186: Working with IPs - challenges and lessons learned (guest: Jay Cormier, Off The Page)

Our guest this week has been making games for a decade and a half now. In recent years, however, he's been working with a lot of licenses such as the WWE, Scooby-Doo, and Dungeons & Dragons. He's parlayed that experience into running his own company, Off the Page Games, publisher of Mind MGMT and the upcoming Grendel: The Game of Crime and Mayhem. So yeah, the guy knows a thing or three about dealing with intellectual properties. Jay Cormier joins our show to talk about why that specific experience helped him launch Off the Page -- and what are the challenges and lessons he's learned from working with so many different IPs. Chapters: Going Analog's Game Pick: Hell of a Deal. Jay's Game Pick: Tikal. More about Off The Page Games. Trivia for our guest. Jay's topic: The challenges and the lessons learned from working with IPs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Board game design and board game publishing couldn't be more different (other than sharing a common descriptor in "board game"). One requires creativity and knowledge or experience in game theory. The other is just plain business: logistics, budgets, marketing, distribution, and so much more. So how (and why) did Emily Vincent take this route, going from designing games (Knitting Circle, Pirates of the High Teas) to publishing them through her company, Pink Hawk Games? It wasn't easy, and it certainly doesn't sound fun (to us). Listen/watch for some really interesting insight into this world! Chapters: Going Analog's Game Pick: Into the Machine. Emily's Game Pick: Color Jam. More about Pink Hawk Games. Trivia for our guest. Emily's topic: Why she went from designing games to publishing them (and still designing when she can). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The guy in charge of art for publisher Allplay has some strong opinions about...art. How does his company pick what art and which artists go with which games? Who are the artists he loves working with, who's on his wishlist, and what happened to make him never want to work with a particular artist again? How do art and artists impact sales?  And what does he think of generative A.I. art? Allplay CEO Joe Wiggins joins the show to discuss art, art, and art! Chapters: Going Analog's Game Pick: Drillers. Joe's Game Pick: Size Wise. Joe's Topic: Game art and artists Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everywhere we look, there are sequels and remakes of some older (and some not-so-old) classics. We're suckers for super deluxe beautified versions of, say, The Gang, and we're loving the latest in franchises like King of Tokyo. We played a bunch of these fresh new takes and are ready to give you our thoughts! Chapters: Christina's Game Pick: Oasis: New Life on a Distant World. Shoe's Game Pick: Super Auto Pets Card Battle. New spins on classics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've been playing so many board game remakes, redos, and sequels lately that we knew we had to invite Rob Daviau to the show. He's perhaps most well-known for creating the "legacy" concept and genre in which board games get permanently altered as players progress through their chapters (see: Pandemic Legacy, Risk Legacy). He's also working on The Lord of the Rings: The King's Gambit, the highly anticipated follow-up to the well-beloved and long out of print Star Wars: The Queen's Gambit. Oh, and he co-founded Restoration Games, a publisher whose entire existence revolves around reviving older games with fresh coats of deluxe-ness. We chat about restoring games, the business of making sequels, and more. Chapters: Going Analog's Game Pick: Bookwyrm. Rob's Game Pick: Pathfinder (no, not that Pathfinder). Discussion! Restoration games, sequels, remakes, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Board game conventions: These massive gatherings of game makers, game players, and games can be so fun (and sometimes chaotic), but how do you know which to go to? You've got Gen Con, Essen Spiel, BGG.CON, PAX Unplugged, Origins, Dice Tower...and these are just the big-name ones. This week, we're joined by Paula Deming of Things Get Dicey (and about a billion other board-game-related projects). She suggested we talk about all these board game conventions that we get to go to. What are our favorite and bucket-list shows? How are they all different from each other? Want to know what the vibes are at these major conventions? Then tune in. Chapters: Going Analog's Game Pick: Whisperwood. Paula's Game Pick: Among Cultists. Paula's topic: Board game conventions -- how they differ, our faves, and which ones we still want to go to.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gen Con 2026 was eventful. We saw some big shifts in the tabletop industry, we previewed a trillion new games, and we even got a close call with a tornado. Yes, a real-life tornado. As cool as it would've been to see thousands of cards, dice, cubes, and other pieces swirling into the heavens, we were thankful no precious games got hurt. Oh, and people, too. We're back from North America's largest tabletop gaming convention and sat down to chat about all the fun and excitement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last episode, we had an expert come on the show to talk about trick-taking games. But we're not sure what's an "expert" for the broader category of just "card games" so...no guest today! Just Christina and Shoe talking about new cards games they got to try that all have one interesting element or twist to them. Chapters: Going Analog's Game Pick: Cozy Stickerville. Sponsored spot: MILLRAT Pack! – 4 Games Made for Game Night. Card games with a twist: Haunted Mouse. dnup. Beach Bandits. Soothsayers. Questline. Circadia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices