Garrett's Games and Geekiness

Shelley and I attempt to make the best of our tea plantations in  Ceylon by Chris and Suzanne Zinsli from Ludonova and then expand our reach in the solar system with colonies in Terraforming Mars: Colonies by Jacob and Jonathan Fryxelius from Stronghold Games

Shelley and I have some fun building rival zoos, then attempt to make the best of a BAD situation as the lights go out and stay out in Hong Kong! WonderZoo by Florian Fay from Djeco and Blackout: Hong Kong by Alexander Pfister from eggertspiele

Shelley and I have a great time rolling dice and creating frescoes for our competing Viking clans, then have a LOT less fun competing to grow veggies in Iceland. Lindisfarne by Damien Fleury and Alain Pradet from RUNES Editions and Reykholt by Uwe Rosenberg from Frosted and Renegade Games

Shelley and I plant rival gardens this week, hoping our neighbors don't disturb our crops too much, then build sections of Rome in two games that involve player building their own tableau. Mr. Cabbagehead's Garden by Todd Sanders from LudiCreations and Great City of Rome (or City of Rome depending on the publisher) by Matthew Dunstan and Brett J. Gilbert from Z-Man (if it's Great) and Abacusspiele...

Shelley and I get rolling BIG time on two fantastic Essen releases. The first is a small-box game with a BIG box feel 1906 San Francisco by Perepau Llistosella from Looping Games followed by a double rondel card management game Crown of Emara by Benjamin Schwer from Pegasus Spiele

Shelley and I get our party hats on as we organize a cool party in Portugal Tetris-style, then work with our glaziers to make the most beautiful stained glass windows! Arraial by Nuno Bizarro Sentieiro and Paulo Soledade from Mebo Games and Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra by Michael Kiesling from Next Move/Plan B Games  

Shelley and I work hard to rebuild our reefs with cool plastic Duplo-like blocks, then attempt to be the best sponsors of classical composers! Reef by Emerson Matsuuchi from Next Move/Plan B Games and Symphony No. 9 by Frank Liu and Hung-Yang Shen from Moaideas  

Shelley and I check out the new Knizia game that's a cousin to Through the Desert, then try the second BIG game from Hungarian publisher A-Games. Blue Lagoon by Reiner Knizia from Blue Orange Games and  PreHistory by Attila Szogyi from A-Games

Shelley and I tackle two sequels of sorts this episode as we recover from Essen by adding this quick episode to the feed (recorded back in September). This time it's the recent releases Lost Cities Rivals by Reiner Knizia from KOSMOS and My Little Scythe by Hoby and Vienna Chou from Stonemaier Games

Shelley and I have great fun with the latest alea/Stefan Feld release, and enjoy figuring out color percentages in Wolfgang Warsch's latest card game Carpe Diem by Stefan Feld from alea/Ravensberger and Illusion by Wolfgang Warsch from NSV

Shelley and I have some fun with two more Stronghold releases, then go through the second half of the 1000+ games on BGG's Essen Preview (M-Z). Paper Tales by Masato Uesugi from Stronghold Games Terraforming Mars: Prelude by Jacob Fryxelius from Stronghold Games

Shelley and I have fun with the third game in Uwe Rosenberg's Tetris-piece trilogy from Stronghold Games Spring Meadow by Uwe Rosenberg from Stronghold Games and then dive into BGG's Essen Preview list for a look at what's piquing our interest from publishers A-L. Must Haves: Carpe Diem - Got a chance to play this and we review it on Ep. 643 3X8 - Amigo card game that I already got through amazon....

Shelley and I have a great time building Roman numerals in the fun 'end of the night' title Roman Poker by Johannes Krenner and David Parlett from Amigo and then scramble for building sites that others will then pay to use in Little Town Builders by Shun from Studio GG

Shelley and I have a wonderful time making bus routes, then a less than wonderful time sailing down part of the Mississippi, and end with a reflection on a great area majority under-appreciated classic. Let's Make a Bus Route by Saashi from Saashi & Saashi Broadhorns: Early Trade on the Mississippi by Jim Harmon from Rio Grande and Kreta by Stefan Dora from Goldsieber - a classic that would be a s...

A great way to end the Meeplefest episodes!: Analysis Paralysis, should BGG have an ability to rate other gamers? Denis gets in a rant or two, and then games we loathe and love.

Our second to last part of the conversation of the gang around the table at Meeplefest 2018. The Hunt family, Tom Lehmann, Mark Johnson, Denis, Ric, Shelley, Candy, Doug R. and the gang discuss information placed on boxes and dealing with analysis paralysis.

Along with the usual crew of Ric, Doug R., Shelley, and Denis, designers Tom Lehmann, Candy Weber, Simon Hunt, John Shulters and Sarah Graybill join the gang at the table as the conversation turns to where and when we play, thoughts about design and analysis of the choices designers make. Concordia Quacksalber von Quedlinburg  

Japanese games, origin stories of newbies around the table...it's all here for Night 2 of Meeplefest, Part 1. Let's Make A Bus Route Metro X Ticket to Ride Settlers of Catan Grackles Azul  

Matt Leacock joins the table as we continue our discussion of games we've been enjoying (or not), along with comments on the SdJ and KedJ winners and nominees. Some of the new Roll and Write (or Draw and Draw) games also get a mention. Pandemic Legacy Season 2 Forbidden Sky The Mind Quacksalber von Quedlinburg MetroX Welcome to... Let's Make a Bus Route

The gang is once again around the table at Meeplefest for the first of multiple conversations about the games we play and the hobby we love.  This week we focus on some of the fun titles we've been playing, as well as talking about Kickstarter (a perennial topic). Join Ric, Joe, Doug R., Candy, Denis and Shelley for this first 1/2 of the Night 1 conversation.

Shelley and I try to enjoy the luck-fest dice re-working of Istanbul, then work our farms a la Agricola in a cousin of that now venerable title (that's Uwe Rosenberg Approved!) Istanbul The Dice Game by Rudiger Dorn from AEG and Lowlands by Claudia and Ralf Partenheimer from Z-Man Games

Shelley and I go lighter this week, having some fun exploring the streets of the lower half of Manhattan in Ticket to Ride New York by Alan Moon from Days of Wonder and Splendor: Cities of Splendor by Marc Andre from Space Cowboys

Shelley and I have fun seeing which bird type comes out on top in  Birdie Fight/Songbirds by Yuo from Kocchiya and finish off the campaign of Charterstone by Jamey Stegmaier from Stonemaier Games

Shelley and I have a great time cooperatively building with blocks and cardboard, then tackle the first 6 games of a legacy title: Menara by Oliver Richtberg from Zoch and Charterstone by Jamey Stegmaier from Stonemaier Games

Shelley and I struggle to enjoy two otherwise beautiful games: Photosynthesis by Hjalmar Hach from Blue Orange Games and  The Island of El Dorado, a Kickstarter game by Daniel Aronson Before that discussion, though, we talk about a few of the games we enjoyed playing with visiting friends: StreamRollers (previously discussed) from Stronghold Games Han (also known as China & Web of Power) from Mich...