RDTN Episode 187: Paladins, Taverns of Tiefenthal and Miyabi

BGG Con gives Marty plenty of games to talk about, but the standout impressions in this episode come with a useful warning: a game can demand more than one sitting before its shape becomes clear. Paladins of the West Kingdom gave the group a brain-bending workout, while The Taverns of Tiefenthal offered a gentler introduction to several familiar mechanisms. The episode also makes room for food, event stories and a string of other games, including Miyabi.

Paladins asks for repeat visits

The clearest review in the recap is for Paladins of the West Kingdom. The hosts describe it as a demanding game that made them work their grey matter, and they count that mental effort as a good thing. Their read is that it’s a strong next step in the series, with enough going on that players shouldn’t expect to understand its full appeal in a single sitting.

That recommendation carries a practical caveat. A first play may be busy with learning the game’s decisions and seeing how its parts fit together. The group expects a few plays to build a firmer grasp, so players looking for an immediately relaxed experience may want to set aside time for a learning curve. For a group that enjoys returning to a game and finding more in its choices, that curve sounds like part of the draw.

The hosts don’t spell out specific actions, turn order or scoring in this account, so the episode’s useful takeaway is about the experience rather than a rules breakdown: expect a substantial mental challenge, and give the game room to settle in across multiple sessions. It’s a positive impression, but one that leaves space for players to form their own view after they’ve got past the first play.

A lighter route into deck building and dice drafting

The contrast with The Taverns of Tiefenthal is clear. The hosts describe it as a lighter game that brings together deck building, dice drafting and engine building. They call the mechanics simple, the rules quick to learn and the competition relatively mild. That combination makes it sound like a useful pick for introducing newer players to those ideas without asking them to tackle a heavier game first.

There’s a lot packed into that brief description. Deck building gives players a way to shape what they can do; dice drafting adds a shared choice over available results; and engine building points toward developing useful effects as play goes on. The episode doesn’t offer the details needed to explain how those systems connect in each turn, but it does make the appeal legible: a manageable entry point, with several mechanisms to explore.

The hosts are also interested in trying the game’s modules, which they say they’ll need to discover for themselves. That signals more to investigate beyond the basic experience, without promising what any particular module changes. For a group deciding whether to bring it back to the table, the episode leaves two good questions to answer through play: which additions suit the group, and how much extra decision-making they bring.

A busy convention recap, with more games on the list

The discussion begins with Marty’s trip to BGG Con and moves through a broad collection of subjects. The episode’s timeline includes a broken game, food, a return to Dark Tower and a Gloomhaven playtest. It also points listeners toward Sanctum, Portal Games, a listener survey and Miniature Market. These entries show the range of the conversation, though the accompanying write-up doesn’t give enough detail to assess those games or the playtest.

At 58:37, the hosts turn to Miyabi, but the source provides only the segment title and timing. There’s no review, rules description or verdict to report, so this recap can’t say how it played or what stood out. The same restraint applies to the other named segments that lack commentary here: their place in the episode is clear, while their substance remains for listeners to hear firsthand.

Food gets its own turn, too. Marty’s enthusiasm for fried grits balls becomes a running joke in the recap before the hosts concede that games were part of the excitement as well. That small detour suits the episode’s convention-report feel: it’s not a tightly focused review of one release, but a record of what caught the group’s attention during a busy stretch of gaming.

The timeline closes with an apology and a mention of The Broken Token. It gives listeners a useful map through the full conversation, from the opening and convention stories to the final segment. For players choosing where to start, the most developed impressions are Paladins and Taverns: one rewards repeated plays with a challenging puzzle, while the other looks like a more accessible way to introduce several mechanisms. Miyabi and the remaining stops are worth following up in the episode for the details this recap doesn’t provide.

Episode timeline

00:01:23 Intro
00:02:00 BGG Con
00:04:47 I broke it
00:11:45 Back to BGG Con
00:22:57 Time for the Food
00:27:48 Return to Dark Tower
00:30:03 Gloomhaven Playtest
00:31:02 Sanctum
00:40:57 Portal Games
00:42:40 Paladins of the West Kingdom
00:48:34 Survey Time
00:52:13 Miniature Market
00:53:07 The Taverns of Tiefenthal
00:58:37 Miyabi
01:08:46 Our Apologies
01:17:14 The Broken Token