Shelley and I get to Japanese building games this week as we delve into mall building in

HYAKKATEN by Takeshi Okusora from NSG Kurieito

then look into the Japanese rendition of building railroads here in the US in

Across The United States by Hisashi Hayashi from OKAZU Brand

Shelley and I spend some time in late 19th Century Brussels, gaining influence with aristocrats, buying art, building buildings, and placing cards in an array in

Bruxelles 1897 by Etienne Espreman from Geek Attitude Games

and then head further back in time to a card-game version of Lorenzo il Magnifico

Masters of Renaissance by Simone Luciani and Nestore Magone from Cranio Creations

Shelley and I get another 'draw and draw' title to the table with

Silver & Gold from Phil Walker-Harding and Pandasaurus Games

then try something more meaty by heading to 19th Century England in time for the World's Fair in

Crystal Palace by Carsten Lauber from Feuerland Spiele and Capstone Games

Shelley and I get a classic game off the shelf with new maps and cool wrinkles that affect play with

Carcassonne Maps by Klaus-Jurgen Wrede from Hans im Gluck

Great Britain

France

Benelux

Iberian Peninsula

Germany

and then delve into the BIG BOX new permutation of Orleans

Orleans Stories by Reiner Stockhausen and dlp Games

Shelley and I celebrate her birthday early with some smaller and shorter games, along with some discussion of games she's been playing with her students in class:

Qwixx on Board by Steffen Benndorf & Reinhard Staupe from NSV

Anubixx by Steffen Benndorf, Florian Ortlepp and Helmut Ortlepp from NSV

Te oder Kaffee by Heike Risthaus and Stefan Risthaus from Ostia Spiele

Glisse Glace by Corentin Lebrat, Ludovic Maublanc and Theo Riviere from Djeco

Tulum by Harmut Kommerell from Djeco

Potomac by Geoffroy Simon from Djeco

Twisty by Faouzi Boughida from Djeco

Chop Chop by Alexandre Droit from Djeco

Shelley and I draw and recreate art this week with two art-focused games:

Pictures by Christian and Daniela Stöhr from PD Verlag

Artbox by Artem Lis from Jet Games Studio and Lavka Games

and THEN spend time hiring artisans and other famously creative people in

La Stanza by Nuno Bizarro Sentieiro and Paulo Soledade from Quined Games

Shelley and I have a great time planting our flowerbeds, collecting gnomes and caterpillars, and placing butterflies in flowers while playing

Papillon by J.B. Howell from Kolossal Games

then get abstract and we place tiles in our own displays and try to race to get rid of our tokens in

Nova Luna by Uwe Rosenberg and Corné van Moorsel from Edition Spielwiese, Pegasus Spiele and Stronghold Games

Shelley and I take on another 'draw and draw' game this week, planning out our

Trails of Tucana by Eilif Svensson and Kristian Amundsen Østby from Aporta Games

then build our rival peninsulas both up AND out, then get in our boats to tour around

Cooper Island by Andreas ode. Odendahl from Capstone Games

Shelley and I talk through a couple of lighter games from Djeco that she can't wait to get into her classroom, as well as a MASSIVE and popular Essen 2019 title.

Chop! Chop! by Alexandre Droit from Djeco

Tulum by Hartmut Kommerell from Djeco

and

Maracaibo by Alexander Pfister from Capstone Games, Super Meeple, Game's Up, dlp Games, and others.

Shelley and I check out two more Essen titles this week, two "C" games that are both beautiful to look at and fun to play:

Coralia by Michael Rieneck from R&R Games

and

Carrossel by Antonio Sousa Lara from MEBO Games

Shelley and I have fun laying tiles in two new titles we checked out.

First up was

6 Castles by Costa and Rola from Pythagoras

and then

Sorcerer City by Scott Caputo from Druid City Games

had us building our regions from round to round.

Shelley and I go abstract this week as we get

Azul: Summer Pavillion by Michael Kiesling from Next Move Games

to the table, followed by a fun filler

Twisty by Faouzi Boughida from Djeco

We then end the episode with a quick final conversation from Essen with Pontus Nilsson, a gamer friend and Instagram reviewer from Sweden.

Shelley and I spend our week in Paris for this episode, heading back to the Belle Epoque for

Paris La Cité de la Lumière by Jose Antonio Abascal Acebo and published by Devir

then we go to post-apocalyptic Paris as humanity rebuilds in

Paris New Eden by Florian Grenier and Ludovic Maublanc and published by Matagot

Shelley and I spend some time with two games from Hungary's A-Games

Grund by Máté Brunner, Sámuel Lackner, Márton Ollári, and Patrik Venczel

and

Portolano by Adam Geri

then I finish up my conversation with BGG's W. Eric Martin

Other games discussed/mentioned:

Wingspan

Zoom in Barcelona

Alubari

Catan

Tribune (new version due from Spielworxx)

10 Days in the USA

China

Hansa

Traders of the Air

Shelley and I spend some time delving into the mancala mechanisms of R&R Games' new title

Humboldt's Great Voyage by Remo Conzadori and Nestore Mangone

and then I begin a conversation with W. Eric Martin about Essen, games played, and thoughts on the industry.

Other Games Discussed:

Die Crew

Maracaibo

Spring on a String

Magic Maze on Mars

Azul Summer Pavillion

The Mind

Deep Blue

Qwirkle

Innovation

Shelley and I have a great time with Snowdonia's brand new cousin

Alubari by Tony Boydell from Studio H

then I sit down for a chat with BGG's own Scott Alden (Aldie) for a discussion of Essen, BGG and the games we love.

Shelley and I have a great time racing around Barcelona taking photos in

Zoom in Barcelona by Núria Casellas, Eloi Pujadas, and Joaquim Vilalta from Cucafera Games

Then Beth Heile, the Geek Up Bits Goddess and fantastic on-camera interviewer joins me on the microphones from Essen for a discussion of coach houses, games, and bits.

Other games mentioned:

Glen More II

Mystery House

Kraftwagen

Thebes

Targi

Quacks of Quedlinberg

Krass Kariert

Shelley and I get MEBO Games' family-style new release

Porto by Orlando Sá

then I sit down at Essen for a quick chat with Ted Alspach of Bezier Games to discuss their current and upcoming releases, as well as something that piqued his interest at the fair.

Games Mentioned:

Silver

Silver Bullet

Suburbia Collector's Edition

Minecraft: Builders and Biomes

Lincoln Damerst of Game Night, the Boardgamegeek Show and other BGG projects joins me on the microphones while we had a break at Essen last week. Lincoln reflects on our 11 years of working the largest board game convention together for BGG, as well as the shows he produces and games he's looking forward to getting to the table that were released at the fair.

Some of the games mentioned:

Yellow and Yangtze

Babylonia

Set & Match

Greenville 1989

Shelley and I have fun building our respective record collections in our games of

Vinyl by Eric Alvarado from Talon Strikes Studios

then compete to dam rivers and generate power for our respective countries in

Barrage by Tommaso Battista and Simone Luciani from Cranio Creations