Ambie and Crystal discuss a couple games they've played recently, including 1834, Southern Pacific, Ganz schön clever, and Near and Far: Amber Mines. We then talk about Kickstarter board games. In this week's "Board Game Etymology" segment, Crystal discusses the origins of the word "turn."

by Ambie Valdés

Toby and I went to BGG.CON again this year! BGG.CON is one of our favorite conventions, since we really like trying out new games, and BGG.CON has a huge library of a bunch of games - both new releases and older awesome games!

We got there on Tuesday afternoon and left on Sunday afternoon, and we played so many games! At the convention, we had 82 plays/demos of 70 unique games, 57 of which were new to us! This is definitely a record for us (one I don't want to beat). Thursday was especially exhausting - we played 24 different games that day (20 new to us). A lot of them were light games or dexterity games, so it wasn't too difficult to learn everything.

Since we arrived before the convention started, we went out to eat some BBQ and then played some games we had brought. Two of the most played games of the convention for us were Strike and For-Ex, both of which we brought. It was fun being able to show people both games - Strike for its excitement and action, and For-Ex for its brain-burning weirdness.

by Ambie Valdés

Toby and I got to go to an 18xx convention for the first time! Since we live on the west coast, we decided to go to the Portland 18xx Tournament (there are other ones further away) last weekend. Although it's called a tournament, it's not really a tournament - everyone records the scores of the games they played and get ranked based on that, but most of the people didn't care about the tournament and were just there to play 18xx games and have fun. We were there Thursday through Saturday, and we played 6 total 18xx games.

by Ambie Valdés

This weekend over Memorial Day weekend, I got to attend HeavyCon for the first time! HeavyCon is a convention run by Heavy Cardboard, a podcast about heavier board games (heavy Euros, 18xx games, and wargames). There were 90 attendees, and since everyone was there to play heavy games, it was easy finding people to play pick up games of heavy economic games and 18xx games! Toby and I typically don't schedule games at conventions, and this one was no exception.

Over the weekend (Thursday-Sunday), I had 23 plays of 22 unique games. A bunch of the games were new to me, and 3 of the games were 18xx games (although those weren't new to me)!

Ambie, Cassadi, and Crystal discuss some games they've played recently, including Chicago & Northwestern, German Rails, Onami, and Legendary Encounters: A Firefly Deckbuilding Game. The "Accessory of the Week" segment is about school supplies that can help with gaming. We then discuss games that have to do with school. In this week's "Board Game Etymology" segment, Crystal discusses the origins of the word "rule." We also announce our contest winner!