The Dice Tower

This time, we discuss the finer points of hosting a game night. From the guest list, to the planned games, to what to do about the food, we attempt to answer what seems like a simple question from the mailbag. Also, we have a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and a healthy dose of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:00 - Introduction 00:49 - It's Vegas Time (Dice Tower West) 01:19 - Tom's Birthday and Personal Talk 03:20 - Game Night 30:15 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 35:40 - Star Wars The Deckbuilding Game: Mandalorian and Empire and Rebels Reinforcements 40:17 - Forbidden Legacy 44:16 - Hercules and the 12 Labors 48:48 - The Pride Pursuit 51:41 - Strange Slot Simulator 56:38 - Tea and Rum Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected] Dice Tower West Registration dicetowerwest.com

Tom takes a brief respite before the end-of-year events hit, and before we discuss "simple" versions of popular games intended for the Mass Market shelves. Then, we answer a bunch of questions from the mailbag before moving on to a new batch of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:00 - Intro 00:55 - Hottest Days of the Year and Dice Tower West 02:06 - Too Many Games? 04:30 - Future Events: Spiel, PAX Unplugged, Internal Conventions 06:57 - "Simple" Versions 28:40 - Question: Theme or Mechanism? 30:00 - Question: What to Play? 34:34 - Question: Airing of Grievances? 38:29 - Question: Latecomers? 42:45 - Pondscape 45:38 - Sandcastles 51:20 - Miniature Adventures: Adventure 1: Goblin Trouble 55:10 - Dino Racer 57:31 - The Crew: Journeys to the Ends of the Earth Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]

We're back from Gen Con with stories to tell! Lots of steps logged, games played, and high fives acquired. What were the big hits of the show, and where were we when the alarms went off? Plus, a completely normal amount of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:00 - Introduction 00:47 - Back from Gen Con 01:19 - Dice Tower West 02:07 - Biggest Gen Con Ever? and Construction 05:21 - What Did Gamers Run For? 08:26 - Artist Alley Has Gotten Crowded 09:00 - Dungeon Crawler Carl 11:34 - Games Played at The Booth: Citadels Duel 13:57 - Open Gaming at JW Marriott 15:48 - Geting Our Steps In 16:38 - Dedicated Publisher Rooms 18:18 - The Dice Tower Awards 19:53 - Loud Parties 21:02 - Light Games, CCGs, and RPGs 23:14 - Non-Game Purchases 26:30 - Paizo's New Boardgames 28:00 - Pins, Ribbons, and Trinkets 31:29 - Memorable Fan Interactions 32:52 - Tornado Warning 38:46 - Uh Oh, Dino 42:33 - Le Chocolat 43:37 - Drillers 46:58 - Panic Lab 50:05 - Invincible Season 2 52:01 - Kronologic Babylon 2500 56:39 - Wrap-Up Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]

This time, we're poised for Gen Con 2026 and making plans. Where will we be? What games do we want? What games do others want? Who is good at thumbs? All will be answered along with a sprinkling of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:48 - Busiest Time of the Year 02:01 - Where Can We Be Found? - Booth 249 04:09 - New at Cephalofair - Buttons and Bugs Expansion 06:07 - Getting Steps In 07:19 - Game Bag Giveaway 07:55 - The Dice Tower Awards 09:11 - The Dwarves of Aquilon 10:23 - Meet the Final Girls - Julie on Friday Morning 10:47 - Eric's Gen Con Releases: Gudnak Means War, Mountain Goats Legacy 11:50 - Julie's Releases: Tales of Myth and Legend, Coloring Book 13:02 - BGG Preview List and the Nature of Thumbs 13:58 - Entropy 14:53 - Jason and the Argonauts 16:01 - Container 16:33 - Enchanted Ivy 17:18 - Mountain Goats Legacy 18:30 - Hercules and the 12 Labors 18:43 - Jibber Jabble 19:25 - High Society and 3 Witches 19:56 - Gruntz 20:12 - Torchlit 20:29 - French Toast 21:37 - Piñatas 22:06 - Kokeshi 23:08 - Book Club 24:28 - Fiction: Banned Books 25:07 - Golden Goal 25:24 - Under the Leaves 26:06 - Movie Night 26:17 - Stonk Market 26:26 - Triangulation 27:04 - Phantom Ink and Wordsy 27:21 - Endangered Australia 27:37 - The Game Makers 28:58 - Night at the Zoo 29:54 - Lairs 30:17 - Drillers and Lost Ruins of Arnak: Surprise Shipment 31:47 - Holliday Hijinks Friday Fright and More 32:12 - Orloj: The Prague Astronomical Clock 32:32 - Cascadia Alpine Lakes 33:02 - Nippon 33:49 - Wingspan Pocket 34:30 - The Old King's Crown 34:37 - Railway Boom 36:00 - Glasgow Train Robbery 36:16 - Tag Team: Arthur's Legacy 37:25 - Three Sisters Harvest Edition 37:53 - Forage 39:12 - SETI: Space Agencies, Forest Shuffle: Smoky Mountains, and Rock Hard 1977: Ear Candy 39:42 - Kingdom Crossing 40:19 - Shackleton Base: Below. Within. Above. and Fliptoons Season 2 40:54 - Moytura 41:01 - Tenby 41:20 - Jisogi: Anime Studio Tycoon 42:02 - Faraway: Under Starry Skies and Castle Combo: Out of the Oubliette 42:10 - Gold Country 42:52 - Mythologies 43:11 - Scythe: Duel of Meloch 44:13 - Friendly Fishing 45:50 - Codenames: Critical Role Adventures 46:25 - Trick to the Future 46:45 - Chris Couch Games: Garden Clubs 47:23 - Crime Scene Tamperer 47:52 - Games Played in the Booth 49:31 - Container (Eric) 53:33 - Cthulhu: Death May Die (Julie) 57:55 - Falling (Tom and Julie) 1:02:17 - Stuff to Watch if You Can't Come to Gen Con Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]

The team is back from Dice Tower East with stories to tell. What games were taught? What events ran well? What did Eric find in the library? Plus, we have a Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and a particularly pointy collection of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:00 - Introduction 00:46 - Games That Could Have Been Played at East 03:08 - Unloading from Dice Tower East 03:43 - Dice Tower East: General Thoughts 04:51 - Looming Gen Con 07:22 - DTE: Crowd Size 09:04 - DTE: The Top 10 10:09 - DTE: Number of Games Played 13:05 - DTE: Changes to the Library 16:55 - DTE: Eric Finds a Playmat 20:31 - DTE: Inflatable Curling 24:14 - DTE: Parsely 25:50 - DTE: Favorite Games Taught - Dwarves of Aquilon 28:29 - DTE: Favorite Games Taught - Cat Between Us 29:49 - DTE: Favorite Games Taught - Mechs vs. Minions 31:10 - DTE: Most Played Games 32:17 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 38:33 - Wispwood 43:30 - Inkwell 48:25 - Crafting the Cosmos 51:50 - Puppy Pile 56:53 - Wingspan Pocket 1:01:21 - Bunny Kingdom Town Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]

Julie recounts her adventures at Origins 2026 before we delve into questions about Authenticity of Theme, Fan Interactions, and Teaching Race for the Galaxy. And of course, we close the show with a healthy dose of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:00 - Intro 00:45 - Middle of the Year 03:59 - Last Minute Dice Tower East 04:32 - Julie at Origins 30:26 - Question: Teaching Race for the Galaxy 33:58 - Question: Taking You Out of The Theme 37:11 - Question: Fan Interactions 43:49 - Shapely 46:59 - Revisiting Mice and Mystics 49:55 - Soothsayers 52:25 - The Friday Fright 55:25 - Flip Voyage 58:18 - Tomatoss Questions? Tale of Horror? Hot Sauce Recipes? [email protected]

Tom tells us about his adventures in The Philippines before we spark some discussion from a Tale of Boardgaming Horror: What do you do when you learn your game design is similar to a game that already exists? Plus, we dive into the bag of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops and pull out some winners. 00:00 - Introduction 00:51 - Senior Slacking Revisited 02:05 - Tom's Journey - Travel Woes 04:07 - All aBOARD EXPO 18:35 - Focusing on Dice Tower East 19:36 - Language Issues 20:19 - Discussion of Horror: Parallel Game Design 35:16 - Grow Sky 38:51 - Deep Sea Divers of Jeju 42:21 - Flamenco 47:15 - Stratego Quick Battle 50:41 - My Book Nook 54:38 - Cloud City Flamenco Ad (Dancing Cats): https://youtu.be/mz7Qh79K8GA?si=JpknJaXuh22wgE5J Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]

Tom is out, so Eric and Julie discuss books that have become games: from public domain classics to the latest multi-million dollar bestseller tie-in. Plus, we approach our latest collection of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:00 - Introduction 00:48 - Where's Tom? 01:38 - Senior Slacking 04:18 - Dice Tower Events: East and Cruise 05:01 - Books Into Boardgames 46:27 - Winter Rabbit 56:08 - Seas of Strife 58:50 - Winnie the Pooh Serious Detective 1:05:34 - Pandemic Rising Tide -- Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]

This time, we take a look at Legacy games, and the ways players modify them in order to be less like a legacy game. But is something lost in the translation? Plus, we have a Tale of Horror, Roses, Thorns, and Hoops, and Tom's still grumpy about Stephen Sondheim. 00:00 - Intro 00:50 - Broadway 01:39 - Maycember 02:30 - Summer Cons: Dice Tower East, Gen Con (Booth #249), Dice Tower Cruise 04:38 - Small Games, Little Joy 05:39 - Legacy Games 30:22 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 35:54 - Terraria 43:03 - The Queen's Dilemma 49:53 - Sanctuary 55:15 - The Case of the Curiously Quiet Theater 58:20 - Wool Street 1:02:31 - Colosseum: The Grand Spectacle Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]

Julie shares more news about her new position, after which we discuss the finer points of Hype. How does one manage excitement about a product when it's not necessarily playable yet? Then, we have both a question from the mailbag and a Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and we close the show with some new Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:00 - Introduction 01:18 - Summer Approaching - Hot Games at Dice Tower East 03:00 - Gamefound Pledge Manager - www.supportdicetower.com 03:55 - Julie's News Continued 06:25 - Hype 28:57 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 34:14 - Question: Card Sizes 37:56 - The Emerald Flame 42:28 - Rollie 46:27 - The Cat Between Us 49:43 - Tag Team 53:08 - "Normal" Human 55:28 - Star Trek Space Hunt Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]