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Openers:
Mark: Kraftwagen and old podcasts like CubeLove
Jonathan: Cocktail Games, and what will I do when the "old masters" pass away?

Closers:
Jonathan: Do we have too many good games? Here's what Bruno Faidutti says. scroll down for English
Mark: How old is "an old game"? Does 2019 count?

Jonathan Takagi

@jtakagi

My friend Jonathan Takagi returns to the podcast to talk about the upcoming Spiel des Jahres award. Not just the SdJ, we also talk about the Kennerspiel and Kinderspiel awards for "expert" and kids' games, too. And not only that, but Jonathan is known for digging past the three nominees for each award, deeper into the recommended games, too. Only the nominees can be picked for the top awards (announced live on July 12 and broadcast on YouTube). Nonetheless, sometimes we find amazing, "hidden gems" in the recommended lists, games that we may not have otherwise heard about.



First we cover the Kennerspiel games. Nominees: Boss Fighters QR, Moon Colony Bloodbath, and Rebirth. Along with the Recommended list: Sanctuary, Frosted Blooms, Foundations of Metropolis, and Tag Team.

Next it's the Kinderspiel titles. Nominees: Boo Party, Mookie Island, and Verflixt Verzaubert. Plus the Recommended list: Little Stinker, Half-and-Seek, and Paleolino

Finally the big prize itself, the Spiel des Jahres. Nominees: Cozy Sticker Ville, Jinxo, and Morty Sorty Magic Shop. And the Recommended list: Hot Streak, Meister Makatsu, Take Time, Toriki, Toy Battle, and Wilmot's Warehouse.

-Mark

Opener: Another online Games Day for podcast listeners



Closer: Games BGG-weighted over 4 are never for me! (Never say never...)

The folks on Discord gave me several good ideas for an episode. So good, in fact, that I decided to save them for a time when I could to more prep, have a co-host, or both. That meant I needed something else to feature this time. Since I often talk about the old games I play (10+ or even 25+ years old), this time I decided to change it up and highlight several new games I'd played. Because really--I'm always playing new games, usually ones that friends bring over or I find online. Once in a while they're even my own new acquisitions. It's just that so many of the newest, hottest games are in a complicated, overlong euro style that doesn't match my preferred kind of boardgame. "So many"...but not all.

Here are the games & their publication dates that I set out to discuss in the episode. You'll see they're all from 2025-26, though I do include a couple notable ones from 2024. Still new, though, yeah?

7 Wonders Dice (2025)

Hutan Life in the Rainforest (2025)
Biathlon Blast (2025)
Formidable Farm (2025)
Oranges & Lemons (*2024)
Orbit (2025)
Star Wars Battle of Hoth (2025)
Wingspan Americas expansion (2026) - Hummingbirds
RA & Write (2025)
1975 White Christmas (2025)
Tenby (2025)

Piñatas (2025)
3 Witches (2025)
Tango (*2024)

One Round (2025)

Well, after the episode, longtime listener & collaborator Greg Pettit took me to task for a bunch of "new" games that still maintained a connection to the past! Though he generously credits me with this as an intentional bit of creative control, it wasn't! It merely highlights my tendencies.

The title of this episode is very apt. The part after the ellipsis is essential!

I kept thinking, "That's a reprint. That's an expansion. That's just a new setting for C&C. That's another reprint. Where's all the 'New'?" Even some of the new were from old designers.

Then I remembered "...for an Old Guy."

Ahhhh. I get it now.

Touché, Monsieur Pettit. 🤺

-Mark

Opener: I encourage listeners to join me at the OG guild's online game convention, OG Fest: Maispiele


Within the last month I turned 60. Does that make me old? Officially? Whether it does or not, I'm still playing games. Which is what I discuss in this episode--what it's like to turn 60 in this hobby, as well as reflecting on what it was like when I turned 50, 40, 30, 20, 10...and even 0! Those were all personal milestones in some way--what did it mean for me as a gamer?

In getting ready for this episode, I realized I kept thinking about time in three major ways:
• When I turned another milestone age (60, 30, whatever, and how old my kids were then)
• How long I'd been in the hobby at that point
• What the calendar date was, and what important things were happening in the hobby then (game releases, websites, the larger culture, etc.)

It was an interesting exercise, thinking about all those things. Is my journey through life as a gamer anything like yours? Finally, I thought a little into the future--what will things be like for me as a gamer when I turn 70? I'm sure I'll still be playing, but it will be when I'm retired, living a thousand miles away from here. Will I be playing the same games? Going to some of the same conventions? Meeting new people or still focusing on my longtime gamer friends?

-Mark

My annual Mark Madness contest is over, and co-host Adam Brocker joins me to wrap it up. Adam won the prediction contest last year, and this was his prize...a side job to work with me! Now we have a new winner, Mark363, who I am working to locate. If he's willing, in 2027 he will join me to run the next version of this contest.

In 2026 Adam had suggested we take a closer look at games that were designed by pairs or teams of designers, in contrast with their solo work. With that in mind, we set up four divisions of sixteen game titles apiece. One division was centered around Wolfgang Kramer's solo and partnered design work, then another with Alan R. Moon, one more with Bruno Cathala, and a final centered around the mostly-Italian designer collaborations.

After everyone made their predictions, we started voting for the games we liked best, wanted to win, or for any other reason. Gradually games were knocked out in a series of 1v1 matchups, leaving Azul, Ticket to Ride, 7 Wonders Duel, and Grand Austria Hotel as our Final Four. In the end, Ticket To Ride was the ultimate winner, which meant Mark363 had done the bes with his predictions.

For the third year in a row I made it to Dice Tower West. Not only that, I enjoyed that convention with DaveO and other buddies. Not only that, but once again DaveO was my partner-in-crime for insisting we dedicate one day of our convention to focus on older boardgames. By "old" we mean games that are at least 25 years old. When we started this tradition that mean games published in in the last century, last millenium--1999 or earlier. Now, however, we can include games published all the way up to the year...2001 or earlier! That still leaves plenty of old favorites and dim memories we want to rediscover.



We give a quick rundown about the games we played, then spend the rest of the time talking about our favorites from the weekend, as well as fielding some listener questions (posted in advance on the Discord server!) about OG games.

-Mark

The Sweet 16 is already done and we're on to the Elite Eight. That means just two remaining titles in each of our four divisions, so almost like a mini, division-level championship in each one.

BGTG 252C - Mark Madness 2026 (2nd Round [of 32])

1st round votes are in, now each successive round moves quickly—just three days. 2nd round voting due March 18 at noon BGG-time in Texas (UTC-5).

How are you voting? For the games you enjoy the most or the ones you predicted to win (based on what you imagined OTHERS would vote for)? I've heard the latter is like how a political primary works.

Close calls & Blow-outs

• Vikings squeaked by Wandering Towers via a single vote

• Same for Nucleum over Anachrony

• Meanwhile, Top & Down only GOT one vote compared to El Grande, losing 2% to 98

• Similarly Cleopatra & SOA over SOS Titanic, or 7 Wonders Duel over Terror in Meeple City, Diamant/Incan Gold over Andromeda, or Memoir 44 over Warriors. (I told you there were some gimmes in the first round)

But what about Ticket To Ride over Elfenland? 96% to 4%??

Regarding Designer Teams contrasting with individual designers, there doesn't seem to be any pattern in the results yet. That is, designers' individual efforts are not favored over their collaborations…or the other way around. It's just whatever is the better game?

However, thinking about has led me to offer some half-baked theories and observations.

All (almost): the collaborations tend to be with people from the same country, speaking the same language. I'm sure this is naturally easier

Kramer: I think the games with collaborators are more "gamer-y"

Moon: I think his collaborations are more "lush"

Cathala: Similar to Kramer

"Italians": Don't know! But looking forward to Nucleum vs Barrage

The first round is underway! Go vote at https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/375187/mark-madness-2026-designer-teams