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.

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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.

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WizKids may want to change the company name to DiceKids. Scott D'Agostino discusses the massive success of Marvel Dice Masters and the many challenges they have faced trying to keep up with demand. We also chat about the dragon battle game DnD Attack Wing

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Ludovic Maublanc's resume of great games makes him a rock star in the industry, yet he remains relatively unknown. Ludovic & fellow French designer Charles Chevallier discuss his career, his games and the importance of collaboration in game design.

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Playing experiences are a primary topic on this episode as Dave Gullett joins the gang from last week and delves into what makes a new game OK, though he loathes learning new games. Then Susan McKinley Ross talks about Qwirkle's move to iOS and German licensing, and we discuss getting total strangers to buy 'our' games. App versions are part of the discussion too.

Istanbul

Hanabi

Paperback

Qwirkle

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Susan McKinley Ross joins in on the mics (along with last week's crew) and Erik Oliver shows up for a discussion of the games that sparked debate and enjoyment over the course of the weekend. Those games include

Norderwind (North Wind)

Hollywood

Advanced Civilization

18XX

Freedom

Nations

Maskmen

Glass Road

Camel Up

Das Letzte Kamel

Castle Dice

Power Grid

One Night Ultimate Werewolf

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Candy, Ric, Joe, Kevin, and Brett join Shelley and me for a conversation about the SdJ nominees/winners, what a 'game' is, and whether BGG needs to be more user friendly or is 'just right' as Goldilocks would say.

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Ted, Doug, Ric, Denis, Paul and a couple others join Shelley and me for a discussion of the state of Kickstarter, prototypes, development, and playtesting. Then we talk about some of the latest titles we were able to get to the table.

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Stephen Buonocore is joined by designer Geoff Englestein to give us the rundown on four new titles from Stronghold: Space Cadets: Dice Duel - Die Fighter, Diamonds, Panamax, and Among the Stars.

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Asterion is a distributor & publisher of games in Italy. Yemaia is an Italian game design company. Luca Cattini & Giovanni Intini chat about their 1st joint venture, Hyperborea, a fantasy civilization building game & the state of gaming culture in Italy.

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Publisher Kevin Brusky and designer Kevin G. Nunn discuss a full slate of new releases from APE including Rarrr!!, Island Siege, Spirits of the Rice Paddy and the Great Britain/India expansion to Rolling Freight.

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The Hill brothers, Jason & Scott, chat about 2 new story-driven titles from Flying Frog. Dark Gothic is a deck building game of colonial-era monster hunting. Shadows of Brimstone is an old west dungeon crawl board game filled with unspeakable horrors.

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Patrick Nickell chats about Pay Dirt - an engine building worker placement game set in Alaska designed by Tory Niemann (Alien Frontiers). Players take a small crew a try to extract as much gold from their modest claim before the ground freezes solid.

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Ted Alspach discusses 3 new games. Subdivision is a tile drafting follow up to Suburbia. One Night Ultimate Werewolf is a micro game version of the classic. Castles of Mad King Ludwig asks players to raise the most ornate palace to please his majesty.

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Dan Yarrington discusses Kings Forge - a dice based game of crafting weapons and trinkets in order to garner favor with the royal court. We also get a sneak peak at a game in development: Lighthouse Run

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Mad genius Christopher Badell chats about 3 new games and his emphasis on storytelling in game development and design: Galactic Strike Force, Sentinel Tactics and Wrath of the Cosmos, an expansion for Sentinels of the Multiverse.

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FINALLY this episode is releasing. Gen Con wipe out the Founders and needed some extra time. But, it's here and you get to hear all about Cyclades! Then the gang looks back at Belfort one year later. Tony T delivers the news of the day and then the guys tackle four short topics submitted by the listeners.

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Chris Cieslik discusses 4 new games. Consequential: a co-op about mending holes in time. Impulse: a scifi card game from Carl Chudyk. Heat: a game of heists & avoiding the law. Red: a micro game - be in first place by the end of your turn or you're out!

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Matthieu Bonin discusses two new titles from Iello. Zombie '15 is a real time scenario based game of teamwork and survival. King of New York is the follow up to Richard Garfield's hit dice game. This time, giant monsters are trying to take down Manhattan.

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Calliope is known for family friendly games like Roll for It and Tsuro. They are launching a new venture - the Titan Series: 9 games from some of the most creative minds in the industry including Richard Garfield, Eric Lang, Mike Selinker and many more.

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