Our guest this week is crazy enough to include his personal phone number in every game he sells. Brent Beck (aka "Grandpa Beck" of Grandpa Beck's Games) wants no barriers when it comes to learning his games, so he includes his digits in every copy in case you want to text him for rules clarifications.

That's why his chosen topic -- bringing people together through gameplay -- makes so much sense. Brent wants nothing more but to draw people to him and each other to enjoy the hobby he loves so much.

Listen/watch as we discuss his work and play philosophies, how many texts from customers he gets per day, and more.

Timeline:

• 3:03 - Going Analog's game pick: Pandora's Legacy.
• 5:48 - Grandpa Beck's game pick: Mille Bornes.
  
• 11:03 - Grandpa's Beck's topic: Bringing people together through gameplay.

We had to bring in this episode's guest to settle something. In our 2025 Games of the Year show, Christina called Wine Cellar a runner-up for her Party Game of the Year. Shoe took issue with her calling the wine-making card game a "party game," so whom better to bring in than its designer, Andrew Stiles, to settle this hugely important argument?

He has a great topic for us, too. Since he gets to playtest so many games for his colleagues, he goes over several he's particularly excited to see finally released this year. And since we get to preview many titles ourselves, we get in on the conversation. Listen to see what we think are the most exciting games to watch for in 2026.

Timeline:

• 7:55 - Going Analog's game pick: Snow Colony.
• 11:12 - Andrew's game pick: Castles of Mad King Ludwig.
  
• 15:41 - Andrew's topic: 2026 games we've played and are excited about.

It's our yearly tradition now: We invite a new content creator on our show, and we discuss the best games of the year in several weight categories. Joining us for our 2025 edition is Candice Harris, formerly of BoardGameGeek and now doing her own thing with Kickin' It Creative. She's just as board game crazy as we are, so check out what we thought were the best of the year.

Timeline:

The 2025 Games of the Year (hit up our website for the full list of winners and runners-up):

• 7:06 - 2025 Party Games of the Year.
• 18:10 - 2025 Light Games of the Year.
• 33:38 - 2025 Medium Games of the Year.
• 50:55 - 2025 Heavy Games of the Year.