The Spiel

Andy from Thames & Kosmos chats about relaunching several Kosmos titles in North America. Some are classics: Lost Cities, Kahuna, Ubongo. Others are new: Dimension, Andor. The ultimate goal is synchronized worldwide release for new Kosmos games.

What do contact juggling, David Bowie, poker, and a well-aimed cat have in common? James Ernest, founder of Cheapass Games. We chat about the past, present and future of the company.

Designer Chris Handy chats about Pack O Game, 8 small card games each the size of a pack of gum. From tile laying to auctions, bluffing and dexterity there's something for everyone in these tiny packs of cards.

Keith Myers chats about several new releases from Iello: Medieval Academy, Welcome to the Dungeon and Pingo Pingo.

Lea Culliton chats about the growing interest in children's games as HABA USA brings more titles to North America including Crest Climbers, Pharaoh's Gulo Gulo, Monster Laundry and many more.

Fabio del Rio chats about several upcoming titles from CSE including 10 Down, Loud About, Fantasy Fantasy Baseball and Junk in My Trunk, a card game designed by The Spiel's very own David Coleson!

Brandan Parsons from publisher Blue Orange and designer Chenier LaSalle join us to discuss New York 1901. Driven by a passion for the city and its architecture, Chenier designed the game over several years with the help of his kids.

Noted French designers Bruno Cathala and Antoine Bauza often work with partners on new designs. We chat about their latest collaboration, 7 Wonders: Duel, a two player stand-alone variant of the award winning civilization building card game.

Ted Alspach chats about Favor of the Pharaoh, an Egyptian themed reboot of Tom Lehmann's engine building dice game To Court The King. We also discuss One Night Ultimate Vampire, the latest title in the family of fast playing social deduction games.

Matt Hyra leads the in-house design team at Cryptozoic. He chats about the different challenges designers face when developing a games tied to movies like Ghostbusters, video games like Portal and hundreds of comic book characters from the DC universe.

Designer and art director Isaac Vega chats about business and games. We discuss F2Z's recent acquisition of Plaid Hat Games and what this means to the company. We also discuss Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn, an expandable fantasy battle card and dice game

Travis Chance and Nick Little chat about Ninja Camp, a family game about misfit animals training to become masked fighters. We also discuss an expansion for Heroes Wanted and Scoundrel Society, a card game about con men going after the same mark.

Sen-Foong Lim and Jay Cormier chat about the Game Artisans of Canada, a guild of designers across the country that workshop each others' games. They also discuss how they collaborate on games despite living thousands of miles apart.

Expert. Connoiseur. Strategy. The Kennerspiel des Jahres has something of a split personality The central idea is an award for the best "gamer's game" of the year. We review Orleans, Elysium and Broom Service, then predict this year's winner.

There can be only one... Game of the Year, that is. We review the final nominee, The Game, a cooperative card game where table talk (of a sort) is allowed. Then we weigh all three nominees against the jury's criteria and try to predict the winner.

For kids. And kids at heart. We review Spinderella, Treasure Trouble and Push-a-Monster, the three nominees for the Kinderspiel des Jahres, the best Children's Game of the Year, and try to predict the winner.

The Spiel des Jahres is Germany's Game of the Year. It's an award for the best family game. And it is the most prestigious award in the board game world. In Pt. 1 we review Machi Koro and Colt Express to see how they stack up against the jury's criteria.

That toward Caunterbury wolden ryde. We delve into the history and literary legacy of one of England's most famous cities by exploring 2 games: Canterbury and The Road to Canterbury. In one we are Saxon lords building the city district by district. In the other we are pardoners accompanying Chaucer's pilgrims, tempting them into sins which only we can absolve... for a price.

Hold the croutons. Designer Stefan Feld gives you all the ingredients for a "point salad" in his games. The fun comes from creating the best mix every time you play. We explore Feld's 10 year career and review his latest two games: La Isla and Aquasphere.

Blood, sweat & gears. We review Kanban & Factory Fun, two very challenging games with an industrial theme. Kanban is a many-layered simulation of an auto assembly line. Factory fun is a puzzle where players are rewarded for making convoluted machines.

Roll over Picasso. We review Waggle Dance, Praetor and Dice Brewing. Each game uses dice in a fun, creative way: to make honey, to build Hadrian's wall and to make beer.

Back in the day... We review Murano and Royals, two new titles that call back to the first generation of "euros" that sparked the Renaissance in modern board games.

Code monkeys. We explore 3 games in the programmed movement genre. Robot Turtles teaches programming skills to toddlers. Colt Express pits bandits against each other on a cardboard train. Empire Engine is a steampunk micro-game that uses cards as gears.

Heile recommended. Join us for a virtual cocktail party to celebrate the season. We bounce through a variety of geek related round table topics, play some silly games, listen to some bad jokes and laugh. A lot.

Wordly wiser. We explore two word games with a modern twist. Paperback is a deckbuilding game where players build words to complete pulp novels. Typo 2D is a tile laying game where players build word fragments in a grid.