Chris, Don and Jamie dive into a discussion about games that have a single standout mechanism that elevates its game to something special. Each of the gang lists three games that they feel include one of these brilliant mechanisms.

Hey Now! It's time for some irreverent Cabal shenanigans! Today Jamie and Don get into an overview and review of Anno 1800 from Kosmos and designed by Martin Wallace. After Tony T goes through all the most important news items in the entire world, the Founders get into a discussion about giving potentially great board games a second chance.

Today the Lords start out episode 56 by discussing their new campaign using the Fallout RPG from Modiphius. Jesko explains the setting and the rest of the gang details the characters they'll be playing. Then the group takes a question from a listener asking which we more value, campaign story arcs or our own personal character's story arc. And finally, the Lords each give one pick of a video game that they think would make a great tabletop RPG.

Episode 242 starts with an announcement regarding Don playing a game of Europe Divided with the designer of A Gest of Robin Hood and Red Flag over Paris, Fred Serval. Tony T collects and delivers a bonkers series of news articles and currently running Kickstarter projects while the gang chirps in the background. Then finally the Founders jump into a Short Topic Extravaganza including discussion about too many Kicsktarters, how hard should a co-op game be and do the BGG rankings really reflect how good games are.

Don and Jamie welcome Honorary Founder Matt Evans of Board Game Replay to celebrate Halloween with some spooky, creepy and super fun horror video games! Most of the games discussed in this episode are by indie developers but are inexpensive giving you a good bang for your buck - or scare for your buck in some cases. Please check out https://www.thesecretcabal.com/express-77-horror-video-games for a full list of the games discussed. Also check out https://www.youtube.com/boardgamereplay for all of Matt's amazing videos.

It's Halloween and the Founders are back to scare your pants off! The gang talks about Origins Game Fair, feature review Unfathomable from Fantasy Flight Games and Spooky Board Game Rethemes. AND throughout the episode the gang is visited by the Gatekeeper from the old Nightmare board game to give us some Halloween pop quizzes.

In episode 55, The gang starts out by having Aaron reveal his purchases at Origins Game Fair 2021 and then jump into a listener submitted question about how the Lords prepare for campaigns as Game Masters. And finally, the Lords discuss roleplaying fear, game mechanisms that promote fear in players and running spooky adventures for the Halloween season.

The Cabal is back for another dose of insubordinate nonsense! Today the gang talks about some great games including Magic the Gathering, Khora: Rise of an Empire, Immortals, Scooby Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion, Run Cowboy Run and Intrepid. Then Don and Jamie feature review Clash of Cultures Monumental Edition from designer Christian Marcussen and Wiz-Kids. Then Tony T pulls out the news articles if runs down all the most important things happening in the tabletop gaming world. Then finally the Founders discuss Unwritten Rules in board gaming.

Enter, Ye Gods of War! In Volume four of Battletome, a podcast about the miniatures gaming hobby, Bender, Aaron and Jamie discuss all the games and hobby project they've been getting into lately including Age of Sigmar, Warhammer 40k, Don't Look Back, Duncan Rhodes Two Thin Coats, Myth and Goal, and Aeronautica Imperialis Wrath of Angels. Then Aaron and Jamie dive into a feature review of Star Wars Legion published by Fantasy Flight Games and Atomic Mass Games!

Don and Jamie are so happy to be joined by Joel Eddy of Drive Thru Games and Rodney Smith of Watch It Played to talk about gaming conventions. We discuss the question, are Board Game Conventions still as relevant as they once were to the gaming industry - both publishers and convent creators.

Awww yeah, the gang is back in action for another bananas episode of The Secret Cabal! Don and Jamie dive into a feature review of the classic Vlaada Chvátil game, Through The Ages: A New Story of Civilization and the gang hosts another Short Topic Extravaganza with topics including is it okay to turn down designers when they ask you to playtest? Do you like long turns with few rounds or fast turns with tons of rounds? And do we believe in bigfoot and UFOs?

In episode 54, The gang starts out by talking about their recent roleplaying game battery recharging hiatus and their meeting to discuss what we're going to play next included - Fallout, Shadowrun, Pulp Cthulhu and Star Wars. Then the Lords take a question from Cabalist Brett regarding creating and running dastardly villains and how to do it without feeling like a dirtbag. Then finally the group talks about all kinds of gaming group styles, look at their own gaming style and discuss the impact style has on enjoyment.

Oh Yeah! Tony and Chris are back in action in episode 238 of The Secret Cabal! Today we start off by hearing a little about Tony's journey across the country and then dive into the games we've been playing over the past 2 weeks. Then Don and Jamie dive into an in-depth review of Descent Legends of the Dark. Then finally the gang discusses whether size matters in board gaming - box size, card size, table presence, etc.

Hey Now Cabalists! In today's episode of The Secret Cabal Express, Don and Jamie start out by talking about the new Descent Legends of the Dark and transition into talking about the challenges that make up the board games we love and why those challenges enhance the enjoyment.

Hey Now Cabalists! It’s time for another wild, crazy, bananas, brilliant, bombastic, and meshugenah episode of The Secret Cabal Today it's only Don, Steve and Jamie as the others are off doing whatever they do and the gang dives into the games they've been playing. Then Don and Jamie review SpaceCorp 2025-2300AD Then finally Don and Jamie talk about their shelves of shame.

The Cabal is back for another jam-packed episode! Don and Jamie feature Beyond the Sun and look back at the games reviewed in the first 6 months of 2020. Then Tony T hooks us up with this news segment and the Founders finish off the show by discussing games and game styles they just don’t enjoy.

Hey Now Gang and welcome back to another wild and crazy episode of The Secret Cabal! Today the gang flies into action talking about a bunch of great games they've been playing. Then Don and Steve take a look at Mind MGMT: The Psychic Espionage Game. The, because Tony T is galivanting across the United States on a month-long road trip, Steve takes control of the news desk and gives us every bit of great tabletop gaming news he can. Then the gang talks about board games that really nail their theme!

In episode 52, the gang starts out be discussing what they're going to do during the summer months with vacations and other travel interferes with the gaming schedule. Then the Lords take a couple of questions from listeners including running games with little knowledge of the setting and what RPGs would NOT like to run or play in. Then the group rounds out the episode by talking about high vs low complexity role playing game systems.

The gang talks about some of the games they've been playing, dive deep into a feature review of Oath Chronicles of Empire and Exile by Cole Wehrle, Tony T collects and presents the best of the best tabletop gaming news you'll ever heard finally hosts a Short Topic Extravaganza including questions from listeners regarding using chess clocks, getting deeper into the theme of a game and losing your cook at the table.