Episode 330: Tea Garden and a Short Topic Extravaganza

Hey Now Cabalists! Today Don and Jamie share their time at one of the best game stores they've ever experienced - Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Then the gang dives into a bunch of games they've been playing, including The Presence, Mythwind, Etherstone, Shackleton Base, and Age of Galaxy. Don, Chris, and Jamie throw down a feature review of Tea Garden from Tomas Holek and Capstone Games. And after Tony T’s legendary news segment, the gang tackles a slew of listener questions like what types of players we most enjoy gaming with, whether Kickstarting board games has become too volatile, and how to handle the dreaded phrase: We got it, let’s just play.

Timecodes

  • The Presence: 00:08:42

  • Mythwind: 00:17:16

  • Etherstone: 00:28:33

  • Shackleton Base: 00:36:06

  • Age of Galaxy: 00:46:26

  • Tea Garden Review: 00:59:59

  • News with Tony T: 01:32:18

  • Short Topic Extravaganza: 02:27:30

Opening Banter and Reviews

Feature Review: Tea Garden

As the proud owner of one of the tea gardens in the the Chinese Yunnan region, your mission in Tea Garden is to cultivate and expand your empire by establishing new tea gardens along the serene river valley. Tea leaves are your most prized asset, with six grades of tea quality and each region producing a different quality of tea. Transform your fresh, vibrant green tea leaves through fermentation, elevating them to rich, aromatic brown leaves that grow in quality — and value! — as they mature. Harness the power of your deck of cards to orchestrate up to four main actions each game round. The strength of these cards is important for performing the chosen action; the higher the strength, the better the effects you will achieve. With your cards, you will build new tea gardens, acquire new cards, trade your tea with eager caravans, ferment your tea leaves, and harvest more tea. Couple your main actions with the power of secondary actions to navigate the river, produce tea cups, or practice tea studies at the university.

Designed by Tomáš Holek

Published by Capstone Games

BoardGameGeek.com Entry

Gaming News by Tony T

Community Info

Crowd Funded Projects

Founder's Froth

Upcoming Product

Our Sponsor Restoration Games!

The Secret Cabal is so pleased to be sponsored by the great Restoration Games! The name says it all, Restoration Games is dedicated to bring back to market games that all of us loved from decades past. The games we grew up with and have been missing from the world. Justin and Rob believe that "Every Game Deserves Another Turn"! Please take some time to check out their website at RestorationGames.com.

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The Secret Cabal Gaming Podcast is proud to be sponsored by the makers of one of the best gaming table solutions on the market today, Game Toopers. These table toppers are made from the finest materials and are manufactured to perfection. I have 2 of these portable and storable Toppers in my gaming lair and I am in love with them. Please take some time to check out their website at GameToppersLLC.com.

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