Shelley and I tackle the second wave of Stefan Feld games, about which we have minor or major qualms.

Pillars of the Earth: Builders Duel from Kosmos

Luna from Z-Man

and

Macao from alea/Ravensburger

Ted Alspach of Bezier Games (hmm? Where have I heard of those guys before?) joins us on the microphones for a discussion of some of his early titles (Age of Steam/Steam maps, Ultimate Werewolf, etc.) and some thoughts on various games involving evolution and dinosaurs.

Trias by Ralf Lehmkuhl from Rio Grande

Evo by Philippe Keyaerts from Asmodee

Ursuppe/Primordial Soup by Dorus Matthaus and Frank Nestel from Z-Man

are discussed, along with others.

Shelley and I spent some time up in Bear Valley (pre-Arnold place) enjoying the snow and playing some games 2-player.

Arkadia by Rudiger Dorn from Ravensburger

Caribbean by Michail Antonow and Jens-Peter Schliemann from Rio Grande

St. Petersburg by Bernd Brunnhofer from Rio Grande

Shelley and I are enjoying our summer by turning to the shelves and pulling our Stefan Feld games out to re-review them. We'd love to hear from YOU regarding these solid titles. Up this week:

In The Year of the Dragon

Notre Dame

Shelley and I check out Louis XIV by Rudiger Dorn from Alea/Rio Grande after discussing hosting a Game Night and teaching games. Then we delve into voicemails from way back in 2007.

Shelley and I discuss our plays of two new-ish card games that are very different, but quite enjoyable. Easy games to stick in the bag and bring with you as you go on your summer excursions.

Quanto/Sloop by Mike Fitzgerald from Amigo/US Games Systems

and

Dungeon of Mandom/Welcome to the Dungeon by Masato Uesugi from Oink Games/IELLO

Friends Michelle, Earl, and Greg join in for a discussion with Shelley and me about games played at a Games Day we held at our place. Games mentioned:

China

Walhalla

Null und Nichtig

Hansa

Catan: Struggle for Rome

Graenaland

Lost Cities

Corsari

Lowendynastie

Shel and I pull The Village by Inka and Markus Brand off the shelf to play the 'vanilla' version as well as its latest expansion - The Port, then try out a new Ravensburger card game called Stichling by Ralf zur Linde.

The Village by Inka and Markus Brand from Pegasus/Tasty Minstrel/eggertspiele

The Village Port

Stichling by Ralf zur Linde from Ravensburger

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!