My buddy Ryan Wheeler is part of our local game group, the Santa Clarita Boardgamers. In fact, he's the driving force of the group, hosting most of the game nights, always adding to his collection, and infecting the rest of us with his enthusiasm and sense of humor. When schedules conflicts led to only two of us showing up for games one night, I pressured him into recording another podcast with

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A special announcement from The Dice Tower.

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Avoid the Lulo List. More games inspired by the Spanish speaking world. We duel for glory in Toledo and angle for rum and power in Cuba. Plus two classic card games little known to gringos.

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I've posted another auction on Boardgamegeek. Help me get rid of some games so I can trick myself into buying more, immediately overwhelming the storage space I'm trying to recover! :)Auction ends on Friday, March 6. See the instructions at the top of the page.

I'm doing that again (never stopped, really). Go to the usual sites (SpielByWeb, Mabiweb, MichaelSchacht.net) to look for games I've started for BGTG podcast listeners, and the password for each is bgtg.Also, if you go to the realtime sites Brettspielwelt or GameTableOnline (or the hybrid pbw/realtime site Yucata.de--which just added Arkadia in beta test), be sure to see if I'm online. I always

In this show, Tom and Sam talk about the best trading games, and Geoff talks about the mechanics of trading. We start a new contest to win Age of Steam, talk about some upcoming games and news. Moritz reviews the "living card game" from Fantasy Flight, and Mark reviews Red November. Finally, we review nineteen games in nineteen minutes!

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Someone just did, and I'd like to respond on a future episode, but unfortunately he must've been calling on a cell phone with a poor signal. The audio drops out during all of the important words of his message, like his question why I don't do more shows about my ______ games. What was that? Or his name--that also dropped out.If you're out there, please try again!

Before I can post any new shows, I wanted to clear the decks for some accumulated feedback, as well as follow-through on my previous blog entry about family gaming over the holidays. Again I brought I bag full of specially chosen games, and again we played some of them. Just a few, really, but I knew to expect that. This year my gaming was mostly confined to playing with my young nephews, which I

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No pasarán! From building towers of people in Catalonia to manning the barricades in Madrid, we play España 1936 and Castellers, two games from Spanish publisher Devir.

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In this episode, Tom and Sam review Battlestar Galactica, while Geoff goes over evolution-themed games. Giles talks about a game expo in Australia, and Tom and Sam mention several recently played games. Finally, we talk about the Spiel des Jahres, talking about the game that SHOULD have won, and finishing with our top ten Spiel des Jahres games.

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The alphabet of giants. We shake the buildings from our sleeves by playing Metropolys and Manhattan, two simple, elegant games about skyscrapers.

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This is the last in a three-parter in which Tom interviews several publishers about what to expect from their companies in 2009. In this segment, Tom talks with Gamewright Games, Z-Man Games, Treefrog, Valley Games, and Jolly Roger Games.

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This is the second of a three-parter in which Tom interviews several publishers about what to expect from their companies in 2009. In this segment, Tom talks with Mayfair Games, Asmodee Editions, Days of Wonder, Slugfest, and Tablestar Games.

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This is the first of a three-parter in which Tom interviews several publishers about what to expect from their companies in 2009. In this segment, Tom talks with FRED distribution, Gorilla Games, Rio Grande Games, Northstar Games, and Your Move Games.

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Laddergram puzzle created by David Coleson. Print, solve, send us the answer. Correct entries could win a free game!

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In this classic episode, first posted in October 2005, review Walk the Dogs and Mag Blast, 2nd Edition. We answer a lot of questions, moan about a lack of good space games, and talk about games that we've played recently. Finally, we top the episode off with our top ten party games.

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Puzzle primer. We explore a new trend: the convergence between puzzles and games. We review six different titles including On the Dot, three forms of Ubongo, Code Omega and Santy Anno.

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In this episode, Tom and Sam talk about a their favorite gateway games, and have a look at 2008 as a whole. We talk about gaming events, while Eric reviews Monastary. We end the show with the top ten games of 2008. Thanks to guest contributors Moritz Eggert, Mark Haberman, Mark Zielinksi, Mary Prasad, Doug Cooley, Geoff Englestein and family, Rick Thornquist, Eric Summerer, and Eric Burgess.

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In this episode, Tom and Sam talk about a few games that they've played recently. This is part one of the big "end of the year" show, and we talk about our favorite Children's Game, strangest games, war games, innovative games, best expansions, worst games, biggest disappointments, best components, best party games, and biggest surprises. With guest contributors Moritz Eggert, Mark Haberman, Mark Zielinksi, Mary Prasad, Doug Cooley, Geoff Englestein and family, Rick Thornquist, Eric Summerer, and Eric Burgess.

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Itatake mas. With chopsticks in hand and sake cups full, we dig into Wasabi, a tile laying game between rival sushi chefs. Dave also reports from the Obsessive Collector's Desk on card and dice organization.

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