So we know there aren't as many women and girls playing boardgames as there are men and boys. We know there are very few female game designers. What can we do to change this?

(We recently remixed the audio in this episode; you might want to download it again if you got it within a week of its initial publication.)

Plenty of games have pictures of scantily-clad women. Different people might find these pictures beautiful or gross, empowering or creepy, but one thing's for sure: they've got a lot of cultural baggage. In the third episode of our series on women and boardgames, we unpack some of that baggage and talk about how the way a woman is depicted in a boardgame can affect the experience of playing it.

Women love Scattergories, but they hate Risk. Girls love Dream Phone, but they hate Chess. Or so we're told. In the second episode of our series on women and boardgames, we take a closer look at the kinds of games girls and women are supposed to like better than others. Where do these stereotypes come from? How much truth is there to them? And what does it take to break free of the pink and purple box?

Come in to Snakes and Lattes any evening of any week, and you'll find about half the people playing games are female. But read the names of the designers of those games, and you'll find almost all of them are male. In the first episode of our four-part series about women and board games, we'll meet our co-hosts (four of them! And they're all women!) and spend some time talking about what it was like for them playing games when they were young, from early childhood through their teenage years.

Tabletop games have a reputation for being an intellectual pursuit, with good reason. They're the only art form that cannot exist unless its audience participates, and that means thinking. But sometimes that's not what you're in the mood for. Sometimes you just want to relax and not have to think. Are you better off just watching TV or reading a book? Or are there games that can be enjoyable even for people who aren't interested in using their brains at the moment?

There's been plenty of discussion over the last decade about whether or not games can be art. The thing is, whenever this topic comes up, people are always talking about electronic games. But what about their ancient cousins on the tabletop? Should traditional games be thought of as art? Is gameplay an art form? Is game design an art form?

If you haven't played many board games, you might be surprised to discover just how many of them use auctions as an element of gameplay. Auctions are a powerful and flexible mechanic that can be used to create tension, surprise, and balance. How are auctions used in games, and why are they so effective?

This episode airs with a tip of the hat to the inestimable Quintin Smith of the marvellous Shut Up And Sit Down show, whose recent article about games that wreck friendships inspired us to do our own take on the topic. But while Quinns was mostly kidding (mostly), here we're being deadly serious. People of good conscience can sometimes get genuinely angry with one another over a simple boardgame. It's not as common as you might think, but it's not just a myth either. How does this happen and how can we deal with it?

There are plenty of games about ghosts and ghouls and other scary creatures. Some of them have creepy or gory artwork in them, and a few will make you distrust your fellow players (at least within the context of the game). Of course none of these things actually makes anyone feel genuinely afraid. But when you have to get up in front of your friends and sing or mime or make something up on the spot, it can be very frightening indeed. Do we have anything to fear other than fear itself?

The leaves are falling, Hallowe'en is approaching, and the customers at Snakes and Lattes are looking for horror-themed games to play. Zombies have been the most popular creatures in horror fiction for quite a few years now. Long enough for a lot of games about zombies to be designed and published. What makes for a good zombie game, and what are the games that deliver the goods?