This time, Tom crows about another victory for Vasel's Law with the announcement of The King's Gambit. Then, Julie pens her own Tale of Boardgaming Horror (but she makes Eric read it), and we move on to a field of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.

00:47 - Back from Dice Tower West

02:20 - Dice Tower East and Cruise

06:37 - The King's Gambit and Vasel's Law

26:57 - Julie's Tale of Boardgaming Horror

37:43 - Pirate Borg

43:06 - Finspan

45:52 - First Giants

49:41 - Art Decko

52:49 - The Winds of Numa Sera

57:12 - Catan on the Road

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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On this episode, Tom, Julie and Eric are live at Dice Tower West in Las Vegas taking questions from the audience and talking about the games they've played (with a brief Tom-less interlude from Eric and Julie).

01:01 - Dice Tower West Library and Most Played

03:59 - Julie in Demoville and Escape Rooms

06:06 - Julie Came With a List

08:24 - Star Wars: Battle of Hoth

09:28 - Tea Garden

11:01 - Orloj: The Prague Astronomical Clock

12:55 - Feierabend

15:21 - Merchant of Venus #100

16:47 - Fathom

18:38 - Shapely

21:03 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror

28:28 - Eric and Julie Interlude

29:10 - E&J: Stuff on Tables

31:39 - E&J: Strange Things to Carry

34:05 - E&J: What Shouldn't Stay in Vegas

36:51 - E&J: Drawing a Crowd

39:34 - Question: Game Opening Disasters

44:42 - Question: Escaping Jail

46:44 - Question: Comprehensive Rulebooks

52:01 - Minor Tom Rant: Authority to Answer Questions

52:58 - Question: Art for Prototypes

56:31 - Question: Deluxe Editions

58:37 - Question: Less or More of a Genre

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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Julie's been to a castle! And GAMA Expo! We chat about those adventures for a bit before moving on to the topic of physical weight of our games. How heavy is too heavy? We also share a question from the mailbag, and collect some Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.

00:54 - Winter Woes and Dice Tower West

05:42 - Julie and Hoop and Stick

11:25 - GAMA Expo

14:21 - Heavy Games

33:08 - Question: What Is the Soup of Games?

41:04 - Lairs

43:34 - Chicago Grand Slam

46:50 - Hot Streak

48:18 - Wilmot's Warehouse

52:08 - A Place for All My Books

54:35 - Regicide

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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Julie's out this time, so Tom and Eric spend time looking back at Epic Game Events that they've been involved with at conventions over the years. What worked well, and what did not? Plus, a question from the mailbag about digital vs. in-person gaming, and Tom and Eric each present a full set of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.

00:47 - No Julie, February Lull

01:35 - Live Show at Dice Tower West (Friday 3pm)

02:42 - Groundhogs and Polka Interlude

03:21 - Dice Tower East and Curling

06:14 - Epic Game Events

36:37 - Question: Live vs. BGA?

42:33 - Age of Galaxy

46:05 - A Message from the Stars

50:06 - Trasteros/Storeroom Inc.

52:56 - Nuns on the Run (2nd Edition)

56:05 - Suds and Malone

1:00:49 - Lords of Worlds

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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Tom and Eric are back from the Dice Tower Cruise, trying not to make Julie jealous, but failing miserably. We talk about games played, ports visited, and flights cancelled. Plus, we dive into the listener mailbag, and gather a new round of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.

00:54 - Dice Tower West and The Library

02:33 - Merchant of Venus in The Library

04:26 - Dice Tower Cruise - Pre-Cruise

10:50 - Cruise: Most Checked-Out Games

21:57 - Cruise: St. Thomas Game Day

25:02 - Eric's Travel Woes

27:26 - Jibber Jabble

29:44 - Julie's Cruise Contribution

30:47 - Question: Too Social?

38:33 - JiSoGi: Anime Studio Tycoon

46:07 - Eternal Decks

49:44 - Ham Helsing

55:11 - Cosy Stickerville

59:03 - Fest Season

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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This time, we look at what happens when a production error is found in a game after it has reached the wild. What should producers do to make it right, and can they do anything at all? Also, a new dramatic Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and a new collection of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.

00:50 - Storytime from Tom: Loading the Cruise Library

04:16 - Announcements: Gamefound (supportdicetower.com), Dice Tower West, East, and Vacation

06:33 - Dealing with Production Errors

39:14 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror

47:55 - Wingspan: Americas

50:19 - Sanibel

52:44 - Harmonies

55:27 - Nocturnis

57:43 - Lairs

1:00:45 - Cookie Run Braverse TCG

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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We kick off 2026 by looking back 20 years to 2006. What were we up to, and what were we playing? Plus, a question from the mailbag, and a new collection of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.

00:50 - Busy January - SupportDiceTower.com

03:07 - 2006 Memories

05:09 - Where Were We In 2006?

18:50 - The Games of 2006

27:44 - Which Games Are We Still Playing?

31:30 - Listener Question: Game Replacement

42:07 - Add to Playlist

47:06 - Galactic Cruise

48:06 - Zooloretto

50:47 - Merry Murdle

53:52 - Unmatched Adventures: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

57:10 - Heroes of Timeline

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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It's time for our look back at the games of 2025. Highs and lows, heavy and light, thorny and rosy and hoopy.

01:20 - Top Tens on Video

01:51 - Year as a Whole

07:49 - Convention/On The Go Game - Hot Streak, Light Speed Arena, Ghost Lift, Ito, 1AM Jailbreak

12:07 - All-Day-to-Play - Regicide Legacy, My Father's Work, Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era

14:48 - Best Theme - Luthier, Flow, Storyfold: Wildwoods

20:06 - Guilty Pleasure - Deep Regrets, Moon Colony Bloodbath

24:38 - Favorite Classic - Race for the Galaxy, At The Gates of Loyang, Sentient, Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, You're Bluffing

27:22 - Stand-Out in Our Favorite Genre - Bohemians, EXIT Advent, Threads of Fate, Rove

32:48 - Hoopiest Hula-Hoop - Spooktacular, Oddland, Zenith

37:05 - Thorniest Thorn - Feel Like a Fool, Lynx, Donald Duck in Happy Camper

41:38 - Rosiest Rose - Vantage, Formaggio, Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread

47:42 - Looking Forward to 2026 - Use Up All Your Sick Days, Vegan Cafe, Sail Legacy, Floe

50:35 - Announcements: Gamefound, Dice Tower Cruise, East, West

Next Episode: January 13, 2026

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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This time, we continue our discussion of RPGs by suggesting Role Playing Games that share popular boardgaming mechanisms, as well as giving Tom tips for getting a game started. Plus, we have a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and we close the show with some Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.

00:50 - A Story About Mail

02:22 - Eric at PAX Unplugged (inc. Hot Streak)

06:50 - Gift Guides, Dice Tower West and East

08:02 - RPGs for Boardgame Fans (detailed notes below)

37:55 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror

43:03 - Formaggio

48:35 - Gnomic Parliament

52:13 - Carnuta

54:49 - Magic Number 11

56:54 - Insurrect10n

--

Julie's Notes

Where to go to get core book pdfs?

DriveThruRPG https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/

Itch.io https://itch.io/

Cooperative play (yes the overwhelming majority of TTRPGs are cooperative) some extra cooperative leaning

• Heckin' Good Doggos https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/405426/heckin-good-doggos

• Teatime Adventures https://www.snowbrightstudio.com/teatime-adventures

Dice rolling - Also many many many ttrpgs use dice. Here are some examples

• D20 - D&D/Pathfinder https://www.dndbeyond.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorCdKoS-xSfI4e05Us81YGA4tHt8CmmaOWNN-9VTcnsAfXS5pBS, https://paizo.com/pathfinder

• d100 (percentile): Call of Cthulhu https://www.chaosium.com/call-of-cthulhu-rpg/

• Symbol-based dice: FFG Star Wars. https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/starwarsrpg/ , Fudge dice: Fate https://evilhat.com/product/fate-core-system/

Area control

• Beak, Feather, & Bone https://possible-worlds-games.itch.io/bfb

Faction/War

• Song of Ice and Fire RPG http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/101026/A-Song-of-Ice-and-Fire-Roleplaying-A-Game-of-Thrones-Edition

• Mutant: Year Zero https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/139453/MUTANT-Year-Zero--Roleplaying-At-The-End-Of-Days

• Numenera: Destiny https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/240655/Numenera-Destiny

• Coyote and Crow https://www.allplay.com/board-games/coyote-and-crow-the-roleplaying-game/

Action points -

Level Up

• D&D

• PbtA

Using Action points

• Feng Shui https://atlas-games.com/fengshui

• C&S: Rebirth

• Mythras

Deck builder/Bidding

Ok not really but Redigo is "Hand Management" https://letsplayredigo.com/

Games using a standard deck of cards

• Castle Falkenstein https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/2370/castle-falkenstein

Games using a custom or proprietary card deck - mostly they are being used instead of dice

• Dragonlance: Fifth Age https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/186462/dragonlance-fifth-age-dramatic-adventure-game-saga

• Clockwork Dominion https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/489608/courier-repacked

My Closest Pick

• Torg Eternity:A Thousand Faces of Adventure http://torg-gamereference.com/

Pick up and Deliver

Solo/journal:

• Courier https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/489608/courier-repacked

• Delivered! https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/441018/delivered-a-solo-journaling-rpg

One shot

• Delivery Dragons https://shardsofblue.itch.io/delivery-dragons

Worker Placement?

Become a GM

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

💾

This time, we go fishing for Role Players, linking some popular aspects of RPGs to our favorite boardgames. Plus, our latest collection of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.

00:47 - Getting Cold

01:45 - Eric at Pax Unplugged

03:47 - Games at Tom's Daughter's Wedding?

05:10 - BGG Con, Dice Tower East, West, Cruise

06:37 - Fishing for Role Players

14:58 - Stat-Heavy Games: Pathfinder ACG, Mage Knight

17:48 - Character Building: Origin Story, Elder Scrolls, Too Many Bonews, Artisans of Splendent Vale

20:12 - Story-Based Character Progression: Call to Adventure, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Near and Far

22:17 - Campaign (Descent) vs. Combat: Wrath of Ashardilon, Wander the Cult of Barnacle Bay, Massive Darkness, Monster Hunter

27:36 - Silly: Dungeon Fighter, Dungeon Quest, Cora Quest, Munchkin, Talisman

30:31 - Exploration: Mansions of Madness, Clank Catacombs

32:57 - Storytelling: Mice and Mystics, Stuffed Fables, Tainted Grail, Oathsworn, Agemonia

35:03 - Video Games: Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Skyrim, GWENT

37:38 - Improvisational Storytelling: Freelancers, Wandering Galaxy, Adventure Party, Aye Dark Overlord, Once Upon a Time

41:22 - Teasing Next Time: RPGs for Boardgamers

42:27 - Rove

46:08 - Night Soil

49:04 - Mezen

52:50 - Gingerbread House

55:37 - Severton

1:00:35 - Spot It Catan

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

Julie's Tales of Myth and Legend Preorder: https://gamefound.com/projects/van-ryder-games/tales-of-myth-and-legend-preorder?refcode=tMZTh1PtbUec1Vko4OGdaw

💾

Tom, Julie, and Eric are back from Germany and ready to talk about games, food, crowds, and everything else they saw at Spiel 2025.

00:44 - Tired

01:50 - Official Numbers/Crowd Flow

07:09 - Travel Adventures and Weather

08:46 - What Was Different for Eric

11:31 - Food

13:35 - Eric's Birthday

15:44 - Julie's Author Signing

21:16 - Tom's Live Show

25:22 - Big Games

31:14 - How To Stand Out

35:51 - Limited Stock and How To Deal With It

40:17 - What Did We Go Home With?

44:12 - A Carnivore Did It

47:25 - Flow

50:50 - Ghost Lift

54:48 - Formidable Farm

58:22 - Leaders

59:52 - The Old King's Crown

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

💾

Tom, Julie, and Eric run through their game plan for Essen Spiel 2025, including where they'll be, and what games are on the internet's radar, as well as trying to narrow down what three games are of the most interest to them personally.

00:59 - Bookkeeping: Dice Tower East, West, Cruise

01:57 - The Weather in Germany

03:12 - Eric's First Time Back Since 2019, What's Changed?

07:18 - Where Will We Be?

Dice Tower Booth: 3 R315

Van Ryder Booth: 2 E280

Live Show, Sunday 1:30pm: Hall 4

09:30 - Dice Tower Essentials Interlude: Aquatica Duel, On Stage, Raas

11:44 - Live Plays

13:47 - Warning from Julie

14:38 - Sunday's Live Show

16:35 - Eric's Growing Wishlist and Shipping Woes

22:20 - The Games of Essen - So Many

28:20 - Orloj

29:27 - Recall

30:07 - SETI: Space Agencies

30:32 - Feya's Swamp

31:51 - Nature

33:15 - Covenant

35:00 - Ada's Dream

35:43 - Sanctuary

37:16 - Coming of Age

38:55 - Castle Combo: Out of the Oubliette!

39:08 - Echoes of Time

40:52 - White Castle Duel

41:33 - The Voynich Puzzle

42:15 - Underwater Cities: Data Era and LOTR Duel: Allies

42:38 - Luthier

43:12 - Aquaria

44:14 - Julie: Use Up All Your Sick Days

45:32 - Eric: Severton

45:56 - Tom: Cereal Killer

46:52 - Julie: The Stalker

47:30 - Eric: Leylines

48:35 - Tom: Kronologic Cuzco 1450

50:22 - Julie: Parks and Potions

51:29 - Eric: Winnie the Pooh: Serious Detective

52:47 - Tom: A Carnivore Did It

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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Tom is stuck in traffic, so Julie and Eric take control to discuss what it takes to setup a booth at Essen. How do you get all that stuff overseas, and how do you minimize what has to come back? And of course, there are Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.

00:45 - Where is Tom? and Julie's Work Trip

03:56 - Dice Tower Cruise and Dice Tower West

05:07 - Moving a Booth to Essen

35:50 - Tiletum: Prospect for Silver

41:20 - I Made You a Mixtape

45:12 - High Tide

50:00 - The Yellow House

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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Tom begins by recapping his adventures at the Dice Tower Retreat, and looks forward to the World Series of Boardgaming, before turning to the topic of figuring out what to do with your game collection after you're gone, and why it might be a good idea to make some choices sooner rather than later. Later, we share a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, peek into the mailbag, and gather a collection of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.

00:51 - Tom at the Dice Tower Retreat

02:25 - The World Series of Boardgaming

04:58 - Dice Tower Cruise, Dice Tower West, Spiel

06:03 - Planning for the Future of your Collection

24:58 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror

31:22 - Question: Co-Designer Credit

38:16 - A Place for All My Books

44:04 - Knitting Circle

48:18 - Endangered Rescue: Lemur Leaf Frog

51:21 - The New Year's Nightmare

54:55 - Firefighters on Duty

57:07 - Blood on the Clocktower

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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Tom sits at the small table. Eric's parents make friends on a cruise. Julie travels the country spreading boardgames wherever she goes. We also talk about what surprises await in those little pockets of games in places where you don't expect to find them. We delve into the mailbag for some pertinent questions, and we gather a new crop of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.

00:50 - School Has Started, Dice Tower West, Cruise

02:40 - Eric's Parents on Alaskan Cruise

03:19 - Spiel Plans (Booth 3R315)

05:02 - Game Shelves in Unusual Spots

20:43 - Question: Playing With Bob

29:30 - Question: Storing Games While At College

34:30 - Tag Team

36:52 - Journey to Tir na nOg

41:50 - Cat Sudoku: Summer Festival

44:18 - The Four Doors

47:22 - Regicide Legacy

52:43 - Tenby

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

💾

Eric starts the show by sharing tales of his European adventures, which leads Tom to share some of our plans for Spiel in October. Then, we discuss the process for adding art to your game. How do you find an artist? How long does it take to draw a picture of a horse? What if the horse is holding a corn dog? Later, we share a tale of horror and a question, and move on to our Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.

00:48 - Middle of the Year? - School Starting

02:23 - Eric's European Adventure

09:25 - Spiel Plans

12:14 - Art in Games

34:56 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror/Question

46:32 - Sancturary

48:42 - Vantage

56:21 - Bomb Busters

58:37 - Menagerie

1:01:44 - This Game is Killer: Frozen Horror

1:05:12 - Potion Explosion: The 6th Student

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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We are back from Gen Con, and ready to talk about our adventures! We discuss the crowds, the events, and the games we enjoyed, and maybe a little about the food we ate as well. We also share a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and share our latest crop of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.

00:46 - Announcements: Dice Tower West and Dice Tower Cruise

01:40 - Gen Con: Crowds and Fans

10:25 - Gen Con: Sales and Sellouts

12:50 - Gen Con: What Did We Buy?

16:20 - Gen Con: Tom's Trends

20:42 - Gen Con: Dice Tower Awards

23:27 - Gen Con: Food

26:36 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror

37:25 - Giraffe Raffe

40:13 - Tag Team

43:24 - Oddland

44:50 - At The Gates of Loyang

47:27 - Fliptoons

49:35 - The Four Doors

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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We're on our way to Gen Con! And here are the games we're most excited about (as well as the ones that are getting the most buzz online). You'll also here where to find us in Indy, where we plan to eat, and how we plan to survive the Best Four Days in Gaming.

00:45 - Releases in the second half of the year.

02:23 - Preparing for Crowds at Gen Con - New Cart Policy

08:15 - Food Trucks

11:15 - Where Will We Be?

19:59 - The Games of Gen Con (BGG Preview: https://boardgamegeek.com/geekpreview/77/gen-con-2025-preview)

20:54 - Vantage

23:27 - Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor

23:54 - Lost Ruins of Arnak: Adventure Chest

24:23 - Gwent: The Legendary Card Game

25:26 - Lightning Train

26:32 - Sea Salt and Paper: Extra Pepper

27:11 - Luthier

28:00 - Fliptoons

28:36 - Ruins

30:10 - Nature

30:53 - Rebel Princess Deluxe: Happily Never After

32:00 - Ace of Spades

33:35 - Galactic Cruise

34:31 - Pirates of Maracaibo: Commanders

34:43 - Soda Jerk

36:25 - Point Galaxy

37:04 - Compile Main 2

38:08 - Star Wars Battle of Hoth

38:41 - Galileo Galilei

39:21 - Propolis

39:48 - Final Girl: Shriek

41:32 - VIVO

42:08 - Spooktacular

43:57 - Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons

45:16 - Evergreen: Cherry Blossoms and Bamboo

45:22 - EXIT Advent Calendar: The Intergalactic Race

46:27 - Suna Valo

47:12 - Kronologic: Cuzco 1450

47:44 - Wine Cellar

49:22 - Shackleton Base

49:58 - Knitting Circle

50:36 - Ra: Traders

51:08 - Iliad

51:26 - Gibberers

51:48 - Cat and the Tower

52:42 - Ham Helsing

53:25 - The Four Doors

54:07 - Raising Chicago

54:24 - High Tide

54:39 - If Then

54:59 - Hyperstar Run

55:20 - Jungo

55:43 - Holiday Hijinks 10, 11, 12, Endangered Rescue 2, Journey to Tir na nOg

56:01 - Above and Below: Haunted

56:20 - The Peak Team

57:17 - Our Advice for Surviving Gen Con

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

💾

It's time to recap our adventures at Dice Tower East 2025. We discuss the games we played and events we ran, and you also get to hear what Eric and Julie got up to when working at the Dice Tower Booth, which includes brainstorming ways to get Tom to remember the difference between Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.

00:46 - We Didn't See Each Other

01:45 - Gen Con is Around The Corner

03:26 - Dice Tower East: New Space

05:40 - Eric and Julie: How Do You Spend Small Amounts of Free Time?

09:28 - Library Checkouts: My Father's Work, Hot Streak, Bomb Busters, So Clover, Cretaceous Rails, Fromage, River Valley Glassworks, Lord of the Rings Duel, Toy Battle, Castle Combo, Sky Team, SETI, Galactic Cruise

16:26 - Eric and Julie: Favorite Old Game To Teach? - Fearsome Floors, Ra

19:05 - Variety of Games Played: Space Base, Ready Set Bet, My Father's Work (again), Merchant of Venus, Cosmic Encounter

25:33 - Missing Deep Regrets

26:16 - Eric and Julie: Game To Make Tom Play?

28:34 - Events: Parsely, Andrew Bosley Can't Draw, The Hobby

33:28 - Dexterity and Pitchcar

35:51 - Eric and Julie: Helping Tom Remember

37:59 - Giant Jenga and Thank Yous

41:06 - Positano

44:32 - Diatoms

46:41 - Horrified: World of Monsters

50:24 - Peaks

53:02 - Radioactive Bees

55:50 - 13 Leaves

Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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