1. Z-MAN is coming to Gamex 2008 - The Z-man himself, Zev Shlasinger is the Guest of Honor for the upcoming Strategicon convention over the Memorial Day Weekend, Gamex 2008. This means Gamex 2008 will host the US debut of Uwe Rosenberg's instant classic, Agricola (with a tournament to boot), as well as a Z-man Marathon Tournament, and a unique tournament experience for Matt Leacock's awesome new Pandemic (which I'll talk about on BGB v52). You can expect a great time over the weekend and to hear the Q&A session with Zev on Boardgame Babylon sometime later (and, hopefully, at least one more podcast recorded there...)
2. Demos at Gamex 2008 - We have an awesome lineup of demos at Gamex planned for attendees. My crack team of Boardgame Babylon co-hosts and I will show con attendees some of the latest and hottest games around from Z-Man (of course - Zev will be showing them, too), Rio Grande, Days of Wonder, Fantasy Flight, Twilight Creations, On the Line Games, Smirk and Dagger, and many more.
3. Buy from Thoughthammer tomorrow! - In celebration of Earth Day, the wonderful folks at Thoughthammer.com are donating a portion of proceeds to the Rocky Mountain Institute. How cool is that? Alfredo and gang are already one of the best places online to get the latest games (and they've added Haba to their line recently) and if you order tomorrow, you also get to celebrate Earth Day in style. Need ideas for $125 order? How about: Galaxy Trucker, Stone Age, Tribune, Pandemic and Agricola? Can't go wrong there!
4. Exciting new stuff from Days of Wonder - I'll chat more on the next show but I'm very excited about the new stuff coming out of those DoW folks recently. The best news is that the story that broke earlier this year about a Shadows Over Camelot expansion (how did that get out of the Cone of Silence?) is true: Merlin's Company is on the way to liven up a game some say they solved. More can be found at the place where you are supposed to go for your news. But they also are releasing the long awaited Memoir '44 carrying case! Now, if they can just repackage it for BattleLore, I'll be cheering, too.

Okay, enough procrastination. Back to the Script Frenzy.

Car Wars   Illuminati   Ogre   Munchkin   GURPS (best RPG ever)

Steve was kind enough to answer questions from the audience as well as those from my co-moderator Paul Tevis (who handled the RPG side of things) and me.

The show starts out with Steve giving an overview of upcoming Steve Jackson Games products before taking questions. Although there is some discussion of RPGs (which we don't normally cover on Boardgame Babylon), there is also a lot of good material from the very witty Mr. Jackson who is certainly well-aware that we are recording for the podcast and he does what he can to give listeners extra audio cues about the proceedings - to amusing effect.

Thanks again for listening to Boardgame Babylon. A new session review show is coming soon.

Show Notes:

Steve Jackson Games  Have Games Will Travel   David Brin   Tribes

Charlie the Unicorn   Unspeakable Vault   Print On Demand  

Reiner Knizia   Martin Wallace   Friedemann Friese   Alan Moon

Uwe Rosenberg   Jay Tummelson   Wolfgang Kramer   Michael Schacht

They each bring their unique perspective to this subject of the current state and the future of the hobby.

Show Notes:

Contest Details   Transcript of the Discussion   Today's Date

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

I should note that my daughter has become a fan of Chris' music as CJ. If you have young kids, you will want to check him out. That CD is in heavy rotation along with Gwyndolyn's favorite kid band, Gwendolyn and the GoodTime Gang (also one to check out if you have young ones).

I hope you enjoy this new show in the series. With any luck, we'll have a second BGB this month, too. Keep an ear out for it.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Links:   Gateplay.com   Chris Handy's Designer Page   Simply Fun

Games Mentioned:

Trump: The Game   Linkity   Handy   Plext   Pandemic  

Topeka Board Gamers: Donate to the Boys and Girls Club of Topeka

Gateplay Games   Tanga.com

And here are the full Best Games of 2007 lists for both of us:

Aldie

1. Agricola   2. Race for the Galaxy 3. 1960: Making of a President

4. In the Year of the Dragon   5. Starcraft   6. Galaxy Trucker

7. Age of Empires 3: Age of Discovery 8. Fire and Axe 9. Notre Dame

10. Arkham Horror: The King in Yellow

Honorable Mentions: Thebes

Disappointments: League of Six, Kingsburg, Key Harvest

Eric

1. 1960: Making of a President   2. Agricola   3. Race for the Galaxy

4. Notre Dame   5. Brass   6. In the Year of the Dragon

7. Hamburgum   8. Age of Empires 3: Age of Discovery   9. Amyitis

10. Duel in the Dark

Honorable Mentions: King of Siam, Midgard, Thebes, Vikings, Take It To The Limit, Wurfel Bingo, Key Harvest

Disappointments: Kingsburg, Chicago Poker, Gipsy Kings (edited out)

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon. 

In addition to that, I have shows for all the major BGB series coming up soon - most are recorded and one is planned. The "Best of 2007" show is also on the horizon, with another favorite guest. In fact, that will probably be the next one you hear. Also, I recorded a Q&A session with the Orccon 2008 Guest of Honor, Steve Jackson, with one of my esteemed podcasting colleagues, Paul Tevis of the Have Games Will Travel podcast. I think I have six shows in the can so, you know, they need to come out!

Thanks to everyone who has written in to ask about why BGB has been so quiet lately. The first quarter of 2008 has been rather busy with work, a family emergency and, yes, a bout with bronchitis. But I'm on the mend and setting some time aside to get out some new shows. If nothing appears by next Monday, you are free to harass me again.

Thanks for downloading (and waiting for) Boardgame Babylon.

Thanks to all the terrific and clearly discerning folks that voted on it and for all the fond wishes of congratulations from listeners. It certainly was a great year for the show and I had a wonderful time being part of it.

Thanks for downloading and listening (and voting for) Boardgame Babylon. A new show with my Best Games of 2007 (and a good guest) is coming up soon.

In this show, Dave Jones from Time Well Spent (that's www.timewellspent.org - not the same thing with .com), joins me to talk about his experience running his successful online game store, his perspective on pricing and FLGSs and a little about the future of game retailing.

I also want to mention that we're just over a month away from Strategicon's next Southern California-based game convention, Orccon. I will be in attendance and hope to see BGB listeners there. For more information on this President's Day Weekend event, check out: www.strategicon.net.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Time Well Spent   Peter Sarrett   Mayfair Games

Merchants of Amsterdam   Haba   Tanga.com

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/27498

Happy New year to all and thanks for listening to Boardgame Babylon.

I've never asked for donations for Boardgame Babylon (although many nice people have inquired) but I do occasionally encourage listeners to support worthwhile charities (as in the Franz-Benno Delonge event) and I certainly encourage everyone to sign up and support BGG now during their membership drive leading up to the year's end. There's only about a week left to help keep our hobby's most valuable online resource alive and active in 2007. Here's the link:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/support.php

Happy Holidays to all!

...Sheylon

Wits & Wagers   Werewolves of Miller's Hollow   Word Blur

Quelf   Qwirkle   (in case you thought using Q and W games) Gifttrap

And the stocking stuffers:

No Thanks!   6 Nimmt!   Coloretto   Felix: Cat in the Sack

Power Grid Expansion   Vexation   Escalation   R-Eco

In addition to the roundup of great party games and smallish stocking stuffers, I also interview Dominic Crapuchettes from Northstar Games - who provides us with an exciting announcement about their plans in 2008.

Thanks to all listeners for downloading and hearing the show this year. Happy Holidays to all!

There may be one more show before the year ends but who knows once the holidays start in earnest.

Additional Links:

Gifttrap's Home   Northstar Games   Wiggity Bang   Mindware Online

I'll be back later this month with a show about more of the Essen titles I played like Filou, Cuba, Brass, In the Year of the Dragon, Hamburgum, Patrician, and Gipsy King.

The next show is the holiday one - where I'll talk about some great stocking stuffers and some suggested party games to break out for your big parties throughout the season.

Okay, here's part two of the BGG.CON Wrap-Up Show. My voice is dying due to illness so I just added in brief introductions to the various interviews with Kevin Wilson, Mark Simonich, Zev Schlasinger, Simon Hunt, Chad Ellis, and even a little shout out from BGG.CON Guest of Honor, Friedemann Friese.

I'll be back later this month with a show about more of the Essen titles I played like Filou, Cuba, Brass, In the Year of the Dragon, Hamburgum, Patrician, and Gipsy King.

The next show is the holiday one - where I'll talk about some great stocking stuffers and some suggested party games to break out for your big parties throughout the season.

And for a little glimpse of the Match Game hosted by Peter Sarrett, take a look here:

http://www.vimeo.com/419338

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

On this show, Aldie - the man behind the 'Geek - joins me for a chat about the show and some highlights for both of us.

The second part of this series will include a series of interviews with some nice folks I met at BGG.CON, including Chad Ellis, Kevin Wilson, Zev Shlasinger, Simon Hunt and many more. Heck, you'll even get to hear from Friedemann Friese had to say when I told him about the Power Grid: In depth show...and my real feelings about Power Grid...

Also - we announce the winners of the Franz-Benno Delonge Chairty Events, both the TransAmerica Tournament winners and those who won in the "Play At Home" drawings.

A special shout out to all the great listeners and new friends I got to meet at BGG.CON. It was an honor and pleasure to meet you all - thanks for all the kind words about the show.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

(that link: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/boardgamebabylon)

But now, we're back with a new show featuring an interview with Jeremy Young, the man behind Tanga.com, Simply Fun, Uberplay and Inspiration Games. While I mainly wanted to ask Jeremy about Tanga.com and get his unique perspective as both a publisher and an e-tailer, I couldn't help but ask about his other exciting ventures, too. I think you'll enjoy his comments and details about how his businesses were developed.

If you have comments, I welcome your feedback - please post it here on the Boardgame Babylon Guild on BGG.com.

Also, if you are on BGG.com, you can now purchase the new Boardgame Babylon Listener microbadge. You can find it here:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/browse/microbadge/3519

By the way, if you will be at BGG.CON this week, please look for me and say 'hi'. I'll be there from Thursday through Sunday afternoon.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

We've got plans in place for 72 participants in the TransAmerica tournament. We'll have room for some walk-ins but I'm not sure how many. Donate now if you want to make sure you are pre-registered for the tournament.

We'll also draw for the "Play At Home" winners at that time, except for Shire Games for UK donors - you have until 11/30 for that one.

You can still donate here: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/boardgamebabylon

Oh, and there should be a new Boardgame Babylon tomorrow. See some of you at BGG.CON. Look for me in the black BGB shirt, shamelessly promoting the podcast.

...ERB

Your Move and Sunriver are donating prizes that you can win at BGG.CON by playing in the TransAmerica Memorial Tournament. Shire Games - a fine retailer in the UK - has offered to help boost our donations from Great Britain by offering a game to one lucky donor who cannot attend BGG.CON but still wants to help support the fight against cancer.

We thank these terrific sponsors for their help in supporting the cause. We're at 38% of our goal now. Won't you please support the effort with a donation? The ACS Web Site will take a donation as small as $10 (or any size - and some board gamers have indeed been very generous!) and every little bit helps.

That link again: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/boardgamebabylon

Thanks in advance to all who help with the cause and honor Benno in this way!

...ERB

(photo courtesy of John Bohrer)

So, once November rolls around, I'm expecting to post the next BGB. I'm also expecting to announce a special event for BGG.con shortly, too - and I'm hopeful that it will be something that will encourage a lot of people to get involved.

Stay tuned.

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

As promised, this is the Q&A session recorded at Gateway 2007 with Guest of Honor Tom Jolly. Tom is, of course, well-known in the board game community as the designer of the classic game, Wiz-War (one of my few games rated a '10'), as well as more recent favorites like Drakon, Cave Troll, and Camelot. He was kind enough to entertain attendees with all kinds of interesting anecdotes about his history in game design and self-publishing, his experiences with various publishers and about how the industry has changed in the nearly twenty-five years since he entered it with 100 bagged copies of Wiz-War in hand.

I've decided to add this to the Stories of Self-Publishing series for the simple reason that a whole lot of the questions were about his days running Jolly Games, the shingle under which he published many of his older games, including G.O.O.T.M.U., Knots, Programmer's Nightmare, and Villages. But this doesn't mean I am wanting for more in the series - one more is already recorded and another is scheduled soon.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned

Wiz-War   Villages   Drakon   Cave Troll   RA

Cosmic Encounter   Magic: The Gathering   Knots

Disk Wars   Camelot   Cargo   G.O.O.T.M.U.

Other Links

Tom Jolly   Strategicon   Jolly Games

I took a very different tack with this show from previous con wrap-up shows. This time, I interviewed some folks at the show. About a half-dozen extra interviews were tossed due to sound quality and, I'll admit, even some of these are rough when I took my little iRiver recorder into the dealer room to chat with these guys. But I think you'll still enjoy many of them.

Please send me your feedback on this format and any comments you might have to: sheylon@gmail.com or, preferably, post them on the Boardgame Babylon Guild on boardgamegeek.com: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/138

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned

Wiz-War   Lost Worlds   Nuclear War   Imperialism   Duel in the Dark

R-Eco   Leaping Lemmings   Conquest of Paradise   Roads of Rome

Other Links

Protospiel West   Sorvent   GMT Games   Flying Buffalo   Strategicon

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=52245&cmd=tc

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babble-on...

Okay, for the first volume of Boardgame Babble-on, I'm hoping for a very general talk about some subjects from recent shows: Demise and Rise/Ascent and Dissent, latest games and disappointments, recents conventions and my excitement about finally attending BGG.con this year - and anything else the callers would like to discuss, really. Let's see how it goes. Hopefully this isn't so late that we lose the East Coasters.

Here is the link for the show: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=52245&cmd=tc

While we do not need to directly tie to only one BGB show, I was hoping to somewhat do so and have this be a chance for people to talk back on subjects we discuss on the regular show.

Would this be of interest to people? Please respond in this space and if it seems like a few people will show up, I'll schedule the show one night PDT. I'd love the chance to connect with BGB listeners.

Thanks for downloading and talking about Boardgame Babylon.

P.S. Some have asked what cake my wife made for my birthday this year. Feast your eyes on this one!

Now, I've reached out to many of the Friendly Online Game Store owners to get a chance to hear their side of the story. They continue to be successful and expand (thus the Ascent) and also be controversial from the perspective of some gamers (the Dissent) who feel they are ruining the chances for FLGSs to survive in a world of narrowing margins, high rents, and fractured interest in things non-digital.

But at the same time, FOGS provide an opportunity for gamers to have access to thousands of older or obscure games that FLGSs can't carry, a chance for those in remote areas to get games, and - the controversial part - to get games at a huge discount with free shipping on large order. Does this help the industry as a whole since more games get out there? Or are the FOGS lowering the perceived value of games and making it harder for gamers to stomach paying retail prices for games at a FLGS?

On this volume, I speak with Tom Powers - the owner and operator of Boards and Bits, one of my favorite online retailers and one of the most vocal FOGS owners on Boardgamegeek.com, whenever someone brings up the FLGS vs. FOGS subject. Tom was kind enough to answer some questions about his business, how he got into it, what he thinks about the recent 'price-fixing' Supreme Court decision, and the whole FLGS vs FOGS conflict. I think you'll find his responses candid and interesting.

More are on the way, too, although I will be posting a couple of shows from the Gateway 2007 before I get around to the next one.

We welcome your comments and feedbackIf you have not done so, please join us in the Boardgame Babylon Guild on Boardgamegeek.com and add your comments to the discussion there. Joining will also make you eligible for Boardgame Babylon contests in the future and you can also find a nice image gallery of pictures of Boardgame Babylonia there, too!

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Boards and Bits - a great selection of domestic and int'l games at great prices.

Boardgamegeek.con - I will finally be there this year ;)

Strategicon - Two shows from Gateway 2007 are on the way

While news of Delonge's passing has tempered the weekend a bit, I did spend most of it away at Gateway 2007 and it was a terrific event. The Live Action Wiz-War event was a smashing success with excellent attendance and although a couple of our props didn't make it down to the event, people had a great time. Our qualifying round lasted quite a while but the final game was over quickly due to a critical risk taken by one of the wizards and the fact that another player had the right card to take advantage of it. Classic Wiz-War, people kept saying.

I had a great time showing off new Z-Man titles like R-Eco and Duel in the Dark. Owner's Choice was also a big hit and I keep liking it more the more often I play it. Even had a chance to play it with Tom Jolly, who was disappointed that he couldn't find it in the dealer room and was trying to get mine from me in trade. Nothing doing, Jolly (I was able to saying that cavalierly since he'd already recorded a podcast for me).

Played great games like Shogun, Yspahan, R-Eco, Poker, tons of prototypes and, yes, even a game of Star Wars: Epic Duels. Sigh. At least I had a couple of glasses of Guinness in me to dull the pain.

Tons of shows are on the way. I have at least two show's worth from Gateway 2007, including the Q&A session with Tom Jolly (which I'm calling Stories of Self-Publishing, Part 2 since he talks a whole lot about it) and snippets from Protospiel West's event at Gateway - a chance for designers and playtesters to come together (and a very well-attended event!) This is in addition to a couple more shows I have in the can in a new series I meant to announce last week. Alas, I got too busy with work and life leading up to Gateway so you'll just get a whole lot of Boardgame Babylon over the next couple of months.

Thanks for downl...er...reading Boardgame Babylon.

In addition to the normal mix of great open gaming, tournaments, and demonstrations, there are a few notable special events:

*  Play with the Creator sessions with Tom Jolly and other designers
*  Fermat Challenge - Beat Tom Jolly at his own game and you can win dealer dollars to be spent at the con
*  Live Action Wiz-War with a full-sized map, giant props and a quick-play qualifying round that will allow dozens to play
*  Q&A session with Tom Jolly on 9/2 at 1 PM - We'll get Tom to answer everyone's questions about his long career in game design, publishing and where the heck the new Wiz-War is! This session will be recorded for Boardgame Babylon
*  Protospiel West has a series of sessions to bring designers and playtesters together to try out the next generation of designer games.
*  Many seminars in the Strategicon War College.

In addition, I'll be running tournaments of Owner's Choice, Saboteur, Midgard, Stack Market, and Colosseum (maybe more that I am forgetting).

For more information, please see www.strategicon.net.

Come on down and say 'hi' - just look for me in the Boardgame Babylon t-shirt. I'll be there for most of the weekend.

Also on this volume, you will find the nominees for the Boardgame Podcast Award for Innovative Concept discussed and the winner of said award officially announced. The nominees are:

BattleLore

Khet: Eye of Horus Beam Splitter

Pieces of Eight

Space Dealer

Yspahan

Don't forget that Gateway 2007 is just under two weeks away. Check out Strategicon's web site for more information about this great SoCal Game Con. I'll be running tournaments for a number of Z-Man games plus the aforementioned Colosseum. The special guest is Tom Jolly and we'll be running a variety of events with him, including Live Action Wiz-War - which will be run in a way to allow for lots of players so come on down and join the fun.

Besides, I was heavily photographed at fellow podcaster Doug Garrett's West Coast MeepleFest this weekend (which was a blast), too, so I figured the image is out so I might as well embrace it. It was amusing (to me) while it lasted. I will post some comments on games played there (see the sidebar for some of them), although most will end up on a podcast.

Sorry for the dearth of podcasts this Summer. My walking pnuemonia seems to be back and my voice is a shade of its former strength. That and Skype/Total Recorder problems have kept me from a couple of projects. But a new series, another episode of a previous series and at least two session review shows are on the horizon.

...Sheylon

Remember that Gateway 2007 runs on Labor Day Weekend and the Special Guest is Tom Jolly. More details will be noted in BGB v39, which is right around the corner. I'll be running tournaments of Colosseum, Stack Market, Owner's Choice, Saboteur, Midgard and an extra special event that will take a heck of a lot of work this next month...

Also - I will be at Gameology in Claremont, CA this Saturday to show off Stack Market and Owner's Choice in the morning and again in the afternoon. Come on out and say 'hi' and learn these two new cool games!

Show Notes:

Strategicon (Gateway Pre-Reg opens at the beginning of August)

Games mentioned:

If Wishes Were Fishes   Burg Appenzell   Midgard

Silverton   Vexation   Stay Alive

One is a Rectangular Table Discussion about Kid's Games, another is the RTD on the Games Workshop board game line in the 80's and I think there are two additional session review shows.

If you ever need a great hand in data recovery, check out my cousin's business at: http://www.burgessforensics.com/

...Sheylon
www.boardgamebabylon.com

I realize I've gotten myself into this by putting the mailing address on my business cards but if you just send me a quick inquiry ahead of time, I can make sure you don't waste your money sending me a game I might not want to play and I won't feel guilty if I take a long time to review it. If you confirm with me ahead of time, I'll be happy to review the game and ask you to be on the show - although I always want to find an interesting angle for including you (and not just a straight advert), like my recent show about High School Drama, which was also about game design and self-publishing. Thanks in advance for your consideration!

Thanks...ERB

The subject of our conversation is game design and self-publishing, as Bo started up his own company in order to put out the game, and we hear about some of the trials and tribulations of striking out on your own in the crazy hobby game business. Along the way Bo tells us a bit about High School Drama, including some interesting design and production notes. And we just have some good laughs since both Bo and jim are terrific guys.

This is the start of a new series called "Stories of Self-Publishing" and I have at least two more lined up but - as to when they will come out - we'll have to see. There is still the Demise and Rise to finish up and one more series on the way.

I should also note that this is the first volume of Boardgame Babylon supported by our new sponsor, Tanga.com. I'm a big fan of the site and its wacky retail model so I encourage you all to check it out via the link on the side if you are new to the site or by clicking www.tanga.com.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games mentioned:

High School Drama   Illuminati   Lunch Money

Ingenious   Escalation!   Wiz-War  

Other links:

Shifting Skies Games  (buy HSD there or at your FLGS)

Knightime Studios (jim pinto - yes, he's capital-challenged, like e.e. cummings or k.d. lang)

NEXT UP: The Gamex 2007 Wrap-Up Show. My friend and frequent Boardgame Babylon contributor Matt Grimaldi will join me to chat about our experiences at the convention and the many games we played including Wikinger (Vikings), Caylus Magna Carta, Notre Dame, Guatemala Cafe, If Wishes Were Fishes and many more.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games mentioned (a selection of them, as they are too numerous to list completely)

If Wishes Were Fishes      Mystery Rummy: Bonnie and Clyde      Where's Bob's Hat?

Notre Dame      Race For the Galaxy      Thurn and Taxis (Wells Fargo?)

Other links

Strategicon      Rio Grande Games 

In fact, To Court the King is closer to a pure Yahtzee game than most others but with a whole host of cards you can acquire with various combos so you can get more dice or more ways to manipulate them to complete better combos.

While Jay was teaching Heather and me, Devi came up and said that he liked it because "you get more control as you go along". Indeed, TCTK gets better as you gain cards which give you special abilities - each named for some person or noble (maids, barons, laborers, all the way up to the King and Queen).

Some cards add dice set to a particular number (you can re-roll them after the first turn) to your rolling set, while others allow for pip manipulation (move them between dice to turn, say, a four and a two into two threes), while others allow for re-rolls.

And, yes, this is all dependent on the rolls you make. Luckily for those who dice hate (like yours truly), there is also the Fool card which you get if you are unable to roll a good combo (which are sets, higher totals, and the like). The Fool lets you do a free re-roll and if you get a second Fool, he turns into the Charlatan card, which mercifully gives you an extra die. All of this builds towards the winner combo - seven of a kind. This courts the King and then everyone gets one turn to beat that roll (i.e., roll seven 'fives' if the King-holder has seven 'fours'). If no one can unseat him, he wins. If someone manages, the King is handed over but the Queen stays and helps the original finisher gain the King back.

One potential issue for some is that large number of different cards that do different things. There is a cheat sheet but it is long and also double-sided. This is kind of a pain but I'd rather have them than not.

The game plays in about a 1/2 hour once you know how to play it. For those that cannot manipulate numbers (and, hey, they are small - it didn't intimidate this Literature major) and think quickly about how to reorder things with a whole bunch of factors, this one will seem harder than it should be. But as a casual activity for those who enjoy rolling the bones, it is fun. We played with three (including Jay) and it moved along nicely (despite the quirky choice to have the Start Player rotate counter-clockwise, giving everyone consecutive turns each round).

I plan to pick it up because I think it will play well with two and because I would like to use it to encourage good math skills with my kids. The numbers are small but the concept of moving the pips around to make other numbers sounds like something good to drill into elementary school kids.

One most post with a wrap-up will follow. I will also do a podcast wrap-up with more opinions later on.

...Sheylon
www.boardgamebabylon.com

Here's a nice shot after the crowd left with Devi and Heather Hughes (from the Orange County Board Gamers), my sister Isabel (in the Invoke Ra shirt from www.meeplepeople.com), Mason hiding behind Jay and our gaming buddy Burt on the right.

...Sheylon
www.boardgamebabylon.com

Congratulations, Travis! He was awarded the nicest of three cool trophies - and the runners-up were Chris Johnson and Michael Nickeloff.

(photo: courtesy of Patrick Havert)

Vikings has one 'exciting' mechanic - a wheel built into the board which sets the price for recruiting vikings and their respective island piece to your group. You buy vikings of different colors (farmers, nobles, goldsmiths, scouts, warriors, boatmen) and each comes with an island piece (a beginning, middle or end) that you can build out on your play space. Red gives you points, Yellow gives you Gold to buy things, Blue feed your vikings at the end of the game - and on and on. You need them all but can only buy so many. As Jay said, "a game where you can't do everything you want each turn. What a concept!"

Now, I have to say - the theme of this game makes no sense at all and has nothing to do with the admittedly enjoyable mechanics. In an upcoming (although actually recorded back at Orccon) Boardgame Babylon episode, art director jim pinto points out how 'phony' the mechanics of many designer games appear to be when you think about it with regard to the theme. Vikings is a particularly good example of this but the truth of the matter is that I don't care. Indeed, it is all artificial but it is also an enjoyable game that, again, plays through in about forty-five to sixty minutes (depending on your DPF - Deliberative Player Factor).

Jay explained the basics but didn't overwhelm us with the sometimes quirky scoring. In the end, we all found many things we would do differently but the first time is always a learning game. Indeed, nearly everything gets a chance to add victory points at the end, in addition to the incidental scoring and money payouts which happen throughout the game. All in all, I was very fond of Vikings and may very well get it. The Viking meeples are certainly neat ("Vikeeples?")

Check out Jay looking at me disapprovingly! "Did he ask permission to take this photo?" ;)

Just after that, I got a chance to meet Jay Tummelson. As always described, Jay was a nice fellow and was cheerfully asking everyone, "Want to play a game?" Some of the games Jay Brought to show off include:

Caylus Magna Carta
Notre Dame
Guatemala Cafe
Master Thieves
Ponte De Marchio
Fiji

Jay brought a lot of terrific games to the convention to try out but the crown jewel for the simple reason of exclusivity is If Wishes Were Fishes, the Peter Sarrett game that was just published in Germany this Wednesday. Good guy that Jay is, he paid a hefty fee to have a copy shipped out so he could show it off at Gamex. Naturally, this story was good enough to get me to sit down right away. Jay showed the game to me and my buddy Bernie, who flew in from NYC for the con.

If Wishes Were Fishes is undeniably cute. I mean, you get little fish meeples ("fisheeples?") and a half-dozen rubber worms in addition to a single card representing two boats where you can store your fish. This card is cleverly divided to show two halves of two boats so you can put a fish on each side. The rainforest thanks them. You also get a colorful board with a fish stand for each fish type where some 'buyer' meeples hang out randomly to increase the amount you can get if you sell fish you caught and keep.

On your turn, you can sell a fish you have in your boat or 'fish' for a new fish card (well, draft them) and decide if you are going to keep the fish to sell at the appropriate stand or toss the fish back and receive the 'wish' the fish has on the top of his card. The wishes vary from allowing you to sell more than the limit of one fish per turn, increase the value of fish by manipulating the buyers, sell you fish as a more valuable one, get money for all your worms, get extra boats, and that kind of thing. The fish are set up in a line of four and you can only take the one to the far right free (shallow sea). If you want to take one further over, you need to use your worms - one for each card you want to skip past. Later, if there is a worm on a card you take, you get to claim it. Also, you can't take fish if you have no room in your boats.

There are also bonus cards that show up when a certain number of a type of fish (betwen 4 and 7) are sold and cycling through them will draw the game to the end. When this comes up, the two people with the largest number of fish sold for that market gain extra money (points). The market for that kind of fish is then closed - well, sort of. You can still sell these fish for their current price but now any sold fish go into the garbage and the person with the most fish in the garbage loses 10 points at the end of the game. There are some wishes that will let you pull your fish out of (or put your opponents fish into) the garbage so you can affect this later.

Unfortunately, Bernie and I played a two-player game. Like many games, it seemed fiddly at first but once we got the hang of it, we were fine and churned through quickly (it says it plays in 40 mins). Although I think the game is fine, I don't think it is suited to head-to-head play. The markets filled slowly since we could often make a lot more money with worm bonuses and other choices. I think it will shine with four, although you will have less chance of the fish you want being there by the time your turn comes around. All in all, a nice game that I will play again. I could see Puerto Rico, Mall World, Parts Unknown - sheesh - a lot of games in this one. But that's okay, it worked well.

After that, Jay taught me Notre Dame and since this one has been described extensively online, I will make my comments brief. This is another victory point builder with multiple angles you can use. It has parts of Fairy Tale, El Grande, Industrial Waste, Thurn and Taxis, Castle Merchants - egad! But, you know what? I thought it was delighftul. I'm sure much of the muted praise coming out about it is the fact that the influences are so visible. But tossed in with an intriguing board makeup, nice bits, and quick gameplay, this game is quite enjoyable! Jay has brought a bunch of pre-release copies to the convention to sell and if I hadn't already pre-ordered it, I'd already own it. As it is, I'm just going to get in some additional games of it this weekend on the two copies available in the Rio Grande Tournament.

Okay, I'm off to run the Escalation! tournament so I'll sign off until this evening.

Despite being "Punched", I managed to win Klunker handily (which is a game that seems like Bohnanza's Martian cousin - not surprising since it is the same designer). You get gem cards and have to place some out for sale (the ones you don't need for a set), some into your safe (which you do want for your sets) and then there is a buying round when you can grab up your opponent's wares. Money is rewarded for sets of four in your safe, but you get more if the sets match. Necklace cards are bonuses, making it easier to get full value for your sets - but in our game, nearly all the necklaces were at the end. Final scores: Lisa 12, Bernie 14, Chad 17, and Eric 22. A fun, but unmemorable game.

I was in fourth out of five in the wonderful press-your-luck game Diamant. Simply, over five caverns of play, each player must decide how long to stick it out and try to get a share of the gems that come up on most cards while avoiding one of five disaster card types. If two cards from the same disaster show up, everyone left in the cavern loses - you all face the cards together and split the gems that come up. But, if you manage to get out before (you get a chance after each card), you can add your spoils to your ore cart and have them as points for the end of the game. Leaving early can also be profitable sometimes because you get to grab the gems leftover from uneven splits (gem cards range from 1 to 17).

After doing fine throughout the first three rounds, I bailed on cave four with only one disaster out (admittedly, one of the disasters with three remaining cards) because the take for early departure looked too good! Unfortunately, Lisa felt the same way and we split the booty. Then, the remaining three players went on to form the longest cavern route I've ever seen - and they all got out with their gems! They loaded up so heavily (Chad gaining the most) that Lisa and I had no chance but to press our luck fully and we were rewarded with an untimely demise. Final scores: Matt 44, Bernie 43 (so close!), Chad 25, Eric 18, Lisa 12.

Now I'm off to Gamex to enjoy a weekend of great gaming. I'm doing Z-Man demos today, plus running an Escalation tournament at 3pm. Our Math Trade is also happening today at 6pm at Boardgame HQ. If you are in town, please stop by and say hello!

I will be moderating a Q&A session with Jay on Sunday at 1 PM in the Theater so please bring in your questions for the man who broke designer games in the US. If you cannot be at the show, you can also send me questions at: sheylon@gmail.com. If you send one in, I will be sure to attribute your question to you on the podcast.

For more information on the convention, check out: www.strategicon.net. See you there!

Don't forget to join us here in Los Angeles for Gamex 2007 over the Memorial Day Weekend. For more information, check out www.strategicon.net.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Last Grenadier on Ebay   Weekend Warrior on Ebay   Weekend Warrior   Where is The Last Grenadier?   The Black Watch

Plus - the winners of the Ingenious Puzzle contest are announced! No, seriously, it's on there this time...

Show Notes:

Strategicon (Gamex Pre-Reg is open!)

Games mentioned:

Die Saulen der Erde   Blue Moon City   Descent: Journeys Into the Dark

On the Underground   25 Words or Less   Shadows Over Camelot

It wasn't easy - I had to use all of my awesome power as a board game podcaster to muscle secrets out of the game publishing world, including bribing disgruntled developers who keep missing their chance for an on-box credit, wining and dining unscrupulous pawn production companies, pressuring disreputable playtesters, blackmailing the proofreader at Rio Grande and the translator at AdlungSpiele, strong-arming actual board game media types and also just searching the internet to bring you this very special, extra-early look at the best of Essen this year.

So, listen with a pen and paper because you'll want to make your checklist for pre-orders now (and start entering those game entries on BGG because there's geekgold a-plenty to be had...)

Also, listen carefully for the winners of the Ingenious Puzzles contest!

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

The cutoff was officially today but I'll take your entries through tomorrow (3/18) in case you are caught up drinking too much for St. Patrick's Day or the snowstorm is slowing you down. Sorry to hear about that, those of you in the Northeast. As a native and nearly lifelong Southern Californian, for me, a blizzard is something you buy at the Dairy Queen. ;)

I've included another picture here of Reiner and me - this is while I was doing his introduction. Unfortunately, my sister Isabel (a previous guest on Boardgame Babylon) appears to be a pretty bad photographer and so the shot is imperfect. It's annoying because you can't see my lovely Boardgame Babylon t-shirt. Well, at least Reiner looks happy!

As for the upcoming shows, I have a few already recorded and I'm doing another one in the next day or so - meaning that Boardgame Babylon will have a reasonably regular release schedule for a while. Upcoming volumes include:

*  Self-publishing and design talk with Bo Radakovich - the designer and publisher of the game High School Drama - and jim pinto (yes, he likes the lower case), an art director and game designer in his own right.

*  Rectangular Table Discussion: Orccon wrap-up show, including notes about my day out sightseeing with Reiner Knizia, with guests Chad Smith, Matt Grimaldi and Mason Rourman.

* The Demise and Rise of the FLGS, Part 4 - The almost-award-winning series is back in the form of a quick interview with one of the longest-tenured and most well-respected game store owners in Los Angeles, Rocky Johnston, the owner of The Last Grenadier in Burbank, California. This is a store much-loved by locals and followed through many changes in location and it is a pleasure to add a real veteran's perspective to the series.

I haven't numbered these yet because the ordering (along with one other special show) hasn't been worked out yet. But they should all be hitting the podosphere soon.

But not today - I'm heading out to a St. Patrick's Game Day with the Orange County Boardgamers, who've asked us all to bring green games. I'll be bringing my gorgeous new green accented Eagle tournament-quality Crokinole board, a Friedmann Friese game, and Money!

Here's wishing you all a Happy St. Patrick's Day - one of my favorite Irish blessings is:

"May you always have courage to take a chance and never find frogs in your underpants."

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Since that recording is shorter, I've added a session review of my buddy Mason Rourman and me talking about three recent and upcoming Knizia games we enjoyed recently. All three were popular at the Kniziathon event at Orccon 2007 and we've enjoyed them as light additions to Knizia's ludography.

Escalation: The Suburban Wars (Z-Man Games)
Mmm...Brains! (Twilight Creations)
Dragon Parade (Z-Man Games)

Two more shows are still to come from the Orccon experience and I even have another Demise and Rise show coming. Wow - regular releases of Boardgame Babylon? Don't get used to it...;)

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

1. Dreamery

2. Cowboys, Pirates, Supermen (the BGB theme music!)

3. (1-2-3)

4. The Day The Earth Changed (BGB outro music!)

You can order a CD for only $7.00 and if you order a CD, you can add an oval sticker for $.50 or bumper sticker for only $1.00. All the money goes to the lovely ladies of Cucoloris and I pay your shipping! (if you just want a sticker, add a buck to the order) I don't make any money on this - I just want to support the band so they will make more beautiful music.

While you are at it, please consider supporting Boardgamenews.com. There is a great contest this month for cool prizes if you are a member and frankly, you know this excellent source for board game information is on your regular read list, so why not support them? Do the hobby a favor and help keep the great house that Rick Thornquist built and Eric Martin is keeping up the faith on alive for all of us to enjoy. Go to www.boardgamenews.com and click "Subscribe". I just did so myself (after realizing recently that I hadn't done it last year as I thought I had...) Hypocrite no more!

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon (even when we try to get you to pay other people for the great work they do).

Thanks for downloading and listening (and, apparently, voting for) Boardgame Babylon.

Anyway, this is the man himself, Dr. Reiner Knizia, in the Question and Answer session he held at Orccon 2007, the President's Day Weekend show of Southern California's Strategicon game conventions. Reiner talks about his process, some exciting upcoming events and products and shows the wonderful good humor we've all heard about.

There is also a contest to win a very cool little item Reiner gave me to hand out to a couple of Boardgame Babylon listeners and also some exciting news about Gamex 2007 and a special guest that will grace us with his presence here in Los Angeles over the Memorial Day weekend.

There are also details about ordering a Cucoloris CD, which you can now get directly from me. The lovely ladies of Cucoloris sent me CDs and stickers to sell at Orccon 2007...and then I forgot them at home for most of the convention. Help me save face and order a Cucoloris CD now! Drop me an e-mail if you are interested in supporting this wonderful band responsible for the coolest music in board game podcasting.

NEXT UP: Another Knizia show with Reiner explaining the new Ingenious Puzzles and some talk about three new Knizia games that were popular at the Kniziathon: Dragon Parade and Escalation from Z-Man Games, plus Mmm...Brains from Twilight Creations (yes, Reiner did a zombie game!)

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games mentioned:

Mmm...Brains   King of the Beasts   Amun-Re
Ra   Taj Mahal