Shelley and I send our ships out into the void to find new planets to settle before they are wiped out by meteors in

Cosmic Run: Regeneration by Steve Finn from Dr. Finn's Games

and then work to collect resources, capture other players' people, and build structures or the cathedral in

Architects of the West Kingdom by Shem Philips and SJ Macdonald from Renegade Game Studios

Shelley and I play in our respective sandboxes, using tetris-style pieces to create tile patterns in

Realm of Sand by Ji Hua Wei from EmperorS4

and then grow crops, sell them at the market, create products, then ship them abroad in

Yinzi by Rôla and Costa from Spielworxx

Shelley and I delve more deeply into

Orleans by Reiner Stockhausen and dlp games

as we try out a number of Trade and Intrigue expansion options,

then we tackle another small-box title from Emperor S4

Discovery: The Era of Voyage

Shelley and I race our boats along a river by the light of the beacons ahead of a storm in

Lighthouse Run by Jim Harmon and from Amigo

then we expand our cattle delivery possibilities by adding the

Rails to the North expansion (Plan B/eggertspiele) to

Great Western Trail by Alexander Pfister from Stronghold Games

Shelley and I draft tiles and build futuristic cities in

NEOM by Paul Sottosanti from Lookout Games

and then build rails and run train companies in the US at the time of the Transcontinental Railroad in

Russian Railroads: American Railroads expansion by Helmut Ohley and Leonard "Lonny" Orgler from Hans im Glück

Shelley and I get a couple of indispensable expansions to the table for two games we've enjoyed in the past:

Altiplano + the Traveler Expansion by Reiner Stockhausen along with Stefan and Louis Malz from dlp Games

and

Santa Maria + the American Kingdoms expansion by Eilif Svensson and Kristian Amundsen Ostby from Aporta Games

Shelley and I do some post-Tahoe hiking gaming, looking at a new expansion

Concordia Venus by Mac Gerts from PD Verlag

and then have a great time with our blinged out and expanded

Orleans by Reiner Stockhausen from TMG and dlp Games

Shelley and I spend some time with two games we turned out not to like very much:

3x8 by Christian Fiore and Knut Happel from Amigo

which is a card game with a race element

and

Copenhagen (Deluxe Edition) by Asger Harding Granerud and Daniel Skjold Pedersen from Queen Games

in which players collect card sets to build the frontages of buildings with Tetris-style pieces.

Shelley and I have a great time with the new dice-filled version of

Sushi Roll by Phil Walker-Harding from Gamewright

and then work hard to get the proper raw materials to build our

Tiny Towns by Peter McPherson from AEG

Shelley and I have a great time with two shorter games this week (as the school year comes to a close!).

The first games is another roll & write with a solid twist:

Hex Roller by Rustan Håkansson from Renegade Games Studio and Frosted Games

Followed by our chance to play wicked witches capturing fairytale characters while building our

Gingerbread House by Phil Walker-Harding from Lookout Games

Something a bit different on this week's episode as one of my current students - Harrison - joins me for a discussion of this week's first game

Among Thieves by Floyd Pretz from Indie Boards & Cards

then Shelley jumps back on the mics with me for a discussion of the sequel to Ganz Schon Clever

Doppelt So Clever or Twice as Clever by Wolfgang Warsch from Stronghold Games

Ted Alspach joins me over the Skype airways for a discussion of Bezier Games' growth as a company as well as their new forthcoming title:

SILVER

along with discussions of

CABO

Suburbia: Collector's Edition

and some of his other favorites that he's recently played or would love to re-publish.

Shelley and I delve into a new twist on card drafting and resource building in

Hadara by Benjamin Schwer from Hans im Gluck

and then have a lot of fun with an awesome twist on the area majority Carcassonne-like mechanisms of

Pandoria by Jeffrey Allers and Bernd Eisenstein from Iron Games

Shelley and I first hike through nature, painting beautiful scenes and fulfilling commissions in

Sunset Over Water by Steve Finn, Eduardo Baraf, and Keith Matejka from Dr. Finn's Games and Pencil First Games

then we head to another planet to explore an ancient civilization in our turtle-shaped research vehicles, while winning over influence of our admin and science teams in

Magnastorm by Bauldric and Friends from Feuerland Spiele

Shelley and I spend the week drafting cards, building our lands, and borrowing each other's actions in

Key Flow by Richard Breese, Sebastian Bleasdale, and Ian Vincent from R&D Games

and then we head to Chile to trade and plan the actions of our workers in

Valparaiso by Stefan and Louis Malz from dlp Games

Designer and raconteur Tony Boydell (of Snowdonia & Guilds of London fame) joins me for a conversation about game design, jaded gamers, and his own Top 10 from the past year.

Here's his list:

The Mind

Eco-Links

VOLT

Holding On

Airship City

Gingerbread House

Symphony No. 9

Endeavor: Age of Sail

Tales of the Northlands

AuZtralia

Shelley and I spend some time looking through the games we've played and select our Top 10, as well as Honorable Mentions and games that just aren't for us!

Shelley's Lists:

Not For Her = Reef and Century: Eastern Wonders

Honorable Mentions = Let's Make a Bus Route, Facecards, Illusion, Trapwords, and Teotihuacan: City of Gods

10) Walking in Burano

9) Carpe Diem

8) Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done

7) Arraial

6) Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra

5) Forum Trajanum

4) Blackout: Hong Kong

3) Wingspan

2) Lindisfarne

1)1906 San Francisco

Doug's Lists:

Not for Him = Yokohama Duel, Nusfjord, Keyper, Charterstone

Honorable Mentions = Fine Sand, The Mind, Ganz Schon Clever, Walking in Burano, Wingspan

10) Blue Lagoon

9) Lindisfarne

8) 1906 San Francisco

7) Crown of Emara

6) Forum Trajanum

5) Let's Make a Bus Route

4) Teotihuacan: City of Gods

3) Carpe Diem

2) Symphony No. 9

1) Blackout: Hong Kong

Shelley and I train our students and gain knowledge by wandering around Europe in

Newton by Simone Luciani and Nestore Mangione from Cool Mini or Not and Cranio Creations

then attempt to thwart the evil intentions of Nogbad, create wondrous Inventions, and show our heroism by completing Sagas in

Tales of the Northlands: The Sagas of Noggin the Nog by Nick Case from A-Muse-Ment

Shelley and I work hard to gain favor and move up the ranks in Henry VIII's court in

Tudor by Jan Kirschner from Academy Games

and then get out our binoculars and play amateur ornithologists in

Wingspan by Elizabeth Hargrave from Stonemaier Games

Shelley and I build pastel buildings as we wander through the beautiful Venetian island of Burano in

Walking in Burano by Wei-Min Ling from EmperorS4

and then create fantasy islands and try to score the most points in doing so in

Skylands by Shun from Queen Games