Shelley and I enjoy two games set in the future

Cryo by Tom Jolly Luke Laurie from Z-Man Games

and

Dune: Imperium by Paul Dennen from Dire Wolf and Asmodee

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Shelley and I spend time playing games set in the past with 2-word titles. First, we head to New Jersey to design one USA's first vacation spots in

Cape May by Eric Mosso from Thunderworks Games

then we head over to southern Germany to become craftspeople in

Glass Road by Uwe Rosenberg originally from Z-Man Games and now re-released by Capstone Games

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Shelley and I place tiles in a beautiful square in Lisbon in

Rossio by Orlando Sa from Pythagoras

then harvest crops, play the markets, and develop apprentices in

Key Market by David Brain from R&D Games

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Shelley and I move animals around the savannah in

Savannah Park by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling from Capstone Games and Deep Print Games

then we attempt to strategically draft tiles to build our fields in Key Harvest by Richard Breese from R&D Games and Rio Grande Games in 2007

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Shelley and I try out the latest Dr. Reiner Knizia title as we wander the jungle doing research in

Sumatra from Ludo Nova

then check out the revamped game of inner and outer struggles - but now with hexes and set in ancient China

Yellow and Yangtze from Grail Games

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Shelley and I hurt our brains trying to finagle good investments in

Tokyo Metro by Jordan Draper from Jordan Draper Games

then we head into the garden to grow flowers and build follies in

Flourish by James & Clarissa Wilson from Starling Games and Matagot

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Shelley and I compete to build the most profitable museum in

Curators by Tove & Pablo Jomer and Jacob Westerlund from Worldshapers and Little Rocket Games

then we head under the sea to explore the deep from a research facility and with submarines in 2002's

Nautilus by Brigitte and Wolfgang Ditt from KOSMOS and Mayfair Games

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Shelley and I spend time building individual tableaus this week in this delayed episode (sorry for the Thursday release everyone!):

Village Green by Peer Sylvester from Osprey Games

and

Meadow by Klemens Kalicki from Rebel Studio

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Oops! I forgot my SD card reader, so can't get out today's episode until we return from our vacation getaway on Thursday. We hope you tune in then for our discussion of

Village Green by Peer Sylvester from Osprey Games

and

Meadow by Klemens Kalicki from Rebel

two beautiful tableau-building games.

Shelley and I enjoy some bon bons and create poker-esque sets in

Truffle Shuffle by Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, and Shawn Stankewich from AEG

then we head back to 2003 and ancient Greece to race to build structures in

Attika by Marcel-André Casasola Merkle from Hans im Gluck and Rio Grande Games which has been re-published with a western theme as

US Telegraph from Super Meeple

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Shelley and I enjoy collecting vegetables in the fun new card game

Point Salad by Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, and Shawn Stankewich

then we dust off a Spiel des Jahres winner from 1999 which has just been republished

Tikal by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling from Super Meeple, Rio Grande, and Ravensburger

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Shelley and I get our 19th Century industrialist hats on, building factories and funning them to the best of our ability in

Furnace by Ivan Lashin from Arcane Wonders and Hobby World

then we head to ancient Egypt to try our hands at building some of the world's wonders in

Egizia by Acchittocca (Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, Stefano Luperto, and Antonio Tinto) originally from Rio Grande and Hans im Gluck, but re-released recently by Stronghold Games and Matagot

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Shelley and I build our lands out and UP as we herd llamas and try to claim points in

Llamaland by Phil Walker-Harding from Lookout Spiele

then we get abstract and push our luck, drawing cards and bidding in

TEN by Molly Johnson, Shawn Stankewich and Robert Melvin from AEG

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Shelley and I roll and draw our way through the four seasons using arrays in

Blätterrauschen by Paolo Mori from KOSMOS

then we plan our actions by building in our cauldrons to develop energy, move crystals, enlist our witch clan, and gather potions, etc. in

Witchstone by Dr. Reiner Knizia and Martino Chiacchiera from R&R Games and HUCH!

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Shelley and I head below the depths to buy and conquer land in

Aquatica by Ivan Tuzavsky from Cosmodrome Games and Arcane Wonders

then return to the farm for a re-review of a game from 2012, working hard on rival farms to raise our crops and animals (sound familiar?) in

Farmerama by Uwe Rosenberg from Ravensburger

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Shelley and I check out the third game in the Clever series of roll & writes:

Clever Cubed or Clever Hoch Drei by Wolfgang Warsch from Stronghold Games and Schmidt Spiele

and then we try out a new draw & draw exploration game

Explorers by Phil Walker-Harding from Ravensburger

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Shelley and I have fun making beautiful koi ponds in

Kohaku by Danny Devine from 25th Century Games

and then we ply our trade on the grand Mississippi in

Riverboat by Michael Kiesling from Mayfair Games and Lookout Games

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Shelley and I get a new title to the table that's set in post-Gold Rush San Francisco,

Embarcadero by Adam Buckingham and Ed Marriott from Renegade Game Studios

then get a classic out of the closet to make sure it remains as vital as it has been in the past

Qwirkle by Susan McKinley Ross from Mindware and Schmidt Spiele

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Shelley and I spend this week going through the second half of my curated list of games arriving at Essen 2021 in less than 2 weeks. Here's a rundown of the games discussed (organized alphabetically by publisher):

The Game Master

• King of the Valley

Geek Attitude Games

• Magellan: Elcano
• Pessoa

Giant Roc

• Origins: First Builders
• Tabannusi: Builders of Ur

Grail Games

• Hibachi

Granna

• Gutenberg

GRRRE Games

• Nidavellir: Thingvellir

Hall Games

• Bonfire: Trees & Creatures

Helvetiq

• Save Patient Zero

IGAMES

• Settlement

Jolly Dutch Productions

• Polders: Flip & Write

Kobold Spieleverlag

• Village Green

Kolossal Games

• Almanac: The Crystal Peaks

KOSMOS

• High Score
• Kingsbridge: Das Spiel

La Boite de Jeu

• It's a Wonderful Kingdom

Looping Games

• 1923 Cotton Club
• Journey to the Center of the Earth

Ludonova

• Shinkansen: Zero Kei

MEBO Games

• Lisbon Tram 28

Next Move Games

• Azul: Queen's Garden

Oink Games

• Hey Yo
• Moon Adventure

Plan B Games

• Equinox

Portal Games

• Dune: House Secrets

PSC Games

• Caesar! Seize Rome in 20 Minutes
• Rome & Roll: Gladiators

PYTHAGORAS

• Café: Expresso

Schmidt Spiele

• Clever hoch Drei: Challenge

Sit Down!

• Dive

Spielefaible

• Schichtwechsel: Die Förderung

Spielworxx

• Squaring Circleville

Studio Stratosphères

• Velonimo

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This is Part 1 as Shelley and I go through BGG's Essen Preview after I spent some time curating the list. Here are this week's titles:

The following are listed by Publisher, as that's the best way to find them if you are actually going to the fair.

AEG

• Cascadia

All or None Games

• Betwixt and Between

AMIGO

• Tulpenfieber

Aporta Games

• Bad Company
• Trails of Tucana: Ferry Expansion

Arcane Wonders

• Furnace
• Picture Perfect

BLAM!

• Caraventura: Oklahoma, Lhassa, & Vinland

Blue Cocker Games

• Welcome to The Moon

Blue Orange Games

• Neoville

Board Game Circus

• Four Gardens

Bombyx

• Garden Nation
• Nicodemus

Bright Eye Games

• Termite Towers
• Waggle Dance

BYR Games

• The Belgian Beers Race

Capstone Games

• Glass Road
• Imperial Steam

Catch Up Games

• Sobek: 2 Players

Chilifox Games

• Riverside

Cranio Creations

• Eriantys
• Golem

Delicious Games

• Messina 1347

Demonic Games

• Goetia: Nine Kings of Solomon

Devir

• Bitoku
• LUNA Capital
• Paris: Eiffel

dlp Games

• Boonlake

Dragon Dawn Productions

• Factory 42

dV Giochi

• Wonder Book

eggertspiele

• Great Western Trail (Second Edition)

Feuerland Spiele

• Ark Nova

Funnyfox

• Almadi

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