The Spiel

Dieter Strehl discusses his experience at Essen over the past 31 years as well as the latest release from Pitanik, Venezia 2099 - a tile flipping strategy game about saving precious artwork from Venice.

Frank Heeren discusses Fields of Arle, a 2 player game about developing an estate in East Frisia designed by Uwe Rosenberg. This game has a personal connection for Uwe. It is set in the small village where his father was born and his parents married.

Matthias Wagner chats about Royals, a card-driven game about noble houses maneuvering for positions of power in the Age of Reason.

Moritz Brunnhofer chats about Die Staufer - a game about a royal tour of Europe in the 12th century and Carcassone: Gold Rush - a stand alone variant of the classic set in the Old West, plus we chat about new editions of Carcassonne and St. Petersburg.

Designer Christophe Raimbault discusses Colt Express - a game about an Old West train robbery with a two level cardboard train.

Giuliano Acquati from Italian publisher Cranio Creations talks about Dungeon Bazar - a fantasy auction game, Soqquadro - a scavenger hunt party game and Valentina - a memory game based on the groundbreaking 1960s comic artwork of Guido Crepax.

Arvid Fransen and designer Dennis Kirps from Dutch publisher Play This One discuss RoboRama, a game where players use cards to navigate their team of robots across a hazzardous board, including the dreaded ChaosBot which all players can control.

Aporta Games is a new publisher based in Norway. Kristian Amundsen Ostby and James Tandy, two of the founders of Aporta, join us to chat about Doodle City, a dice driven family game where players draw a unique roadmap through a town to score points.

Rustan Hakansson discusses Nations: the Dice Game, a civilization building game full of strategy that plays in half an hour.

Lenka Holubova from Czech Games Edition chats about Alchemists, a game about mixing potions that uses a smart phone as a randomizer. We also talk about the new Galaxy Trucker app, an expansion to Tash Kalar and an anniversary edition of Dungeon Lords.

Evi Tsirogiannidou chats about 27th Passenger, a deduction game in a noir setting. Players are assassins aboard a train in Manhattan, trying to identify and eliminate the right targets.

Noted French game designers Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc chat about their collaborative process and developing their latest game: Madame Ching.

Gaaaames. We review Dark Gothic, a horror themed deck builder with roots in role playing. Players are monster hunters in colonial America trying to rid the countryside of terrifying villains. We also survey games based on The Walking Dead.

You just have to play. We celebrate our 200th episode with reviews of Enigma and Doodle City, a segment honoring the meeple, a look back at a gambling game named after a female Pope, plus a super-sized Game Sommelier with three tough challenges.

We conclude our GenCon coverage with a casual conversation: our impressions of the con, favorite moments, memorable games and more.

Spencer Reeve discusses a Cool Mini's transition from retailer to publisher including new ventures into card and euro games. We discuss several new releases including Rivet Wars, Kaosball, Arcadia Quest, Dogs of War and Xenoshyft.

Elad Goldsteen from Golden Egg Games chats about Athlas: Duel for Divinity, a two player strategy game. Demigods assemble powerful creatures using cards and then deploy them to a board in order to open a portal and win the game.

Kevin Cook is the owner of the world's largest dice collection. We chat with Kevin about "The Year in Dice," including his 50,000th die! We also discuss dozens of unique and custom dice featured in games released at the con.

Matagot is a French publisher known for games with beautiful and amazingly detailed components. Arnaud chats about the philosophy that drives the company and several upcoming releases including Korrigans and Sun Tzu.

Colby Dauch from Plaid Hat Games chats about Dead of Winter, an innovative psychological survival game set in the zombie apocalypse. Players work toward a common goal BUT each player has a personal objective which can conflict with the needs of the group

Jason Maxwell chats about Agents of SMERSH, a story driven board game of espionage and adventure set during the Cold War. We also discuss the latest expansion Swagman's Hope.

Todd Rowland chats about Doomtown Reloaded, a revival of a much beloved old west card game in a non-collectible edition. We also discuss two new games in the 5 minute fun line: Lost Legacy and Cypher.

Swiss publisher Helvetia creates games that share a common thread. Each one is set in the same fantasy realm. Pierre-Yves Franzetti chats about their latest title, Unita, an abstract wargame with giant dice. We also discuss gaming culture in Switzerland.

Zev Shlasinger, the Z-Man himself, discusses Chimera, a ladder style card game & the latest in a series influenced by the classics w/ a gamerly twist. We also chat about his passion for card games & how this influenced the company from the very beginning.

Jamey Stegmaier chats about the 2nd ed. of Viticulture, a wildly successful worker placement game that puts players in control of a rustic Italian vineyard. We also discuss Tuscany, a tiered expansion that unlocks new game elements each time you play.