At The Table with The Dice Tower - Mission: Middle School
The Dice Tower
This time, Eric is looking for advice from Julie and Tom about running a game night at his son's Middle School. How deep a hole has he dug for himself? Plus, a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, a question from the Listener Mailbag, and a bouquet of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 01:47 - Dice Tower Winter Spectacular 02:24 - Tom's Anniversary Cruise, Audiobooks, and Subtitles 03:52 - 2025 Gamefound Campaign 04:27 - Eric's Middle School Game Night 23:58 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 28:28 - Listener Question: Our Changing Review Perspectives 31:11 - I Am Done (Quick Mention) 37:56 - Point of View...
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At The Table with The Dice Tower - Delicious Cardboard
The Dice Tower
Tom, Julie, and Eric share some Thanksgiving recipes before launching into a discussion of how designers tackle the theme of cooking in games. We have a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror that pushes our Angry Button, and we close the show with a Thorn-heavy set of games played. 00:57 - Announcements: Dice Tower East, West, and Cruise 2026 02:22 - Thanksgiving Recipes 05:17 - Cooking Games 07:41 - Cooking: Press Your Luck (Quacks of Quedlinburg, Vegetable Stock) 09:55 - Cooking: Spatial Games (License to Grill) 12:52 - Cooking: Dexterity (A La Carte, Piazza Rabazza) 16:28 - Cooking: Real Time (Wok...
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At The Table with The Dice Tower - Trendy
The Dice Tower
Tom, Julie, and Eric discuss some Thanksgiving plans before reacting to some recent manufacturing trends in the boardgame industry, from environmentally friendly choices, to the insistance that every game have a custom insert. Our Tale of Boardgaming Horror is a case of mistaken identity, and we close the show with some Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 01:02 - Shipping in the Game Box 01:45 - Thanksgiving 03:22 - PAX Unplugged and Christmas Videos 04:03 - All the Kickstarters are Delivering At Once 05:53 - Production Trends: Giant Rulebooks 07:33 - Self-Assembled Multi-Layered Boards 11:08 -...
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At The Table with The Dice Tower - Future Proof
The Dice Tower
This time, Tom looks forward to the CMON Expo, while Eric and Julie talk about their plans for PAX Unplugged. We discuss best practices for publishers when they know an expansion is coming. We share a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and close the show with a Spooky set of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:58 - Announcements: Dice Tower West, PAX Unplugged 02:55 - Tom at CMON Expo 03:52 - Planning for Expansions 32:00 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 40:28 - Flashback: Lucy 44:08 - Ghosts Can't Draw 48:26 - Cat Horror Costumes 53:27 - Vampire Nights 58:06 - The Thing 1:02:58 - 8-Legged Peacock
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At The Table with The Dice Tower - Best and Wurst of Essen 2024
The Dice Tower
Tom and Julie are back from Germany with stories to tell. We talk about the crowds, events, snacks, and games of Spiel before shuffling through a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror. And we close the show with some of our latest Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 01:02 - Back-to-Back WSBG and Spiel 06:10 - Crowds at Spiel 11:23 - Tom and Julie Together (Briefly) 13:33 - New Management Changes 17:28 - First Look Area 21:34 - Games at the Fair 25:24 - Dice and Mystics Meetup 27:07 - Punching Games 27:34 - Hottest Designer and Hot Games 28:47 - Small Games 30:09 - Accessories and Art 31:20 - Snack Draft...
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At The Table with The Dice Tower - Essen Anticipation 2024
The Dice Tower
It's our Essen Preview show for 2024! This time, we look at the various games we're most excited to check out at Spiel in Essen. And when we're done with that, we dash through our Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:49 - Asking to Bring Something Back 02:16 - Tabletop Together and BGG's Preview List 03:16 - Priorities 08:58 - Where Will We Be? 12:09 - 7 Empires 12:50 - 365 Adventures 14:01 - Ada's Library 14:50 - Apiary: Expanding the Hive 15:26 - Backstories: Alone Under the Ice 16:23 - Bone Wars 18:16 - Cat Horror Costume 19:11 - Chants for the Old Ones 20:00 - Civolution 21:03 - Conservas...
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At The Table with The Dice Tower - Fit To Print
The Dice Tower
This time, Tom, Julie, and Eric tackle the world of print boardgame journalism by listing their favorite gaming magazines, past and present. Our new Tale of Horror only tells half of the story, and we close the show with some Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 01:10 - Announcements: World Series of Boardgaming and Spiel 02:39 - What Was Our First Podcast? 04:39 - Boardgame Magazines: Still a Thing? 06:24 - Is Print Superior? 09:53 - Early Titles: Wargaming, White Dwarf, The General 12:35 - GAMES Magazine 13:04 - Spielbox 13:26 - Game Trade Magazine 16:25 - Knucklebones 17:10 - Promos in Magazines...
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At The Table with The Dice Tower - Table For Three
The Dice Tower
Tom and Eric learn that they've known Julie longer than they remember. Then, we discuss the ways local game stores recoup the cost of the play space they provide. We delve into a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and we close the show with our latest Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:44 - Announcements: Dice Tower West 03:06 - Tom, Julie, and Eric's First Meeting 03:56 - Table Space at Your Local Store 27:06 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 36:20 - King of Tokyo Duel 40:07 - Spotlight 43:34 - Vampire Village 47:20 - Lure 49:05 - HiFi 51:41 - Gardlings
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At The Table with The Dice Tower - Storm Chasers
The Dice Tower
Tom, Julie, and Eric remember their various Gen Con adventures, as well as looking back at some recent Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 01:00 - Announcements: Dice Tower West, Dice Tower District 02:43 - Gen Con - Keeping Your Voice vs. Getting Sick 04:04 - Gen Con - Attendence and Crowds 06:34 - Gen Con - Sprawling Events 09:58 - Gen Con - Games at the Zoo? 12:05 - Gen Con - Small Vendor Hallway 14:42 - Gen Con - Artwork and Plushies and Pins 19:03 - Gen Con - Too Many Things to Do 21:59 - Gen Con - Awards Show 24:58 - Gen Con - Julie's Events 30:32 - Gen Con - Tom's Panel 31:25 - Gen Con -...
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At The Table with The Dice Tower - Playin' the Classics
The Dice Tower
Tom, Julie, and Eric start looking forward to their next convention adventures now that Gen Con is done (though, since we're recording before Gen Con, we can't discuss anything that happened there just yet). We focus on the joy of playing older games, especially with players who haven't experienced them before. We delve into the Tale of Horror vault, as well as answer a listener question about how to pick what we play, and what to do when we choose poorly. Finally, we close the show with Roses, Thorns, Hula Hoops, and Advice for Eric. 00:48 - News and Announcements - Dice Tower West and...
info_outlineThis time, Tom, Julie, and Eric discuss the pitfalls of April Fools gags before highlighting the highs and lows of bargain hunting. We confront a listener-submitted dilemma from the mailbag, and we share some Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.
00:45 - Cruise Hype and an Unexpected Musical Rant
02:21 - April Fools Annoyance
12:12 - Bargain Hunting
29:25 - Question: Avoid the Game or the Person?
36:05 - Spark Riders 3000
42:36 - Primal: The Awakening
45:56 - Blueprints
48:30 - Cryptid Cafe
50:49 - Eppi
57:36 - Flashback: Zombie Kids