In our annual Spiel des Jahres special shows Ben talks to the nominees. This time it's the Kenner Spiel des Jahres with Ben having a chat with Carl de Visser and Jarrat Gray about the game's development and their hopes for the award.
Tom, Julie, and Eric run through the nominees for the German Game of the Year awards before focusing on the episode's main topic: box covers. How does what you put on the front of the box attract a particular audience? We also have a tale of horror? as well as a question from the mailbag, and of course our usual assortment of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.
00:50 - Summer is Here?
03:07 - Spiel des Jahres Nominees - Bomb Busters, Flip 7, Krackel Orakel
10:04 - Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominees - Endeavor: Deep Sea, Faraway, Looot
12:03 - Kinderspiel des Jahres Nominees - Cascadia Junior, Le Clan des Souris, Top die Torte
I've read several different accounts of the battle of Sekigahara, and I swear there's no mention of Kevin Bacon or anyone bleaching their hair. How am I to know if Pony Boy stayed golden?
Games Played Last Week:
01:42 -MicroMacro: Kids--Crazy City Park (Johannes Sich, Edition Spielwiese, 2025)
LoooT, the Spieli des Jahres nominee, made it to the table recently. Now, this is a Viking-themed strategy game where players lead their clan to victory by gathering resources, capturing buildings, and expanding their empire. Just picking and placing a tile will not get you a victory, you have some decisions to make that will have you balancing risk and reward.
Cretaceous Rails is not a doomed theme park like so many built with dinosaurs as the main attractions. This medium-weight euro game combines economic strategy with thematic elements, allowing players to take tourists on safari and construct a thriving dino resort where every piece in the game is a resource to be used. With careful planning and resource management, you should out-maneuver the other park operators and come away with a victory and not be eaten by the T-rex.
Santorini is a beautifully designed abstract strategy game that brings Greek mythology to life and Roxley has taken the new Pantheon Edition up to new hieghts with the components. Gameplay hasn’t changed, players take on the role of gods and heroes, competing to build a majestic island of Santorini without getting trapped by the competition. And now with the coop version added to the mix, Riddle of the Sphinx, this should dust of those old copies and get the game back to the table.
Thanks for listening and appreciate all the support
Join Adrian and Lauren as they get up close and personal, literally, and discuss games they have been playing that deserve a merry mention. Then they join together in a shared sizzle fresh off a play of the 2-player GMT release, A Gest of Robin Hood.
That, plus the regular question of the pod and what has us fired up.
Timestamps:
What we’ve been playing [02:30]
A Gest of Robin Hood [30:48]
Question of the Pod Recap [57:05]
New Question of the Pod [1:00:17]
Fired Up [1:07:25]
New Question of the Pod: What are some of the barriers you’ve had to getting your games played, and what game was it?
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This weeks guest is the designer of Finca and Mietze Katze, Ralph zur Linde. We discuss teaching children, financial independence and the joy of making music...but which games did he choose?
Openers: Mark: Space Empires 4X Jonathan: 2005 Flashback & Quiz Closers: Jonathan: My top games of 2005 Mark: Hosting my own (small) event instead of traveling to a con?
The Wayback Machine is back. One more time, a friend joins me to go back in time to an earlier Spiel des Jahres, looking at the winner but also the other nominees and recommended games. In addition, my guest helps me think about the earlier time itself, and how the games, the hobby, and the community may have changed over the years. This time it's my longtime friend & listener from San Diego, Jonathan Takagi. In fact, he's from a bit north, in Escondido, and Jonathan is another one of the people behind my favorite regional con, EsCon. I'll be going back there in a month! Jonathan decided to pick 2005 because it's twenty years ago...which also happens to be when I started the podcast. Niagara was the game that won the SdJ (one of my earliest disappointments with the jury's selection!), and I replayed it just recently to re-examine my opinion about the game. In fact, it can be played online at BGA, which seems odd for a game that relies on its physicality and "toy factor" as much as it does. Still, the actual strategy in the game remains intact in the format, since the unpredictability of the fork in the river may not be so unpredictable after all. What do you think of Niagara?
We don't just talk about the winner, though. Back in those days, the SdJ jury announced four other "nominated" games that could've won the award, and several more "recommended" games. For me, I think the game I'd want as the winner resides in the nominated list, while Jonathan singles out some standouts from the recommended list. Other titles nominated for the SdJ: Verflixxt! (That's Life), Around the World in 80 Days, Jambo, and Himalaya (Lords of Xidit)
We also talk about two other major German game awards, the Deutscher Spielpreis, and the A La Carte. They are both ranked list. The former is (sort of) for heavier, gamer-games, while the latter is for card games (or "board"games done with cards). The timing of these awards is slightly off from the SdJ, so depending on publication dates a game might show up in one year's list for one award, and the following year for another award. But they're all close, and with some notable overlap for widely-respected games. DSP 1. Louis XIV 2. Niagara 3. Manila 4. Ubongo 5. Himalaya 6. Around the World in 80 Days 7. Shadows Over Camelot 8. Jambo 9. The Scepter of Zavandor 10. Verflixxt! A La Carte 1. Jambo 2. Geschenkt! 3. Wie ich die Welt sehe… 4. Diamant 5. Boomtown 6. Razzia! 7. Team Work 8. Gelb Gewinnt! Near the end of the episode, Jonathan considers what we can now observe in the hobby when we look back on 2005. Was it the start of a transition from "German Games" to the broader notion of "Euros"? Of course we had some French, Italian, British, and even American titles back then, but they're hobby still showed its tremendous roots in German culture and its game publishing. At some point, that changed. Was this around the start of that change? -Mark
First, Shelley and I check out the fun 'draw and draw' in which we explore various maps and swap cards to take our actions:
Rivages by Joachim Thome
then we play cards in one direction, but score in the opposite direction in the Kennerspiel des Jahres-nominated
Faraway by Johannes Goupy and Corentin Lebrat
Thanks as always to our sponsor Bezier Games!
Remember to join our giveaway for Episode 1000 by subscribing to our YouTube channel and commenting on one of our June-released videos (starting on Tuesday).
On this advanced episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are once again settling into the pod-thrones to yap about “some games wot they have played”.
Nova Era challenges players to develop a healthy civilisation, 3 Chapters is a set collection AND trick taking AND drafting game all squished into one box, and Creature Caravan is a gentle ride through a terrifyingly large deck of cards.
There’s lots to like! Three whole games to like, in fact. Board games! Who knew?!
A dazzling place you never knew ... until now that is! We're diving deep on beloved designer Cole Wehrle in another designer spotlight. We dig back into his Roots, and explore the many Arcs that led to his Oath to revolutionize thematic board games. Before our traffic gets infamous, we talk about Toy Battle, Subjective, and Wild Tiled West.
03:43 - Toy Battle 13:51 - Subjective 22:11 - Wild Tiled West 30:43 - Designer Spotlight: Cole Wehrle 34:13 - Pax Porfiriana 40:03 - Root 46:21 - Oath 47:45 - Arcs 50:27 - John Company: Second Edition 56:49 - Molly House
Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they played recently, including Sherlock: The Game is Afoot and EXIT: The Game - Family: 2 Escape Adventures. Then, we're joined by special guests Dracula and Elphaba to talk about Ambie and her family's time at their local convention, KublaCon! Also, it's our 9 year anniversary, so yay!
A masterpiece in relation to a creative work is a creation, such as a painting, book, film, musical composition, or other artistic or intellectual work, that is considered to be an artist’s or creator’s greatest and most outstanding achievement, demonstrating exceptional skill, craftsmanship, originality, and impact. Today the Founders discuss game design Masterpieces and the Master Game Designers that created them.
The father figure of the podcast returns to divide and conquer in the only way he knows how... board game panel show nonsense.
This Game is Broken is a comedy board game panel show with Matthew Jude, Dave Luza, Paula Deming, Nick Murphy and Mike Murphy. We play a lot of nonsense games full of role playing and trivia as well as other fun stuff which can be found at the links below.
It's Becky's turn again and in this episode the team discuss their experiences of board gaming conventions, the different types available and generally what to expect from them if you've never been to them before
FIRST PLAYER: Becky OTHER PLAYERS: JP & Adrian
In this episode you'll learn: - how one of the latest entries in the Maracaibo game series (Pirates of Maracaibo) was a surprise hit by dlp games - that Adrian managed to get a game of classic Blood Bowl Team Manager to the table and tells us all about his experience - how Becky has been getting on with her board gaming apps with BG Stats and Aftergame - about convention types and categories - what our top tips are for preparing for these conventions
LINKS REFERENCED IN THE SHOW Remember at UK Games Expo to get a picture with the Whose Turn Granny Trolley #whoseturngrannytrolley and tag us on our socials
Walker and Mark almost come to blows over Flip 7 this week. Their disagreements over the merits of the product (Game? Experience? Way of Life? Sub "Roll a 6, Win a Cookie" distraction?) have long simmered, but the fundamental schism can no longer be ignored or papered over. They finally have it out.
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