Here is Moritz' April 1st edition about the German gaming scene.

The Fury of Dracula is a deduction/roleplaying game where one player is Dracula attempting to hide and ambush the other players, who form a team. (25:31) This week, Board Games with Scott is an exploration of The Fury of Dracula, a 2006 remake of an 1987 Games Workshop board game (back when they made a

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?

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?

Here is Moritz' new report about the German gaming scene. Today he he has news about the games "Friedrich" and Dragon Riders" and the publisher "Krimi total".

Enhanced Audio - BGG Listing

• #3 in the Ticket to Ride series.
• The most complicated one yet.
• Based on the original game, with several new additions and a new map.
• A good more strategic version of the game, but I think I still prefer the simplicity and gameplay of TTR: Europe. Also, this seems awfully fiddly in the setup! Still, worth giving a try - especially for jaded gamers.
  

The Big Idea is a party/light strategy game about pitching and investing in ideas. (12:12) This week, I’m going to talk about The Big Idea. This is a game by Cheapass Games that starts like a party game with everyone coming up with a Big Idea, then moves into an investing round where you attempt

In Episode 4, Jason and Scott announce their new website(www.point2pointsource.com), respond to some feedback, and discuss options for playing wargames over the internet. They also answer that eternal question: where WAS Scott during that last episode??? Oh, and, as always, a new Gamer Rule.

Episode 9: Battleground: Fantasy Warfare! In this episode, we discuss Battleground: Fantasy Warfare, a card-based wargame from Your Move Games. Your Move Games Gaming Report review of Battleground BGG page of Battleground: Fantasy Warfare “12 Games at the end of the bed: a dozen games for $20 or less in 2005″ BGG page for Star [...]

Okay, here is a format I’ve been promising for a long time – a Rectangular Table Discussion on a topic with three other guests. My guests on this show are my lovely wife Christina, my dear sister Isabel Simrak and my good friend Lisa Mason. They join me for a discussion of gaming from the female perspective and from the point of view of a reasonably serious gamer (Lisa), a seasoned casual gamer (Christina) and a novice new to the hobby (Isabel). I ask them a few pertinent questions (and some completely useless ones) and they spill their guts in the interest of trying to express why this hobby need not be dominated by men.

As you can see from the notes below, we recorded this twice and even the second time, the sound isn’t perfect. I’ll admit I liked a lot of the energy of the original recording just because the questions were fresh and the responses were more immediate. But then, this time, they knew some of the questions so they came up with something good straight away. And we had a lot of fun - I hope you will, too.

Although you can always send me an e-mail at: sheylon@gmail.com, I’m asking for listeners to post comments here on the site so Christina, Isabel and Lisa can see them, too.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon!

Next up: The marathon session review for our 12+ hour St. Patrick’s Day Game Session.

Show Notes:

Games Mentioned:

Werewolf (we have “Lupus in Tabula”)

Apples to Apples

6 Nimmt!

10 Days in the USA (or in Africa, or Asia or Europe…)

Monopoly

Peanut Butter and Jelly Board Game (I’d like to think this is the one Christina mentioned, but it dates only to 1993, which wouldn’t work chronologically – although I’m not allowed to discuss my wife’s age…)

Peanut Butter and Jelly Card Game (this is the one we play with our kids – and that one picture is our family room table…)

The Game of Life

Cribbage

Scrabble

Tripoley

Green Ghost

Slime Monster Game

Backgammon

Crazy Eights

Chinese Checkers

Othello

Risk

Pretty Pretty Princess

Mystery Date

Carcassonne

Die Macher

Sorry!

Trouble

Chutes and Ladders

Wheedle

Pit

Ra

Fearsome Floors

Tsuro

Clans

Money!

TransAmerica

Ticket to Ride

Ticket to Ride: Europe

Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper

Diamant

Kahuna (not mentioned, but Christina later couldn’t believe she didn’t mention how much she loves this one!)

GemBlo

Magic: The Gathering

Scattergories

Settlers of Catan

Pictionary

Palazzo

Jyhad (which they now call “Vampire: The Eternal Struggle”, which was a shame – even though I can understand why…)

Descent: Journeys In The Dark

Flix Mix

Return of the Heroes

Poker

Power Grid

Head-to-Head Poker (which I just bought this weekend for about $3 at K-B Toys, pretty much just as a joke)

War of the Ring

Memoir ‘44

Commands and Colors: Ancients

Battle Cry

Der Untergang von Pompeji

Bang!

Saboteur

Shadows Over Camelot

Money Doesn’t Stink

Puerto Rico

Taj Mahal

Blokus

Ricochet Robot

Razzia!

Pirate's Cove

Edel, Stein, & Reich

Mamma Mia!

Sole Mio!

Reef Encounter

Mousetrap

Ker Plunk!

Delta V

 

Other Links:

Geeks

Sewing

Role-Playing Games

Collectible Card Games

Vampire: The Masquerade

Tom Vasel’s Interview with Ken Koury, Monopoly Champion

Dogs Playing Poker

Neon

More Lovely Poker Decor

Pompeii

The Godfather (and the new video game, which Christina really wants…sheesh!)

Failure to Launch (that movie with Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McConaughey)

Pizza!

Polyps

Buy a “got shrimples?” shirt from the Meeple People

Essen

SoCal Gamesday

Getting Your Husband To Do The Dishes

Cadbury Cream Eggs (send some to Tom Vasel, who covets them like I do)

Irkutsk

Strategicon

My stint as Geek of the Week

At the end, Christina mentions that she’s planning a drive to raise money for Cancer research through the local (to us) City of Hope by introducing new games to other people – see this space for more information. We’re planning that for June on a specific day when we’d like to encourage anyone interested to invite friends to join them to learn about designer games and give a donation for Cancer research. Stay tuned!

Okay, here is a format I've been promising for a long time - a Rectangular Table Discussion on a topic with three other guests. My guests on this show are my lovely wife Christina, my dear sister Isabel Simrak and my good friend Lisa Mason. They join me for a discussion of gaming from the female perspective and from the point of view of a reasonably serious gamer (Lisa), a seasoned casual gamer (Christina) and a novice new to the hobby (Isabel). I ask them a few pertinent questions (and some completely useless ones) and they spill their guts in the interest of trying to express why this hobby need not be dominated by men.

As you can see from the notes below, we recorded this twice and even the second time, the sound isn't perfect. I'll admit I liked a lot of the energy of the original recording just because the questions were fresh and the responses were more immediate. But then, this time, they knew some of the questions so they came up with something good straight away. And we had a lot of fun - I hope you will, too.

Although you can always send me an e-mail at: sheylon@gmail.com, I'm asking for listeners to post comments here on the site so Christina, Isabel and Lisa can see them, too.

Thanks for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon!

Next up: The marathon session review for our 12+ hour St. Patrick's Day Game Session.

Show Notes:

Games Mentioned:

Werewolf (we have "Lupus in Tabula")

Apples to Apples

6 Nimmt!

10 Days in the USA (or in Africa, or Asia or Europe...)

Monopoly

Peanut Butter and Jelly Board Game (I'd like to think this is the one Christina mentioned, but it dates only to 1993, which wouldn't work chronologically - although I'm not allowed to discuss my wife's age...)

Peanut Butter and Jelly Card Game (this is the one we play with our kids - and that one picture is our family room table...)

The Game of Life

Cribbage

Scrabble

Tripoley

Green Ghost

Slime Monster Game

Backgammon

Crazy Eights

Chinese Checkers

Othello

Risk

Pretty Pretty Princess

Mystery Date

Carcassonne

Die Macher

Sorry!

Trouble

Chutes and Ladders

Wheedle

Pit

Ra

Fearsome Floors

Tsuro

Clans

Money!

TransAmerica

Ticket to Ride

Ticket to Ride: Europe

Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper

Diamant

Kahuna (not mentioned, but Christina later couldn't believe she didn't mention how much she loves this one!)

GemBlo

Magic: The Gathering

Scattergories

Settlers of Catan

Pictionary

Palazzo

Jyhad (which they now call "Vampire: The Eternal Struggle", which was a shame - even though I can understand why...)

Descent: Journeys In The Dark

Flix Mix

Return of the Heroes

Poker

Power Grid

Head-to-Head Poker (which I just bought this weekend for about $3 at K-B Toys, pretty much just as a joke)

War of the Ring

Memoir '44

Commands and Colors: Ancients

Battle Cry

Der Untergang von Pompeji

Bang!

Saboteur

Shadows Over Camelot

Money Doesn't Stink

Puerto Rico

Taj Mahal

Blokus

Ricochet Robot

Razzia!

Pirate's Cove

Edel, Stein, & Reich

Mamma Mia!

Sole Mio!

Reef Encounter

Mousetrap

Ker Plunk!

Delta V

 

Other Links:

Geeks

Sewing

Role-Playing Games

Collectible Card Games

Vampire: The Masquerade

Tom Vasel's Interview with Ken Koury, Monopoly Champion

Dogs Playing Poker

Neon

More Lovely Poker Decor

Pompeii

The Godfather (and the new video game, which Christina really wants...sheesh!)

Failure to Launch (that movie with Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McConaughey)

Pizza!

Polyps

Buy a "got shrimples?" shirt from the Meeple People

Essen

SoCal Gamesday

Getting Your Husband To Do The Dishes

Cadbury Cream Eggs (send some to Tom Vasel, who covets them like I do)

Irkutsk

Strategicon

My stint as Geek of the Week

At the end, Christina mentions that she's planning a drive to raise money for Cancer research through the local (to us) City of Hope by introducing new games to other people - see this space for more information. We're planning that for June on a specific day when we'd like to encourage anyone interested to invite friends to join them to learn about designer games and give a donation for Cancer research. Stay tuned!

Here is Moritz' latest report about the German gaming scene.

TTR Europe, Switzerland and Märklin are all different games based on the TTR base game. (31:39) Welcome to Board Games with Scott! This is a weekly show where I take a different board game each week, review it, and lightly review it. This week, I’m looking at three games – all of them variants on

Here is Moritz' spezial edition about the new Andreas Seyfarth game "Thurn und Taxis".

Pizza Box Football is a two player dice-rolling game where players take on the role of a play-calling manager. (15:53) This week on Board Games with Scott, I’m taking a look at Pizza Box Football and its expansion. This game can be played at various levels, based upon the rules that you decide to play

Here is Moritz' latest episode about German gaming.

Enhanced Audio - BGG Listing

• Tichu-lite, sort of.
• A traditional card game like hearts, but with some twists.
• A lot of fun, once you get the hang of it.
• Can try it online for free, against other players or robots!

This is a return to my roots in recording on the road. I taped this show a while ago while driving back from work in Pasadena, California. I think it’s pretty good for a show on the road, although there are some flubs here and there. There is a little traffic noise and I had thought I might throw this one out. But upon listening to it again, I thought it was okay for release (hopefully, others agree) since I am very busy at a trade conference this week and don’t have time to record a new show. It is an older session review that covers more games my wife Christina and I played with our friends Clark and Lisa last month on one of our occasional weeknight game sessions.

This weekend, I’m hoping to record some special shows at a marathon game day we’re having with lots of our friends in attendance. If I can manage it, I may knock out two themed shows with some guests I’ve been trying to get on the show for a while.

Thanks again for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned:

Alexandros

Money! (nominated for the Spiel Des Jahres in 1999)

Pirate’s Cove

TransAmerica

Reef Encounter

Alhambra

Memoir ‘44

Mystery of the Abbey

Other links:

Good list of Essen 2003 Releases

Leo Colovini

Reiner Knizia

Rio Grande Games

Days of Wonder

Meeple People – Buy an “I’d Rather Be Playing Reef Encounter” shirt!

This is a return to my roots in recording on the road. I taped this show a while ago while driving back from work in Pasadena, California. I think it's pretty good for a show on the road, although there are some flubs here and there. There is a little traffic noise and I had thought I might throw this one out. But upon listening to it again, I thought it was okay for release (hopefully, others agree) since I am very busy at a trade conference this week and don't have time to record a new show. It is an older session review that covers more games my wife Christina and I played with our friends Clark and Lisa last month on one of our occasional weeknight game sessions.

This weekend, I'm hoping to record some special shows at a marathon game day we're having with lots of our friends in attendance. If I can manage it, I may knock out two themed shows with some guests I've been trying to get on the show for a while.

Thanks again for downloading and listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned:

Alexandros

Money! (nominated for the Spiel Des Jahres in 1999)

Pirate's Cove

TransAmerica

Reef Encounter

Alhambra

Memoir '44

Mystery of the Abbey

Other links:

Good list of Essen 2003 Releases

Leo Colovini

Reiner Knizia

Rio Grande Games

Days of Wonder

Meeple People - Buy an "I'd Rather Be Playing Reef Encounter" shirt!

Jason and Scott answer and discuss some listener feedback, then discuss what makes a good gateway to wargaming, offer some suggestions of gateway games, and close with a discussion of potential future wargamers. And, of course, a new gamer rule!

Antike is a German empire-building/logistics game that plays in under two hours. (24:14) Greetings! Welcome to Board Games with Scott, a weekly show where I take a board game, explains it, and briefly reviews it. This week, I’m going to look at Antike, which came out at the Essen game fair in 2005. Antike is

Well, here it is – RA: In depth, which finally features another voice – my good friend of many years, Mason Rourman. RA is, of course, Reiner Knizia’s auction masterpiece and probably my favorite game. This is certainly the longest episode of Boardgame Babylon so far and I definitely found that I had some production issues with doing a two-man show. He’s kind of low, I’m kind of high – oi! And, yes, despite agreeing that we should not talk over each other ahead of time, we did it (okay, I did). It was also insanely long.

So, I edited it quite a bit and hopefully it sounds okay. I really would appreciate any feedback since I have a series of guest shows coming up.

Also – check out of the left sidebar for my affiliate link to the wonderful Meeple People online store, which sells all kinds of cool stuff for Euro Gamers including Meeple pillows, license plate frames and shirts (including the dazzling “Invoke Ra” shirt). If you click the link on the left side and buy something, I’ll get some store credit so that’s much appreciated.

Mason also had some queries about Medici (another Knizia auction game we mention on the show) so if you know the game, see his comments below and please answer his questions.

Thanks again for listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned:

Ra

Razzia!

Medici

Modern Art

Traumfabrik

High Society (which is a good game, but I think For Sale is more fun)

Amun-Re

Evo

Vegas Showdown

Beowulf

Merchants of Amsterdam

Power Grid

Empire Builder

Ingenious (which is a great game, despite lacking any kind of theme)

Other links:

Reiner Knizia

Reiner Knizia Interview on Funagain

Uberplay

Amigo

Alea

Rio Grande Games

Meeple People – Buy an “Invoke Ra” shirt!

Beyond Monopoly!

Kim Novak

Well, here it is - RA: In depth, which finally features another voice - my good friend of many years, Mason Rourman. RA is, of course, Reiner Knizia's auction masterpiece and probably my favorite game. This is certainly the longest episode of Boardgame Babylon so far and I definitely found that I had some production issues with doing a two-man show. He's kind of low, I'm kind of high - oi! And, yes, despite agreeing that we should not talk over each other ahead of time, we did it (okay, I did). It was also insanely long.

So, I edited it quite a bit and hopefully it sounds okay. I really would appreciate any feedback since I have a series of guest shows coming up.

Also - check out of the left sidebar for my affiliate link to the wonderful Meeple People online store, which sells all kinds of cool stuff for Euro Gamers including Meeple pillows, license plate frames and shirts (including the dazzling "Invoke Ra" shirt). If you click the link on the left side and buy something, I'll get some store credit so that's much appreciated.

Mason also had some queries about Medici (another Knizia auction game we mention on the show) so if you know the game, see his comments below and please answer his questions.

Thanks again for listening to Boardgame Babylon.

Show Notes

Games Mentioned:

Ra

Razzia!

Medici

Modern Art

Traumfabrik

High Society (which is a good game, but I think For Sale is more fun)

Amun-Re

Evo

Vegas Showdown

Beowulf

Merchants of Amsterdam

Power Grid

Empire Builder

Ingenious (which is a great game, despite lacking any kind of theme)

Other links:

Reiner Knizia

Reiner Knizia Interview on Funagain

Uberplay

Amigo

Alea

Rio Grande Games

Meeple People - Buy an "Invoke Ra" shirt!

Beyond Monopoly!

Kim Novak

Enhanced Audio - BGG Listing

• The second Ticket to Ride game.
• Slightly more complicated than the original game, although it might be OK to teach to the motivated nongamer.
• I really like the addition of ferries and tunnels, and also that the destination tickets have been split into long and short connections.
  

Enhanced Audio - BGG Listing

• Won the Spiel des Jahres 2005!
• A great introductory game, but also good for more experienced gamers.
• Set collection, hand management, and connection with a train theme.

Enhanced audio file - BGG listing

• This is an abstract trading-themed game without any trading! Rather, it's a set-collection, pick-up-and-deliver, economic game.
• It's not a deep game, but it is a nice little filler-type game with some good tactical play.
• Now available for play-by-web, which should increase its popularity.

Here is Moritz' latest episode about German gaming. He talks about the latest list of recommended games by the Hippodice Game Club in Bochum, the new games by Symbiose and other new games published in Europe.

If you haven't seen this, watch it now. All your Magic friends will be talking about it.

Audio Rules - BGG Listing

• Tikal is an "oldie" (1999). We loved it when we first got it: deep game play, beautiful board, lots of fun :)
• Unfortunately, it hardly hits the table any more - partly because it is so prone to analysis paralysis.
• But now, with a play-by-web implementation available, it's baaaaack!

Audio Rules - BGG Summary

• This is a fantastic filler! It is easy to explain, fast and fun to play.
• Now reprinted by Uberplay!

Players could start dreaming of the Top 8 as Saturday's action continued to unfold.

The Top 8 is in sight for many lucky -- and unlucky -- players at Pro Tour-Honolulu.

Saturday continued to see multiple decks move up and down the standings.

Day Two opened with 139 players chasing the title of Pro Tour champion.

Ticket to Ride is a light strategy game great for those new to modern board games. It’s about collecting sets of train cards to travel from city to city with the goal of fulfilling hidden routes. (12:02) This week in Board Games with Scott, I’m looking at Ticket to Ride. If you’ve never done any

Does a life of laying on the beach, drafting all day and hanging out with friends interest you? A group of Pros came to Hawaii a month early and rented a house on the North Shore of Oahu to do all that.

We're on to Round 4, closing in on the halfway point of Day One.

Never at a loss for words, Osyp Lebedowicz is at a loss for losses as he sits at 6-0.

Eight rounds are in the books, and Randy Buehler has the rundown of decks and players that made news on Day One.

Jonathan Becker interviews Nathan Zamora after the player clinched a spot on Day Two.

Randy Buehler is armed with the microphone, and no one is safe. All the talk early in the day is about decklists.

Eight rounds of Standard stands between 410 players and a trip to Day Two.

Episode 8: Runebound! In this episode, we talk about Runebound, and then more Runebound, followed by a Runebound chaser. Enjoy! Runebound at BoardGameGeek Runebound at Fantasy Flight Games Please give us your feedback by either posting here, or by sending us an email at roll2d6@gmail.com. Or, if you’d like to send either Adam or Nate [...]

Kurzportrait und Spieleindruecke ueber "Das Ende des Triumvirats" von Lookout Games

Standard's the format for the start of the 2006 Pro Tour season. Randy Buehler talked to the players during Thursday's luau, angling for the lowdown on what some think could be the best Pro Tour ever.

The Scepter of Zavandor - Rules - BGG Listing

• I finally have my microphone set up! This is the first recording with it, and it sounds pretty good - amazing what a difference it makes! I added a few pictures from BGG, so this is another of those iTunes formatted recordings. On the plus side, I again included chapter headings, so you can fast-forward to any section. This might run a bit too long, unfortunately.
• Zavandor is a really interesting game. It has auctions, an economic system, turn order manipulation (limited, I think), and is a lot of fun to play. I just wish it played faster, although that may just come with repeated playings.
• The game should be coming out in an English version soon, from Z-Man Games.

This session review includes my recent visit to the SoCal Gamesday and the games played there. I've also added on some observations about a game I have played with my wife and another that I played with my parents.

Next show: Another themed show.

Show Notes:

Games mentioned:

GemBlo

Blokus

Travel Blokus

Rumis

Blokus Trigon

Alhambra

Wallenstein

Metro

Streetcar

Tsuro

Hansa

Coloretto

Kardinal und Konig (Web of Power)

Hive

6 Nimmt!

Contract Rummy

500

Geschenkt

Additional links:

SoCal Gamesday

Orange County Board Gamers

Have Games Will Travel

Boardgames To Go

Player X (Sam Johnson's Video Game Podcast)

The Dice Tower

Tom Vasel's Gemblo Review

Lionheart Games (no link, here is how to get there)

Mindware Online (buy Hive cheap)

This session review includes my recent visit to the SoCal Gamesday and the games played there. I've also added on some observations about a game I have played with my wife and another that I played with my parents.

Next show: Another themed show.

Show Notes:

Games mentioned:

GemBlo

Blokus

Travel Blokus

Rumis

Blokus Trigon

Alhambra

Wallenstein

Metro

Streetcar

Tsuro

Hansa

Coloretto

Kardinal und Konig (Web of Power)

Hive

6 Nimmt!

Contract Rummy

500

Geschenkt

Additional links:

SoCal Gamesday

Orange County Board Gamers

Have Games Will Travel

Boardgames To Go

Player X (Sam Johnson's Video Game Podcast)

The Dice Tower

Tom Vasel's Gemblo Review

Lionheart Games (no link, here is how to get there)

Mindware Online (buy Hive cheap)

Here is Moritz' latest episode about the German gaming scene.

In their second Episode, Jason and Scott review Twilight Struggle, welcome a guest review of The Mighty Endeavor by The Dice Tower's Joe Steadman, argue over their rating system (!), and discuss BPA's Winter Activation Meeting and Card Driven Wargames in general. Also features the first News segment, the first Brick and Mortar Spotlight, and some big news about the podcast!