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Caylus Teaching Guide Caylus Teaching Guide (B&W) Also be sure to check out the “How to Win” Caylus Episode Released: May 10th, 2010         Game Description: The original worker placement game and the best.  No luck, just skill in this game as you compete against your opponents to collect resources and build buildings or build in the castle.  This game is a masterpiece. Original Show Notes: My love for this game caused the length for this to get out of hand because I had a lot I wanted to talk about! I start the episode with a segment trying to restore Caylus’ damaged reputation and explain why I think it is such a great game. I include a lot of beginning strategy throughout the explanation and provide some strategic path guides in the hamster. In the vegetables I give you some seed ideas on basic strategy for favors. In the musings I talk about a variety of Caylus-related topics, including a beginners guide to get started playing online at the great real time board game site BSW, at which Caylus is one of the many fantastic games. Component pictures on BGG

Released: April 26th, 2011 Original Show Notes: This is the first of a potential series of episodes moving beyond learning a game to Advanced Strategy. This podcast is intended for experienced players of the game looking to take their play to the next level.

Race for the Galaxy Teaching Guide Race for the Galaxy Teaching Guide B&W Released: April 12th, 2011         Game Description: Space. The Final Frontier. Our quest: to bravely go where no card game has gone before. (besides San Juan, but that doesn’t really count cause it was sort of designed at the same time and really well this game is in space so it’s totally different.) Learn to play and teach this excellent card game that takes the ideas innovated in the great game Puerto Rico and takes them into the future! (the future in this case being 2007) Components Pictures on BGG

Shogun Teaching Guide Shogun Teaching Guide B&W Released: March 21st, 2011         Game Description: In this episode we get into the exciting Japanese themed game Shogun. This unique game combines some wonderful mechanics with a well integrated theme for a great experience. You will have a great time attempting to become the next SHOGUN!!! Component Pictures on BGG

Hansa Teutonica Teaching Guide Hansa Teutonica Teaching Guide B&W Released: February 6th, 2011         Game Description: A wonderfully simple quick and exciting game.  Players are competing to claim routes as traders in Germany.  They claim routes to earn special abilities and score victory points.  The theme is pretty unnecessary but the game play is exquisite. Original Show Notes: It’s a request episode, Hansa Teutonica. This is one of the best games to come out in the last couple of years. So download this and learn it today. Expect your typical amount of “How to Play” goofiness, also stay tuned for some exciting news regarding this podcast and more podcasting goodness! . Thanks to Mike Amos for donating this game to make this episode possible. This episode is also available in a full video version thanks to the work of Randall Rasmussen.   Component Pictures on BGG

Released: January 2nd, 2011 Original Show Notes: So here is an extended musings to go along with Episode #24 on the evolution of board game mechanics. Fortunately I had the chance to discuss this with Gametek’s Geoff Engelstein. We have about a 40 minute discussion that ranges from the evolution of recent mechanics, to obsolescence of games to the future of board games. I hope you enjoy it. Special Note: This episode was the birth of what was to become the spin-off podcast “Ludology.”  We had so much fun doing this talk together that we thought we could develop a series of analytical game discussions into a regular podcast.  The show has developed a loyal following with nearly 20 episodes. If you like this episode be sure to check out “Ludology” at www.ludology.net

Dominant Species Teaching Guide Dominant Species Teaching Guide B&W Released: January 2nd, 2011         Game Description: This worker placement game takes you through the evolution of a species.  You will be forced to adapt both your species and you can affect your environment in order to become THE dominant species. Original Show Notes: Try out the latest evolution in worker placement games, Dominant Species. This is my favorite game of 2010, and in my top ten games of all time. It contains all the things I love in my games, difficult decisions, an integrated theme and a great game experience. Learn to play it from this episode. Also be sure to check out the interview that was paired with this episode.  A discussion on the evolution of game mechanics with Geoff Engelstein.  This is the discussion that started its own podcast the Ludology podcast with Geoff and Myself. Component Pictures on BGG

Released: December 11th, 2010 Show Description: Today you are in for a special episode. I count down my personal favorite fifty games of all time as of 2010. I give a brief description of each game, and describe why it made the list. You can view or print the list here; How to Play’s Top 50 games as of 2010

Notre Dame Teaching Guide Notre Dame Teaching Guide B&W Released: November 22nd, 2010         Game Description: This unique game is all about resource management.  You can never run out of money or cubes, you must always fight off the rat threat and somehow in between find a way to score points. Original Show Notes: I’m back. This time I cover a favorite from 2007, Stefan Feld’s Notre Dame. If you have yet to play this one you are missing out on a gem, quick to pick up, moderate play time, but with a ton of strategy and tension. Great Fun! In the musings I discuss a new found disease in the gamer community and as a bonus give you an overview of some of my favorites of Stefan Feld’s other games. Component pictures on BGG

Khronos Teaching Guide Khronos Teaching Guide B&W Released: October 20th, 2010         Game Description: This game uses a very fun theme of time travel in which players are playing tiles on three different time periods of boards and if you play in an earlier time period it appears in the future.  Very cool but the rules are a bit difficult to work through. Original Show Notes: Ready for some time travelin’ fun? This game is underappreciated, most people dont like it or haven’t played it because they tried to read the rules and their brain began to melt. How to Play to the Rescue! Let me decipher this clever time traveling tile placement game to you. This game offers a really fun implementation of the theme of time travel within a strategy game, give it a shot. In this episode’s musings I discuss bad rulebooks and my 3 pet peeves of such rulebooks. Component Pictures on BGG

Colosseum Teaching Guide Colosseum Teaching Guide B&W Released: October 1st, 2010         Game Description: This is one of my favorite mid-weight games.  This game is about collecting various assets such as gladiators, musicians and scenery to put on shows in your own roman colosseum.  It has a lot of interactive elements and will keep you engaged the whole time. Original Show Notes: It’s great to be back. This one has been asked for multiple times, and it happens to be one of my favorite games, Colosseum. We get back to business with a good old fashioned Euro Game. In this episode I will explain to you how to put on the greatest spectacle Rome has ever seen. In the musings I will share a story about outside relationships being brought into games and compare Colosseum to Princes of Florence. Component Pictures on BGG

Magic Realm Teaching Guide Magic Realm Teaching Guide B&W Released: September 2nd, 2010         Game Description: Magic Realm is an older game that attempted to recreate the classic fantasy roleplaying game experience and recreate it as a boardgame.  In order to do so the designer included a LOT of mechanics, in order to recreate as much of the experience as possible. Original Show Notes: It is finished. Come explore Magic Realm, THE MOST COMPLICATED BOARD GAME OF ALL TIME. This 1978 classic adventure fantasy game has long been deemed unapproachable by most, hopefully this episode can change that. In this episode I will give you a basic walk through of playing the most basic version of the game. And the best part is you can play along with me using the Robin Warren’s fantastic computer version of the game RealmSpeak. (available at www.realmspeak.dewkid.com) I will help you through the basics of your first few games, teaching you the goals of the game, the basic steps of a turn and the combat system. In no time you will be able to dive in deeper with the other 15 characters, exploring the magic system, hiring the native populations and more. Enjoy exploring the Magic Realm. Component Pictures on BGG

Released: August 14th, 2010 Show Description: This episode hopes to inspire you to give painting miniatures a try. I start with a motivational speech and then launch into equipment you need to paint your game pieces. I follow that with a brief description of the basics of painting miniatures and include a few of the most popular techniques. A few years ago I taught myself to paint game pieces. It’s not the best paint jobs you will ever see but it just goes to show you that any average joe with a bit of time and effort, can paint a pretty decent set of game pieces. Ryan’s Painting Projects Shadows Over Camelot This was our first project. My wife helped me put together this set and I am happy with how it turned out. From this…   To This…         Robo Rally Next were these cute robots, pewter version not the plastic From this… To This…     Empire Builder Time for some trains for Crayon Rails. (Note the R for ryan and KLS for my wife ) From this… To This… Age of Empires These pieces are too hard to tell apart, needs a paint job. Too many pieces? How about the “dip method.” From this… To This…       Heroquest Uh Oh running out of stuff to paint.. How about this game from my childhood. From this…                 To This…             The World Cup Game From this… To This…

Shadows Over Camelot Teaching Guide Shadows Over Camelot Teaching Guide B&W Be sure to check out the episode on Painting Miniatures here to learn how to make your mini’s beautiful.  Like This… Released: August 13th, 2010         Game Description: Shadows over Camelot is a cooperative game about saving Camelot by finishing quests.  You will be playing against the game and perhaps there will be a secret traitor among you. Original Show Notes: From a close vote at the guild today’s chosen episode is Shadows over Camelot. Gasp! A cooperative thematic experience game, not your typical HTP material! I talk about making this experience a great one. I also discussing using the Teach as You Go technique. A technique that works well with this game particularly and have a short discussion on other similar cooperative games. Component Pictures on BGG

Alhambra Teaching Guide Alhambra Teaching Guide B&W Released: August 4th, 2010         Game Description: Today we cover a fabulous gateway game, Alhambra. This is a great midweight game to bring out with family or friends. This game is a clever mix of set collection and tile placement with the theme of building the Alhambra. In the musings I discuss the topic of attempting to turn your family or friends into gamers, can it be done and how? I also go over the other games in the Alhambra line and revisit my occasional tendencies towards silliness. I hope you enjoy. Component Pictures on BGG