deep, not-so-serious discussions about the hobby and our shared experience in it. That's a lot of what I enjoy about game conventions--getting to hang out for continuous time with others who are just as geeky as I am about boardgames. I'm among my people!
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In this particular case, DaveO, Jonathan, Jeff, and SteveV join me to talk about games of designer Rüdiger Dorn. We concentrated on those for an entire day. This prolific designer has titles from 1992 to the present day. He's won the Kennerspiel des Jahres and been nominated for the Spiel des Jahres multiple times. Some of his most famous titles include Istanbul, Goa, Jambo, Traders of Genoa, and Louis XIV...none of which we played! Instead we tabled Dragonheart, Las Vegas Royale, Emerald, Montana, Rune Stones, My Farm Shop, Karuba, Arkadia, Danger 13, Mercado, Karuba the Card Game, and Diamonds Club. That was primarily with two groups playing all day long on two tables. It was the Dornücopia!
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At the last minute I thought a funny hat would be a great addition to our little event. While I couldn't find a cornucopia hat on short notice, I did find a corn hat. That was great! The winner of a game was crowned with it, and soon enough we were calling that person The Great Dornholio. Now I think all of our future mini-events will benefit from a special hat!
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