Chris, Don and Jamie dive into a discussion about games that have a single standout mechanism that elevates its game to something special. Each of the gang lists three games that they feel include one of these brilliant mechanisms.

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Hey Now! It's time for some irreverent Cabal shenanigans! Today the gang chats about some games and hobby junk we've been getting into including Imperial Steam, Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, Mouse Cheese Cat Cucumber, Dinosaur World, Furnace, and Elfenland. Then Jamie and Don get into an overview and review of Anno 1800 from Kosmos and designed by Martin Wallace. After Tony T goes through all the most important news items in the entire world, the Founders get into a discussion about giving potentially great board games a second chance. Anno 1800 Overview 00:59:59, Anno 1800 Review 01:06:10, News with Tony T 01:37:49, Second Chance Board Games 02:36:29

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Today the Lords start out episode 56 by discussing their new campaign using the Fallout RPG from Modiphius. Jesko explains the setting and the rest of the gang details the characters they'll be playing. Then the group takes a question from a listener asking which we more value, campaign story arcs or our own personal character's story arc. And finally, the Lords each give one pick of a video game that they think would make a great tabletop RPG.

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Hey Now Cabalists! Episode 242 starts with an announcement regarding Don playing a game of Europe Divided with the designer of A Gest of Robin Hood and Red Flag over Paris, Fred Serval. The match will also have running commentary by its designer Dave Thompson! The match will be held on November 13th, 11am PST (2pm EST). Check out https://tabletop.events/conventions/sdhist-con-2021 for more details. Then the gang jumps into talking about some great games we've been playing including Isle of Skye, Scythe, Tapestry: Plans and Ploys, Empire of the Stars, Box One, Northern Pacific, and Juicy Fruits. Then Don and Jamie jump into a feature review of Martin Wallace's Struggle of Empires from Eagle-Gryphon Games. Tony T collects and delivers a bonkers series of news articles and currently running Kickstarter projects while the gang chirps in the background. Then finally the Founders jump into a Short Topic Extravaganza including discussion about too many Kicsktarters, how hard should a co-op game be and do the BGG rankings really reflect how good games are. Struggle of Empires Overview 00:56:28, Struggle of Empires 01:00:50, News with Tony T 01:31:28, Short Topic Extravaganza 02:28:47

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Don and Jamie welcome Honorary Founder Matt Evans of Board Game Replay to celebrate Halloween with some spooky, creepy and super fun horror video games! Most of the games discussed in this episode are by indie developers but are inexpensive giving you a good bang for your buck - or scare for your buck in some cases. Please check out https://thesecretcabal.com/episodes/express-77-horror-video-games for a full list of the games discussed. Also check out https://www.youtube.com/boardgamereplay for all of Matt's amazing videos.

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It's Halloween and the Founders are back to scare your pants off! First the gang talks about their recent trip to Columbus Ohio for Origins Game Fair. Then they get into some games they've been playing including Return to Dark Tower, DC Deck Building Game, Lost Ones, Bitoku, Seasons and Voidfall. Then Chris, Don and Jamie jump into a feature review the Battlestar Galactica retheme, Unfathomable from Fantasy Flight Games. Then Tony T throws runs down all the tabletop gaming news that matters to you, the Cabalist. And finally, to honor our feature review, we pitch some horror movie board game rethemes that we'd love to see made. Oh, and throughout the entire episode the gang is visited by the Gatekeeper from the old Nightmare board game to give us some Halloween pop quizzes. Unfathomable Overview 01:08:55, Unfathomable Review 01:13:28, News with Tony T 01:40:49, Spooky Rethemes 02:28:13

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In episode 55, The gang starts out by having Aaron reveal his purchases at Origins Game Fair 2021 and then jump into a listener submitted question about how the Lords prepare for campaigns as Game Masters. And finally, the Lords discuss roleplaying fear, game mechanisms that promote fear in players and running spooky adventures for the Halloween season.

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The Cabal is back for another dose of insubordinate nonsense! Today the gang talks about some great games including Magic the Gathering, Khora: Rise of an Empire, Immortals, Scooby Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion, Run Cowboy Run and Intrepid. Then Don and Jamie feature review Clash of Cultures Monumental Edition from designer Christian Marcussen and Wiz-Kids. Then Tony T pulls out the news articles if runs down all the most important things happening in the tabletop gaming world. Then finally the Founders discuss Unwritten Rules in board gaming. Clash of Cultures Overview 01:01:28, Clash of Cultures Review 01:06:22, News with Tony T 01:29:51, The Unwritten Rules 02:30:57

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Enter, Ye Gods of War! In Volume four of Battletome, a podcast about the miniatures gaming hobby, Bender, Aaron and Jamie discuss all the games and hobby project they've been getting into lately including Age of Sigmar, Warhammer 40k, Don't Look Back, Duncan Rhodes Two Thin Coats, Myth and Goal, and Aeronautica Imperialis Wrath of Angels. Then Aaron and Jamie dive into a feature review of Star Wars Legion published by Fantasy Flight Games and Atomic Mass Games!

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Don and Jamie are so happy to be joined by Joel Eddy of Drive Thru Games and Rodney Smith of Watch It Played to talk about gaming conventions. We discuss the question, are Board Game Conventions still as relevant as they once were to the gaming industry - both publishers and convent creators.

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Awww yeah, the gang is back in action for another bananas episode of The Secret Cabal! Today the Founders chat about the games they've been playing including DinoGenics: Controlled Chaos, Paleo, Soldiers in Postmen’s Uniforms, Ankh: Gods of Egypt, Seastead and Chronicles of Crime 1400. Then Don and Jamie dive into a feature review of the classic Vlaada Chvátil game, Through The Ages: A New Story of Civilization from CGE. Then Tony T, as always, wows us with the best gaming news there is to hear, and the gang wraps up the show with another Short Topic Extravaganza with topics including is it okay to turn down designers when they ask you to playtest? Do you like long turns with few rounds or fast turns with tons of rounds? And do we believe in bigfoot and UFOs? Through The Ages Overview 01:12:13, Through The Ages Review 01:16:31, News with Tony T S 01:46:34, Short Topic Extravaganza 02:48:21

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In episode 54, The gang starts out by talking about their recent roleplaying game battery recharging hiatus and their meeting to discuss what we're going to play next included - Fallout, Shadowrun, Pulp Cthulhu and Star Wars. Then the Lords take a question from Cabalist Brett regarding creating and running dastardly villains and how to do it without feeling like a dirtbag. Then finally the group talks about all kinds of gaming group styles, look at their own gaming style and discuss the impact style has on enjoyment.

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Oh Yeah! Tony and Chris are back in action in episode 238 of The Secret Cabal! Today we start off by hearing a little about Tony's journey across the country and then dive into the games we've been playing over the past 2 weeks including The Shores of Tripoli, Vanuatu, Dark Domains, Meadow, Karuba, Steve's mobile escape rooms experience, and Coyote. Then Don and Jamie dive into an in-depth review of Descent Legends of the Dark from Fantasy Flight Games. Tony T takes back the reigns of the news segment and gives us a tour of all the stuff going on around the industry. Then finally the gang discusses whether size matters in board gaming - box size, card size, table presence, etc. Descent Legends of the Dark Overview 01:04:57, Descent Legends of the Dark Review 01:09:34, News with Tony T S 01:47:47, Does Size Matter 02:38:35

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Hey Now Cabalists! In today's episode of The Secret Cabal Express, Don and Jamie start out by talking about the new Descent Legends of the Dark and transition into talking about the challenges that make up the board games we love and why those challenges enhance the enjoyment.

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Hey Now Cabalists! It’s time for another wild, crazy, bananas, brilliant, bombastic, and meshugenah episode of The Secret Cabal Today it's only Don, Steve and Jamie as the others are off doing whatever they do and the gang dives into the games they've been playing including Ankh, Robinhood and his Merry Men, Descent: Legends of the Dark, Vast Mysterious Manor, Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition, Terraforming Mars with upgrades and Kill Team Octarius. Then Don and Jamie hook the Cabalists up with a feature review of SpaceCorp 2025-2300AD plus the Spacecorp Ventures expansion from GMT Games. Steve S takes over the news chair while Tony T is driving across country and does a bang-up job! Then finally Don and Jamie talk about their shelves of shame. SpaceCorp 2025-2300AD Overview 01:08:54, SpaceCorp 2025-2300AD Review 01:15:31, News with Steve S 01:48:32, The Shelf of Shame 02:43:00

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In episode 53, The Lords begin by talking about their recent cinematic Alien Role Playing Game session and discuss the system and boxed adventure structure. Then the gang takes a question from a listener asking which we like better, pure Cyberpunk like Cyberpunk Red or Shadowrun with magic and fantasy races in the mix. Finally, Jamie, Bender, Jess and Jesko discuss the tone of a campaign and how that can affect the mood and enjoyment of the players.

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The Cabal is back for another jam-packed episode! Today the gang welcomes Tony to the Cabal studios and we hear a little bit about his trip across the country. Then the gang goes into some of the games they've been playing including Underwater Cities, Lords of Vegas, Chinatown, Torres, Oath and Nanty Narking. Then Don and Jamie feature Beyond the Sun and look back at the games reviewed in the first 6 months of 2020. Then Tony T hooks us up with this news segment and the Founders finish off the show by discussing games and game styles they just don’t enjoy. Beyond the Sun Overview 01:02:00, Beyond the Sun Review 01:06:03, Look Back at 2020 Part 1 01:35:03, News with Steve S 02:05:41, Its Not My Jam 02:37:40

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Hey Now Gang and welcome back to another wild and crazy episode of The Secret Cabal! Today the gang flies into action talking about a bunch of great games they've been playing including The Goonies: Never Say Die, Paranormal Detectives, Crimes in History: H.H. Holmes Murder Castle, Juicy Fruits, Azul and Zoinx! Then For the first time in 235 episodes, Jamie IS NOT included in the review segment, and we get Don and Steve taking a look at Mind MGMT: The Psychic Espionage Game by Jay Cormier and Sen-Foong Lim. The, because Tony T is galivanting across the United States on a month-long road trip, Steve takes control of the news desk and gives us every bit of great tabletop gaming news he can. Then the gang talks about board games that really nail their theme! Mind MGMT Overview 00:57:17, Mind MGMT Review 01:00:36, News with Steve S 01:26:40, Nailing a Board Game Theme 02:14:38

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In episode 52, the gang starts out be discussing what they're going to do during the summer months with vacations and other travel interferes with the gaming schedule. Then the Lords take a couple of questions from listeners including running games with little knowledge of the setting and what RPGs would NOT like to run or play in. Then the group rounds out the episode by talking about high vs low complexity role playing game systems.

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Awwww yeah, the Founders are back and celebrating the success of their 2021 Kickstarter campaign! The gang starts the show by talking about some of the games they've been playing including Canvas, Marvel Champions, Cryo, Tapestry, Unmatched, Labyrinthos and Cartographers. Then Don and Jamie get deep into a feature review of Oath Chronicles of Empire and Exile by Cole Wehrle. Then, as usual, Tony T collects and presents the best of the best tabletop gaming news you'll ever heard. Then the gang ends the show with a Short Topic Extravaganza including questions from listeners regarding using chess clocks, getting deeper into the theme of a game and losing your cook at the table. Oath Chronicles of Empire and Exile Overview 01:00:52, Oath Chronicles of Empire and Exile Review 01:05:20, News with Tony T 01:36:10, A Short Topic Extravaganza 02:21:37

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