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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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