Imagine the longest, most suspenseful drumroll ever.......

Sorry we've been MIA, but real life has been unforgiving and busy. Luckily, we're making it up to you by commemorating our 150th episode with our TOP 10 GAMES OF ALL TIME! We invite Ultimate Beige Gamer and Going Analog Editor Mike Zipkin to join us to share our individual top 10 lists. Whose taste will reign supreme? Which Going Analog-er is your favorite board game soulmate? You'll have to listen to find out.

Did someone say Phil Walker-Harding? Praise be!

The prolific designer (Sushi Go!, Barenpark, Imhotep, Gizmos, Adventure Games, and so many more!) joins Christina and Shoe to talk about how his film background has surprisingly influenced his design process. Plus, Phil's been noticing the "playfulness" inherent in some games recently. Why is he excited about this, and what does it mean for his own designs? Watch or listen to find out!

Timeline:

• 3:01 - Going Analog's game pick: Rivages.
• 5:32 - Phil's game pick: Acquire.
• 9:27 - Going Analog's topic: How Phil's film background influences his game design.
• 25:56 - Phil's topic: Playfulness in game design.

We just wrapped up last year with our 2024 Games of the Year episode, so naturally, it's time to move on with our lives and think about what gets us all excited about 2025. What are we looking forward to playing? What have we previewed previously and are now eagerly awaiting the retail release? What's the buzz we're hearing from others in the biz?

Comedian and board game content creator Grant Lyon joins the show to share his thoughts on the biggest offerings for this new year. Plus, with the roller coaster that's TikTok and the continued rise of online toxicity, just how are we looking at board game social media these days?

Timeline:

• 4:45 - Going Analog's game pick: Andromeda's Edge.
• 14:18 - Grant's game pick: Dice Throne.
• 19:38 - Going Analog's topic: 2025 games we're looking forward to.
• 45:44 - Grant's topic: the state of board game social media.

We did it, folks! We recorded our 2024 Games of the Year episode before the end of the year! (We didn't say anything about releasing it before the end of the year, though.) Joining us just under the wire is content creator and Twitch streamer Beneeta Kaur who contributed her own picks. We actually played a good number of games in-person with Beneeta this year, so we know she has great taste!

Tune in for our favorite party, light, medium, and heavy games of the year. What did we miss? What do we NEED to play? Tell us on our socials!

Timeline:

• 2:42 - 2024 Party Games of the Year.
• 13:42 - 2024 Light Games of the Year.
• 25:22 - 2024 Medium Games of the Year.
• 46:40 - 2024 Heavy Games of the Year.

How is it almost the end of 2024?! Christina and Shoe sneak in some more recent games and tell you about them.

Timeline:

• 1:02 - Small-box games: Bottle Imp, Codex Naturalis.
• 14:10 - Medium-box games: Looot, In the Footsteps of Marie Curie.
• 26:30 - Big-box games: Rallyman: Dirt, Creature Caravan.

BoardGameGeek's BGG.CON is always a good time: just days and days of straight gaming (with some delicious Texas BBQ sprinkled in throughout). So what did we play? And what stuck out to us? Christina and Shoe talk through the games, the show, and more in their big post-BGG.CON update.

Timeline:

• 2:41 - SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
• 11:04 - Windmill Valley.
• 19:14 - Video Game Champion.
• 27:26 - Pixies.
• 32:23 - Castle Combo.
• 36:49 - Quick hits: Black Forest, Forges of Ravenshire, Fishing, Wine Cellar, Everbloom.

We just finished Halloweeeen! What are your favorite board games for spoopy season? We ask Creepshow: The Suspense-Building Game co-creators Ben Kepner and Dan Stong about what they like to play during this holiday...plus how they feel about designing while working in-house at a publisher compared to working independently.

Timeline:

• 3:45 - Going Analog's game pick: Babyon.
• 9:46 - Ben & Dan's game pick: Rattus.
• 21:19 - Ben & Dan's topic: spooky games.
• 45:40 - Going Analog's topic: indie vs. in-house design work.

Publisher Bitewing Games has a thing for designer Reiner Knizia (most recently with Zoo Vadis and the Mythos Collection's Illiad and Ichor). Now they're back at it with a new three-part, big-box, Knizia-palooza Kickstarter campaign. We had the opportunity to play one of those parts, SILOS (Secret Interlopers from Outer Space), a retro sci-fi (with cows!) rethemed version of Municipium...and we instantly fell in love. So we invited Bitewing founders Nick Murray and Kyle Spackman to chat about SILOS, other great area-control games, and board game series and franchises.

Timeline:

• 3:25 - Going Analog's game pick: Magic Maze Tower.
• 11:22 - Bitewing's game pick: Moonrollers.
• 19:48 - Going Analog's topic: SILOS and other great area-control games.
• 47:57 - Bitewing's topic: gaming series and franchies.