The Spiel

Holding On offers a game experience like no other. It is a drama-driven game that redefines the boundaries of play. We play through the decisions that define Billy's path. And in doing so, we are invited to reflect on our own.

In Egizia, players sail ships carrying workers and stone to build mighty monuments for the Pharaoh. The river offers great rewards and abilities as it flows ever Northward to the sea. And therein lies the challenge!

High above the clouds, you discover an abandoned station from a lost space-faring civilization. There’s just one problem: a deadly storm is coming. To survive you must create a real electrical circuit and launch the last rocket into... the Forbidden Sky!

Flotsam Fight is a card shedding game that plays like an old classic. Put as many treasure cards as you can onto lifeboats. Problem is, each treasure only fits onto certain boats. And as they fill up, you don't want to be stuck with an armful of big loot!

In Coimbra, each player is the head of a family selecting dice to gain influence over important members of society within the city: the clergy, the scholars, the merchants, and the civic leaders.

Ming Dynasty China. The Emperor rules from the Imperial Palace, the Gugong. You are the head of a noble family, bribing palace officials with extravagant gifts, hoping to gain power and influence. Four days separate you from glory or disgrace.

Just One is a cooperative party game. 13 cards stand between everyone playing and perfection. Can you use your powers of imagination and inference to avoid synching up with anyone else at the table?

A flock of little songbirds gather at the feeder to eat. One by one, different birds hop on the perch and carry away their meals, large and small. Can you gather the best collection of bird and seed cards while avoiding greedy squirrels and angry crows?

Petrichor is a game about clouds and weather and how they help things grow. Over the course of the game each player will manipulate cardboard clouds, hoping to fill them with rain drops and direct these drops onto fields to score.

Old pillow cases, burritos filled with pop rocks, nutmeg jail, and Gobblesquatch From Tasmania to Norway and Toronto and across the USA, join our party of misfit nerds for a festive, freewheeling conversation spanning the wide world of geekdom.

Rajas of the Ganges is a beautiful reflection of eastern philosophy. It's a game about balance and karma. Find harmony between two separate scoring tracks to succeed and spend karma wisely to change your fate and reap rewards in the end.

Game designers shape the way we communicate when we play. Games can offer us a new language and new ways to communicate. This panel explores how communication shapes the enjoyment and connections we discover in games.

This panel explores gaming culture through the eyes of game designers and publishers from Israel, Taiwan, and Spain.

Some publishers are moving away from traditional rulebooks. Video tutorals and interactive digital guides offer new ways to learn and play. What responsibilities does a publisher have regarding the rules? What form should a 21st century rulebook take?

The naming game is important but it is not easy. Our panelists wrestle with how to settle on the best title for a game. There are a lot of factors that weigh into this decision and the goal of our discussion is to explore as many as we can.

This panel sits at the intersection between learning and play and fun. We explore the sneaky ways we learn through play. How games promote this type of learning and how to achieve it.

Michael Schacht, Bruno Faidutti, and Martin Wallace have a special perspective on the playful world we live in. They helped create it. Listen and learn from some of the masters of modern game design.

A snapshot look at the state of games from many different perspectives - as members of the media, as players, as designers, as manufacturers.

In Calimala, you hope to spread a network of Italian cloth merchants across medieval Europe. If all goes well you'll take your place on the city council and contribute to cathedrals under construction. Which merchant family will rise above the rest?

Using your fingers like chopsticks, listen close and see if you can stack your wooden maki faster than the other team. Then try it blindfolded! So much Major Fun packed into a simple set of blocks and cards.