Episode 264: Five Years at the Table

We’re back, and there’s plenty to catch up on! James returns with a look at PLAAY’s next chapter and the return of PLAAY-Dot-Con. He also highlights the latest issue of Sport Sim Magazine, including his contributions on Fast Drive Football and project planning.Digital helpers are making tabletop sports games faster to play—but how do they affect the experience? James shares his impressions and reflects on why cards, charts, and dice remain such a big part of his enjoyment.Around the table, there are updates on many projects and along the way, James considers how the sports calendar and personal connections influence which projects keep us coming back.

This week, James heads Beyond the Table for a relaxed, off-the-cuff episode featuring ten personal recommendations inspired by his recent interests and everyday life.The topics span books, television, movies, podcasts, YouTube, music, apps, food, everyday purchases, and experiences. It’s a chance to get to know the person behind the projects—and explore some of the other interests that fill the time when the dice aren’t rolling.James also considers making Beyond the Table a recurring segment. Let him know what you think, and share a recommendation of your own!Plus, a look ahead to next episode’s discussion about keeping a human in the loop when using AI.

In this episode, James takes a look back at Q3 and opens up his planning dashboard to share what’s coming to the table for the final quarter of 2026.Projects on tap include an Early Integration History Maker Baseball tournament, a collection of dream college football rivalry matchups, a 1975-76 NHL tournament with 49 Highlight Hockey, and historical replays featuring the 1966 Masters playoff, the 1926 Belmont Stakes, and the 1896 Olympics.James also checks in on several ongoing projects—including his 1992 NASCAR season, GridZone league, and 1973 Hall of Fame starting pitcher replay—while talking about his push to get more games to double-digit plays before the end of the year.Plus, he reflects on an inconsistent stretch for the podcast, the connection between regular content and audience growth, and how his attention is already beginning to turn toward planning projects and content for 2027.It’s a behind-the-scenes look at how James organizes his tabletop sports year, chooses which projects make the cut, and balances all the games he wants to play with the time available to play them.

What if you could change just one thing in sports history and play out everything that follows?In this episode of the Tabletop Sportcast, James shares five project starter ideas that bridge historical and fictional gaming. We're talking NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, Expansion, Relocation, Mergers, and historical redos! These ideas offer new ways to make history your own.Change one thing. Play everything else.

This week on the Tabletop SportCast, I sit down with Matt McKeever of D12 Gaming to talk about the design of their new golf game, Pocket Pro Tour.Matt takes us behind the design process and explains how the philosophy behind Pocket Pennant Run — small footprint, quick resolution, and doing more with less — carried over to golf, while still requiring a very different game engine.We talk about finding the right level of abstraction for a golf simulation, why Pocket Pro Tour focuses on drive, approach, scramble, and putting instead of individual clubs and distances, and how the golfer-versus-course interaction became the heart of the game.We also get into:• The challenge of designing a shot-by-shot golf game that still plays quickly• Why seeing the golfers move around the course was essential to the design• Strategy options for aggressive drives, attacking the pin, and putting• How Confidence Boosts add risk, timing, and decision-making• The game's A–D and minus-rating system• The difficulty of creating historical golfer ratings when detailed statistics don't exist• Quick-play rules that allow you to simulate full tournament rounds• The growing Pocket Pro Tour software and plans for future updates• What Matt learned from Pocket Pennant Run — and what simply wouldn't work the same way in golf• Why simplicity and removing unnecessary components remain at the center of D12 Gaming's design philosophyI also share some thoughts after my first full round with Pocket Pro Tour and why I think the game succeeds in capturing the feel of golf without requiring hours to play 18 holes.You can learn more about Pocket Pro Tour, Pocket Pennant Run, and Small Ball at D12Gaming.com. Pocket Pro Tour is also available through The Game Crafter.We'll bring Matt and Craig Harris back in the future for a deeper look at the software side of Pocket Pro Tour.Next week: five project starters to help you kick off your next tabletop sports replay or project.

In this episode of the Tabletop Sportcast, James discusses the upcoming holiday sale and the changes happening within the PLAAY community. He reflects on the past year's events, including the departure of key personnel and the impact on business operations. James speculates on what the holiday sale might look like, emphasizing the importance of PDFs and new game releases while considering the challenges of printed products. He concludes with thoughts on the future direction of PLAAY and the potential for continued changes in the coming year.

Celebrating five years of the Tabletop Sportcast, this episode reflects on the show's evolution, personal hobby updates, and future plans. Host James shares insights on community-created content, hobby tools, and project management, emphasizing the importance of engagement and passion in the hobby.

What if the secret to finishing a massive tabletop project is deciding you don’t have to finish the whole thing? This week, James looks at using milestones to turn oversized projects into manageable chunks, using his 1973 Hall of Fame Starting Pitcher project as a real-world example. Plus, some thoughts on money, change, nostalgia, and why the sports we remember continue to shape what we play on the tabletop.

James sits down with designer Arthur Franz for an inside look at Breakaway Football Dynasty, an upcoming game that puts players in the role of a modern football general manager. They discuss the game’s original concept, resource-management approach, randomly generated coaches and players, two different game simulation engines, and the many ways gamers might build their own dynasty. Arthur also shares where the design currently stands, what emerged from the latest playtesting week, and the challenges ahead on the road to release.

What if you had to reduce your entire tabletop sports game collection to just ten titles?In Episode 261, James takes on that challenge—but this is not simply a list of his ten favorite games. With only one game allowed per sport and one per designer or game company, he builds a collection designed to provide variety, replayability, historical projects, fictional worlds, solo play, multiplayer options, and a balance between full-play and express games.From the four major sports, and a collection of others, James explains the difficult decisions behind every choice—and the beloved games that narrowly missed the cut.Which ten games would survive your own tabletop sports purge?