The Spiel - MP3 Version

Steffen Muhlhauser is fueled by a passion for abstract games. His company, Steffen Spiele, publishes games that are equal parts art, strategy and fun. Our conversation explores his dedication to beauty in all aspects of a game, from components to gameplay

Designer Dennis Kirps chats about Insect Hotel. It's a little known fact that beneficial garden bugs love to spend time in hotels. It's your job to fill as many rooms as you can, while keeping pesky spiders and cockroaches away.

Cubiko is small company that makes handcrafted strategy and dexterity games. Gavin Biernbaum talks about how he taught himself carpentry in order to bring his designs to life. We also chat about Jam Sumo, which is two flicking games in one.

Markus Nikisch is the creative director for HABA. We chat about the loud and crazy process of developing dozens of new titles for kids. We also discuss Spookies, Karuba and Adventureland, a new line of family games geared toward older children and adults.

Small companies, big fun. We review two small press games: Lift Off & Letter Tycoon. In Lift Off you use rockets & trampolines to get aliens off an exploding planet. In Letter Tycoon you build words to earn money & buy letter patents so you can cash in.

Play long and prosper. We review Star Trek: Five Year Mission - a co-op dice game where you play as the crew of the Enterprise - and Medieval Academy - a card drafting game where you play as squires training to be knighted by King Arthur.

We wrap-up this year's GenCon coverage with a chat about our experiences and impressions of the convention.

Todd Rowland drops by to talk about several new and upcoming games from AEG: Dice City, Smash Up: Munchkin, and Valley of the Kings: Afterlife.

Ignacy Trzewiczek chats about his 2nd book and 2 new games: Rattle, Battle, Grab the Loot, a pirate dice game where players build mini cardboard ships and Tides of Time, a card drafting game where players guide a civilization through prosperity & collapse

Kevin Cook owns the largest dice collection in the world. We chat about his latest haul of dice from this year's convention (over 900 new dice!) and get an update on the size and future of the collection.

Paul Imboden chats about Paradox, a puzzle-based strategy game that uses the Match-3 concept (think Bejeweled). You play a scientist manipulating the time matrix to save the past, present and future of 15 different worlds threatened by a cosmic Quake.

From the height of silliness, a 1 minute bluffing game called Meow, to the beautiful but brain burning Mottainai, Asmadi Games has something for every player. Owner and designer Chris Cieslik chats about a bevvy of new and upcoming titles.

Flying Frog Productions prides itself on building game worlds with detailed backstories and characters. Brothers Scott and Jason Hill join us to chat about new releases for two recent horror-themed game worlds: Shadows of Brimstone and Dark Gothic.

Chad DeShon wants everyone to have a nice place to play. He talks about the development process that went into their design for an affordable hand crafted board game table.

Kevin Brusky discusses several new and upcoming games from APE: Arcadia, Chaos Cove, The Great Dinosaur Rush and Spirits of the Rice Paddy.

Justin Gary chats about the newest title from Stoneblade: Bad Beets, a bluffing game about kids trying to avoid eating their vegetables.

Christopher Badell and Chris Kirkman join us for a tag-team interview about the recent merger of their two companies & how it has helped them pool their business & creative resources. The result is 3 distinct publishing imprints all under the same roof.

Chris Birch chats about the first big board game release from Modiphius: Thunderbirds, designed by Matt Leacock (Pandemic). Players are characters on the International Rescue team. Their goal? Thwart disasters triggered by The Hood.

Jonathan Moriarity chats about his new app Pick-a-Game, a game recommendation engine which uses a psychological approach. Are you a Thinker? A Socializer? An Empath? Answer a few questions and the app will find the right game for your mood and mindset.

"The Buonocore" (Stephen Buonocore) chats about four new scifi themed games from Stronghold - Survive: Space Attack, Space Cadets: Away Missions, Among the Stars: Revival, and Dark Moon.

Dan Yarrington talks about how Game Salute has grown into 3 separate businesses. New Creative Director Dann May discusses his vision for future publishing projects as well as media licensed games based on The Princess Bride and Fast and Furious.

Patrick Nickell chats about Dead Drop and Council of Verona - two games in the Pub Series - small, quick social games you can play with friends over a beer.

Designer Brad Brooks chats about Letter Tycoon, a word game where players can buy patents on individual letters and cash in every time they're used.

Cassidy Werner discusses progress on the upcoming Titan series of board games and gives us the scoop on an upcoming release, Thieves. Plus, Dan Taylor from Thunderbox chats about the digital version of Tsuro soon to be released for iOS and Android devices

Brothers Nathan and Jeff Cornelius chat about developing and publishing Campaign Trail, a game of modern electoral politics, from a game designed by their father. Play one on one or in teams to guide your candidate to the Oval Office.