The State of Games
A board game podcast that tackles the industry from both inside and out! The State of Games is hosted by Chris Kirkman, the head of publishing house Dice Hate Me Studio and co-owner of Greater Than Games, and features regular co-hosts Darrell Louder, resident grump and designer of Compounded, Bottom of the 9th, and Fate of the Elder Gods, and TC Petty III, gaming hipster and designer of VivaJava and VivaJava Dice, Xenon Profiteer, and Spires. Presented by the website www.dicehateme.com - the board game blog with worse luck than you.
Episodes
188 episodes
The One About Milk
In this special “minisode”, Chris is joined by game designer Josh Mills to talk about his game, Milkman, now on Kickstarter from DHMG. Josh talks about the seven-year development of Milkman – its origins and chan...
•
27:00
The One About Unpub 2023
In this episode, Darrell, TC, and Chris cover their highlights and hijinx from the Unpublished Games Festival in Hunt Valley, MD! You’ll hear of new and unpublished games to be on the lookout for, as well as lots and lots of griping about hotel...
•
2:07:50
The One About Our Robot Overlords
In this special episode, Darrell, TC, and Chris jack into the matrix and talk about how artificial intelligence models - from ChatGPT to art creation AI - could change the board gaming landscape, as well as the entire world. All this, plus thei...
•
1:32:22
The One About Crossing the Line
In this Darrell-less episode, TC takes control of the podcast to get some things off his chest as he and Chris talk about times when people and entities have totally crossed the line of conduct both in personal life and in the boardgame space. ...
•
2:14:11
The One About Catching Up
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC sit down and tell tales of everything they’ve been up to during the long hiatus, including a GenCon recap, a trip to Dollywood, Covid, and a complete computer meltdown. All this, plus impressions of the h...
•
2:09:54
The One About Works in Progress
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, TC, and special guest Daniel Newman talk about upcoming projects – and some of the various adaptations and revisions that have been made, all for the sake of progress. All this, plus the works in progress at The...
•
2:22:21
The One About Getting the Brand Back Together
In this very special episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC share news of the business separation between Dice Hate Me and Greater Than Games, why it happened, and what’s in store for the future of Dice Hate Me Games as a wholly-independent publishing...
•
1:51:38
The One About The Great Escape
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC take a deep dive into escape rooms and board games that adapt the escape room concept, including pros and cons of some of the most popular escape room board games released since 2016. All this, plus the r...
•
1:36:04
The One About Looking Back at 2021
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, TC, and special guest Keith Ferguson look back on the year that was, talking about their favorite games, those they wished they’d played, how they spent the holidays, and why Santa’s Workshop is ...
•
2:49:11
The One About a Return to Camp Launius
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC share tales from another trip to South Carolina to hang with King Richard, talking game design, doing some top-secret game development, eating so much food, and playing lots of games. All this, plus voyag...
•
2:13:15
The One About New Editions
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC are joined by special guest Justin Jacobson, president of Restoration Games, to talk about new editions of older games, whether they are good for the hobby, some of their favorites, and a few on th...
•
2:01:38
The One About the Main Event
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC delve into games that may require you to set a specific calendar day (or, at least, a game night) aside to play, why they’re still pretty awesome, and whether the stigma of extended play time might be a m...
•
1:30:01
The One About Boutique Publishing
In this episode, Chris and TC are joined by Daniel Newman and Tony Miller, game designers and founders of New Mill Industries, to talk about the benefits of small publishing, their company’s “punk rock ethos”, and various upcoming projects. All...
•
1:28:26
The One About the Year That Wasn't
In this special 10th anniversary episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC look back on a very weird year of gaming and try their damndest to stick to tradition and select their best games of 2020. All this, plus progress on TC’s My Father’s Work<...
•
1:42:24
The One About Heading Out West
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC break out their six shooters and mount up to talk about western games, what makes that theme so awesome, and how it might possibly go horribly wrong on occasion. All this, plus Darrell’s move out west to ...
•
2:14:31
The One About Rockets and Racing
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC dig a bit deeper into TC’s suggestions as to how Rallyman GT might be improved, how that went over like a lead balloon on BoardGameGeek, and chat about what makes racing games awesome. All this, plus our ...
•
1:47:07
The One About One Quiet Night
In this very special episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC talk about life in the time of COVID-19, including a first-hand account by Darrell about his family living in a COVID-positive household and dealing personally with contracting the virus. We ...
•
2:37:19
The One About the Cost of Negativity
In this episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC dig into the podcast mailbag to talk about the effect of overly-negative and positive reviews on the boardgame community, the difference between impressions and critical thinking, and how all of it may in...
•
1:59:27
The One About The Best Things of 2019
In this special episode, Chris, Darrell, and TC look back on a year of gaming and share their awards for favorites published last year, discoveries that came out before 2019, and many more categories like Favorite Publisher, Biggest Surprise, a...
•
2:16:57
The One About Toyetics
Chris, Darrell, and TC get in the holiday spirit by talking toys - specifically, the special relationship between toys and games, and the effect “toy factor” has on consumers and the board game hobby. All this, plus Darrell’s adventures in Phil...
•
2:00:01
The One About Getting Our Groove Back
Chris, Darrell, and TC are finally back in the podcasting saddle and ready to talk about their adventures at Camp Launius and the Gamers for Cures 24-hour Board Game Marathon! All this, plus Final Hour, Horrified...
•
1:59:38
The One About What We Did This Summer
After a two-month hiatus Chris, Darrell, and TC talk about all the big events over one crazy summer, including highlights from Origins Game Fair, Dice Tower Con, RuthCon, and Gen Con. All this, plus talk of the Nixon administration, camels, the...
•
2:41:52
The One About Spoilers
In this episode Chris, Darrell, and TC talk about spoiler culture, whether it translates to the board game hobby, how consumers & reviewers might avoid it all, and whether we should even really care. All this, plus Darrell dips into t...
•
2:13:19