The Spiel

Moritz Brunhofer discusses Carcassonne: South Seas, a fresh look at the beloved tile laying classic. We also talk about Russian Railroads, a game about building the Trans-Siberian lines.

Nuno and Paulo discuss Madeira, a game that follows the history of the island and the Portuguese Empire. We also talk about Spiel Portugal, a group that hosts a convention and selects Portugal's Game of the Year.

Evi and Maria Olga introduce Intrigue City, the first title from Purple Games. It's a worker placement game where players secretly manipulate 6 guilds to become High Counselor.

Wolf Wittenstein discusses Rokoko, a game about competitive dressmaking in the court of King Louis XV and Gluck Auf, a game about sending miners deep into the earth to complete contracts.

Designer Eric Zimmerman and publisher Philippe Nouhra discuss the backstory and development of Quantum, a game of galactic exploration and conquest that uses dice as starships.

Noted designer Martin Wallace discusses his experience using Kickstarter to publish A Study in Emerald, a game based on a Neil Gaiman short story. We also discuss Field of Glory: The Card Game and his latest Discworld game, The Witches.

Mark Rivera discusses the gameplay and the inspiration that gave rise to Luchador! Mexican Wrestling Dice, a fast-rolling, chair-smashing dice game for single bouts or tag team play.

Lenka Holubova introduces us to Tash Kalar, a fantasy battle game where players form patterns of tokens to summon monsters to the arena. We also discuss three expansions to existing titles: Galaxy Trucker, Tzolk'in and Last Will.

Designer Elad Goldsteen discusses City Council, a game of strategic negotiation where players must balance the needs of the city with their own political ambitions.

Game designer Ignacy Trzewiczek talks about his new book and three new titles from Portal: Legacy, Theseus and Voyage of the Beagle.

Dieter Strehl discusses the 190 year history of Piatnik, a company founded on playing cards but now also sells puzzles and board games across Europe. We also talk about their prize winning game, Golden Horn, designed by Leo Colvini.

Tony Boydell talks about Guilds of London, a game still in development, The Daffodil Line, an expansion to the hit train game Snowdonia, and a very special opportunity to work on a game for Ivor the Engine with the series' creator.

Bernd and Uwe, two of the "Three Amigos" at Amigo Games, introduce two fast fun games for all ages: Speed Cups and Flash 10. We also learn who put the beans in Bohnanza and discuss the work involved in developing and editing games.

Narf! We explore Kemet and Eight Minute Empire, two games of conquest which come at the genre from unexpected angles: Kemet through a mystical tech-tree and Eight Minute Empire through time pressure.

Under pressure. We review Forbidden Desert & Myrmes, two games about crisis management. In Forbidden Desert you must reassemble a flying machine before a sandstorm buries the team. In Myrmes, you are the queen of an ant colony trying to survive the winter

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. We review Spyrium (a Steampunk worker placement game) and Black Spy (a Film Noir trick-taking game). Both games create rich strategies and fun with a minimal number of components and rules.

Noted French game designer Bruno Cathala talks about Phantom of the Opera, the latest game to explore the Mr. Jack system of rules. We also discuss playtesting methods, collaboration, and returning to previous design concepts.

Spencer from Cool Mini or Not talks about Season 2 of Zombicide, plus we get a sneak peek at some upcoming games: Wrath of Kings, Rivet Wars, and Kaosball.

Stephen Buonocore stops by to give us the scoop on several new games including Space Cadets: Dice Duel, Time 'n Space, 3 expansions for Revolver, Voluspa and Vampire Empire.

Kevin Cook is the owner of the World's Largest Dice Collection. Each year, Kevin stops by to show us all the new dice he found at GenCon to add to the collection.