The Hobbit: There and Back Again

Yes, it’s Tapple! The toy sensation that’s sweeping the nation! Only $14.95 at participating stores! Get one today! Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly, and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to Tapple. Caution: Tapple may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds. Tapple contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at. If Tapple begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head. Ingredients of Tapple include an unknown glowing green substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space. Do not taunt Tapple. -Saturday Night Live 0216 AYURIS: Leviathan Wilds (Justin Kemppainen, Moon Crab Games, 2024) Games Played Last Week: 04:01 -Tapple Mini (NPD Toys, The Op Games, 2025) 07:53 -Faiyum (Friedemann Friese, 2F-Spiele, 2020) 13:30 -Ayar: Children of the Sun (Mandela Fernandez-Grandon & Fabio Lopiano, Osprey Games, 2025) 16:10 -Wriggle Roulette (Bruno Faidutti & Jun Sasaki, Oink Games, 2025) 19:52 -Pick 'n Packers (Kaoru Arishima, Oink Games, 2025) 23:07 -Galactic Renaissance: 5th Player (Christian Martinez, Matagot, 2024) 27:49 -The Crew: Mission Deep Sea (Thomas Sing, KOSMOS, 2021) 29:27 -No Loose Ends (Taiki Shinzawa, GameHead, 2025) 30:11 -Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon (Fabio Lopiano & Nestore Mangone, Sorry We Are French, 2024) News (and why it doesn't matter): 33:45 Earth Reborn return news: West Coast expansion with Play to Z 36:19 Topic: Omnibus Questions Epsilon Bet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before Dr. Reiner Knizia invented areas, everyone and everything was simultaneously co-located and yet distant all at the same time. It was primordial chaos. Movement was effectively impossible, as Xeno demonstrated; then Knizia did don his Bow-Tie of Delineation of Time and Space and constrained and liberated us all at once with his invention of areas. Games Played Last Week: 00:53 -Dungeons & Dragons: Builders of Baldur's Gate (Matthew Dunstan, WizKids, 2025) 11:40 -Keyflower (Sebastien Bleasdale & Richard Breese, R&D Games, 2012) 15:36 -I'm Out (Masato Uesugi, CMYK, 2025) 20:01 -No Thanks! (Thorsten Gimmler, CMYK, 2025) 25:18 -My Very First Games: Let's Be Veterinarians (Kristin Mückel, HABA, 2024) 27:30 -The Quest for El Dorado: The Golden Temples (Reiner Knizia, Ravensburger, 2019) 31:55 -Peloponnes (Bernd Eisenstein, Irongames, 2009) News (and why it doesn't matter): 37:48 Renegade reprint of Lords of Waterdeep (with expansion) 39:29 Renegade G.I. Joe Heroscape 43:06 Render unto us your questions! Ask us anything for Omnibus Questions 43:26 Feature Game: The Hobbit: There and Back Again (Reiner Knizia, Office Dog, 2025) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While Mark is perhaps disappointed at the typical tragic dearth of questions related to Macross and Terry Bogard, and Walker secretly yearns to be granted naming rights to a listener's offspring (protip: don't let him), SVWAG answers all* of your questions! *by which we mean some. 01:21 AYURIS: Cascadero (Reiner Knizia, Bitewing Games, 2024) Games Played Last Week: 03:09 -Cerebria: The Inside World (Richard Amann, Viktor Peter, István Pócsi, Frigyes Schőberl, Nick Shaw, & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2018) 09:41 -Captain's Gambit: Kings of Infinite Space (AC Atienza, Alvin Lee, and Mitchell Loewen, Cloudfall Interactive Studios, 2020) 14:27 -Iliad (Reiner Knizia, Bitewing Games, 2025) 19:37 -Floral (James Newman, Edition Spielwiese, 2024) 21:59 -Yomi 2: Road to Morningstar (David Sirlin, Sirlin Games, 2025) 28:58 -Tribune (Karl-Heinz Schmiel, Spielworxx, 2021) 31:46 -Windmill Valley: Blooming Sails (Dani Garcia, Board&Dice, 2025) 35:39 -Ada's Dream (Toni López, Ally Cat Games, 2025) 40:02 -D.E.I.: Divide et Impera (Tommaso Battista, Ludus Magnus Studio, 2022) 42:45 -Molly House (Jo Kelly & Cole Wehrle, Wehrlegig Games, 2025) News (and why it doesn't matter): 50:59 How much The Gang is too much The Gang? 7-10 player expansion 52:27 The Judge in Circuit by Francis Tresham 53:48 Topic: Omnibus Questions Epsilon Aleph Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In our effort to answer all of your Omnibus Questions, sadly we cannot enlist the assistance of notable Canadian Keanu Reeves. In an interview with Stephen Colbert--as a joke after Keanu said something profound--he was asked, "What do you think happens when we die, Keanu Reeves?" After a pause, and the audience's laughter, Keanu said, "I know that that the ones who love us will miss us." I SAY DAYUM, KEANU Games Played Last Week: 01:07 -Dogs of War Second Edition (Paolo Mori, Play to Z, 2026) 11:30 -Ostia (Totsuca Chuo, uchibacoya, 2022) 21:14 -SCOUT (Kei Kajino, Oink Games, 2019) 23:12 -Valheim: The Board Game (Ole Steiness, MOOD Publishing, 2025) 30:18 -Lunar Skyline (Charlie McCarron, Dead Alive Games, 2025) 38:57 -Thebai (Dávid Turczi, Bioard&Dice, 2025) 45:58 -Wilmot's Warehouse (Ricky Haggett, Richard Hogg, and David King, CMYK, 2024) 49:04 -Fairy Tale (Satoshi Nakamura, What's Your Game?, 2008) News (and why it doesn't matter): 53:37 Render unto us your questions! Ask us anything for Omnibus Questions 54:10 Tigris & Euphrates to be reprinted by 25th Century games, art by Ian O'Toole 55:57 Mage Knight: Apocalypse Dragon expansion; cards will not match, changed font 1:00:08 Will Riftbound be generally available? 1:00:57 Please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/svwag 1:01:51 Feature Game: Wonderland's War (Tim Eisner, Ben Eisner, and Ian Moss, Druid City Games, 2022) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We deliver this episode despite the officially mandated period of public mourning due to Toronto's setbacks in basesball. In Canada, public mourning is characterized by donning black jean jackets and swapping our Tragically Hip for the more down-tempo Blue Rodeo, to say nothing of abstaining from boardgaming. Please don't turn us in for violating federal law. We might get banned from Tim Horton's. 01:44 AYURIS: An Age Contrived (Chris Matthew, Bellows Intent, 2024) Games Played Last Week: 04:56 -X-ODUS: Rise of the Corruption (Second Edition) (Francisco Velasco E., Szilágyi L. Gábor, Yann Hilaire, Romain Lesiuk, & Bernardo Rippe, Bored Game Ink, 2026) 14:29 -Voidfall (Nigel Buckle & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2023) 20:42 -Raising Robots: Friends (Brett Sobol & Seth Van Orden, Nauvoo Games, 2025) 24:03 -1490 Doom (Barrett Stanley, Buer Games, 2025) 30:23 -Natera: New Beginning (Eric Fugere & Hugo Tremblay-Ledoux, Horizon Games, 2025) 34:35 -Deck EXPRESS: Southern Railway (J Simmons, Pigeonhole Games, 2022) 38:07 -No Thanks! (Thorsten Gimmler, CMYK, 2025) 44:08 -I'm Out (Masato Uesugi, CMYK, 2025) 47:42 -Floral (James Newman, Edition Spielwiese, 2024) 52:56 -INK (Kasper Lapp, Final Score Games, 2025) News (and why it doesn't matter): 57:13 Render unto us your questions! Ask us anything for Omnibus Questions 58:08 Blue Orange Games' Got Five! 58:44 Topic: Listener Hot Takes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"'Frederick Chopin was a Polish composer in the Romantic style who wrote primarily for the piano.' I guess this is sort of interesting, as most facts are. But history has shown us that *facts are not what most humans believe.* They are not that which motivates most men and women to love to or to crime. Now COMPARE this statement: 'Frederick Chopin was a Polish composer in the Romantic style who was obsessed with ladybugs, often letting dozens of them gallop over his neck, arms, and long, tapering fingers while playing the piano.' Obviously the lie is so much more compelling. It also explains how Chopin finally got rid of his aphid problem." -John Hodgman, "The Areas of My Expertise" Games Played Last Week: 01:28 -Phoenix New Horizon (Jorge J. Barroso, Devir, 2024) 11:35 -Sweet Lands (Totsuca Chuo, uchibacoya, 2025) 23:42 -Voidfall (Nigel Buckle & Dávid Turczi, Mindclash Games, 2023) 29:35 -KINGs: TRICKTAKERs (Hiroken, Joyple Games, 2023) 32:58 -Yokai Septet (Muneyuki Yokouchi, Ninja Star Games, 2018) 36:56 -Origin Story (Jamey Stegmaier & Pete Wissinger, Stonemaier Games, 2025) 45:03 -Keep the Heroes Out!: Boss Battles (Luís Brueh, Brueh Games, 2024) 48:26 -Things in Rings (Peter C. Hayward, Allplay, 2024) News (and why it doesn't matter): 54:26 Burned available on Gamecrafter's Crowdsale 54:49 Legacy of Mars' audacious release plan: 4 plays in base game 56:17 Did you observe Arkhipov Day on Oct. 27th? Celebrate Vasili Arkhipov and his having saved the human race! 56:56 Feature Game: Luthier (Dave Beck & Abe Burson, Paverson Games, 2025) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As ever, we do not acknowledge one of the most pernicious false dichotomies in the rulebook space; whether rules should be strictly permissive (you can only do what the rules say you can) or strictly restrictive (you can do anything unless the rules say otherwise). I have never seen a rulebook forbid me from choking an opponent, nor have I see a rulebook give me permission to breathe. I will thus reject both models as being rather too simplistic. 01:28 AYURIS: Galactic Renaissance (Christian Martinez, Matagot, 2024) Games Played Last Week: 05:09 -The Guest (Arkaitz Caride, Devir, 2025) 10:48 -Cosmic Encounter (Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge, Bill Norton, Peter Olotka, and Kevin Wilson, Fantasy Flight, 2008) 16:04 -Firefighters on Duty (Konstantinos Kokkinis & Sotirios Tsantilas, Artipia Games, 2025) 22:10 -Deck of Spies (James Newman, Web published, 2021) 24:43 -Fishing (Friedemann Friese, 2F-Spiele, 2024) 29:27 -KINGs: TRICKTAKERs (Hiroken, Joyple Games, 2023) 36:11 -Gaslands: Refuelled (Mike Hutchinson, Osprey Publishing, 2019) 40:08 -Cockroach Poker (Jacques Zeimet, Drei Magier Spiele, 2004) News (and why it doesn't matter): 43:45 Burned available on Gamecrafter's Crowdsale 44:42 Claustrophobia 3rd edition, 1692, by Devir 46:33 Mystic Curling by Asmadi Games on Kickstarter 46:50 Amigo US is no more; No Thanks joining CMYK's Magenta line along with I'm Out 47:46 Voidfall expansion: Resurgence 48:27 Sidereal Confluence expansion: Proliferation 49:11 Winnie the Pooh: Serious Detective 49:39 Arkhipov Day: Oct. 27th. Celebrate Vasili Arkhipov and his having saved the human race! 50:29 Topic: Rulebooks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"Wiarton Willie is the name given to a Canadian groundhog who lives in the community of Wiarton in Bruce County, Ontario. Every February 2, on Groundhog Day, Willie takes part in the local Wiarton Willie Festival. His role is to predict whether there will be an early spring. Although the original Wiarton Willie died in 1999, the Wiarton Groundhog Day celebrations continue each year with a successor of the original Willie (except in 1999 and 2021 where, due to the previous Willies' deaths, no groundhog was used), and each successor is also referred to as Wiarton Willie. Groundhog Day, featuring Wiarton Willie, is a popular annual festival in Wiarton and is similar to events in other locations in North America. A midwinter celebration involving an animal with predictive powers was an element of Celtic culture. The link between weather prediction and the day is said to have been inspired by an old Scottish couplet: "If Candlemas Day is bright and clear/ There'll be two winters in the year."" -Wikipedia Games Played Last Week: 01:40 -Etherstone (Virginio Gigli & Simone Luciani, ThunderGryph Games, 2025) 12:38 -Dogs of War Second Edition (Paolo Mori, Play to Z, 2026) 26:39 -Vantage (Jamey Stegmaier, Stonemaier Games, 2025) 34:06 -Monikers (Alex Hague & Justin Vickers, CMYK, 2015) 41:06 -My Very First Games: Let's Be Veterinarians (Kristin Mückel, HABA, 2024) 42:55 -Riff Raff (Christoph Cantzler, Zoch Verlag, 2012) News (and why it doesn't matter): 46:30 Kristian Amundsen Østby and Kjetil Svendsen take tricks with Tax the Rich 47:10 Elder Scrolls expansion, Heroes of Tamriel, on Gamefound 48:00 Berserk on Gamefound 50:54 Battlecrest: Overlord on Kickstarter 51:36 Feature Game: Samurai (Reiner Knizia, Hans im Glück, 1998) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rest assured that every topic we address here at SVWAG will be utterly comprehensive and final, unless and until we decide to address it again. Thus, when we discuss tile-laying games, we perforce will cover all of them, each and and every one, and failure to specifically mention any title means it does not exist and must be scrubbed from all records as a revisionist lie. 01:41 AYURIS: Kutná Hora: The City of Silver (Ondřej Bystroň, Petr Čáslava, and Pavel Jarosch, Czech Games Edition, 2023) Games Played Last Week: 04:55 -Caper: Europe (Unai Rubio, Keymaster Games, 2022) 07:55 -Framework (Uwe Rosenberg, Edition Spielwiese, 2022) 12:38 -INK (Kasper Lapp, Final Score Games, 2025) 16:59 -Bombastic (Robert Hovakimyan, Bitewing Games, 2025) 18:56 -No Loose Ends (Taiki Shinzawa, GameHead, 2025) 26:48 -Marabunta (Reiner Knizia, Space Cowboys, 2023) 30:03 -Saltfjord (Kristian Amundsen Østby & Eilif Svensson, Aporta Games, 2024) 32:01 -Titans Tactics (G. Kelly Toyama, Imbalanced Games, 2013) 35:39 -Guildlands (Ken Boyter & Kedric Winks, Outset Media, 2025) 43:36 -Ascending Empires: Zenith Edition (Ian Cooper, Play to Z, 2024) News (and why it doesn't matter): 46:27 Please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/svwag 48:09 Fat Bear Week concludes: Chunk is victorious 49:39 Don't Starve: The Board Game 50:38 Arkhipov Day! In recognition of Vasily Arkhipov saving the entire world on October 27, 1962, we celebrate Arkhipov Day on October 27th. 51:43 Uprising: Curse of the Last Emperor Big Box and True Solo Mode on Kickstarter 52:45 Decipher the Voynich Manuscript in The Voynich Puzzle 55:25 Topic: Tile-Laying Games Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"A quipu usually consists of cotton or camelid fiber cords, and contains categorized information based on dimensions like color, order and number. The Inca, in particular, used knots tied in a decimal positional system to store numbers and other values in quipu cords. Depending on its use and the amount of information it stored, a given quipu may have anywhere from a few to several thousand cords. [...] Inca administration used quipus extensively for a variety of uses: monitoring tax obligations, collecting census records, keeping calendrical information, military organization, and potentially for recording simple and stereotyped historical "annales"." -Wikipedia SVWAG's Pickaxe stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t8XLnJha-E Games Played Last Week: 00:55 -Marvel Dice Throne Missions (Gavan Brown & Nate Chatellier, Roxley, 2025) 05:03 -It's a Wonderful World (Frédéric Guérard, La Boîte de Jeu, 2019) 09:03 -The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game (Bryan Bormueller, Office Dog, 2025) 12:03 -Corporate America (Teale Fristoe, Nothing Sacred Games, 2013) 15:23 -Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders (Tim Eisner and Ben Eisner, Druid City Games, 2024) 18:03 -Captain's Gambit: Kings of Infinite Space (AC Atienza, Alvin Lee, and Mitchell Loewen, Cloudfall Interactive Studios, 2020) 23:51 -Lacuna (Mark Gerrits, CMYK, 2023) 27:12 -Stellar Conflict (James Ernest & Tom Jolly, Artipia Games, 2015) 29:48 -Figment (Wolfgang Warsch, CMYK, 2025) 31:53 -Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Leicester (Changhyun Baek, Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, Stefano Luperto, and Antonio Tinto, DiceTree Games, 2023) News (and why it doesn't matter): 35:43 Reprint of At the Gates of Loyang 36:09 Fat Bear week comes to its climax! https://explore.org/fat-bear-week 37:19 The Hobbit: There and Back Again roll-and-write by Reiner Knizia 37:42 Dogs of War reprint: controversy over hats 38:38 Wandering Galaxy: A Crossroads Game 39:50 Cross-Bronx Expressway by Non-Breaking Space and GMT Games 41:26 Cranio expansion pack on crowdfunding Oct. 1st: Barrage, Rats of Wistar, Golem 42:09 Feature Game: Ayar: Children of the Sun (Mandela Fernandez-Grandon & Fabio Lopiano, Osprey Games, 2025) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices