Going Analog Podcast Dan "Shoe" Hsu and friends

We were sitting on a new stack of word games, so we asked our editor Mike Zipkin (he of fancy game upgrades and beige game tastes) to join us in covering Word Traveler, Illilterati, Mind Map, and ContraBanter. Plus, upgrading your board games is old news -- how do you upgrade your entire game room?
Timeline:
2:00 - Christina/Shoe's game pick: Captain Flip. 9:13 - Mike's game pick: StreetCar (San Francisco). 16:28 - Christina/Shoe's topic: new word games. 48:14 - Mike's topic: upgrading your game room.

Who doesn't love a beautiful nature game? Shoe doesn't, the grump. He just hates nature. But did he like the upcoming Everbloom, designed by our guest Ian Moss (Bunkers & Badasses, Dinosaur Island, Wonderland's War), from publisher Nerdvana Games? (Check out the Kickstarter!)
We also discuss what makes a new deluxe or big box edition of a game worth a purchase.
Timeline:
2:50 - Going Analog's game pick: Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy. 8:06 - Ian's game pick: Canvas. 15:30 - Going Analog's topic: favorite nature games. 39:53 - Ian's topic: deluxe and big box versions of games.

We've got so many new board games to talk about this week that we decided to skip having a guest on, so we can just blab and blab and blab about what we've been playing lately. So yup, you're just getting all Christina, all Shoe this episode. And they're ready to dish on what they liked and what they didn't about each of these.
Timeline: 
1:16 - The Vale of Eternity. 9:19 - Faraway. 16:50 - Monumental. 24:36 - The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era. 32:47 - Heroes of Might & Magic III: The Board Game. 45:59 - Converge: Catalysts of Change/Sparks of Hope/Engines of Progress. 54:17 - Evergreen.

Legacy games can often light a classic franchise back on fire, as demonstrated by Flash Point: Legacy of Flame's successful Kickstarter.
We asked Legacy of Flame codesigner Ken Franklin (The Mansky Caper, Back to the Future: Dice Through Time, Tsuro: Phoenix Rising) to share some insight into how they turned the long-running co-op series into an evolving legacy experience. And while we're on the subject, what are other legacy games that we're fond of? And on a very unrelated topic, Ken educates us on the recent wave of gameplay-focused, Christianity-themed board games.
Timeline:
3:53 - Going Analog's game pick: ArcheOlogic. 10:03 - Ken's game pick: Kingsburg. 14:57 - Going Analog's topic: The development of Flash Point: Legacy of Flame, plus other legacy games we like. 32:37 - Ken's topic: Christian themes in gaming.

The 2024 American Tabletop Awards winners were just announced, so we invited ATTA founder, fellow judging member, and content creator Eric Yurko of What's Eric Playing? to hash them all out. How did Eric, Christina, and Shoe vote?
Timeline:
3:30 - Early Gamers category. 19:45 - Casual Games category. 35:51 - Strategy Games category. 53:52 - Complex Games category.

We knew Connie Vogelmann, designer of Apiary, was holding something back the last time we talked to her. So we brought her and Elizabeth Hargrave back to interrogate them about Wyrmspan, the new dragon-themed sequel to Elizabeth's now-classic and award-winning Wingspan!
What was it like designing a new game under the Wingspan name? How much did Connie and Elizabeth work together? And what counts as a dragon anyway?
Plus, the two have been busy on the convention circuit, so we discuss various board gaming shows and which ones we enjoy the most.
Timeline:
4:19 - Going Analog's game pick: Wroth. 9:11 - Connie and Elizabeth's game pick: Knarr. 16:10 - Going Analog's topic: Wyrmspan's development. 33:35 - Elizabeth and Connie's topic: Our favorite gaming events each year.