The Spiel is a show about games and the people who love them. Each episode, we review and discuss a new board game or card game. Each game reviewed receives a Major Fun or Spiel of Approval award, our badge of quality. Older episodes (220 and earlier) feature a variety show format with game reviews and interviews. We here at The Spiel know fun. The Spiel and its media network are part of The Spiel Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to making the world a more playful place. We believe play is a powerful positive force in the world. Our goal with the show is open a door to the wider world of games to as many people as we can. Have a listen. I hope you'll be inspired to find a friend and play!
Stephen Conway & Doug Richardson
Onion pie, killer aliens, and a car sold to fund a game convention.
Bruce Voge chats about games based on ideas or topics that seem downright un-gamifiable. Toy maker Jason Hsieh tells us about his favorite game, What's the Point? Lucio Rodriguez shines the Back Shelf Spotlight on Heroscape, a genre bending battle game.
Season 20 begins with flourish and 3 Gs... Growth, Gubbins, and GAMA! Growth: We introduce a new format for the show. Gubbins: Co-Op Corner, a new segment hosted by Gubbins makes its debut. GAMA: Erwin Susara and I recap our adventures at the GAMA Expo.
In our season 19 finale, two award winning games earn our Meeple Crown for 2024. These games embody the essence of Major Fun and The Spiel of Approval. Congratulations to Life in Reterra and Daybreak!
Play eight cards in a line from left to right to catalog your adventure across a mysterious land. Then, the journey back begins. Each card will score in reverse order from right to left. Can you build the best lineup and become a world renowned explorer?
In Life in Reterra players build a new world on top of the old, placing terrain tiles and buildings to form communities. Buildings will unlock new rules and scoring potential and the very shape of the lands you create will help your new society succeed.
In Age of Comics players try to build a publishing empire during the dawn of the genre. With the right story, the right art, a head for business and a lot of moxie, you can build a fan base for a new hero and claim a spot in this ever expanding pantheon.
Imagine the love child of Blackjack and Rummy raised with the doting influence of its uncle, Stud Poker. That's Flip 7. Try to assemble a set of 7 cards one by one each round in a race to rake in big points. This is press your luck at its finest.
In Forest Shuffle, you create a network of trees, hoping to form a balanced habitat for creatures, large and small. Growth always comes at a price, though. For some things to thrive, others must fall to the forest floor.
Tiny Laser Heist is a dexterity game where players rob gems from a mini museum using tiny hands to manipulate locks and avoid tripping alarms. But beware people who aren't on your team can make your job even harder!
Assist the production of Georges Melies' silent film Journey to the Moon by orchestrating scenes and sequences from script to screen.
DroPolter: Ghost vs Palm Muscle is a whimsically absurd dexterity game. Drop your lucky charms in just the right order, then nab the ghost and win a tiny bell.
In 1859, Barcelona's expansion followed the first truly modern plan. A grid of wide streets divided into blocks and essential services in every area. Can you build this new Barcelona, using intersections and actions to balance the needs of all?
Mojo is a game of a mixed blessings. Everyone starts with eight cards and wants to shed as many as they can. If you end the round, grab the Mojo and hope have the lowest score. If so, that Mojo is good luck. If not, your score pays the price.
Himeji Castle, the white heron, is the center of power and culture for the region. Your clan has a plan to gain favor and influence, but there are rivals across all levels of life at the castle. Each family member you place has an important role to play.
Fun begins at the ends in Butts on Things. Collect as many cards with keisters by pairing posteriors on the tails of any row or column on the table. You'll be over the moon when you find a way to cap off any line with a nice set of cans.
Waves of folded paper are calling… come play! In Sea, Salt & Paper players create an origami seascape by assembling a tableau of ocean themed cards, some with special abilities, each with its own way to score. When you reach the limit, bet on yourself for a chance to grab a big lead or play it safe and bank your points. Be warned, though. Four mermaids could undo your best beachside plans.
Thistleville is a small place, but there's something happening around every corner. Grab the best tiles from a sea of stories on the table hoping to fill your small town paper's front page.
The tower has cleared your aircraft and it is time for the final approach. Sky Team is a co-operative game for two players who must plan and then alternate placing dice in order to land a commercial airliner at airports around the world.
A line of seven letters sits before you. One side is a team of two. They must guess a magic word based on a clue the other side gives. Only only clue is allowed and the clue must begin with the letter at the end of either side of the line.
Daybreak is a cooperative boardgame about stopping climate change. In the near future, we must work together to create the technologies, policies, and resilient societies needed to reach Drawdown, sequestering more carbon than we collectively produce.
Daybreak is a cooperative boardgame about stopping climate change. In the near future, we must work together to create the technologies, policies, and resilient societies needed to reach Drawdown, sequestering more carbon than we collectively produce.
Nekojima is a small island filled with cats. Can you install power lines across four districts without frisky felines short circuiting your plans. Try your best to not bring the whole network crashing down.
Tiger and Dragon is a climbing game using two suited Mah Jongg style tiles. Attacks are offered and countered with matching tiles. The first player to go out wins the round but HOW you win will ultimately determine your score.
There are dog shows and cat shows, but have you heard of a fish show? Goldfish fans from across the land compete each year to display the most sensational swimmer. It takes talent and planning to create the most pleasing arrangement of colorful scales.
In our season finale, two award winning games earn our Meeple Crown for 2023. These games embody the essence of Major Fun and our Spiel of Approval. Congratulations to Votes for Women and Thunder Road: Vendetta!
Distilled is a game of strategic spirit crafting. Follow recipes to gather ingredients hoping they will meld into something sublime. Bottle and sell what you can or age your creations hoping for a greater payout down the line.
Not That Movie is a cooperative party game. Each round, players work together to determine which movie the critics have described through process of elimination At the end of 5 rounds, are you an epic flop or worthy of an Academy Award?
Obsession is a richly thematic strategy game depicting the struggles of four once proud family estates in 19th century Britain. The game culminates with a successful courtship. Guide your family to the best standing in Derbyshire to cement its legacy.
Magical creatures come to Steam Up to sample bite-size dishes from bamboo baskets stacked high. Each creature arrives with an appetite and an agenda for their ideal meal. With Fate and Fortune looking over each course, may the fullest stomach win!
District Noir is a two player card game where you collect sets of cards, hoping to amass support of certain criminals or collect three key locations in the city in order to win. It'll take all your cunning to hold onto this fickle, fractious town.
Wicked and Wise is a trick taking card game where teams of dragons and mice compete to amass the largest hoard. Dragons play cards to win tricks. Mice play cards to manipulate the game. Collect coins and complete goals to score.
Wicked and Wise is a trick taking card game where teams of dragons and mice compete to amass the largest hoard. Dragons play cards to win tricks. Mice play cards to manipulate the game. Collect coins and complete goals to score.
In Lacrimosa, you play as one of Mozart's dear friends. Your goal is to gather accolades and respect by helping to assemble a memoir and by hiring composers to finish the Requiem. In doing so, you hope to insure the future of Mozart's family.
Thunder Road: Vendetta is a reboot of a beloved roll and move car crashing game from the 1980s. Each player starts with 3 vehicles and a chopper. Who will survive this perilous race down Route Sixty Styx?
Four Corners is a puzzle hunt in a phone booth. Can you create patterns of matching symbols to meet your goals? Fill a common board with an ever-changing array of tiles - creating opportunities for some and challenges for others.
We finish the first half of Season 18 with a flourish - a variety show jam-packed with quality conversations and plenty of fun and games!
You are responsible for the economic and social development of a city. Dive into Politics, Industry, and Banking, or encourage growth in Culture and Schools. Each choice will cause ripples. Can you look far enough ahead to avoid unintended results?
Velonimo is a modern twist on card climbing and shedding games. Animals race their bikes up five mountains, each higher than the next. The first player to shed their hand in a round, finishes in first place and gets the leader's jersey.
A review of Hand to Hand Wombat written by Stephen Conway.
Starting from a small town in Belgium, you are a merchant seeking prosperity across the continent. Fulfill contracts, establish trade houses, build cathedrals, and amass a staff of skilled workers. Plan well and you'll profit from the Fair each year.
A review of Broken & Beautiful written by Doug Richardson.
The years of training and sacrifice have all lead to this moment - the big chair - your first command of a starship! Each mission will require your leadership and many tough decisions as you explore the vast unknown sectors of space.
In Akropolis, you build a miniature city in ancient Greece, scoring points for plazas and districts in five different ways. Akropolis feels like five puzzles in one. Can you layer the pieces to make each part of your city prosper?
Portugal's poetic soul was best expressed by writer Fernando Pessoa. Visit cafes to gather cards or the bookshop to influence your style. Then linger in the public square to assemble the best poems you can, hoping the stars align with each move you make.
Scribbly Gum is a flip and write game. Each turn a movement tile is flipped and players direct their larvae by drawing paths through the layers of tree bark, hoping to gather food to complete meals. The most well fed moths will emerge the winner!
From the Declaration of Sentiments at Seneca Falls, to the protests, rallies, and organized campaigns across the nation, Votes for Women chronicles the 72 year struggle to ratify the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote.
Mr Walton was killed in his study. And all the guests at Walton manor have good reasons to want him dead. With a few leads, you must piece together the crime by asking questions and sharing information.
A review of Root Beer Float Challenge written by Stephen Conway.
Keystone North America is a card driven board game. Players are biologists tasked with assembling ecosystems by arranging organisms into the most optimal sequences possible. The challenge is balance.
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