Going Analog Show

You just can't miss 'em: trick-taking games are everywhere. Maybe there are too many -- but we did find some interesting new ones that are worth a closer look. And who better to join us in this discussion than Taylor Reiner of Taylor's Trick-Taking Table? Taylor's done it all in this category: content creation, game development, and original designs.

Together, we cover a few noteworthy new releases in the world of trick-taking, including some obscure ones you've likely never heard of.

Chapters:

Going Analog's Game Pick: Entropy.

Taylor's Game Pick: Finger Crane Game Championship.

New trick-taking games worth checking out.

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It's always fun to get a peek at what goes on at these giant board game conventions in faraway exotic lands -- in this case, the United Kingdom. The 2026 UK Games Expo is behind us now, but our man on the inside (of the country) got to go and tells us all about it.

Henry Stenhouse, frequent Going Analog contributor and full-time British guy, gives us his thoughts on the UK's largest hobby games event. What are all the cool things he got to see and play? Listen or watch to find out.

Chapters:

Going Analog's Game Pick: SETI: Space Agencies.

Henry's Game Pick: Spooky Goose.

The 2026 UKGE.

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Legendary video game designer Tim Schafer of Double Fine (Psychonauts, Broken Age, and most recently, Kiln) has been one of our board game buddies for years now. So we took advantage of that relationship and put Tim on the show, filmed right in Double Fine's studio.

As our guest, he gets to pick the topic, and he had several good ideas. We steered him toward our favorite, though: Why making board games is harder than making video games. He's been successful for one of those -- not so much in the other. So he'll be speaking from experience here.

Chapters:

Going Analog's Game Pick: Postcards.

Tim's Game Pick: Cave Evil.

Tim's topic: Why making board games is harder than making video games.

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We were a little late in getting Eric Yurko from What's Eric Playing? on the show to discuss The American Tabletop Awards. But hey, these are 2026's winners and nominees...for games released in 2025. So who's to say when we should be covering these things?

We are also on the judging committee, so it's always fun to do this each year: bring Eric on, discuss the winners and almost-winners, and tell everyone how we voted. Come join us to see what was the best of 2026! Er, we mean 2025!

Chapters:

Going Analog's Game Pick: VNTYPL8S.

Eric Yurko's Game Pick: MicroMacro: Kids.

The 2026 American Tabletop Awards: Early Gamers.

The 2026 American Tabletop Awards: Casual Games.

The 2026 American Tabletop Awards: Strategy Games.

The 2026 American Tabletop Awards: Complex Games.

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Our industry guests pick the topic that they want to discuss on our show, and Josh Wood, designer of Let's Go! To Japan (and the upcoming Let's Go! To France), asked us if he can talk about "big decks."

That was an immediate "yes" from us, without even knowing what he meant (Hey, "big decks" makes for a great headline).

What it's really about: the recent trend of huge decks of cards that supply most of the replayability for a board game. Josh gives us his POV as a designer of games with sizable...um, decks. We also ask him a million questions about Let's Go! To France as it gets ready to go live on Kickstarter, go over our respective "Game Picks," and more.

Chapters:

Going Analog's Game Pick: Bloodstone.

Josh Wood's Game Pick: Yeti in the House.

Let's Go! To Japan.

Big deck energy (and how it affects replayability).

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