Garrett's Games and Geekiness

Shelley and I enjoy another dicey roll & write with fireworks in  Lanterns Dice: Lights in the Sky by Chris Bryan from Foxtrot Games and Renegade Game Studios and then we become masters at harvesting, making, and selling tea in  Formosa Tea by Chu-Lan Kao from Soso Studio and Tasty Minstrel Games

Shelley and I join Darwin on his scientific journeys around the Galapagos Islands for On The Origin of Species by Gerard Ascensi and Ferran Renalias from Mont Taber then drift through the clouds in hot air balloons to discover new lands in Die Inseln im Nebel by Volker Schächtele from Schmidt Spiele

Shelley and I attempt to build up our Medieval cities to defend against invading hordes in Paladins of the West Kingdom by Shem Philips and SJ Macdonald from Renegade Game Studios then head to late 19th/early 20th century Paris to learn from the master painters and attempt to gain experience as an artist in Colors of Paris by Nicolas De Oliveira from Super Meeple

Shelley and I find our way back to Renaissance Florence for a third version of Florenza, this time with DICE, in Florenza Dice Game by Danilo Festa and Stefano Groppi from Post Scriptum and Placentia Games and also take an extended journey through Medieval-esque realms to Newdale in Expedition to Newdale by Alexander Pfister from Lookout Games

Shelley and I spend part of this week in southern France taking photos both from our scooter and with a drone in Walking in Provence by Wei-Min Ling from Emperor S4 and then we head to ancient Egypt to gather resources and gain influence over the gods in Pharaon by Sylas and Henri Pym from Catch Up Games

Shelley and I paint and sell our Impressionistic art to buyers in  Montmartre by Florian Sirieix from Blam! and then put on post-modern circus performances in  The Magnificent by Eilif Svensson and Kristian A. Ostby from Aporta Games

Shelley and I work against the clock and try to save a patient in Doctor! Doctor! by Robert Couch from Indie Boards and Cards and then try our hands at building our own Medieval villages in Era: Medieval Age by Matt Leacock from eggertspiele

Shelley and I get yet another roll and write to the table Dizzle by Ralf zur Linde from Stronghold Games and Schmidt Spiele and then get out a BIG box for some card crafting and way too much luck in Edge of Darkness by John D. Clair from AEG

Shelley and I trek through some beautiful National Parks in PARKS by Henry Audubon from Keymaster Games then have fun building an Italian city while also getting resources from its countryside in Ragusa by Fabio Lopiano from Capstone and Braincrack Games

Shelley and I take on an award-winning party game, along with two "write on your player board" titles: Bloom by Wouter van Strien from Gamewright involves rolling & writing Welcome To... and its expansions by Benoit Turpin from Blue Cocker Games involves drawing and drawing and  Just One by Ludovic Roudy and Bruno Sautter from Repos gets us partying it up with words!

Shelley and I build some card tableaux this week as we try out a smaller card game with some card orientation to ponder in  Vadoran Gardens by Frank West from The City of Games and then play with marbles and use them to 'build' cards into our tableau in Gizmos by Phil Walker-Harding from CMON Limited and many others

Shelley and I have a great time as art dealers working the market and displaying great paintings in Promenade by Ta-Te Wu from Sunrise Tornado Games Studio then attempt to paint masterpieces in the less-good Atelier: The Painter's Studio from AEG  

Shelley and I spend some time discussing moving goods by camels while trying not to get precious objects stolen from you in Caravan by Joseph Huber from Rio Grande Games then have some fun running competing taverns, upgrading our places of business through deck building, puzzle piece flipping, and dice drafting in  Taverns of Tiefenthal by Wolfgang Warsch from Schmidt Spiele

Shelley and I get to Japanese building games this week as we delve into mall building in HYAKKATEN by Takeshi Okusora from NSG Kurieito then look into the Japanese rendition of building railroads here in the US in Across The United States by Hisashi Hayashi from OKAZU Brand

Shelley and I spend some time in late 19th Century Brussels, gaining influence with aristocrats, buying art, building buildings, and placing cards in an array in Bruxelles 1897 by Etienne Espreman from Geek Attitude Games and then head further back in time to a card-game version of Lorenzo il Magnifico  Masters of Renaissance by Simone Luciani and Nestore Magone from Cranio Creations

Shelley and I get another 'draw and draw' title to the table with Silver & Gold from Phil Walker-Harding and Pandasaurus Games then try something more meaty by heading to 19th Century England in time for the World's Fair in Crystal Palace by Carsten Lauber from Feuerland Spiele and Capstone Games

Shelley and I get a classic game off the shelf with new maps and cool wrinkles that affect play with Carcassonne Maps by Klaus-Jurgen Wrede from Hans im Gluck Great Britain France Benelux Iberian Peninsula Germany and then delve into the BIG BOX new permutation of Orleans Orleans Stories by Reiner Stockhausen and dlp Games  

Shelley and I celebrate her birthday early with some smaller and shorter games, along with some discussion of games she's been playing with her students in class: Qwixx on Board by Steffen Benndorf & Reinhard Staupe from NSV Anubixx by Steffen Benndorf, Florian Ortlepp and Helmut Ortlepp from NSV Te oder Kaffee by Heike Risthaus and Stefan Risthaus from Ostia Spiele Glisse Glace by Corentin Lebrat...

Shelley and I draw and recreate art this week with two art-focused games: Pictures by Christian and Daniela Stöhr from PD Verlag Artbox by Artem Lis from Jet Games Studio and Lavka Games and THEN spend time hiring artisans and other famously creative people in  La Stanza by Nuno Bizarro Sentieiro and Paulo Soledade from Quined Games

Shelley and I have a great time planting our flowerbeds, collecting gnomes and caterpillars, and placing butterflies in flowers while playing Papillon by J.B. Howell from Kolossal Games then get abstract and we place tiles in our own displays and try to race to get rid of our tokens in Nova Luna by Uwe Rosenberg and Corné van Moorsel from Edition Spielwiese, Pegasus Spiele and Stronghold Games

Shelley and I take on another 'draw and draw' game this week, planning out our  Trails of Tucana by Eilif Svensson and Kristian Amundsen Østby from Aporta Games then build our rival peninsulas both up AND out, then get in our boats to tour around Cooper Island by Andreas ode. Odendahl from Capstone Games  

Shelley and I talk through a couple of lighter games from Djeco that she can't wait to get into her classroom, as well as a MASSIVE and popular Essen 2019 title. Chop! Chop! by Alexandre Droit from Djeco Tulum by Hartmut Kommerell from Djeco and Maracaibo by Alexander Pfister from Capstone Games, Super Meeple, Game's Up, dlp Games, and others.

Shelley and I check out two more Essen titles this week, two "C" games that are both beautiful to look at and fun to play: Coralia by Michael Rieneck from R&R Games and Carrossel by Antonio Sousa Lara from MEBO Games

Shelley and I have fun laying tiles in two new titles we checked out. First up was  6 Castles by Costa and Rola from Pythagoras and then  Sorcerer City by Scott Caputo from Druid City Games  had us building our regions from round to round.

Shelley and I go abstract this week as we get Azul: Summer Pavillion by Michael Kiesling from Next Move Games to the table, followed by a fun filler  Twisty by Faouzi Boughida from Djeco We then end the episode with a quick final conversation from Essen with Pontus Nilsson, a gamer friend and Instagram reviewer from Sweden.