The Dice Tower episodes 171 & 172
I got caught up with The Dice Tower over the last few days. I’m glad because it is one of my favorites and they had some interesting topics. Here’s my feedback.
171: Top 10 Board Game Companies
My first question to Tom and Eric is did you finish your Stone Age game on Yucata.de? How about a report?
Interesting games that they covered:
First is Cyclades. This one attracted my attention because of the graphics and then the mythology theme. I’m a mythology person. I have always liked learning about myths and legends. This game seems to allow you to jump into some of these myths and use the characters from them for your benefit. That sounds neat. It is about city building and contains a conflict element. I like that. GamerChris has this one on his radar too so I’m hoping to get to play it before the end of the year.
The other game mentioned that piqued my interest is Merchant of Venus. Eric loves this game and that comes through in the podcast. I haven’t played it (yet) but look forward to doing so some day. It is an exploration in space game, a theme which I like.
In other news Tom announced that his family is moving to Homestead, Florida in July. I’m very glad to hear that he was able to get what sounds like a very good position in that town. While not as close as I would have liked, it is in the same time zone.
Moritz covered 3M Games’ history in a very interesting article. I like several of their games (Twixt in particular) and was glad to learn about 3M. It also reminded me that I need to pick up copies of Twixt, Feudo, and a couple of others.
The question of the episode was “What attracts you to a game company?”. Various contributors mentioned good customer service, good games, well made components, fun etc.. For me it’s fun followed by consistancy and quality. By this I mean the company puts out well designed games that are enjoyable. I may lose at a game but if I have fun doing so it is a quality game in my opinion. Consistancy points to the companies ability to seek out and filter the good games from the not so good games. And/or to improve/develop a good game into a great game. So for me there are a couple of companies that do this. Alea, Queen, Ravensburger, Fantasy Flight, and Gamewright all fall in this category. Rio Grande and Z-Man do in that they are able to bring quality to the U.S.. I forgot Mayfair and Days of Wonder. So I don’t have a single favorite.
My question for them is What are your favorite 10 small publishers? Like Smirk & Dagger or Your Move.
Eric briefly reviewed the first English edition of Spielbox Magazine. I am going to have to look into this.
Last impressions – Eric has come into his own on the show. The show is smooth and professional. Tom and Eric have synched well. I enjoy the multiple contributors.
Keep up the good work guys.
Go Forth And Game 