Today, we release one of my favourite episodes of the season, Ticket To Ride: Europe, with John Kovalic, Emma Caulfield, and my lovely wife, Anne Wheaton.
John does the incredibly wonderful comic Dork Tower, and this week he’s been doing a Tabletop storyline that you may enjoy.
Emma is an amazing actor, vlogger, writer, and awesome human.
Anne does a whole bunch of awesome things, including VandalEyes and Rescue Pets Are Awesome. She also runs our charitable foundation, created the celebrity pet adoption calendar for the Wiggle Waggle Walk (raising over $50,000 for Pasadena Humane Society), and for some mysterious reason agreed to marry me.
This episode was really fun to shoot, even if the game ended up being the most intense, focused, serious game we’ve ever played on Tabletop.
I hope you enjoy it, and remember to send me your pictures and stories about your own Tabletop gaming, so I can share them with the world.
OH! OH! OH! And get ready for the second annual International Tabletop Day, which is happening April 5.
I want to do soooooo much for the Table Top Day event I plan on organizing, but have very little time to plan it. Oh well. I’m sure it will still end up being fun anyway.
Today is my birthday! Thanks for the AWESOME present!!
Did you reinforce the table to make it Anne-proof?
John’s the man, so I’m so excited that he’s gotten to be on your show. Keep up the great work!
I was going “Please don’t hit the table again Anne” the entire time! Great episode!
Really excited about about tonight! My wife and I just discovered your show and have been hooked. I’ve been considering buying this game so I am really looking forward to watching you guys play. Plus, have some Bells Hopslam to enhance the experience
Cheers,
Mike
I’m so excited to watch tonight! My wife and I just recently discovered your show and it has completely revitalized our tabletop interest. Ticket to Ride is on our list so we are stoked about watching the game unfold.
It also helps that we have some newly released Bells Hopslam to enhance our experience.
Cheers,
Mike
How long does/did the entire game take to play?
Any particular reason none of the stations were played in that game? My wife and I have played the regular version and own Nordic Countries, so the stations were the one part of TTR Europe that we’re unfamiliar with, and they didn’t get played.
I can’t wait to watch. Tabletop introduced me to Ticket to Ride in the first place, which is now a favorite game in my house and among the extended family. My dad and I both got TTR Europe for Christmas, so we are both learning the nuances. I’m curious to see how you do with the game.
Not sure if you realized this but USA TODAY (online) had an article on International Tabletop Day posted on Tuesday, with a video.
A buddy I know who comes to our game group here in little Oakville, Ontario (Actually you met with Mike Rooth- another friend who is an artist that drew you and felicia day in the batmobile) named Francois is the one that designed the Asia Ticket to Ride game.It’s beautiful. Check that one out too, Will!
ps. I love watching your show. <3 you're so awesome. I'm glad your a game dork
If you go to facebook and check out https://www.facebook.com/thomas.trumpinski this weekend you will see a TON of pictures of people and dice. He’s doing a photo series of people and their dice at Winter War 41 http://www.winterwar.org/ which is our local gaming convention (since 1973)
Love the show, and that was so nice you to let your guest win (won’t spoil which one, for those who have not yet seen it. I especially liked the end, after the credits with Anne. Too funny, and now I wonder if I should go back and check out other episodes for any “after credits” specials.
One question, which was asked above, but I want to re-enforce it…. Near the beginning when you were describing the differences, you mentioned and showed the “stations”, where were they? I did not see them anywhere on the game board. Did they get missed? Was that on the editing room floor? Are they optional rules? I am big fan of the game (US map), and was really hoping to get a better look at the enhancements and options.
Thanks for all your hard work, and to the production crew as well.
We ended up not using the stations in our gameplay, so they never showed up in the game. (They can be very helpful to complete routes, but they’re also worth 3 points each, so it usually makes sense to save them.)
Hey Wil,
Where can I kearn more about the foundation for increasing awesomeness? I checked the Web site but didn’t really find anything. How can I help? Thanks for everything, I started a tabletop group about 5 months ago. No one had played or heard of these game. We all love it, only get to play once a month because of wife and kids but it’s a day I look forward to.
What would you like to know about the foundation?
Wait, what went wrong with doing Tabletop on the ISS? I work as an aerospace contractor in Houston and I can already name ways to roll dice in space. Wil, how do we make this happen?
(I also think, if dice weren’t required, that a game of Cards Against Humanity on ISS would be HILARIOUS.)
I was a Table Top virgin. This is the first show I’ve seen and now I want MORE! Is there somewhere to view past episodes? Great time, Wil!
(This is too long for a comment. I suck at the internet)
My skills in the ancient art of finding things on the internet is probably pretty insufficient, but I can’t seem to find word on whether or not there will be a season three of Table Top. Which could be bad news for me and the cult I’m forming around the show. (Originally we were going to form around the the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog from Monty Python’s Masterpiece about those Knights on an epic journey to find the holy grail but we decided, collectively, that our Friday sermons would be better served by endless rounds of board games rather than senseless violence in the style of cute but vicious rodents.)
Aside from all that, what this show does is awesome, as it seems everything you are a part of is kind of awesome. I think you are the Typhoid Mary nerd epicenes (that’s a word, right? It should be.)
I’m awaiting a medical discharge from the Navy right now, which will probably take the rest of my natural life because Big Military does not like its broken toys so much. This is unfair to the men and women who do work so hard to make sure we’re taken care of, but in the midst of this, is a feeling of being set aside, dismissed and just generally ignored by the powers that be. Either that or there are people in a back room somewhere who honestly believe that files, when left alone for several months, take care of themselves.
Because of Table Top, my cohabiting face licking partner and I started a board game night and looking forward to Friday where I can play and win or die as the case may be has made this whole business suck a whole lot less.
So what I am trying to say is THANK YOU, you’re AWESOME and if you ever feel like being personified as a table top deity for a contrarian group of aspiring but really lackadaisical cultist we would be very happy. It doesn’t require anything, because we really don’t do anything but we might occasionally invoke your name in the event of random table top tragedies.
I had asked the same question on your AMA but I didn’t think it was going to get answered but you did anyways :). Please keep us informed as to when we can donate or help. Also have you ever thought about setting up something similar to an Angel Network but focused on game designers? It sounds like it could be very interesting, I do a little work with Angel and start-ups now. It could be Paladins instead of Angels, I find this interesting and would love to talk about it more.
This episode was awesome. I watched the original Ticket to Ride episode and am looking forward to picking up the game VERY soon….along with Munchkin, Pandemic, and any others i can get my hands on. You’ve definitely sparked my interest in playing tabletop games, since it’s something the whole family can get in on and have fun with. Thanks for all you do!
I recently discovered Table Top and ended up doing mini marathons to catch up. My wallet is probably going to be a bit lighter now (because I have a list of games that I need to have) and I’ve barely gotten anything done, but I’ve had a run of good laughs over the past few days. Ended up buying Unspeakable Words right after watching the episode (Seriously, I literally bought it 5 mins after seeing it on the show) and it’s become a instant favorite with my mom and I. Looks like I need to choose how to spend my Barnes & noble gift cards now: The Wheel of Time books I still need or Ticket to Ride…hmmm. Well, my collection of Clue games do look awfully lonely….
Did you know there is an app released on the apple store last week that you narrated? shifter, I think it is called… Is it something you would recommend?