Boardgames To Go

Opener: Take Time

Closer: AI as a boardgame hobbyist, not designer or publisher or artist

If you've listened to this podcast at all, you've heard me talk about online boardgaming. That's probably true of most boardgame podcasts, these days. The rise of Boardgame Arena has made it fairly ubiquitous among hobbyists, though not universal. However, if you've listened to this podcast for a long time, you'll recall that I've been talking about online gaming for two decades. Before it was cool. :-)

In fact, as I thought about it and did some research, I've been playing games online even longer than I've been doing this podcast. I can find old references in my blog, on usenet...I even did some really old-school postal Play By Mail (PBM) gaming in the 1980s and play-by-Email Settlers of Catan in the 1990s.


By 2005 and the start of this podcast, online boardgaming had already come a long way from those days. We had Brettspielwelt (BSW), Yucata.de, SpielByWeb.com, Mabiweb, Ludagora, YouPlayIt, Boîte a Jeux, and more. Some of those sites are still around, updated to the present-day or else unchanged for 20 years. Some others are just gone, unfortunately.

In their place, new sites have popped up. Everyone knows about Boardgame Arena, and I'm a heavy user, premium subscriber, to that awesome service. It's where I do the bulk of my online gaming. However, there are some other sites worth knowing about. I find it incredibly encouraging that BGA's success has not stifled other programmers who still set up new sites with bunches of games we can't play elsewhere. Then add something like a semi digital prototyping tool at virtualtabletop.io and the landscape is vast!



Look me up for a game, or post a suggest on our Discord channel. I always love playing more games online. I even enjoy learning the interface to new sites, since it opens up more & more possibilities.

-Mark

In the old days of this podcast, I often offered an "Essen Anticipation" episode. That's where I would browse the various previews and other scraps of info about the many games being shown at Essen each October. Besides the enjoyable "window shopping" or wishlist-ing of it all, sometimes I even tried to analyze how accurate or useful my anticipation was, judging which games proved to be keepers (or at least fun to play someone's copy), and whether my excitement could be traced to a game's designer, mechanisms, publisher & production, or—heaven help me…—its theme.

Then it all got to be too much, and I stopped doing that. To be honest, it's still too much, but I made an exception this year. There are just too many games to think about and anticipate. Plus, I'm now that many more years along in the hobby, meaning I've really settled in to a smaller-sized collection, focusing on my favorites, and it's very hard for a new game to squeeze its way into that limited space. And yet…my gaming throughout the year isn't limited by my collection size or even the need to acquire the game. I have friends who buy other things, and I go to a lot of gaming events, from local games days to national conventions. It's pretty easy for me to end up trying games that interest me, as well as politely playing others that don't!

I knew I'd be away on vacation during the time I'd normally record & post this episode, so I decided this was a good topic for me to tackle in advance. Though going out on October 1st per my monthly publication schedule, it was recorded halfway through September. I waded through a lot of previews and lists, easily finding ten games that I wanted to say something about. What are you looking for from Essen?



Very few games are anything like an insta-buy, sight-unseen for me nowadays. Once upon a time, we'd place a group order to Germany just as soon as the show ended, hoping the titles we were excited about would arrive before Christmas so we could play them by New Year's parties. These days I can just plan to try almost whatever I want at BGGcon a month later. And I do. What do I want to try? Mostly games I feel less sure about, but still intrigued. My friends or I will acquire the more sure things and get to them eventually.

The ten games above are a mix of games I want to talk about because I want to own them, want to just see about them…or have something to say even though I'm not particularly interested.


-Mark

Please join us on the Boardgames To Go discord server where you can chat online with other podcast listeners.

 
Which is more elegant? Perhaps they both are?
@Gregarius




 
Openers:
• Mark: dnup
• Greg: Gold Country

What the heck is "elegance" in boardgame design or play, anyway? Can it be defined? Probably not, but it can definitely be discussed. Greg suggested on our Discord server that the term is so imprecise, so subjective, that no one should use it any longer. I disagree. Though it definitely is subjective, it's also been talked about for so long in our hobby that some common characteristics have emerged. I had fun digging through BGG archives, but also much further back into rec.games.board and Sumo magazine to read how it's been considered (or re-considered) for decades. Now, there are even YouTube videos from designers & publishers that talk about the concept. Plus a lot of reviewers/pontificators, like us.

It's not accurate to say we reached any definitive conclusions, but I do believe we identified some common characteristics that hobbyists mean when they say a game is elegant.

1. Fewer rules. Possibly in an absolute sense, but more often we mean there are a modest amount of rules relative to the game's subject, experience, or what it's trying to do. Probably fewer rules compared to "peer" games, too. However, the rules still need to be clear, not suffering from brevity.

2. A "clean" and highly functional physical design. Boardgames are tangible items, and the ability to see & handle the game components across the table without reading glasses or tweezers or endless storage containers is a strong aspect of an elegant boardgame. The physically beautiful abstracts have a leg up here.

3. Natural or intuitive gameplay. This relates to both of the above characteristics, and is especially interesting to think about for our usual themed boardgames. The rules, the production, and setting or subject of a game can help make it easier to learn & play a game just because it "makes sense." Players can almost anticipate how & why certain things happen, rather than just needing to remember the rules.

Game duration sometimes get mentioned, but even I don't like to include that as a quality of a game's elegance. True, a lot of common examples for elegant games tend to be shorter (and so do my favorites), but I believe that's correlation rather than causation. At least theoretically, a longer and thematically complex game could still be elegant in the way it's learned, played, and physically experienced. (The degree of difficulty for the designer/publisher is quite high, and I struggle to think of any great examples, but I want it to be possible.)

I really recommend designer Matthew Dunstan's entire YouTube channel, and this episode about game elegance in particular.


How to design elegant games



Closers:
• Greg: Thrift store finds
• Mark: How games like Carolus Magnus can receive themes that are both arbitrary and perfect at the same time
 
 
Also be sure to check out the excellent BGG blog by @waxbottle,  Mostly Short Sentences




 
 
-Mark

Opener: Thief's Market

Closer: 3D printing and game aids/enhancements

During the summer I always get in plenty of gaming…but not always with my normal game group. Often I'm away on vacation, or at a game convention. Or they are. Regardless, it means I get together with those local friends a little less often, and I miss it. Of course I enjoy going on my own vacations, but it'll also be nice when things get back to normal. This shouldn't shock anyone…I'm very much a "back to normal" kind of guy. This episode is normal in the sense that it's just me, talking about stuff that interests me…possibly more than it interests others!

Between last time & this the Spiel des Jahres and other prizes were announced: Jinxo, Rebirth, and Mookie Island. All great games. This year I watched the awards ceremony live on YouTube, which was "simulcast" in AI-translated English voiceover. At least I think that's how that worked. BGG was the host for the English broadcast, and I think there were other options, e.g. in Portuguese. Very cool.

Also, as much as I feel I already know about the SdJ organization and its awards, I still learned a lot from listening to the audio versions of Oliver Kinne's outstanding game journalism on the subject. These are short and easy to take in. Highly recommended for anyone who is avid about our hobby. I think it's required reading/listening for anyone who has a podcast or blog or video show about boardgaming.

 
https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/06/09/spiel-des-jahres-th...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYYEXheFKkA
Similarly useful were Ben Maddox's outstanding interviews of the nominated designers. He did this on his excellent 5 Games for Doomsday podcast, which is also available on YouTube (the way of podcasts, these days… sigh). If you listen to one, listen to the Donald X Vaccarino interview. If you listen to two, add the Reiner Knizia one. But go ahead and listen to all of them. Really worthwhile. Kudos to these other game journalists, Ben & Oliver!

After that I talk about what makes "a Mark Johnson game," because I sometimes hear that folks are surprised I play any long, complicated games at all. I do, and I also play new games. This goes to explain some of why I do, and which ones I enjoy.

  

-Mark

Please join us on the Boardgames To Go discord server where you can chat online with other podcast listeners.


Openers:
Mark: Kraftwagen and old podcasts like CubeLove
Jonathan: Cocktail Games, and what will I do when the "old masters" pass away?

Closers:
Jonathan: Do we have too many good games? Here's what Bruno Faidutti says. scroll down for English
Mark: How old is "an old game"? Does 2019 count?


Jonathan Takagi
@jtakagi



My friend Jonathan Takagi returns to the podcast to talk about the upcoming Spiel des Jahres award. Not just the SdJ, we also talk about the Kennerspiel and Kinderspiel awards for "expert" and kids' games, too. And not only that, but Jonathan is known for digging past the three nominees for each award, deeper into the recommended games, too. Only the nominees can be picked for the top awards (announced live on July 12 and broadcast on YouTube). Nonetheless, sometimes we find amazing, "hidden gems" in the recommended lists, games that we may not have otherwise heard about.



First we cover the Kennerspiel games. Nominees: Boss Fighters QR, Moon Colony Bloodbath, and Rebirth. Along with the Recommended list: Sanctuary, Frosted Blooms, Foundations of Metropolis, and Tag Team.

Next it's the Kinderspiel titles. Nominees: Boo Party, Mookie Island, and Verflixt Verzaubert. Plus the Recommended list: Little Stinker, Half-and-Seek, and Paleolino

Finally the big prize itself, the Spiel des Jahres. Nominees: Cozy Sticker Ville, Jinxo, and Morty Sorty Magic Shop. And the Recommended list: Hot Streak, Meister Makatsu, Take Time, Toriki, Toy Battle, and Wilmot's Warehouse.

-Mark