This probably seems like a weird question for a board game blog to ask, but you'll just have to trust that we have a good reason. And you'll find out what that reason is on Thursday when we have a very special interview. In the meantime...

It all comes down to this. One chance. We have to cure this last disease, or the world will be overrun with another vicious outbreak. We've gathered these few samples. We wanted to get more, but we just didn't have...time. Good luck. 

Usually, dice versions of established games are simplistic and unnecessary, so I was skeptical of a dice version of Pandemic. Would this version cure my fear, or send me into fits of coughing. Let's find out. 

Fifteen years ago designer Richard Borg created the Command and Colors system, which is a simplified wargame framework where players use a deck of Command cards that represent orders and tactics; battle dice; and a board divided into a center, right, and left flank. Battlecry kicked it off, set in the Civil War. In 2004 Richard brought us Memoir 44, set in WWII (and my personal favorite of the games). In 2006 we got the fantasy-themed BattleLore and the ancients-themed Command & Colors: Ancients. 2011 saw Command & Colors Napoleonics. In 2012 we got Samurai Battles, and in 2013 an updated 2nd edition of BattleLore. As you can see, it's a very versatile system. So what's left to explore for this system? The Great War. 

Thanks to everyone who entered our contest for a copy of Ninja Dice. But there can only be one winner. And it is...

It's no secret that one of our favorite kids games--well, any games, really--is Loopin' Louie. It's a dexterity game about a crazed German airplane pilot who apparently hates chickens, so he's dive-bombing yours in an attempt to knock them down. Sounds ridiculous, right? It is. It's also--FAR and away--the game my kids request more than any others. It's gone in and out of print, and people have imported the German version just to get a copy. And there's a Loopin' Louie tournament every year at the famous Gathering of Friends. But now we have a new, thematic contender for the crown of coolest game ever: Loopin' Chewie...

We're trying something completely new today. One of our favorite board game blogs is islaythedragon, and this morning they started an intriguing dialogue, all about board game potential. A collection is basically all potential. You might have a game that you play a lot, so its potential is played out fairly often. You might have a game solely because one day you just know you'll have the right group to play it with. That game hasn't yet reached its potential. Others might be collectors items, and you have no intention of ever playing it. So that game has almost no potential. 

So we're going to dive in here and talk about our collections, their potential, and explore the decisions we make when it comes to our collections.