Three board game luminaries join me for a discussion of games played at The Gathering 2007, along with delving into the subject of the state of gaming way back in that year as well. Rick Thornquist, Greg Schloesser and Scott Alden of BGG are on the mics!

Mark Jackson and Greg Parker join Shelley and me on the microphones to discuss games we played over a get together weekend back in 2007, along with some of Mark's then-current games-based web projects.

Shelley and I get a chance to discuss the 2015 KdJ winner and another title that may have had its hopes dashed for recognition.

Broom Service from alea/Ravensburger by Andreas Pelikan and Alexander Pfister

and

Vienna from Schmidt Spiele by Johannes Schmidauer-König

Snow Show in which I have a less than fun day of gaming...

DruidenWalzer

Medici vs. Stozzi

Deluxe Camping

Take Stock

Susan McKinley Ross and Chris Ross join us for a discussion of game design and publishing AFTER Qwirkle had hit the shelves, but BEFORE Susan had won the SdJ for her work.

Shelley and I wind up Feld-ian July with a final 3 titles - all from 2013.

Bora Bora from alea and Ravensburger

Bruges from Hans im Glück

Rialto from Pegasus

We also discuss One Night Ultimate Vampire, the JUST ANNOUNCED new Bezier Games title due before the end of the year!

Shelley and I tackle Week 3 of Stefan Feld's games. this week we go back in time to play

Rum & Pirates

then forge ahead with numerous plays of

Castles of Burgundy

and the even heavier

Trajan

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.