Description

Mike Siggins

@sumo

Welcome to 2023, which happens to be the 19th season of my little podcast, Boardgames To Go. I'm as surprised as anyone to still be around, still with listeners. I do enjoy this, and greatly appreciate my small & loyal following. I'm thrilled to start the new season with a wonderful guest, Mike Siggins talking about his Sumo picks.

The Sumos 2022
Yokozuna

Ark Nova

Ozeki

Akropolis | Brian Boru | Shinkansen | Vienna Connection

Sekiwake

1923: Cotton Club | Magnate | Railroad Revolution | Rise | War of the Ring: Card Game

Tainted Sumos

Etherfields (Sekiwake) | ISS Vanguard (Yokozuna)


Wargame Sumos

Dawn's Early Light (Yokozuna)


Bayonets & Tomahawks | Fire & Stone | Plains Indian Wars | The Shores of Tripoli | Two Minutes to Midnight

Probably everyone who listens to my podcast already knows about Siggins. He was even on my show four times before, but the last was a full 15 years ago! As you'll hear us say, we suspected it was longer ago than we'd like to remember.

However, my interest in Mike Siggins goes back further than that, way before this podcast. My entry into this hobby is closely tied to Siggins, thanks to his Sumo magazine that was transcribed onto the internet by Ken Tidwell (which reminds me...I've always wanted to interview Ken for the podcast. Perhaps in 2023?). Siggins wrote about games with a critic's analysis and writer's flair, whetting my appetite for games I'd never seen or heard of. And then there was this amazing thing called Essen that he wrote about. I was doing all of this reading in the late mid/late 90s, and Mike was writing in the early 90s. Possibly even 1989. Amazing!

He's seen & played so many games. At one point he nearly burned out, and there's the story of his famous collection-purge from hundreds or thousands of games down to just 50. He's still playing lots of games, including lots of new ones. Every year he names ten or so of them as his own personal top picks of the year: the Sumos. For the year just passed, 2022, I get the honor to host him talking about them and sharing the list with you. Near the end of the program I also share my own list of notable games in 2022, though some were published earlier.


Mark's noteworthy games of 2022

Boardgame: Cascadia

Card game: Targi & Scout

Party game: Just One

Wargame: Cuba The Splendid Little War

Online game: Memoir '44 / Azul / Wingspan


It was a fun conversation and I hope you like it. I don't intend to let another 15 years pass before I get Siggins back on the podcast. A request has been made to discuss euro-wargame hybrids again, which I may just morph a little bit into a discussion of a new style of easier, introductory history games that are taking off on both sides of the Atlantic.

-Mark