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]