We’re heading toward a marriage of cardboard and digital games. We discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by crossing the cardboard and digital divide. Panelists: Ted Alspach, Tim Fowers, Tim Burrell-Saward.

What challenges and opportunities are unique to working with a media license? How do you forge an alliance between good media and good games? Panelists: James Ernest, Rob Daviau, David Brashaw, Francesco Nepitello.

We invite a fun-loving group of people in the gaming media to join us for a free-wheeling chat on a variety of topics both serious and silly. Panelists: Scott Alden, Bebo, Marguerite Cottrell, Eric Summerer.

The art of the pitch is a learnable skill. We discuss the essential elements of a successful pitch, plus tips and tricks to help make your game design stand out from the crowd. Panelists: Mike Selinker, Stephen Buonocore, Tim WK Brown, Erica Bouyouris

Games can be brilliant teaching tools both in the classroom and beyond it. We discuss how each panelist uses games in creative ways to facilitate learning and develop life skills. Panelists: John Knoerzer, Beth Heile, Kathleen Mercury

As publishers, designers, and players, what choices can we make and what steps can we take to help the world of games include and reflect the vast variety of fun loving players in it? Panelists: Sen Foong Lim, Maggi Cottrell, Isaac Vega, Katie Aidley

We delve into how different designers and publishers approach game development, hoping to gain a better appreciation of how important this step is to the life of any game. Panelists: Matt Leacock, Christopher Badell, Ray Wehrs, Jason Hill Geoff Engelstein

The Coleson-Conway era of The Spiel comes to a close with a celebration of our shared passion and love of trick-taking card games. We review Anansi and Take the A Chord plus we delve into the history of Jeux de Tarot.

In Heaven & Ale, you are the master brewer at a German monastery in the Middle Ages. Gather hops, water, barley, and yeast and recruit monks to build your brewery. Each decision leads to an innovative scoring system that packs a great cerebral punch.

A review of Boom, Bang, Gold! written by Stephen Conway.