Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Upcoming Show Topic: Gaming on a Budget


The next episode of the Great Big Table podcast (http://greatbigtable.com) will be all about gaming on a budget. Once you've been infected by a deep seated love for board games, you've probably also quickly become aware of how expensive a hobby it can be.

Let's face it, while board gaming is gaining in popularity, with more gamers coming to the table every day, most games are still printed in boutique level batches. A popular game may only have ten thousand copies printed across it's lifetime. There's no economy of scale to help keep the prices down. Add to that the cost of shipping lately and you start to see why games can cost a pretty penny.

So, what's a new or renewed board gamer to do?

How do you get into hobby board gaming without breaking the bank?

What tips have worked for you to help you spend your gaming dollar wisely and get the most bang for your gaming buck?

We've said from the beginning that Great Big Table is a conversation about expanding the board game hobby. Luckily our listeners have stepped up to the table and helped to keep up their side of the conversation.

If you'd like to share some of your tips, post them below. If you post a comment in this thread, we may read it on the show.

Don't want to post a comment? Great, give us a call and leave a voicemail message that's less than three minute's long.

Our phone number is (401) IT IS BIG or (401) 484-7244.

You have more to say than will fit in a three minute voicemail, send us an MP3 audio file that's 5 MB or less in size to podcast@greatbigtable.com and we may use all or part of it in the show.

If you don't like the sound of your voice or don't trust our editing skills, send us an email to podcast@greatbigtable.com and we may read all or part of it in the show.

Thanks.

Jim Jones
co-host, Great Big Table podcast

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Great Big Table podcast - Episode 005 - Therapy with The Party Game Cast

In this very special episode of Great Big Table, we're joined by one of our favorite gaming podcasts, The Party Gamecast Featuring the Party Game Cast, to spend way too much time discussing the game that started it all for Adrienne and I, Therapy:The Game.

The Party Gamecast was kind enough to send us an audio review of a copy of Therapy that they found lying around and we thought it would be fun to record a DVD commentary style track to intersperse throughout their review.

We had a blast doing it. We also want thank the Party Gamecast for taking the time to record this review. And... we hope you all like it. Look in the feed, soon, for episode 005a which will be the unbroken up version of the Party Gamecast's review of Therapy that they sent us.

Some of the games we mention in this episode include:
Loaded Questions
Say Anything
The Game of Scruples
The Game of Things
Therapy: The Game



Download the episode: GBT-EP005-Therapy-with-the-Party-Game-Cast-Final.mp3


Subscribe to the podcast: via RSS
Subscribe to the podcast: via iTunes


Send us an Email: podcast@greatbigtable.com
Follow us on Twitter: @greatbigtable
Leave us a voicemail: (401) It is big or (401) 484-7244


This episode of the Great Big Table is released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 3.0 license.


The My favorite game console is a table and chairs image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license by Daniel Solis. If you like the image, head over to Daniel's blog, danielsolis.com, and buy the t-shirt. If you buy a t-shirt, tell Daniel that the Great Big Table podcast sent you. Daniel has an amazing blog with many interesting thoughts about gaming. Check it out.


***Great Big Table is a late-night conversation between two Midwestern geeks with dreams of world domination through board games. It's not a great plan, but it's our plan and we're sticking to it. Join as we plot to put a meeple in every pot- or at least on every table. We slipped the bonds of our robot masters, so the only opinions represented here are our own. We are however in league with Amazon, so a percentage of every purchase made through our links goes into our onshore accounts (thanks!). Some games have been provided by publishers for review while we picked up others for a buck or two at a thrift store or yard sale. Others are from our own collections or games we played with friends and strangers. You should be proud of yourself for reading all this small print- we are!

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Great Big Table podcast - Episode 004 - Extra Life Wrapup

It's over six months late, but we finally get around to wrapping up our Extra Life weekend long board gaming event that raised money for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. We played twenty four hours of board games across three days and raised over two thousand dollars for charity (over $2000!). We're very proud of what we accomplished in our first year and are looking forward to more success as we continue this annual event in our community.

Mostly, Jim spends this episode grasping for that word for the structured play mat that you play cards to in popular hobby games and stages an intervention for Adrienne's recent addiction.

Thank you to all our Extra Life supporters. We have amazing and generous friends, fans, and family members. We wouldn't have been successful without all of your support.

Some of the games we talk about this episode include:
7 Wonders
Action Castle and the other Parsley games (they're like $5 a piece)
Are you a werewolf? (the cheaper, basic verion) / Ultimate Werewolf (the more expensive deluxe version)
Alien Frontiers
Can't Stop
Cosmic Encounter
Downfall of Pompei
Eleminis
Escape: The Curse of the Temple
Fill the Barn
Flash Point: Fire Rescue
Flower Fall
Glory to Rome
Got 'Em!
Liar's Dice
Monopoly Deal
Perudo
Pit
Pitchcar
Race for the Galaxy
Rattle Snake
San Juan
The Secret Garden (out of print, Board Game Geek page)
Therapy
Wits and Wagers: Party
Zooloretto


Download the episode: GBT-EP004-Extra-Life-Wrapup-Final.mp3


Subscribe to the podcast: via RSS
Subscribe to the podcast: via iTunes

Send us an Email: podcast@greatbigtable.com
Follow us on Twitter: @greatbigtable
Leave us a voicemail: (401) It is big or (401) 484-7244


This episode of the Great Big Table is released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 3.0 license.

The My favorite game console is a table and chairs image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license by Daniel Solis. If you like the image, head over to Daniel's blog, danielsolis.com, and buy the t-shirt. If you buy a t-shirt, tell Daniel that the Great Big Table podcast sent you. Daniel has an amazing blog with many interesting thoughts about gaming. Check it out.

The music for this episode is "Vox vs. Uke" by unreal_dm (featuring Mind Map That!) and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. You can hear more of unreal_dm's wonderful music creations at ccmixter.org/people/unreal_dm.


***Great Big Table is a late-night conversation between two Midwestern geeks with dreams of world domination through board games. It's not a great plan, but it's our plan and we're sticking to it. Join as we plot to put a meeple in every pot- or at least on every table. We slipped the bonds of our robot masters, so the only opinions represented here are our own. We are however in league with Amazon, so a percentage of every purchase made through our links goes into our onshore accounts (thanks!). Some games have been provided by publishers for review while we picked up others for a buck or two at a thrift store or yard sale. Others are from our own collections or games we played with friends and strangers. You should be proud of yourself for reading all this small print- we are!