Imagine yourself 5 billion years ago out in the void, in the vast dark forever of space. A cosmic dance is unfolding before your very eyes. Indescribably massive clouds of gas and matter swirl and gather around a new protostar. Asteroids, planets and moons are born.

But here’s the thing.

You and your fellow players are not just witnessing these events. You are SHAPING THEM as they happen! This small solar system is your solar system and the choices you make playing Planetarium will shape this small corner of the universe. Will the system support life or be filled with gas giants or barren radioactive moons? Cosmic forces are your playthings. It’s up to you to decide 

Listen in to discover more about the game and learn why it has earned the Spiel of Approval Award!

Complete Show Notes continue after the break.

Fuji Flush is a wonderfully simple card game.

Your goal is to flush all the number cards from your hand, one card at a time. There are lots of low cards in the deck and fewer high cards.

The higher number you play, the more likely you are to flush it BUT here's the twist. If two players play the same number, they are added together. This means low cards can often band together to beat high ones.

It's a game about strength in numbers. And the more people you play with, the more fun the game becomes.

Show notes continue after the break.

Gen Con is a grand gathering of all things geek. This year the convention celebrates its 50th anniversary with over 60,000 attendees! Every slice of the nerd pie can be found in Indianapolis for four wonderfully exhausting days of fun and games. 

This amazing variety means that no two people have the same Gen Con experience. Everyone's Gen Con is different.

This is the story of our Gen Con - a tale packed with special guests, discussions of over 30 games, interviews, and lots and lots of laughs.

Show notes continue after the break.

Twangled is a cooperative party game where players tie themselves in knots holding elastic bands. Using a foot spinner, each person steps over or under the bands until the whole group is one big "twangled" mess. The goal for the group is to then untangle itself so everyone is facing the center.

It's great for kids and adults alike, guaranteed to make you laugh, and owes a great debt to Knots and other wonderful cooperative games taught by the Dalai Lama of Playfulness, Bernie DeKoven. Who better to write our review of Twangled than Bernie himself?! 

Read on to discover why Bernie loves Twangled and what makes it Major Fun!

Written review continues after the break.

It might come as a suprise to learn that mole rats make perfect astronauts.

Or maybe we should call them ratstronauts? 

Their skin can't feel pain. They can lower their metabolism and breathing. They’re resistant to cancer and can even survive without oxygen for a time.

You and your fellow players are mole rats living on a space station in a galaxy far far away.

Suddenly, the alarm blares... INTRUDER ALERT! The station is being overrun by intergalactic snakes!!

It’s up to your team to gather the right emergency supplies and find a way to the last escape pod before time runs out. Just don't forget the duct tape!

Listen in to discover why we think this cooperative game is great for kids and adults and is most definitely... Major Fun!

Written review continues after the break.

Gardening, to some, much like board games, is not just a pastime - it's a passion - a way of life. In Cottage Garden your goal is to paint with peonies and petunias, planting and arranging the right mix of flowers and foliage to create a relaxing and glorious garden in the limited space you have.  You might even get help from a cat or two along the way. Each flowerbed you complete will add to your garden’s beauty and your final score.

Cottage Garden is a tile laying game that plays like an interactive puzzle.

Listen in to learn why the game has cultivated our Spiel of Approval!

Complete Show Notes continue after the break.

Beasts of Balance is a playful hybrid of analog and digital games. It combines the simple almost primal act of stacking with technological elements that enhance and expand gameplay in fun and unexpected ways.

You will build and destroy a new world each time you play. Using wonderful and whimsical three dimensional animals and an app installed on your tablet, you populate your world by stacking each one on a platform called a plinth, hoping to create new hybrids, score points and keep each creature from going extinct.

Written review continues after the break.

Life in the herd can get boring when you’re a young elephant. To pass the time, the little ones invent games to play. First they gather a bunch of colorful balls. Next they race to see who can pick them up. BUT here’s the challenge:

You must pick up the balls according to a certain pattern and.. 

NO HANDS ALLOWED!!

You can only use your kooky plastic elephant trunk to pick up the balls!

Listen in to discover why we think Tricky Trunks is a joy to play. It's Hungry Hungry Hippos for the 21st century. And is most emphatically Major Fun!

Complete Show Notes continue after the break.

Every adventurer has a story to tell. In Roll Player, you get to start at the beginning and craft a hero for the ages, one die roll at a time.

Each turn you will place dice into a character board to shape your characters basic traits like strength, intelligence and dexterity. With luck and cunning, these decisions will help you meet the goals of your class and alignment or leave you with enough gold to buy some amazing equipment at the market.

If you love rpgs, there's a lot to love about Roll Player. 

But even if you can't tell an orc from an elf or a scimitar from a Bohemian earspoon, Roll Player is a game that could still speak to you

Part puzzle, part press your luck dice game, there are challenging and fun decisions to make every turn.

Listen in to learn for an in-depth look at the game and discover why it has earned the Spiel of Approval Award!

Complete Show Notes continue after the break.

It’s a little known fact that animals make the best ninjas. In fact, there’s a secret camp where they go to train. Whether you’re a hamster, a camel, a sloth or a platypus, Sensei Saru can teach you to master the arts of the shadow warrior.

Today, the Sensei has a special challenge for all his students. Each animal clan will enter the arena and face each other in a grand melee. You must use your skills combined with the opportunities you find in the arena to remain standing while others fall.

Do this and Sensei Saru will name your clan to be his personal apprentices, and the best students at Ninja Camp!

Written review continues after the break.