We have a breach in security! Someone is here that shouldn't be... And boy, has he got a lot to tell us. World renowned hard-hitting games journalist Kevin is with us today to break down the highs and lows, the tragedies and mountaintop celebrations of Essen Spiel 2023. But getting there, was no easy feat. Kevin tells us of his harrowing journey culminating in the legendary Hunt for Stefan. Elias and Ippo ask Kevin the hard hitting questions, like is Match of the Century better than just playing Chess (00:16:30), and just what are the strategic and geopolitical impacts of swapping out carboard tiles for plastic ones in the new Castles of Burgundy (00:30:05)? Was the Battle of Versailles a battle in the French Revolution, no World War I? Nobody knows! (00:43:33). Are dogs better than cats? (00:50:31)? Did Charles Darwin really go to the Galapagos Islands on a ship called The Beagle, and does that have anything to do with the last game we talked about (00:53:00)? And do people just buy games that have Japanese art themes because they're pretty (00:58:20)? Yes, of course they do. Ippokratis kicks off his notorious corner with an art piece named Spyfall, Asphalt Works, and Long Standing Beliefs (01:05:06) before the hosts subject Kevin to the same torture of having to listen to someone else talk for the back half of the episode, listing their Top 5 Games That Were Never Bested. #5s 01:18:47 #4s 01:22:51 #3s 01:27:05 #2s 01:29:17 #1s 01:37:03 Kevin then slips in his rubbish #1 pick, but nobody asked him, and fewer people cared. Security caught up and got rid of him. Afterall, we can't have renowned hard-hitting games journalists just sitting around while we're trying to record the world's greatest boardgame podcast. Secrets have to stay secrets afterall, and journalists like to share them with the world. [Small Print: Kevin is not a renowned hard-hitting games journalist, he's a school teacher and has mediocre journalistic skills at best] Twilight Imperium: The Veiled Masters (Dramatized Adaption Audiobook) GA: https://www.graphicaudio.net/twilight-imperium-3-the-veiled-masters.html Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Veiled-Masters-Dramatized-Adaptation-Audiobook/B0CD879KY6?qid Links to everything: linktr.ee/tabletopsessions Instagram (@tabletopsessions): www.instagram.com/tabletopsessions/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TabletopSessions BGG Guild: boardgamegeek.com/guild/3357