1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,920 Welcome to Pick Up and Deliver: the podcast where I pick up my audio recorder as I step 2 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:11,200 out the door and deliver an episode to you while I walk around. 3 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:15,640 I'm Brendan Riley. 4 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:22,800 Well, good morning listeners. 5 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:24,800 It's a lovely day here in suburban Chicago. 6 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:26,520 The birds are chirping. 7 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:28,600 The commuters are on their way to work. 8 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:30,800 I'm out for a little stroll. 9 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:36,500 So I'm looking forward to talking to you today about some games and I realize it's been a 10 00:00:36,500 --> 00:00:38,920 while since I've done a Great Designer episode. 11 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:44,240 In fact, looking back at my podcast notes, I have not done a good job of marking which 12 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:45,840 episodes are Great Designer episodes. 13 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:51,600 I'm actually going to go back and tag those as part of my episode cleanup today because 14 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,800 when I need to be able to see like, who did I do an episode about? 15 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:57,880 And right now the only one tagged is Phil Walker-Harding. 16 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:02,200 And I know I've done episodes about Vladimir Suchy and Martin Wallace and Richard Garfield. 17 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:08,400 But I don't think as far as I can tell that I've done one about Wolfgang Kramer or Michael 18 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:15,840 Kiesling or their combined duo performance as Kiesling & Kramer. 19 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:21,320 And since I played a game recently designed by the pair, I thought this is a great opportunity 20 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:23,880 to discuss it. 21 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:29,120 So what I thought I would do today is just sort of go through a list of Wolfgang Kramer 22 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:34,320 games from highest rank until I've reached about the halfway point on the walk. 23 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:37,040 Then I'll switch to Michael Kiesling games and do the same thing. 24 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:41,000 Basically I'm just going to talk about which of their games I've played, which ones I really 25 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,160 enjoy and why. 26 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:44,880 So that's what we're doing today. 27 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:47,440 It's a Wolfgang Kramer, Michael Kiesling thing. 28 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:52,840 Now the only thing I really know about Wolfgang Kramer is that early on in his design 29 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:56,840 career he put the score track around the outside of the board. 30 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:01,520 The game that I'm most familiar with or first familiar with that did that was Ticket to Ride. 31 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,680 But the idea of having a score track that goes around the outside that you move your score 32 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,760 piece along, that was his innovation. 33 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:12,400 And apparently was such a big deal at the time that people in the industry often call 34 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:13,840 that a Kramer track. 35 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:15,520 So good on you, dude. 36 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:16,520 All right. 37 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,840 So the first game, his highest rank game is El Grande. 38 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:20,840 It's a rank of 92. 39 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:21,840 It's from 1995. 40 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,760 Now this is a game everybody still talks about. 41 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:29,760 The board game brawl or the board game barrage people are particularly enthusiastic about 42 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:30,760 El Grande. 43 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,640 But when I hear people talk about it, they still talk about what a great game it is. 44 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:34,920 I haven't had a chance to play yet. 45 00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:39,080 And frankly it doesn't sound like my cup of tea... too fighty. 46 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:41,720 But I do generally play as an omnigamer. 47 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:44,920 I think if people were setting up this game to play, I would definitely give it a try. 48 00:02:44,920 --> 00:02:47,480 If nothing else, it's in the top 100. 49 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,800 I feel like if I can play everything that's in the top 100, I'm doing a pretty good 50 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:51,800 job. 51 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:54,080 El Grande I have not played. 52 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,400 Next highest ranked is the Princes of Florence, 259. 53 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:01,200 Now I have the older edition of this or had, did I sell it? 54 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:02,440 I can't remember if I sold it or not. 55 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:03,600 No, I think I still have it. 56 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,560 Princes of Florence is... ah! no I did sell it. 57 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:07,560 I did sell it. 58 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:14,000 It's a tile lane game where you, an auction game where you are building your Palazzo and 59 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,960 hiring different kinds of experts to build out your area. 60 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,240 I thought it was a pretty interesting game, well made. 61 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:24,200 I had a good time playing it. 62 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:30,320 That said, the theme is pretty tired, you know, oh, you're a European noble person. 63 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:31,320 Okay. 64 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:35,440 The graphic design on the original edition that I had, I did not like. 65 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:40,040 And just overall it was a game that I thought was good if somebody brought it and said, hey 66 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:41,440 we're playing Princes of Florence, you want it? 67 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:42,760 I'd be like, sure. 68 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,240 But it's not a game I'm going to choose over many of the other games I had. 69 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,200 So it didn't make sense to keep it in my collection. 70 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:51,400 That's the argument I'm offering for myself. 71 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,800 If it's not in my collection anymore, I guess it still could be in which case, oops. 72 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:59,920 But let me see, have I logged it as not in my collection anymore in Boardgamegeek? 73 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:03,480 Oh, it still says in collection, previously owned. 74 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:04,480 Okay. 75 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:07,480 So I have, in fact, sold it or said that I was selling it. 76 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:09,760 Next up Tikal is one of the famous mask games. 77 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,400 I have not played that although our game club does have a copy. 78 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:15,040 So it's something I should try at some point. 79 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:16,920 That's Rank 337. 80 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:18,520 Downforce, Rank 417. 81 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:21,760 This is a car racing game. 82 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:27,920 And the interesting part of it is that you own one or two cars and then you're betting on 83 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:29,240 these cars. 84 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,520 And you help the cars move by playing cards. 85 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:36,320 And a big part of the game is just sort of moving cars in a way that somebody else can't 86 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,360 move the car that they want to move is kind of the big thing. 87 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:40,760 So it's a car racing game. 88 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:42,120 I think it's fine. 89 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:43,120 There's not a whole lot. 90 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:48,020 I mean, it's very tactical and I'm sure you can get really good at it versus not being 91 00:04:48,020 --> 00:04:49,020 good at it. 92 00:04:49,020 --> 00:04:52,720 It's a fine time and again, it goes in the category of sure I'd played if somebody's getting it 93 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:54,040 out, but not a game 94 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:55,440 I'm all that keen to get. 95 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:58,040 Though I think if I found a copy I'd goodwill for three bucks. 96 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:03,960 I would pick it up, mostly for my game club at school, but not a game I'm driven to 97 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:04,960 own. 98 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:05,960 Downforce. 99 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:06,960 Next up Coliseum. 100 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:11,240 I hear a lot of good things about Coliseum, but I have not had a chance to play it myself. 101 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:12,720 Rank 618. 102 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:14,160 Rank 5 I don't know what that is. 103 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:15,160 Torres ranks 726. 104 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:17,800 Now this is a game I do have. 105 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:23,760 I bought it pretty early in my board game buying in my modern board game, buying career 106 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:25,800 which started in like 2010 maybe. 107 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:30,240 That's when I really started like starting to buy games occasionally and pay attention to 108 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:31,240 the hobby. 109 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:34,280 I don't look back at when tabletop was on. 110 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:39,120 When that was when that was on the air, I was diving into the hobby again. 111 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:43,520 I mean I've been in board games my whole life but sort of a modern incarnation. 112 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:46,520 I think I got it in a math trade because I'd heard it's good. 113 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:48,400 And it is really good. 114 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:50,880 It is an action selection game. 115 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:56,000 It's one of the first games I played that used action points and you had a number of different 116 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,760 things you could do on your turn with your action points. 117 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,320 And you have these little cards that let you do stuff and you're building these towers 118 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:06,920 and the person who sort of builds the best towers are the most successful ones earns 119 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:07,920 the points. 120 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:12,080 Somebody who just recently played Porta Nigra which I'll talk about in a future episode. 121 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,120 I guess I'm giving away something for the top of the stack. 122 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:16,120 Whoops. 123 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:17,280 I can you can definitely see it. 124 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:21,800 Well for one thing you can see the literal inheritance in Porta Nigra because it's got 125 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:26,200 the little bricks that are a key part of Torres. 126 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,440 But Torres has this really interesting mechanism where you're trying to take control of these 127 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:31,800 towers and you're moving your little knights around. 128 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:33,040 It's really good. 129 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:34,400 I like it a lot. 130 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:36,320 And definitely played if you get a chance. 131 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:40,880 It looks like there's the current cover in Boardgamegeek has a new cover so it must have been 132 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:41,880 republished. 133 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:42,880 I have the older one. 134 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:46,560 I don't know if I have the 1999 version but it certainly feels older. 135 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:47,560 All right. 136 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,680 Continuing on, Mexica, another of the mask games I haven't played. 137 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:52,200 Coal Baron, Nope. 138 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:53,200 Palaces of Carrara. 139 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:56,160 And actually have the Palaces of Carrara. 140 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:00,640 I picked it up in as a used sale but I haven't played it yet. 141 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:02,960 So it's on my to play list. 142 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:03,960 Maharajah. 143 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:07,040 Actually somebody at my game club just played this the other week. 144 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:08,040 Linko 145 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:09,040 I don't know what that is. 146 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:10,040 Paris. 147 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:11,520 Not all that well reviewed didn't get to play it. 148 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:12,520 Hacienda. 149 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:13,520 Java. 150 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:15,240 The third of the mask game. 151 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:16,240 Wandering towers. 152 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:19,480 That's a game I keep seeing at my Board Game Store. 153 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:20,480 And it looks pretty cool. 154 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:24,280 It was a little more expensive than I wanted to pay for a game and no much about it. 155 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:26,040 But we designed six nimit. 156 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:28,200 Oh, we just got to Porta Nigra. 157 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:31,840 Rank 1475 on Boardgamegeek. 158 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:32,840 It was pretty fun. 159 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:34,600 We'll talk about it more in another episode. 160 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:38,160 But well worth a look if you get a chance. 161 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:39,680 Asara, I don't know what that is. 162 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:40,680 Re-nature. 163 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:42,600 That's a game I saw a number of times on the shelf. 164 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,520 I don't think I noticed it was a Kramer game. 165 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,800 It looked interesting but again, you know, there have been a whole bunch of nature themed 166 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:49,800 games in the last few years. 167 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:51,800 So it's sort of white noise. 168 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:53,920 Pueblo, I don't know what that is. 169 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:54,920 Adventureland. 170 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,320 Adventureland is one of those games I heard about a lot. 171 00:07:57,320 --> 00:08:02,800 I think Richard Ham, Rahdo, really liked Adventureland and talked it up a bunch. 172 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:05,360 But I didn't hear much about it from anybody else. 173 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:07,480 So I know what to say about that. 174 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:09,320 Savannah Park. 175 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:15,520 This is a game that got just the... a barest hint of buzz when it came out in 2021. 176 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:17,360 I think it came out at Essen. 177 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:19,920 I remember there was a little bit of buzz about it. 178 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:22,520 I think it's Capstone Games if I recall. 179 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:26,560 And people were just excited about like, "Oh, this looks really neat." 180 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:28,880 But then I didn't hear anything about it after. 181 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:30,880 So I don't know if it did get much saturation. 182 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:35,960 I mean, we are in a land of just... or a time of just so many games that it's harder to 183 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:37,720 get a get traction. 184 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:39,920 Sealand, I don't know what that is. 185 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:45,520 Coal Baron the card game, Cuzco, Heimlich and Company from 1984. 186 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:46,520 Huh. 187 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:47,520 That's life. 188 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:50,440 El Capitan is another game I've heard a lot about. 189 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:52,960 I wonder, does he like games that start with EL? 190 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:55,000 He's got El Grandet. 191 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:56,640 And now El Capitan. 192 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:03,520 Which looks like it's about sailing, not about a mountain, Nauticus, Take 5, which I think 193 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:07,520 Take 5 is like six-nimate or related to six-Nimmt. 194 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,600 Tikal 2, apparently they may have a sequel. 195 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:17,080 Daytona 500, expeditions around the world, top race, merchants of Middle Ages, Kaimum. 196 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,720 1994's Big Boss. 197 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:21,400 I saw somebody did a video of this. 198 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:25,280 It looks like it just... I was like, "Isn't this just Aquire but less interesting?" 199 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:30,640 I mean, I haven't played it so first impressions, first impression from watching a video for a 200 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:31,640 minute. 201 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:36,760 But it looked a lot like it wishes it was a choir or sounds a bit like a choir. 202 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:40,320 I'm just sort of skimming through now looking at other things called Aura Park, I think 203 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:43,680 was a sequel to Savannah Park. 204 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:47,360 So you must have done six-Nimmt too, which is a game a lot of people really like. 205 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:48,360 I have not. 206 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:51,840 I've only played it once or twice on board game arena. 207 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:57,560 So, there are a number of games that I just mentioned that I have played from Wolfgang 208 00:09:57,560 --> 00:09:58,560 Kramer. 209 00:09:58,560 --> 00:10:02,720 There might be more, but those are the ones that I'm seeing that are the sort of top ranked 210 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:03,720 ones. 211 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:06,040 I'm down and... Oh, we'll stop with this one. 212 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:07,560 Vampire Queen. 213 00:10:07,560 --> 00:10:13,520 Vampire Queen is a ladder climbing card game that I have a copy of. 214 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:15,680 It's an interesting one, really easy to play. 215 00:10:15,680 --> 00:10:18,320 It's ranked 6,000, so it's at least ranked. 216 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:20,280 But we're the try if you get a chance. 217 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:23,000 So, Vampire Queen will be the one I'll stop on. 218 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:24,000 All right. 219 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:30,200 So, now what I'm going to do is I will switch over to talking about Michael Kiesling, or... 220 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:32,080 That's how I say it anyway, Kiesling. 221 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:37,880 So Michael Kiesling is a much less prolific designer, at least in terms of how many of his 222 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:41,960 designs show up on board game geek. 223 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:46,880 On board game geek, Wolfgang Kramer had something like 600 designs, and Michael Kiesling 224 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:48,280 has 95. 225 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:50,280 So, real slacker there. 226 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:57,480 I first came across Kiesling, I think, in the widespread coverage of Porta Nigra, actually. 227 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:02,600 I may have encountered his name before, but it seems most likely that that is where I first 228 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:04,000 encountered him. 229 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:08,840 Because when Porta Nigra came out, I recall it got... I definitely heard a review of it on 230 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:10,240 Dice Tower, or they talked about it. 231 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:15,680 I definitely heard it on the secret cabal, and I definitely heard it on 232 00:11:15,680 --> 00:11:16,680 Blue Peg Pink Peg. 233 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:21,360 So, those three together, it was definitely in my... on my radar. 234 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:23,560 And Rahdo probably talked about it as well. 235 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:28,760 So, that's sort of where Kiesling would have come into my purview, and then any other games 236 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:34,480 that he made that are... so let's jump into his games and see what I have to say. 237 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:38,520 So, his top rated game, rate number 74 of all time, is Azul. 238 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:39,520 Azul is a great game. 239 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:41,720 This is one I've talked about a number of times here. 240 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:42,720 I've recommended it. 241 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:43,720 I've done a duel. 242 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:45,400 An Azul duel. 243 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:53,080 It is a great drafting game where you're drawing tiles from a series of discs and placing them 244 00:11:53,080 --> 00:12:01,160 into these... onto these other discs called shops and basically just developing the... trying 245 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:05,040 to score by collecting certain numbers of tiles in the right order. 246 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:06,560 It's really fun. 247 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:11,320 It's a great game that starts off relatively low conflict, but then there's a moment of 248 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:15,200 shift, especially in a two-player game, where suddenly... 249 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:21,080 of the choice, like, do you actively determine what you're taking to try to stick somebody 250 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:27,760 with tiles they can't use, or even worse, do you like... like there are times where there'll 251 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:32,640 be a sort of brings-person ship where you have a huge pile of tiles that's developing 252 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:34,920 and whoever gets stuck with this is going to lose a lot of points. 253 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:35,920 It's great. 254 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:37,640 That's Azul. 255 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:40,760 Number 180 is Azul Summer Pavilion. 256 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,960 This is the third in the Azul line. 257 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:45,440 It's the second sequel. 258 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:50,600 This is my wife's favorite, although I will confess we do not have Azul Queen's Garden. 259 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:55,800 Basically when Stained Glass of Cintra came out, the second one, the reviews were mixed and 260 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,240 I played it and I didn't think that much of it. 261 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:02,840 Then Summer Pavilion got pretty good reviews and that is in fact our favorite. 262 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:06,880 The Queen's Garden one, it sounds a lot like Calico to me. 263 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:07,880 Like so much like it. 264 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:10,720 I don't know if I need another game that does that. 265 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,160 But Calico already does that. 266 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:15,840 That's sort of where we are with the Azul sequels. 267 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:22,240 There's Master Chocolatier which just changes the theme of Azul from Mosaic in Portugal 268 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:24,040 to Chocolate. 269 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,840 Not really a game change, so I didn't buy that either. 270 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:29,240 But Summer Pavilion is great. 271 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:31,680 It changes what you're doing just a little bit. 272 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:33,840 It changes the scoring conditions a little bit. 273 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:35,800 It's less aggressive. 274 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,840 It's harder to stick somebody with tiles they can't use. 275 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:39,840 Pretty good. 276 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:40,840 It's Azul Summer Pavilion. 277 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:42,920 Then we got Tikal. 278 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:44,640 I mentioned that one before. 279 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:48,160 Heaven and Ale is a game that got a lot of buzz when it came out. 280 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:51,080 It definitely was on the category of things I'd like to try at some point. 281 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:54,160 But it's just never crossed my transom. When I have a chance to try it. 282 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:55,640 But I definitely would. 283 00:13:55,640 --> 00:14:00,920 This would definitely be a game I'd pick up used or if I found it at a Goodwill I would 284 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:02,720 think of it as a jackpot. 285 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:05,120 Definitely a game that gets a lot of love. 286 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:06,960 That's Rank 343. 287 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:08,120 Heaven and Ale. 288 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,240 He's the Azul Stained Glass of Cintra 431. 289 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:12,720 Vikings at 596. 290 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:14,440 This is not a game I've played. 291 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:15,760 Vikings. 292 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:19,240 I've seen it in a number of places and it looks like it might be fun. 293 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:23,120 I mean, anything that's got like a Viking long chip on the cover looks cool. 294 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:27,080 But yeah, so that is a game I would like to try if I got a chance. 295 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:28,480 About no much about it. 296 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:30,000 Then we have Azul Queen's Garden. 297 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:31,000 673. 298 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:32,000 I already did my Azul spiel. 299 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,000 And we have Torres again. 300 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:35,000 723. 301 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:38,080 Now if I was paying attention to designers I might have noticed. 302 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,480 The Kramer and Kiesling design Torres together. 303 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:45,160 Because I definitely had that before I heard about Porta Nigra. 304 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:49,040 Before the Nigra is probably the first time where I heard about Kramer and Kiesling. 305 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:52,760 They were already a famous design duo when Porta and Nigra came out. 306 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:59,040 In fact, that was the beginning of Stronghold's Great Designer series, which they had a series 307 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:00,440 for a while that they were doing. 308 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:04,400 I think that Porta and Nigra was on there. 309 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:10,520 I think they did a car game, Kraftwagon or something, maybe. 310 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:14,440 And then they did Auztralia with Martin Wallace. 311 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:15,720 So they've done a number of games. 312 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:17,760 I don't know they did more than three or four. 313 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:19,400 Oh, they did an Uwe Rosenberg game. 314 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,320 I feel like maybe Cottage Garden. 315 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:26,440 That the Stronghold was doing this thing where they were trying to have one game from each 316 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:27,960 of these great designers. 317 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:29,280 Porta Nigra was the one there. 318 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:35,400 There's Mexica again, Coal Baron, Palaces of Carrara, Maharajah. 319 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:36,400 Seems like the same list. 320 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:37,400 Riverboat. 321 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:39,000 So Riverboat is a Kiesling one. 322 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:41,920 Now this is one that I definitely would play if I had a chance. 323 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:43,240 It's very well reviewed. 324 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:44,240 It's often mentioned. 325 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:46,600 I think it's hard to get used. 326 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:51,120 The shut-up and sit-down folks really like it, which makes the game very hard to come 327 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:53,080 by in the use market. 328 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:54,680 And it sounds like a neat race game. 329 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:58,560 I think I would probably like it better than something like Downforce. 330 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:00,920 But who knows, maybe it's very similar to Downforce. 331 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:06,520 We have Azul, Azul Chocolatier, linko, Paris, Java, wandering towers. 332 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:10,520 Here's Porta Nigra again, Asara, Renature, Miyabi. 333 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:12,000 I don't know what that is. 334 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:15,920 Pueblo, Adventureland, Sansucci is definitely a game I've heard of. 335 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:18,280 It's ranked 7.1 on board game geek. 336 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:22,360 So that's not bad, but I don't know anything about it. 337 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:24,640 Savannah Park called Coal Baron the Card Game. 338 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:29,040 Cusco, that's life, Nauticus is not a game I'm familiar with. 339 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:31,480 Tikal 2, Cavom. 340 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:33,600 Nope, I don't know that one. 341 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:38,720 Just skimming through these to see if there's any other games I recognize from Kiesling. 342 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:40,160 No, I don't think so. 343 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:42,080 And I've gotten up to rank 7,000. 344 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:45,160 So about the same place that I stopped with Kramer. 345 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:50,400 So Kiesling has a slightly narrower window of games he's designed on his own. 346 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:52,920 Most of the games that he's really well known for. 347 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:57,480 He designed with Kramer with the exception of Azul and its many spin-offs. 348 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:01,040 Which, I don't know, when I heard about Azul Master Chocolatier, I was sort of like, 349 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:04,200 oh, this reminds me of the Hudsucker Proxy now. 350 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:06,920 If you haven't seen the Hudsucker Proxy, you should. 351 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:10,520 It's a weird and delightful movie from the Coen Brothers. 352 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:12,200 This maybe their fourth movie or something. 353 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:13,760 It's pretty early. 354 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:20,200 Stars Tim Robbins and Paul Newman as business types. 355 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:26,800 Tim Robbins plays sort of young hick from the city who has an idea for a new toy and the 356 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:29,880 idea is a hulu hoop. 357 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:34,960 And part of the joke of the game, part of the joke of the movie is that his idea when he shows 358 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,800 it to people, it's just a piece of paper with a circle drawn on it. 359 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:40,760 And he says, "you know, for kids." 360 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:44,200 And then of course the hulu hoop becomes very popular and he becomes famous. 361 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:53,040 And then he basically, like every idea he has after that is variations on the hulu hoop. 362 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,000 Like he has one that's weighted with sand. 363 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:57,600 He's got one that, whatever. 364 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:01,280 He's got a bunch of different variations on the hulu hoop. 365 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:04,320 And part of the joke is he doesn't have any other real ideas. 366 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:07,000 All his ideas are just variations on the hulu hoop. 367 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,400 I don't think that's true with Michael Kiesling. 368 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:15,160 We've just talked about a number of different games that are well liked and popular. 369 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:35,760 But I can't help but notice half of his highest ranked games are Azul or variations on Azul. 370 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:38,800 Now please don't interpret this as a shade throwing. 371 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:39,800 No shade here. 372 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:48,640 I certainly would throw lots more stuff at the wall if people were eager for a thing I made. 373 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:52,560 If I made Azul and they're like, we'd love to see some more Azul. 374 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:53,720 And then people like that too. 375 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:56,120 Why wouldn't you keep doing that? 376 00:18:56,120 --> 00:18:59,640 At least in part as a way to keep your name out there. 377 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:01,520 Keep people interested in the things you're doing. 378 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:02,520 You could try new stuff. 379 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:06,560 I mean, Azul Queens Garden is such a different game from Azul. 380 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:10,480 It's not only the lightest relationship, honestly, from what I've read. 381 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:13,640 But the design pedigree is a little smaller there. 382 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:19,160 Nonetheless, Kramer and Kiesling are a renowned duo who have made a lot of different games. 383 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,840 And doing this really does make me want to take a look at the mask trilogy, particularly 384 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:28,720 because I definitely have Tikal and maybe Java available to me in the board game club library. 385 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:31,440 So yeah, that would be really fun to do. 386 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:35,600 Well, that brings me to the end of my walk. 387 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:39,640 That Kramer and Kiesling game is your favorite, which Kramer game is your favorite? which Kiesling 388 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:40,640 game is your favorite? 389 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:42,720 I want to know all three of those. 390 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:46,960 And you can tell me by going over to boardgamegeek guild 326 and posting in the forums 391 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:47,960 there. 392 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:49,120 I'd love to see it. 393 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:52,360 What other great designers do you think I should spend a little time talking about? 394 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:54,240 I'd love to hear that too. 395 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:58,280 You can let me know also on the board game geek of forums or you can send me a direct message. 396 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:00,720 Wombat929 is my username on board game geek. 397 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:02,880 Or you can email me Brendan at RoutaboxGames. 398 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:03,880 Well, thanks for joining me. 399 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:04,880 on my walk today. 400 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:05,880 I hope your next walk. 401 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:06,880 is as pleasant as mine was. 402 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:07,880 Bye-bye. 403 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:08,880 [MUSIC PLAYING] 404 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:10,880 [MUSIC PLAYING] 405 00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:12,880 [MUSIC PLAYING] 406 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:14,880 [MUSIC PLAYING] 407 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:16,880 [MUSIC PLAYING] 408 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:18,880 [MUSIC PLAYING] 409 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:20,880 [MUSIC PLAYING] 410 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:22,880 [MUSIC PLAYING] 411 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:24,880 [MUSIC PLAYING] 412 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:26,880 [MUSIC PLAYING] 413 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:28,880 [MUSIC PLAYING] 414 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,880 Brought to you by RoutaboxDance. 415 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,460 (soft piano music) 416 00:20:34,460 --> 00:20:44,460 [MUSIC]