At The Table with The Dice Tower - Prepping for Gen Con 2026
Release Date: 07/28/2026
At The Table with The Dice Tower - Prepping for Gen Con 2026
The Dice Tower
This time, we're poised for Gen Con 2026 and making plans. Where will we be? What games do we want? What games do others want? Who is good at thumbs? All will be answered along with a sprinkling of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:48 - Busiest Time of the Year 02:01 - Where Can We Be Found? - Booth 249 04:09 - New at Cephalofair - Buttons and Bugs Expansion 06:07 - Getting Steps In 07:19 - Game Bag Giveaway 07:55 - The Dice Tower Awards 09:11 - The Dwarves of Aquilon 10:23 - Meet the Final Girls - Julie on Friday Morning 10:47 - Eric's Gen Con Releases: Gudnak Means War, Mountain Goats Legacy...
info_outline
At The Table with The Dice Tower - Inflatable Ice
The Dice Tower
The team is back from Dice Tower East with stories to tell. What games were taught? What events ran well? What did Eric find in the library? Plus, we have a Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and a particularly pointy collection of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:00 - Introduction 00:46 - Games That Could Have Been Played at East 03:08 - Unloading from Dice Tower East 03:43 - Dice Tower East: General Thoughts 04:51 - Looming Gen Con 07:22 - DTE: Crowd Size 09:04 - DTE: The Top 10 10:09 - DTE: Number of Games Played 13:05 - DTE: Changes to the Library 16:55 - DTE: Eric Finds a Playmat 20:31 - DTE:...
info_outline
At The Table with The Dice Tower - Columbus Days
The Dice Tower
Julie recounts her adventures at Origins 2026 before we delve into questions about Authenticity of Theme, Fan Interactions, and Teaching Race for the Galaxy. And of course, we close the show with a healthy dose of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:00 - Intro 00:45 - Middle of the Year 03:59 - Last Minute Dice Tower East 04:32 - Julie at Origins 30:26 - Question: Teaching Race for the Galaxy 33:58 - Question: Taking You Out of The Theme 37:11 - Question: Fan Interactions 43:49 - Shapely 46:59 - Revisiting Mice and Mystics 49:55 - Soothsayers 52:25 - The Friday Fright 55:25 - Flip Voyage 58:18 -...
info_outline
At The Table with The Dice Tower - Parallel Design
The Dice Tower
Tom tells us about his adventures in The Philippines before we spark some discussion from a Tale of Boardgaming Horror: What do you do when you learn your game design is similar to a game that already exists? Plus, we dive into the bag of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops and pull out some winners. 00:00 - Introduction 00:51 - Senior Slacking Revisited 02:05 - Tom's Journey - Travel Woes 04:07 - All aBOARD EXPO 18:35 - Focusing on Dice Tower East 19:36 - Language Issues 20:19 - Discussion of Horror: Parallel Game Design 35:16 - Grow Sky 38:51 - Deep Sea Divers of Jeju 42:21 - Flamenco 47:15 -...
info_outline
At The Table with The Dice Tower - Play The Book!
The Dice Tower
Tom is out, so Eric and Julie discuss books that have become games: from public domain classics to the latest multi-million dollar bestseller tie-in. Plus, we approach our latest collection of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:00 - Introduction 00:48 - Where's Tom? 01:38 - Senior Slacking 04:18 - Dice Tower Events: East and Cruise 05:01 - Books Into Boardgames 46:27 - Winter Rabbit 56:08 - Seas of Strife 58:50 - Winnie the Pooh Serious Detective 1:05:34 - Pandemic Rising Tide -- Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com
info_outline
At The Table with The Dice Tower - Legacy Schmegacy
The Dice Tower
This time, we take a look at Legacy games, and the ways players modify them in order to be less like a legacy game. But is something lost in the translation? Plus, we have a Tale of Horror, Roses, Thorns, and Hoops, and Tom's still grumpy about Stephen Sondheim. 00:00 - Intro 00:50 - Broadway 01:39 - Maycember 02:30 - Summer Cons: Dice Tower East, Gen Con (Booth #249), Dice Tower Cruise 04:38 - Small Games, Little Joy 05:39 - Legacy Games 30:22 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 35:54 - Terraria 43:03 - The Queen's Dilemma 49:53 - Sanctuary 55:15 - The Case of the Curiously Quiet Theater 58:20 -...
info_outline
At The Table with The Dice Tower - Hype It Up
The Dice Tower
Julie shares more news about her new position, after which we discuss the finer points of Hype. How does one manage excitement about a product when it's not necessarily playable yet? Then, we have both a question from the mailbag and a Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and we close the show with some new Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:00 - Introduction 01:18 - Summer Approaching - Hot Games at Dice Tower East 03:00 - Gamefound Pledge Manager - 03:55 - Julie's News Continued 06:25 - Hype 28:57 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 34:14 - Question: Card Sizes 37:56 - The Emerald Flame 42:28 - Rollie 46:27...
info_outline
At The Table with The Dice Tower - To Go Order
The Dice Tower
This time, Julie has some news, Tom's excited for Summer, and Eric wants to play games on vacation. We discuss the various games that live in our bags, just in case there's a chance to play them. Plus, we have a new Tale of Boardgaming Horror, and a heaping helping of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:50 - Spring and The Christmas of Boardgames 01:51 - Dice Tower East and Library Changes 03:04 - Cruise is Live 03:42 - A Mythical Game Bag 05:09 - Julie's Big News 06:45 - Traveling With Games - Game Bags 09:02 - Wandering Merchants at Gen Con 10:15 - Stashing Games In Non-Gaming Bags 13:51 - Why...
info_outline
At The Table with The Dice Tower - Julie and The Giant Teach
The Dice Tower
This time, Tom crows about another victory for Vasel's Law with the announcement of The King's Gambit. Then, Julie pens her own Tale of Boardgaming Horror (but she makes Eric read it), and we move on to a field of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:47 - Back from Dice Tower West 02:20 - Dice Tower East and Cruise 06:37 - The King's Gambit and Vasel's Law 26:57 - Julie's Tale of Boardgaming Horror 37:43 - Pirate Borg 43:06 - Finspan 45:52 - First Giants 49:41 - Art Decko 52:49 - The Winds of Numa Sera 57:12 - Catan on the Road Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com
info_outline
At The Table with The Dice Tower - Dice Tower West 2026
The Dice Tower
On this episode, Tom, Julie and Eric are live at Dice Tower West in Las Vegas taking questions from the audience and talking about the games they've played (with a brief Tom-less interlude from Eric and Julie). 01:01 - Dice Tower West Library and Most Played 03:59 - Julie in Demoville and Escape Rooms 06:06 - Julie Came With a List 08:24 - Star Wars: Battle of Hoth 09:28 - Tea Garden 11:01 - Orloj: The Prague Astronomical Clock 12:55 - Feierabend 15:21 - Merchant of Venus #100 16:47 - Fathom 18:38 - Shapely 21:03 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror 28:28 - Eric and Julie Interlude 29:10 - E&J:...
info_outlineThis time, we're poised for Gen Con 2026 and making plans. Where will we be? What games do we want? What games do others want? Who is good at thumbs? All will be answered along with a sprinkling of Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops.
00:48 - Busiest Time of the Year
02:01 - Where Can We Be Found? - Booth 249
04:09 - New at Cephalofair - Buttons and Bugs Expansion
06:07 - Getting Steps In
07:19 - Game Bag Giveaway
07:55 - The Dice Tower Awards
09:11 - The Dwarves of Aquilon
10:23 - Meet the Final Girls - Julie on Friday Morning
10:47 - Eric's Gen Con Releases: Gudnak Means War, Mountain Goats Legacy
11:50 - Julie's Releases: Tales of Myth and Legend, Coloring Book
13:02 - BGG Preview List and the Nature of Thumbs
13:58 - Entropy
14:53 - Jason and the Argonauts
16:01 - Container
16:33 - Enchanted Ivy
17:18 - Mountain Goats Legacy
18:30 - Hercules and the 12 Labors
18:43 - Jibber Jabble
19:25 - High Society and 3 Witches
19:56 - Gruntz
20:12 - Torchlit
20:29 - French Toast
21:37 - Piñatas
22:06 - Kokeshi
23:08 - Book Club
24:28 - Fiction: Banned Books
25:07 - Golden Goal
25:24 - Under the Leaves
26:06 - Movie Night
26:17 - Stonk Market
26:26 - Triangulation
27:04 - Phantom Ink and Wordsy
27:21 - Endangered Australia
27:37 - The Game Makers
28:58 - Night at the Zoo
29:54 - Lairs
30:17 - Drillers and Lost Ruins of Arnak: Surprise Shipment
31:47 - Holliday Hijinks Friday Fright and More
32:12 - Orloj: The Prague Astronomical Clock
32:32 - Cascadia Alpine Lakes
33:02 - Nippon
33:49 - Wingspan Pocket
34:30 - The Old King's Crown
34:37 - Railway Boom
36:00 - Glasgow Train Robbery
36:16 - Tag Team: Arthur's Legacy
37:25 - Three Sisters Harvest Edition
37:53 - Forage
39:12 - SETI: Space Agencies, Forest Shuffle: Smoky Mountains, and Rock Hard 1977: Ear Candy
39:42 - Kingdom Crossing
40:19 - Shackleton Base: Below. Within. Above. and Fliptoons Season 2
40:54 - Moytura
41:01 - Tenby
41:20 - Jisogi: Anime Studio Tycoon
42:02 - Faraway: Under Starry Skies and Castle Combo: Out of the Oubliette
42:10 - Gold Country
42:52 - Mythologies
43:11 - Scythe: Duel of Meloch
44:13 - Friendly Fishing
45:50 - Codenames: Critical Role Adventures
46:25 - Trick to the Future
46:45 - Chris Couch Games: Garden Clubs
47:23 - Crime Scene Tamperer
47:52 - Games Played in the Booth
49:31 - Container (Eric)
53:33 - Cthulhu: Death May Die (Julie)
57:55 - Falling (Tom and Julie)
1:02:17 - Stuff to Watch if You Can't Come to Gen Con
Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com