The Little Metal Dog Show

A special episode taken live from the UK Games Expo 2012 held in Birmingham at the end of May. I was lucky enough to present Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone as they discussed their Top Ten Games of All Time as well as getting a few insights into their long careers. Beginning with getting Dungeons and Dragons into the UK, they then launched Games Workshop and began the Fighting Fantasy adventure game books line which celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this coming August. Get ready to hear about some interesting choices and some truly intriguing tales!

A brand new episode brings three interviews straight to your door! First up, Brian and Geoff Engelstein join me to discuss their new project - Space Cadets. A co-op game that sounds like it'll be a barrel of laughs, they're also planning a live version before Stronghold Games release it for Essen 2012. Max Tempkin from Cards Against Humanity comes up next to talk about the incredible level of success that their game has attained - after reprints aplenty, they're now planning on producing international editions... but how will they go about it? Finally, Arthur O'Dwyer discusses the perils of taking classic 70s interactive fiction "Adventure" and transforming it into a game for the tabletop.

Another Triple Threat this time around! First up, I get to speak with Gary Weis, the Chief Technical Officer at iOS developer Playdek. They're really making a push to get quality games onto your iPhone and iPad and are already responsible for the excellent conversions of Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer and Food Fight. With upcoming versions of Nightfall and Agricola on the way, we talk about how you transfer something from a tabletop to the palm of your hand and still make it fun. After that, Jump Gate designer Matt Worden joins me to discuss how he managed to handcraft a game that ended up becoming Games Magazine's GOTY in 2011, as well as his plans for the future. Finally, the devious duo of Steve "Voice of Ameritrash" Avery and Tom "Dice Tower" Vasel come along to discuss their forthcoming game Capo. Players who enjoy taking their opponents down a few steps will love this one as there's plenty of opportunity to screw them over... but I'll let the guys tell you all about it.

Back again! This time I'm joined by designer Philip duBarry, the mind behind Revolution (available from Steve Jackson Games) and the brand new Minion Games release, Kingdom of Solomon. Philip is comparatively new to the world of gaming and has managed to produce a couple of excellent titles already, so it's exciting to think about what he'll produce in future. Chris (and Daisy!) return for this episode as well, helping me out with answering a few questions from the lovely listeners to the show. As always, thanks for listening!

There's three excellent guests on this latest episode of The Little Metal Dog Show! First up, Ted Torgerson; less a designer and more an appropriator of systems to adapt and make his own, he's about to launch 1989: Dawn of Freedom through GMT Games, based on the legendary Twilight Struggle engine and developed in conjunction with TS's co-creator Jason Matthews. Ted's also made possibly the only game based on the Civil Rights struggle in America in the mid-20th Century, and we discuss the possibilities of learning through gaming. Next it's time to welcome Daniel Solis back to the show. Always an entertaining guest, Daniel's a machine - he's forever creating incredible stuff that puts most of us to shame! This time around we discuss his latest project based around Evil Hat's "Spirit of the Century" RPG system and look back at his Thousand Year Game competition that - after months of submissions and testing - now has a winner. Finally, Rob Daviau has had his name on many excellent games - you may not be aware of him, but you'll know his games. With the likes of Heroscape, Star Wars: Queen's Gambit and Buffy The Vampire Slayer on his CV, he's now also responsible for the new hotness that is Risk Legacy. Introducing brand new concepts to the gaming world is something that seems to drive Rob's creative brain, and in this Spoiler Free interview we cover how the game went from idea to sitting on the tables of many gamers around the world

So here it is, the first Little Metal Dog Show of 2012, and my oh my, it's a doozy. I'm joined by three upstanding gentlemen to discuss the gaming year that was 2011, talking about our favourite games that we've played as well as a few of the terrible ones. Steve, Ben, Campfire and myself also look to the future (well, this year) and reveal some of the titles that we're looking forward to getting to try out in the coming months. Oh, and I'm also joined by a certain Rich Sommer. "Who he?" I hear you ask, "His name sounds familiar!" Well it bloody should, for he plays Harry Crane in the rather splendid TV show Mad Men as well as acting as gaming evangelist-in-residence on US network G4. Enjoy!

It's the final episode of The Little Metal Dog Show for 2011! On this one we run the gamut of total geekiness to casual gaming heaven. Chris James from Stratus Games comes along to discuss their plans to open gaming to families by producing titles that are accessible to all, while Greater Than Games' Christopher Badell joins me to talk about their fantastic Sentinels of the Multiverse (and the new expansion set, Rook City). Throw in the really rather excellent nerdcore punk band 3d6 and it's a fantastic show! Thanks for listening and happy holidays!

The final episode of The Little Metal Dog Show's coverage of the 2011 Spiel event brings you another selection of interviews straight from the show floor with designers old and new, all talking about the games that have brought them to Essen. From first time visitors to experienced industry veterans, everything you need to know about some of the most exciting games of the year is here.

It's Day Three of The Little Metal Dog Show's excursion to Essen! Another stack of interviews with some incredible designers and industry players from the biggest gaming expo in the world. For more details, come on over to http://littlemetaldog.com - and be ready for episode 34 and the coverage of the final day of the show.

The second of four Little Metal Dog Shows live from the show floor at Essen! From award winners like Qwirkle and 7 Wonders to brand new releases, this one's an epic. With thirteen interviews with game designers old and new, this latest episode should give you a good flavour of what goes on at the world's biggest board games fair.

Blimey. Having never been to Essen before, I really had no idea what to expect. I knew it'd be busy, but I didn't realise quite how busy! I wandered, I played, I chatted away and recorded more interviews than I knew what to do with... so here's the first of four Essen specials, one per day!

Two heavy hitters from different areas of the gaming universe come together for the latest episode of The Little Metal Dog Show. First of all legendary designer Richard Launius comes on board to talk about not only his classic game Arkham Horror but also new projects such as Dragon Rampage, Pirates vs Dinosaurs and Elder Sign. There's also a brief soujourn into the world of designing Major League Baseball uniforms... New York Times bestselling author RA Salvatore is my second guest. A published writer since the mid 1980s, his creations are amongst the most loved by Dungeons Dragons fans, the most famous invariably being dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden. With his latest book Neverwinter coming out this week, we discuss the writing process, his most iconic character and the effect that his writing has on both him and his readers.

This episode is one of those that makes me feel very lucky indeed. I get to speak with a legend, one of the people who had a major effect on my life as a child, RA Montgomery. As one of the driving forces behind the Choose Your Own Adventure books, the stories that his series put out took me on countless adventures without leaving the comfort of my school's tiny library. We discuss how the series came to be, the importance of Interactive Fiction as a genre, plans for the future and - most importantly - exactly what was the deal with that secret ending in Inside UFO 54-40? We also see the return of the fantastic Chris to help out with answering questions (and discuss exactly what he got for his birthday, the lucky bugger). As always, you can catch us both on Twitter (he's @RallyIV while I'm @idlemichael) or email the show: michael@littlemetaldog.com is the address for your questions next time around. Oh, and listen *all* the way to the end. Not that there's anything there. Oh no.

The Little Metal Dog Show returns once again! This time around, I'm joined by a bunch of fine gentlemen. First up, Don Lloyd has been working on games for years and has finally managed to get his first major project up and running thanks to the magic of Kickstarter. Dark Horse is half resource management and half dice placement, combining some interesting elements to make a very entertaining looking game. We discuss the perils and pitfalls of crowd-funding, and the long road to getting Dark Horse out there into the hands of gamers. I'm then very pleased to say that the gentlemen from The Official New Internet Sensation that is Shut Up & Sit Down join me. Quinns and Paul tag along to talk about their fantastic new show and what on earth possesses them to create the thing.

The Little Metal Dog Show is like a London bus - you wait ages for one to show up, then get two within a few days. This one is back to the normal interviews format as I'm joined by the founders of two independent companies who are creating some great games. First of all, from Indie Boards and Cards, I speak to Travis Worthington - currently finishing off their biggest game ever (Flash Point - Fire Rescue), they're a small company who are responsible for some great titles, especially The Resistance. I also get to talk with Justin Gary, a former Magic: The Gathering pro-tour champion who moved on to designing his own stuff and formed his own company, Gary Games. Makers of Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer and the follow up Return of the Fallen set, we cover card gaming in all its glory...