Shelley and I tackle the BIG new game from Okazu (and forthcoming from TMG), then race through the woods while avoiding bears and hopefully heading in the right direction!

Yokohama by Hisashi Hayashi from Okazu Brand and Tasty Minstrel Games

and

Bear Valley by Carl Chudyk from Stronghold Games

Shelley and I head back to the 2014 Kennerspiel des Jahres winner Istanbul to play its Mocha and Baksheesh expansion, then we try out the new and, yes innovative deck builder Mystic Vale and its 'card building' mechanism.

Istanbul Mocha and Baksheesh by Rudiger Dorn from AEG and Pegasus

and

Mystic Vale by John D. Clair from AEG

Shelley and I finally got our hands on a pre-release copy of America and talk about it more extensively, then we try out another Deinko game with quasi-cooperation as thieves.

America by Ted Alspach and Friedemann Friese from Bezier Games

and

Double Mission: Beyond the Object by Evan Song from Deinko Games

Shelley and I try out the new Star Wars version of Carcassonne, then add the expansion to The Golden Ages, called Cults and Culture.

Carcassonne Star Wars by Klaus-Jurgen Wrede from Hans im Gluck

The Golden Ages by Luigi Ferrini

and

The Golden Ages: Cults and Culture Expansion by Luigi Ferrini, both from Stronghold Games

Shelley and I get in a few plays of Chronicler, where we spent time quickly building civilizations, then tried our hands at amusement park building with Alan's Adventureland, before breaking out a 4-player game of Karuba.

Chronicler by GB Kim and Kim sung hun from Deinko

Alan's Adventureland by Alan Ernstein from Rio Grande

and

Karuba by Rudiger Dorn from HABA

Shelley and I continue to enjoy summer by getting together with some friends and trying out the new version of Sushi Go, as well as a rip off of Cards Against Humanity, and also try out some TV programming.

Sushi Go Party by Phil Walker-Harding from Gamewright

Prime Time by Elad Goldstein from Golden Egg Games

and

Dick: A Card Game Based on the Novel by Herman Melville from Why so Ever

Shelley and I aborted our first playing of Blood Rage (and talk about it a bit), then delve more deeply into

Alienation by Chris and Coryn Lombardi

and

The Foreign King by Javier Garcia from Giochix

Enjoy!

Shelley and I spent some time in Tahoe hiking, then playing some games once we got home. These two were not well liked by Shelley, though I liked one of them.

Bohemian Villages by Reiner Stockhausen and from dlp Games

and

World's Fair 1893 by J. Alex Kevern and from Foxtrot and Renegade

Enjoy!

Shelley and I had a GREAT time finally getting a chance to play the 2014 Kinderspiel des Jahres winner that's due in the US within a month, and one of the three SdJ nominees for this year!

Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters by Brian Yu from Mattel

and

Karuba by Rudiger Dorn from HABA

Shelley and I have a BUSY week, so it's time for a short, one-game episode this time. This week we get in a couple of plays for a discussion of

Dice City by Vangelis Bagiartakis from AEG and Artipia Games

Enjoy!

Shelley joined the weekly gaming group with the guys for a playing of the new Hans im Glück release from Matthias Cramer, then I snag yet another 'not-yet-reviewed-from Essen' release off the pile for some 4-player auctioning of chickens!

Dynasties: Heirate & Herrsche by Matthias Cramer from Hans im Glück

and

Blindes Huhn (or Blind Hen) by Heike Risthaus from Ostia Spiele

FUHN Stuhff!

Shelley and I get Quadropolis to the table this week for discussion (2 'Classic' game plays, 1 'Expert' game play), finding it quite enjoyable, then spend some time talking about some of the games on the Opinionated Gamers' lists for Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres (Nominations & Recommendations out tomorrow/Monday, May 23).

Game Discussed: Quadropolis by Francois Gandon from Days of Wonder

Awards Picks:

SdJ Winner: Codenames

Other Nominees: Animals On Board, then Lanterns/Medieval Academy/Karuba

KdJ Winner: Pandemic Legacy

Other Nominees: Quadropolis, then Isle of Skye/Porta Nigra/Steam Time/Grand Austria Hotel (or maybe Castles of Burgundy Card Game which we didn't talk about on the podcast???)

Shelley and I get a chance to try two fun new games this week while appreciating a nice bottle of dry Muscat from Zind Humbrecht and some Kouign Amann from Manresa.

Animals On Board by Ralf zur Linde and Wolfgang Sentker from Stronghold Games

and

Legends by Knut Happel and Christian Fiore from Ravensburger

Great stuff!!!

Shelley and I take some time and delve into Medieval Academy, a game some have been talking up as a possible SdJ nominee, then we check out the card game version of Stefan Feld's Castles of Burgundy.

Medieval Academy by Nicolas Poncin from Blue Cocker and Iello

and

Castles of Burgundy the Card Game by Stefan Feld from alea and Ravensburger

Shelley and I check out new games from Hisashi Hayashi (of Trains, String Railways, Sail to India, fame), as well as Kenichi Tanabe (of Kaigan and Lisbon/Lisboa fame) after we talk about Jesse Li's Guns & Steel.

Guns & Steel by Jesse Li from Grail Games and Moaideas

Minerva by Hisashi Hayashi from Japon/Okazu

and

Balloon Challenge by Kenichi Tanabe from Colon Arc

Shelley and I try out the second expansion to Mac Gerdts' great game Concordia, Concordia Salsa, then have some fun with Time travel in a steampunk-based Steam Time!

Concordia Salsa by Mac Gerdts from PD-Verlag and Rio Grande

and

Steam Time by Rudiger Dorn from KOSMOS

Enjoy!

Tony Boydell of Snowdonia and the forthcoming Guilds of London joins me this week for a discussion of his forthcoming title, as well as a look back, now that we're 6 months removed, on the games of Essen 2015.

Shelley and I get a couple of limited-run Essen 2015 releases to the table that I obtained post-show.

Haspelknecht by Thomas Spitzer and produced by Quined Games has players digging for coal in the Ruhr area of Germany, using limited resources to obtain points over a 3-year period.

Bomarzo by Stefano Castelli and produced by Giochix.it has players tapping the powers of mythological gods to gain prestige and influence in various areas.

Shelley and I get Stephen Buonocore of Stronghold Games back to the microphones for a discussion of recent releases like 504, Porta Nigra, La Granja, and The Golden Ages, as well as forthcoming titles like Bear Valley, Animals On Board, City of Spies, JORVIK and Terraforming Mars. We even delve into Stronghold's classic titles that remain solid sellers like Survive and Code 777.

Enjoy!

Shelley and I check out two small-box card games this week, one that's excellent, and the other that's about dogs...

The Grizzled by Fabien Riffaud and Juan Rodriguez from Cool Mini or Not

and

Barking Up The Wrong Tree by Gary Dicken, Steve Kendall and Phil Kendall from The Ragnar Brothers

Enjoy!