This week we learn how to start a new zoo!  Julius tells us about New York Zoo, a game in which you are trying to build a new zoo with animals and rides.  It's a rondel game with polyominoes by Uwe Rosenberg and pretty family friendly.

• New York Zoo (BGG)

This week's popular mechanics episode is a bit unorthodox.  Instead of looking at a single mechanic, we talk about mechanics (or game stuff) that caught our attention in 2023.

• 03:10 For Northwood! (BGG)

This week I go solo and talk about an RPG called Wreck This Deck.  The title says it all, this is a game in which you get to alter and craft on a deck of playing cards all while trapping demons, doing readings and casting spells.   Best of all, you are altering cards!

These are the cards I've altered.  

• Wreck This Deck (RPG Geek, itch.io, Reddit)

This week I'm out, as well as next week, so Julius and family fill in to talk about a solo poker game!

• Lock & Spell (BGG, Jupiter Valley Studios)

This week's episode, I talk about a small game called Age of Civilization, in which you can play through the rise and fall of empires in about 30 minutes.  It's a fun little worker placement game with lots of choices and lots of variability.  The entire show collapses at the end when my headphones run out of battery.

This week Julius shares a game he can't stop gushing about.  It's Endangered, the cooperative game about saving endangered species.  It's a neat little compact game with an interesting theme and nice artwork. 

Poor Julius sprained his wrist pretty badly and has been struggling with shuffling cards.  This week we brainstorm games that we can play without having to do all that shuffling.

• 02:30 Escape: The Curse of the Temple (BGG)

This week's game is Pericle: The Gathering Darkness.  It's a fantasy adventure board game set in a world that reminds me of ancient Rome or Greece.  It is app driven to simulate playing with a game master and really does feel a lot more like playing an RPG than it feels like playing a boardgame.  I very much have enjoyed playing the game and think it is a pretty unique experience.

The game was kindly provided by the publisher, Long Dog Games.

• Pericle: The Gathering Darkness (BGG, Long Dog Games)

This week Julius and I revisit the game PAX by Bernd Eisenstein and published by Irongames.  This game is a small, fast playing drafting game that reminds me (but not Julius) of 7 Wonders.

• PAX (BGG, Irongames)

Oops, I forgot to attach the episode to the 1st post.

This week Julius and I talk about The Spill, a game about saving the environment from a dangerous oil spill from a deep sea rig.  It's a cooperative game with some interesting components and lots to talk about.

• The Spill (BGG, Smirk & Dagger, Smirk & Dagger Deluxe)