Going Analog Podcast

Going Analog
  • 4.5 (37)
  • GAMES
  • UPDATED SEMIMONTHLY

The board gaming podcast where different industry guests bring a game and a topic for the group to discuss. By Christina Ha, Dan "Shoe" Hsu, and Mike Zipkin.

  1. 2026 board games we've played...and are excited about (guest: Andrew Stiles, designer)

    FEB 5

    2026 board games we've played...and are excited about (guest: Andrew Stiles, designer)

    We had to bring in this episode's guest to settle something. In our 2025 Games of the Year show, Christina called Wine Cellar a runner-up for her Party Game of the Year. Shoe took issue with her calling the wine-making card game a "party game," so whom better to bring in than its designer, Andrew Stiles, to settle this hugely important argument? He has a great topic for us, too. Since he gets to playtest so many games for his colleagues, he goes over several he's particularly excited to see finally released this year. And since we get to preview many titles ourselves, we get in on the conversation. Listen to see what we think are the most exciting games to watch for in 2026. Timeline: 7:55 - Going Analog's game pick: Snow Colony. 11:12 - Andrew's game pick: Castles of Mad King Ludwig. 15:41 - Andrew's topic: 2026 games we've played and are excited about.

    45 min
  2. The 2025 Games of the Year episode (guest: Candice Harris)

    JAN 22

    The 2025 Games of the Year episode (guest: Candice Harris)

    It's our yearly tradition now: We invite a new content creator on our show, and we discuss the best games of the year in several weight categories. Joining us for our 2025 edition is Candice Harris, formerly of BoardGameGeek and now doing her own thing with Kickin' It Creative. She's just as board game crazy as we are, so check out what we thought were the best of the year. Timeline: The 2025 Games of the Year (hit up our website for the full list of winners and runners-up): 7:06 - 2025 Party Games of the Year. 18:10 - 2025 Light Games of the Year. 33:38 - 2025 Medium Games of the Year. 50:55 - 2025 Heavy Games of the Year.

    1h 7m

  3. JAN 8

    The new age of great 2-player games, part 2 (guest: Grant's Game Recs)

    We're back (and so is our guest, Grant Lyon of Grant's Game Recs) with a bunch more new 2-player games that we loved and want to tell you alllll about. Make sure to catch part 1 of our two-part special, so you can have more 2P recommendations than you'll know what to do with. Timeline: 1:28 - Going Analog's game pick: Mistborn: The Deckbuilding Game. 7:45 - Grant's game pick: How to Save a World. Great 2-player games, part two: 15:02 - Everdell Duo. 18:31 - Kinfire Delve. 27:00 - Timber Town. 30:12 - Naishi. 32:54 - Zenith. 40:02 - Pillars of Fate.

    48 min
  4. The new age of great 2-player games, part 1 (guest: Grant's Game Recs)

    12/18/2025

    The new age of great 2-player games, part 1 (guest: Grant's Game Recs)

    2025 is "The Year of the 2-Player Game" -- at least according to our guest, professional comedian and board game content creator Grant Lyon of Grant's Game Recs. There have been so many good ones that came out over the past yeart that it's hard to refute that statement. So hard that, rather than refute, we'll just create a two-part podcast special covering all the great 2P games we've been playing. This is part one! Timeline: 2:00 - Going Analog's game pick: Origin Story. 9:38 - Grant's game pick: Pinched!. Great 2-player games, part one: 16:50 - The White Castle Duel. 19:59 - Madcala. 25:35 - Enthrone. 29:19 - Compile: Main 2. 35:33 - Scales of Fate. 39:17 - Bombastic.

    43 min
  5. The best games we played at BGG.CON 2025 (and what's next for The Board Game Quiz Show)

    12/04/2025

    The best games we played at BGG.CON 2025 (and what's next for The Board Game Quiz Show)

    Our favorite "just playing games" convention is behind us now, and...we did spend a lot of time just playing games. A LOT. BGG.CON features BoardGameGeek's legendary library plus the latest hotness from the king of board game shows, Essen Spiel, so we had no shortage of options. Listen in to see what our highlights were and to get a tease of what we have in store for Season 6 of The Board Game Quiz Show.

    30 min
  6. 6 new drafting games worth checking out

    11/20/2025

    6 new drafting games worth checking out

    A lot of drafting games have been hitting our table lately, and they're all putting their own twists on the genre. We've been enjoying them so much that we're dedicating this whole episode to our top picks. Plus, the sequel to Yomi, is here. Shoe's played a lot of fighting (video) games, so what does he think about probably the most pure card-game interpretation around? Timeline 0:53 - Going Analog's game pick: Yomi 2. 7:54 - 6 new drafting games worth checking out.

    41 min
  7. Why we can't make board games in the U.S. (guest: James Hudson)

    11/06/2025

    Why we can't make board games in the U.S. (guest: James Hudson)

    All this business (or loss of) around tariffs has repeated raised a question from the gaming community: Why not just manufacture games in the U.S. instead of, say, China? James Hudson, game designer and owner of Druid City Games, took time out of promoting his Wonderland's War Duel Kickstarter (check out our preview!) to explain why it's so difficult. We've heard the facts from the board game industry before, but James has additional insight worth hearing out. Timeline 1:30 - Going Analog's game pick: Everbloom. 4:58 - James' game pick: Galileo Galilei. 11:35 - Wonderland's War Duel, a new Wonderland's War expansion, Madcala, Off With Their Heads!, and an expansion to Tidal Blades 2. 22:03 - James' topic: Why making board games in America is so difficult.

    38 min
  8. Autobattlers, card crafting, Mystic Lands (guests: John D Clair, John Zinser)

    10/23/2025

    Autobattlers, card crafting, Mystic Lands (guests: John D Clair, John Zinser)

    The OG card-crafting game Mystic Vale is getting a major makeover. Or is it a sequel? Whatever you want to call it, Mystic Lands is taking Vale's original concept of layering clear cards to create powerful combinations and streamling gameplay while beautifying the art. The result is a much better game (from our one play), and now we have to suffer the wait for the November Kickstarter campaign to run and fulfill. Designer John D Clair and CEO of publisher Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) John Zinser stopped by our home to play a full game of Mystic Lands with us (Shoe would rather we don't discuss the final scores). Before we would let them out of the house, however, we made both sit down to record this podcast. Clair is working on some autobattler game designs, so that was his topic for us this week. Timeline 1:15 - Going Analog's game pick: Fight 5. 3:05 - John D Clair's game pick: Living Forest. 5:13 - John Zinser's game pick: Love Letter. 7:37 - Mystic Lands and card-crafting. 21:38 - John D Clair's topic: The new trend of autobattler board and card games.

    35 min
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The board gaming podcast where different industry guests bring a game and a topic for the group to discuss. By Christina Ha, Dan "Shoe" Hsu, and Mike Zipkin.

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