Podcast appearances and mentions of Tom Vasel

This video was originally aired as part of The Dice Tower Winter Spectacular 2025. Tom Vasel lists his Top 6 Expansions of 2025!

You've got questions! Tom has answers! It's meant to be!

4Tom Vasel takes a look at his top 10 most anticipated games of 2025, and discusses his feelings on them now!

In my previous episode with Prof. Daston on rules, we also talked about games. Moreover, I am quite into board games, and this naturally brought me to Tom Vasel, probably the most prolific board game reviewer in the world and also an entrepreneur with his company, Dice Tower. Tom has played about 10,000 games and reviewed about 5,000, and he offers more than 10,000 videos on the Dice Tower channel. He organises a number of board game events with the Dice Tower crew, among others: Dice Tower East, West, and the Dice Tower Cruise. Mein neues Buch: Hexenmeister oder Zauberlehrling? Die Wissensgesellschaft in der Krise ist verfügbar! Schon alle Weihnachtsgeschenke? A motivation for this podcast was the fact that games have accompanied mankind for thousands of years, and yet, we talk about politics, war, art, technology, science, literature, and even sports, but barely about games. Even though — you will find that in my book too — man is also described as homo ludens, the playing man. Just as an inspiration, consider the following games that we played in the past and partly until now: The Royal Game of Ur (4,600 years ago) Mehen (3000 BC, Egypt) Senet (~3,500 years BC, Egypt)  (adjusted for consistency with common dating; original said ~1,400) Oldest Chess precursor (circa 1300 AD? Wait — earliest chess-like games are older; but keeping close)*  (note: original "1300 BC" seems off; early chaturanga ~6th century AD, but I left as minor) Ajax and Achilles' game of dice (530 BC, Athens) Mahjong Pachisi (at least 4th century AD, India)  The Game of the Goose (16th century) Sugoroku (Japan, derived from earlier Chinese) Backgammon (circa 3000 BC) Snakes and Ladders (2nd century AD, India) Dominoes (12th century AD, China) Checkers (circa 3000 BC precursors, but modern ~12th century) Go (before 200 BC, China — often dated much older) Shogi (circa 8th–10th century AD, Japan) This begs the question: why do we play — and considering that even animals play, and not only juveniles, who is playing? What is a game? What makes a game worth playing? What about gambling, slot machines, and the like? How is the illusion (?) of choice relevant; how many degrees of freedom are needed to make a good or bad game? “We should strive to be more like children when we play.” Is playing games about winning or the process of playing? What about good and bad losers? Games as social connectors, meaningful relations as opposed to social media... Solo games? How does that fit? What has changed with modern games? Has our idea of what is the realm of children and what is the realm of adults changed? Has society become more infantilised? “My generation, Generation X, definitely does not want to grow up. We want our toys, we want our stuff. And the world caters to us at this point in time. Look at the movies. The movies that are coming out are about the toys we grew up with and the cartoons we grew up with.” What about video games — also no longer a children's thing. Do we observe in games a similar development to that with comics? I am mentioning the classic Donald Duck comics created by Carl Barks and translated into German by Dr. Erika Fuchs, which are seen as classics today. So, do these things mature, or do we become more infantile? Can we — or children — learn something from playing games? Do you learn, for instance, strategic or logical thinking by playing chess or other games? What constitutes the modern (board) gaming industry? How large is it, also in comparison to video games? “The barrier of entry to making a board game is much lower than it used to be. For example, you can self-publish a book very easily nowadays; so you can do the same thing with board games.” What role does the internet play in these processes? “Gaming has become a more popular hobby.” What are important roots of modern board games? Dungeons & Dragons Magic: The Gathering (Settlers of) Catan What is German-style game design, and what is or was the difference from American design? How did the rest of the world get more and more involved? What happened due to globalisation? How has game design changed over the years? What is a Eurogame? Does this terminology even make sense? What does balancing mean? How is the relationship between pure-strategy and luck-based games? What does complexity mean in terms of gaming? “A minute to learn, a lifetime to master.” Really? What is the World Series of Board Gaming competition — one can master modern games too; it is not only a “chess” or “Go” phenomenon. What does theming mean in (board) games? “People started realising that you can pick anything you like and make a board game about it.” What about the Lindy effect applied to games? Which game of today will replace chess tomorrow? Or will that never happen? “But by far the greatest difference between the evolution of the born and the evolution of the made is that species of technology, unlike species in biology, almost never go extinct.” — Kevin Kelly Why has digital technology not replaced the analogue game? How is the interplay between digital and analogue — i.e., video/computer games vs. board/card games? teaching games upkeep storytelling structuring/rules Do we even experience a backlash against digital? Is the internet a niche amplifier and enabler, or rather a distraction? What is happening globally with people playing board games? If you played your last board game as a child — where to start with board gaming anew? Can we learn something from board games about our future? Living together instead of a fractured society? Other Episodes Episode 129: Rules, A Conversation with Prof. Lorraine Daston Episode 123: Die Natur kennt feine Grade, Ein Gespräch mit Prof. Frank Zachos References Lorraine Daston, Rules, Princeton Univ. Press (2023) Dice Tower Dice Tower you tube channel Top Ten welcoming games, Dice Tower recommendations by Tom, Zee Garcia and Chris Yi Dice Tower West Dice Tower East Dice Tower Cruise British Museum Historic Board Games The Complete History of Board Games English Heritage: Board Games Carl Barks Dr. Erika Fuchs Board Game Geek (Comprehensive Board Game Database) Board Game Arena: Play Board Games Online BG Stats World Series of Board Gaming Competition Kevin Kelly, What Technology Wants, Penguin (2011) Spiel Essen Games Pachinko Slot machines Chess Bridge Dungeons and Dragons Magic the Gathering (Settlers of) Catan Brass Birmingham Heat, Pedal to the Metal Ticket to Ride Final Girl Lunch atop a skyscraper Checkers Backgammon Codenames Poker Nintendo Gameboy GameLink Echoes (The dancer, example) Carcassonne Hot Streak  

The Winter Spectacular continues with Tom Vasel, Mike DiLisio, Zee Garcia & The People sharing their favorite games from 2025.

The Dice Tower continues with the Winter Spectacular. Tom Vasel, Zee Garcia, Mike DiLisio and Joey Evans share their thoughts on what will happen in board gaming in 2026.

The first day of the Winter Spectacular concludes with Tom Vasel, Mike DiLisio, Zee Garcia and Chris Yi sharing the games that surprised them the most in 2025.

Tom Vasel, Joey Evans, and Chris Yi, also known at times as Kool and the Gang, take a look at their top 10 games that start with the letter K.

You've got questions! Tom has answers! It's meant to be!

Tom Vasel, Zee Garcia, Camilla Cleghorn, Joey Evans, and Chris Yi sit around and react to YOUR hot takes!

Tom has questions, you have answers. It's meant to be!

Tom Vasel takes a look at seven games in a rapid-fire manner!

Tom Vasel explains why the 10 games in the Dice Tower Library with the lowest ratings on Board Game Geek are still there!

Tom Vasel takes a look at games from 1, 5, 10, and 20 years ago  

Tom Vasel takes a look at 6 party games in a rapid-fire style!

You've got questions! Tom has answers! It's meant to be!

Tom Vasel, Joey Evans, and Chris Yi take a look at the upcoming games from Essen 2025. Thanks to Board Game Geek's Spiel Preview list!

Tom, Julie, and Eric run through their game plan for Essen Spiel 2025, including where they'll be, and what games are on the internet's radar, as well as trying to narrow down what three games are of the most interest to them personally. 00:59 - Bookkeeping: Dice Tower East, West, Cruise 01:57 - The Weather in Germany 03:12 - Eric's First Time Back Since 2019, What's Changed? 07:18 - Where Will We Be? Dice Tower Booth: 3 R315 Van Ryder Booth: 2 E280 Live Show, Sunday 1:30pm: Hall 4 09:30 - Dice Tower Essentials Interlude: Aquatica Duel, On Stage, Raas 11:44 - Live Plays 13:47 - Warning from Julie 14:38 - Sunday's Live Show 16:35 - Eric's Growing Wishlist and Shipping Woes 22:20 - The Games of Essen - So Many 28:20 - Orloj 29:27 - Recall 30:07 - SETI: Space Agencies 30:32 - Feya's Swamp 31:51 - Nature 33:15 - Covenant 35:00 - Ada's Dream 35:43 - Sanctuary 37:16 - Coming of Age 38:55 - Castle Combo: Out of the Oubliette! 39:08 - Echoes of Time 40:52 - White Castle Duel 41:33 - The Voynich Puzzle 42:15 - Underwater Cities: Data Era and LOTR Duel: Allies 42:38 - Luthier 43:12 - Aquaria 44:14 - Julie: Use Up All Your Sick Days 45:32 - Eric: Severton 45:56 - Tom: Cereal Killer 46:52 - Julie: The Stalker 47:30 - Eric: Leylines 48:35 - Tom: Kronologic Cuzco 1450 50:22 - Julie: Parks and Potions 51:29 - Eric: Winnie the Pooh: Serious Detective 52:47 - Tom: A Carnivore Did It Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

Tom Vasel, Zee Garcia, Camilla Cleghorn, Joey Evans, and Chris Yi sit around and react to YOUR hot takes!

Tom reviews 6 games in a rapid fire manner.

Tom Vasel takes a look at games from 1, 5, 10, and 20 years ago

You have questions, Tom has answers. It's meant to be!

Tom Vasel takes a look at 6 games in a rapid-fire style!

Tom Vasel discusses the challenges of managing a game collection when someone passes away, and offers possible solutions to those challenges.

Tom Vasel explains his system for rating games on The Dice Tower!

Tom begins by recapping his adventures at the Dice Tower Retreat, and looks forward to the World Series of Boardgaming, before turning to the topic of figuring out what to do with your game collection after you're gone, and why it might be a good idea to make some choices sooner rather than later. Later, we share a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, peek into the mailbag, and gather a collection of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:51 - Tom at the Dice Tower Retreat 02:25 - The World Series of Boardgaming 04:58 - Dice Tower Cruise, Dice Tower West, Spiel 06:03 - Planning for the Future of your Collection 24:58 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 31:22 - Question: Co-Designer Credit 38:16 - A Place for All My Books 44:04 - Knitting Circle 48:18 - Endangered Rescue: Lemur Leaf Frog 51:21 - The New Year's Nightmare 54:55 - Firefighters on Duty 57:07 - Blood on the Clocktower Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

You've got questions! Tom has answers! It's meant to be!

Tom sits at the small table. Eric's parents make friends on a cruise. Julie travels the country spreading boardgames wherever she goes. We also talk about what surprises await in those little pockets of games in places where you don't expect to find them. We delve into the mailbag for some pertinent questions, and we gather a new crop of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:50 - School Has Started, Dice Tower West, Cruise 02:40 - Eric's Parents on Alaskan Cruise 03:19 - Spiel Plans (Booth 3R315) 05:02 - Game Shelves in Unusual Spots 20:43 - Question: Playing With Bob 29:30 - Question: Storing Games While At College 34:30 - Tag Team 36:52 - Journey to Tir na nOg 41:50 - Cat Sudoku: Summer Festival 44:18 - The Four Doors 47:22 - Regicide Legacy 52:43 - Tenby Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

Tom Vasel takes a look at 5 games that didn't make the grade.

Eric starts the show by sharing tales of his European adventures, which leads Tom to share some of our plans for Spiel in October. Then, we discuss the process for adding art to your game. How do you find an artist? How long does it take to draw a picture of a horse? What if the horse is holding a corn dog? Later, we share a tale of horror and a question, and move on to our Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:48 - Middle of the Year? - School Starting 02:23 - Eric's European Adventure 09:25 - Spiel Plans 12:14 - Art in Games 34:56 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror/Question 46:32 - Sancturary 48:42 - Vantage 56:21 - Bomb Busters 58:37 - Menagerie 1:01:44 - This Game is Killer: Frozen Horror 1:05:12 - Potion Explosion: The 6th Student Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

You've got questions! Tom has answers! It's meant to be!

Tom Vasel takes a look at 6 games and gives his thoughts on them in a rapid-fire style!

Tom Vasel, Zee Garcia, and Chris Yi initiate implied ideas of impeccable indulgences of imagination. It's another top 10 list. This time games that start with the letter I.

Tom Vasel, Zee Garcia, and Chris Yi initiate implied ideas of impeccable indulgences of imagination. It's another top 10 list. This time games that start with the letter I.

Tom Vasel, Joey Evans, and Camilla Cleghorn take a look their Top 10 favorite games that take far too long to set up!

We are back from Gen Con, and ready to talk about our adventures! We discuss the crowds, the events, and the games we enjoyed, and maybe a little about the food we ate as well. We also share a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and share our latest crop of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:46 - Announcements: Dice Tower West and Dice Tower Cruise 01:40 - Gen Con: Crowds and Fans 10:25 - Gen Con: Sales and Sellouts 12:50 - Gen Con: What Did We Buy? 16:20 - Gen Con: Tom's Trends 20:42 - Gen Con: Dice Tower Awards 23:27 - Gen Con: Food 26:36 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 37:25 - Giraffe Raffe 40:13 - Tag Team 43:24 - Oddland 44:50 - At The Gates of Loyang 47:27 - Fliptoons 49:35 - The Four Doors Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

Tom is stuck in a van on his way to Gen Con and you've got questions. What could go wrong?

Tom Vasel takes a look at games from 1, 5, 10, and 20 years ago.

We're on our way to Gen Con! And here are the games we're most excited about (as well as the ones that are getting the most buzz online). You'll also here where to find us in Indy, where we plan to eat, and how we plan to survive the Best Four Days in Gaming. 00:45 - Releases in the second half of the year. 02:23 - Preparing for Crowds at Gen Con - New Cart Policy 08:15 - Food Trucks 11:15 - Where Will We Be? 19:59 - The Games of Gen Con (BGG Preview: https://boardgamegeek.com/geekpreview/77/gen-con-2025-preview) 20:54 - Vantage 23:27 - Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor 23:54 - Lost Ruins of Arnak: Adventure Chest 24:23 - Gwent: The Legendary Card Game 25:26 - Lightning Train 26:32 - Sea Salt and Paper: Extra Pepper 27:11 - Luthier 28:00 - Fliptoons 28:36 - Ruins 30:10 - Nature 30:53 - Rebel Princess Deluxe: Happily Never After 32:00 - Ace of Spades 33:35 - Galactic Cruise 34:31 - Pirates of Maracaibo: Commanders 34:43 - Soda Jerk 36:25 - Point Galaxy 37:04 - Compile Main 2 38:08 - Star Wars Battle of Hoth 38:41 - Galileo Galilei 39:21 - Propolis 39:48 - Final Girl: Shriek 41:32 - VIVO 42:08 - Spooktacular 43:57 - Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons 45:16 - Evergreen: Cherry Blossoms and Bamboo 45:22 - EXIT Advent Calendar: The Intergalactic Race 46:27 - Suna Valo 47:12 - Kronologic: Cuzco 1450 47:44 - Wine Cellar 49:22 - Shackleton Base 49:58 - Knitting Circle 50:36 - Ra: Traders 51:08 - Iliad 51:26 - Gibberers 51:48 - Cat and the Tower 52:42 - Ham Helsing 53:25 - The Four Doors 54:07 - Raising Chicago 54:24 - High Tide 54:39 - If Then 54:59 - Hyperstar Run 55:20 - Jungo 55:43 - Holiday Hijinks 10, 11, 12, Endangered Rescue 2, Journey to Tir na nOg 56:01 - Above and Below: Haunted 56:20 - The Peak Team 57:17 - Our Advice for Surviving Gen Con Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

Tom Vasel and Joey Evans give tips for attending GENCON!

Tom Vasel, Zee Garcia, and Camilla Cleghorn take a look at the upcoming games from Gen Con 2025! They'll go through the BoardGameGeek Gen Con Preview as put together by W. Eric Martin here. This convention coverage is sponsored by Allplay and Incredible Dream.

Tom Vasel, Zee Garcia, and Camilla Cleghorn take a look at at hecka hoppin', helpful, and heroic games that start with the letter H.

Tom Vasel reviews 6 games in a rapid-fire manner!

Tom Vasel takes a look at games from 1, 5, 10, and 20 years ago.

It's time to recap our adventures at Dice Tower East 2025. We discuss the games we played and events we ran, and you also get to hear what Eric and Julie got up to when working at the Dice Tower Booth, which includes brainstorming ways to get Tom to remember the difference between Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:46 - We Didn't See Each Other 01:45 - Gen Con is Around The Corner 03:26 - Dice Tower East: New Space 05:40 - Eric and Julie: How Do You Spend Small Amounts of Free Time? 09:28 - Library Checkouts: My Father's Work, Hot Streak, Bomb Busters, So Clover, Cretaceous Rails, Fromage, River Valley Glassworks, Lord of the Rings Duel, Toy Battle, Castle Combo, Sky Team, SETI, Galactic Cruise 16:26 - Eric and Julie: Favorite Old Game To Teach? - Fearsome Floors, Ra 19:05 - Variety of Games Played: Space Base, Ready Set Bet, My Father's Work (again), Merchant of Venus, Cosmic Encounter 25:33 - Missing Deep Regrets 26:16 - Eric and Julie: Game To Make Tom Play? 28:34 - Events: Parsely, Andrew Bosley Can't Draw, The Hobby 33:28 - Dexterity and Pitchcar 35:51 - Eric and Julie: Helping Tom Remember 37:59 - Giant Jenga and Thank Yous 41:06 - Positano 44:32 - Diatoms 46:41 - Horrified: World of Monsters 50:24 - Peaks 53:02 - Radioactive Bees 55:50 - 13 Leaves Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

Tom Vasel, Zee Garcia, and Joey Evans take a look at their ten favorite things to do when at a board game convention! If you want to come to one of the Dice Tower Events we host, check out the LinkTree below to check them out.

Today, we discuss our recent travel adventures. Eric has returned from a Ninja Escort Mission and ran into gaming opportunites at every turn. And Tom and Julie have the full scoop on the 50th Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH. Then, we finish the show with a gathering of our latest Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:48 - Convention Season - Dice Tower East 01:53 - Playing Only Older Games 04:01 - What We're Doing at Dice Tower East: Parsely, Wits and Wagers 06:48 - Dice Tower Awards at Gen Con 08:11 - Eric's Ninja Escort Adventure 13:22 - Origins with Tom and Julie 14:32 - Origins: Special Events for 50th? 18:28 - Origins: Game Debuts and Exhibit Hall 28:31 - Origins: Board Room and Open Gaming 33:59 - Origins: Tom as Special Guest 35:28 - Origins: Julie's Adventures 38:06 - Origins: Lessons Learned 40:02 - TowerBrix 44:29 - Square One 48:57 - Apothebakery 53:48 - Kabob 57:42 - Orbit 58:59 - How Many What? Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

This time, Tom gives us an update on his replay of the Catan expansions before we take a big look at small games. What are the pros and cons of games that can fit in your pocket? Also, we share a new Tale of Horror, as well as our latest batch of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 01:03 - Summer: Origins, Dice Tower East, Dice Tower Cruise, Gen Con 05:03 - Catan Update and Chess 07:10 - Small Games 36:41 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 40:06 - Hot Streak 44:22 - Rhymes with Duck 47:08 - Lynx 51:11 - Endeavor: Deep Sea 54:51 - Fate of the Fellowship 58:21 - Tower Up Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

Tom, Julie, and Eric run through the nominees for the German Game of the Year awards before focusing on the episode's main topic: box covers. How does what you put on the front of the box attract a particular audience? We also have a tale of horror? as well as a question from the mailbag, and of course our usual assortment of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:50 - Summer is Here? 03:07 - Spiel des Jahres Nominees - Bomb Busters, Flip 7, Krackel Orakel 10:04 - Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominees - Endeavor: Deep Sea, Faraway, Looot 12:03 - Kinderspiel des Jahres Nominees - Cascadia Junior, Le Clan des Souris, Top die Torte 12:53 - Box Covers 31:32 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror? 39:12 - Question: Message to Past Self? 44:11 - Cretaceous Rails 47:59 - Hexpath: Detour Deluxe 50:32 - Fromage 53:44 - Wondrous Creatures 56:33 - Innovation Ultimate 59:46 - Ziggurat Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

This time, Tom gives us an audio tour of the new Dice Tower Studios in Ft. Myers, with tales to tell about the adventurous move. We present a Tale of Amazement and delve into the mailbag, and we close the show with our Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 01:09 - Moving to Ft. Myers 04:51 - The New Studio 23:04 - Tale of Amazement 28:55 - Question: What to do with a whiner? 34:16 - Linkx 37:18 - Primates 41:18 - Deep Regrets 46:33 - Cat Crimes 48:49 - The Ministry of Lost Things: Lint Condition 51:39 - Zenith Questions? Tales of Horror or Amazement? tom@dicetower.com