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
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

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: Inflatable Curling
24:14 - DTE: Parsely
25:50 - DTE: Favorite Games Taught - Dwarves of Aquilon
28:29 - DTE: Favorite Games Taught - Cat Between Us
29:49 - DTE: Favorite Games Taught - Mechs vs. Minions
31:10 - DTE: Most Played Games
32:17 - Tale of Boardgaming Horror
38:33 - Wispwood
43:30 - Inkwell
48:25 - Crafting the Cosmos
51:50 - Puppy Pile
56:53 - Wingspan Pocket
1:01:21 - Bunny Kingdom Town
Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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 - Tomatoss
Questions? Tale of Horror? Hot Sauce Recipes? tom@dicetower.com

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 - Stratego Quick Battle
50:41 - My Book Nook
54:38 - Cloud City
Flamenco Ad (Dancing Cats): https://youtu.be/mz7Qh79K8GA?si=JpknJaXuh22wgE5J
Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com

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