Tim Fowers, indie designer and publisher at Fowers Games, intrigues Christina and Shoe with the concept of "anticipation" and how it plays into dopamine-filled play. And because Tim is such a marketing mastermind, he drops a Fugitive 2 tease about...46 minutes into this episode.

Christina talks to Tim about Paperback and Hardback, Fowers Games's two popular word/spelling games...and listen for a shocking revelation from Tim!

Topics in this episode:

• Tim (guest): Anticipation in games (15:12)
• Shoe (producer): Escape (not escape room!) games (25:44)
• Christina (host): Our favorite word (spelling) games (39:40)

Matt from YouTube's Board Game Bollocks drops by to (somehow successfully!) not swear while chatting about his gaming lifestyle, nihilism, and how Americans are so "happy and bouncy." Our topics this week:

• Christina (host): Our favorite animal-themed games (10:36)
• Mike (editor): Board gaming as a lifestyle (19:59)
• Matt (guest): The rising prices of board games and their implications (32:27)

It's rematch time! Amanda Panda, board game Twitch streamer and content creator, returns to argue over three fresh new matchups -- and we're throwing hands!

Our matchups for this sequel:

• Christina (host): Namiji vs. Tokaido (12:27)
• Shoe (producer): G.I. Joe Deck-Building Game vs. Transformers Deck-Building Game (23:31)
• Amanda (guest): Kingdom Builder vs. The Guild of Merchant Explorers (40:48)

Mik and Starla of Our Family Plays Games join Going Analog to talk about the state of diversity and inclusion in the board gaming community, why they felt the need to start their new OFPG Voices channel, and which crowdfunding games we're most excited to get delivered soon!

Topics this week:

• Starla (guest): The current state of diversity and inclusion in the board gaming community (8:22)
• Mik (guest): Why we started OFPG Voices (21:53)
• Christina (host): Crowdfunding games that we're most excited to get delivered (35:22)

The Going Analog gang has recovered from their Vegas trip to Dice Tower West. So how does this convention stack up to their other faves? What did they play? And how's the new remake of one of their fave board games?

Topics this week:

• Christina (host): Our highlights from Dice Tower West and our tips for attending a convention (11:01)
• Jess (contributor): Comparing our favorite board game cons (23:35)
• Shoe (producer): Libertalia vs. Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest (37:57)

The Going Analog Podcast hosts our first full-time board game illustrator, and it's KWANCHAI MORIYA. He even showed up to our house with beef jerky! The prolific and versatile illustrator of many of your favorite games (including Dinosaur Island, Capital Lux, In the Hall of the Mountain King) recently commemorated his 100th piece of board game art, so we had to celebrate with him on our show. Topics this week:

• Kwanchai Moriya (guest): What are some board games that you consider hidden gems? (12:42)
• Christina (host): What themes would we want Kwanchai to illustrate? (32:55)
• Shoe (producer): Which games would we like to give an art or graphic-design makeover to? (44:31)

Some friends from The Op join Christina to swap gaming stories and imagined celebrity gaming stories! Pat Marino (Game Design Manager and designer of Court of the Dead: Mourner's Call and Cuphead: Fast Rolling Dice Game) and Wes Ferrer (Lead Playtest Coordinator), with topics in hand, get on the Going Analog Podcast to discuss:

• Christina (host): If you could teach a game to any celebrity, real or fictional, whom would you pick? (9:38)
• Wes (guest): What makes a game an "instant classic"? (19:07)
• Pat (guest): What about a game can stick with you after playing it? (29:20)

Agricola vs. Caverna? We've discussed that hundreds of times, and the obvious right answer is Caverna. But what about 7 Wonders vs. 7 Wonders: Architects? Calico vs. Cascadia? And a more recent classic clash, Funkoverse vs. Unmatched?

We brought on Amanda Panda, aka Panda8ngel, board game Twitch streamer and all-around enthusiastic gamer, to give us her opinions, we all agree: Shoe is wrong.

Our match-ups on this episode:

• Shoe (producer): 7 Wonders vs. 7 Wonders: Architects
• Christina (host): Calico vs. Cascadia
• Amanda (guest): Funkoverse vs. Unmatched

Mike Gnade, founder/CEO of Rock Manor Games (Set a Watch, Lawyer Up, and the upcoming Seas of Havoc) is our guest this week. The topics we each picked:

• Christina (host): What deck-building games do we first show to newbies? And then after they need to graduate to something more advanced?
• Mike Gnade (guest): Which Kickstarter board games pleasantly surprised you? And which disappointed you?
• Shoe (producer): How do you go about culling your board game collection?

David Sirlin, President of Sirlin Games, drops by to do a deep dive into video game influences on his tabletop designs, especially with the new Puzzle Strike 2! We also discuss how push-your-luck mechanisms and designing a board game universe.

Our chosen topics this week:

• David Sirlin (guest): How his game design draws from video game influences
• Christina (host): Push-your-luck in game design and some favorites in that genre
• Shoe (producer): Building a board game universe