I wanted to make sure you are all aware of this exciting news from Strategicon! Considering the great deals Virgin America, Southwest and Jet Blue are offering to L.A. right now, you've got few excuses not to join us. What? Just because of Valentine's Day? Sell it as a romantic getaway to glamorous L.A.! ;)

Strategicon's Orccon 2009 is welcoming award-winning game designer Michael Schacht as Guest of Honor for their annual convention held at the LAX Radisson from February 13-16.

Mr. Schacht is set to US debut of three major new releases at the convention. "Zooloretto Exotic" is a new expansion for the Spiel Des Jahres-winning family game of the same name. "The Golden City" is a major new Kosmos release and "Valdora" is the latest new board game from Abacusspiele due out at the Nuremberg toy fair this year. All three will be available for exclusive play at Orccon along with some games Mr. Schacht will bring for play-testing at the event.

In addition, Mr. Schacht has provided an exclusive Zooloretto game tile for Orccon 2009 that will be available to Strategicon attendees this year. Strategicon also runs Gamex 2009 on Memorial Day Weekend and Gateway 2009 on Labor Day Weekend. The tile will also be used in a big combined Zooloretto/Aquaretto tournament also held at the convention.

Orccon 2009 regularly plays host to approximately fifteen-hundred gamers from around the world. Board game tournaments offer dealer dollar prizes and have no individual event cost. Come join in the fun in sunny Southern California this Presidents' Day Weekend. For more information on Orccon 2009, please visit: www.strategicon.net.

The new year is upon us but it's always fun to look back at the games we've played over the previous year. As I was editing some older podcasts, I thought I might record a quick review of my most frequently played games in 2008. And then, well, I ended up with a 40 minute podcast here. So, here it is...largely unedited in the interest of getting it out the door.

In case you aren't familiar with the term "Five and Dimes" in reference to plays of board games, the mighty game reviewer Mike Siggins coined the term years ago to refer to games played five or ten times in the course of a year. These days, the terrific blogger/gamer/family games expert Mark Jackson (aka "Fluff Daddy") tracks this information and doesn't a series of reports to show which games are getting the most play and how it compares to past years. You can watch for the details on Mark's blog here.

Boardgame Babylon will be back with a session review show soon with details on some exciting newer releases including Ghost Stories, Municipium, Le Havre, and Hurry'Cup.

Don't forget that Orccon 2009 is coming up February 13-16 with Special Guest Michael Schacht. I can't say enough - don't you want to come to Southern California in mid-February to play games? Considering the great price war going on right now with the airlines, it should be fairly cheap to come visit us (check out the deals on Travelocity and Expedia) and get away from freezing temperatures. Hey - it was 85 degrees here today - I considered taking the kids to the beach. Sorry, didn't mean to rub it in... ;) Find out more information on www.strategicon.net and if you are coming out, drop me an e-mail so we can get together and play a game at the convention.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Just under the wire, here is the final Boardgame Babylon for 2008. It's been a slower year at the podcast due to work, family and other issues but I look forward to a firmer schedule in 2009 - if possibly a pretty relaxed pace. You can expect a couple more shows in January as I clean out the archives a bit including an interview with Greg Lam of Pair-A-Dice Games and the now mythic Games Workshop Games of the 80's Rectangular Table Discussion. I'm mentioning them both here because that way I can be shamed into finally releasing them...

But for now, here is BGB v60 - a series of interviews I conducted at BGG.con last month. I apologize for the sound quality on the interviews. I hadn't intended to podcast at the show but I ended up doing so anyway with the recorder on my Blackjack and now I know - we won't be using that again (the iRiver died some time ago...)

Anyway, the show includes interviews with the folks from Asmodee, Your Move Games, Bucephalus Games, and Ape Games (plus a bonus chat with Kevin G. Nunn of "duck duck GO!" fame) - plus some noteworthy news I share about the very special, very cool guest we have joining us here in Los Angeles for Orccon 2009. You'll want to check flight prices when you hear about who is joining us here in Southern California for the big show. As noted on the show, a second BGG.con show with some locals chatting about the convention will be coming soon. When Aldie gets around to releasing the fun show he recorded with Jason Matthews, Tom Lehmann and Derk, you can hear me asking more than my fair share of questions, too. ;)

Also, listen in to hear about the BGG.con coins that have been launched here and around the world. Keep those coins moving and you can check out where they have been right here. You may be able to get in on the fun even if you didn't attend BGG.con.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon. Happy New Year!