Great Big Table

In this return episode of the Great Big Table Podcast, Adrienne and Jim talk about some of the things that they have learned while running a successful community game night for the past seven years. We discuss what it means to be in community around the gaming table and some things that might help you expand the role of gaming in your wider community.

Topiary

Cardline: Animals

Fauna

Download the episode: GBT-EP009-Growing-Your-Game-Night-Community-Final.mp3

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Send us an Email: [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: Jim: @greatbigtable

                                 Adrienne: @babytoolkit

Leave us a voicemail: (401) It is big or (401) 484-7244

This episode of the Great Big Table is released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 3.0 license.

The My favorite game console is a table and chairs image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license by Daniel Solis. If you like the image, head over to Daniel's blog, danielsolis.com,

and buy the t-shirt. If you buy a t-shirt, tell Daniel that the Great

Big Table podcast sent you. Daniel has an amazing blog with many

interesting thoughts about gaming. Check it out.

Big Table is a late-night conversation between two Midwestern geeks

with dreams of world domination through board games. It's not a great

plan, but it's our plan and we're sticking to it. Join as we plot to put

a meeple in every pot- or at least on every table. We slipped the bonds

of our robot masters, so the only opinions represented here are our

own. We are however in league with Amazon,

so a percentage of every purchase made through our links goes into our

onshore accounts (thanks!). Some games have been provided by publishers

for review while we picked up others for a buck or two at a thrift store

or yard sale. Others are from our own collections or games we played

with friends and strangers. You should be proud of yourself for reading

all this small print- we are!

I've been able to finally resurrect the rest of the audio interviews that Adrienne and I conducted at Gen Con 2014. I really enjoyed some of the insights that the publishers gave into the growth of the industry and how to be good advocates for the hobby.

A case in point is this great interview with Luke Warren, the Public Relations Director for North Star Games. Luke gave us an overview of the games that North Star Games currently has out including its first foray into a the full on strategy game side of the board games market. Luke also gave some insight as to why North Star Games was venturing into this space as well as offering some ideas on why games like Ticket to Ride, by Days of Wonder, and North Star Games' own Wits and Wagers are good games to use to introduce people into our hobby.

The North Star Games titles that we mentioned or discussed in this episode include:

Evolution

Happy Birthday

Crappy Birthday

Wits and Wagers

Wits and Wagers Party

Clubs

 

Download the episode: GBT-EPGEN14-4-North-Star-Games.mp3

Subscribe to the podcast: via RSS

Subscribe to the podcast: via iTunes

Send us an Email: [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: @greatbigtable

Leave us a voicemail: (401) It is big or (401) 484-7244

This episode of the Great Big Table is released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 3.0 license.

The My favorite game console is a table and chairs image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license by Daniel Solis. If you like the image, head over to Daniel's blog, danielsolis.com, and buy the t-shirt. If you buy a t-shirt, tell Daniel that the Great Big Table podcast sent you. Daniel has an amazing blog with many interesting thoughts about gaming. Check it out.

At Gen Con, we were very fortunate to spend some time with game publishers and designers.

In another of those Gen Con conversations, we spoke with R&R Games' President and CEO, Frank DiLorenzo. R&R Games is known for great gateway games, popular party games (like the Times Up series), and heavier strategy games like Coal Baron and New Haven. They are also the publisher of 2013 Spiel des Jahres (German Game of the Year) winner, Hanabi. We spent some time talking about a wide swath of games offered by R&R Games and had a great time.

The R&R Games titles that we mentioned or discussed in this episode include:

Times Up

Get a Life

Guess the Mess (Board Game Geek Link)

Strike a Pose

Hearts of Attraction

Plucking Pairs

Hide and Seek Safari

Flea Circus

Spectaculum

Igor: The Monster Making Game

Igor: The Life of the Party

Hanabi

R&R Games' version of Deluxe Hanabi - Coming in October

Coal Baron

New Haven

Qin

Home Stretch

1st & Goal

Download the episode: GBT-EPGEN14-3-RnR-Games.mp3

Subscribe to the podcast: via RSS

Subscribe to the podcast: via iTunes

Send us an Email: [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: @greatbigtable

Leave us a voicemail: (401) It is big or (401) 484-7244

This episode of the Great Big Table is released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 3.0 license.

The My favorite game console is a table and chairs image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license by Daniel Solis. If you like the image, head over to Daniel's blog, danielsolis.com, and buy the t-shirt. If you buy a t-shirt, tell Daniel that the Great Big Table podcast sent you. Daniel has an amazing blog with many interesting thoughts about gaming. Check it out.

At Gen Con, we were very fortunate to spend some time with game publishers and designers.

In the second of those conversations, we spoke with Mindtwister USA's National Marketing Director, Jesse Den Herder. Mindtwister is probably best known for its beautifully crafted, five-in-a-row, abstract game, Pentago. We had a great time talking with Jesse about some of Mindtwister's games and really enjoyed hearing his ideas about the possible demographic roots to the recent surge in the popularity of board games.

The Mindtwister USA games that we discussed in this episode include:

Fandooble

Pentago LE

Pentago CE (with travel case)

Pentago (classic wooden design)

Pentago multi player

Download the episode: GBT-EPGEN14-2-MindTwister-USA.mp3

Subscribe to the podcast: via RSS

Subscribe to the podcast: via iTunes

Send us an Email: [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: @greatbigtable

Leave us a voicemail: (401) It is big or (401) 484-7244

This episode of the Great Big Table is released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 3.0 license.

The My favorite game console is a table and chairs image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license by Daniel Solis. If you like the image, head over to Daniel's blog, danielsolis.com, and buy the t-shirt. If you buy a t-shirt, tell Daniel that the Great Big Table podcast sent you. Daniel has an amazing blog with many interesting thoughts about gaming. Check it out.

At Gen Con, we were very fortunate to spend some time with game publishers and designers.

In the first of those conversations, we meet HABA USA President Lea Culliton. This year's Gen Con is HABA USA's first time as an exhibitor. We were delighted to see this iconic family and children's game publisher joining the Family Pavillion.

Join us as we discuss some of the newest games in HABA USA's lineup.

The HABA games that we discussed in this episode include:

Shiver-stone Castle

Animal Upon Animal

My Very First Games: Animal Upon Animal

Animal Upon Animal: Small and Yet Great! (Travel game)

Pizzeria Allegro (Link to HABA USA)

Pirate’s Blast 

My Very First Games: Feeling and Touching 

My Very First Games: First Orchard 

Dancing Eggs 

Plucky Pilots

A surprise hit for HABA USA at Gen Con, that we actually didn't cover in our interview with Lea, was Rhino Hero. Rhino Hero is a dexterity game where you build a skyscraper out of cards while moving a rhinoceros superhero up the levels. You are trying to be the player with the fewest cards left in your hand when the whole thing comes tumbling down. Jim has played this in public on a couple of occasions now and it always garners a lot of interest. (Board Game Geek link) 

Download the episode: GBT-EPGEN14-1-Haba-USA.mp3

Subscribe to the podcast: via RSS

Subscribe to the podcast: via iTunes

Send us an Email: [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: @greatbigtable

Leave us a voicemail: (401) It is big or (401) 484-7244

This episode of the Great Big Table is released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 3.0 license.

The My favorite game console is a table and chairs image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license by Daniel Solis. If you like the image, head over to Daniel's blog, danielsolis.com, and buy the t-shirt. If you buy a t-shirt, tell Daniel that the Great Big Table podcast sent you. Daniel has an amazing blog with many interesting thoughts about gaming. Check it out.

In this very special episode of Great Big Table, we're joined by one of our favorite gaming podcasts, The Party Gamecast Featuring the Party Game Cast, to spend way too much time discussing the game that started it all for Adrienne and I, Therapy:The Game.

The Party Gamecast was kind enough to send us an audio review of a copy of Therapy that they found lying around and we thought it would be fun to record a DVD commentary style track to intersperse throughout their review.

We had a blast doing it. We also want thank the Party Gamecast for taking the time to record this review. And... we hope you all like it. Look in the feed, soon, for episode 005a which will be the unbroken up version of the Party Gamecast's review of Therapy that they sent us.

Loaded Questions

Say Anything

The Game of Scruples

The Game of Things

Download the episode: GBT-EP005-Therapy-with-the-Party-Game-Cast-Final.mp3

Subscribe to the podcast: via RSS

Subscribe to the podcast: via iTunes

Send us an Email: [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: @greatbigtable

Leave us a voicemail: (401) It is big or (401) 484-7244

This episode of the Great Big Table is released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 3.0 license.

The My favorite game console is a table and chairs image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license by Daniel Solis. If you like the image, head over to Daniel's blog, danielsolis.com, and buy the t-shirt. If you buy a t-shirt, tell Daniel that the Great Big Table podcast sent you. Daniel has an amazing blog with many interesting thoughts about gaming. Check it out.

It's over six months late, but we finally get around to wrapping up our Extra Life weekend long board gaming event that raised money for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. We played twenty four hours of board games across three days and raised over two thousand dollars for charity (over $2000!). We're very proud of what we accomplished in our first year and are looking forward to more success as we continue this annual event in our community.

Mostly, Jim spends this episode grasping for that word for the structured play mat that you play cards to in popular hobby games and stages an intervention for Adrienne's recent addiction.

Thank you to all our Extra Life supporters. We have amazing and generous friends, fans, and family members. We wouldn't have been successful without all of your support.

7 Wonders

Action Castle and the other Parsley games (they're like $5 a piece)

Are you a werewolf? (the cheaper, basic verion) / Ultimate Werewolf (the more expensive deluxe version)

Alien Frontiers

Can't Stop

Cosmic Encounter

Downfall of Pompei

Eleminis

Escape: The Curse of the Temple

Fill the Barn

Flash Point: Fire Rescue

Flower Fall

Glory to Rome

Got 'Em!

Liar's Dice

Monopoly Deal

Perudo

Pit

Pitchcar

Race for the Galaxy

Rattle Snake

San Juan

The Secret Garden (out of print, Board Game Geek page)

Therapy

Wits and Wagers: Party

Zooloretto

Download the episode: GBT-EP004-Extra-Life-Wrapup-Final.mp3

Subscribe to the podcast: via RSS

Subscribe to the podcast: via iTunes

Send us an Email: [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: @greatbigtable

Leave us a voicemail: (401) It is big or (401) 484-7244

This episode of the Great Big Table is released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 3.0 license.

The My favorite game console is a table and chairs image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license by Daniel Solis. If you like the image, head over to Daniel's blog, danielsolis.com, and buy the t-shirt. If you buy a t-shirt, tell Daniel that the Great Big Table podcast sent you. Daniel has an amazing blog with many interesting thoughts about gaming. Check it out.

The music for this episode is "Vox vs. Uke" by unreal_dm (featuring Mind Map That!) and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. You can hear more of unreal_dm's wonderful music creations at ccmixter.org/people/unreal_dm.

It's been a long time coming (sorry about that), but we've finally been able to edit the episode that we recorded over two months ago. In this episode we talk about our new voice mail system (401-ItIsBig), about our Extra Life team, about some of our thrift store finds and flops and we run down some of the games we've played.

The Great Big Table Extra Life team page can be found at www.extra-life.org/team/greatbigtable .

Please spread the word about what we're doing, join the team, support a

team member or start a team of your own with your family, gaming group,

co-workers, church, or friendly local gaming store. 

All that and we harness the Internet to brainstorm ways to find, or create, gamers with whom to play more games.

So, saddle up and check out the show.

The Ted Talk (about the enthusiastic follower) that we discussed: Derek Sivers' How to Start a Movement.

Chris Norwood (aka Gamer Chris): gamerchris.com

Chris' Extra Life team: Exploring Games with Kids

Paul Owen's Man Overboard blog: paulowengames.blogspot.com

Jason Moslander's Games with Two blog: gameswithtwo.blogspot.com

Legends Family and Hobby Games (Vincennes, IN) facebook: www.facebook.com/legendsgames

Battle Line

Can't Stop

Dixit

Dominoes

Double Discoveries (Trap the Cap / Game of Goose) - Out of Print, link goes to Board Game Geek page.

Eleminis

Got 'Em

Hike

Identik

Jungle Speed

Leader 1

Lost Cities

Monopoly Deal

Pit

Rallyman

The Resistance

Reverse Charades

Save the Whales -  Out of Print, link goes to Board Game Geek page.

Say Anything

S'getti Scatter

Therapy - Out of Print, link goes to Board Game Geek page.

Times Up: Title Recall

Werewolf

Wise and Otherwise

Witch Trial -  Out of Print, link goes to Board Game Geek page.

Wits & Wagers

Download the episode: GBT-EP003-Finding-a-Game-Group-Final.mp3

Subscribe to the podcast: via RSS

Subscribe to the podcast: via iTunes

This episode of the Great Big Table is released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 3.0 license.

The My favorite game console is a table and chairs image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license by Daniel Solis. If you like the image, head over to Daniel's blog, danielsolis.com, and buy the t-shirt. If you buy a t-shirt, tell Daniel that the Great Big Table podcast sent you. Daniel has an amazing blog with many interesting thoughts about gaming. Check it out.

The music for this episode is "Vox vs. Uke" by unreal_dm (featuring Mind Map That!) and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. You can hear more of unreal_dm's wonderful music creations at ccmixter.org/people/unreal_dm.

It's been a heck of a week filled with three kids with strep throat, but Great Big Table hosts Jim and Adrienne have persevered and were able to carve out enough time to record our longest episode yet. Sorry about that. Really. It shouldn't happen again. This week we cover games that work well with kids and some tips for raising gamers. We still have listeners (I know, right) and they were kind enough to join in the conversation. Also, Jim details all his victories over the last couple of weeks. It's a short list. And we talk about why scary movies are best to view with Jim, point out that Elmo is the best fantasy artist in the world, and hack a Fisher Price game to make it truly awesome. Like we said. It's been a heck of a week. Here is the Kickstarter link to Tsuro of the Seas. It is funded and has a couple days left, so get in on those stretch goals. Also, we were mistaken that Story Realms currently has a Kickstarter campaign. They are in the development phase of their design and hope to have a campaign before the end of the summer. They are looking for playtesters, so check out Escapade Games' project page. Finally. here's a link to the post "The Positive Benefits of Gaming with Kids" from the Growing Up Gamers blog that we mentioned in the episode. So, now it's your turn. What do you think? What makes a good game for kids? What games would you cross off our list? What games would you add? What are your tips for raising gamers? What do you see as benefits? What are your drawbacks? Let's continue the conversation here. Some of the games mentioned in this episode include: Barnum Crackers Blokus Bug Out Button Men - Available for download from Cheap Ass Games' site. Carcassonne Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers Catan: Junior Catch the Match Chore Wars - Get loot drops for taking out the garbage! Doggie Doo  En Garde Eleminis Fealty Flash Duel Flash Point Fire Rescue Forbidden Island Froggie Boogie Go Away Monster Lego Heroica Hopp Gallopp - Out of Print, link goes to Board Game Geek page. Hula Hippos Incan Gold Kids of Carcassonne Kill Doctor Lucky Liar's Dice Los Mampfos - Hard to find in the US, link goes to the Board Game Geek page. Lords of Waterdeep Mad Magazine Game Magic Labyrinth Mille Bornes Minotaurus Monopoly Monopoly Deal  Oh Gnome You Don't! Pitchcar Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age Save Doctor Lucky Scrabble S’getti Scatter - Out of Print, link goes to Board Game Geek page. Seven Dragons Ship Ahoy! - Hard to find in the US, link goes to the Board Game Geek page. Sorry! Sliders Ticket To Ride Tsuro Uno Uno: Roboto Wallamoppi Werewolf - A cheap basic set, Ultimate Werewolf - All the bells and whistles Wise and Otherwise Download the episode: GBT-EP002-Good-Games-with-Kids-final.mp3 Subscribe to the podcast: via RSS Subscribe to the podcast: via iTunes This episode of the Great Big Table is released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 3.0 license. The My favorite game console is a table and chairs image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license by Daniel Solis. If you like the image, head over to Daniel's blog, danielsolis.com, and buy the t-shirt. If you buy a t-shirt, tell Daniel that the Great Big Table podcast sent you. Daniel has an amazing blog with many interesting thoughts about gaming. Check it out. The music for this episode is "Vox vs. Uke" by unreal_dm (featuring Mind Map That!) and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. You can hear more of unreal_dm's wonderful music creations at ccmixter.org/people/unreal_dm. ***Great Big Table is a late-night conversation between two Midwestern geeks with dreams of world domination through board games. It's not a great plan, but it's our plan and we're sticking to it. Join as we plot to put a meeple in every pot- or at least on every table. We slipped the bonds of our robot masters, so the only opinions represented here are our own. We are however in league with Amaz