At The Table With The Dice Tower - Looking Back at 2025

It's time for our look back at the games of 2025. Highs and lows, heavy and light, thorny and rosy and hoopy. 01:20 - Top Tens on Video 01:51 - Year as a Whole 07:49 - Convention/On The Go Game - Hot Streak, Light Speed Arena, Ghost Lift, Ito, 1AM Jailbreak 12:07 - All-Day-to-Play - Regicide Legacy, My Father's Work, Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era 14:48 - Best Theme - Luthier, Flow, Storyfold: Wildwoods 20:06 - Guilty Pleasure - Deep Regrets, Moon Colony Bloodbath 24:38 - Favorite Classic - Race for the Galaxy, At The Gates of Loyang, Sentient, Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, You're Bluffing 27:22 - Stand-Out in Our Favorite Genre - Bohemians, EXIT Advent, Threads of Fate, Rove 32:48 - Hoopiest Hula-Hoop - Spooktacular, Oddland, Zenith 37:05 - Thorniest Thorn - Feel Like a Fool, Lynx, Donald Duck in Happy Camper 41:38 - Rosiest Rose - Vantage, Formaggio, Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread 47:42 - Looking Forward to 2026 - Use Up All Your Sick Days, Vegan Cafe, Sail Legacy, Floe 50:35 - Announcements: Gamefound, Dice Tower Cruise, East, West Next Episode: January 13, 2026 Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]

This time, we continue our discussion of RPGs by suggesting Role Playing Games that share popular boardgaming mechanisms, as well as giving Tom tips for getting a game started. Plus, we have a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and we close the show with some Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:50 - A Story About Mail 02:22 - Eric at PAX Unplugged (inc. Hot Streak) 06:50 - Gift Guides, Dice Tower West and East 08:02 - RPGs for Boardgame Fans (detailed notes below) 37:55 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 43:03 - Formaggio 48:35 - Gnomic Parliament 52:13 - Carnuta 54:49 - Magic Number 11 56:54 - Insurrect10n -- Julie's Notes Where to go to get core book pdfs? DriveThruRPG https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/  Itch.io https://itch.io/  Cooperative play (yes the overwhelming majority of TTRPGs are cooperative) some extra cooperative leaning  Heckin' Good Doggos https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/405426/heckin-good-doggos  Teatime Adventures https://www.snowbrightstudio.com/teatime-adventures  Dice rolling - Also many many many ttrpgs use dice. Here are some examples D20 - D&D/Pathfinder https://www.dndbeyond.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorCdKoS-xSfI4e05Us81YGA4tHt8CmmaOWNN-9VTcnsAfXS5pBS, https://paizo.com/pathfinder  d100 (percentile): Call of Cthulhu https://www.chaosium.com/call-of-cthulhu-rpg/  Symbol-based dice: FFG Star Wars. https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/starwarsrpg/ , Fudge dice: Fate  https://evilhat.com/product/fate-core-system/    Area control Beak, Feather, & Bone https://possible-worlds-games.itch.io/bfb  Faction/War Song of Ice and Fire RPG http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/101026/A-Song-of-Ice-and-Fire-Roleplaying-A-Game-of-Thrones-Edition  Mutant: Year Zero https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/139453/MUTANT-Year-Zero--Roleplaying-At-The-End-Of-Days  Numenera: Destiny https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/240655/Numenera-Destiny  Coyote and Crow https://www.allplay.com/board-games/coyote-and-crow-the-roleplaying-game/    Action points -  Level Up D&D PbtA  Using Action points Feng Shui https://atlas-games.com/fengshui  C&S: Rebirth  Mythras    Deck builder/Bidding Ok not really but Redigo is "Hand Management"  https://letsplayredigo.com/  Games using a standard deck of cards Castle Falkenstein https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/2370/castle-falkenstein  Games using a custom or proprietary card deck - mostly they are being used instead of dice Dragonlance: Fifth Age https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/186462/dragonlance-fifth-age-dramatic-adventure-game-saga  Clockwork Dominion https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/489608/courier-repacked  My Closest Pick Torg Eternity:A Thousand Faces of Adventure http://torg-gamereference.com/    Pick up and Deliver Solo/journal: Courier https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/489608/courier-repacked   Delivered! https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/441018/delivered-a-solo-journaling-rpg  One shot Delivery Dragons https://shardsofblue.itch.io/delivery-dragons   Worker Placement? Become a GM Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]

This time, we go fishing for Role Players, linking some popular aspects of RPGs to our favorite boardgames. Plus, our latest collection of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:47 - Getting Cold 01:45 - Eric at Pax Unplugged 03:47 - Games at Tom's Daughter's Wedding? 05:10 - BGG Con, Dice Tower East, West, Cruise 06:37 - Fishing for Role Players 14:58 - Stat-Heavy Games: Pathfinder ACG, Mage Knight 17:48 - Character Building: Origin Story, Elder Scrolls, Too Many Bonews, Artisans of Splendent Vale 20:12 - Story-Based Character Progression: Call to Adventure, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Near and Far 22:17 - Campaign (Descent) vs. Combat: Wrath of Ashardilon, Wander the Cult of Barnacle Bay, Massive Darkness, Monster Hunter 27:36 - Silly: Dungeon Fighter, Dungeon Quest, Cora Quest, Munchkin, Talisman 30:31 - Exploration: Mansions of Madness, Clank Catacombs 32:57 - Storytelling: Mice and Mystics, Stuffed Fables, Tainted Grail, Oathsworn, Agemonia 35:03 - Video Games: Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Skyrim, GWENT 37:38 - Improvisational Storytelling: Freelancers, Wandering Galaxy, Adventure Party, Aye Dark Overlord, Once Upon a Time 41:22 - Teasing Next Time: RPGs for Boardgamers 42:27 - Rove 46:08 - Night Soil 49:04 - Mezen 52:50 - Gingerbread House 55:37 - Severton 1:00:35 - Spot It Catan Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected] Julie's Tales of Myth and Legend Preorder: https://gamefound.com/projects/van-ryder-games/tales-of-myth-and-legend-preorder?refcode=tMZTh1PtbUec1Vko4OGdaw

Tom, Julie, and Eric are back from Germany and ready to talk about games, food, crowds, and everything else they saw at Spiel 2025. 00:44 - Tired 01:50 - Official Numbers/Crowd Flow 07:09 - Travel Adventures and Weather 08:46 - What Was Different for Eric 11:31 - Food 13:35 - Eric's Birthday 15:44 - Julie's Author Signing 21:16 - Tom's Live Show 25:22 - Big Games 31:14 - How To Stand Out 35:51 - Limited Stock and How To Deal With It 40:17 - What Did We Go Home With? 44:12 - A Carnivore Did It 47:25 - Flow 50:50 - Ghost Lift 54:48 - Formidable Farm 58:22 - Leaders 59:52 - The Old King's Crown Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]

Tom, Julie, and Eric run through their game plan for Essen Spiel 2025, including where they'll be, and what games are on the internet's radar, as well as trying to narrow down what three games are of the most interest to them personally. 00:59 - Bookkeeping: Dice Tower East, West, Cruise 01:57 - The Weather in Germany 03:12 - Eric's First Time Back Since 2019, What's Changed? 07:18 - Where Will We Be? Dice Tower Booth: 3 R315 Van Ryder Booth: 2 E280 Live Show, Sunday 1:30pm: Hall 4 09:30 - Dice Tower Essentials Interlude: Aquatica Duel, On Stage, Raas 11:44 - Live Plays 13:47 - Warning from Julie 14:38 - Sunday's Live Show 16:35 - Eric's Growing Wishlist and Shipping Woes 22:20 - The Games of Essen - So Many 28:20 - Orloj 29:27 - Recall 30:07 - SETI: Space Agencies 30:32 - Feya's Swamp 31:51 - Nature 33:15 - Covenant 35:00 - Ada's Dream 35:43 - Sanctuary 37:16 - Coming of Age 38:55 - Castle Combo: Out of the Oubliette! 39:08 - Echoes of Time 40:52 - White Castle Duel 41:33 - The Voynich Puzzle 42:15 - Underwater Cities: Data Era and LOTR Duel: Allies 42:38 - Luthier 43:12 - Aquaria 44:14 - Julie: Use Up All Your Sick Days 45:32 - Eric: Severton 45:56 - Tom: Cereal Killer 46:52 - Julie: The Stalker 47:30 - Eric: Leylines 48:35 - Tom: Kronologic Cuzco 1450 50:22 - Julie: Parks and Potions 51:29 - Eric: Winnie the Pooh: Serious Detective 52:47 - Tom: A Carnivore Did It Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]

Tom is stuck in traffic, so Julie and Eric take control to discuss what it takes to setup a booth at Essen. How do you get all that stuff overseas, and how do you minimize what has to come back? And of course, there are Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:45 - Where is Tom? and Julie's Work Trip 03:56 - Dice Tower Cruise and Dice Tower West 05:07 - Moving a Booth to Essen 35:50 - Tiletum: Prospect for Silver 41:20 - I Made You a Mixtape 45:12 - High Tide 50:00 - The Yellow House Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]

Tom begins by recapping his adventures at the Dice Tower Retreat, and looks forward to the World Series of Boardgaming, before turning to the topic of figuring out what to do with your game collection after you're gone, and why it might be a good idea to make some choices sooner rather than later. Later, we share a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, peek into the mailbag, and gather a collection of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:51 - Tom at the Dice Tower Retreat 02:25 - The World Series of Boardgaming 04:58 - Dice Tower Cruise, Dice Tower West, Spiel 06:03 - Planning for the Future of your Collection 24:58 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 31:22 - Question: Co-Designer Credit 38:16 - A Place for All My Books 44:04 - Knitting Circle 48:18 - Endangered Rescue: Lemur Leaf Frog 51:21 - The New Year's Nightmare 54:55 - Firefighters on Duty 57:07 - Blood on the Clocktower Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]

Tom sits at the small table. Eric's parents make friends on a cruise. Julie travels the country spreading boardgames wherever she goes. We also talk about what surprises await in those little pockets of games in places where you don't expect to find them. We delve into the mailbag for some pertinent questions, and we gather a new crop of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:50 - School Has Started, Dice Tower West, Cruise 02:40 - Eric's Parents on Alaskan Cruise 03:19 - Spiel Plans (Booth 3R315) 05:02 - Game Shelves in Unusual Spots 20:43 - Question: Playing With Bob 29:30 - Question: Storing Games While At College 34:30 - Tag Team 36:52 - Journey to Tir na nOg 41:50 - Cat Sudoku: Summer Festival 44:18 - The Four Doors 47:22 - Regicide Legacy 52:43 - Tenby Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]

Eric starts the show by sharing tales of his European adventures, which leads Tom to share some of our plans for Spiel in October. Then, we discuss the process for adding art to your game. How do you find an artist? How long does it take to draw a picture of a horse? What if the horse is holding a corn dog? Later, we share a tale of horror and a question, and move on to our Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:48 - Middle of the Year? - School Starting 02:23 - Eric's European Adventure 09:25 - Spiel Plans 12:14 - Art in Games 34:56 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror/Question 46:32 - Sancturary 48:42 - Vantage 56:21 - Bomb Busters 58:37 - Menagerie 1:01:44 - This Game is Killer: Frozen Horror 1:05:12 - Potion Explosion: The 6th Student Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]

We are back from Gen Con, and ready to talk about our adventures! We discuss the crowds, the events, and the games we enjoyed, and maybe a little about the food we ate as well. We also share a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and share our latest crop of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:46 - Announcements: Dice Tower West and Dice Tower Cruise 01:40 - Gen Con: Crowds and Fans 10:25 - Gen Con: Sales and Sellouts 12:50 - Gen Con: What Did We Buy? 16:20 - Gen Con: Tom's Trends 20:42 - Gen Con: Dice Tower Awards 23:27 - Gen Con: Food 26:36 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 37:25 - Giraffe Raffe 40:13 - Tag Team 43:24 - Oddland 44:50 - At The Gates of Loyang 47:27 - Fliptoons 49:35 - The Four Doors Questions? Tales of Horror? [email protected]