On this episode we open our arms wide for the winsome baa-lambs of Great Western Trail: New Zealand. We then leave our future woolly besties behind to ponder the merits of prowling like a latter-day Bast or squawking like a Tower raven, which is to say maybe, but not definitely, gaming like an RPGer in two related titles: Be Like a Cat and Be Like a Crow. And if moggies and magpies survive the apocalypse, can we count on them to help rebuild a new world powered by clean breezes? And can Tribes of the Wind count on us to smile while doing the same?

In this episode we get pensive about two pretty-pretty board games and their, ah, smart friend. Join us as we look at fresh-from-the-postie Ierusalem, at the current crowdsourcing darling that is Botany, and, finally, at a dark horse leaping across a night sky and possibly right past your game table - The Girl Who Made The Stars.

The hype is out and on parade for the immensely lovely Solani, a new game that makes our table look good and our hearts feel satisfied. But first we say "Why not?" to Bamboo and "No, but maybe, but no" to two attractive board games: the thinky Terminus and the stylish Curio Black, 1962.

If you didn't hate this, we have a treat for next time: actually saying the game titles before parachuting into the pondersphere!

In this episode we successfully forage the current board game landscape for a worthy addition to the collection, just as we turn our backs on the temptations of an insanely good marketing campaign. Finally, we probe our sensibilities and our sunken costs to decide whether the Stefan Feld City Collection was worth it.

In this inaugural episode we forget to introduce ourselves, but we do remember to gush over a new board game with unusual trappings and wrappings, to wax apologetic about vetoing a smart and beautiful title, and to champion a recent dive into the doubtful space that can be word games.