The State of Games
A board game podcast that tackles the industry from both inside and out! The State of Games is hosted by Chris Kirkman, the head of publishing house Dice Hate Me Studio and co-owner of Greater Than Games, and features regular co-hosts Darrell Louder, resident grump and designer of Compounded, Bottom of the 9th, and Fate of the Elder Gods, and TC Petty III, gaming hipster and designer of VivaJava and VivaJava Dice, Xenon Profiteer, and Spires. Presented by the website www.dicehateme.com - the board game blog with worse luck than you.
Episodes
In this special “minisode”, Chris is joined by game designer Josh Mills to talk about his game, Milkman, now on Kickstarter from DHMG. Josh talks about the seven-year development of Milkman – its origins and changes over the long journey to potential publishing. All this, plus his earliest game designs using drug store checker boards, and his involvement in the video game industry.
In this episode, Darrell, TC, and Chris cover their highlights and hijinx from the Unpublished Games Festival in Hunt Valley, MD! You’ll hear of new and unpublished games to be on the lookout for, as well as lots and lots of griping about hotel rooms and horses (if you want to skip the griping, jump to 52 minutes in). Plus, urban spelunking, progress on Milkman, the new Defenders of the Realm, and more!
In this special episode, Darrell, TC, and Chris jack into the matrix and talk about how artificial intelligence models - from ChatGPT to art creation AI - could change the board gaming landscape, as well as the entire world. All this, plus their favorite games of 2022, Christmas with Covid, expensive times at Disney World, Motor City, the pitfalls of trap music, the Fat Boys, and much more!
In this Darrell-less episode, TC takes control of the podcast to get some things off his chest as he and Chris talk about times when people and entities have totally crossed the line of conduct both in personal life and in the boardgame space. Buckle up, it’s going to get bumpy. All this, plus rats in space, Russian spies, mutants, a couple of games that do neat things with dice, COBRA, some art critiques, and much more!
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC sit down and tell tales of everything they’ve been up to during the long hiatus, including a GenCon recap, a trip to Dollywood, Covid, and a complete computer meltdown. All this, plus impressions of the hottest roll-and-write in town - Twilight Inscription - chasing tornadoes, a relaunch of the Dice Hate Me Games store, counting sheep, NASCAR racing, the king of Ireland, favorite spooky game...
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, TC, and special guest Daniel Newman talk about upcoming projects – and some of the various adaptations and revisions that have been made, all for the sake of progress. All this, plus the works in progress at The Unpublished Games Festival, a rebuttal to our discussion on escape rooms in episode 181, how Time’s Up: Title Recall is the best party game of all time, and how Compounded has been improved ...
In this very special episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC share news of the business separation between Dice Hate Me and Greater Than Games, why it happened, and what’s in store for the future of Dice Hate Me Games as a wholly-independent publishing house, again. All this, plus Compounded news, horse and moped racing, subway construction, Golem, the upcoming Unpublished Games Festival, gaming with the kids, French Toast, and more!
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC take a deep dive into escape rooms and board games that adapt the escape room concept, including pros and cons of some of the most popular escape room board games released since 2016. All this, plus the roll-and-writes Three Sisters and Motor City, a proper Spring Break in Surf City, rekindling love for word games like Bananagrams and Scrabble, eternal love for Pan Am, the hotness of Elden Ri...
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, TC, and special guest Keith Ferguson look back on the year that was, talking about their favorite games, those they wished they’d played, how they spent the holidays, and why Santa’s Workshop is getting a second chance at life. All this, plus why Wordle is a thing, the mouthful that is MicroMacro: Crime City: Full House, the joys of bone-in prime rib, water cryptids, Fantasy Realms, a Power-Grid par...
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC share tales from another trip to South Carolina to hang with King Richard, talking game design, doing some top-secret game development, eating so much food, and playing lots of games. All this, plus voyages in the party bus, the perils of Vampire: Rivals, rubbing and racing (lots of it), betting on the ponies in Long Shot, civ building in Imperium, recreating the perfect buddy cop movie in Co...
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC are joined by special guest Justin Jacobson, president of Restoration Games, to talk about new editions of older games, whether they are good for the hobby, some of their favorites, and a few on their wishlists. All this, plus a deeper dive into the inner workings of Restoration, a look at new Board Game Arena titles Beyond the Sun and Lost Ruins of Arnak, fireballs, gaming a quarter mile at ...
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC delve into games that may require you to set a specific calendar day (or, at least, a game night) aside to play, why they’re still pretty awesome, and whether the stigma of extended play time might be a marketing myth. All this, plus mutants, harpoon shortages in Tentacle Town , mad scientists, Pitch Black, the endearing Welcome To..., the joy of event gaming with Richard Launius (naturally)...
In this episode, Chris and TC are joined by Daniel Newman and Tony Miller, game designers and founders of New Mill Industries, to talk about the benefits of small publishing, their company’s “punk rock ethos”, and various upcoming projects. All this, plus predictions on fall convention attendance, Calimala, gladiators in a bowl, Fleet: The Dice Game, the genius of ButtonShy and Spielworxx, wrestling, mad scientists, and more!
In this special 10th anniversary episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC look back on a very weird year of gaming and try their damndest to stick to tradition and select their best games of 2020. All this, plus progress on TC’s My Father’s Work, piracy in the 19th century, sharing some classics with loved ones, Draftasaurus, another game with camels, the adorable Beez, 2021 convention talk, Fiasco, Stellar, and much, much more!
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC break out their six shooters and mount up to talk about western games, what makes that theme so awesome, and how it might possibly go horribly wrong on occasion. All this, plus Darrell’s move out west to St. Louis, discussion of the big news of Transformers, GI Joe, and My Little Pony titles coming soon from Renegade Games, how good Pan Am really is, what’s Ragusa’s deal, anyway? - and so muc...
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC dig a bit deeper into TC’s suggestions as to how Rallyman GT might be improved, how that went over like a lead balloon on BoardGameGeek, and chat about what makes racing games awesome. All this, plus our top five favorite racing games, the beauty of No Man’s Sky, the canceling of cons for all of 2020, livestreaming with Strong Bad, the Spiel des Jahres nominees, saving Arkham - once again - a...
In this very special episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC talk about life in the time of COVID-19, including a first-hand account by Darrell about his family living in a COVID-positive household and dealing personally with contracting the virus. We also lighten it up a bit by discussing gaming during lockdown, Aquatica, a rant from TC about Rallyman GT, livestreaming, more from Alexander Pfister, a free print and play from the Fleeples,...
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC dig into the podcast mailbag to talk about the effect of overly-negative and positive reviews on the boardgame community, the difference between impressions and critical thinking, and how all of it may influence fan purchasing. All this, plus a look at Marvel Champions LCG, being a boardgame influencer, how Azul: Summer Pavilion could be the best Azul yet, fly fishing, party games & more!...
In this special episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC look back on a year of gaming and share their awards for favorites published last year, discoveries that came out before 2019, and many more categories like Favorite Publisher, Biggest Surprise, and our Game of the Decade! All this, plus tales from the beach, Copenhagen Roll & Write, Foodies, getting old, Irish Gauge, Old West Empresario, Disney after dark, a roll & write rant...
Chris, Darrell, and TC get in the holiday spirit by talking toys - specifically, the special relationship between toys and games, and the effect “toy factor” has on consumers and the board game hobby. All this, plus Darrell’s adventures in Philly at PAX Unplugged, Irish Gauge, throwing axes, Just One, Letter Jam, Word Slam, and other word-related things, bounty hunting in Star Wars: Outer Rim, Godzilla, M.A.S.K., and more!
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