Later than promised, the new Boardgame Babylon is out with session reviews of Power Grid - Factory Manager, Martian Fluxx, and Tobago. Oddly enough, I kind of liked all three but know only Tobago will hit the nickel list this year.

 

I also announce the winner of the Leaders of Small World giveaway. Thanks to everyone who tweeted, Facebooked, posted, commented or otherwise spread the word about our Last Minute Stocking Stuffer show. Hopefully a few extra people got some good smaller games in their holiday socks this year with our help.

 

Don't forget that Orccon 2010 is coming soon! Cash in those miles and fly out to see us in Sunny L.A. (our twice-a-decade rainstorm is ovah!) for President's Day Weekend to enjoy these great events:

 

*  Guest of Honor Matt Leacock will join us for big Pandemic and Roll Through The Ages events. He'll also debut his great new co-operative game Forbidden Island, due out soon from Gamewright!

 

*  Compete in the Ticket to Ride World Championship Qualifier with exclusive prizes!

 

*  Learn great new games like a pre-release of Mystery Express, Tobago, At The Gates of Loyang, Cardcassonne, Dream Factory, Homesteaders, Terra Prime, Megacorps, Campaign Manager 2008, Havana, Run Wild, and many more!

 

*  Play games in the Strategicon Board Game Library further expanded through donations from Rio Grande Games, Z-Man Games, Mayfair Games, Out of the Box, Days of Wonder, Looney Labs, FRED Distribution, and many more great publishers!

 

*  Play in over 200 board game events for dealer dollars you can use to buy anything in the dealer room - no lousy prize pool!

 

For more information, check out: www.strategicon.net and join us from 2/12-2/15.

Thanks again for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Boardgame Babylon is finally back with the Last Minute Stocking Stuffer and Party Game Expansion show. Sorry to say it took me about two weeks to get this from recording to actually release because of a busy holiday season. I think I've decided to stop waiting so long to record this show next year so we'll see how that goes.

Stocking Stuffers:

Small World: Grand Dames from Days of Wonder

Small World: Cursed! from Days of Wonder

Small World: Leaders of Small World from Days of Wonder

Ticket to Ride: Europe 1912 expansion from Days of Wonder

Wits and Wagers: Expansion #1

Archaeology: The Card Game from Z

Horse Fair from R&R Games

Straw from AEG Enterprises

Party Game Suggestions:

Such a Thing from Valley Games

Wits and Wagers from Northstar Games

Word on the Street from Out of the Box Games

Cineplexity from Out of the Box Games

The Chain Game from Out of the Box Games

Time's Up: Title Recall from R&R Games

Time's Up: Game Geek Edition from Repos Games

Dexterity Game Suggestions:

Sorry Sliders

Ring-O Flamingo

Going to Target?

Qwirkle

Bananagrams

Pictionary Man(!) - he's on my wish list ;)

Scattegories On The Go

iPhone Apps

Zooloretto

Bananagrams

Roto

Robot Master

Don’t forget to sign up for the Leaders of Small World contest by tweeting, Facebooking, posting on BGG, a publisher's site, Amazon.com or otherwise spreading the word about this podcast and its recommendations. Drop me a note with a link to the Connect address on the side for your chance to win. The contest is only running through Christmas and then I will play Santa to one lucky listener (worldwide)! 

Happy Holidays to all and thanks for listening to Boardgame Babylon in 2009.

Yes, I am getting your e-mail. I will shut down the auction soon after BGG.com comes back up. Sorry for the confusion.

Just wanted to let you know that I'm running an auction for about 100 games/items (including a few RPGS and miniature things) from my collection on BGG.com right now.
 
Shipping costs can be saved for the locals - we can arrange pick up for those of you who live in Southern California.
 
Check it out here: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/48764
 
Some featured games from the list:
Factory Fun plus the new expansion
Tricky Trek (new Essen 2009 release)

Taj Mahal (RGG/Alea)
Naval War
Essen and Strategicon exclusive Zooloretto, Power Grid and Ghost Stories expansions
huge set of Clan War
Lots of kid games (yay! They've moved on!)
A bunch of old D&D minis from the 80's

Happy Bidding!

Thanks for all the great feedback on the Essen shows. I still have a few more to release when I can get a chance (and shake the jetlag after three weeks out of the country).

At this time of year, I always appeal to listeners doing their holiday online shopping to please shop through the Amazon.com link on the top left corner of the page here. If you search for items you are going to buy on Amazon anyway, a small percentage of your purchase goes to BGB to help keep the podcast going. It is no additional cost to you but helps out here, especially now that I am getting all those Essen bills in (eek!) And it couldn't be easier - just search for your item and then go through the regular purchase process.

Thanks for supporting the show and for listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Another Essen show with some brief comments and then I dive right in on Reinhard Staupe's Havana, Nils Funkemeyer's Sherwood Forest and Michael Sohre's silly dexterity game, Cheese.

Warning - I meant to edit this show all week but never had time while I am down here in India. So, here it is, warts and all.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Finally a second show from Essen. In this one, I talk about Martyn F's TWRS (designer and game shown to the side here), Dirk Henn's Colonia and Inka & Markus Brand's Wurfel Ligretto (which I'll note since in the podcast I neglect to say the designers for this title).

This is pretty much how I think I'll do my Essen shows - a brief vignette or two and then three quick reviews of games (roughly, one I like, one I didn't particularly and then a filler or lighter game).

And if you watched the live streaming from the Boardgamegeek.com booth at Essen, you saw a lot of me! I am there for the Czech Games Edition demos, Colonia, part of the Jay Tummelson interview and at various other times. The BGG.COM booth was the place to be and I'm thrilled I got to attend the show for their debut. I hope they make it back again next year.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

More Essen shows are on the way soon. Unfortunately, limited internet access in Germany prevented me from having enough time to upload 'casts and being at the show for the first time didn't help either.

In light of the fact that Geekdo/BGG did so many cool live broadcasts on UStream and that other podcasters were on-hand, I've decided to keep my podcasts to game reviews and thoughts on the show. I did a few interviews but didn't follow the sensible advice of conducting them in quieter spots and the noise is not good - plus, there would be some overlap. So, as I spend a couple of weeks in India for work, I'll record and upload some shows to talk about the event and my attempts to play Uwe Rosenberg's new At The Gates of Loyang (the only game I brought to India) solo over the course of my trip here.

Unfortunately, the time and money involved in making the trip to Essen means that I am going to bow out of BGG.con, which is coming in less than a month's time. I am selling my BGG.con pass and although I have a friend looking in to selling it, you can feel free to e-mail me with an offer. Although some find selling the pass at a premium untoward, I was encouraged to do so by many folks. I certainly wouldn't mind something to help offset the costs of the Essen trip and the chance to bring all these podcasts to you.

Thanks again for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon. A new show will go up shortly and many more will follow in the next two weeks.

BGB is podcasting from Essen and this is the first in a group of shows. I recorded this one quickly on Wednesday night of the show and then added to it the following morning - but it was done quickly and there is no time to edit. Hope you enjoy the 10 minutes of it.

Better shows with proper analysis and discussion will follow soon.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Yes, can you believe it? Two BGBs in a week? I guess it's all those energy drinks...

No, it's that I am getting ready to head out to Essen for Spiel this year and want to clear the backlog as much as I can. I also really want to get this show out, which I think is an interesting one in the Stories of Self-Publishing series. Tasty Minstrel Games is a new kid on the block and they have two new games on the way to debut at BGG.con. Hear about that, their path to publishing, and their exciting 2010 lineup on this show.

And if you plan to be in Essen, I'd welcome the chance to meet up with BGB listeners! Please drop me an e-mail and let me know if you expect to be at the show. Essen Spiel experts who want to show me around are certainly welcome! ;) Heck, I'll take beer, food and travel recommendations (need to take a train from Frankfurt to Essen on Wednesday...) I have a press pass for the show and will cover it extensively in audio and probably video, too. Very excited to finally get there after longing to go for...oh...too long... 

Thanks again for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

free board games  Homesteaders Rulebook  Terra Prime Rulebook Homesteaders on BGG  Terra Prime on BGG