Game Store Prophets

So what happens when an RPG mastermind and a digital gaming guru decide they want to step into the board gaming world and see what all the fuss is about? Apparently epic 8-hour+ sessions of pushing cardboard. Who knew? In the wake of episode 100, our new cohost Jeff and our buddy Jacob  come to talk about crossing over into new gaming camps.

Episode 100 was just too big to cram into our usual one hour. By the time we were done putting together all the interviews and other assorted content, we had three hours worth of podcast goodness. We thought we’d break that down into two hour and a half parts just to make it easier for folks to enjoy. Part 2 includes:   Marty Connell from Rolling Dice & Taking Names Grant & Pete...

Episode 100 was just too big to cram into our usual one hour. By the time we were done putting together all the interviews and other assorted content, we had three hours worth of podcast goodness. We thought we’d break that down into two hour and a half parts just to make it easier for folks to enjoy. Part 1 features:   Tee Morris & Philippa Ballantine   Brian Buffon and Dave K...

Alright – I could tell you about what goes on in this episode – but that will take away the wind from the sails of a big announcement at the end of it. So, at the risk of being called out for “click bait”  – I’m just going to tell you the games that get mentioned: -Specter Ops -Xcom -Card Line -Tortoise and Hare -Lewis and Clark Other than that – you&#8217...

This episode is light on banter because, well, there was just too much to talk about. We start off nice and simple with one of our patent-pending  5×2 lists of the announcements from GAMA that we are most interested in, and then hit the ground running with two controversial issues that have been all over the gaming interwebs. Days of Wonder’s decision to take the slaves out of Five Trib...

In this episode we sit back and talk a bit about expansions. While some game expansions just add more content to the games we love without necessarily changing the way it plays, some are quite literally game-changers. We talk about the science of expansions and how adding something new to what may seem old and played out can breath new life into it – and yeah, the same works for the ways in...

As we take one step closer to episode 100, we talk about some of the discoveries we’ve made in the gaming world. Luke talks a couple of games that sound more like hobbies OTHER than boardgaming – Quilt Show and Paperback . Mike does a follow-up about Kings of Israel after playing it with the rules as they are actually written as opposed to how he thought they were (Sorry again, Funhill...

For this one, I called in our friend Peter Martin from Saving the Game to talk about a game both of us have been tearing into lately. Darkest Dungeon  is what you get if you throw gothic horror, the art style of Mike Mignola, and an old school dungeon crawler. Not only do you have to worry about the physical dynamic of your party, but their mental state. Both the emotional and physical baggage the...

If the title wasn’t a dead give away – this is the episode we finally talk about Kings of Israel with first hand knowledge instead of assumed greatness. The short version? There really isn’t anything  bad to report, but there are a few things you’ll need to do to make it great. Throw in a story of my wife’s odd rendition of Dixit forged from exhaustion, Luke waiting p...

There was only one week between recording the previous episode and this one, so there isn’t much to talk about in the way of personal game play news. However, we DID manage to tear apart Talisman (as well as Relic by proxy) and Seven Wonders. We also talk about the inevitable Gencon housing debacle in spite of attempts to improve the process this year and why conventions are something every...

In this episode, we start off with some banter about storming the beaches with dice and the end of the great “Netrunner vs. Doomtown” debate. Then we move on to tackle the absolute steam-roller of a kickstarter that is Exploding Cats and the bile it’s been bringing up from certain parts of the gaming community. Just because hardcore hobby gamers aren’t excited about the &#8...

Luke has a longstanding war with party games – in that he basically finds them tedious and annoying. But what makes a good party game different from a bad one? We like to think it’s the moment of contact with another person not to shame or embarrass – but rather to work together and share a moment of contact.

You may have noticed that this episode appears at a slightly different schedule than our usual podcasts. Partly, this is due to the fact that your illustrious hosts will BOTH be otherwise occupied on the Monday this episode is supposed to go Live, but – also – it just seems fitting that the episode where we lay out some of our hopes for tabletop gaming and the future of InnRoads in the...

It’s our 2nd annual InnRoads award show for the year 2014. Luke and I picked some of our favorites from the following – after the usual witty banter that is: Favorite Game Played (does not have to be new this year): Luke – Saga – Dark Ages Mike – Doomtown Reloaded Favorite Game Added to Your Collection:  Luke – Marvel Dice Masters Mike – Sheriff of Notting...

This is 2014’s penultimate episode. Since this the first episode to drop in December, giving you plenty of time to secure gifts for the gamer in your life – we decided we wanted to share with you folks our top 10 (5 from each of the hosts) gaming related gifts we’d love to see under our trees on the 25th. If you hear us talk about our lists and want to know more – you can c...

In this episode we talk about two issues that have popped up when games aren’t fun – one of them negative – the other positive. In the negative sense, we spend some time talking about the disqualification of the Ticket to Ride world champion because of cheating. Can our competitive nature bring us to the point that we stop enjoying games when we aren’t winning? In the posit...

We didn’t do a Halloween episode this year because, well, we were busy recording this one Halloween night. Neither of us had many trick-or-treaters come to our doors, but we came to the campfire with a ton of great stories to tell. This episode is jam packed full of our gaming experiences. From talking about the “older” games coming off the shelf for Extra Life up to the newest o...

This post starts out with Luke and myself bantering about Star Realms and Five Tribes, but before long you get to have a listen into what happened during our fund raiser for Extra Life on October the 25th. As of this posting, we have raised just shy of $1000 for the event, but donations are  STILL BEING ACCEPTED !  Please consider following THIS LINK to our team’s donation page and giving to...

We’re in a post-Gencon, pre-Essen timeframe. Add to that the fact that Luke and I were not even able to get any real play-time in between episodes, and you get yourself a grab bag! In this one, we talk about the state of tabletop gaming and whether it is just settling in to its growing pains as a hobby before moving on to a collection of odd geek topics including Peter Capaldi’s Doctor...

In this episode we discuss our new video series – InnRoads Plays – and a bit about Mike’s first game in the system. We also talk about one of the darlings of Gencon -according to many reviewers anyway – in the form of Imperial Settlers. Remember to sign up and/or support our Extra Life team as we look to raise at least $1500 to help support a local children’s hospital...

We talk about the games we’re playing like Zooloreto and Doomtown, give a bit of a teaser for our upcoming video series introducing you guys to D&D 5e, have a brief discussion about the “Gamergate” hashtag. On top of all that, though, a good chunk of this episode is both of us talking about an issue from a number of weeks ago that fell in between our recording schedule and ou...

This third and final episode in our Gencon miniseries ties together all the interviews I was able to seek out from folks around the dealer hall. You’ll hear a few game designers, members of the Zombie Orpheus team talk about the Dark Dungeons movie, and end with the faith and gaming panel this year where I got to act as moderator. We hope you liked our Gencon coverage. If there was something...

Here is a recording of the Sunday service at Gencon. Derek brought a message about how the kingdom of God is bigger on the inside. May we all remember that everyone is a freak or a geek to somebody, and they are no less welcome into the kingdom than the rest of us.

Episode one that will be a two (possibly three) episode series talking about Gencon from the dealer hall floor. Episode 1 features a brief overview of what I got to see at this year’s event. It also has some of my favorite recordings in response to my “question of the con.” We talked with people across a number of faith traditions and those who claim no faith at all – but t...

In this episode, Luke shares about a new experience he had with a Monopoly variant, we talk about a game that can only be described as chaos in a box, and I blather on about GenCon because I’m pretty much in a stupor getting ready for this year’s con and can pretty much talk of nothing else. We also talk about the process of teaching games to those who don’t know how to play and...