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, tabletop gaming discussions, tips, and commentary on the ever-growing world of modern board games.
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Données mises à jour le 04/11/2026
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Material Matters - when components become mechanisms (Topic Discussion)
mardi 3 novembre 2026 • Durée 10:58
Board games are physical things. We place wooden components, move them around cardboard boards, and arrange cards, often without giving much thought to what decisions were made to include specifically these components in these specific quantities. Yet materials play a much greater role than simply providing something to hold. In Viking See-Saw, different weights make balancing a ship an intriguing challenge. In Kluster and Klask, magnets create interactions that are central to play. The physical properties of components can become part of a game's mechanisms. In this article, I explore the challenges of turning component choices into a finished product.
Stop Toying with Me: When Gimmicks in Board Games Have a Purpose article: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/01/02/stop-toying-with-me-when-gimmicks-in-board-games-have-a-purpose-topic-discussion/
There's something weirdly satisfying about watching a plan fall apart. You carefully chose a card, after considering what has already been played. You convinced yourself that everything will be fine, until everyone reveals their cards and the numbers fall into place. Suddenly you're collecting a whole bunch of negative points. It's simple, but a lot of fun. All you have to remember is that 6 Nimmt! by Wolfgang Kramer from Amigo, with art by Franz Vohwinkel.
Small World - the business behind the board game boom (Topic Discussion)
mardi 27 octobre 2026 • Durée 13:04
Board games have grown into a rather substantial global business, with established publishers selling games around the world and new releases reaching audiences far beyond your friendly local game store. Yet, behind the scenes, you find an industry that is made up of small companies, independent designers, and project-specific contractors. The industry has grown, but its businesses and careers have not necessarily become more secure. In this article, I want to look at this in more detail.
Beyond the bustling streets of Baghdad lie ancient landscapes, winding waterways, and a night sky filled with shining stars. A cartographer prepares for the journey, gathering supplies and equipment before setting out to explore the world beyond the city walls. Each discovery adds to a growing body of knowledge, but the journey requires careful planning. Resources must be managed, observations recorded, and findings brought back to the House of Wisdom. The challenge lies not simply in discovering new things, but in deciding which discoveries deserve attention and how best to put them to use. These cartographers were known as the Wayfarers of the South Tigris by S J Macdonald and Shem Phillips from Garphill Games with art by Mihajlo Dimitrievski.
Raiders of the North Sea review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/05/27/raiders-of-the-north-sea-digital-eyes/
Teaching Matters - designing games for the first play (Topic Discussion)
mardi 20 octobre 2026 • Durée 11:55
A board game designer can spend years refining a game. They know the game inside out and understand every rule intimately. Yet, when you open a game for the first time, you don't have access to their knowledge. Players have to learn how a game works all by themselves. A game design can be sound, yet it's still difficult to learn and teach. A clear rulebook certainly helps, but often it all begins with the design itself. Following on from my article about dealing with complexity as a board game designer, this article looks at how a good design can help with a game's teach.
Costly Complexity – the limits of complexity in board games article: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/10/13/costly-complexity-the-limits-of-complexity-in-board-games-topic-discussion/
Fourth Wing: Rise of the Wingleader (Saturday Review)
samedi 17 octobre 2026 • Durée 08:33
At Basgiath War College, ambition is as dangerous as the skies. You face trials where strength alone will not secure your place among the dragon riders. Allies matter, but so does knowing when to press an advantage and when to hold back. Every challenge tests your nerve, every decision risks your standing, and every rival is a potential threat. You must seize opportunities, outmanoeuvre your opponents, and prove you have what it takes to lead. The stakes could hardly be higher, for you are no ordinary cadet. You are part of the Fourth Wing: Rise of the Wingleader by Dexter Stevens from Goliath Games.
Costly Complexity - the limits of complexity in board games (Topic Discussion)
mardi 13 octobre 2026 • Durée 10:40
There comes a time when you look at the rules for a new board game, when it suddenly stops feeling exciting and starts feeling intimidating. The rules are too long and convoluted, the main game board is cluttered, and every mechanism seems to have another exception. Complexity itself can be very appealing when it creates meaningful choices and rewards repeated play. However, complexity is also a kind of burden for the people playing the game. More complexity means more time to learn a game, more effort to remember everything, and more focus when playing it. In this article, I use episode 364 of Ludology as my starting point for examining where complexity adds interest to a game and where it simply makes it unnecessarily hard to play.
The early morning air is filled with birdsong. Colourful feathers catch the first rays of sunlight, while movement in the undergrowth reveals birds searching for food, possibly for the early worm. As a patient observer, you see a world of remarkable diversity, where every bird adds something unique to the landscape. Your trusty guide helps you identify every bird you see and every song you hear. It's like having a Wingspan Pocket by Elizabeth Hargrave from Stonemaier Games, with art by Ana Maria Martinez Jaramillo and Natalia Rojas.
Pristine Neoprene - the pros and cons of neoprene (Topic Discussion)
mardi 6 octobre 2026 • Durée 12:09
A board game can feel very different depending on what surface it is played on. Cards slide differently across different surfaces, dice make different noises, and even picking up a small wooden token can become either effortless or frustratingly fiddly. A kitchen or dining room table has been doing the job perfectly well for generations, but a soft, printed mat can make the same game feel rather more special. Neoprene has become increasingly common, bringing cushioning, durability and a little sense of luxury to the table. Yet a gaming mat's life begins long before it reaches your table, and it may not end until a long time after we stop using it. So in this article, I want to look at neoprene's environmental cost across its full lifecycle.
The mountain was bare in places, green in others, but it was slowly filling with life. Small plants pushed through the soil, adventurously spreading across the lower slopes before taller growth began reaching upwards. Every new plant was different. While some thrived in sun, others lived in dappled shade. Rebuilding the mountain fauna was never going to be easy, but it was time to Reforest by Sébastien Bernier-Wong from Firestarter Games with art by Janine van Fram.
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