Marty returns from Origins and he informs me that he has a game that will change my sour attitude of late. I tell him to take his best shot and he pulls out Coimbra from eggertspiele. But before I spoil the episode, need to point out that I have been in a slump with games lately. It seems that while the majority of the games are very enjoyable, I haven’t had one to knock it out of the ballpark lately. You know, one where you just sit back and let the experience pour over you once the game is done. Matter of fact, people are wondering if Grumpy Tony was here to stay. So, Marty drops Coimbra on the table as I have said. He says he knows I will like it because it has two of my favorite elements in a game: drafting and dice determining value. This game did bring back a smile to the face and not only due to the elements listed before, but just the simplicity of the rules and the iconography on the board. It was a pleasure learning this game and even though my score didn’t reflect a solid play, I was very pleased with the outcome. Because this game left such an impression, we had to give it a long discussion.

Century Eastern Wonders got some plays. This follow up to Century Spice Road had a challenge to overcome since everyone will be comparing the two games. Does the game keep the simplicity that was so enjoyable in Spice Road? Did it become overly complicated? How can you add a mechanic without breaking the core game? During the 5 Minute Initiative, we talk about these questions and give our thoughts on which we like more, Spice Road or Eastern Wonders.

More importantly, we announce our Gen Strike Tournament – Round 2. Unlike last year and because space is a premium, we have decided to host a dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory @ 5:45 on Friday, August 3. This is open to the first 80 people. Since this will cost us some money, we need to make sure that if you plan on attending, you have skin in the game as well. Therefore, we are selling tickets for $10 on our Podpledge page, link is here. What does $10 get you? You will get a soda, bread, salad, choice of an entrée and ice cream. That is pretty good deal for a dinner during Gen Con and we know you have to eat. Also, Miniature Market will be giving away a special gift for all those in attendance and we can’t thank them enough for this. There will be giveaways such as gift cards to The Broken Token and games of course. And since there is food, we have found some special guests that will be in attendance: Rodney Smith, Chaz Marler, Rob Daviau, Ignacy Trzewiczek, Robb & Christina Rouse and who knows who else. We continue to work on this event and hope to make it something you will be talking about after Gen Con. Oh, I forgot the most important thing, we will host the Strike Tournament to determine Gladiators in an Arena or Dice in a Bowl. There is a deadline on when you have to have your tickets purchased by, so do not delay.

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