Puzzling Company Podcast

These guys know their stuff, and they share their knowledge in an entertaining way. The worst thing I can say is that I end up buying more games than I otherwise would! That said, I also am more likely to buy games I will enjoy, and on occasion have been warned off of games I wouldn’t like as much, based on their detailed reviews. While I do wish they spent even more time on narrative deduction games, I realize those aren’t as heavily puzzle focused as their core audience may want. And they do cover those kinds of games as well, especially from new / independent / lesser known publishers, which is very useful. The fact that they receive games for free from publishers, and typically interview someone from the team that made each game, might lend an air of bias to the proceedings. But they don’t hold punches. They still tell you what the areas for improvement are with most games, which is great. Entertaining, informative, accurate, even handed, and detailed enough (without spoilers) that one doesn’t have to just rely on their “thumbs up / thumbs down” summary, but can learn enough specific details to make a decision about what matters to me. If I could suggest one area for improvement: do the creator interviews in real time. Too many are recorded offline which doesn’t allow for conversation.

Jared and Zach do such a fantastic and loving job of spotlighting the growing niche of tabletop puzzle games. They bring on great guests and put on a strong production.

Jared and Zach are great hosts and have a unique sense of humor. Episodes dive deep into the world of tabletop puzzles and mystery games. If this is your type of thing, definitely check this one out!