The Spiel

Backpack booty. From pill bugs and puzzles to a dice rodeo, we review half a dozen games small enough to travel but big enough to provide hours of fun. Titles include: Samsara, Assel Schlamassel, El Gaucho., Romans Go Home, Col-Or-Form and Diamonds.

We conclude our Essen coverage with our impressions of the 2014 game fair and give a general accounting of our grand European adventure.

Wolf Wittenstein chats about Grog Island, a dice driven auction game about retired pirates investing their loot in new ventures, like peg-leg shops and pubs. We also learn about the new Port expansion for Village.

Dan Yarrington chats about the European release of three titles: Wok Star, Dreaming Spires and Alien Frontiers. We also discuss the importance of Essen for meetings to broker deals with new designers, publishers and international printing partners.

Scott D'Agostino stops by with a giant Borg cube to chat about Star Trek Attack Wing. We avoid assimilation long enough to get the latest on Marvel Dicemasters, including the release of Uncanny X-Men, and D and D Attack Wing.

Designer Hisashi Hayashi and translator Simon Lundstrom chat about two games: Rolling Japan and See Know Buzz. We also discuss gaming culture in Japan and the amazing number of self published games produced by Japanese game designers.

Italian designers Marco Canetta and Stefania Niccolini discuss ZhanGuo. Players use cards to unify the Warring States in ancient China. Build the Great Wall, the Terracotta soldiers and keep the populace from revolt in order to gain the Emperor's favor.

German designer Thomas Weber discusses Samsara (a Sanskrit word meaning the Wheel of Life). Samsara is an abstract game where players manipulate marbles along two circular tracks using dice to reach a target area.

Didier Dincher from French publisher Capsicum Games chats about Speakeasy, a modern adaptation of the classic Chinese game Lu Zhan Qi. This abstract game of bluff, memory and deduction was the inspiration for the mass market classic Stratego.

Agnieszka Kopera discusses the latest title from Romanian publisher NSKN: Versailles. Players take on the roles of architects and designers, working to build and decorate the gardens and palace of Versailles while competing for the favor of the King.

Andreas Preiss discusses Beasty Bar and Mangrovia. Beasty Bar is a funny card card game about animals jockeying to get into an exclusive night club. Mangrovia is a action selection game where players build huts in order to become chief of the village.

Stephanie Schulz chats about Pints of Blood - a semi-coop zombie game set in a pub, Carnac - an abstract game about placing or tipping pieces, and 5 Minutes - a party game where players complete puzzles on a personal timer.

Martin Wallace discusses Mythotopia and Onward to Venus. Mythotopia is a 4-player deck-building board game in a fantasy setting. Onward to Venus is a retro scifi game of imperialism based on Greg Broadmore's graphic novels.

First, Stephen Buonocore and Gil D'Orey discuss their partnership bringing Panamax to Europe and the US. Then Mike Fitzgerald joins us to discuss Diamonds, a new twist on classic card games, plus a look back at Mike's storied career in game design.

Portuguese publisher/designer Gil D'Orey and designers Nuno Bizarro Sentiero and Paulo Soledade chat about the development process behind Panamax, a dice driven economic game that celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal.