The Secret Cabal Gaming Podcast

Hey Now Cabalists, and welcome to 2026! Today, the gang kicks off the episode with a bunch of great games they've been playing, including Obsession, Ankh, Oathsworn, Arydia, Charcuterie, and Earthborn Rangers, followed by a feature review of The Pirate Republic: Africa Gambit from Green Feet Games. Then, after Tony T gives you all the important tabletop gaming news, we wrangle a bunch of questions...

Hey now, and happy New Year's Eve, Cabalists! Today, Chris, Don, and Jamie get together to discuss a nightmare scenario: catastrophe strikes and their entire board game collection is completely destroyed. If they had to start over from scratch, which five games would they rebuild their collection with? It's a tough question but we answer it today! Join the Discord at https://thesecretcabal.com/dis...

Hey Now and Season's Greetings Cabalists! Jamie throws out a message about the holiday season podcast schedule and plugs a bunch of crap. We're taking the week of Christmas off. We'll be at TotalCon this coming February! (https://thesecretcabal.com/totalcon). You can late pledge for our 2025 Fundraiser! (https://thesecretcabal.com/kickstarter) Join the Discord! (https://thesecretcabal.com/discord)...

Hey now and Season's Greetings, Cabalists! Today the gang celebrates both the holiday season and another successful Kickstarter! The fellas dive into some of the games they've been playing, including Nemesis:  Retaliation, Thiefdom, Food Chain Magnate, Oltree, and Epochs: Course of Cultures, and they feature Emberheart from Mindclash, designed by Rob Fisher and Adam Porter. Then Tony T hooks you u...

Hear ye, noble Cabalists, and gather close for another telling of Lords of the Dungeon!  There's only a few days remaining on our 2025 fundraiser and we could really use your help!  Jump over to Kickstarter and support the Cabal in 2026.  In this eve's council, the Lords speak of reviving the clash of steel and the dance of strategy upon the field of battle.  And when that tale is told, they turn...

Hey Now Cabalists! The 2025 Secret Cabal fundraiser is live on Kickstarter now! Jump over and snag volume 2 of the zine, some Secret Cabal swag, and support the show while you're doing it. Today the Founders get into some of the awesome games they've been playing, including Shackleton Base, Onward, Kluster, Nevada City, Clank! Legacy 2, and feature Speakeasy from Vital Lacerda and Eagle-Gryphon Ga...

Jamie and Don, freshly back from PAX Unplugged 2025 in Philadelphia, have been getting into some board, card, and dice rumbles lately, and they wanted to dig into the many styles of combat systems in board games. Deterministic versus random, complex versus streamlined, dice versus cards - there's a lot of ground to cover.  Also, our yearly fundraiser is currently running on Kickstarter! Support us...

Hey Now Cabalists! The 2025 Secret Cabal fundraiser is live on Kickstarter now! Jump over and snag volume 2 of the zine, some Secret Cabal swag, the new Steve-Boy, and support the show while you're doing it. Today the gang dives into some of the great games they've been playing, including Atlas Lost Rise of the New Sovereigns, Slay the Spire, Leaders, Magical Athlete, Dice Miners, and feature Phoe...

Greetings and salutations, noble travelers! Gather ye close and lend thine ears. Lord Bender doth regale us with tales of his grand Spelljammer campaign and the valorous exploits of his gallant Giff sailor. Thereafter, we entertain inquiries from our loyal listeners — pondering such matters as what Dungeon Masters desire most from their adventurers, whether our hearts favor the grand houses of mas...

Hey Now Cabalists! Welcome to another jam-packed episode of The Cabal! Today we talk about our brand-new gaming haunt — Franklin Street Social. Then we dive into some games we've been playing, including Galactic Cruise, XCOM, Claustrophobia 1643, Sweet Lands, Magical Athlete, and Chicken! Then Don and Jamie give you a feature review of Tabriz, designed by Randy Flynn. After Tony T hooks you up wit...

Greetings Cabalists and happy Halloween! Tonight the Mysteries of the Unknown dares to uncover The Van Meter Visitor! Was it a monster from another world? A beast born of science gone mad? Or something far more terrifying… lurking in the skies above small-town America?! Join Tony, Don, Steve, Bender, and Jamie as they descend into the chilling depths of High Strangeness! So bolt your doors… dim th...

Welcome Ye Gods of War!  After a long and silent campaign upon the ashes of hiatus, the Filthy Casuals return to the field to speak of sacred miniatures and the art of battle!  Jamie discusses his grand campaign of WWII miniatures, Mike confesses his love of G.I. Joe, and together they revel in the primal glory of painting apes wielding instruments of death.  But soon, the vox crackles with the tr...

Good evening, worms, and welcome to the annual Halloween celebration! Tonight, the pitiful gang dares to summon Wolfman Steve and me, The Gatekeeper! They shall present the games they've played, including Mansions of Madness, Storyfold Wildwoods, The Stifling Dark, Nyctophobia and deliver a feature review of that wretched classic,  Betrayal at House on the Hill! Then, the mortal known as Tony T wi...

Greetings, travelers! Gather close, for the Lords convene to recount the end of AC's mighty Planescape saga. Yet as one tale closes, another dawns, Jesko's long-awaited Dark Sun campaign rises upon the horizon!  The fellowship then answers a listener's query on what board games stir their adventuring hearts, before delving into a most curious matter indeed: the use of artificial intelligences in t...

Hey Now Cabalists! Today Don and Jamie share their time at one of the best game stores they've ever experienced - Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Then the gang dives into a bunch of games they've been playing, including The Presence, Mythwind, Etherstone, Shackleton Base, and Age of Galaxy. Don, Chris, and Jamie throw down a feature review of Tea Garden from Tomas Holek and Capstone Game...

Guten Tag Cabalists! Don, Jamie, and Tony T are raising their steins high for Oktoberfest and running down their top picks for the hottest games releasing at Essen Spiel 2025! It's a full-on beer hall bash here at The Secret Cabal, and the excitement is flowing like a fresh keg. All we need now is a heaping plate of wienerschnitzel, spaetzle, and sauerkraut to make it complete. So grab a brew, set...

Welcome back, Cabalists, to another jam-packed episode of The Cabal! Today, the gang dives into a stack of games they've been playing, including Unsettled, Agricola, Blood Rage, Tony's take on Blood Rage: Valhalla, Endangered, and Regicide Legacy. After that, Don and Jamie feature Luthier from Paverson Games. Then Tony T reclaims the reins from Stevie S and brings you one hell of a news segment. A...

Hearken, ye Cabalists! Gather round, for this day the Lords convene in discourse. They speak first of Jamie and AC's newest chronicle of dread and mystery, wrought in the Call of Cthulhu. Thereafter, a query from a faithful listener shall be pondered, touching upon the use of relics and tokens within the gaming hall. Lastly, the Roundtable shall be set, where wisdom is shared on the keeping of mom...

Welcome, Cabalists, to another Wednesday packed with games and shenanigans with the Founders! Today we dive into Raising Robots, Here Lies, Flock Together, Everdell Silverfrost, Hot Streak, and feature Jamey Stegmaier's newest creation, Vantage! Then, after Steve steps in to fill Tony T's big shoes for the news segment, we tackle a couple of listener questions including what to do when you know yo...

In Express episode 111, Don, Tony, and Jamie are inspired by a listener question and discuss patterns and fads in game design and try and answer the question - is there truly anything original out there?

Hey now, Cabalists! The gang is back and fired up for another episode of The Cabal! Tony's dealing with his dog's unfortunate bout of diarrhea, Chris went out to see Weird Al, and the crew hit the table with a pile of great new games including Above and Below Haunted, Ark Nova: Marine Worlds, El Burro, Heat Pedal to the Metal, Moon Colony Bloodbath, and feature Shackleton Base by Fabio Lopiano and...

Greetings, noble Cabalists! This day, the Lords do commence their grand convocation by heeding a missive from a most inquisitive listener, who doth inquire how they divine their next realm of adventure,  be it by the singular vision of a lone Game Master, or by the council and clamor of the whole round table. Thereafter, the fellowship embarks upon a most profound discourse concerning the art of e...

The Cabal is back in action, and we dive into a conversation about Chris' adventures at Anthrocon! One day, we'll get him to dress up as the red panda. After that, we get into some of the games we've been playing, including Cities, Vantage, City of Horror, Creature Caravan, Monsters Menace the World, and a feature review of Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship from Matt Leacock. Then, after T...

In Express Episode 110, Don, Chris, and Jamie get together to talk about the end game - goals, objectives, and victory in board games. They discuss competitiveness, process-oriented players, winning and losing streaks, imperative and contingent goals, and what it really means to feel like you've won a game. Enjoy!

Hey Now Cabalists! In episode 109 of The Secret Cabal Express Don and Jamie put together all of the games that they're frothing at the mouth and jumping outta their pants to get at from Gen Con 2025 coming up in a few weeks. Head over to TheSecretCabal.com and click on the link to this episode to get links to all the games we discussed on the show today. Enjoy!