Tabletop gaming podcasts I currently recommend when asked

One of the questions I see asked over and over again on social media is: "What's a good gaming podcast I can check out?" This was a question that I was asking myself around a year ago. Yep, only about a year ago. For whatever reason I just didn't get into podcasts until mid 2012. Now I've had friends, especially +Sean Stephens, who've been telling me I've been missing out for years. Heck Sean still thinks I should do my own podcast.

Well that was over a year ago now. Now I'm a huge fan of podcasts, specifically tabletop gaming podcasts. I listen to them all the time, in the van when driving around town, on trips out of town, while working on the computer at home, when outside doing yard work, etc. I now listen to podcasts a lot. Just yesterday I finally caught up. I had finally listened to all of the episodes of all of the shows I was currently subscribed to. Yet I still felt like listening so I went looking for more. That's what reminded me of that original question: "What's a good gaming podcast I can check out?"

I thought this would make an excellent topic for the Windsor Gaming Resource. So here I am. Below I'm going to provide a list of some of my current favourite hobby gaming podcasts. All of these are currently active and still producing content as of the time this was written. In addition to this list I encourage you to check out my Tabletop Gaming Podcast community on G+ where I have a growing list of every single Tabletop Gaming Podcast out there and provide a place when you can interact with show listeners and producers.

Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff is still a pretty new podcast but is quickly becoming a fan favourite in the hobby gaming community. It features +Kenneth Hite and +Robin Laws and, well, they talk about stuff. This stuff includes movies, books, RPGs, game design, pop culture, food, time travel and cultists. Yes it's quite a broad range but almost all of it is content you can apply to your games in some way. Both Ken and Robin are extremely open and frank during the show. It almost seems like you are sitting with them at the local pub while they chat over vodka and tonics.

The Sharkbone Podcast is currently one of my favourites. This round table podcast is produced by +Devon Kelley and +Jarvis Mishler. The show is broken into two parts. In GM's Reef the group takes a movie they have all watched and discusses how they can mine it for RPG ideas. The thing is that they don't just look at the plot and talk about how that would make for a cool game, they actually look at all aspects of a film for concepts. The second part of the show, Great White, is more of a traditional RPG podcast segment where they discuss a mechanic or a theme and how to make that a cooler part of your game. This topic usually ties in with the movie some how.

Play on Target is another new podcast, newer even then Ken & Robin. It was put together by a group of guys over at RPGgeek.com and stars +Samuel Dillon, +Lowell Francis, Andrew Goenner and +Brian Cooksey. This is a pretty typical round table RPG podcast where the group picks a topic and they basically just sit around and talk about it for about an hour. The thing with this podcast is that these folk know their stuff. They are very active users on RPGgeek that have been involved with the community for a very long time. Plus I have to mention them, they mentioned my RPG on their show :D

Here's a great board gaming podcast: The Dice Tower. Hosted by +Tom Vasel and +Eric Summerer, the Dice Tower is the one podcast you really don't want to miss if you are into board games. Tom and Eric talk about what's new, what's coming soon, they host a Q&A with their fans, host in depth reviews and conduct engaging interviews. The dice tower is the most popular board game podcast for a reason. Along with The Dice Tower, check out The Dice Tower Network.  Under the DTN banner you will find the excellent Ludology that talks about game mechanics, On Board Games which rivals The Dice Tower itself for content, The Secret Cabal which is a mix of all tabletop hobby games and has some of the most detailed reviews I've ever heard, The D6 Generation - a general tabletop podcast that would be on this list if it wasn't regularly well over two hours long,

I learned about Across A Table Madly when +Aaron R saw me talking about podcasts on G+ and asked: "Hey do you listen to our show, what do you think?" and I realized that I did not currently subscribe. So I checked the show out, found I really dug it and have been a subscriber since. Besides Aaron the show also features +Samuel Dillon, Brittani-Pearl, and +Kato Katonian. Similar to Play on Target, which Samuel is also in, this is a very solid round table show. What impressed me the most about this one was their willingness to take on hard topics and discuss them in a very calm and reasonable manner.

The Nerdherders is also relatively new, only in episode 24 right now. It stars Ian Clark, David Farr and Matt Alix. This is a general geek show that talks about all kinds of things. Comics, movies, TV and gaming. All of the hosts are into RPGs, board games, miniature games and video games. This is a great podcast for anyone into multiple facets of the gaming hobby. Sure there may have been parts of some episodes that I've skipped over as they were talking about some geerkery I wasn't into but there hasn't been an episode yet where I didn't hear something I wanted to know about.

I've been a fan of +Pete Figtree's Ruthless Diastema podcast right from the start. Pete is a teacher and much of what Pete talks about is using gaming in education. He talks about using both board games and RPGs in the classroom and at home. What has always blown me away about Pete is his ability to stuff a ton of great info into a short amount of time. Most of his episodes are under ten minutes in length  Recently Pete provided some of the best on the spot Origins coverage I've heard. Pete also recently hooked up with +Alex Mayo and the Geeky & Genki network. This network hosts many other great shows like The Gamecast and +Ryan Shelton's short but very informative Roll For News.

Despite the fact that 2 GMs 1 Mic has a very well deserved explicit rating I keep coming back. GMs +Joseph Wolz and +Nicky Helmkamp have a very open and frank discussion about RPGs. What they are playing, what's currently hot, what they love and what they hate. Here's one show not afraid to point out things they don't like, which is a refreshing change at times. What I enjoy most about this show is that Joe and Nicky are into a lot of newer indie games I've never heard of and I find the show a great source for hearing about new games. Plus they have a House Dragon.

So there you have a peek into the podcasts I'm currently listening to on a regular basis. Note this list only scratches the surface and my tastes change week to week depending on the mood and the games I'm currently playing. Please don't be offended if I didn't mention your show or the one you like to listen to the most, there's just no way I could list every show I dig. Give me a shout in the comments if you have a show you really dig that isn't listed here and maybe I will toss up an "Even more good gaming podcasts I should check out" post some time in the future.