At The Table with The Dice Tower - Best and Wurst of Essen 2024

This time, Tom looks forward to the CMON Expo, while Eric and Julie talk about their plans for PAX Unplugged. We discuss best practices for publishers when they know an expansion is coming. We share a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and close the show with a Spooky set of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:58 - Announcements: Dice Tower West, PAX Unplugged 02:55 - Tom at CMON Expo 03:52 - Planning for Expansions 32:00 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 40:28 - Flashback: Lucy 44:08 - Ghosts Can't Draw 48:26 - Cat Horror Costumes 53:27 - Vampire Nights 58:06 - The Thing 1:02:58 - 8-Legged Peacock

Tom and Julie are back from Germany with stories to tell. We talk about the crowds, events, snacks, and games of Spiel before shuffling through a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror. And we close the show with some of our latest Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 01:02 - Back-to-Back WSBG and Spiel 06:10 - Crowds at Spiel 11:23 - Tom and Julie Together (Briefly) 13:33 - New Management Changes 17:28 - First Look Area 21:34 - Games at the Fair 25:24 - Dice and Mystics Meetup 27:07 - Punching Games 27:34 - Hottest Designer and Hot Games 28:47 - Small Games 30:09 - Accessories and Art 31:20 - Snack Draft and Food 33:27 - Joy in Interaction 34:54 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 38:03 - 1 A.M. Jailbreak 41:29 - Aerodome: Rising Horizons 45:39 - Ito 51:14 - Conservas 55:32 - Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth 58:55 - Betakkuma's Fart & Furious

It's our Essen Preview show for 2024! This time, we look at the various games we're most excited to check out at Spiel in Essen. And when we're done with that, we dash through our Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:49 - Asking to Bring Something Back 02:16 - Tabletop Together and BGG's Preview List 03:16 - Priorities 08:58 - Where Will We Be? 12:09 - 7 Empires 12:50 - 365 Adventures 14:01 - Ada's Library 14:50 - Apiary: Expanding the Hive 15:26 - Backstories: Alone Under the Ice 16:23 - Bone Wars 18:16 - Cat Horror Costume 19:11 - Chants for the Old Ones 20:00 - Civolution 21:03 - Conservas 22:32 - Dead Cells 23:38 - Flatiron 25:22 - Galileo Galilei 26:20 - Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth 27:26 - Minos 28:04 - Paella Park 29:58 - Power Grid: Outpost 31:19 - SETI 32:52 - Similo: Jurrassic World, 10th Anniversary, and Games Decks 34:18 - Temple of Horrors 35:50 - Unconscious Mind 37:00 - Vampire Nights 38:01 - Witchcraft: Midnights Expansion 39:19 - Dice Tower Essentials: Floresta, Vegetable Stock, Video Game Champion, Ito 41:58 - Food in Essen 45:25 - Pixies 47:56 - Robo Rally Transformers 51:01 - Mind MGMT 55:37 - Cat and the Tower 59:22 - Dadada 1:01:51 - Stickers -- Tabletop Together: tabletoptogether.com/tool/ BGG's Essen Preview: boardgamegeek.com/geekpreview/68/spiel-essen-24-preview

This time, Tom, Julie, and Eric tackle the world of print boardgame journalism by listing their favorite gaming magazines, past and present. Our new Tale of Horror only tells half of the story, and we close the show with some Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 01:10 - Announcements: World Series of Boardgaming and Spiel 02:39 - What Was Our First Podcast? 04:39 - Boardgame Magazines: Still a Thing? 06:24 - Is Print Superior? 09:53 - Early Titles: Wargaming, White Dwarf, The General 12:35 - GAMES Magazine 13:04 - Spielbox 13:26 - Game Trade Magazine 16:25 - Knucklebones 17:10 - Promos in Magazines 19:49 - Trade Magazines 20:12 - Casual Game Insider 21:30 - Trades and "Review Ads" 25:32 - Sumo and Counter 26:32 - Senet 28:09 - Snowbright Studios 30:02 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 34:57 - Milkman 40:39 - Wondrous Creatures 43:26 - Parsely: Dangertown Beatdown 47:52 - Xylotar 51:00 - You Gotta Be Kitten Me! 54:32 - Coyote --- BGG's Magazine Wiki: boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Game_Magazines

Tom and Eric learn that they've known Julie longer than they remember. Then, we discuss the ways local game stores recoup the cost of the play space they provide. We delve into a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and we close the show with our latest Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:44 - Announcements: Dice Tower West 03:06 - Tom, Julie, and Eric's First Meeting 03:56 - Table Space at Your Local Store 27:06 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 36:20 - King of Tokyo Duel 40:07 - Spotlight 43:34 - Vampire Village 47:20 - Lure 49:05 - HiFi 51:41 - Gardlings

Tom, Julie, and Eric remember their various Gen Con adventures, as well as looking back at some recent Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 01:00 - Announcements: Dice Tower West, Dice Tower District 02:43 - Gen Con - Keeping Your Voice vs. Getting Sick 04:04 - Gen Con - Attendence and Crowds 06:34 - Gen Con - Sprawling Events 09:58 - Gen Con - Games at the Zoo? 12:05 - Gen Con - Small Vendor Hallway 14:42 - Gen Con - Artwork and Plushies and Pins 19:03 - Gen Con - Too Many Things to Do 21:59 - Gen Con - Awards Show 24:58 - Gen Con - Julie's Events 30:32 - Gen Con - Tom's Panel 31:25 - Gen Con - Sell-Out Titles 37:43 - Gen Con - Too Much Tea 39:43 - Gen Con - Impulse Buys 41:31 - Gen Con - The Escape 46:06 - Landmarks 49:16 - Warp and Weft 51:16 - Seaside 53:19 - Blood on the Clocktower 57:26 - Zoomies 1:00:16 - Rock Hard 1977

Tom, Julie, and Eric start looking forward to their next convention adventures now that Gen Con is done (though, since we're recording before Gen Con, we can't discuss anything that happened there just yet). We focus on the joy of playing older games, especially with players who haven't experienced them before. We delve into the Tale of Horror vault, as well as answer a listener question about how to pick what we play, and what to do when we choose poorly. Finally, we close the show with Roses, Thorns, Hula Hoops, and Advice for Eric. 00:48 - News and Announcements - Dice Tower West and Cruise, Dice Tower District 02:50 - Teaching and Playing Older Games 17:45 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 22:33 - Listener Question - How to Pick What to Play 32:56 - Cities 36:20 - Clash of Magic Schools 42:11 - Things in Rings 45:14 - Sand 48:37 - AI Space Puzzle 51:14 - The Mandalorian Adventures 56:26 - Eric's Going to Try Blood on the Clocktower

Tom, Julie, and Eric look back at Dice Tower East, and look forward to Gen Con, including which events they'll be at, and what games they're looking forward to. And, pressed for time, they share a Rose, Thorn, or Hula Hoop that will be available at Gen Con. 00:49 - Who Is Julia Hern? 02:13 - Dice Tower East Recap - Events 10:35 - Dioce Tower East - Library Games 23:19 - Gen Con - Where We'll Be 37:47 - Gen Con - Games to See and/or Buy 38:25 - Rock Hard 1977 40:13 - Horrified: World of Monsters 40:50 - Fromage 41:53 - Cascadia Rolling Hills and Nocturne (Because Foxes) 42:15 - Boop the Halls (Because Boop) 42:42 - Dice Tower Essentials (Aquatica Expansion, Foundations of Metropolis, Comic Hunters) 44:07 - Gateway Island 45:41 - Space Games for Eric: Star Trek: Captain's Chair, Wandering Galaxy, Flickering Stars 48:41 - Hello Kitty Day at the Park 51:41 - Wrath of Fire Mountain 54:00 - Go Cucoo 56:40 - Mistwind --- BGG Gen Con Preview: https://boardgamegeek.com/geekpreview/67/gen-con-2024-preview

Tom, Julie, and Eric discuss the results of the Origins Awards, and share the nominees for The Dice Tower Awards' Game of the Year. Julie tells us about her trip to Origins (and Tom pines for ice cream), and we ponder the dos and don'ts of upgrading your boardgame pieces. Then, we finish the show with our Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:17 - Gen Con Plans (Booth 331) 02:29 - Origins Awards and Dice Tower Nominees 11:46 - Julie at the Origins Game Fair 29:33 - Upgrading Pieces 48:50 - Captain Flip 50:28 - Cities 54:02 - Arraial 58:17 - This Game is Killer 1:00:58 - Pandemic Hot Zone: North America 1:03:18 - The Fog: Escape from Paradise

Tom and Eric congratulate Julie on her successful move, which leads to a discussion on keeping your collection to a reasonable size (so you don't have to move as much). We run through the nominees for the Spiel des Jahres (Germany's Game of the Year awards), answer some questions from the mailbag, and share our recent Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:53 - School Schedules 02:17 - Con Schedules - Gen Con Booth 331 04:46 - Julie's Move: Transport Logistics and Culling Strategy 21:47 - Spiel des Jahres 31:46 - The Dice Tower Awards Show 33:08 - Mailbag: Game unplayed the longest? 38:26 - Mailbag: Unplayed favorites? 42:40 - Ticket to Ride Legacy 47:15 - Fish & Katz 49:20 - Super Kawaii Pets 51:08 - Shobu 54:14 - Windmill Valley 57:06 - Invincible: The Hero-Building Game