The Spiel

This year GenCon is really Cathala-Con. Famed French designer Bruno Cathala has 7 new games debuting at the con! We decide to focus our discussion on one: Abyss - a game about undersea Lords competing to control a forgotten realm.

Richard Launius and Sean Brown discuss the inspiration and development of Alien Uprising, a cooperative game that pits the crew of a wrecked spaceship against an overwhelming onslaught of bug-like aliens called Zothren.

Noted Polish designer Ignacy Trezwiczek chats about Imperial Settlers, his first experience as a vendor at GenCon, and his new book: Board Games That Tell Stories.

Blue Orange publishes many games for kids and families. They are expanding their catalog to include games with more strategy. Brandan Parsons and designer Charles Chevallier discuss several new releases: Longhorn, Niya, Battle Sheep, Braverats and Wakanda

In Germany, HABA is a well known publisher of wonderful high quality engaging toys and games. Lea Culliton, President of HABA USA, chats about the history of HABA and the company's plans to bring a wider selection of games to the American market.

Justin Gary chats about the challenges and opportunities when developing across cardboard and digital platforms with Ascension and SolForge Each shows how analog and digital games can enhance each other, building a better game in both worlds.

Francois Valentyne & Josh Rivers chat about new titles from Canadian publisher Flux Capacity: Gone Viking - a trick taker with resource management, Zombie Island - an asymmetrical abstract & Khrysos Hunters - a dice based treasure race on a modular board.

Mark Kaufmann from Days of Wonder discusses Five Tribes: a worker displacement game that draws inspiration from the classic game Mancala, set in the world of the Arabian Nights.

Travis Chance and Nick Little discuss the backstory and inspiration for Heroes Wanted, a game where players build misfit superheroes to gain fame and attention in hope of joining a real super team, the Champions of Zeta City.

I'm Board Puzzle by David Coleson. Guess the game based on a small little snippet of each board. One you have each game title, you'll be able to unscramble the letters and find the answer to the puzzle and maybe even win a prize.