Time for our annual Meeplefest "State of the Industry" discussion with the gang around the table, along with discussions about games that remain as evergreens, along with those that have been replaced by 'better' stuff.

Shelley and I celebrate the end of the school year 2007 with continued discussion of our flavor of the month Notre Dame, along with Zooloretto and the Meeples Choice Award winners - are they still on YOUR shelves?

No Shelley on the mic, but I talk about more playings of Notre Dame, as well as discuss email and voicemail from listeners.

This week we delve into design and prototyping with designers

Tom Lehmann

Susan McKinley Ross

Candy Weber

Joe Huber

and the gamers who joined in as well, including Kevin, Erik, Kris, Doug, Bob, Ric and Shelley.

Shelley and I sit down for a wrap up of Kublacon 2007, talk about new games coming out at the time (including Zooloretto and Notre Dame), then listen to some of your voicemails.

Aldie and Derk join me and a crew of other publishers to discuss games and the state of the hobby back in 2007

Many voices - new and familiar - around the table for this second evening from this year's Meeplefest. Kris & Lisa of Celesticon (check out their convention NEXT WEEK if you're in the Bay Area), Doug R, Erik, Kevin, Bob, Ric, Shelley, and designers Susan McKinley Ross, Candy Weber, Tom Lehmann, and Joe Huber join in for a discussion of good games played, as well as the start of a conversation about designing the games we love.

Ric joins me on the microphones for a discussion of a couple 2-player outings we tried, along with a quick discussion of the at-that-time-just announced SdJ nominees for 2007.

Pillar of the Earth

Thurn und Taxis + Power & Glory Expansion

Shelley and I take the Mothers' Day holiday in the US as a chance to talk about games played with our mothers, or ones you might try with them, back in 2007.

Shelley and I take a quick, 1-week break from Meeplefest episodes for a discussion of two fo the games that we played over that extended weekend:

Kraftwagen by Matthias Cramer

Codenames by Vlaada Chvatil

Enjoy!

Listeners get to chime in once again this week, along with our discussion of Kublacon 2007, which was right around the corner.

Many different games discussed, including Guatemala Cafe, Yukon Co., Fire & Axe, and Gulo Gulo.

Doug, Ric, Simon, Greg, Joe, Sam, Bob Debbie, Shari, Kevin, Kris, and Shelley (with a few others possibly chiming in) join the team for a discussion of evangelizing the gaming hobby, Monopoly's goodness and/or badness, as well as some of our favorite games played over the weekend to that point.

Games Discussed:

Monopoly

Codenames

Thunder Alley

La Granja

Patchwork

Minerva

Castles of Mad King Ludwig

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game

Xenoshyft

Witness

Shelley and I finish our Gathering reflections with an episode recorded thousands of feet above the ground as we flew back to California from Ohio.

Shelley and I sit down to discuss games played and enjoyed at The Gathering 2007 with Michelle and Earl - good friends and a great couple.

The microphones fill up after first introductions and Greg, Ric, Sam, Doug, Simon, Joe, and others chime in on a discussion of some of the latest Japanese titles, as well as 'borrowed' mechanisms and Love Letter vs. Monopoly.

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