Longtime BGB listeners will remember the inimitable Mr. pinto as a special guest on my first Stories of Self-Publishing shows and I've been trying to get him back since. Here, we talk about game design, the industry and his work for Alderac Entertainment Group, who are entering the board game market big time. They're local heroes in Southern California (as the guys responsible for the brilliant CCG "Legend of the Five Rings") and I'm glad to see them get into the kind of games we talk about on BGB. I hope you enjoy our freewheeling chat â I sure enjoyed having it.

As I mention on the show, please feel free to follow me on Twitter (bgbabylon), link to be on Facebook or LinkedIn and please become a "Fan" of Boardgame Babylon on Facebook so I can get one of those cool unique URLs for the show.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

P.S. Yes, that sandwich is jim pinto. It was hard to interview him without getting hungry but I managed it.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Strategicon     Dan Verssen Games     One Small Step 

         Giants by Fabrice Besson (Asmodee/Matagot)

         Playing Gods by Benjamin Radford (BallsOut Entertainment)

         Roll Through The Ages by Matt Leacock (FRED Distribution)

I also announce the lucky winners of the BGB contest for cool Michael Schacht stuff from Orccon 2009. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone that sent in an entry. This was the most popular contest yet for BGB and it's inspired me to do another one soon.

I'm back from GAMA (where I didn't record any shows) but I do have some good material for a couple more shows, one archive show that should see the light of day soon and even - finally - a "Favorite Games of 2009" show with one of my favorite BGB occasional contributors joining me on the mic.

Thanks again for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

A word of warning: I recorded this over Skype and it would appear that there is some bug through the VOIP that makes it sound like I am breathing heavily whenever I am not speaking. It's clearly not me using a sub-standard microphone for this one podcast but an actual bug in Skype. They apologize for the excess noise.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

*  Ghost Stories

*  Wasabi

*  Gem Dealer

Also, be sure to send in your entry for our exclusive Michael Schacht contest. You can win one of the following:

*  A copy of the Strategicon exclusive Zooloretto expansion, "King K."
*  A signed copy of the Spielbox Zooloretto expansion.

Send in your entries ASAP - we'll take them through the weekend (until March 22). The contest is available to everyone WORLDWIDE.

And for more information on Orccon, Gamex or Gateway, please visit: www.strategicon.net

Thanks again for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

...Sheylon

Be sure to listen for the way to send in an entry for our exclusive Michael Schacht contest. You can win one of the following:

1. A copy of the Strategicon exclusive Zooloretto expansion, "King K."
2. A signed copy of the Spielbox Zooloretto expansion.

Send in your entries today. We'll take them until March 21th (something I conveniently forgot to mention during the recording...) and then pick a winner.

Thanks again for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

However, I'm editing the Michael Schacht Q&A for posting shortly and should be giving away a copy of the exclusive Strategicon Zooloretto expansion (entitled "King K.") to one lucky listener. Watch for the show later this week. I have material for at least one additional show, if not two (plus one show I recorded last week but didn't get a chance to edit).

The convention was a lot of fun, very crowded and I got a very warm reception to all games I showed. I guess it was all the advertising I did but all but one demo went off and they were nearly all packed to the point of turning people away. I did a few extras to get in some of the folks who really wanted to learn the games (notably: Municipium, Hogwarts House Cup Challenge and Roll Through The Ages). I'm exhausted for the work week now but at least I had dozens of folks that appreciated the chance to learn games instead of reading the rules themselves and it was fun to see so many of them come back with the games they had just learned in hand, having purchased it in the dealer room. That's a nice feeling - knowing I helped introduce them to something they will enjoy.

Thanks for downloading and - in this case - reading Boardgame Babylon.

After this, I bolted over for Michael Schacht's other major new release, The Golden City. This one is a building game with various bonuses available from building from the ports on four sides of an island (each with different kinds of territory) through the fields and into the city for big bonuses. There are scoring opportunities every turn depending on where you place your shops and also which goods you have acquired. Players build by acquiring territory cards and if someone takes the pair you like, you can pay to grab it instead (and back and forth). Nice game and one that plays in about forty-five minutes.

The day started with some good demos. Supernova was enjoyed by some folks, even though the game didn't end up working particularly for me. Then the Roll Through The Ages madness! I demonstrated the game three times in a row because there were so many people lined up to play it. The excitement over the game was palpable â nearly every person said they wanted to buy it (notably â one very slow game was played where all four players kept the game going slowly by focusing solely on infrastructure â had two naysayers). I also managed to get in a Ticket to Ride Dice Game expansion demo for five that left two very excited players that thought the Dice expansion improved the game. Although I cannot agree with that assessment, I do like the Dice expansion quite a bit â particularly with boards we play less frequently (like Switzerland and Europe).

The Michael Schacht Q&A session was enjoyable. We had plenty of good questions and once I give the recording a polish, it will be up. I'm also doing a follow-up with Michael as well but as we finished up, we encountered the squad from MyNerdGirl.com. Apparently this is a social networking-style site and I'm hoping to post our brief conversation with their two representatives along with a second podcast with some additional questions I had for Michael that didn't get into the Q&A â hopefully including a preview of Zooloretto Exotic, Valdora and The Golden City.

The most amazing part of the day â the raucous response to Antoine Bauza's Hurry'Cup. We had a full complement of six for this party-style race game and a great time was had by all. This is a race game from Asmodee that has a personal speed element (i.e., you grab pawns to find out how quickly you will move). One player actually left the table mid-game to run to the dealer room to buy it because he'd noticed that there were not a lot of them available. I think I got a few action shots from the insane diving for the good pawn each. We had a nice crowd, too, and lots of interest for another demo tomorrow.

Right now, I'm running a demo of Andrew Parks' Hogwarts House Cup Challenge for a bunch of Harry Potter-mad folks. There are quite a few people here and I think a second game will be starting just after this one. This was meant to be my last demo of the day but if the players are there, I guess I'm teaching it again. The game is a family adventure game where you wander the grounds of Hogwarts in search of points for the Gryffindor house. Your encounters add to the glory of Gryffindor but also that of your own character â so although the House wins, there is an individual winner, too.

I also taught Roll Through The Ages to a few groups of enthusiastic folks â Matt Leacock's (of Pandemic fame) latest has a lot of fans here and I just hope the retailers in the dealer room listened and brought enough to sell. All four people at the last game were swearing they would get one tomorrow morning (Saturday, when the dealer room opens). I also showed Ghost Stories with great success â although the players did not win. For me, Ghost Stories remains just as much fun when you lose as when you win. The nice thing is that it is easy to vary the difficulty with some tweaks like giving the players more life tokens or playing with the haunted space numbers a bit.

Tomorrow, we show off Valley Games' Supernova and Titan, FRED's Gem Dealer and Roll Through The Ages, NECA/Quixotic's Hogwarts House Challenge, Z-Man's Middle Kingdom and Heads of State, and many more. But I'm really looking forward to the Q&A session with Michael Schacht. There isn't much time to send in questions but if you do, I'll try to get them in. I'll probably do a follow-up show with him as well to ask all my questions that do not get in during the Q&A so even if you send them after 1 PM PST today, I might have time to ask him.

If I can get the darn pictures off my camera or Blackjack, I'll upload some soon.

I've just finished teaching Municipium (myu-nih-KIP-ee-um â unless you like church Latin) to some excited players. We had about four additional folks listening in and I think the next demo will likely fill again. I'm fond of this middle-weight Knizia (okay, maybe light-middle) and the art has really grown on me.

In fact â if you have any questions for us to ask Michael Schacht in the Q&A session tomorrow, drop me an e-mail at sheylon AT gmail DOT com (or click the Connect link to the left) and I'll try to get your question in. Send them in soon!

Tonight, I'm doing demonstrations of Valley Games' Municipium, FRED Distribution's Roll Through The Ages, and Asmodee's Ghost Stories.

Strategicon's Orccon 2009 is welcoming award-winning game designer Michael Schacht as Guest of Honor for their annual convention held at the LAX Radisson from February 13-16.

Mr. Schacht is set to US debut of three major new releases at the convention. "Zooloretto Exotic" is a new expansion for the Spiel Des Jahres-winning family game of the same name. "The Golden City" is a major new Kosmos release and "Valdora" is the latest new board game from Abacusspiele due out at the Nuremberg toy fair this year. All three will be available for exclusive play at Orccon along with some games Mr. Schacht will bring for play-testing at the event.

In addition, Mr. Schacht has provided an exclusive Zooloretto game tile for Orccon 2009 that will be available to Strategicon attendees this year. Strategicon also runs Gamex 2009 on Memorial Day Weekend and Gateway 2009 on Labor Day Weekend. The tile will also be used in a big combined Zooloretto/Aquaretto tournament also held at the convention.

Orccon 2009 regularly plays host to approximately fifteen-hundred gamers from around the world. Board game tournaments offer dealer dollar prizes and have no individual event cost. Come join in the fun in sunny Southern California this Presidents' Day Weekend. For more information on Orccon 2009, please visit: www.strategicon.net.

In case you aren't familiar with the term "Five and Dimes" in reference to plays of board games, the mighty game reviewer Mike Siggins coined the term years ago to refer to games played five or ten times in the course of a year. These days, the terrific blogger/gamer/family games expert Mark Jackson (aka "Fluff Daddy") tracks this information and doesn't a series of reports to show which games are getting the most play and how it compares to past years. You can watch for the details on Mark's blog here.

Boardgame Babylon will be back with a session review show soon with details on some exciting newer releases including Ghost Stories, Municipium, Le Havre, and Hurry'Cup.

Don't forget that Orccon 2009 is coming up February 13-16 with Special Guest Michael Schacht. I can't say enough - don't you want to come to Southern California in mid-February to play games? Considering the great price war going on right now with the airlines, it should be fairly cheap to come visit us (check out the deals on Travelocity and Expedia) and get away from freezing temperatures. Hey - it was 85 degrees here today - I considered taking the kids to the beach. Sorry, didn't mean to rub it in... ;) Find out more information on www.strategicon.net and if you are coming out, drop me an e-mail so we can get together and play a game at the convention.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

But for now, here is BGB v60 - a series of interviews I conducted at BGG.con last month. I apologize for the sound quality on the interviews. I hadn't intended to podcast at the show but I ended up doing so anyway with the recorder on my Blackjack and now I know - we won't be using that again (the iRiver died some time ago...)

Anyway, the show includes interviews with the folks from Asmodee, Your Move Games, Bucephalus Games, and Ape Games (plus a bonus chat with Kevin G. Nunn of "duck duck GO!" fame) - plus some noteworthy news I share about the very special, very cool guest we have joining us here in Los Angeles for Orccon 2009. You'll want to check flight prices when you hear about who is joining us here in Southern California for the big show. As noted on the show, a second BGG.con show with some locals chatting about the convention will be coming soon. When Aldie gets around to releasing the fun show he recorded with Jason Matthews, Tom Lehmann and Derk, you can hear me asking more than my fair share of questions, too. ;)

Also, listen in to hear about the BGG.con coins that have been launched here and around the world. Keep those coins moving and you can check out where they have been right here. You may be able to get in on the fun even if you didn't attend BGG.con.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon. Happy New Year!

Sadly, the Last Minute Stocking Stuffer show was scrapped at the last minute when I had to do some work this week when I was supposed to be on vacation. I only had so much time before Xmas and that had to win out. But I'll replace it with a session review show for sure. I hope to release two BGG.con shows shortly in addition to at least one session review show.

Listen to the next Boardgame Babylon for some exciting news about the upcoming Orccon convention. We have a special guest coming in from Germany that might interest you. There are even more reasons to visit Sunny Southern California in February now.

We've got the Christmas music playing and we're about to play a little Mystery Rummy (likely Rue Morgue since we're tired and I can almost play that one in my sleep) while we wait for Santa. Those of us at Boardgame Babylon wish all listeners a very happy holiday season filled with joy, games, and good times!

...ERB

However, there is at least one BGG.Con report coming and two Session Review shows talking about some exciting titles from Essen and just after. Patience is appreciated!

Also appreciated are the nice folks using our affiliate links for Amazon and MeeplePeople. You buy things for the same amount if you went to their site but if you click from here, I get a tiny cut. So, thanks to those that have contributed to the show with your shopping dollars.

As we go into the Christmas season, feel free to visit us here at BGB when you are shopping at Amazon or MeeplePeople.com. Although we don't ask for donations at BGB (I always listeners to become a BGG Patron or BGN subscriber instead since those terrific folks make a living doing this kind of thing), I certainly appreciate those that use the Amazon search box to find the items you are ordering and when you make a purchase, we get a tiny little cut (doesn't affect your price). Same thing for Meeple People.com - we get a small slice that doesn't increase your price. So, if you're shopping on those sites, I humbly request you click through BGB to help support the show. A very big thanks to those that already have (since that reminded me to mention it, too).

Lastly, I wanted to mention that, as expected, the terrific Ryan and Chad of GameInk.net did indeed have the RA shirt at BGG.con and if you want one, you'd better order NOW. They were moving nicely there and they had people contact them ahead of time to put in their requests for one to be held. If you want a copy of this awesome limited print-run item, browse on over to GameInk.net right away (and check out their other cool stuff, too - I bought a couple more shirts myself at BGG.con). They make terrific presents.

Happy Thanksgiving to all US folks observing it and happy holidays to everyone else.

I've decided to part ways with my Risk: Black Ops. I'm reviewing a copy of the same game a friend bought so this shrinkwrapped Risk: Black Ops can go to someone who will love it more than I will. Drop me an e-mail with an offer if you are interested. I can deliver to BGG.con if necessary.

E-mail to: Sheylon AT GMAIL DOT COM. Send it soon! No formal process (not a bid or whatever) - I'll just look at the offers and if one looks good - you got it.

BGG.con is just a week away and I'm going encourage BGB listeners to do two things:

1. Please check out my BGG List of games I'm keen to play at the convention. If you'd like to join me, please comment and I'll try to seek you out for the game in question. The list is nearly forty-strong so hopefully every listener in attendance can find one that we can play together. Here's the link: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/36547
2. The great guys of GameInk.net are producing their fabulous RA t-shirt ("17"), which lost out on their two contests for top shirts but apparently they can be won over with enthusiasm and the promise of nearly two dozen BGB listeners agreeing to buy shirts at the show. However, the shirt is in short supply so get to their booth early and get your awesome "17" shirt. You'll be the best dressed person at the con. Note: The above may not be the final design - I think Ryan said it might be in black instead.

Hope to see many of you in Dallas next week. Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned

Dominion   Ticket to Ride: The Dice Expansion   Race for the Galaxy

Hero: Immortal King (three different scenarios below)

The Lair of the Lich   Infernal Forge   Den of Dementia

Other Links

Days of Wonder   Asmodee   GameInk.net

And, no - you need not have enjoyed Igor to enjoy the R&R games based on it. ;)

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon. Happy Halloween!

Show Notes

Games mentioned:

Igor: The Monster Making Game   Igor: The Life of the Party

Innsmouth Escape   Bump In The Night   Mmm...Brains

Fearsome Floors   Fury of Dracula   Gravediggers   Vampire (Knizia)

Zombies!!!   Zombietown

Additional Links

R&R Games   Twilight Creations   Fantasy Flight Games

1. There are sound quality issues
2. This show IS NOT edited properly so it's a little longer than it would be if I spent some time tightening it up.

Hope this one is still enjoyable even though the awards were announced last week.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

International Gamer Awards  

Well, Boardgame Babylon is not known for timeliness. In this case, I'm doing really badly.

A while back, the International Gamer Award nominees were announced and I was quite impressed that I'd played all fifteen of the multiplayer category's games. I also knew that my friend Chris Johnson had also done so and thought it might be interesting to talk about our opinions of the games and their chance to come out on top for this prestigious award.

So, I planned a nice to record and convinced Chris to come over...only to fall ill (darn the school year starting!) Thus, I delayed a week and when I finally recorded the show, well, I had a sound problem. Last week, as I began to work on fixing the problem (while also finishing up my big Clear the Shelves auction) and didn't get it done until the weekend...when the 2008 IGA winners were announced.

So...should I release this thing? I know I don't want to edit the heck out of it and wrestle with the sound quality when I can record my next podcast talking about Ticket to Ride: The Dice Expansion, Tinners' Trail, Playing Gods, and Hero: Immortal King.

If you would like to hear us breezily talk about the nominees (and accurately predict the winners!), let me know and I'll quietly add the show to the feed. If I hear from a couple of dozen or so listeners, I'll put it up. You can post on the comments here OR send an e-mail to me at: sheylon AT gmail dot com.

Thanks again for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon - even the ones that may be out of date...

Also, you might want to check out my BGG "Clear the Shelves" Auction. I've put up fifty games from my collection that could use new homes. Check it out here: BGG's Clear the Shelves Auction.

More BGB is on the way, including a discussion of the IGA awards, another session review show and hopefully two new In Depth shows with nice special guests.

And, yes â that is one of Meeple People.com's new plush Meeples. I used him to intimidate Alaric's followers in our recent Carcassonne game (funny how the Xbox version inspired us to play the regular one â not complaining!) I feel sure his awesome power led to my two-point victory.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon. Your feedback is greatly appreciated! Please send your comments, thoughts, and complaints to: sheylon at gmail.com.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned

Age of Gods   Octego   GIPF

Elric   Dark Emperor   Sorceror

Other Links

Willow Tree Games (sorry, I call it Willow Games on the podcast)   Asmodee Editions

Additionally, I wrote up my session reports from the convention and they ended up being so long that I decided against reproducing them here. Instead, I shoved them on a Geeklist here: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/33755

(see the pic for a shot of one of the weekend's silliest moments - me mercilessly defeating newbies in the traditional Loopin' Louie tournament - photo courtesy of Greg Zamira)

I'm looking ahead to the next couple of conventions. Gateway 2008 is at the end of the month and it should be a great time. Again, I'm demonstrating games on Friday and Saturday - including new games from Z-Man, Days of Wonder, Rio Grande, Fantasy Flight, and a few other companies. Come out and join us in Southern California for the best convention series around.

The next Boardgame Babylon is a Session Review show with comments on Age of Gods, Octego, and a great book of games called "The 15 Greatest Board Games In the World!"

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon. We're hitting huge numbers lately and it is much appreciated! Please share with me any feedback you might have - it's always a pleasure to receive your notes. Just click the "Connect" button to send me your comments.

This podcast is sponsored by the wonderful folks at Gateplay.com. Check them out for great games at terrific prices and free shipping with a $100 order. A terrific site for gamers new to the hobby as well as the full initiated.

A couple of additional items:

Strategicon is raising their rates for the next convention, Gateway 2008, but you can still get the old convention rate through July 31st - including your BGG Patron or Boardgamenews.com Subscriber discount. Check it out now and join us for this great convention on the Labor Day Weekend.

GameInk.net is a great place to buy gamer shirts that don't look too much like gamer shirts (that's a good thing). They had the good taste to design an utterly wonderful RA shirt but they cannot seem to get enough votes to have it be one of their latest prints. Luckily, they saw my attempts to shamelessly get people to vote for the RA shirt by offering to buy extras to give away at BGG.con and now we're working on trying to get it printed if enough people will contact me and commit to purchasing one. So, if you are interested - please send me an e-mail and let me know.

Thanks again for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

But the game is just about to debut here in the US in an English language version and so I don't feel too badly about releasing a show with more information and details about the history of the game. I'm honored to have the US publisher of Agricola, Zev Shlasinger of Z-Man Games, join me on the mic to talk a little more about the game, the hype and the US release.

Part 2, featuring a conversation with LA-based Agricoholics Stephanie Kelleher and Chris Johnson talking with me about basic gameplay, strategy, a preview of the Z Deck, and the tournament we ran at Gamex 2008, will be out soon.

Please send your feedback to the connect link on the side or post them on the comments section.

This episode is sponsored by Gateplay.com - check them out for your pre-order of Agricola. I certainly recommend pre-ordering Agricola from your favorite retailer if you want to make sure you get a copy of this print run with the Z Deck. 

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games mentioned

Agricola   Race for the Galaxy   Bohnanza   Mamma Mia

Klunker   Caylus   Scepter of Zavandor   End of the Triumvirate

Stone Age   Pillars of the Earth

Other Links

Z-Man Games   Lookout Games   Uwe Rosenberg   Spiel Des Jahres

Gateplay.com

The cake also tasted great. You'll notice that the Scientist is out this round (she ran out of white) and the Researcher was made of Tootsie Roll (and was the first pawn eaten). Despite all the detail, Christina was excited to do this one since Pandemic is one of her favorite games. It was another nice reminder that I am one lucky guy.

Watch next week for the first of two "Agricola: In depth" shows and I'll even be tackling Pandemic soon on a show devoted to co-op and semi-co-op games.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Apparently some people miss these shows so here is a new show talking about some great new games that we've enjoyed in recent months. A second show like this will be coming soon about Cutthroat Caverns, Age of Gods and Innsmouth Escape.

But before that, you can expect another game in the "In depth" series. "Agricola: In depth" is coming and quite soon! The first part of this two-parter should be out next week and the second part will follow shortly after that - all just in time to whip up the hype on the eve of the game's (finally!) release in the US.

Lastly, I'll note that my dear wife Christina joined me on this show just because she was sitting nearby when I was going to record. Her comments are light (she made me edit out a section) but I sure enjoyed having her around for the show because it's ages since I recorded a solo show.

Thanks again for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games mentioned

Ticket To Ride: The Card Game   Say Anything   Pizza Box Baseball

Keltis   Lost Cities   Drive (Crazy Chicken)   Wits & Wagers

Apples to Apples   Wer War's

Other Links

Northstar Games  

Boardgame Babylon is finally back with a new show and can you believe itâs already another show from a Strategicon?

Yes, itâs been a very busy year. Iâll probably talk more about that in BGB v53 but for now, I just want to release this enjoyable Q&A session recorded at Gamex 2008 with Guest of Honor Zev Shlasinger. Zev was good enough to join us out here in Los Angeles over the Memorial Day Weekend for the biggest Gamex of the decade. The Strategicons are gaining more and more momentum, getting larger and itâs great events like this one that are part of it. L.A. has a terrific boardgaming community and it is a real pleasure to see so many of the California Gamerati come out to these events.

In addition to the Agricola and Pandemic tournaments, we also had a Z-Man Marathon tournament with players getting points for each Z-Man title played during the course of the day. Players were also encouraged to join us for this session with Zev, where he answers many audience questions (and a few from yours truly). I hope you enjoy it as much as the audience and I did.

Two more shows will be coming out of Gamex. The first is a show about many of the new games I demonstrated at the show, including Ticket to Ride: The Card Game, Innsmouth Escape, Pizza Box Baseball, and Cutthroat Caverns - and perhaps a few more. My voice is still shot almost a week later from demoing, teaching and podcasting all weekend. The second show is âAgricola: In depthâ -expect that one in the latter half of June.

Please send any feedback to me at the link on the side, post to the comments or drop a note on the Boardgame Babylon Guild on BGG.com.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Zev Shlasinger, Gamex 2008's Guest of Honor, arrived today and was perhaps a bit surprised to find the L.A. weather worse than that he'd been experiencing back in New York. This week in L.A. has been bizarre with 100F weather quickly turning into bizarre, windy and somewhat rainy conditions marked by a touchdown of a tornado and many funnel clouds. We're not accustomed to that kind of thing here in Los Angeles where the mantra is 'sunny and mild'.

But off to the gaming: I started the evening by playing a game that I will be showing off this weekend - a 10-inning nailbiter game of Pizza Box Baseball played against my buddy (and occasional BGB co-host) Mason Rourman. Mason is NOT a baseball fan and was fussy about the perceived lightness of the game (we played the basic game since we were learning). As the game progressed and I made note of where the game expands with the full rules, I could envision how much I would enjoy it with the full complement of rules. I can hardly wait to show it off at the demo tables tomorrow. Although the game is a little heavier than Harry's Grand Slam Baseball (a Burgess Family Favorite), I think it will go over well with Christina and Alaric.

At 6:00 PM, I ran the big Pandemic tournament. How do you run a Pandemic tournament, you might ask? Well, you can hear more about that in an upcoming Boardgame Babylon. I came up with a concept I liked, put it to Zev and Matt Leacock (Pandemic's designer) and they both thought it was a good idea. And it went off quite well - we had a shortage of Pandemic games but the players had a good time even though nobody won the tournament! Admittedly, we set the bar high but Pandemic is one of those games where you often have just as much fun losing as you do winning.

After this, I went over with Strategicon co-owner Mark Hyman and played Stone Age with two other fellows. This is my sixth or seventh play of this agreeable game from "Michael Tumelhofer" and I have a pretty straight strategy down now after winning my last three games. However, Mark managed a little beginner's luck and edged my buildings-plus-buildings-bonus strategy with all ten workers, every worker bonus and a lot of cultural cards. After one more Pandemic and a lot of rules review, plus some good chats with convention friends and Zev, I hit the sack. A more social day than a game playing day but that's okay - conventions are for reconnecting with old friends and new, too, not just games.

1. Z-MAN is coming to Gamex 2008 - The Z-man himself, Zev Shlasinger is the Guest of Honor for the upcoming Strategicon convention over the Memorial Day Weekend, Gamex 2008. This means Gamex 2008 will host the US debut of Uwe Rosenberg's instant classic, Agricola (with a tournament to boot), as well as a Z-man Marathon Tournament, and a unique tournament experience for Matt Leacock's awesome new Pandemic (which I'll talk about on BGB v52). You can expect a great time over the weekend and to hear the Q&A session with Zev on Boardgame Babylon sometime later (and, hopefully, at least one more podcast recorded there...)
2. Demos at Gamex 2008 - We have an awesome lineup of demos at Gamex planned for attendees. My crack team of Boardgame Babylon co-hosts and I will show con attendees some of the latest and hottest games around from Z-Man (of course - Zev will be showing them, too), Rio Grande, Days of Wonder, Fantasy Flight, Twilight Creations, On the Line Games, Smirk and Dagger, and many more.
3. Buy from Thoughthammer tomorrow! - In celebration of Earth Day, the wonderful folks at Thoughthammer.com are donating a portion of proceeds to the Rocky Mountain Institute. How cool is that? Alfredo and gang are already one of the best places online to get the latest games (and they've added Haba to their line recently) and if you order tomorrow, you also get to celebrate Earth Day in style. Need ideas for $125 order? How about: Galaxy Trucker, Stone Age, Tribune, Pandemic and Agricola? Can't go wrong there!
4. Exciting new stuff from Days of Wonder - I'll chat more on the next show but I'm very excited about the new stuff coming out of those DoW folks recently. The best news is that the story that broke earlier this year about a Shadows Over Camelot expansion (how did that get out of the Cone of Silence?) is true: Merlin's Company is on the way to liven up a game some say they solved. More can be found at the place where you are supposed to go for your news. But they also are releasing the long awaited Memoir '44 carrying case! Now, if they can just repackage it for BattleLore, I'll be cheering, too.

Okay, enough procrastination. Back to the Script Frenzy.

Car Wars   Illuminati   Ogre   Munchkin   GURPS (best RPG ever)

Steve was kind enough to answer questions from the audience as well as those from my co-moderator Paul Tevis (who handled the RPG side of things) and me.

The show starts out with Steve giving an overview of upcoming Steve Jackson Games products before taking questions. Although there is some discussion of RPGs (which we don't normally cover on Boardgame Babylon), there is also a lot of good material from the very witty Mr. Jackson who is certainly well-aware that we are recording for the podcast and he does what he can to give listeners extra audio cues about the proceedings - to amusing effect.

Thanks again for listening to Boardgame Babylon. A new session review show is coming soon.

Show Notes:

Steve Jackson Games  Have Games Will Travel   David Brin   Tribes

Charlie the Unicorn   Unspeakable Vault   Print On Demand  

Reiner Knizia   Martin Wallace   Friedemann Friese   Alan Moon

Uwe Rosenberg   Jay Tummelson   Wolfgang Kramer   Michael Schacht

They each bring their unique perspective to this subject of the current state and the future of the hobby.

Show Notes:

Contest Details   Transcript of the Discussion   Today's Date

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

I should note that my daughter has become a fan of Chris' music as CJ. If you have young kids, you will want to check him out. That CD is in heavy rotation along with Gwyndolyn's favorite kid band, Gwendolyn and the GoodTime Gang (also one to check out if you have young ones).

I hope you enjoy this new show in the series. With any luck, we'll have a second BGB this month, too. Keep an ear out for it.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Links:   Gateplay.com   Chris Handy's Designer Page   Simply Fun

Games Mentioned:

Trump: The Game   Linkity   Handy   Plext   Pandemic  

Topeka Board Gamers: Donate to the Boys and Girls Club of Topeka

Gateplay Games   Tanga.com

And here are the full Best Games of 2007 lists for both of us:

Aldie

1. Agricola   2. Race for the Galaxy 3. 1960: Making of a President

4. In the Year of the Dragon   5. Starcraft   6. Galaxy Trucker

7. Age of Empires 3: Age of Discovery 8. Fire and Axe 9. Notre Dame

10. Arkham Horror: The King in Yellow

Honorable Mentions: Thebes

Disappointments: League of Six, Kingsburg, Key Harvest

Eric

1. 1960: Making of a President   2. Agricola   3. Race for the Galaxy

4. Notre Dame   5. Brass   6. In the Year of the Dragon

7. Hamburgum   8. Age of Empires 3: Age of Discovery   9. Amyitis

10. Duel in the Dark

Honorable Mentions: King of Siam, Midgard, Thebes, Vikings, Take It To The Limit, Wurfel Bingo, Key Harvest

Disappointments: Kingsburg, Chicago Poker, Gipsy Kings (edited out)

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon. 

In addition to that, I have shows for all the major BGB series coming up soon - most are recorded and one is planned. The "Best of 2007" show is also on the horizon, with another favorite guest. In fact, that will probably be the next one you hear. Also, I recorded a Q&A session with the Orccon 2008 Guest of Honor, Steve Jackson, with one of my esteemed podcasting colleagues, Paul Tevis of the Have Games Will Travel podcast. I think I have six shows in the can so, you know, they need to come out!

Thanks to everyone who has written in to ask about why BGB has been so quiet lately. The first quarter of 2008 has been rather busy with work, a family emergency and, yes, a bout with bronchitis. But I'm on the mend and setting some time aside to get out some new shows. If nothing appears by next Monday, you are free to harass me again.

Thanks for downloading (and waiting for) Boardgame Babylon.

Thanks to all the terrific and clearly discerning folks that voted on it and for all the fond wishes of congratulations from listeners. It certainly was a great year for the show and I had a wonderful time being part of it.

Thanks for downloading and listening (and voting for) Boardgame Babylon. A new show with my Best Games of 2007 (and a good guest) is coming up soon.

In this show, Dave Jones from Time Well Spent (that's www.timewellspent.org - not the same thing with .com), joins me to talk about his experience running his successful online game store, his perspective on pricing and FLGSs and a little about the future of game retailing.

I also want to mention that we're just over a month away from Strategicon's next Southern California-based game convention, Orccon. I will be in attendance and hope to see BGB listeners there. For more information on this President's Day Weekend event, check out: www.strategicon.net.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Time Well Spent   Peter Sarrett   Mayfair Games

Merchants of Amsterdam   Haba   Tanga.com

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/27498

Happy New year to all and thanks for listening to Boardgame Babylon.

I've never asked for donations for Boardgame Babylon (although many nice people have inquired) but I do occasionally encourage listeners to support worthwhile charities (as in the Franz-Benno Delonge event) and I certainly encourage everyone to sign up and support BGG now during their membership drive leading up to the year's end. There's only about a week left to help keep our hobby's most valuable online resource alive and active in 2007. Here's the link:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/support.php

Happy Holidays to all!

...Sheylon

Wits & Wagers   Werewolves of Miller's Hollow   Word Blur

Quelf   Qwirkle   (in case you thought using Q and W games) Gifttrap

And the stocking stuffers:

No Thanks!   6 Nimmt!   Coloretto   Felix: Cat in the Sack

Power Grid Expansion   Vexation   Escalation   R-Eco

In addition to the roundup of great party games and smallish stocking stuffers, I also interview Dominic Crapuchettes from Northstar Games - who provides us with an exciting announcement about their plans in 2008.

Thanks to all listeners for downloading and hearing the show this year. Happy Holidays to all!

There may be one more show before the year ends but who knows once the holidays start in earnest.

Additional Links:

Gifttrap's Home   Northstar Games   Wiggity Bang   Mindware Online

I'll be back later this month with a show about more of the Essen titles I played like Filou, Cuba, Brass, In the Year of the Dragon, Hamburgum, Patrician, and Gipsy King.

The next show is the holiday one - where I'll talk about some great stocking stuffers and some suggested party games to break out for your big parties throughout the season.

Okay, here's part two of the BGG.CON Wrap-Up Show. My voice is dying due to illness so I just added in brief introductions to the various interviews with Kevin Wilson, Mark Simonich, Zev Schlasinger, Simon Hunt, Chad Ellis, and even a little shout out from BGG.CON Guest of Honor, Friedemann Friese.

I'll be back later this month with a show about more of the Essen titles I played like Filou, Cuba, Brass, In the Year of the Dragon, Hamburgum, Patrician, and Gipsy King.

The next show is the holiday one - where I'll talk about some great stocking stuffers and some suggested party games to break out for your big parties throughout the season.

And for a little glimpse of the Match Game hosted by Peter Sarrett, take a look here:

http://www.vimeo.com/419338

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

On this show, Aldie - the man behind the 'Geek - joins me for a chat about the show and some highlights for both of us.

The second part of this series will include a series of interviews with some nice folks I met at BGG.CON, including Chad Ellis, Kevin Wilson, Zev Shlasinger, Simon Hunt and many more. Heck, you'll even get to hear from Friedemann Friese had to say when I told him about the Power Grid: In depth show...and my real feelings about Power Grid...

Also - we announce the winners of the Franz-Benno Delonge Chairty Events, both the TransAmerica Tournament winners and those who won in the "Play At Home" drawings.

A special shout out to all the great listeners and new friends I got to meet at BGG.CON. It was an honor and pleasure to meet you all - thanks for all the kind words about the show.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

(that link: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/boardgamebabylon)

But now, we're back with a new show featuring an interview with Jeremy Young, the man behind Tanga.com, Simply Fun, Uberplay and Inspiration Games. While I mainly wanted to ask Jeremy about Tanga.com and get his unique perspective as both a publisher and an e-tailer, I couldn't help but ask about his other exciting ventures, too. I think you'll enjoy his comments and details about how his businesses were developed.

If you have comments, I welcome your feedback - please post it here on the Boardgame Babylon Guild on BGG.com.

Also, if you are on BGG.com, you can now purchase the new Boardgame Babylon Listener microbadge. You can find it here:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/browse/microbadge/3519

By the way, if you will be at BGG.CON this week, please look for me and say 'hi'. I'll be there from Thursday through Sunday afternoon.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

We've got plans in place for 72 participants in the TransAmerica tournament. We'll have room for some walk-ins but I'm not sure how many. Donate now if you want to make sure you are pre-registered for the tournament.

We'll also draw for the "Play At Home" winners at that time, except for Shire Games for UK donors - you have until 11/30 for that one.

You can still donate here: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/boardgamebabylon

Oh, and there should be a new Boardgame Babylon tomorrow. See some of you at BGG.CON. Look for me in the black BGB shirt, shamelessly promoting the podcast.

...ERB

Your Move and Sunriver are donating prizes that you can win at BGG.CON by playing in the TransAmerica Memorial Tournament. Shire Games - a fine retailer in the UK - has offered to help boost our donations from Great Britain by offering a game to one lucky donor who cannot attend BGG.CON but still wants to help support the fight against cancer.

We thank these terrific sponsors for their help in supporting the cause. We're at 38% of our goal now. Won't you please support the effort with a donation? The ACS Web Site will take a donation as small as $10 (or any size - and some board gamers have indeed been very generous!) and every little bit helps.

That link again: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/boardgamebabylon

Thanks in advance to all who help with the cause and honor Benno in this way!

...ERB

(photo courtesy of John Bohrer)

So, once November rolls around, I'm expecting to post the next BGB. I'm also expecting to announce a special event for BGG.con shortly, too - and I'm hopeful that it will be something that will encourage a lot of people to get involved.

Stay tuned.

Thanks for downloading and listening to (and waiting for) Boardgame Babylon.

As promised, this is the Q&A session recorded at Gateway 2007 with Guest of Honor Tom Jolly. Tom is, of course, well-known in the board game community as the designer of the classic game, Wiz-War (one of my few games rated a '10'), as well as more recent favorites like Drakon, Cave Troll, and Camelot. He was kind enough to entertain attendees with all kinds of interesting anecdotes about his history in game design and self-publishing, his experiences with various publishers and about how the industry has changed in the nearly twenty-five years since he entered it with 100 bagged copies of Wiz-War in hand.

I've decided to add this to the Stories of Self-Publishing series for the simple reason that a whole lot of the questions were about his days running Jolly Games, the shingle under which he published many of his older games, including G.O.O.T.M.U., Knots, Programmer's Nightmare, and Villages. But this doesn't mean I am wanting for more in the series - one more is already recorded and another is scheduled soon.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned

Wiz-War   Villages   Drakon   Cave Troll   RA

Cosmic Encounter   Magic: The Gathering   Knots

Disk Wars   Camelot   Cargo   G.O.O.T.M.U.

Other Links

Tom Jolly   Strategicon   Jolly Games

I took a very different tack with this show from previous con wrap-up shows. This time, I interviewed some folks at the show. About a half-dozen extra interviews were tossed due to sound quality and, I'll admit, even some of these are rough when I took my little iRiver recorder into the dealer room to chat with these guys. But I think you'll still enjoy many of them.

Please send me your feedback on this format and any comments you might have to: sheylon@gmail.com or, preferably, post them on the Boardgame Babylon Guild on boardgamegeek.com: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/138

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned

Wiz-War   Lost Worlds   Nuclear War   Imperialism   Duel in the Dark

R-Eco   Leaping Lemmings   Conquest of Paradise   Roads of Rome

Other Links

Protospiel West   Sorvent   GMT Games   Flying Buffalo   Strategicon

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=52245&cmd=tc

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babble-on...

Okay, for the first volume of Boardgame Babble-on, I'm hoping for a very general talk about some subjects from recent shows: Demise and Rise/Ascent and Dissent, latest games and disappointments, recents conventions and my excitement about finally attending BGG.con this year - and anything else the callers would like to discuss, really. Let's see how it goes. Hopefully this isn't so late that we lose the East Coasters.

Here is the link for the show: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=52245&cmd=tc

While we do not need to directly tie to only one BGB show, I was hoping to somewhat do so and have this be a chance for people to talk back on subjects we discuss on the regular show.

Would this be of interest to people? Please respond in this space and if it seems like a few people will show up, I'll schedule the show one night PDT. I'd love the chance to connect with BGB listeners.

Thanks for downloading and talking about Boardgame Babylon.

P.S. Some have asked what cake my wife made for my birthday this year. Feast your eyes on this one!

Now, I've reached out to many of the Friendly Online Game Store owners to get a chance to hear their side of the story. They continue to be successful and expand (thus the Ascent) and also be controversial from the perspective of some gamers (the Dissent) who feel they are ruining the chances for FLGSs to survive in a world of narrowing margins, high rents, and fractured interest in things non-digital.

But at the same time, FOGS provide an opportunity for gamers to have access to thousands of older or obscure games that FLGSs can't carry, a chance for those in remote areas to get games, and - the controversial part - to get games at a huge discount with free shipping on large order. Does this help the industry as a whole since more games get out there? Or are the FOGS lowering the perceived value of games and making it harder for gamers to stomach paying retail prices for games at a FLGS?

On this volume, I speak with Tom Powers - the owner and operator of Boards and Bits, one of my favorite online retailers and one of the most vocal FOGS owners on Boardgamegeek.com, whenever someone brings up the FLGS vs. FOGS subject. Tom was kind enough to answer some questions about his business, how he got into it, what he thinks about the recent 'price-fixing' Supreme Court decision, and the whole FLGS vs FOGS conflict. I think you'll find his responses candid and interesting.

More are on the way, too, although I will be posting a couple of shows from the Gateway 2007 before I get around to the next one.

We welcome your comments and feedbackIf you have not done so, please join us in the Boardgame Babylon Guild on Boardgamegeek.com and add your comments to the discussion there. Joining will also make you eligible for Boardgame Babylon contests in the future and you can also find a nice image gallery of pictures of Boardgame Babylonia there, too!

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Boards and Bits - a great selection of domestic and int'l games at great prices.

Boardgamegeek.con - I will finally be there this year ;)

Strategicon - Two shows from Gateway 2007 are on the way

While news of Delonge's passing has tempered the weekend a bit, I did spend most of it away at Gateway 2007 and it was a terrific event. The Live Action Wiz-War event was a smashing success with excellent attendance and although a couple of our props didn't make it down to the event, people had a great time. Our qualifying round lasted quite a while but the final game was over quickly due to a critical risk taken by one of the wizards and the fact that another player had the right card to take advantage of it. Classic Wiz-War, people kept saying.

I had a great time showing off new Z-Man titles like R-Eco and Duel in the Dark. Owner's Choice was also a big hit and I keep liking it more the more often I play it. Even had a chance to play it with Tom Jolly, who was disappointed that he couldn't find it in the dealer room and was trying to get mine from me in trade. Nothing doing, Jolly (I was able to saying that cavalierly since he'd already recorded a podcast for me).

Played great games like Shogun, Yspahan, R-Eco, Poker, tons of prototypes and, yes, even a game of Star Wars: Epic Duels. Sigh. At least I had a couple of glasses of Guinness in me to dull the pain.

Tons of shows are on the way. I have at least two show's worth from Gateway 2007, including the Q&A session with Tom Jolly (which I'm calling Stories of Self-Publishing, Part 2 since he talks a whole lot about it) and snippets from Protospiel West's event at Gateway - a chance for designers and playtesters to come together (and a very well-attended event!) This is in addition to a couple more shows I have in the can in a new series I meant to announce last week. Alas, I got too busy with work and life leading up to Gateway so you'll just get a whole lot of Boardgame Babylon over the next couple of months.

Thanks for downl...er...reading Boardgame Babylon.

In addition to the normal mix of great open gaming, tournaments, and demonstrations, there are a few notable special events:

*  Play with the Creator sessions with Tom Jolly and other designers
*  Fermat Challenge - Beat Tom Jolly at his own game and you can win dealer dollars to be spent at the con
*  Live Action Wiz-War with a full-sized map, giant props and a quick-play qualifying round that will allow dozens to play
*  Q&A session with Tom Jolly on 9/2 at 1 PM - We'll get Tom to answer everyone's questions about his long career in game design, publishing and where the heck the new Wiz-War is! This session will be recorded for Boardgame Babylon
*  Protospiel West has a series of sessions to bring designers and playtesters together to try out the next generation of designer games.
*  Many seminars in the Strategicon War College.

In addition, I'll be running tournaments of Owner's Choice, Saboteur, Midgard, Stack Market, and Colosseum (maybe more that I am forgetting).

For more information, please see www.strategicon.net.

Come on down and say 'hi' - just look for me in the Boardgame Babylon t-shirt. I'll be there for most of the weekend.

Also on this volume, you will find the nominees for the Boardgame Podcast Award for Innovative Concept discussed and the winner of said award officially announced. The nominees are:

BattleLore

Khet: Eye of Horus Beam Splitter

Pieces of Eight

Space Dealer

Yspahan

Don't forget that Gateway 2007 is just under two weeks away. Check out Strategicon's web site for more information about this great SoCal Game Con. I'll be running tournaments for a number of Z-Man games plus the aforementioned Colosseum. The special guest is Tom Jolly and we'll be running a variety of events with him, including Live Action Wiz-War - which will be run in a way to allow for lots of players so come on down and join the fun.

Besides, I was heavily photographed at fellow podcaster Doug Garrett's West Coast MeepleFest this weekend (which was a blast), too, so I figured the image is out so I might as well embrace it. It was amusing (to me) while it lasted. I will post some comments on games played there (see the sidebar for some of them), although most will end up on a podcast.

Sorry for the dearth of podcasts this Summer. My walking pnuemonia seems to be back and my voice is a shade of its former strength. That and Skype/Total Recorder problems have kept me from a couple of projects. But a new series, another episode of a previous series and at least two session review shows are on the horizon.

...Sheylon

Remember that Gateway 2007 runs on Labor Day Weekend and the Special Guest is Tom Jolly. More details will be noted in BGB v39, which is right around the corner. I'll be running tournaments of Colosseum, Stack Market, Owner's Choice, Saboteur, Midgard and an extra special event that will take a heck of a lot of work this next month...

Also - I will be at Gameology in Claremont, CA this Saturday to show off Stack Market and Owner's Choice in the morning and again in the afternoon. Come on out and say 'hi' and learn these two new cool games!

Show Notes:

Strategicon (Gateway Pre-Reg opens at the beginning of August)

Games mentioned:

If Wishes Were Fishes   Burg Appenzell   Midgard

Silverton   Vexation   Stay Alive

One is a Rectangular Table Discussion about Kid's Games, another is the RTD on the Games Workshop board game line in the 80's and I think there are two additional session review shows.

If you ever need a great hand in data recovery, check out my cousin's business at: http://www.burgessforensics.com/

...Sheylon
www.boardgamebabylon.com

I realize I've gotten myself into this by putting the mailing address on my business cards but if you just send me a quick inquiry ahead of time, I can make sure you don't waste your money sending me a game I might not want to play and I won't feel guilty if I take a long time to review it. If you confirm with me ahead of time, I'll be happy to review the game and ask you to be on the show - although I always want to find an interesting angle for including you (and not just a straight advert), like my recent show about High School Drama, which was also about game design and self-publishing. Thanks in advance for your consideration!

Thanks...ERB

The subject of our conversation is game design and self-publishing, as Bo started up his own company in order to put out the game, and we hear about some of the trials and tribulations of striking out on your own in the crazy hobby game business. Along the way Bo tells us a bit about High School Drama, including some interesting design and production notes. And we just have some good laughs since both Bo and jim are terrific guys.

This is the start of a new series called "Stories of Self-Publishing" and I have at least two more lined up but - as to when they will come out - we'll have to see. There is still the Demise and Rise to finish up and one more series on the way.

I should also note that this is the first volume of Boardgame Babylon supported by our new sponsor, Tanga.com. I'm a big fan of the site and its wacky retail model so I encourage you all to check it out via the link on the side if you are new to the site or by clicking www.tanga.com.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games mentioned:

High School Drama   Illuminati   Lunch Money

Ingenious   Escalation!   Wiz-War  

Other links:

Shifting Skies Games  (buy HSD there or at your FLGS)

Knightime Studios (jim pinto - yes, he's capital-challenged, like e.e. cummings or k.d. lang)

NEXT UP: The Gamex 2007 Wrap-Up Show. My friend and frequent Boardgame Babylon contributor Matt Grimaldi will join me to chat about our experiences at the convention and the many games we played including Wikinger (Vikings), Caylus Magna Carta, Notre Dame, Guatemala Cafe, If Wishes Were Fishes and many more.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games mentioned (a selection of them, as they are too numerous to list completely)

If Wishes Were Fishes      Mystery Rummy: Bonnie and Clyde      Where's Bob's Hat?

Notre Dame      Race For the Galaxy      Thurn and Taxis (Wells Fargo?)

Other links

Strategicon      Rio Grande Games 

In fact, To Court the King is closer to a pure Yahtzee game than most others but with a whole host of cards you can acquire with various combos so you can get more dice or more ways to manipulate them to complete better combos.

While Jay was teaching Heather and me, Devi came up and said that he liked it because "you get more control as you go along". Indeed, TCTK gets better as you gain cards which give you special abilities - each named for some person or noble (maids, barons, laborers, all the way up to the King and Queen).

Some cards add dice set to a particular number (you can re-roll them after the first turn) to your rolling set, while others allow for pip manipulation (move them between dice to turn, say, a four and a two into two threes), while others allow for re-rolls.

And, yes, this is all dependent on the rolls you make. Luckily for those who dice hate (like yours truly), there is also the Fool card which you get if you are unable to roll a good combo (which are sets, higher totals, and the like). The Fool lets you do a free re-roll and if you get a second Fool, he turns into the Charlatan card, which mercifully gives you an extra die. All of this builds towards the winner combo - seven of a kind. This courts the King and then everyone gets one turn to beat that roll (i.e., roll seven 'fives' if the King-holder has seven 'fours'). If no one can unseat him, he wins. If someone manages, the King is handed over but the Queen stays and helps the original finisher gain the King back.

One potential issue for some is that large number of different cards that do different things. There is a cheat sheet but it is long and also double-sided. This is kind of a pain but I'd rather have them than not.

The game plays in about a 1/2 hour once you know how to play it. For those that cannot manipulate numbers (and, hey, they are small - it didn't intimidate this Literature major) and think quickly about how to reorder things with a whole bunch of factors, this one will seem harder than it should be. But as a casual activity for those who enjoy rolling the bones, it is fun. We played with three (including Jay) and it moved along nicely (despite the quirky choice to have the Start Player rotate counter-clockwise, giving everyone consecutive turns each round).

I plan to pick it up because I think it will play well with two and because I would like to use it to encourage good math skills with my kids. The numbers are small but the concept of moving the pips around to make other numbers sounds like something good to drill into elementary school kids.

One most post with a wrap-up will follow. I will also do a podcast wrap-up with more opinions later on.

...Sheylon
www.boardgamebabylon.com

Here's a nice shot after the crowd left with Devi and Heather Hughes (from the Orange County Board Gamers), my sister Isabel (in the Invoke Ra shirt from www.meeplepeople.com), Mason hiding behind Jay and our gaming buddy Burt on the right.

...Sheylon
www.boardgamebabylon.com

Congratulations, Travis! He was awarded the nicest of three cool trophies - and the runners-up were Chris Johnson and Michael Nickeloff.

(photo: courtesy of Patrick Havert)

Vikings has one 'exciting' mechanic - a wheel built into the board which sets the price for recruiting vikings and their respective island piece to your group. You buy vikings of different colors (farmers, nobles, goldsmiths, scouts, warriors, boatmen) and each comes with an island piece (a beginning, middle or end) that you can build out on your play space. Red gives you points, Yellow gives you Gold to buy things, Blue feed your vikings at the end of the game - and on and on. You need them all but can only buy so many. As Jay said, "a game where you can't do everything you want each turn. What a concept!"

Now, I have to say - the theme of this game makes no sense at all and has nothing to do with the admittedly enjoyable mechanics. In an upcoming (although actually recorded back at Orccon) Boardgame Babylon episode, art director jim pinto points out how 'phony' the mechanics of many designer games appear to be when you think about it with regard to the theme. Vikings is a particularly good example of this but the truth of the matter is that I don't care. Indeed, it is all artificial but it is also an enjoyable game that, again, plays through in about forty-five to sixty minutes (depending on your DPF - Deliberative Player Factor).

Jay explained the basics but didn't overwhelm us with the sometimes quirky scoring. In the end, we all found many things we would do differently but the first time is always a learning game. Indeed, nearly everything gets a chance to add victory points at the end, in addition to the incidental scoring and money payouts which happen throughout the game. All in all, I was very fond of Vikings and may very well get it. The Viking meeples are certainly neat ("Vikeeples?")

Check out Jay looking at me disapprovingly! "Did he ask permission to take this photo?" ;)

Just after that, I got a chance to meet Jay Tummelson. As always described, Jay was a nice fellow and was cheerfully asking everyone, "Want to play a game?" Some of the games Jay Brought to show off include:

Caylus Magna Carta
Notre Dame
Guatemala Cafe
Master Thieves
Ponte De Marchio
Fiji

Jay brought a lot of terrific games to the convention to try out but the crown jewel for the simple reason of exclusivity is If Wishes Were Fishes, the Peter Sarrett game that was just published in Germany this Wednesday. Good guy that Jay is, he paid a hefty fee to have a copy shipped out so he could show it off at Gamex. Naturally, this story was good enough to get me to sit down right away. Jay showed the game to me and my buddy Bernie, who flew in from NYC for the con.

If Wishes Were Fishes is undeniably cute. I mean, you get little fish meeples ("fisheeples?") and a half-dozen rubber worms in addition to a single card representing two boats where you can store your fish. This card is cleverly divided to show two halves of two boats so you can put a fish on each side. The rainforest thanks them. You also get a colorful board with a fish stand for each fish type where some 'buyer' meeples hang out randomly to increase the amount you can get if you sell fish you caught and keep.

On your turn, you can sell a fish you have in your boat or 'fish' for a new fish card (well, draft them) and decide if you are going to keep the fish to sell at the appropriate stand or toss the fish back and receive the 'wish' the fish has on the top of his card. The wishes vary from allowing you to sell more than the limit of one fish per turn, increase the value of fish by manipulating the buyers, sell you fish as a more valuable one, get money for all your worms, get extra boats, and that kind of thing. The fish are set up in a line of four and you can only take the one to the far right free (shallow sea). If you want to take one further over, you need to use your worms - one for each card you want to skip past. Later, if there is a worm on a card you take, you get to claim it. Also, you can't take fish if you have no room in your boats.

There are also bonus cards that show up when a certain number of a type of fish (betwen 4 and 7) are sold and cycling through them will draw the game to the end. When this comes up, the two people with the largest number of fish sold for that market gain extra money (points). The market for that kind of fish is then closed - well, sort of. You can still sell these fish for their current price but now any sold fish go into the garbage and the person with the most fish in the garbage loses 10 points at the end of the game. There are some wishes that will let you pull your fish out of (or put your opponents fish into) the garbage so you can affect this later.

Unfortunately, Bernie and I played a two-player game. Like many games, it seemed fiddly at first but once we got the hang of it, we were fine and churned through quickly (it says it plays in 40 mins). Although I think the game is fine, I don't think it is suited to head-to-head play. The markets filled slowly since we could often make a lot more money with worm bonuses and other choices. I think it will shine with four, although you will have less chance of the fish you want being there by the time your turn comes around. All in all, a nice game that I will play again. I could see Puerto Rico, Mall World, Parts Unknown - sheesh - a lot of games in this one. But that's okay, it worked well.

After that, Jay taught me Notre Dame and since this one has been described extensively online, I will make my comments brief. This is another victory point builder with multiple angles you can use. It has parts of Fairy Tale, El Grande, Industrial Waste, Thurn and Taxis, Castle Merchants - egad! But, you know what? I thought it was delighftul. I'm sure much of the muted praise coming out about it is the fact that the influences are so visible. But tossed in with an intriguing board makeup, nice bits, and quick gameplay, this game is quite enjoyable! Jay has brought a bunch of pre-release copies to the convention to sell and if I hadn't already pre-ordered it, I'd already own it. As it is, I'm just going to get in some additional games of it this weekend on the two copies available in the Rio Grande Tournament.

Okay, I'm off to run the Escalation! tournament so I'll sign off until this evening.

Despite being "Punched", I managed to win Klunker handily (which is a game that seems like Bohnanza's Martian cousin - not surprising since it is the same designer). You get gem cards and have to place some out for sale (the ones you don't need for a set), some into your safe (which you do want for your sets) and then there is a buying round when you can grab up your opponent's wares. Money is rewarded for sets of four in your safe, but you get more if the sets match. Necklace cards are bonuses, making it easier to get full value for your sets - but in our game, nearly all the necklaces were at the end. Final scores: Lisa 12, Bernie 14, Chad 17, and Eric 22. A fun, but unmemorable game.

I was in fourth out of five in the wonderful press-your-luck game Diamant. Simply, over five caverns of play, each player must decide how long to stick it out and try to get a share of the gems that come up on most cards while avoiding one of five disaster card types. If two cards from the same disaster show up, everyone left in the cavern loses - you all face the cards together and split the gems that come up. But, if you manage to get out before (you get a chance after each card), you can add your spoils to your ore cart and have them as points for the end of the game. Leaving early can also be profitable sometimes because you get to grab the gems leftover from uneven splits (gem cards range from 1 to 17).

After doing fine throughout the first three rounds, I bailed on cave four with only one disaster out (admittedly, one of the disasters with three remaining cards) because the take for early departure looked too good! Unfortunately, Lisa felt the same way and we split the booty. Then, the remaining three players went on to form the longest cavern route I've ever seen - and they all got out with their gems! They loaded up so heavily (Chad gaining the most) that Lisa and I had no chance but to press our luck fully and we were rewarded with an untimely demise. Final scores: Matt 44, Bernie 43 (so close!), Chad 25, Eric 18, Lisa 12.

Now I'm off to Gamex to enjoy a weekend of great gaming. I'm doing Z-Man demos today, plus running an Escalation tournament at 3pm. Our Math Trade is also happening today at 6pm at Boardgame HQ. If you are in town, please stop by and say hello!

I will be moderating a Q&A session with Jay on Sunday at 1 PM in the Theater so please bring in your questions for the man who broke designer games in the US. If you cannot be at the show, you can also send me questions at: sheylon@gmail.com. If you send one in, I will be sure to attribute your question to you on the podcast.

For more information on the convention, check out: www.strategicon.net. See you there!

Don't forget to join us here in Los Angeles for Gamex 2007 over the Memorial Day Weekend. For more information, check out www.strategicon.net.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Last Grenadier on Ebay   Weekend Warrior on Ebay   Weekend Warrior   Where is The Last Grenadier?   The Black Watch

Plus - the winners of the Ingenious Puzzle contest are announced! No, seriously, it's on there this time...

Show Notes:

Strategicon (Gamex Pre-Reg is open!)

Games mentioned:

Die Saulen der Erde   Blue Moon City   Descent: Journeys Into the Dark

On the Underground   25 Words or Less   Shadows Over Camelot

It wasn't easy - I had to use all of my awesome power as a board game podcaster to muscle secrets out of the game publishing world, including bribing disgruntled developers who keep missing their chance for an on-box credit, wining and dining unscrupulous pawn production companies, pressuring disreputable playtesters, blackmailing the proofreader at Rio Grande and the translator at AdlungSpiele, strong-arming actual board game media types and also just searching the internet to bring you this very special, extra-early look at the best of Essen this year.

So, listen with a pen and paper because you'll want to make your checklist for pre-orders now (and start entering those game entries on BGG because there's geekgold a-plenty to be had...)

Also, listen carefully for the winners of the Ingenious Puzzles contest!

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

The cutoff was officially today but I'll take your entries through tomorrow (3/18) in case you are caught up drinking too much for St. Patrick's Day or the snowstorm is slowing you down. Sorry to hear about that, those of you in the Northeast. As a native and nearly lifelong Southern Californian, for me, a blizzard is something you buy at the Dairy Queen. ;)

I've included another picture here of Reiner and me - this is while I was doing his introduction. Unfortunately, my sister Isabel (a previous guest on Boardgame Babylon) appears to be a pretty bad photographer and so the shot is imperfect. It's annoying because you can't see my lovely Boardgame Babylon t-shirt. Well, at least Reiner looks happy!

As for the upcoming shows, I have a few already recorded and I'm doing another one in the next day or so - meaning that Boardgame Babylon will have a reasonably regular release schedule for a while. Upcoming volumes include:

*  Self-publishing and design talk with Bo Radakovich - the designer and publisher of the game High School Drama - and jim pinto (yes, he likes the lower case), an art director and game designer in his own right.

*  Rectangular Table Discussion: Orccon wrap-up show, including notes about my day out sightseeing with Reiner Knizia, with guests Chad Smith, Matt Grimaldi and Mason Rourman.

* The Demise and Rise of the FLGS, Part 4 - The almost-award-winning series is back in the form of a quick interview with one of the longest-tenured and most well-respected game store owners in Los Angeles, Rocky Johnston, the owner of The Last Grenadier in Burbank, California. This is a store much-loved by locals and followed through many changes in location and it is a pleasure to add a real veteran's perspective to the series.

I haven't numbered these yet because the ordering (along with one other special show) hasn't been worked out yet. But they should all be hitting the podosphere soon.

But not today - I'm heading out to a St. Patrick's Game Day with the Orange County Boardgamers, who've asked us all to bring green games. I'll be bringing my gorgeous new green accented Eagle tournament-quality Crokinole board, a Friedmann Friese game, and Money!

Here's wishing you all a Happy St. Patrick's Day - one of my favorite Irish blessings is:

"May you always have courage to take a chance and never find frogs in your underpants."

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Since that recording is shorter, I've added a session review of my buddy Mason Rourman and me talking about three recent and upcoming Knizia games we enjoyed recently. All three were popular at the Kniziathon event at Orccon 2007 and we've enjoyed them as light additions to Knizia's ludography.

Escalation: The Suburban Wars (Z-Man Games)
Mmm...Brains! (Twilight Creations)
Dragon Parade (Z-Man Games)

Two more shows are still to come from the Orccon experience and I even have another Demise and Rise show coming. Wow - regular releases of Boardgame Babylon? Don't get used to it...;)

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

1. Dreamery

2. Cowboys, Pirates, Supermen (the BGB theme music!)

3. (1-2-3)

4. The Day The Earth Changed (BGB outro music!)

You can order a CD for only $7.00 and if you order a CD, you can add an oval sticker for $.50 or bumper sticker for only $1.00. All the money goes to the lovely ladies of Cucoloris and I pay your shipping! (if you just want a sticker, add a buck to the order) I don't make any money on this - I just want to support the band so they will make more beautiful music.

While you are at it, please consider supporting Boardgamenews.com. There is a great contest this month for cool prizes if you are a member and frankly, you know this excellent source for board game information is on your regular read list, so why not support them? Do the hobby a favor and help keep the great house that Rick Thornquist built and Eric Martin is keeping up the faith on alive for all of us to enjoy. Go to www.boardgamenews.com and click "Subscribe". I just did so myself (after realizing recently that I hadn't done it last year as I thought I had...) Hypocrite no more!

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon (even when we try to get you to pay other people for the great work they do).

Thanks for downloading and listening (and, apparently, voting for) Boardgame Babylon.

Anyway, this is the man himself, Dr. Reiner Knizia, in the Question and Answer session he held at Orccon 2007, the President's Day Weekend show of Southern California's Strategicon game conventions. Reiner talks about his process, some exciting upcoming events and products and shows the wonderful good humor we've all heard about.

There is also a contest to win a very cool little item Reiner gave me to hand out to a couple of Boardgame Babylon listeners and also some exciting news about Gamex 2007 and a special guest that will grace us with his presence here in Los Angeles over the Memorial Day weekend.

There are also details about ordering a Cucoloris CD, which you can now get directly from me. The lovely ladies of Cucoloris sent me CDs and stickers to sell at Orccon 2007...and then I forgot them at home for most of the convention. Help me save face and order a Cucoloris CD now! Drop me an e-mail if you are interested in supporting this wonderful band responsible for the coolest music in board game podcasting.

NEXT UP: Another Knizia show with Reiner explaining the new Ingenious Puzzles and some talk about three new Knizia games that were popular at the Kniziathon: Dragon Parade and Escalation from Z-Man Games, plus Mmm...Brains from Twilight Creations (yes, Reiner did a zombie game!)

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games mentioned:

Mmm...Brains   King of the Beasts   Amun-Re
Ra   Taj Mahal   Escalation
Blue Moon   Blue Moon City   Tigris and Euphrates
Ingenious  Beowulf   Lord of the Rings: Battlefields

Other Links:

Strategicon   Journal of Boardgame Design

Cucoloris on MySpace (BGB's theme music composers!)

Even better, the new Strategicon is just getting started and I'm hoping that the high level of quality the new owners are bringing to the conventions will draw more and more people to these great shows. I know that attendance was huge, numbers of participants were up big-time and that I spoke to people from all over the country and even quite a few international visitors, too. And if this is what the new owners can accomplish in a few months, I can hardly wait to see the cons later this year and next, when they have more time to plan. They have an amazing mix of the best of the old staff and some incredibly sharp newcomers helping them out (including my multi-talented fellow podcasting buddy, Paul Tevis, who leads up the RPG efforts now). Between this development and the great game stores I now have near my home (Gameology) and my work (Game Empire), I'm certainly more optimistic about the board gaming hobby in SoCal than I was a year ago when I was inspired to do the Demise and Rise of the FLGS series (although there are at least two additional installments planned there).

Watch for many shows to come out of the con this weekend, including a broadcast of the Q&A session with Dr. Knizia, a short bit about the Ingenious Puzzles demo he gave (with prizes including signed copies of the puzzles!), a show about self-publishing and entering the game business, and a general wrap-up show with Matt Grimaldi joining me for some additional commentary. The dry spell is officially over.

I also have Cucoloris CDs that I was supposed to put out to sell at the show but never did! If you would like to order a copy of their magnificent EP, please e-mail me and if you are local, I can probably deliver it to you at one of the upcoming game events.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

There is also a reminder to join me at Orccon 2007 here in Los Angeles later this week and your chance to buy Cucoloris music there! Listen for more details or check out www.strategicon.net.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

...Sheylon

Links

Games mentioned:

Space Dealer

On The Underground

Die Baumeister von Arkadia

Yspahan

Other links:

Strategicon!

I guess I should have posted a note in this space before but with the nice inquiries I've had about where the heck I am, I'm finally getting around to it.

Well, folks, it's like this. The holidays. You know â they happen. And despite having plans to record and release two shows during the nearly two weeks I took off for the holiday season, I ended up recording nothing. I made notes and even played some games. But, nothing happened in the way of a podcast. I was, as Paul McCartney once put it in one of the most annoying Xmas songs ever written, "simply having a wonderful Christmastime".

Anyway, right after that, I was planning for the trip that I am currently on â a two-week trek to India, Singapore and Malaysia on business. The first two weeks of the month were taken up in doing my regular job and also preparing to make the voyage â including suddenly getting a passport (the old one had expired), shots for things I thought had been cured all over a long time ago, travel visas, and all the things you need to prepare for a trip like this one.

The trip has been amazing from a professional perspective (and I did make it up to the Taj Mahal, although it was a harrowing journey) but other than a couple of solo games of Al Cabohne (the only game I brought) and one Spiel By Web game of Hacienda that I am playing with some buddies, there hasnât been any gaming going on. However, Iâve already recorded one podcast (in the airport in Singapore on a long layover â it was the only thing that would keep me awake and hopefully it won't put you to sleep) about some games I played in the week leading up to my departure. Iâm hoping I have a chance to edit it in my tiny bits of spare time on flights while waiting for flights. Today is the only day in this seven-day stretch when I donât have at least one flight. I think Iâm actually getting used to airplane food. Weird.

So, with any luck, there will be at least one new show posted when I return and then, in February, it should be a bumper crop. Remember, next month is Strategicon's Orccon 2007 here in Los Angeles. Not only will the show be hosting Guest of Honor, Reiner Knizia, but some other VIPs are showing up, too, and Iâm hoping to not only catch some interviews but also record everything I can about the proceedings with our VIPs for broadcast on the show. So, you can look for plenty of new content in this space come February.

But for now, we'll stay quiet here on Boardgame Babylon and Iâll just ask for your positive wishes for a safe trip through the rest of the week (and way too many flights to too many places) and back home at its end.

http://www.claremont-courier.com/pages/Topstory010607.4.html

The store link is: www.gameologyshop.com and it's definitely one to visit if you find yourself on the East end of Los Angeles county.

Finally, there is some REALLY BIG NEWS for gamers in SoCal and for those that wouldn't mind coming out to visit us in the Sunny and Mild capital for a great weekend this Winter. You will want to hear about this so you can set your flight plans now...and you're going to want to go to www.strategicon.net.

This is likely the last BGB for the year so I wish all listeners a wonderful holiday season and a very joyous and prosperous new year! May you find a bunch of games from this list in your stocking and a load of big-box games under your tree.

Oh yeah - and, no, that's not me either! This is just a character you can play in High School Drama!

Show Notes

Games mentioned:

Sudoku: The Card Game   High School Drama   Space Station Assault   Battleground: Fantasy Warfare   Saboteur   Frank's Zoo  Coloretto   No Thanks

Mystery Rummy Series:   #1   #2   #3   #4   #5   Wyatt Earp (#3.5?)

Other links:

Strategicon: Orccon 2007   Reiner Knizia   Your Move Games   Shifting Skies Games   Z-Man Games   Rio Grande Games   Mike Fitzgerald

You can also head over to the Garrett's Games podcast to hear a nice interview with Cynthia from Meeple People.

There still is time to enter the t-shirt contest (which is a Meeple People product) so don't forget to send in your e-mail address.

Played the last item for the Stocking Stuffer podcast so I should be writing up some notes and recording it this weekend, in time for your last minute shopping.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Sorry for the delay in new shows - I expected a new Demise and Rise show, with my guests the proud owners of Game Empire in Pasadena (on the site of the former "Game Zone", featured in BGB v23) which represents a huge new gathering place for SoCal gamers that is chock full of amazing games and tons of game space. Check them out at www.gameempirepasadena.com and listen for an interview with the owners soon.

I will also be posting a new podcast shortly that gives you some great last minute Stocking Stuffer suggestions that you can find at your Friendly Local Game Store in case you can't piece together a $150 free shipping order from one of the online retailers.

Hope you are all having a good holiday season and thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

I will apologize right here for hyping a game that is not out yet (Gheos) and one that is only available in Germany at the moment (Der Elefant im Porzellanladen). Normally, I try not to do that too much. But these are really great items for your holiday shopping so just watch for Gheos to hit the stores and online retailers very soon and, well, place that overseas order for the Elephant right away. ;)

Finally, I have another contest here - for a free Boardgame Babylon T-shirt. I've gotten some in from the nice people at Meeple People (shop at the link on the side to feed my MP habit) and I want to give one away. Details are included on the show.

Next up: We'll see if my next planned Demise and Rise show can come together shortly, but I also have a "Stocking Stuffer" show coming up for some smaller games you should get for all the designer game players on your shopping list in a last minute run to the game store (hey, you're going there this next week to pick up BattleLore anyway, right?) 

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned: Gheos   Pieces of Eight   Der Elefant im Porzellanladen   Carcassonne   Coloretto   Pirate King

Other Links: Z-Man Games   Atlas Games   Rene Wiersma   Jeff Tidball   Michael Schacht  

Also, listen in for the names of the winners in the Thrillville contest!

Show Notes:

GiftTRAP

Quelf

Also, Lucas Arts was unable to acquire an Xbox console (they're all cleared out for Xbox 360) so the Grand Prize winner will win a Sony PSP and PSP copy of Thrillville, with the runner-ups still getting an Xbox copy of the game. Sorry for the confusion but, hey, it's still a free and very cool PSP!

You can get the trivia questions about the show from episodes 25 or 26. Don't forget that you need not answer all questions correctly to win - each correct answer is just another entry.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

There is also a wonderful piece of news for Southern California gamers (and those seeking an additional reason to visit us) mentioned here. Those of you that are out of the area will have to forgive my giddy gushing. I am just really happy about this new development.

This show is also a bit 'quick and dirty' in an attempt to do a podcast with less prep time and a lot less editing. My apologies ahead of time for the umms and uhhs and off-the-cuff commentary. I am responding to some feedback on this but, also, I had 2,000 words for NaNoWriMo to write after recording this...

Don't forget you have only three more days to enter the Thrillville contest. The questions are listed in this show, too, in case you did not download Volume 25 because it was more about the show than the games themselves.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned:

Figaro   Emira   Die Weinhandler   King Me!   Poison   The Scepter of Zavandor   Princes of Florence   Money!

Other links:

Strategicon   Lucas Arts' Thrillville (out now on Xbox/PS2)   Fiddly  

Burgess Forensics (my cousin's company, who will hopefully save those lost shows)

Also, I have started a couple of games on Spiel By Web to distract me from work and NaNoWriMo (10,000 words and counting), so please join me for a game of Hacienda or Hoity Toity (which I haven't played on SBW yet). The games all have the podcast title in them and the password is 'babylon'.

BGB Volume 26 with session reviews of Figaro, Emira and Die Weinhandler should be posted later this week.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Thanks also to the many folks who have also included a kind note or feedback in with your entry. It is always great to hear people are enjoying the show and constructive criticism on how I can make it better and better.

One note, though - due to an excess of comment spam, I've had to set the site to only take comments confirmed with a secret code displayed when you post. Some folks have said they cannot post with this utility in place but Libsyn claims they have fixed that. If you try to post and it doesn't go up in a day or so (I still have moderation on) or it keeps telling you that you have entered the wrong thing, please drop me a note at: sheylon@gmail.com.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

But that's not all - this show will also give you details on how you can enter our exciting contest to win an Xbox and copies of the new Lucas Arts video game, Thrillville. Just listen to the show for details on how to enter to win.

Thrillville is an exciting new video game from Lucas Arts that has even this dyed-in-wool boardgamer excited. Here are some additional details about the game: 

Visit Thrillville and step into a non-stop party in a theme park that you create.  Customize your park, interact with guests like never before, and build and hop into your own roller coasters and other rides. For the first time ever, race on go-kart tracks you constructed, play mini-golf on courses you designed, and more. Join friends for dozens of four-player party games, from bumper cars to arcade shoot-'em-ups. You can also tour the park on foot chatting and joking with all the guests to help them out and make sure they're enjoying themselves.

Thrillville fuses elements of simulation, party games and social interaction like nothing before it. Its charming story centers around you coming to the aid of your eccentric Uncle Mortimer and his "Thrillville" chain of theme-parks. Only by keeping your guests happy and completing missions geared toward keeping your park afloat can you stave off the threat posed by the nefarious Globo-Joy corporation.

Build, play, manage, ride, customize and socialize your way through the five theme parks you've created - Thrillville is a fusion of individually strong gameplay elements into a new experience that's even greater than the sum of its parts - it allows you to play with your friends in the theme-park of your dreams.

Come back over the next week to see more artwork and information on the game, leading up to its release in stores on November 7^th for both PS2 and Xbox.

Show Notes

Links:

Thrillville   Cucoloris on MySpace   My Bloody Valentine   The Sundays

Cocteau Twins   Siskel and Ebert

Meeple People.com (buy through this link to support giveaways of Boardgame Babylon t-shirts)

No, I'm not linking to a lot of the other things mentioned on the podcast...

Then work got even more nuts than usual and so here we are. Also, I'd planned to include some answers to frequently asked questions about the show but after I'd finished rambling, I decided I would do a second show to cover that portion - the "Secrets" bit. In truth, once I'd edited the podcast down for content, it was short enough but I'd already done the second part as a separate podcast so instead, you get two shorter ones instead of one huge podcast.

I forgot to mention that if you are attending GenCon SoCal the weekend before Thanksgiving, please drop by on November 18th at 2PM and see me at the Board Gamer Podcasting Panel. I will be there along with other members of the game podcasting community. If I can manage it, I'll even be giving away a free Boardgame Babylon t-shirt or two to listeners that can answer a trivia question about the show (won't be hard - just want to make sure it goes to a regular listener).

Next up: Boardgame Babylon: History and Secrets, Part 2 will be up soon, then a session review and a few other things before I take the month of November off from podcasting so I can focus on NaNoWriMo. File your complaints with Mur Lafferty, the woman whose podcast inspired (read: guilt-tripped) me to start up a new book on a schedule.

Show Notes

A Selection of Games Mentioned:

Tripoley  D&D  GURPS  Illuminati  Junta  Globbo!  Up Front  Panzergruppe Guderian  Blood Royale  Belter  Triplanetary  Wiz-War

Other Links:

TI99/4A  Tunnels of Doom  Temple of Elemental Evil

Fantasy Games Unlimited  Z-Man Games  Fantasy Flight Games

GDW  Steve Jackson Games  Darwin Bromley  Rio Grande

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire CD-ROMs - This set includes the three CD-ROMs that I wrote completely (I just produced the previous one with Jellyvision). Trivia - In the Sports Edition, when you phone a friend, you call one of Regis' friends and they are all named after my father and his numerous brothers and sisters. Also, you can't use my name when playing any of them or Regis will taunt you.

The Dark Domain BBS - No link and it has nothing to do with this BBS documentary DVD of ASCII artwork nor any recent uses of the name. The BBS I called signed off back in the 80's and appears to be without an online archive. I only have one friend left from those days so the crazy folks that made the place so interesting are long lost to me.

Origins  Strategicon  GenCon SoCal 

Orange County Boardgames  Socal Gamesday  SoCal Gamers 

Anyway, I've disabled it now and just set it to moderation since the spam has slowed down. I'll still have to delete the spam when it comes but at least you can post comments.

Sorry for the delay in the latest shows but work has kept me extraordinarily busy. Volume 2 and 25 will both be posted soon.

On this day, we played new games from Reiner Knizia, Michael Schacht, and the latest from Days of Wonder, designed by Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games mentioned:

Great Wall of China   California   Toppo

Cleopatra and the Society of Architects (got to love that title!)

Samurai   Loot!   Alhambra   Palazzo   Set   Flix Mix   Collide-O  Kardinal und Konig   Coloretto   Hansa   Paris Paris   Industria   High Society   Settlers of Catan   RA   Tigris and Euphrates   Carcassonne

Other Links:

Boardgames with Scott (see Cleopatra and the Society of Architects in action)

Days of Wonder (BattleLore is coming!)

Next up: Hard to say - depends on which of the four completed shows I edit first.

The site may look weird for a while but when it is all done, you'll see our nice new mark (the punk pawn), more website goodness and maybe even a chance to win something. Egad - I've sold out. No, no. Hopefully, I'm like Tony Wilson (well, Steve Coogan playing him) in 24 Hour Party People when he says something like, "I've made it impossible to sell out by not owning anything."

I do have a lot of shows lined up. At least four recorded shows await editing and two more are planned for the next week or so. The Demise and Rise series may just dry up now because one of my big fish seems have gotten away and the other one is even less likely. A final âcast with some summation will follow, as it leads into a somewhat different subject. 

Also, please join me for more gaming on Spiel By Web. Iâve set up more BG Babylon games for listeners: Hacienda and Tikal. The password is Babylon and I invite all listeners to join me for the wonderful implementations of these games. Heck, we even had two additional podcasters on one of the Hacienda games last time, with the most excellent Scott Nicholson and the mighty Mark Johnson participating. In fact, SLC punk Dirk Chegigo was man enough to beat another listener and all three of us podcasters. But I'll refrain from mentioning that I came in second on that game and won the other two games I played with listeners. Oh, whoops... ;)

I got into this not really knowing how many owners/former owners I would be interviewing. My thought is that as long as they are saying different things (reasonably so) and I can vary questions a bit from person to person, it should remain interesting. At one point, I had a huge list of retailers to seek out, with both of the retailers I've lamented losing on my docket (both of the former owners seem to not be interested in talking and I understand completely).

However, I think things are running their course and I'm pulling back from that very ambitious list. I have two more significantly different people I am going to pursue (one who is not a local retailer but who should have an interesting perspective on the subject and another that has a lot to offer, I think) but if those don't work out, I'll close up the series and move on to other 'special' shows in between session reviews. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for all the interest and feedback.

The other new thing about this show is that BGB session reviews will no longer feature a full rules description if there is another good podcast out there that has already explained the rules entirely. I mean, we have at least three excellent shows that normally explain rules in their entirety (Boardgames with Scott, Snoozefest 'Splains Boardgames, and The Vintage Gamer) and at least one more that occasionally does (the still-brilliant inspiration for Boardgame Babylon, Boardgames To Go). If one of these or another podcast has already done it, I will just direct you there (as I do here for Scepter of Zavandor) and we'll call that one an "In brief" session review.

Thanks for all the recent feedback. I'm working to get responses to everyone. I do respond to every bit of feedback I receive because I really appreciate listeners taking the time to let me know their reactions to the show - negative or positive. Please keep it coming!

By the way, this picture is for those folks who have said that I should include a picture of myself on the web site. I guess I never really noticed that I was not in the pictures - I'm usually behind the camera. My wife Christina was kind enough to take this picture of me to end the mystery. Unfortunately, due to a poor crop job here, you can't really see my nice Z-Man Demo Team t-shirt's logo. Ah, well.

Next up: Part 3 of The Demise and Rise of the FLGS, featuring David Laufle, the owner of The Game Zone, in Pasadena, California.

Show Notes

I have two episodes in editing right now - a session review done with my good friend Matt Grimaldi (the pro-Power Grid voice in the Power Grid: In depth show) and also Part 3 of The Demise and Rise of the Friendly Local Game Store.

Sorry to all that were inconvenienced by this crazy issue. Resubscribe and I promise never to try and change the URL again!

But they say they are looking at it and I was trying to have faith in Ruben, the second level tech, who is the first person after talking to, I think, 1,356 different people at Steve Jobsland, that has actually said he might be interested in solving the problem. Of course, now he has conveniently gone on vacation and someone else is now taking it over. Now they say they are really, really, for-real deleting the podcast now (so I can resubmit it) so we'll see how it goes. If I can stand it, I may describe the whole delightful Catch-22 situation at some point on the podcast. We'll see if it is interesting enough, I'm still hopeful but honestly, I think direct downloads or subscribing to GOBLIN is the best way to go at the moment. Sorry!

Okay, enough whining. Head over to the awesome Spiel By Web and join one of the games of Hacienda that I have started and join me for a game! They are called BGB Babylon 2 and 3. I had a chance to be a Beta tester on this implementation and I think the SBW boys have done a terrific job on it.  Unlike the magnificent Mr. Siggins and the mighty Mark Johnson, I think Hacienda is a hoot and would love to play it with some listeners. The password for the games is: babylon.

It's like a cross-over television show of old - I join Tom to talk about our Top Ten Games with the Worst Theme. File your complaints about my lack of appreciation for silly themes and senseless ribbing of Cheapass and Steve Jackson games in the comments section below. So much for the review copies...;)

So, for now, direct downloads are the way to go. Believe me, I've spent almost every lunchtime this week on hold with some Apple Computer person and although they first managed to simply delete the show from iTunes in the US, they have now removed it from other countries but somehow, I still can't resubmit it - ugh!

Your patience is appreciated. I've held off posting the new show due to this mishap but I'm tired of waiting on them and want the show to get up there so you'll see it shortly.

Thanks for downloading (hopefully) and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

My birthday was last week and my dear wife Christina did another designer game-themed cake for me (previously, she has done Puerto Rico, Wallensteain and a couple of others). This time - she did our favorite new Kosmos two-player game, Reiner Knizia's Times Square. We actually took it down to the July meeting of the Orange County Board Gamer for them to enjoy it, too. I think the little Barbie shoe is a nice touch - there is a shoe like that on the board (although my daughter Gwyndolyn was quick to reclaim it). What a lucky guy am I?

Next up (and in rather short order!): The Demise and Rise of the FLGS, Part 2: Interview with David Holt, the owner of a new store called Gameology: The Study of Fun and a guy with some really innovative ideas about how to build on the traditional FLGS. Should be up early this next week.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned: 

Castle Merchants 

Mykerinos 

No Thanks! (Geschenkt is the German name) 

Times Square 

The Scepter of Zavandor (to appear in the next session review) 

Street Illegal (to appear in the next session review) 

Caylus 

Elfenland 

Louis XIV 

Clue 

Coloretto 

For Sale 

Money!

Other Links:

Reiner Knizia

Z-Man Games 

Ystari Games 

Meeple People (feel free to buy something to support my Meeple People habit...) 

Hasbro (can't bring myself to include a link) 

Gameology (I'll be there demonstrating The Scepter of Zavandor and Street Illegal on July 22nd)

Orange County Board Gamers

Times Square (which, they say, has been Disneyfied)

Two more shows should be posted shortly - a new session review and also the second part of the Demise and Rise series.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

If you can't make it to the store (because, say, you don't live anywhere near Los Angeles and those plane tickets have gotten outrageous), well, no problem - both No Thanks and Castle Merchants will be in the next session review show.

But that show won't come out until I release the first in the Demise and Rise of the FLGS series. It has been edited and it should be posted this weekend, once I've given my guest on the show a chance to preview it.

Whew, does this mean I might actually release more than one volume of BGB in a month? Heck, there might be three.

Thanks again for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

The good news is: I already have the next two shows recorded, including another session review and the first in a new series I am calling "The Demise and Rise of the FLGS" (Friendly Local Game Store). This series will include a string of interviews with former and current game store owners from the Los Angeles area, where we have had a string of closures of high-quality stores in recent days.

Also, I'll actually be doing demos for Z-Man Games at my new FLGS, Gameology, in lovely Claremont, California on June 29th. I should be there at 6:30 PM to show off Castle Merchants and No Thanks! (yes, Geschenkt). They will both be featured in the next Session Review show as well. Gameology is owned by a sharp new owner, Dave Holt, who has some very intriguing and clever ideas for making the game store business work in the modern era. He's also going to be featured later this Summer in an interview as part of the Demise and Rise of the FLGS series. 

Next up: The Demise and Rise of the FLGS, Part 1: Interview with Larry Boyd, former owner of All Star Games - one of the finest stores the Los Angeles area has ever seen.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned: 

Vegas Showdown

Fist of Dragonstones

Planet Busters

Mu und Mehr

Princes of Florence

Puerto Rico

Palazzo

Alhambra

Evo

Pirate's Cove

Citadels

Naval War

Crokinole

Daihimi (which is also marketed by Richard Garfield as "The Great Dalmuti")

Hearts

Oh Hell

Bridge

Other links:

Henry Stern

Bruno Faidutti

Michael Schacht

Tom Wham

Doris and Frank

Orange County Board Gamers

Saturdays

Sundays

Strategicon (Orccon is the February)

Las Vegas

Sisters of Mercy

Goth (which, amusingly enough, comes up before the real Goths)

Patricia Morrison (I used to wear mirror shades because of Andrew Eldritch, not William Gibson)

This Corrosion

MTV

Pablo Picasso (some say the real quote is "Bad artists copy, great artists steal" or they attribute it to Dali or a variant to Lionel Trilling but who can know for sure?)

Casino (one nasty movie about running a casino)

Dragon Magazine

Troll Lord Games

Mr. Crokinole (the great board Mike and Nikki own is from him)

Trick-taking Games

Finally, here is the Power Grid: In depth show I have been promising for ages. This show is much longer than any other episode of Boardgame Babylon. In fact, this show is so long that I am going to keep the intro short:

My good friend Matt Grimaldi and I discuss Power Grid for an awfully long time. He explains it, sings its praises and then I fuss and whine about why I don't think the game is fun even though I admire the mechanics a good deal. Matt sensibly shoots down all my attempts to complain about the game's complexity while also trying to make the game more complex by adding thematic elements. Hopefully, I don't lose all credibility with BGB listeners by admitting that I don't like Power Grid (or chase people away with my snarky comments about crayon rail games!). Ah, well. Hope you enjoy it.

Post your comments here or blast me for my opinions in private by e-mailing: sheylon@gmail.com.

Show Notes 

Power Grid

Power Grid: Italy and France

Power Grid: Atolla Modulis

Funkenschlag

Fearsome Floors (Finsture Flure!)

Fresh Fish

Landlord

Funny Friends

Attika (Marcel-Andre Casasola Merkle - sheesh!)

Fluxx

Poker

Man-to-Man

HeroScape

Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Blood Bowl

Outpost (which is out of print, but Snoozefest says that Das Zepter von Zavandor is similar but with a different theme)

Puerto Rico

Caylus

RA

Modern Art

Medici

Traumfabrik

Princes of Florence

Empire Builder

Eurorails

Struggle of Nations

Flat Top

Railroad Tycoon

Ticket to Ride

Age of Steam

TransAmerica

Other links:

Buy an "I'd rather be playing Power Grid" shirt from Meeple People.com!

Friedemann Friese (There are twenty one games listed, so we didn't scratch the surface)

2F Spiele

3M Games

Rio Grande Games

Brettspielwelt - The best way to play Power Grid (I think)

Analysis Paralysis

Elmo (and the shirt)

GURPS

The Hero System

The Electric Company (but wouldn't it have been fun if he called it that)

Smartest Guys In The Room - now on DVD

Green Power

Avalon Hill (and I like plenty of those old games - just not the endless ones)

Boardgame Babylon v8 - Caylus: In depth

Boardgame Babylon v12 - RA: In depth

My friendly local game store, Lionheart Games, is closing down this month. The place was, without a doubt, the nicest game store I have ever visited. Lenny Freibott, the proprietor, is a nice guy who put together a great looking store with a friendly, family-oriented atmosphere and provided excellent service. Unfortunately, the reality is that the game store business is really tough and so the store is closing.

A new store is opening down the street, too, and I kind of wonder if it has anything to do with it. Regardless, they are having a big sale right now to clear the place out - 30% to 50% off - and it's not like the 50% off stuff is lousy. There are a lot of great games there still (even after I did a little shopping myself). Stop on by if you are local to the store and say "Best wishes" to Lenny and pick up a game or two that you might not have taken a chance on if they were full price.

I actually forgot to mention how incredibly cool the bits are in Diamant, too. They are really nice and I recommend getting this charming game even though it is not available in the US (except through specialty retailers).

Incidentally, this picture is of one of our recent game days where Memoir '44 was played. The fellow in gray is Matt Grimaldi - an old friend of mine who is the co-host on the Power Grid show. In the foreground is my buddy Chad - who has the distinction of being mentioned not only frequently on this show, but he was also namechecked on the Dice Tower last year when he visited the illustrious Tom and Joe while on Korea for business. Why, Tom even complained that Chad kept taking the role he wanted in Puerto Rico. I know what he means - Chad can be annoyingly good at games! Chad will also appear on BGB soon on the upcoming RTD on Games Workshop Games of the 80's, if I should ever get around to buying Total Recorder so I can get our friend Bernie on there, too, via Skype. 

Next up: Power Grid: In depth (once I can edit this whole thing, which is likely going to be released as a two-parter). 

Show Notes

Games Mentioned: 

That's Life! (which I refer to by its German name Verflixxt! occasionally)

Diamant

Wheedle

Taj Mahal

King Me! (BGG even has a Trekkie version for you Trek-geeks)

Coloretto

Mall World

Niagara

King's Breakfast

Shadows Over Camelot

TransEuropa

For Sale

Gulo Gulo

Power Grid (Italy/France Maps)

6 Nimmt! (wow, that's three games that have exclamation points in their titles)

Pit (which sometimes has an exclamation point)

Kremlin

Reef Encounter

Caylus

Railroad Tycoon 

Other links:

St.Patrick's Day

Irish Soda Bread

Shamrocks

Dice

Bruno Faiduitti's Ideal Game Library (in French and English)

Tom Hanks

Attila the Hun

The Vintage Gamer Discusses Pit (which is still a lousy game, but Jim Van Verth somehow still recorded an interesting show on it)

Indiana Jones

Mayfair Games

Da Vinci Games

The Power Grid show has been delayed due to technical difficulties. Despite having been recorded, there are some complications. It is coming, I'll probably drop a previously recorded Session Review in first since that one is ready to go and the PG show still has some ways to go.

Finally, some changes are a-foot. I'm hoping to make the site a little more attractive soon and there may be a few other surprises, too. Stay tuned.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

In this show, my children Alaric and Gwyndolyn (ages 6 and 4) join me to discuss some of the variants we play of popular strategy designer games. Why wait any longer to begin your pre-K child's lifelong addiction to the board game hobby?

Show Notes

Games Mentioned:

Caylus

Wallenstein

Can't Stop

Advanced Squad Leader

Die Macher

Reef Encounter

Puerto Rico

Elefun

Railroon Tycoon

Jenga

Ricochet Robot

Yahtzee Jr.

Other Links:

Hard Games Made Harder For Hardcore Gamers

Martin Wallace

Boohbah

Sid Sackson

Skittles

Puerto Rico (the not-a-state, not the game)

M&Ms

Coral

Oompa Loompas

CRTs

Toy Story

Eagle Games (doing something about the board, incidentally)

Temporary Tattoos

Line of Sight

Furbys (my apologies for including a link to Hasbro - darn! Did it again!)

Huh?

Needless to say, part of my interest in doing this show was focusing on a game I do not particularly like and trying to dig in a little and discuss why as we go over the game at length. I even played the game a couple of extra times recently just to get ready for the show. See how I suffer for this podcast?

I'll start editing today but I'm still torn about whether to break it up into two shows (raw, it is over two hours). We'll see how much hits the editing floor and then I'll make a decision. Stay tuned. 

And, yes, those are Matt's arms above the French Power Grid map in the picture here.

I've been honored with the title "Geek of the Week" on Boardgamegeek.com and my part-time job for the week is answering questions.

Seriously, though, extraordinarily talented artist and game enthusiast Mike Doyle, who does eye-popping redesigns of game art (check out his glorious work here), was kind enough to pass on the title after he was similarly honored last week.

So, if you want to hear me blather on endlessly in print, head on over to:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/101116

Post your question and, monkey that now I am, I will answer!