Going Analog

Head and shoulders image of a white haired man with a white goatee looking off into the distance to the right. Some buildings and a bit of water are visible behind him. Ryan Dancey, former COO of Alderac Entertainment Group.

Text from a LinkedIn post which says: Ryan Dancey Author Chief Operating Officer at Alderac Entertainment Group I have zero reason to believe that an AI couldn't "come up with Tiny Towns or Flip Seven or Cubitos". I can prompt any of several AIs RIGHT NOW and get ideas for games as good as those. The gaming industry doesn't exist because humans create otherwise unobtainable ideas. It exists because many many previous games exist, feed into the minds of designers, who produce new variants on those themes. People then apply risk capital against those ideas to see if there's a product market fit. Sometimes there is, and sometimes there is not. (In fact, much more often than not). Extremely occasionally (twice in my lifetime: D&D and Magic: the Gathering) a human has produced an all new form of gaming entertainment. Those moments are so rare and incandescent that they echo across decades. Game publishing isn't an industry of unique special ideas. It's an industry about execution, marketing, and attention to detail. All things AIs are great at.

Ryan Dancey, a more than 30-year veteran of the tabletop gaming industry, has lost his COO job at publisher AEG a day after saying AI could generate game ideas as good as his company’s titles Tiny Towns and Cubitos:

boardgamewire.com/index.php/20...

Check out our guest review of a game we are really digging (designed by @macaroobanzai.bsky.social) that’s no longer allowed on the market. 😳😢

Oh that's such a bummer. :( Hope the game can live in some form or another!

Our most anticipated board games of 2026...that we've actually *played*. Check out what we're excited to see released this year!

www.goinganalogshow.com/article/318/... #boardgames

We loved the ryokan theme! Bested Another Time was a really interesting take on shedding — strategically passing for certain abilities took a little to wrap our heads around, but we enjoyed it!

Fun hanging out with @cardboardeast.bsky.social while he was in town! Showed us a couple of fun import games from his collection.

ICYMI: He was also on our podcast last year talking about the games scene in Asia: www.goinganalogshow.com/article/299/...

Collage of Going Analog’s and Candice Harris’s Games of 2025: Galactic Cruise, Kinfire Council, A Place for All My Books, Covenant, Beasts, Zenith, Nature, Age of Galaxy, Phoenix New Horizons, The Elder Scrolls, FlipToons, Hot Streak, The Fate of the Fellowship, SILOS

IT’S HERE. Going Analog’s Games of the Year episode (it’s still 2025, right?), and we were joined by @candidrum.bsky.social 🎉

Are we SO RIGHT? What did we miss?

www.goinganalogshow.com/article/317/...

We're back with part 2 of our 2-player special, with guest @grantsgamerecs.bsky.social! Now you have too many 2P recommendations from all of us. You're welcome. www.goinganalogshow.com/article/314/...

We (w/ @grantsgamerecs.bsky.social) have been talking about having a weekly game night committed to something we almost never get to do: completing a campaign.

The game we all wanted to see through: Tidal Blades 2. Now let’s see if our schedules and real life will allow us to finish.

We love PlayProp so much that we had to get a second copy. Gotta replace some of the corks that inevitably get chopped up by our violent friends.

Episode 85: Going Analog- Goals not resolutions for 2026, aesthetically pleasing Euro games, and buttering up the host. | The BoardGameGeek Podcast

Start the new year off with some NOT UGLY Euro games — thanks to @panda8ngel.bsky.social for having us on The BoardGameGeek Podcast!

boardgamegeek.com/blog/12153/b...

Wow, that’s dedication! We appreciate your listens — any faves? Hope you found some great games to play!

We decided it was the year of the 2-player game! So many great ones came out that we couldn't cover them in one episode (and not without the help of special guest @grantsgamerecs.bsky.social).

Watch 👀/listen 👂 to part 1: www.goinganalogshow.com/article/313/... #boardgames

We grabbed extras cause we knew friends would want to buy them once we showed them. First play on Sunday, sold one already (at cost). 😁

We got to play This is Not a Game About a Pipe at BGG.CON thanks to @wericmartin.bsky.social. Fell in love right away so we frantically texted friends who’d be at PAXU, where it was being sold. Thanks to @panda8ngel.bsky.social and Jon H for nabbing four copies for us!@macaroobanzai.bsky.social

Come watch @chrispyha.bsky.social and @danshoehsu.bsky.social later this afternoon! We'll be playing games to help the BGG Annual Support Drive.

BGG.CON: What we played, what we liked, and why we liked them.

Plus: What's next for The Board Game Quiz Show!

www.goinganalogshow.com/article/312/... #boardgames

It’s so satisfyingly puzzly! And the theme of a cat sushi cartel is amaaazing

It gets expensive (for us) when @panda8ngel.bsky.social and @grantsgamerecs.bsky.social visit and show us new games. Now these are on our want-to-buy lists: How to Save a World,
Neko Syndicate, Snow Colony, and
Formidabel! (aka Formidable Farm).

It really only took about 20 very tedious minutes, but the trauma of it required some recovery time

Update: we scored 849 (and started from 000)

Banner that says smash palace

My bedroom? Oh! You mean my

Luggage code suddenly doesn’t work, so now we get to play a less fun version of the card game Beasts
@pandasaurusgames.com
@stoichamster.bsky.social

Join us tonight for board game trivia at BGG.CON! Two shows: 8 pm and 9 pm. Prizes for winning teams courtesy of @luckyduckgames.

We've been drafting cards and tiles (and pieces of a fountain) left and right...hear our thoughts on them! www.goinganalogshow.com/article/311/... #boardgames

The coleslaw part is hilaaarious

If you'll be at BGG.CON next week, sign up for The Board Game Quiz Show live event! Do well and you can win some prizes. tabletop.events/conventions/...

Definitely touched upon!

"Just make it in America!"

Druid City's James Hudson explains why making board games in the U.S. is just not feasible.

www.goinganalogshow.com/article/310/... @druidcitygames.bsky.social

An early prototype of the Climate module for Nature. The game just keeps getting better with more cards and systems.

Last 24 hours on Kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/nor... @northstargames.bsky.social