Great Big Table Jim and Adrienne Jones

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. Some of the games we mention in this episode include: Topiary Cardline: Animals Fauna Download the episode: GBT-EP009-Growing-Your-Game-Night-Community-Final.mp3 Subscribe to the podcast: via RSS Subscribe to the podcast: via iTunes Send us an Email: podcast@greatbigtable.com 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. ***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 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: podcast@greatbigtable.com 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. ***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 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!

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: podcast@greatbigtable.com 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. ***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 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!

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: podcast@greatbigtable.com 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. ***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 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!

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: podcast@greatbigtable.com 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. ***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 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!

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. Some of the games we mention in this episode include: Loaded Questions Say Anything The Game of Scruples The Game of Things Therapy: The Game 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: podcast@greatbigtable.com 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. ***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 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!