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.