The Spiel

Say no to lame gifts. Give a game instead. We recommend over 50 games in twelve different categories to fit almost any person or budget. With this great list, you might even make a wish list of your own!

Baby needs a new pair of shoes. We build a casino empire in Vegas Showdown and climb the long ladder from Hemp Chicken to Dragon in the modern card classic Tichu.

Everything's better with Zombies. From a shooting gallery with garlic grenades to our very own zombie baseball team, we shamble our way through Vampire and Zombie Fluxx, two games that include a festival of undeadly delights.

Don't Panic. But get comfortable. Grab a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster from the bar settle in for our take on Twilight Imperium, a game of galactic conquest whose play time could be measured in light years.

Wonder Twin powers, activate! We play Blue Moon City, a board game based on a card game and Caylus Magna Carta, a card game based on a board game, plus we discuss the risks and rewards of changing classic games in reprints.

Y is for Yggdrasil. We load our longboats and set sail in search of adventure on the stormy North seas, playing Fire & Axe and Vikings. Surely, an episode worthy of the sagas!

Cue the Indiana Jones music. We build routes for a very lazy London Passenger in On the Underground and globe trot from Cypress to Taiwan in 10 Days in Asia.

This time it's personal! You've heard the interviews (well most of them!), now hear from us. We give our report on our event, the Spiel-a-thon, panel discussions, Dealer's room hits and misses, and a game book that is not to be missed!

Global geeks, global games. From Israeli brainteasers and Italian game publishers to carved dice from little Polish elves, part one of our convention coverage includes over a dozen interviews.

Click, Click, Boom! Our nerves of steel are put to the test playing Russian Roulette in Kablamo! and bidding for a coal powered empire in Industria.

Wood burning, Richard Borg, and dismembered robots. We take an inside look at Origins International Game Expo.

And the winner is... We play all five games nominated for the Spiel des Jahres (German Game of the Year) and then we try to predict the winner!

Sayonara, squatters. We play Shogun and Landlord, proving that the best evictions often come at the end of a katana (or a tower full of little wooden cubes).

Skullduggery! Sometimes sneaky is better than strong. We fight over carcasses in Scavenger Hunt and pilfer treasure from lost tombs in Incan Gold.

Fire up those branding irons! There's livestock to round up and words to bluff or spell when we play Hacienda and Letterhead.

Turn the tables! We let you call the shots. From The List to The Game Sommelier, every segment in the show comes from listener suggestions and submissions.

The Spiel is one year old! To celebrate, we roll our way through two games with loads of dice: Battleground Fantasy Warfare, and To Court the King.

Business in the front, party in the back. We plot and scheme to elect the Pope in The Prince, spaz out combining cornrows in Wig Out, and nibble our way from plankton to sharks in Chomp.

Driven to abstraction. From archaeology to pachinko in less than two hours, we play Mykerinos and Marvin Marvel's Marvelous Marble Machine, two fast fun abstract strategy games.

I didn't know Gloria was sick. Ancient Rome is crumbling as the Goths swarm down from the north. We play Senators racing to escape the Eternal City in Gloria Mundi, the first collaborative effort from James Ernest and Rio Grande Games.