Tom Vasel#The Dice Tower

{{Short description|American podcaster, designer, and board games reviewer}}

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{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}

Thomas J. Vasel is a podcaster, designer and reviewer of board games,{{cite magazine |last=Banks |first=Dave |date=January 25, 2011 |title=You Can Help Raise Funds For The Dice Tower's Vasel Family |url=https://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/01/you-can-help-raise-funds-for-the-dice-towers-vasel-family/ |magazine=Wired |access-date=August 3, 2016}}{{cite news |last=Morgenegg |first=Ryan |date=February 1, 2016 |title=Game Salute's Nothing Personal game review: Influence is power |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865646664/Game-Salutes-Nothing-Personal-game-review-Influence-is-power.html?pg=all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224225726/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865646664/Game-Salutes-Nothing-Personal-game-review-Influence-is-power.html?pg=all |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 24, 2016 |newspaper=Deseret News |access-date=August 3, 2016}}{{cite web |url=http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/01/30/cardboard-children-tom-vasel/ |title=Cardboard Children: Tom Vasel |last=Florence |first=Robert |date=January 30, 2011 |website=Rock, Paper, Shotgun |access-date=August 3, 2016}} and hosted The Dice Tower podcast from 2003-2022, which has more than 300,000 subscribers. Vasel began publishing board game reviews in 2002 on BoardGameGeek, followed by YouTube,{{cite web |last1=Varney |first1=Allen |title=Dominion Over All |url=https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/issues/issue_213/6338-Dominion-Over-All |website=v1.escapistmagazine.com |publisher=Defy Media, LLC |access-date=March 8, 2021 |language=en}}{{cite news |last=Parks |first=Casey |date=March 15, 2011 |title=About.com says Railways of the World by Aloha businessman is best family game of 2010 |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/aloha/index.ssf/2011/03/aboutcom_says_game_designed_by_aloha_businessman_is_best_family_game_of_2010.html |newspaper=The Oregonian |access-date=August 3, 2016}} and his Dice Tower website.{{cite web|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/browse/boardgame/0?username=TomVasel&forumname=reviews&sort=recent|title=Tom Vasel: boardgamegeek mostly written game reviews|accessdate=April 1, 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/videos/boardgame/all?username=TomVasel&gallery=review|title=Tom Vasel: boardgamegeek game reviews on video|accessdate=April 1, 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.dicetower.com/board-game-videos?field_category_tid=5|title=Tom Vasel: dicetower.com game reviews|accessdate=April 1, 2018}} As of 2021, he has rated over 7000 games and expansions.{{Cite web|title=TomVasel {{!}} User Collection {{!}} BoardGameGeek|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/TomVasel?rated=1&subtype=boardgame&ff=1|access-date=January 30, 2021|website=boardgamegeek.com|language=en-US}} His first board game review was for The Settlers of Canaan.{{cite web|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2734/user-review|title=The Settlers of Canaan reviews by Tom Vasel|accessdate=April 1, 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_Xfhq11B-U |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/-_Xfhq11B-U |archive-date=December 14, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Dice Tower History, Part III: Starting the Podcast|website=YouTube |accessdate=April 1, 2018}}{{cbignore}}

Vasel was the designer of the board game Vicious Fishes in 2010,{{cite web |title=Vicious Fishes |url=https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70922/vicious-fishes |website=BoardGameGeek |publisher=BoardGameGeek LLC |access-date=May 13, 2021}} and co-designer for the boardgame Nothing Personal in 2013.{{cite web |title=Nothing Personal |url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/120523/nothing-personal |website=BoardGameGeek |publisher=BoardGameGeek LLC |access-date=April 15, 2021}}

One of his children, Jack Vasel, died in 2011, resulting in Vasel establishing the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund,{{cite web |title=Jack Vasel Memorial Fund |url=http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/681534/jack-vasel-memorial-fund |website=www.boardgamegeek.com |publisher=BoardGameGeek LLC |access-date=March 8, 2021}} a not-for-profit fund with the goal of raising and distributing funds to help gamers in their hour of need.{{cite web |last=Liu |first=Jonathan H. |date=November 11, 2013 |title=Jack Vasel Memorial Fund Board Game Auction |url=https://geekdad.com/2013/11/jack-vasel-auction/ |website=GeekDad |access-date=August 3, 2016}}{{cite web |last=J. |first=Sean |date=December 31, 2014 |title=Good Game: What can be Accomplished Through Play |url=http://dailyworkerplacement.com/2014/12/31/good-game-what-can-be-accomplished-through-play/ |website=The Daily Worker Placement |access-date=August 3, 2016}}{{cite web |last=James |first=Chris |date=November 9, 2015 |title=Jack Vasel, a Symbol of Hope for the Board Gaming Community |url=http://casualgamerevolution.com/blog/2015/11/jack-vasel-a-symbol-of-hope-for-the-board-gaming-community |website=Casual Game Revolution |access-date=August 3, 2016}}