What a beautiful day. The sun is shining on the mountains, and the goats are out to play! As they leap from rock to rock, the goats start to get hungry. Where are the most delicious flowers found? At the tops of the mountains, of course. Let’s go!

Mountain Goats is a game of dice rolling and set collection. Each turn you’ll roll the four dice and then combine them to move your goats up the mountains. The longer your goats stay on the peak, the more score tokens you collect. But beware! There are other goats climbing behind you, trying to knock you off. Collect the highest total and you'll become the Queen (or King) of the Mountain!

Read on to learn how this quick compact game offers just the right balance of chance and strategy to be Major Fun.

Written review continues after the break.

Welcome to the Mad Hatter's tea party! It’s always six o clock and that means it’s always tea time. Here’s another plate of biscuits. Take two. There's no time to wash, so the cups and saucers pile higher and higher. Just make sure you’re not the one to crash the party, smashing stacks of cups, making them tumble and topple from the table. That would be ever so rude.

Disney Mad Tea Party is a nerve wracking cup stacking game atop a very precarious table. Be the first to play all your cards or stack every last cup to win. Tension tuned by skill, strategy and a touch of luck drives each decision you make.

Listen in to explore the game and discover why we think it's Major Fun.

Prague, 1584. A small group of rabbis study the Kabbalah, hoping to unlock the hidden language of Creation. With the Jewish Quarter under threat, the time has come to put that secret knowledge into action. A lump of clay shaped into human form is brought to life with a single word.

You are its creator. Your creation is the golem.

Golem is a game of cosmic forces and practical magic. Over four turns you will select marble and rabbi actions from the synagogue, studying ancient books, constructing powerful artifacts, and building golems to serve the community. The problem is control. Each decision you make leads to a chain of consequences filled with reward and ruin. The burdens of creation are great. Only those with wisdom and foresight will be able to reign in this massive, beautiful, unweildy monster of a game.

Take a deep dive into Golem with us, explore the history that inspires the game and discover how it celebrates the many joys of thoughtful play.

ALSO FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE:

A Game Night Grab Bag segment with Gubbins!

The coffee craze has hit Portugal and there's a fortune to be made supporting its growing café culture. Can you create a successful supply chain harvesting, drying, roasting and delivering coffee beans to meet the demand for this magic drink?

Café is a game of engine building and efficiency. Over eight short turns, can you arrange your cards so the connected icons provide you with the actions you need? Café presents players with a puzzle-within-a-puzzle of enterprise and order fulfilment. Play with precision and purpose and your coffee will fill the finest cups with lattes, cappucinos, and espressos from Lisbon to Porto.

Listen in to explore Café and discover how it earns our Spiel of Approval.

ALSO FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE:

A Meal segment featuring a delicious chicken stew recipe paired with a political game

AND... a brand new segment called TARDIS games!

This party is in full swing. The food is a sumptuous feast for the senses. The music is lively and many are dancing. The conversations are a buzzing mixture of laughter and wit on subjects mundane and profound. There’s just one last detail to capture the moment… a picture!

You have been hired to commemorate the event with a group photo, showcasing the guests. It seemed like a simple job until each guest pulls you aside with a list of requests: I cannot stand next to him. I need to be on the left but make sure I am in front of her. I’m allergic to dogs, make sure that mutt is as far away from me as possible. It will take your expert skills to accommodate all their special needs, arranging and rearranging the guests and get everyone lined up just right.  

Picture Perfect is a game of logic and space with a technological twist. Over six rounds, can you puzzle out how to arrange all the party guests in a cardboard diorama? When you’re ready, snap a a photo with your phone and compare to see whose picture is closest to perfect.

Listen in to explore the game and discover why we think it is Major Fun!

If you listen closely you can hear it… KLONK! The mighty Kabutomushi, the magnificent Rhinoceros beetles are knocking heads, sumo wrestling. Their epic duels in the World Insect Wrestling Championship are the stuff of legend! Now, you and a swarm of challengers are here to contend for titles and your place in history. Position is everything. It will take balance, steady hands (and maybe a little luck) to push and pivot your opponents from the ring!

Written review continues after the break.

Hidden in plain sight, Mind Management, is a shadow organization renting space in your head. They’ve been there for years. And if you believe them, life would be incredibly worse without their efforts to keep major disasters from becoming global catastrophes. Psychic espionage they call it. They can bend reality as you know it. Or break it.

Right now, Mind Management is recruiting new agents in Zanzibar. But today won't be easy. There’s a rag-tag group of Rogue Agents scouring the city, trying to stop the Recruiter at any cost.

Mind Management is a one against many game of hidden movement and deduction based on the brilliant graphic novel series of the same name by Matt Kindt. Rogue Agent players race against time to locate the Recruiter before that player rounds up enough new trainees. The game can be played as a stand alone experience or as part of a series, where the rules and the stakes are raised with each new game.

Tune in for a deep dive into the game and the books, as well as a round table discussion with an intrepid group of dedicated Spielers recounting their adventures exploring Mind MGMT over many months.

SPECIAL GUESTS: Gubbins, Erwin Susara, Mike McMann

You and your friends are out in the desert and everything is blooming, especially the cactus. You shouldn't touch… but they have so many pretty flowers! Risking a little prick, you can’t help but pick a few.

The goal in Ouch! is to pick the most flowers. Select a card, grab it by one side, and flip it over. If the side is clear, huzzah! Add it to your collection. If you're holding onto a side with thorns... cry "OUCH!" and drop it! There are bonuses for assembling colorful bouquets and gathering dangerous red blooms, plus snakes and foxes hidden in the desert who can help you.

Written review continues after the break.

Seven fruits, seven feathers. The birds are playing a colorful game. When a red apple is eaten, a feather turns red. Eat a lime, a feather turns green. Can you be the first bird to collect all the colors and display them in your pretty plumage?

Aves is a card capturing / set collecting game with roots in the classics. It shares common ancestry with games like Gin Rummy and Scopa. It is also a game of simple, subtle, and sneaky strategies . Tune in to learn why we think Aves is a wonderfully accessible invitation to a lighter and brighter kind of fun.

This show also marks the 400th review episode of The Spiel!!

To celebrate, we invited Spielers from around the world to host seven different segments that have been part of the program over the past 16 years. This super sized show is filled with fan favorites, lots of laughs, and a ridiculous amount of board game hijinx. We hope you have as much fun listening as we did putting it together.

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Can you construct a Wonder so grand it will forever leave your mark on history? As the leader of an ancient nation, this is your goal.

7 Wonders Architects is a quick-playing game of card drafting and empire building. Players score points for creating their Wonder, as well as military, cultural, and scientific accomplishments.

Inspired by its wildly successful sibling (7 Wonders), Architects builds a different kind of fun - one that is open and approachable by a broader audience.

Listen in to explore the game and learn why we think Architects is a wonder in its own right.

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ALSO featured in this episode... Flicking Around with Bruce Voge! This installment features a Crokinole Board Buyer's Guide, chock full of great suggestions, insights, and advice whether you're just learning about the game or pondering adding a board to your game collection.