Games are global. From France and Belgium to Korea and Mongolia and back, all at one convention. We conclude our GenCon coverage with a dozen interviews including a chat with the great designer, Tom Wham.

The best four days in gaming. We give you a view from the trade show floor with a dozen interviews featuring publishers, designers and collectors.

Forget Picasso. Bring on the dice! We roll through Asteroyds, winding toward three other titles, obscure and sublime, that feature 'dem bones.

Match-Up Puzzle by Stephen Conway & David Coleson. Match each of 40 cards with its correct title. Solve the puzzle and you could win a free game!

Con-versations. We take you on an extended tour of the trade show floor with 19 interviews, featuring publishers and designers big and small.

There can be only one. We review A la Carte and Fresco, the final two nominees for the Spiel des Jahres (German Game of the Year) and predict the winner before the official selection.

The Prize. Movies have the Oscars. Games have the Spiel des Jahres (German Game of the Year). We play and review Dixit, Identik, and Roll Through the Ages - three of five nominees - in an effort to predict the winner later this month.

Smoke monsters need not apply. We assemble a team to hunt mystical treasures in Forbidden Island and flip medieval coins to construct castles and cathedrals in Builder's Duel.

All in favor, say Y. From the temples of Assyria to the pachyderms of Bombay, we review two titles from publisher Ystari Games.

Like peas and carrots. We serve up your recommended daily allowance of games featuring fruits and veggies including: Fruit Fair, a la Carte, and a Hoosier classic.

100 Spiel-related trivia questions written by listener David Schuth. Solve the puzzle, send us the answer.

Dice. Tiles. Cards. We celebrate hitting triple digits with 3 reviews that fit our slogan, including an in-depth look at Macao.

Tricks are treats. We explore the history and evolution of trick and trump games from Pinochle to modern titles like Triumvirate, Sticheln and Die Sieben Siegel.

Bite size. Nine full reviews of games you can play in 5-40 minutes. Titles include: Bezzerwizzer, Gracias, Triviathon, Sushi Roll, Word of the Street, Nanuk, 7 Ate 9, Super Circles, and Chaos Marauders.

To arms! Wargames with legs. We review three simple, but very strategic titles enjoyable by non-wargamers, including an in-depth look at Hammer of the Scots.

Going twice, Sold! We push up the bid to play two unusual auction games from the pioneer prairies in Homesteaders to the blistering kitchens of Restaurant Row.

Elementary! We don our deerstalkers and our treasure hunting boots, playing Tobago and Epäillyt, two deductive reasoning games.

Tome sweet tome. We travel the lands of Valdora, a board game where the roads are filled with gems and patrons and the cities guard giant wooden books.

Quote Fall Puzzle by David Coleson. Solve the puzzle, send us the answer. Correct entries could win a Game Goody Bag from Essen!

Holy hand grenades. We play Colonia, a game about collecting dusty old bones and shiny baubles to push medieval merchants to fame and fortune.

Geeks in the heart of Texas. We report back from BGG Con in Dallas with an in-depth look at The Adventurers, full details on the Spiel-a-thon, and mini-reviews of 10 different titles.

A package deal. We kick start this holiday season with over 50 game suggestions in dozens of categories and for budgets of all sizes.

The jingle, the rumble, and the roar. We ride the rails touring the world of train games from simple to sublime, including an in-depth review of the modern classic: Age of Steam.

No strings attached. The gloves come off when we fight as storybook characters in Scary Tales and weasel our way to power and influence in Revolution.

Size doesn't matter. For us, it's all about fun. From games made at the kitchen table to up-and-coming entrepreneurs, we play Kachina and The Great Potlatch, two recent titles from publishers Small Box and Bucephalus Games.

Tumble along with the tumblin' tumble-cubes. We dive into Dave's greatest passion in games: dice! We shake our way from the wild West to ancient Egypt, reviewing Dice Town and Ra: the Dice Game.

A gaited community. From dice mayhem at the horse track to flower trading that would make day traders blush, we look at Long Shot and Tulipmania 1637.

This is how we roll. We conclude our con coverage with 9 interviews, including two amazing dice men: Col. Louis Zocchi and Kevin Cook, owner of the world's largest dice collection.

House call. As the Gods of Geekery descend on Indianapolis for Gen Con, we score interviews with game publishers large and small, including a chat with one of the world's most prolific and respected game designers, Dr. Reiner Knizia.

Get set... Go! We tackle two race games with interesting twists: hiking for lost gold on a 3-D board in Timber Tom and a mad grab for fuel tanks in Hurry 'Cup!

Match-Up Puzzle by Stephen Conway & David Coleson. Solve the puzzle, send us the answer. Correct entries could win a free game!

Get your lanyard and badge ready. We're off to Columbus Ohio for Origins Game Fair. Our tour of the exhibit hall leads us to fourteen interviews with game publishers large and small.

Decision time. Five nominees, four weeks, one chance to predict the winner. We review and discuss Fauna and Finca, the final two games in contention for the prestigious Spiel des Jahres award.

Jury's out. Five nominees, four weeks, one chance to predict the winner. We review and discuss Dominion, FITS and Pandemic, three games in contention for the prestigious Spiel des Jahres award.

Say goodbye, Candyland. No need to cringe on family game night. We review a slew of games aimed at kids that adults will enjoy, too, including Kayak Chaos and Duck! Duck! Go!

These games have potential, literally. If there's a modern rival to chess, it's the Gipf Project. In this mega-episode, we play Ultimate Gipf and the final game in the series, Tzaar.

Letter perfect. We build ancient monuments and wonders to impress the King in Utopia and spell our way Boggle-style through hedge rows in Amuse Amaze.

An offer you can't refuse. We play by mob rule this week, packing heat and hijacking hooch with two gangster themed games: Chicago Poker and Family Business.

Ground Control to Major Tom. We take to the stars to haul freight for The Man in Galaxy Trucker and then battle through a collapsing star to become the Galactic Emperor.

Board games are team sports, too. There are plagues to fight and a village to defend! We dive into Pandemic and Ghost Stories, two in the latest wave of co-op "us vs. the world" games.

Avoid the Lulo List. More games inspired by the Spanish speaking world. We duel for glory in Toledo and angle for rum and power in Cuba. Plus two classic card games little known to gringos.

No pasarán! From building towers of people in Catalonia to manning the barricades in Madrid, we play España 1936 and Castellers, two games from Spanish publisher Devir.

The alphabet of giants. We shake the buildings from our sleeves by playing Metropolys and Manhattan, two simple, elegant games about skyscrapers.

Laddergram puzzle created by David Coleson. Print, solve, send us the answer. Correct entries could win a free game!

Puzzle primer. We explore a new trend: the convergence between puzzles and games. We review six different titles including On the Dot, three forms of Ubongo, Code Omega and Santy Anno.

Itadakimasu! With chopsticks in hand and sake cups full, we dig into Wasabi, a tile laying game between rival sushi chefs. Dave also reports from the Obsessive Collector's Desk on card and dice organization.

We got game. Lots of 'em. With over 50 gift suggestions in dozens of categories, you're sure to find a great game for almost everyone on your list.

Schwing! With family gatherings just around the corner, we try out Good Question and Say Anything, two new party games with wild questions and hilarious answers.

I am not a crook... or a jelly donut. But if I play my cards right, I could end up President of the United States! We play 1960: Making of the President, a board game that simulates the contentious election campaign between Richard Nixon and JFK.

If the apocalypse comes, beep me. First we take a trip to Colonial America to battle classic horror movie villains in A Touch of Evil. Then we enroll at Sunnydale High and try to dust The Master playing Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

The voice of the people is the voice of games. Populism rules the day. We pander to the Roman public for seats on the council in Municipium and follow up with Gridstones and Gubs, two titles by new and independent game designers.

Volcanos and snake-haired gods. We build towers and temples on a fiery island in Taluva and guide ancient Etruscan oracles to a sacred altar in Tuchulcha, a wacky Parcheesi variant.

Dirigibles by gaslight. We race to build the Hindenburg wiith dice playing Airships and take turns tracking down Jack the Ripper or plotting his escape in Mr. Jack.

Please, sir, may I have some more? The second half of our convention coverage features nine interviews about new games from the blasphemous to the sublime. We wander from ancient Rome and Troy to the gritty tech-noir streets of Murder City.

Spiel on! The greatest four days in gaming... right in our back yard. In addition to interviews and reports from the Spiel-a-thon, we invite three other Spielers to a round table discussion about the convention.

Mordor or bust! Each year we allow our listeners to program every segment of one show. This year's episode features an in-depth look at War of the Ring, a strategy board game pitting two players in a struggle to rewrite the history of Middle Earth.

Crossword puzzle created by David Coleson.

It's Convention season. That means we dive into the trade shows to bring you the latest. We have 15 interviews covering no less than 30 games! From party games to war games and everything in between, I bet there's a title that'll catch your attention.

I'd like to thank the Academy. Part 2 of our special Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year), coverage. We play all five nominees and try to predict the winner.

Envelope, please. In anticipation of the Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year), one of the most prestigious awards in the board game world, we play all five nominees and try to predict the winner.

A new feature for The Spiel! Print and play puzzles. First up, a word search.

Timber! A tree falls on our padded cel, so the next full episode will be in two weeks. We discuss our upcoming summer schedule, including the Spiel des Jahres spectacular, Origins, Gen Con, and Listener's Choice shows.

Gone fishin'. The bait: wooden penguins and little rubber worms. We strike bargains with talking fish and dive under the ice looking for the big catch playing If Wishes Were Fishes and Hey! That's My Fish!

Eight quickies. Whether you need a game for a lunch break at work or to play with your kids for half an hour, it's good to have some filler games in your bag of tricks. We reach into our bag give you the scoop on eight titles, each reviewed in 5-7 minutes

Stand down from DEFCON 2! We rewrite history, replaying the Cold War not once, but twice in this superpower sized episode. We tackle Twilight Struggle and Cold War: CIA v KGB.

Break out your nine iron and flibberty-gibbets. The Spiel turns two! We take on Coppertwaddle a medieval card game with a rich (fake) history and we roll our way through Box of Golf in all its wooden splendour.

Play ball! But forget the steroids; we've got Divine Intervention. Just in time for Spring Training, we play Pizza Box Baseball, a light card-driven simulation. Then we ascend to the heavens to protect four mythical races in Age of Gods.

Much better than a pig in a poke. We reach into our bag of tricks and find two light but surprising little games: the abstract award-winning Qwirkle and the latest from German designer Freidemann Freise, Felix the Cat in the Sack.

Barbarians at the gates? Get rolling! We build a small but great wall in Chang Cheng and use dice to hire advisors to protect His Majesty's realm in Kingsburg.

Roll up your sleeves. Time to get your hands dirty. We chop wood and cut stone to build Kingsbridge Catehdral in Pillars of the Earth and send our swarms out to surround Queen bees in the strategy classic Hive.

Not miles... hours! 24 of them. We set out to play games for 24 consecutive hours in order to get our unplayed list of games below 200. This episode was recorded as we played and documents the events of our day including session reports on a truckload of games both large and small.

Woah! Five games, five designers... all in one box. The stars align for us to play Stonehenge: The Anthology Board Game. We review all five games, each by a different renowned designer.

Holiday hodge-podge. Reports and interviews from CHITAG (Chicago Toy and Game Fair) plus a review of Piratenbillard, a game where players use duck headed mallets to pop cannon balls across a wooden grid.

Crack your knuckles and loosen up. We knock heads and little plastic men in our first Subbuteo Table Soccer match and then twist our fingers into pretzels balancing little foam balls playing Handy. Arthritis here we come!

Say no to lame gifts. Give a game instead. We recommend over 50 games in twelve different categories to fit almost any person or budget. With this great list, you might even make a wish list of your own!

Baby needs a new pair of shoes. We build a casino empire in Vegas Showdown and climb the long ladder from Hemp Chicken to Dragon in the modern card classic Tichu.

Everything's better with Zombies. From a shooting gallery with garlic grenades to our very own zombie baseball team, we shamble our way through Vampire and Zombie Fluxx, two games that include a festival of undeadly delights.

Don't Panic. But get comfortable. Grab a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster from the bar settle in for our take on Twilight Imperium, a game of galactic conquest whose play time could be measured in light years.

Wonder Twin powers, activate! We play Blue Moon City, a board game based on a card game and Caylus Magna Carta, a card game based on a board game, plus we discuss the risks and rewards of changing classic games in reprints.

Y is for Yggdrasil. We load our longboats and set sail in search of adventure on the stormy North seas, playing Fire & Axe and Vikings. Surely, an episode worthy of the sagas!

Cue the Indiana Jones music. We build routes for a very lazy London Passenger in On the Underground and globe trot from Cypress to Taiwan in 10 Days in Asia.

This time it's personal! You've heard the interviews (well most of them!), now hear from us. We give our report on our event, the Spiel-a-thon, panel discussions, Dealer's room hits and misses, and a game book that is not to be missed!

Global geeks, global games. From Israeli brainteasers and Italian game publishers to carved dice from little Polish elves, part one of our convention coverage includes over a dozen interviews.

Click, Click, Boom! Our nerves of steel are put to the test playing Russian Roulette in Kablamo! and bidding for a coal powered empire in Industria.

Wood burning, Richard Borg, and dismembered robots. We take an inside look at Origins International Game Expo.

And the winner is... We play all five games nominated for the Spiel des Jahres (German Game of the Year) and then we try to predict the winner!

Sayonara, squatters. We play Shogun and Landlord, proving that the best evictions often come at the end of a katana (or a tower full of little wooden cubes).

Skullduggery! Sometimes sneaky is better than strong. We fight over carcasses in Scavenger Hunt and pilfer treasure from lost tombs in Incan Gold.

Fire up those branding irons! There's livestock to round up and words to bluff or spell when we play Hacienda and Letterhead.

Turn the tables! We let you call the shots. From The List to The Game Sommelier, every segment in the show comes from listener suggestions and submissions.

The Spiel is one year old! To celebrate, we roll our way through two games with loads of dice: Battleground Fantasy Warfare, and To Court the King.

Business in the front, party in the back. We plot and scheme to elect the Pope in The Prince, spaz out combining cornrows in Wig Out, and nibble our way from plankton to sharks in Chomp.

Driven to abstraction. From archaeology to pachinko in less than two hours, we play Mykerinos and Marvin Marvel's Marvelous Marble Machine, two fast fun abstract strategy games.

I didn't know Gloria was sick. Ancient Rome is crumbling as the Goths swarm down from the north. We play Senators racing to escape the Eternal City in Gloria Mundi, the first collaborative effort from James Ernest and Rio Grande Games.

Cue the laugh track. We play Conquistadors in Pizarro & Co. and Capitalist pigs in I'm the Boss, two games that lead to big deals and big piles of cashola.

Bet like an Egyptian. We get a good dose of corruption, cash, and deadly crocodile gods playing Wits & Wagers and Cleopatra & the Society of Architects.

Lou Ferrigno, eat your heart out! It doesn't take gamma rays to make us see green, just two sets of horribly organized rules. We play Shear Panic and Marvel Heroes. One's a keeper, the other's a dud.

Chock full of goobery goodness! We click with Lexio, a Korean tile game with Chinese roots, and charge head long into Battle Lore, waging table top fantasy battles with hundreds of miniatures.

Recycle, reuse, replay! We warm up with a Mah Jongg variant called Forbidden and then tap into Power Grid, a game where garbage and wind can lead to vitctory.

A special holiday game gift guide! Over 50 game recommendations for gamers of all ages and games of all flavors.

All class, no bums. We play two prize fighting games: Buccaneer and Aqua Romana, both runners up for the 2006 Spiel des Jahres, the German Game of the Year.

Shuffle up, and deal! We look back 400 years to play Scopa, a classic card game that feels modern and then play Parlay, the secret love-child of Scrabble and Poker.

George Romero would be proud. First we hack our way through waves of the living dead in Zombies Widescreen Edition and then we play poker as zombies in Dead Money. Just remember to aim for the head!

Grab your garlic and wooden stakes, we take a trip through Transylvania to play Vampire Hunter and Dawn Under. Who says the undead are no fun?

But wait, there's more! Our first all expansion edition. We play cards with green haired punk hobbits in Blue Moon and take on a weather changing beaver in Spirits of Niagara.

Strap on the mailbag and hitch up the wagon! We deliver our verdict on Thurn & Taxis, the 2006 Spiel de Jahres winner, and Big Top, a circus themed variant of a card game classic.

A Rio Grande Games extravaganza! Listen for a play test report on five new games from Rio and then our interview with Jay Tummelson, the founder of the company and architect of the euro game revolution.

Nerd up! Put on your badges and head for the dealers room, we're going to give you a geek's eye view of Gen Con, the world's largest game convention.

Release the Kraken! We take an in-depth look at Mare Nostrum with the Mythology Expansion and go for a short cruise with Reiner Knizia's Loot.

Put on your Deerstalker and massage those grey cells, we dive into three mystery games: Inkognito, Mystery on the Nile, and 221 B Baker St.

Serfs up! Get ready for guild power struggles and try to keep your farmers our of prison. We take on Flandern 1302 and Carcassonne: The Tower, two medieval themed games where the peasants, the meeples, take center stage.

Two bargains, one steal. From the high seas to ancient jungle temples, we fight our way through Tortuga and strike gold with Monkey Mission.

We play our way from the past to the future, covering Klaus Teuber's Anno 1503 and Richard Garfield's Rocketville. Two great designers, but alas, only one great game.

We circle the wagons to play Go West and then head for Sid Sackson's Bazaar. The title, you ask? Dave has a Lactaid moment discussing dice games.

Let slip the dogs of war. We play a card game that combines an early Renaissance war with poker. Seriously. We're not kidding. We also play Clippers. Be glad it was us and not you!

Crack open that bottle of Cabernet and pass the Camembert! We play and discuss Louis XIV, an influence based, tile-flipping game from Alea/Rio Grande Games. Truckloads of Goober makes its debut with Britannia.

The original pilot for the Spiel was lost, so this is our fresh start! You'll find out who's behind the Spiel and why we're doing this. We discuss/review Trias & King of the Beasts, the two latest games off The List, our decade old challenge is to play down our ever-growing list of unplayed games. We also discuss new game releases, and introduce several new segments including the Backshelf Spotlight, Truckloads of Goober, and the Game Sommelier.