The Spiel

The whole pint. We settle a patch of land on the banks of Plum Creek, reviewing Walnut Grove - a fast, fun mash-up game that includes tile laying, worker placement and a rondel.

Gone fission. We review The Manhattan Project, a game where players race to build an atomic bomb, plus we look back at an influential classic: Advanced Civilization.

So nice, they named it twice. Dave reports back from Toy Fair 2012 with 10 interviews, plus a review of a new family card game, Let's Take A Hike.

What's next? We review Airlines: Europe and Fortuna, two middle weight games that can draw new players deeper into the hobby - games that strike a great balance between strategy and fun in under 90 minutes.

Deck building: the next generation. From galactic conquest to warring gods, we review Core Worlds and Ascension: Storm of Souls, two of the newest titles in the genre.

You're the next contestant. We review two more Easy Play titles: Drachen Wurf and Big Points. Then, join us for the virtual Spiel-a-thon, an audio game show with fabulous prizes.

Board games meet technology. Michaela Magin introduces 3 new titles with electronic elements.

Vintage airplanes, new battles, and a daring escape! Guillermo Soria gives a tour of Air Show, a 2 de Mayo Expansion, and Stalag 17.

So many possibilities with a simple deck of cards. Bernhard Naegele gives a tour of four new titles: Flying Carpet, Cock-a-Doodle-Doo- Bah!, Taureg, and Ladybug and So.

3 new games from 3 great designers. Carol Rapp introduces Rapa Nui (Klaus-Jurgen Wrede) , Helvetia (Matthias Cramer) and Ankh Morpork (Martin Wallace).

Adventure, arks, and nuclear bombs. James Mathe discusses Venture Forth and Kingdom of Solomon and previews The Manhattan Project.

Gods, gold, and sandy beaches. Mortiz Brunnhofer introduces three titles: Pantheon, Stone Age: Style is the Goal, and Hawaii.

Designer Sebastian Bleasdale discusses On the Cards, a game which allows players to mix and match rules from a variety of classic card games.

Keith Blume introduces a full lineup of games from Eagle including 1812: The Invasion of Canada, Dragon Rampage, Mirror Mirror and new editions of Can't Stop and Montage.

Lemon squeezy. Two surveys of games everyone can play. First, the Easy Play game series from Schmidt Spiele with reviews of Burgen Land and Finito. Second, we trace the ancestry of Finnish Lawn Bowling.

From Discworld to the French & Indian War to orangutan filled forests, Martin discusses the development of his most recent designs: Ankh Morpork, A Few Acres of Snow, and Old Men of the Forest.

Rafal introduces Pret-a-Porter, a game about the competitive world of high fashion and New Era, the latest game set in the world of Neuroshima Hex.

Bernd Keller gives a tour of four new games from Amigo: The City, Friesematenten: Die Schattenmanner, Rio d'Oro, and Carre.

From Rhino poop to the streets of ancient Rome, Alfredo Berni gives us a tour of eight games from Zoch including: Das Is Der Wurm Drin, Fuchs und Fertig, Kalimambo, Schnapp's, Wollmilchsau, Tante Trudel'ss Trodel, Avanti, and Aquileia

Janko Franke shows us Noris' first board game using the ToyStick pen to enhance gameplay.