Logan Jenkins, Greg Leatherman
71 episodes listed below
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Welcome to Game Mechanics, where we kick the tires and run diagnostics on tabletop experiences! Hosts Logan Jenkins and Greg Leatherman talk about everything tabletop; from board games, to roleplaying games, and even some video games that evoke the tabletop experience. Greg and Logan have been playing games for decades and have designed several games themselves.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Clear mechanical explanations and lively judgment reveal how tabletop rules shape the choices and relationships around a game.
Logan Jenkins and Greg Leatherman make tabletop design legible by slowing down at the moment a rule becomes an experience. Their discussions move comfortably between Magic the Gathering cards, cooperative trick-taking goals and the custom dice in Roll for the Galaxy and Dice…
A colored die lands, and suddenly you're asking which actions it actually lets you take.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A one-year milestone hang that uses turtles, horror, and shared history to show the hosts at their loosest.
Episode 52 finds Game Mechanics in familiar form: open, chatty, and willing to drift from the anniversary into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles canon and horror memories.
Tabletop banter meets a sharp, uneasy critique of utility driven thinking.
Game Mechanics starts as a plainspoken look at two hosts who can stretch a prompt driven game into a two and a half hour brewery icebreaker. It then turns to the logic behind AI hype, especially the comparison that treats human effort like a line item.
A clean look at a roguelite TTRPG built around drafting, upgrades, and replayable runs.
Photon System Overdrive offers a tidy look at a one-to-two player roguelite tabletop RPG built around drafting abilities, then drafting upgrades that alter how they behave over a run.
A brisk critique of licensed card-game profit chasing and the table politics it can create.
Game Mechanics uses a Harry Potter licensing headline to make a broader point about tabletop publishing: some companies still treat balance as optional and profit as the real objective.
A brisk, funny look at how custom dice and turn structure shape Roll for the Galaxy.
The episode turns Roll for the Galaxy into a clear look at how ship actions, development choices, and custom dice change the feel of a turn. It is strongest when it stays on the table-level details: what the symbols mean, why the die mix matters, and how a simple choice can…
A tabletop business rant that doubles as a card-game history tour.
Game Mechanics treats tabletop talk like a business story with jokes hanging off the side. Logan and Greg start with the Hasbro shareholder lawsuit and the claim that Magic: The Gathering gets leaned on whenever a quarterly report needs a lift, because it is the one thing Hasbro…
A funny look at Magic art, trick-taking structure, and the puzzle-like character goals.
Game Mechanics starts with Magic: The Gathering chatter and spends real time on a strange card, the art around it, and why that odd little corner of the game is worth the attention.
A tabletop business checkup that keeps the stakes close to the table.
Game Mechanics turns a tabletop business update into a focused listen. It makes the Leader Games letter, tariff pressure, and Games Workshop's AI policy feel concrete instead of remote, and it does so without dressing up the stakes.
Wrestling toy talk with full collector brain.
The hosts critique Upper Deck's Harry Potter licensing and J.K.
Hosts Logan and Greg interview indie game designer Tim Gonzalez about his Kickstarter project, Photon System Overdrive, a roguelike TTRPG inspired by Phantasy Star Online.
Hosts Logan and Greg discuss tabletop gaming news, including using games for social icebreaking, Gen Con housing struggles, AEG firing its COO over AI comments, the Neopets TTRPG Kickstarter controversy, and tariffs affecting board game prices.
Logan and Greg discuss Logan's experience at Tantrum Con in Charlotte, including playing new games like 'Estate' and 'Roll for the Galaxy', and explore a survey on gaming's mental health benefits.
The hosts launch a new segment called Hasbro Watch, critiquing Hasbro's Harry Potter licensing deal and its potential impact on Magic: The Gathering.
Hosts Logan and Greg discuss major tabletop industry news, including Cole Worley and Kyle Farren leaving Leader Games to form Buried Giant Studios, Games Workshop's tariff impacts and AI policies, and D&D's quiet 2026 slate amid market shifts.
Hosts Logan Jenkins and Greg Leatherman celebrate their podcast's one-year anniversary, announcing a Patreon launch to support the show.
Greg and Logan mark National Board Game Day on April 11 while mocking calendarholidays.com’s timeline, which jumps from 3,500 BCE Mesopotamian games to Monopoly in 1935, Scrabble in 1948, and the holiday’s creation in 2020.
The hosts discuss a lawsuit against Hasbro for overprinting Magic: The Gathering cards to boost CEO bonuses, explore the benefits of living card games like Netrunner, and announce a new Final Fantasy board game.
Hosts Logan and Greg discuss new Magic: The Gathering sets, including Lorwyn Eclipsed and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with a focus on card art and pizza-themed lands.
Hosts Logan and Greg discuss tabletop games, game design, and tangents like Heinz 57 sauce.
Hosts Greg and Logan discuss their recent gaming experiences, including Pocopia and Things in Rings, and banter about tabletop games.
Hosts Greg and Logan discuss Magic: The Gathering's new Marvel set and the controversial inclusion of Captain America villains like Baron Zemo.
Hosts Logan and Greg welcome the new year, discuss resolutions, and set the stage for tabletop game talk.
The hosts announce a holiday break and discuss the origins of Christmas as a co-opted pagan holiday.
Hosts interview game designers about their new tabletop game, discussing mechanics, art style, and replayability.
Hosts Greg and Logan discuss their Thanksgiving break, PAX convention, and critique the board game Catan as outdated compared to modern games.
A discussion among game designers about how to price tabletop RPGs and the transparency of pricing on Kickstarter.
A critical discussion on advancement mechanics in tabletop role-playing games, featuring guests Natalie and Takuma.
The hosts discuss the abuse allegations against Zach S within the tabletop RPG community, providing an overview of the controversy.