For the past few months, I’ve been catching up on these gems of game discussion podcasts, running the gamut from one-man shows to round-table-special-guest-discussions, and generally having game design as their overarching theme. Here they are, roughly in order of rotation:

Another Castle (iTunes)

Though they have not put out an episode in a few months, Another Castle marked my foray into game podcasts, and has been a tough one for others to live up to. Host Charles Pratt presents us with loose, conversational, live interviews with game developers, designers, journalists, etc., largely from the New York scene (and largely indie), accompanied by the charming background chatter of a local restaurant. I was immediately hooked and am now eagerly awaiting the podcast’s second season. Highly recommended.

The Brainy Gamer Podcast (iTunes)

Host Michael Abbot delivers sweet, sweet podcast candy in The Brainy Gamer Podcast, an extension of The Brainy Gamer blog. The podcast has featured a notable amount of game designers (Steve Gaynor, Corvus Elrod, Manveer Heir), creators (Jenova Chen, Clint Hocking), and journalists (Leigh Alexander, N’Gai Croal), and many other game industry folks. Recent episodes follow more of a discussion format with a panel of guests, while Professor Abbot delights us with his personal thoughts in earlier ones. All gold.

Games With Garfield (iTunes)

Richard Garfield, legendary designer of Magic: The Gathering fame, heads the excellent Games With Garfield, a podcast mostly structured as a topical discussion between its three hosts, and complimented with occasional interviews. It comes as no surprise from Garfield’s background that the podcast is fairly evenly balanced between board game design and video game design topics. This was the last podcast to be added to my playlist, and one that effortlessly made its way up the rotation.

The Experience Points Podcast (iTunes)

Centered around a recently released game, article, or topic, each episode of Experience Points is dedicated to the serious but not humorless analysis of videogames and culture. Hosted by Jorge Albor and Scott Juster, this podcast has me usually nodding my head in agreement as the fine points of their topical discussions are fleshed out.

Three Moves Ahead (iTunes)

Spearheaded by Troy Goodfellow and flanked by co-hosts Tom Chick, Bruce Geryk, Julian “Rabbit” Murdoch, and Rob Zacny, Three Moves Ahead attacks strategy game-centered topics in videogames and board games. Usually following a panel discussion format, Three Moves Ahead has been known to occasionally invite strategy game designers to join in. Highly recommended.

Header image by Oliver Hartmann.