Going Analog

Where video game industry veterans introduce great board games to video gamers

Podcast #27: Too many games, BGG ratings, what we want in a game (guest: Scott Alden)

The guy behind the world's biggest board game website/database comes on the show to talk...video games? Oh, and board games, too.
You can't escape  BoardGameGeek. It owns Google when it comes to board game searches. It has info on thousands of titles that you and I have never heard of. It even has its own cruise because of course you want to roll dice on international waters.
So Scott Alden is busy. The man behind BGG has the world's most comprehensive board game website to run and many, many games to play. Still, he found a free hour to come on our podcast to share his thoughts on a few things, including, oddly enough, the 20th anniversary of the Sega Dreamcast. (Scott used to work in the video game industry.)
We had a million things we wanted to talk to Scott about, but we stuck to the show's format.

Our four topics this week:

  1. Scott: Are there too many board games coming out?
  2. Shoe: BGG ratings and how the community can abuse them
  3. Christina: The top three qualities you look for in a game (besides the obvious "fun" or "gameplay")
  4. Nick: Wind the Film!, one of Nick's all-time top 5 faves

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Here's a full list of the games mentioned on the show:

Intro:

  • Tricks and the Phantom

Scott's topic: Too many games?

  • Monopoly

Shoe's topic: Board Game Geek ratings

  • Gloomhaven
  • Tapestry
  • Tigris & Euphrates
  • Wingspan

Christina's topic: Top 3 qualities you look for in a game (besides gameplay and fun)

  • Dead Man's Cabal
  • Architects of the West Kingdom
  • Azul
  • Time Barons
  • Castles of Burgundy
  • Broom Service
  • Space Park
  • Castles of Mad King Ludwig
  • Yinzi
  • Rising Sun

Nick's topic: Wind the Film!

  • Wind the Film!
  • Let's Make a Bus Route
  • Blend Coffee Lab.
  • Take the "A" Chord
  • In Front of the Elevators
  • Lost Cities
  • Coffee Roaster

Final thoughts:

  • Vindication
  • Sabotage
  • Edge of Darkness
  • Mystic Vale
  • Gloom
  • Parks