First of all, from new British company Waits In Graves, Sam Lamont and Beth Hughes come along to talk about the labour of love that is Epic Death! It’s a quick to play, easy to pick up game of adventuring through a fantasy world that’s packed out with many rather familiar elements and a ton of dice rolling - well worth you checking it out - and it’s all done in about half an hour. What more could you ask for?! Afterwards, Iraklis Grous of LudiCreations and Board Game Travel pops up and discusses their new release called Gear & Piston. Set in the automobile industry at the start of the 20th Century, you’ll be battling it out to create the best vehicle possible from a variety of components while trying to screw over everyone else - it’s a great little Euro that serves as a perfect intro to the genre, and it’s playable over on Board Game Arena too!

Finally, the guys from Flip The Table are on! Another member of The Dice Tower Network, FTT is one of my favourite shows out there. Every episode sees them take a box from the dark side of the games room and investigate what it offers today’s gamer; both good and bad. We chat about all manner of things (including what Robocop would be like if he was from England) and finish up with a traditional Flip The Table Battle of Wits… who will win? Listen and discover for yourself!

Following that, I have an in-depth discussion with Christopher Badell from Greater Than Games. They’ve enjoyed immense success with their co-operative superhero cardfest Sentinels of the Multiverse but are now moving into a whole new world - or whole new galaxy, if you prefer - with a brand new title called Galactic Strike Force. What lessons has he learned from previous KS experiences? What on earth is an Electro-Celestial War Spectre? And will I owe him a beer at Essen 2013?

You’ll be aware of the work of James Wallis, ‘the godfather of indie RPGs’ – with games like Baron Munchausen and Once Upon A Time under his belt, he’s built quite the reputation in the gaming industry. Now he’s back with a blast RPG called Alas Vegas; a tale of amnesia, violence and life in the desert. We talk about the game, his experience with Kickstarter and much more. There’ll also be a few lies in there, but it’s up to you to work out precisely what is true…

Colby Dauch of Plaid Hat Games then returns to discuss how the company has expanded in the space of a couple of years from producing only Summoner Wars to having a massive range of titles in their catalogue. With new releases on the way including City of Remnants and a tie-in with the forthcoming Bioshock Infinite video game, Plaid Hat are moving up in style. There are also a few revelations about what they have planned for the future, including a brand new design from Colby himself.

Finally, David Malki! from the excellent webcomic Wondermark joins me to talk about a new game he’s co-developed – Machine of Death. Set in a world where the technology exists to reveal the method of your demise, Machine of Death has spawned a book (along with an upcoming sequel) and now a party game of ‘creative assassination’. Brace yourself; this isn’t your average dinner party extravaganza…

First up, journalist Will Freeman joins me to discuss the state of board gaming from a wider perspective. Will is responsible for games coverage in The Observer, one of the UK’s leading broadsheet newspapers, and has begun writing reviews of the kind of games we know and love. Will this help bring gaming to the masses? What will happen in 2013? And could there be a negative effect brought on by opening up the hobby to a much wider audience?

I then have the pleasure of speaking to Ben Harkins, designer of Legacy: Gears of Time and owner of Floodgate Games. The concept of Time Travel is tricky enough to get your head around, but making it work in a streamlined fashion on your tabletop can prove nearly impossible. How does Ben manage to make it work without destroying the universe and still keep it an entertaining experience?

First of all, John Moller from Cartrunk Entertainment comes on the show to talk about his fantastic Unpub Conventions held over in the USA. The third annual Unpub takes place in January next year, and it’s a place where designers get to take their games and play them with like minded folks. If you want to check out some of the best unpublished designers and what they’ve got planned for the future, this is the event to attend! That’s followed by Danny Hooper, one half of Sopio’s design team, who talks about how he and his cousin Alex Day managed to attain underground success with a game that you may well never have heard of… check out what he has to say for yourself!

Anyway! Episode 43 is here, where I get to (virtually) meet up with a couple of the industry’s good guys. First, Todd Rowland (who has been on before) comes along to discuss the new Tempest project from AEG. Tempest, a world in which designers are invited to make whatever game they like using provided assets and stuff, launches in October at Essen with three games - Dominare, Mercante and Courtier - with many more to hopefully follow. Imagine having the ability to create a prototype where the art and templates have already been built for you, then letting your imagination go wild: that’s Tempest. After that, I’m joined by Game Salute’s very own Dan Yarrington. In a pretty candid discussion, we talk about Kickstarter (of course) and what GS are attempting to do with their Springboard Seal of Quality, as well as get into the meat of what’s happening in the industry today.

There’s also the launch of the 2012 campaign to get the show to Essen - find out more information at http://indiegogo.com/LMDS2012

First up, I get to speak with Gary Weis, the Chief Technical Officer at iOS developer Playdek. They’re really making a push to get quality games onto your iPhone and iPad and are already responsible for the excellent conversions of Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer and Food Fight. With upcoming versions of Nightfall and Agricola on the way, we talk about how you transfer something from a tabletop to the palm of your hand and still make it fun. After that, Jump Gate designer Matt Worden joins me to discuss how he managed to handcraft a game that ended up becoming Games Magazine’s GOTY in 2011, as well as his plans for the future.

Finally, the devious duo of Steve “Voice of Ameritrash” Avery and Tom “Dice Tower” Vasel come along to discuss their forthcoming game Capo. Players who enjoy taking their opponents down a few steps will love this one as there’s plenty of opportunity to screw them over… but I’ll let the guys tell you all about it.

First up, Ted Torgerson; less a designer and more an appropriator of systems to adapt and make his own, he’s about to launch 1989: Dawn of Freedom through GMT Games, based on the legendary Twilight Struggle engine and developed in conjunction with TS’s co-creator Jason Matthews. Ted’s also made possibly the only game based on the Civil Rights struggle in America in the mid-20th Century, and we discuss the possibilities of learning through gaming.

Next it’s time to welcome Daniel Solis back to the show. Always an entertaining guest, Daniel’s a machine - he’s forever creating incredible stuff that puts most of us to shame! This time around we discuss his latest project based around Evil Hat’s “Spirit of the Century” RPG system and look back at his Thousand Year Game competition that - after months of submissions and testing - now has a winner.

Finally, Rob Daviau has had his name on many excellent games - you may not be aware of him, but you’ll know his games. With the likes of Heroscape, Star Wars: Queen’s Gambit and Buffy The Vampire Slayer on his CV, he’s now also responsible for the new hotness that is Risk Legacy. Introducing brand new concepts to the gaming world is something that seems to drive Rob’s creative brain, and in this Spoiler Free interview we cover how the game went from idea to sitting on the tables of many gamers around the world

I’m joined by three upstanding gentlemen to discuss the gaming year that was 2011, talking about our favourite games that we’ve played as well as a few of the terrible ones. Steve, Ben, Campfire and myself also look to the future (well, this year) and reveal some of the titles that we’re looking forward to getting to try out in the coming months. Oh, and I’m also joined by a certain Rich Sommer. “Who he?” I hear you ask, “His name sounds familiar!” Well it bloody should, for he plays Harry Crane in the rather splendid TV show Mad Men as well as acting as gaming evangelist-in-residence on US network G4. Enjoy!

New York Times bestselling author RA Salvatore is my second guest. A published writer since the mid 1980s, his creations are amongst the most loved by Dungeons & Dragons fans, the most famous invariably being dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden. With his latest book Neverwinter coming out this week, we discuss the writing process, his most iconic character and the effect that his writing has on both him and his readers.

We also see the return of the fantastic Chris to help out with answering questions (and discuss exactly what he got for his birthday, the lucky bugger). As always, you can catch us both on Twitter (he’s @RallyIV while I’m @idlemichael) or email the show: michael@littlemetaldog.com is the address for your questions next time around.

Oh, and listen *all* the way to the end. Not that there’s anything there. Oh no.

We’ll be back to normal with the next episode, but for now I hope you enjoy this one. Thanks as always for listening!

Chris also returns this episode with answers to a stack of questions. If you want to get in touch with us, you can email us: michael@littlemetaldog.com and chris@littlemetaldog.com. Thanks to Gryphon Games for sponsoring this episode, and thanks as always to you for listening.

Also, The Little Metal Dog Show has now been running for a whole year! There’s a little thank you section at the end of this episode and I promise that next time around we’ll be back to normal service. Plus we’ll be 21. Perhaps an alcohol themed episode is on the cards…!

You can get involved by checking out our brand new website which lives at http://littlemetaldog.com - have a look, there’s a stack of reviews, features and interviews to delight and entertain! You can email us as well - we’re at michael@littlemetaldog.com and chris@littlemetaldog.com. Thanks for listening!

Also, as usual, there’s questions with Chris (who has some very good news)! Don’t forget that if you want to get in touch with the show, the email address is littlemetaldog@gmail.com. Thanks for listening and have a great festive season!

As always, if you want to get in touch with the show, email littlemetaldog@gmail.com or poke me on twitter: it’s @idlemichael. Cheers for listening!