This show is both a session review and some comments on the recent GenCon SoCal, which I attended the week before Thanksgiving and represented my first real convention experience in many a year. I had a chance to demo a lot of terrific games, play some excellent new ones and enjoy the company of some very fine folks. That is always the cliche' about these shows, but it is completely true - it is the experience with the people that will make or break the convention for you. Luckily for me, I had some fun people to spend time with during GenCon SoCal and it raised the enjoyment level on what was otherwise a lackluster convention for board gamers.

I will apologize right here for hyping a game that is not out yet (Gheos) and one that is only available in Germany at the moment (Der Elefant im Porzellanladen). Normally, I try not to do that too much. But these are really great items for your holiday shopping so just watch for Gheos to hit the stores and online retailers very soon and, well, place that overseas order for the Elephant right away. ;)

Finally, I have another contest here - for a free Boardgame Babylon T-shirt. I've gotten some in from the nice people at Meeple People (shop at the link on the side to feed my MP habit) and I want to give one away. Details are included on the show.

Next up: We'll see if my next planned Demise and Rise show can come together shortly, but I also have a "Stocking Stuffer" show coming up for some smaller games you should get for all the designer game players on your shopping list in a last minute run to the game store (hey, you're going there this next week to pick up BattleLore anyway, right?) 

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned: Gheos   Pieces of Eight   Der Elefant im Porzellanladen   Carcassonne   Coloretto   Pirate King

Other Links: Z-Man Games   Atlas Games   Rene Wiersma   Jeff Tidball   Michael Schacht  

Another quick show done before I leave for GenCon SoCal tomorrow morning. I would call this show a good Gift Guide - two party games that would make nice gifts for friends that aren't quite ready to join you for a designer game but that you would still like to get in the habit of playing games. Forget Scene It or some DVD board game - buy these cool games from small publishers that are a whole lot of fun.

Also, listen in for the names of the winners in the Thrillville contest!

Show Notes:

GiftTRAP

Quelf

The contest is now closed and all winners have been selected. You can listen for your name (hopefully) on BGB Volume 27, which will be a show with some ideas for games you might want to buy your non-gamer friends - party games and kids' games that might just inspire them to take the plunge into designer games shortly thereafter.

Also, Lucas Arts was unable to acquire an Xbox console (they're all cleared out for Xbox 360) so the Grand Prize winner will win a Sony PSP and PSP copy of Thrillville, with the runner-ups still getting an Xbox copy of the game. Sorry for the confusion but, hey, it's still a free and very cool PSP!

Don't forget to get your contest entries in today to win an Xbox console or copies of the exciting new Lucas Arts game, Thrillville. The contest ends tomorrow (11/14) at midnight PST.

You can get the trivia questions about the show from episodes 25 or 26. Don't forget that you need not answer all questions correctly to win - each correct answer is just another entry.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Flying solo here again for a session review show featuring a few games I have had the chance to play in recent days. I said I was taking November off but I ran out of older shows to release because my backup hard drive crashed. Yes, 'backup' is supposed to mean you have another copy. Hey - I know that now!

There is also a wonderful piece of news for Southern California gamers (and those seeking an additional reason to visit us) mentioned here. Those of you that are out of the area will have to forgive my giddy gushing. I am just really happy about this new development.

This show is also a bit 'quick and dirty' in an attempt to do a podcast with less prep time and a lot less editing. My apologies ahead of time for the umms and uhhs and off-the-cuff commentary. I am responding to some feedback on this but, also, I had 2,000 words for NaNoWriMo to write after recording this...

Don't forget you have only three more days to enter the Thrillville contest. The questions are listed in this show, too, in case you did not download Volume 25 because it was more about the show than the games themselves.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned:

Figaro   Emira   Die Weinhandler   King Me!   Poison   The Scepter of Zavandor   Princes of Florence   Money!

Other links:

Strategicon   Lucas Arts' Thrillville (out now on Xbox/PS2)   Fiddly  

Burgess Forensics (my cousin's company, who will hopefully save those lost shows)

In case you haven't sent in your entries for the Thrillville contest yet, please remember that you only have until November 14th at midnight PST to do so!

Also, I have started a couple of games on Spiel By Web to distract me from work and NaNoWriMo (10,000 words and counting), so please join me for a game of Hacienda or Hoity Toity (which I haven't played on SBW yet). The games all have the podcast title in them and the password is 'babylon'.

BGB Volume 26 with session reviews of Figaro, Emira and Die Weinhandler should be posted later this week.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

The contest for the Xbox and copies of Thrillville continues. I must say - chances are very good for those of you that have entered so far. Considering Boardgame Babylon is up to over 1,000 listeners per podcast and the fact that the Thrillville trailer has been downloaded hundreds of times, I'm stunned to say that only a fraction of that group have already submitted an entry. I mean, I'm sure a bunch of you already have Xboxes but you don't have this cool game! Don't forget to send in your entry soon.

Thanks also to the many folks who have also included a kind note or feedback in with your entry. It is always great to hear people are enjoying the show and constructive criticism on how I can make it better and better.

One note, though - due to an excess of comment spam, I've had to set the site to only take comments confirmed with a secret code displayed when you post. Some folks have said they cannot post with this utility in place but Libsyn claims they have fixed that. If you try to post and it doesn't go up in a day or so (I still have moderation on) or it keeps telling you that you have entered the wrong thing, please drop me a note at: sheylon@gmail.com.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Here is Part 2 of the History and Secrets series, the sequel to Volume 2 - which was recently posted despite the numbering scheme here. In this episode, you will find out all kinds of reasonably exciting details like who are Cucoloris and why is the show called Boardgame Babylon.

But that's not all - this show will also give you details on how you can enter our exciting contest to win an Xbox and copies of the new Lucas Arts video game, Thrillville. Just listen to the show for details on how to enter to win.

Thrillville is an exciting new video game from Lucas Arts that has even this dyed-in-wool boardgamer excited. Here are some additional details about the game: 

Visit Thrillville and step into a non-stop party in a theme park that you create.  Customize your park, interact with guests like never before, and build and hop into your own roller coasters and other rides. For the first time ever, race on go-kart tracks you constructed, play mini-golf on courses you designed, and more. Join friends for dozens of four-player party games, from bumper cars to arcade shoot-'em-ups. You can also tour the park on foot chatting and joking with all the guests to help them out and make sure they're enjoying themselves.

Thrillville fuses elements of simulation, party games and social interaction like nothing before it. Its charming story centers around you coming to the aid of your eccentric Uncle Mortimer and his "Thrillville" chain of theme-parks. Only by keeping your guests happy and completing missions geared toward keeping your park afloat can you stave off the threat posed by the nefarious Globo-Joy corporation.

Build, play, manage, ride, customize and socialize your way through the five theme parks you've created - Thrillville is a fusion of individually strong gameplay elements into a new experience that's even greater than the sum of its parts - it allows you to play with your friends in the theme-park of your dreams.

Come back over the next week to see more artwork and information on the game, leading up to its release in stores on November 7^th for both PS2 and Xbox.

Show Notes

Links:

 

Thrillville   Cucoloris on MySpace   My Bloody Valentine   The Sundays

Cocteau Twins   Siskel and Ebert

Meeple People.com (buy through this link to support giveaways of Boardgame Babylon t-shirts)

No, I'm not linking to a lot of the other things mentioned on the podcast...

Here is the long-promised Volume 2 - Boardgame Babylon History and Secrets, Part 1. I had planned to do a personal gaming history show for ages, like most podcasters do at the launch of their show. But one thing and another kept getting in the way or was more exciting - after all, I'd rather talk about the games themselves than yap about how I got into the hobby and such. Plus, part of me wondered if listeners would even be interested in such a show at the birth of the podcast since they didn't know if it was worth listening to yet. But I realized that I've enjoyed similar shows done by other podcasters I like so I finally managed to finish it about a month ago.

Then work got even more nuts than usual and so here we are. Also, I'd planned to include some answers to frequently asked questions about the show but after I'd finished rambling, I decided I would do a second show to cover that portion - the "Secrets" bit. In truth, once I'd edited the podcast down for content, it was short enough but I'd already done the second part as a separate podcast so instead, you get two shorter ones instead of one huge podcast.

I forgot to mention that if you are attending GenCon SoCal the weekend before Thanksgiving, please drop by on November 18th at 2PM and see me at the Board Gamer Podcasting Panel. I will be there along with other members of the game podcasting community. If I can manage it, I'll even be giving away a free Boardgame Babylon t-shirt or two to listeners that can answer a trivia question about the show (won't be hard - just want to make sure it goes to a regular listener).

Next up: Boardgame Babylon: History and Secrets, Part 2 will be up soon, then a session review and a few other things before I take the month of November off from podcasting so I can focus on NaNoWriMo. File your complaints with Mur Lafferty, the woman whose podcast inspired (read: guilt-tripped) me to start up a new book on a schedule.

Show Notes

A Selection of Games Mentioned:

Tripoley  D&D  GURPS  Illuminati  Junta  Globbo!  Up Front  Panzergruppe Guderian  Blood Royale  Belter  Triplanetary  Wiz-War

Other Links:

TI99/4A  Tunnels of Doom  Temple of Elemental Evil

Fantasy Games Unlimited  Z-Man Games  Fantasy Flight Games

GDW  Steve Jackson Games  Darwin Bromley  Rio Grande

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire CD-ROMs - This set includes the three CD-ROMs that I wrote completely (I just produced the previous one with Jellyvision). Trivia - In the Sports Edition, when you phone a friend, you call one of Regis' friends and they are all named after my father and his numerous brothers and sisters. Also, you can't use my name when playing any of them or Regis will taunt you.

The Dark Domain BBS - No link and it has nothing to do with this BBS documentary DVD of ASCII artwork nor any recent uses of the name. The BBS I called signed off back in the 80's and appears to be without an online archive. I only have one friend left from those days so the crazy folks that made the place so interesting are long lost to me.

Origins  Strategicon  GenCon SoCal 

Orange County Boardgames  Socal Gamesday  SoCal Gamers 

Comments haven't been working for most people lately because I had turned on the spam guard because I was getting slammed by comment spam (oddly enough, it seemed to all be hitting the RA: In depth show - insult to injury, man).

Anyway, I've disabled it now and just set it to moderation since the spam has slowed down. I'll still have to delete the spam when it comes but at least you can post comments.

Sorry for the delay in the latest shows but work has kept me extraordinarily busy. Volume 2 and 25 will both be posted soon.

Okay, time for a new session review. One of my oldest friends, Chad Smith, joins me this time to discuss a series of new games we had a chance to play at the recent SoCal Gamesday in Burbank, CA. Chad actually has already been on the still-unreleased Rectangular Table Discussion on Games Workshop Board Games of the 80's BGB podcast, but since that (still) isn't edited yet, I introduce him again.

On this day, we played new games from Reiner Knizia, Michael Schacht, and the latest from Days of Wonder, designed by Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games mentioned:

Great Wall of China   California   Toppo

Cleopatra and the Society of Architects (got to love that title!)

Samurai   Loot!   Alhambra   Palazzo   Set   Flix Mix   Collide-O  Kardinal und Konig   Coloretto   Hansa   Paris Paris   Industria   High Society   Settlers of Catan   RA   Tigris and Euphrates   Carcassonne

Other Links:

Boardgames with Scott (see Cleopatra and the Society of Architects in action)

Days of Wonder (BattleLore is coming!)

Next up: Hard to say - depends on which of the four completed shows I edit first.

Hello, friends out in the podosphere! Yes, we’re messing around with the website and trying to make it look a little more interesting. I have wanted to jettison the generic Libsyn template for a while but our Boardgame Babylon staff artists and web designers have been slow in moving. However, through a twisted campaign of bribery, guilt trips and peer pressure, they are now getting going so you'll see more soon.

The site may look weird for a while but when it is all done, you'll see our nice new mark (the punk pawn), more website goodness and maybe even a chance to win something. Egad - I've sold out. No, no. Hopefully, I'm like Tony Wilson (well, Steve Coogan playing him) in 24 Hour Party People when he says something like, "I've made it impossible to sell out by not owning anything."

I do have a lot of shows lined up. At least four recorded shows await editing and two more are planned for the next week or so. The Demise and Rise series may just dry up now because one of my big fish seems have gotten away and the other one is even less likely. A final ‘cast with some summation will follow, as it leads into a somewhat different subject. 

Also, please join me for more gaming on Spiel By Web. I’ve set up more BG Babylon games for listeners: Hacienda and Tikal. The password is Babylon and I invite all listeners to join me for the wonderful implementations of these games. Heck, we even had two additional podcasters on one of the Hacienda games last time, with the most excellent Scott Nicholson and the mighty Mark Johnson participating. In fact, SLC punk Dirk Chegigo was man enough to beat another listener and all three of us podcasters. But I'll refrain from mentioning that I came in second on that game and won the other two games I played with listeners. Oh, whoops... ;)

I've had a number of inquiries about how long I intend to do the Demise and Rise series of podcasts (I think for both "okay, we get it - do something else" and "I like it" reasons).

I got into this not really knowing how many owners/former owners I would be interviewing. My thought is that as long as they are saying different things (reasonably so) and I can vary questions a bit from person to person, it should remain interesting. At one point, I had a huge list of retailers to seek out, with both of the retailers I've lamented losing on my docket (both of the former owners seem to not be interested in talking and I understand completely).

However, I think things are running their course and I'm pulling back from that very ambitious list. I have two more significantly different people I am going to pursue (one who is not a local retailer but who should have an interesting perspective on the subject and another that has a lot to offer, I think) but if those don't work out, I'll close up the series and move on to other 'special' shows in between session reviews. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for all the interest and feedback.

Here is the third in the Demise and Rise of the Friendly Local Game Store series. In the first two volumes of this series, I spoke with a former game store owner and a new game store owner. In this volume, I speak with David Laufle, who is in the process of selling his store The Game Zone in Pasadena, California.

David's store is a well-liked, well-stocked gathering place for the Pasadena gaming community. We discuss his thoughts on how game retailing, the clientele, and the industry in general have changed over the fourteen years he's been in the business.

For more information on the genesis of this series, please see BGB Volume 19, Part 1 of "The Demise and Rise of the FLGS".

Show Notes

Games mentioned:

Dungeons and Dragons    Chainmail    Blitzkrieg    Panzer Leader    Tactics II    Magic: The Gathering    Settlers of Catan    Yu-Gi-Oh    Pokemon 

Other links:

Rio Grande Games    WizKids    Games Workshop    Boardgame Cafes    Pasadena    Cupertino (iTunes lives there)    Boardgamegeek    ConSimWorld    Starbucks    World of Warcraft    Tournament of Roses Parade  

Two innovations mark this session review show. First, I've added a second voice. I had intended to record this show after one of our big Saturday game days at my house. But when the place cleared out, my good friend Matt Grimaldi, who previously joined me for the Power Grid: In depth show, was still around and ready to play another game. So, I suggested he join me for the podcast instead. Matt had played all three featured games with me so he's added his commentary, too. We didn't plan the format ahead of time so this is a bit more freewheeling than usual (it was also after midnight and although Matt was hopped up on a latte, I wasn't) but hopefully this works and if the feedback is good, we'll do it again. If the feedback is bad, well, I'll just dump Matt and get some new friends. Matt, if you're reading this - I'm just kidding! Ish. ;)

The other new thing about this show is that BGB session reviews will no longer feature a full rules description if there is another good podcast out there that has already explained the rules entirely. I mean, we have at least three excellent shows that normally explain rules in their entirety (Boardgames with Scott, Snoozefest 'Splains Boardgames, and The Vintage Gamer) and at least one more that occasionally does (the still-brilliant inspiration for Boardgame Babylon, Boardgames To Go). If one of these or another podcast has already done it, I will just direct you there (as I do here for Scepter of Zavandor) and we'll call that one an "In brief" session review.

Thanks for all the recent feedback. I'm working to get responses to everyone. I do respond to every bit of feedback I receive because I really appreciate listeners taking the time to let me know their reactions to the show - negative or positive. Please keep it coming!

By the way, this picture is for those folks who have said that I should include a picture of myself on the web site. I guess I never really noticed that I was not in the pictures - I'm usually behind the camera. My wife Christina was kind enough to take this picture of me to end the mystery. Unfortunately, due to a poor crop job here, you can't really see my nice Z-Man Demo Team t-shirt's logo. Ah, well.

Next up: Part 3 of The Demise and Rise of the FLGS, featuring David Laufle, the owner of The Game Zone, in Pasadena, California.

Show Notes

Street Illegal    Glory To Rome       The Scepter of Zavandor          Outpost     Puerto Rico      Hacienda          Thurn and Taxis    6 Nimmt!

Other Links:

Z-Man Games     Cambridge Game Factory    The Fast and the Furious

Snoozefest 'Splains Zavandor   Andreas Seyfarth    Carl Chudyk

Jim Hlavaty       Heinrich Glumpler (http://www.erlkoenig.net)

Yes, after somewhere around forty e-mail messages to Apple, they finally reinstated Boardgame Babylon to the iTunes store, although they messed with my search keywords. Ah, I'm just glad the show is available again for easy download. Download numbers have actually stayed pretty strong but I think that's due to all the...uh...publicity on the Demise and Rise series lately.

I have two episodes in editing right now - a session review done with my good friend Matt Grimaldi (the pro-Power Grid voice in the Power Grid: In depth show) and also Part 3 of The Demise and Rise of the Friendly Local Game Store.

Sorry to all that were inconvenienced by this crazy issue. Resubscribe and I promise never to try and change the URL again!

I find it hard to believe I'm still talking about this on the blog but iTunes STILL hasn't resolved the whole feed issue. I mean, I got this almost-humorous e-mail the other day from one of their techs saying he'd fixed the URL but considering they deleted the entire podcast from their servers, I don't know that this was possible...

But they say they are looking at it and I was trying to have faith in Ruben, the second level tech, who is the first person after talking to, I think, 1,356 different people at Steve Jobsland, that has actually said he might be interested in solving the problem. Of course, now he has conveniently gone on vacation and someone else is now taking it over. Now they say they are really, really, for-real deleting the podcast now (so I can resubmit it) so we'll see how it goes. If I can stand it, I may describe the whole delightful Catch-22 situation at some point on the podcast. We'll see if it is interesting enough, I'm still hopeful but honestly, I think direct downloads or subscribing to GOBLIN is the best way to go at the moment. Sorry!

Okay, enough whining. Head over to the awesome Spiel By Web and join one of the games of Hacienda that I have started and join me for a game! They are called BGB Babylon 2 and 3. I had a chance to be a Beta tester on this implementation and I think the SBW boys have done a terrific job on it.  Unlike the magnificent Mr. Siggins and the mighty Mark Johnson, I think Hacienda is a hoot and would love to play it with some listeners. The password for the games is: babylon.

You've probably already downloaded it but I'm a guest on this week's episode of The Dice Tower, Tom Vasel's excellent variety show devoted to tabletop gaming. It is hosted on the premier tabletop gaming news site, Boardgamenews.com so browse over there to download it and get the best in game reporting.

It's like a cross-over television show of old - I join Tom to talk about our Top Ten Games with the Worst Theme. File your complaints about my lack of appreciation for silly themes and senseless ribbing of Cheapass and Steve Jackson games in the comments section below. So much for the review copies...;)

I seriously apologize to subscribers of Boardgame Babylon who use iTunes. Due to an error I made in trying to reset my URL to use Feedburner, the incorrect URL showed up on iTunes and getting them to delete the seven characters that made the URL invalid has been a chore of epic porportions, what with their Catch-22 means of fixing a dead feed (by sending a tag through said dead feed...hmm...).

So, for now, direct downloads are the way to go. Believe me, I've spent almost every lunchtime this week on hold with some Apple Computer person and although they first managed to simply delete the show from iTunes in the US, they have now removed it from other countries but somehow, I still can't resubmit it - ugh!

Your patience is appreciated. I've held off posting the new show due to this mishap but I'm tired of waiting on them and want the show to get up there so you'll see it shortly.

Thanks for downloading (hopefully) and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My birthday was last week and my dear wife Christina did another designer game-themed cake for me (previously, she has done Puerto Rico, Wallensteain and a couple of others). This time - she did our favorite new Kosmos two-player game, Reiner Knizia's Times Square. We actually took it down to the July meeting of the Orange County Board Gamer for them to enjoy it, too. I think the little Barbie shoe is a nice touch - there is a shoe like that on the board (although my daughter Gwyndolyn was quick to reclaim it). What a lucky guy am I?

In contrast to the last session review show, I really like this set of games. Castle Merchants is a good, overlooked gateway game from last year, Mykerinos is a cool new Ystari item, No Thanks! is the US version of the fantastic instant classic filler, Geschenkt (and another feather in the cap of Z-Man Games) and Times Square is a fun new Kosmos 2-player game from Reiner Knizia that dares to have a great sense of humor. These four would make a great night of entertainment for a lighter, more casual crowd.

Next up (and in rather short order!): The Demise and Rise of the FLGS, Part 2: Interview with David Holt, the owner of a new store called Gameology: The Study of Fun and a guy with some really innovative ideas about how to build on the traditional FLGS. Should be up early this next week.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned: 

Castle Merchants 

Mykerinos 

No Thanks! (Geschenkt is the German name) 

Times Square 

The Scepter of Zavandor (to appear in the next session review) 

Street Illegal (to appear in the next session review) 

Caylus 

Elfenland 

Louis XIV 

Clue 

Coloretto 

For Sale 

Money!

Other Links:

Reiner Knizia

Z-Man Games 

Ystari Games 

Meeple People (feel free to buy something to support my Meeple People habit...) 

Hasbro (can't bring myself to include a link) 

Gameology (I'll be there demonstrating The Scepter of Zavandor and Street Illegal on July 22nd)

Orange County Board Gamers

Times Square (which, they say, has been Disneyfied)

If you experience any difficulty with your regular syndication of Boardgame Babylon, please let me know. I've changed over to feedburner to use some of their interesting tools and I am concerned that it may end up repeating the series again (feeding it all back to subscribers). If you have any problems, please let me know at: sheylon@gmail.com. Sorry for any inconvenience this change may cause!

Two more shows should be posted shortly - a new session review and also the second part of the Demise and Rise series.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Just a reminder that I will indeed be at the store Gameology in Claremont, California next Thursday night (6/29) at 6:30, showing off the Z-man games Castle Merchants and No Thanks! (yes, Geschenkt). No Thanks is already a classic filler game that has finally made its way to the states via Zev's sharp eye for good designer games. Castle Merchants is a fun pick-up and deliver style game with a frequently changing board that has some neat design elements and plays well in less than forty-five minutes. Come on down to check out this great new store with loads of gaming space, a good selection of games and an owner devoted to an innovative approach to board game stores.

If you can't make it to the store (because, say, you don't live anywhere near Los Angeles and those plane tickets have gotten outrageous), well, no problem - both No Thanks and Castle Merchants will be in the next session review show.

But that show won't come out until I release the first in the Demise and Rise of the FLGS series. It has been edited and it should be posted this weekend, once I've given my guest on the show a chance to preview it.

Whew, does this mean I might actually release more than one volume of BGB in a month? Heck, there might be three.

Thanks again for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Well, this show was supposed to appear right after the Power Grid show but then the second half of May hit. Work was crazy and, more significantly, my wife Christina had some emergency surgery. She's doing fine now but it has meant double-dad-duty for a while so I haven't had much (read: any) time to edit the show.

The good news is: I already have the next two shows recorded, including another session review and the first in a new series I am calling "The Demise and Rise of the FLGS" (Friendly Local Game Store). This series will include a string of interviews with former and current game store owners from the Los Angeles area, where we have had a string of closures of high-quality stores in recent days.

Also, I'll actually be doing demos for Z-Man Games at my new FLGS, Gameology, in lovely Claremont, California on June 29th. I should be there at 6:30 PM to show off Castle Merchants and No Thanks! (yes, Geschenkt). They will both be featured in the next Session Review show as well. Gameology is owned by a sharp new owner, Dave Holt, who has some very intriguing and clever ideas for making the game store business work in the modern era. He's also going to be featured later this Summer in an interview as part of the Demise and Rise of the FLGS series. 

I should also note that in this show, I neglected to talk much about Tom Wham, a pre-euro designer famous for his co-design of the classic Kings and Things, the fantasy crayon rail Iron Dragon, the goofy Awful Green Things From Outer Space and some lesser 80's items like Mertwig's Maze and The Great Khan Game - light, fun little items that - like Planet Busters - are a little dated but might be ripe for a revision. I also gloss over mention of the amazing Doris and Frank, but any fan of designer games knows their solid designs like Ursuppe (Primordial Soup) and Frank's Zoo (featuring Doris' distinctive art). I'll blame the lack of excruciating detail on the lovely Patricia Morrison. You'll hear why. Actually, I was going to drop in some more information on these designers but I thought, ah, this thing is long enough as it is. Plus, I need to edit the next episode and I have no time as it is...

Next up: The Demise and Rise of the FLGS, Part 1: Interview with Larry Boyd, former owner of All Star Games - one of the finest stores the Los Angeles area has ever seen.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned: 

Vegas Showdown

Fist of Dragonstones

Planet Busters

Mu und Mehr

Princes of Florence

Puerto Rico

Palazzo

Alhambra

Evo

Pirate's Cove

Citadels

Naval War

Crokinole

Daihimi (which is also marketed by Richard Garfield as "The Great Dalmuti")

Hearts

Oh Hell

Bridge

 

Other links:

Henry Stern

Bruno Faidutti

Michael Schacht

Tom Wham

Doris and Frank

Orange County Board Gamers

Saturdays

Sundays

Strategicon (Orccon is the February)

Las Vegas

Sisters of Mercy

Goth (which, amusingly enough, comes up before the real Goths)

Patricia Morrison (I used to wear mirror shades because of Andrew Eldritch, not William Gibson)

This Corrosion

MTV

Pablo Picasso (some say the real quote is "Bad artists copy, great artists steal" or they attribute it to Dali or a variant to Lionel Trilling but who can know for sure?)

Casino (one nasty movie about running a casino)

Dragon Magazine

Troll Lord Games

Mr. Crokinole (the great board Mike and Nikki own is from him)

Trick-taking Games

Well, until I sort out the Power Grid show, here is a Session Review show that is almost a companion to the Rectangular Table Discussion show about Women and Gaming. It was recorded for our marathon Game Day in March where I played way too many fillers and not enough meaty games. But that is okay - we had a load of fun and it gave me a chance to try out two unplayed games from my collection: King Me! and Mall World.

I actually forgot to mention how incredibly cool the bits are in Diamant, too. They are really nice and I recommend getting this charming game even though it is not available in the US (except through specialty retailers).

Incidentally, this picture is of one of our recent game days where Memoir '44 was played. The fellow in gray is Matt Grimaldi - an old friend of mine who is the co-host on the Power Grid show. In the foreground is my buddy Chad - who has the distinction of being mentioned not only frequently on this show, but he was also namechecked on the Dice Tower last year when he visited the illustrious Tom and Joe while on Korea for business. Why, Tom even complained that Chad kept taking the role he wanted in Puerto Rico. I know what he means - Chad can be annoyingly good at games! Chad will also appear on BGB soon on the upcoming RTD on Games Workshop Games of the 80's, if I should ever get around to buying Total Recorder so I can get our friend Bernie on there, too, via Skype. 

Next up: Power Grid: In depth (once I can edit this whole thing, which is likely going to be released as a two-parter). 

Show Notes

Games Mentioned: 

That's Life! (which I refer to by its German name Verflixxt! occasionally)

Diamant

Wheedle

Taj Mahal

King Me! (BGG even has a Trekkie version for you Trek-geeks)

Coloretto

Mall World

Niagara

King's Breakfast

Shadows Over Camelot

TransEuropa

For Sale

Gulo Gulo

Power Grid (Italy/France Maps)

6 Nimmt! (wow, that's three games that have exclamation points in their titles)

Pit (which sometimes has an exclamation point)

Kremlin

Reef Encounter

Caylus

Railroad Tycoon 

Other links:

St.Patrick's Day

Irish Soda Bread

Shamrocks

Dice

Bruno Faiduitti's Ideal Game Library (in French and English)

Tom Hanks

Attila the Hun

The Vintage Gamer Discusses Pit (which is still a lousy game, but Jim Van Verth somehow still recorded an interesting show on it)

Indiana Jones

Mayfair Games

Da Vinci Games

Apparently, the comments field on the blog here was broken for some people. I gather this has been out of commission for quite a while since a few people have not gone, "oh, yeah - I've been trying to post there for a while." Thanks to Paul Allwood for letting me know that it wasn't working properly - it should be fine now. If you have any difficulty, please let me know.

The Power Grid show has been delayed due to technical difficulties. Despite having been recorded, there are some complications. It is coming, I'll probably drop a previously recorded Session Review in first since that one is ready to go and the PG show still has some ways to go.

Finally, some changes are a-foot. I'm hoping to make the site a little more attractive soon and there may be a few other surprises, too. Stay tuned.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Ever wanted to play Puerto Rico with your preschooler? Keythedral with your kindergartener?

In this show, my children Alaric and Gwyndolyn (ages 6 and 4) join me to discuss some of the variants we play of popular strategy designer games. Why wait any longer to begin your pre-K child's lifelong addiction to the board game hobby?

Show Notes

Games Mentioned:

Caylus

Wallenstein

Can't Stop

Advanced Squad Leader

Die Macher

Reef Encounter

Puerto Rico

Elefun

Railroon Tycoon

Jenga

Ricochet Robot

Yahtzee Jr.

Other Links:

Hard Games Made Harder For Hardcore Gamers

Martin Wallace

Boohbah

Sid Sackson

Skittles

Puerto Rico (the not-a-state, not the game)

M&Ms

Coral

Oompa Loompas

CRTs

Toy Story

Eagle Games (doing something about the board, incidentally)

Temporary Tattoos

Line of Sight

Furbys (my apologies for including a link to Hasbro - darn! Did it again!)

Huh?

I've just finished recording the Power Grid: In depth show with my good friend Matt Grimaldi and it's a loooooooong one. I suppose it's a long game anyway, so Power Grid fans will enjoy that (yes, Matt - another little dig).

Needless to say, part of my interest in doing this show was focusing on a game I do not particularly like and trying to dig in a little and discuss why as we go over the game at length. I even played the game a couple of extra times recently just to get ready for the show. See how I suffer for this podcast?

I'll start editing today but I'm still torn about whether to break it up into two shows (raw, it is over two hours). We'll see how much hits the editing floor and then I'll make a decision. Stay tuned. 

And, yes, those are Matt's arms above the French Power Grid map in the picture here.

I’m excited to release the show I recorded at our massive marathon game day yesterday – Women and Gaming. I recorded this show with not one, not two, but three guests and it sounds like it worked with the boom mike thing since the people at Radio Shack gave me an audio splitter that works only for headphones, not microphone. Who knew you can’t trust the Radio Shack Nerd? Anyway, my wife Christina, my good friend Lisa, and my sister Isabel all joined me for a discussion about what games they like, a little of their experience in gaming as young people and what they really think about the hobby. I enjoyed the discussion a good deal and, hopefully, it will be enjoyable listening. I’m editing it now and expect to have it out later this week. Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon. Comments and feedback to: sheylon@gmail.com

I've recorded my first guest host show with my good friend Mason Rourman and it's "RA: In depth". RA is, of course, my favorite game so we rambled on for an awfully long time. In the interest of making the show accessible to those burning a CD, I'm editing it down a bit but it should be posted some day this week. Sorry for the delay but this comes right as I'm going through a job transition that is keeping me enormously busy so that's why I'm just a little behind (not that I have a schedule around here). I'm also working out my schedule this week to record "Power Grid: In depth" with my friend Matt Grimaldi, so that should see the light of day soon, too. Check out the link on the side and order cool stuff from Meeple People's website, including the very fashionable "INVOKE RA" shirt.

So, I'm in the process of copying files over from my old blog to this one. Please let me know if any of the links are broken.

In response to continued calls from Boardgames To Go podcast host Mark Johnson's call for more euro-game/designer games content in the podcast world, here is Boardgame Babylon. I intend to do session reviews of games, some indepth discussion of particular titles or genres and some Round Table Discussions with other friends who are interested in games. If you have comments or feedback please send them to: sheylon@gmail.com. Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon!