Shelley's birthday 8 years ago was also a recording day, so this is a SHORT solo episode during which I wander into the Game Room, talk about storing games, discuss hosting a Game Night at our house, and then talk about two games we had played the previous evening:

Ticket to Ride Märklin by Alan Moon from Days of Wonder

and

Capitol by Moon and Weissblum from Schmidt

Shelley and I sit down to discuss a classic from Kramer and Ulrich, as well as a less important Reiner Knizia title.

El Grande from Rio Grande, designed by Kramer and Ulrich

Tal der Abenteuer from Parker, designed by Knizia

Shelley and I tackle the second Queen title in as many weeks, then talk about two small-box card games from small publishers.

Games discussed:

Parfum by Marco Ruskowski and Marcel Susselbeck from Queen Games

Downtown by Florian Racky from Racky Spiele

Fidelitas by Jason Kotarski and Philip duBarry from Green Couch Games

Listeners from way back in 2007 get a chance to comment and question us.

I needed to spend a bit more time on Voyages of Marco Polo, so we talk about that for a few monutes more this episode, then delve into one of the new Queen releases, this time Queen's Architect by Volker Schachtele.

Sebastian Bleasdale of On The Underground joins me for a discussion from England about game design and his gaming history.

Shelley and I get a puzzle game - Xalapa - and a new worker placement - Voyages of Marco Polo - to the table.

Xalapa by Lauge Luchau

and

Voyages of Marco Polo by Simone Luciani and Daniele Tascini

We held a contest to solicit comments from listeners way back in 2006, so here are their (YOUR) comments and our commentary.

The Skype airwaves connect the country (well, So. Cal, Dallas, and Atlanta) as the Marks, Aldie, and Ward join me for a discussion of 2006 and the games we liked and loathed.

Shelley and I are joined by Ric and Greg for a discussion of games played over an extended weekend. We focus on 2 titles

Walhalla by Alessandro Zucchini

Justinian by Leo Colovini

but also talk about some of our favorites and other gaming thoughts on the year that had just ended, 2006.

Shelley and I made a trek up to Bear Valley, bringing a bunch of games to play in front of the fireplace. Here's the list of what we discuss on this flashback episode:

R-Eco by Susumu Kawasaki

Rosenkonig by Dirk Henn

Justinian by Leo Colovini

Die Fugger by Klaus-Jurgen Wrede

On The Underground by Sebastian Bleasdale

Genesis by Reiner Knizia

Shelley and I talk Spiel des Jahres, Kennerspiel des Jahres, and Quined Games' Eseen release Massilia by Alain Epron.

Enjoy!

Shelley and I talk about my playing of

Penny Press by Robert Dijkman Dulkes and Matt Golec from Asmadi Games

and discuss playing games as a unit in a classroom with students.

Ray form Game Kastle (a local FLGS) and then Shelley and Parker join me for a discussion of retail shops and games played.

Gamer and game accessory retailer Cynthia Landon joins the discussion for a conversation about games she plays and her business. This was back a few years, so you may know Meeplepeople from their very cool Kickstarter campaigns.

Shelley and I get three newer games to the table this week, finding one less than enjoyable, one that I may be able to win Shelley over on, and one that both of us liked immediately.

Cubo by Johannes Berger and Julien Gupta from Queen Games

Trakkx by Thade Precht from Schmidt Spiele

and

The Golden Ages by Luigi Ferrini from Quined Games

Shelley and I tackle the dice version of Race for the Galaxy (Huang and Lehmann's ROLL For The Galaxy) and then head to South America for some precursor to chocolate in Cacao.

Roll For The Galaxy by Wei-Hwa Huang and Tom Lehmann from Rio Grande Games

and

Cacao by Phil Walker-Harding from AbacusSpiele

Enjoy!

Greg Parker joins me on the microphones for a discussion of a bunch of games we got to the table when I visited his place post-Thanksgiving 2006.

Paul Tevis joins Shelley and me on the microphones (and Aldie stops by briefly) for a discussion of BGG.con 2006 and some of the games we got to the table.

Shelley and I discuss two GREAT new card games, one import and one domestic release.

The Game: Spiel...so lange du kannst! by Steffen Benndorf from Nürnberger-Spielkarten

Arboretum by Dan Cassar from Z-Man Games