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Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and discussions with a personal touch

Tabletop Games Blog

Tabletop Games Blog podcast explores board games, card games, dexterity games, and modern hobby games, delivering in-depth reviews, thought pieces, and audio articles for all types of players. Since 2018 it has covered strategy games, family favourites, party games, and indie gems, focusing on gameplay, design, table presence, and player experience. Originally on a strict weekly schedule, from 2025 episodes now release when ready, prioritising quality. Tune in for engaging board game reviews,

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All Episodes

00:07:20

Why Table Presence Matters for Board Games (Topic...

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/10/24

Hi, it’s Joe Slack here. Oliver was kind enough to let me write another guest blog and was excited to hear my thoughts as a game designer and indie publisher on why table presence matters for board games. So, let’s get into it. Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/10/24/why-table-presence-matters-for-board-games-topic-discussion/ Useful Links Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/ Essen Spiel: https://www.spiel-essen.de/en/ Gen Con: https://www.gencon.com/ Origins

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00:09:34

Planet Unknown (Saturday Review)

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/10/21

It was inevitable. After decades of exploiting our home, Earth has finally run out of resources. It is time for Plan B. We have to leave and settle on a new planet. Potential targets have been selected and planeteers will be sent to develop them. Each of these adventurous heroes will be tasked with preserving the future of humanity and preparing one Planet Unknown by Ryan Lambert and Adam Rehberg from Adam's Apple Games. Read the full review here:

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00:09:00

Swords vs Words - the popularity of blogs versus...

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/10/17

Jamey Stegmaier's blog post "Is There a Future for Written Reviews?" inspired Adam Richards of Punchboard to write a little post on his Substack to discuss the visibility of the written word compared to video or audio content. That, in turn, inspired me to share my thoughts on the topic and as always, I invite your thoughts in the comments at the bottom of this article. Read the full article here:

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00:07:04

Enemy Anemone (Saturday Review)

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/10/14

Off the coast of Queensland, Australia, in warm tropical waters, you can find the amazingly colourful Great Barrier Reef. It is home to over 40 different types of sea anemones, which are home to a lot of different kinds of sea life. Clownfish use sea anemones as shelter, taking advantage of their toxin-filled stingers as protection. Yet, while these two are friends, if you touch one as a human, the resulting painful stings can make them feel more like Enemy Anemone by Daniel Newman from New Mill

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00:12:25

AI Art - what it is, what it is not and what it could...

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/10/10

Based on another suggestion from the wonderful Bez from Stuff by Bez, in this article, I want to look at the rise of so-called AI art. I want to describe what I mean when I talk about AI art, explain what I think it is not, despite people claiming otherwise and the creative potential of this new technology. Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/10/10/ai-art-what-it-is-what-it-is-not-and-what-it-could-be-topic-discussion/ Useful Links Stuff by Bez:

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00:06:41

16 Candies (Saturday Review)

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/10/07

"I got candy!" comes the shout. Taken aback, you look across the counter and see the eager and very happy face of the youngster staring up at you. Another sugar-loving customer has come to your amazing sweet shop to pick and mix their favourite delights. Below the face, on outstretched arms, cradled in cupped hands are 16 Candies by Dickie Chapin from Envy Born Games. Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/10/07/16-candies-saturday-review/ Useful Links 16 Candies:

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00:07:33

Designed Styles - pigeonholing board game designers...

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/10/03

Based on a suggestion from the wonderful Bez from Stuff by Bez, I want to look at how designers can sometimes be known for specific styles of board games. That can be useful for people looking for certain types of games, but it also means that the designers can end up being pigeonholed, which can have a negative impact on their professional future in our hobby. Read the full article here:

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00:08:46

Applejack (Saturday Review)

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/09/30

To create the best apple brandy, you have to freeze fermented cider and remove the ice. It's quite simple and very effective in increasing the alcohol content of an already delicious drink. It's really easy to apply this to cider made after the autumn harvest. Just leave the casks in the winter cold and when enough ice has formed, pour the remaining liquid into another cask. Repeat the process as often as you please to concentrate the remaining liquid to levels of anywhere between 25% and

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00:09:58

Conventional Tips - advice for attending board game...

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/09/26

I have attended quite a few different board game events in my time. I've been visiting conventions in Germany and the United Kingdom as a paying visitor, a member of the press as well as part of a demo team. From the more sedate and gaming-focussed AireCon to the crazily busy more business-focussed Essen Spiel and various exhibitions, shows, conventions or whatever you want to call them somewhere in between. So if you're planning to attend a board game event yourself and want to make the

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00:08:07

Defrag (Saturday Review)

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/09/23

The system was slowing down. It was becoming noticeable. Booting up, opening applications and opening files was taking a lot longer. Even the memory swap was clearly not as fast as it used to be. The reason was simple: the file blocks were all over the place. The solution was just as simple: it was time to Defrag by Brandon McCool from Envy Born Games. Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/09/23/defrag-saturday-review/ Useful Links Defrag:

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00:07:48

Board Game Feelings - what board games mean to me...

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/09/19

Inspired by an essay that Bez from Stuff by Bez published a few days ago on Board Game Geek, I thought I might also write about what board games mean to me. Unlike her, I'm not a designer. I'm a consumer of board games, often with a critical eye because I'm also a reviewer. So I'm coming at this from a different angle and of course, my experiences with and expectations of board games will be different to Bez's. Anyway, I hope you find it interesting and as always, it would be

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00:07:23

Viking See-Saw (Saturday Review)

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/09/16

We were going to leave our Scandinavian homelands to search for fortunes in new shores far beyond the horizon. However, before we could set off, we had to load our boat with provisions, equipment and a daring crew. The problem was, that it was a rough, windy day and our longships were dangerously swaying on the swell. Getting everything safely stowed on board was going to be tricky. It was almost like we were on a Viking See-Saw by Reiner Knizia from Itten Games. Read the full review here:

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00:08:10

Reviews, Bad Actors and Consequentialism - reviewing...

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/09/12

I reckon most of us have heard about toxic behaviour in our hobby. Some of us will have experienced it directly. Many of us can probably name at least one bad actor who is still present in our community. There are also publishers who still work with these people, despite there having been public outrage about the person's behaviour or actions and the person not showing any remorse or accepting any responsibility. As a reviewer, my initial reaction is not to review games from those publishers,

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00:09:35

Akropolis (Saturday Review)

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/09/09

It was the 5th century BCE and we, the Athenians, had been victorious over the Persians. The Delian League was now under our military control and the income generated by federation fees had made us prosperous. It was time for an ambitious building programme and the most talented architects in ancient Greece were ready. We were going to build housing, temples, markets, gardens and barracks. Our planning rules were going to create a harmonious community, enhanced by plazas. We would create new

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00:08:20

Speed Boost - overlapping turns in board games (Topic...

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/09/05

Now don't get me wrong. I don't mind long games. I happily play the same game for two to three hours, as long as it keeps me captivated. Even when a game requires a lot of focus and concentration, I usually have no problem sticking with it for a few hours. One of the ways in which a game can keep players invested is by reducing the amount of downtime, that is the time it takes for a turn to come back round to you. Something that helps in this respect is overlapping turns, which I want to

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00:07:49

My Shelfie (Saturday Review)

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/09/02

The living room floor was a mess, sort of anyway. Everything was neatly arranged in a grid pattern, but there was no order to it whatsoever. Books were next to plants, which were next to games, which were next to frames all while some of our cats were tiptoeing around everything. All of it was only temporary though. I just wanted to get everything lined up, before returning it all to My Shelfie by Matthew Dunstan and Phil Walker-Harding from Lucky Duck Games. Read the full review here:

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00:11:13

Reviews Kant Be Paid - a look at paid "reviews"...

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/08/29

The discussion about whether board game reviews should be paid for comes up regularly. Arguments can centre on the moral angle, come from a legal viewpoint or be purely personal opinions. More often than not, what is being debated is not well defined and the discourse starts to drift into different, seemingly opposing, directions. In this article, I want to try and untangle the topic and focus on maybe one or two specific areas. Read the full article here:

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00:10:43

Mycelia (Saturday Review)

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/08/26

Fungi have long been misclassified as plants. In reality, they are a whole kingdom of their own. What we call a mushroom is just a fungus's fruit that appears above ground, but a mushroom is just a tiny part of a fungus. It's their underground root system composed of dense masses of fine, thread-like filaments, called hyphae, that makes up the majority of a fungus. Yet, mushrooms are crucial in a fungus's propagation. Mushrooms send out spores, which are carried through the air to new

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00:09:09

Green, Greener, Greenest - sustainability and board...

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/08/22

After talking to Gaiagames at Berlin Brettspiel Con this year, I was impressed by how much they focus on sustainability for their games, not just when it comes to the product itself, but also the gameplay experience. It spurned me on to write about the topic of our hobby's impact on the environment and how that manifests itself in so many different, faceted ways. Read the full article here:

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00:07:50

River Wild (Saturday Review)

Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and... ·

2023/08/19

The first snow of winter had fallen. Underneath the cosy blanket of snow, new life was stirring. The land was coming alive with creatures trying to carve out a life. It wasn't long until the warm sun melted the snow atop the giant mountain overlooking this realm. A slow trickle soon turned into a stream, which grew and grew and threatened to flood the animals with a giant River Wild by Steven Aramini from Button Shy. Read the full review here:

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395 results

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