The Spiel - MP3 Version

Bernie DeKoven is Major Fun. He has dedicated his life to the idea of fun and the importance of play for all! Part 3 of our interview explores his game commune, a public play day in Philadelphia, the Whole Earth Catalog and early video game design.

Movies have the Oscars. Games have the Spiel des Jahres. We play and review the three nominees, Augustus, Hanabi, and Qwixx, and try to predict the winner.

High stakes, higher strategy? The Kennerspiel des Jahres is given to the best advanced board game of the year. From Belgium to Italy to a realm in need of heroes, we review Bruges, Palaces of Carrara and Legends of Andor and try to predict the winner.

Child's play. From treasure hunters to mechanical towers and crazy cosmic cows, we review three games nominated for the Kinderspiel des Jahres (German Children's Game of the Year) and try to predict the winner.

Mind manipulators. We review 3 family friendly games that mess with your head in 3 different ways: Just In Time (twist your pieces to solve timed puzzles), Dotzee (a slide puzzle with dice), and Clubs (a mash up of Spades and ladder games like Tichu).

A well-placed banana. From comrades in rockets to apes in bumper cars, we review Kosmonauts and Spin Monkeys - two programmed movement games that give us a fresh look at the genre.

Roll over, Erasmus. We travel back to Elizabethan England for an in-depth look at Noblemen, a game about managing country estates and attending masquerade balls. The goal? Impress the Queen.

Built to last. We celebrate the show's 7th anniversary with blocks of marble and tiki huts. We review of Palaces of Carrara and Hawaii, two games about building that offer challenge and strategy from a set of seemingly simple choices.

Urban cardboard jungles. We review three games, each with their own take on urban planning: from the futuristic treehouses of Ginkgopolis to the crowded streets of Suburbia to the far flung shore of France and the walls of Saint Malo.

Rummy revisions. We review A Fool's Fortune and Morels two set collecting card games that breathe new life into this well known and time tested genre, plus the first in a series of interviews with Major Fun, Bernie DeKoven.