The Spiel

A review of Ice Cool written by Stephen Conway. Ice Cool is a dexterity game where players will take turns flicking their penguins through a 3 dimensional school trying to either catch fish or catch the students skipping class.

My Village is a game where players tell the story of an entire medieval community. Will your village focus on commerce, a magnificent church or a town council? Your decisions wind the clock forward; your decisions ultimately decide who lives and who dies.

We explore the importance of narrative in game design with a panel of some of the best storytellers in the world of gaming. Ignacy Trzewiczek (Portal), Richard Launius, Christopher Badell (Greater Than Games), Scott Hill (Flying Frog Productions).

There have been waves of consolidation within the board game industry over the past 3 yrs. Is this a sign of a healthy industry or the start of a cycle that leads to less competition? Eric Summerer (Dice Tower) Lance Myxter (Undead Viking) Doug Richardson

Matt Leacock, Rob Daviau, Bruno Faidutti and Bruno Cathala explore the process of co-designing games. Why work together? How do they divide up the work? How do they playtest? How do they deal with conflict? How do they know when the game is done?

From the artwork on and in the box to the components to the layout and logo, we examine the effort that goes into making a game visually engaging. Panelists include: Stephen Buonocore (Stronghold Games) Stephan Brissaud (Iello) Kevin Brusky (APE Games).

Our panel gives advice they wish they had received when first starting out. What pitfalls can new publishers avoid? Ted Alspach (Bezier Games), Paul Bender (Greater Than Games), Tim Fowers (Fowers Games), Travis Worthington (Indie Boards and Cards).

A round table discussion exploring the different ways the game world is evolving as more women work and play in the world of games. Panelists: Lea Culliton (HABA USA), Brittanie Boe (Game Wire), Tanya Thompson (Marbles), Donna Jaffe (Peaceable Kingdom).

A round table discussion on the challenge of designing games for kids. Our panel features Markus Nikisch (HABA), Brandan Parsons (Blue Orange), Josh West (ThinkFun) and Bernie DeKoven (Major Fun).

Karuba is an island with hidden treasures. Your goal is to lead a team through the jungle along the smartest route to riches. Deceptively simple, Karuba uses a bingo-like system to offer players a wonderful strategic puzzle for players young and old.