In my job, I have periods of pretty rote data entry that can get a bit mind numbing which is why I usually have either music or a gaming podcast running in the background.
The number of podcasts have exploded in recent years to where you really do have to be very selective with whom you spend your time. I’ve tried many, many different ones, but these are a few that I still come back to every week.
The Secret Cabal Gaming Podcast – Yes, they can be a big bros club but no other program makes me laugh as hard as this one. The members of the panel do a great job at covering a wide range of games and have a genuine comradery that can only come with years of being friends. The programs, which regularly go three hours or more, have a variety of segments (short reviews of what they’ve been playing, deep dive game review, gaming news, general discussions) and seasonal editions add such things as song parodies. Plus, where else are you going to get some of the most groan worthy jokes than with Steve?
The program has missed a few editions in the last few months due to Jamie, the defacto “leader’s” illness but, to their credit, they have kept all their fans abreast of the situation and they are now back on track with bi-weekly shows.
JASCES B GANCY – Let’s get the obvious question out of the way right up front. The title stands for “Jaina and Sharon can’t even stop buying games and neither can you”.
Jaina and Sharon are members of the Geek List group “What Couples Have Been Playing” (administered by yours truly) and started floating the idea of a podcast that would document their gaming journey as a couple (and occasionally in larger groups). The program debuted in November and is now approaching its thirtieth episode.
While they do talk about specific games, there are also discussions around more general topics in gaming which keeps the program interesting and entertaining.
I really enjoy the interplay between these two and, because so much of my gaming is with my wife, Karen, it gives me great perspective on games that are either two-player exclusive or scale well for two.
This Game Is Broken – If you are a fan of the NPR quiz show “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me”, this podcast will be a natural.
Five well known people from the gaming universe, Paul Deming, Matthew Jude, Dave Luza and the Brothers Murph (Nick & Mike Murphy) come together weekly with one person taking the hosting duties and the rest answering questions about games and gaming. One round might have the host reading the components list of a game and seeing who can ring in first with the right title. Others take a more esoteric and creative route. Almost always, in the end, it’s not so much who had the most points but how much fun they had getting there.
Which brings me to the one thing that makes these podcasts standout. It’s not the information or the reviews. Almost anybody can do that. It’s the personalities and the humor that propel these titles to the top of my podcast listening pyramid.
