Why you should join a gaming club and overcoming ‘gamer’ stereotypes: it’s the fourth episode of the Tabletop Gaming Podcast!

The fourth and final episode in our podcast mini-series on the history of tabletop gaming takes a look at the social side of games.

Host Jonny Crawford speaks to founders and members of gaming clubs about becoming part of the community, welcoming newcomers and overcoming stereotypes.

He also hears why those unsure about heading along to their local club should conquer their fears, and how games can be used to help with social anxiety.

Meanwhile, Sushi Go! creator Phil Walker-Harding returns to reveal how playing games can be educational – and we mean more than just memorising the answers to Trivial Pursuit.

It’s the finale to our special trip through the origins and evolution of gaming; you can still download the previous three episodes, looking at chess, card games and miniatures, for free via iTunes or Podcasts.com, where you’ll also be able to find the RSS feed to import the podcast into your media player of choice.

Each instalment is only 10 minutes long, so why not take a few minutes this lunchtime or over the long weekend to brush up on your gaming knowledge?

In episode one, Jonny spoke to historian and Head of History at the University of Huddersfield, Dr. Pat Cullum, and two-time British chess champion Gawain Jones to find out how one of the world’s oldest games emerged and why it remains a classic to this day.

Episode two ran through the story of card games have changed over the ages, from their beginnings as traditional playing cards to the modern-day popularity of collectible trading card games like Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon. Sushi Go! designer Phil Walker-Harding told Jonny about his own love of cards, and where the inspiration for his snack-sized smash hit came from.

In the penultimate episode, Jonny heard from Games Workshop veteran and River Horse founder Alessio Cavatore, plus Ghostbusters: The Board Game II head designer Vincent Pritchard, about why minis continue to be massive, and their move from wargames into board games of every shape, size and type.

You can download The Tabletop Gaming Podcast, now including the first, second, third and fourth episodes of The History of Tabletop Gaming, via iTunes.

Or instead head to Podcasts.com if you’d prefer to listen to the podcast in your browser, download it directly and find the RSS feed to import the podcast into your favourite media player or device.

Let us know what you think of the podcast and what you’d like to hear in the future via social media on Facebook and Twitter!