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

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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]