Garrett's Games and Geekiness

Garrett's Games 298 - Contest, Cambria, Quebec, Kingdom Builder

2012-01-30T02:26:44Z

Shelley and I spend some time discussing "K" sounding items!

First, there's the CONTEST we are running for Episode 300. The following AMAZING publishers/distributors have graciously provided prizes:

Days of Wonder's Ticket to Ride Asia & India Map collections

Bezier Games' Beer & Pretzels (with 6th Player coasters) and Start Player

Dan Yarrington at Gamesalute.com and its affiliated publishers have contributed a HUGE bundle that includes
1x Fealty (from Asmadi Games)
1x Alien Frontiers (from Clever Mojo Games)
1x Carnival (from Dice Hate Me Games)
1x Yomi: Complete (from Sirlin Games)
1x Flash Duel 2nd Edition (from Sirlin Games)
1x Puzzle Strike with Upgrade Pack (from Sirlin Games)
1x Startup Fever (from Meetpoint)
1x Rallyman (from Rallyman)
1x Eleminis (from SmileyPop)

AND I'm contributing a copy of Eclipse, the Asmodee release from Essen. SO, send in your entries for the contest ASAP to make sure you are in the running for one of the 4 amazing prizes!

We also discuss
Cambria from Closet Nerd Games and Eric B. Vogel
Quebec from Le Scorpion Masque/Ystari and designed by Philippe Beaudoin and Pierre Poissant-Marquis
Kingdom Builder from Queen Games and designed by Donald X. Vaccarino

Garrett's Games 297 - Contest, Ticket to Ride India, China Maps, Stone Age Expansion, and Masters' Gallery

2012-01-22T20:44:54Z

Shelley and I go 'whole hog' into expansions this week, discussing:

The new Ticket to Ride India expansion from Alan Moon & Days of Wonder

Printed versions of expansion maps for Michael Schacht's China

The new Stone Age expansion

as well as Reiner Knizia's Masters' Gallery from Griffin Games.

Be sure to enter our contest for Episode 300 - which is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!

Garrett's Games 296 - Best of 2011

2012-01-15T04:58:57Z

Shelley and I sit down for a discussion of our (initial) favorites from 2011 Here's the list of games discussed (by category):

FELD
Castles of Burgundy
Trajan

HEAVIES
De Vulgaria Eloquentia
Vinhos
Florenza
Belfort

MEDIUM WEIGHTS
Asara
Crows
Principato
Casa Grande
Firenze
Sun, Sea, and Sand
Ticket to Ride Asia

CARD GAMES
Biblios
23
Stich-Meister

NEW FILLERS
Kingdom Builder
Paris Connection
Burdigala
Arriala
Cambria
Color Stox
Mondriaan 2020
Super Rhino!

Garrett's Games 295 - Skippity and MIL(1049)

2012-01-09T07:25:00Z

Shelley and I discuss two very different games this week, talking about Susan McKinley Ross's Skippity from Mindware, along with Firmino Martinez's release from HomoLudicus MIL (1049).

Garrett's Games 294 - Core Worlds + Stronghold Interview

2012-01-01T19:26:05Z

Shelley and I sit down over the Skype airways for an interview with Stronghold Game's Stephen Buonocore. Topics include Stronghold's history and game release choices, their latest releases including Core Worlds and Outpost, along with discussions of future releases including Merchant of Venus, Lost Temple, and Revolver.

Shelley and I then spend a bit more time talking about and reviewing Stronghold's deck building game Core Worlds by Andrew Parks.

Garrett's Games 293 - Palenque, Tournay, and Saint Petersburg

2011-12-26T04:23:21Z

Shelley and I finish off 2011 with a Christmas Day discussion of two new and one older game that we have enjoyed (or not) this past week. They are

Palenque by Alan D. Ernstein from Z-Man Games

Tournay by Sebastien Dujardin, Xavier Georges, and Alain Orban from Pearl Games

and

Saint Petersburg with the expansion cards by Bernd Brunnhofer from Rio Grande Games

Enjoy, and have a great final week of 2011!

Garrett's Games 292 - Takenoko and Ristorante Italia

2011-12-19T04:14:59Z

Shelley and I sit down after a playing two new games for a discussion of their ins and outs, along with concerns and kudos. Reviewed in this episode:

Takenoko by Antoine Bauza, published by Matagot

Ristorante Italia by Riccardo and Giulio Guerra and Marco Mutta, published by Red Glove

Enjoy!

Garrett's Games 291 - Principato and Road to Canterbury

2011-12-11T22:51:36Z

Shelley and I sit down and the mics to discuss two newer games, one from Kickstarter & Griffin Games, the other from Eggertspiele/Z-Man.

Principato by Touko Tahkokallio from Eggertspiele and Z-Man

Road to Canterbury by Alf Seegert from Gryphon Games

Enjoy!

Garrett's Games 290 - Super Rhino, Tier auf Tier, Gelini Nightlife, and Gold!

2011-12-04T22:54:49Z

Shelley and I sit down at the microphones after a week of lighter fare to discuss two HABA games, a Knizia game that should be part of the Easy Play line from Schmidt, and Michael Schacht's card game Gold!

Games discussed:
Super Rhino
Tier auf Tier (new version)
Gelini Nightlife
Gold!

Enjoy!

Garrett's Games 289 - Nefarious, Big Five, Casa Grande, and Ticket to Ride Asia

2011-11-28T00:57:21Z

Shelley and I end our extended Thanksgiving Day Weekend with an episode of more Essen releases that we have had the chance to play. This time it's a couple of card games, a new board game, and a discussion of the second half of an expansion mentioned last week.

Games discussed:
Nefarious by Donald X. Vaccarino from Ascora Games

Big Five by Reiner Knizia from Amigo

Casa Grande by Gunter Burkhardt from Ravensburger

Ticket to Ride Legendary Asia by Francois Valentyne from Days of Wonder

Enjoy!

Garrett's Games 288 - Mondriaan 2020, Ab in die Tonne, Trajan, 23

2011-11-20T17:46:32Z

Shelley and I spend some time talking about two new Cwali games, the new Stefan Feld, and Amigo's new card game.

Mondriaan 2020 by Corne van Moorsel and Cwali

Ab in die Tonne by Corne van Moorsel and Cwali

Trajan by Stefan Feld and Ammonit

23 by Christoph Behre and Amigo

Garrett's Games 287 - Arriala, Coney Island, Walnut Grove, and Ticket to Ride Maps

2011-11-14T05:38:24Z

Shelley and I spend some more time talking about Essen titles. This time it's three new games and a great new expansion to a classic:

Arriala: Canal de Garonne by Florian Fay from Ludocom

Coney Island by Michael Schacht from Argentum Verlag

(Welcome to) Walnut Grove by Paul Laane & Touko Tahkokallio

Ticket to Ride Asia (Map Collection #1) from Days of Wonder

Enjoy!

Garrett's Games 286 - Burdigala, Kalimambo, and PAX

2011-11-07T03:13:14Z

Shelley and I take some time to discuss three of the brand new Essen releases that we were able to play recently.

Burdigala from Id&al Editions and Bruno Cathala

Kalimambo from Zoch and Antonio Scrittore

PAX from Iron Games and Bernd Eisenstein

Garrett's Games 285 - Live from Essen plus Fortuna and Kingdom Builder

2011-10-31T01:37:56Z

Aldie (Scott Alden), Beth Heile (demo goddess), Michelle Alden (Scott's lovely wife) and Shelley join me on the microphones live form the BGG booth at the Essen fair in Germany to discuss the fair and BGG's role there, along with some of the games we saw and are interested in. Then Shelley joins me for a discussion of Fortuna by Michael Rieneck and Stefan Stadler and published by The Game Master and I tack on a quick review of Queen Games' new Kingdom Builder by Donald Vaccarino.

Garrett's Games 284 - Vintage

2011-10-23T09:08:19Z

Shelley and I talk about the first Essen 2011 game that we were able to get early (it was released in limited quantities and I bought a copy when I saw it show up at gamesurplus.com).

Much more on Essen 2011 games will be forthcoming, but here's the first taste, no punches pulled.

Garrett's Games 283 - Essen Preview

2011-10-16T21:00:00Z

Shelley and I sit down to talk about some of the games we will check out at Essen THIS WEEK! If you're heading to the fair, be sure to stop by the BGG booth and say hi.

Garrett's Games 282 - Eminent Domain & Essen

2011-10-09T22:43:15Z

Shelley and I sit down after a couple of 2-player outings with Eminent Domain, as well as some 4-player chances for me, to discuss this new deck-building hybrid from Seth Jaffee and Tasty Minstrel Games. Thanks to gamesalute.com for the review copy!

Some brief Essen comments follow, but next week is the pre-Essen "what's Doug interested in?" show.

Enjoy!

Garrett's Games 281 - OlympOs, China online, and Biblios

2011-10-02T23:33:59Z

Shelley and I spend some time discussing OlympOs (that's with an O, not a U) from the designer of Small World, Philippe Keyaerts, and Rio Grande Games. We also discuss Michael Schacht's new maps for China online at www.michaelschacht.net and our enjoyment of Biblios, the re-implementation of Scripts and Scribes.

Garrett's Games 280 - Belfort and Puzzle Strike!

2011-09-25T19:08:54Z

Shelley and I are finally back to 'regular' episodes with this week's discussion of two games I received as review copies from www.gamesalute.com. Thanks to Game Salute for sending us

Belfort from Tasty Minstrel Games, designed by Jay Cormier and Sen-Foong Lim

and

Puzzle Strike from Sirlin Games, designed by David Sirlin

Enjoy, and visit the website at www.garrettsgames.com

Garrett's Games 279 - McKinley Ross, Leacock, and Thornquist, Part 2

2011-09-18T18:15:01Z

Our final Meeplefest episode for the year finds us once again listening to the mellifluous tones of Rick Thornquist, Susan McKinley Ross, and Matt Leacock on the microphones with Ric B., Shelley and me. The conversation talks about design, inspirations, etc.

Enjoy!