Guest: Justin Gary — https://x.com/Justin_Gary

Stone Blade Entertainment: https://stoneblade.com

Justin's podcast & book: Think Like a Game Designer

Lord of the Rings Ascension Campaign: https://gamefound.com/en/projects/stoneblade/the-lord-of-the-rings-ascension#/section/project-story

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Cold open & guest intro

1:07 Welcome + the Tim Ferriss DM story

13:53 The Magic pro years & the hacker mentality

14:54 $30,000 and two banned cards

25:59 Dominion & the deckbuilding boom

29:25 Building Ascension: 18 months, 10,000 copies

46:35 "Balance is a misnomer"

1:07:07 Lord of the Rings Ascension

1:24:03 Taming the One Ring

1:28:33 Favorite set + what's next

1:38:37 The crowdfund + where to find Justin

GAMES IN THIS EPISODE

Magic: The Gathering — https://crdbrd.app/hub/game/4dd82420-e5a0-4cc4-afaa-3b7d2b60ce97

Ascension: Deckbuilding Game — https://crdbrd.app/hub/game/077eee6c-9a23-4f10-b72b-776c45514d2a

Dominion — https://crdbrd.app/hub/game/0b300d7c-f019-4594-8d4b-ef94c0e26585

SolForge Fusion — https://crdbrd.app/hub/game/874e3f7f-413f-47df-bc57-8b603d33937b

Discover every game mentioned on the show: https://crdbrd.app

#cardboard #bgss #ascension

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🎙️ IN THIS EPISODE, WE GO DEEP:

🧒 Designing his first game at 9 (thanks, Mom)

💰 Quitting the day job — royalties, risk & the AEG deal

🃏 Dominion, Ascension & why deck building is a design "cheat code"

✂️ Card crafting — why it never spawned a genre

⚡ Momentum deck building & the 2009 prototype that waited a decade

🎲 Luck vs. agency — why new players blame the dice

🌶️ The BGG comments he SAVES & the review that stung

🗞️ BREAKING: Floors 5 & 6 in the works for Dungeon Crawler Carl

🔮 What's next — Stormlight Archive, Mystic Lands & Electrify

👉 If you want to get inside the mind of the most inventive card game designer working today, this one's a masterclass.

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🔗 LINKS

⚔️ Unstoppable — Renegade Game Studios

▶ https://renegadegamestudios.com/unstoppable/

👑 Dungeon Crawler Carl: Unstoppable + RPG

▶ https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/renegade-game-studios/dungeon-crawler-carl-rpg-unstoppable

❤️ Support My Work — Join Cardboard

▶ https://crdbrd.app/

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🎧 TOO LONG TO WATCH? THIS IS NOW A PODCAST!

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-board-game-secret-show/id6785378165

🟢 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033GRnTDINaxqcoJksaCl4

🔵 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/01414914-23bd-4f4c-a29f-50daa231f364

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⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro — who is John D. Clair

00:52 - Designing his first game at 9 (Monster Cards)

05:19 - Maze books & gamifying mazes as a kid

13:24 - Going full-time in 2018 & the AEG deal

16:52 - Why Unstoppable went to Renegade — the IP bet

18:52 - The games he loves (and the two kinds he doesn't)

22:59 - Inspiration & giving credit to other designers

27:12 - Playing Dominion for the first time

30:46 - Why deck building is so addicting

34:38 - Ascension's influence & Dead Reckoning's 2D market

38:52 - Card crafting — a lateral evolution, not a genre

42:16 - The deck building problem card crafting solves

46:05 - Deck-driven board games — Dune: Imperium & Arnak

47:35 - Unstoppable & momentum deck building

50:45 - The 2009 prototype behind Unstoppable

58:04 - The magic moment — two dead cards into a combo

1:00:27 - Difficulty & learning to pump the brakes

1:08:08 - Luck, agency & why new players blame the dice

1:17:48 - How many plays before Unstoppable clicks?

1:18:46 - What do reviewers owe designers?

1:22:03 - BGG comments, Space Base's two bad cards & the review that stung

1:31:36 - Fixing the card market — six levels, straight to hand

1:41:44 - Has momentum transcended deck building?

1:46:01 - The bosses & designing variety

1:52:26 - My gripes — sleeving and that theme

1:55:06 - The IP vision & the future of the Unstoppable line

1:56:36 - Patching a physical game & the new co-op rule

2:00:35 - Dungeon Crawler Carl's campaign mode

2:04:47 - BREAKING — Floors 5 & 6 expansion in the works

2:05:54 - What's new in DCC — looming bosses, races & mana

2:13:39 - The "Unbeatable" difficulty & how John playtests

2:15:17 - Stormlight Archive: War of Roshar (September)

2:17:14 - Mystic Lands & the art problem of card crafting

2:21:03 - Mistborn expansion, Electrify & a 2027 auto-battler

2:23:01 - Wrap-up

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#boardgames #boardgamedesign #unstoppable #dungeoncrawlercarl #deckbuilding #tabletop #renegadegamestudios #boardgamepodcast

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🎙️ IN THIS EPISODE, WE GO DEEP:

💰 The real economics of conventions

🏆 Why Origins beats GenCon for a premiere

🃏 The CCG days & Shadow Fist

🤝 Betting on co-op when NOBODY wanted it

📦 Under-printing Pandemic

🌶️ His (spicy) take on expansions

📜 IP licensing headaches & the Middle-earth project

🚀 Crowdfunding, paid previews vs. review copies

🔮 What's next for Play to Z

👉 If you care at all about how the board game industry ACTUALLY works, this one's a masterclass.

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🔗 LINKS

⚔️ Siege Perilous — LIVE on Gamefound now (through July 14)

▶ https://gamefound.com/en/projects/play-to-z/siege-perilous

✨ Everything Play to Z has going

▶ https://www.playtozgames.com/

❤️ Support My Work — Join Cardboard

▶ https://crdbrd.app/

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🎧 TOO LONG TO WATCH? THIS IS NOW A PODCAST!

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-board-game-secret-show/id6785378165

🟢 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033GRnTDINaxqcoJksaCl4

🔵 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/01414914-23bd-4f4c-a29f-50daa231f364

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⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 ▸ Intro — who is Zev Schlasinger

00:39 ▸ Origins & how the con has changed

03:04 ▸ Why publisher attendance is dropping

04:15 ▸ Conventions are marketing — money is gravy

05:03 ▸ The ROI secret: premiere something new

06:56 ▸ Why release at Origins instead of GenCon

🃏 THE CCG YEARS

09:07 ▸ From CCGs to board games — the Z-Man origin

09:53 ▸ Always a gamer: wargames, Magic & judging

11:31 ▸ Grave Robbers From Outer Space changes everything

13:16 ▸ Breaking into board games & the "Rio Grande wall"

16:40 ▸ How you found games to sign back then

18:33 ▸ Selling off Shadow Fist / leaving CCGs

23:38 ▸ Would he ever do a CCG again?

📈 BUILDING Z-MAN

24:49 ▸ When did Z-Man feel like a success? ("one disaster from bankruptcy")

28:21 ▸ Under-printing Pandemic & Agricola / print runs

33:04 ▸ Lead times then vs. now / the Soothsayers reprint

🦠 THE BIG HITS

36:01 ▸ Meeting Matt Leacock & signing Pandemic

38:03 ▸ Betting on co-op when nobody wanted it

42:22 ▸ Play to Z's philosophy: engaging & different

43:31 ▸ Signing Agricola, the $70 euro risk & animeeples

48:48 ▸ Publishing the very first Endeavor

52:40 ▸ Zev's honest take on expansions

🏢 Z-MAN, WIZKIDS & IP

1:05:00 ▸ Why he sold Z-Man (and kept working there)

1:07:28 ▸ The WizKids years — 100 games in 7

1:11:47 ▸ The reality of working with IP & licensing

1:20:54 ▸ The Middle-earth game & Asmodee's curation

✨ PLAY TO Z & THE INDUSTRY TODAY

1:27:08 ▸ Why start Play to Z — hitting the ground running

1:29:40 ▸ Crowdfunding — why he resisted it for so long

1:33:02 ▸ Crowdfunding vs. bank loans & publisher risk

1:39:37 ▸ Paid previews, review copies & marketing ROI

1:47:27 ▸ Social media & staying transparent with the community

1:52:29 ▸ Board games vs. digital / BGA & the tactile future

🎯 WHAT TO PLAY NOW

1:54:40 ▸ Play to Z's lineup — Siege Perilous, 23 Knives & more

1:56:52 ▸ The most slept-on Play to Z game

2:00:45 ▸ Late-year releases — Dogs of War, Soul Journey

2:03:21 ▸ Where to find Siege Perilous & wrap-up

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#boardgames #boardgamedesign #zmangames #pandemic #agricola #tabletop #playtoz #boardgamepodcast

We get into the apex of game design, the difference between fun, satisfaction, and winning, why Flip Seven sparked a friendly fight, the $120k debt that nearly ended it all, the "offer he couldn't refuse," and the absurd timeline that took Rolling Deep from first prototype to Kickstarter in under six months.

🎲 Rolling Deep hits Kickstarter June 23rd: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bitewinggamesnick/rolling-deep-and-eureka-dice-adventure-roguelike-and-campaign

⏱️ CHAPTERS

0:00 Cold open

0:42 Designer vs. salesman: the dream nobody warns you about

1:37 The real daily grind of a working designer

3:02 Willow, his sisters & "external processing"

5:27 23 Slack channels with his sister

8:44 How does Peter have fun?

9:07 Fun vs. satisfaction vs. winning

11:02 The apex of game design

11:48 Making "dumb apes feel clever"

12:32 Puzzles, Sudoku & writing sitcoms

15:47 Intrinsic vs. extrinsic joy

22:20 Breaking So Clover (and co-op games)

23:59 Is Flip Seven even a game?

25:29 The threshold of agency

26:03 Why Flip Seven might be a top design of 20 years

30:34 Being a board game "sommelier"

32:30 The Candyland question

33:40 Why he's ending the Fun Problems podcast

34:50 The screenwriting dream & getting into the US

39:02 A "typical" day & external obligations

43:12 $120k of debt to a net worth of zero

44:32 The offer he couldn't refuse

50:14 The ridiculous Rolling Deep timeline

51:36 The Cuphead artist & the cover

53:42 Why Peter designs mechanics-first

55:05 The three hooks: mechanical, component, thematic

1:08:42 Falling in love with Balatro

1:09:31 What Balatro actually is

1:24:08 So what is Rolling Deep?

1:30:39 Translating planet cards into mushrooms

1:33:08 Turning interest into a real decision

1:38:13 Bosses & engine destroyers

1:43:41 Jokers become tableau rows

1:48:13 Broken combos: feature or bug?

1:55:21 "Use the paints already on the tray"

2:04:48 Custom dice faces & the rules budget

2:19:11 Discovery cards

2:28:35 Achievements & roguelike unlocks

3:02:00 Going full-time: fuck around and find out

3:07:45 Peter's other income streams

3:09:40 Building an "engine" on YouTube

3:11:17 Wrap up

#boardgames #gamedesign #rollingdeep #kickstarter #tabletop #balatro

Zeshawn from Board and Shield has played over 500 board games — and he's just as deep in the book world as the board game one. In this episode of the Board Game Secret Show we go all the way down the rabbit hole: how a Game of Thrones version of Risk pulled him into the hobby, why he merged books and board games onto one account, the narrative campaign games worth your table (Dragon Eclipse, Oathsworn, Spire's End), a hot take that might get him canceled (Castles of Burgundy is overrated), and his complete all-time Top 10 — including why Black Rose Wars will NEVER leave the #1 spot.

We also cover the board-game-to-book pipeline: what to read if you love Blood Rage, the cozy parallel to CozyStickerville, and the standalone novels every gamer should pick up.

🎲 Follow Zeshawn here:

@ZeBoardandShield

https://www.instagram.com/boardandshield/

https://www.tiktok.com/@boardandshield

The #1 way you can support me is join my community here: https://crdbrd.app/

—————————————————

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

—————————————————

0:00 — Cold open / teaser

0:30 — Who is Zeeshan & Board and Shield

1:03 — How we connected on TikTok

2:34 — Cross-posting TikTok / IG / YouTube + why he hates editing

5:08 — Being authentic beats high production

6:07 — His first videos: nerves, photos → talking to camera

7:53 — Will we ever get long-form? The monthly-recap idea

9:29 — The origin story: Game of Thrones Risk changed everything

13:08 — Champions of Midgard & his first worker placement

14:31 — Getting people into the hobby (the gateway-game problem)

16:13 — Top 10 lists & the YouTubers that hooked him

18:26 — Books or board games — which came first?

18:53 — Between Two Fires: a horror book deep dive

21:57 — His reading journey & the deluxe-edition parallel to board games

25:01 — Why he merged books + board games onto one account

27:21 — Niching down vs. being yourself (and dealing with haters)

29:13 — Booktok creators worth following — and how huge that world is

31:39 — The golden age of Lord of the Rings board games

33:35 — There and Back Again & the "cozy" debate

34:22 — Cozy Stickerville obsession

37:15 — Corey Konieczka (Twilight Imperium → Cozy Stickerville) & Vantage

41:33 — Narrative campaign games: Dragon Eclipse & Oathsworn

44:04 — Dragon Eclipse as an arena battler ("I wish it were Pokémon")

47:03 — Can board game writing ever match a real novel?

48:32 — Tainted Grail & the Spire's End games

53:08 — Sponsor break: Cardboard

54:01 — Getting board gamers INTO books

56:08 — Legends & Lattes: the cozy book pick

57:06 — Can a book capture the *feeling* of a board game?

59:36 — Standalone book recs (The Sword of Kaigen, Blood Over Bright Haven)

1:00:21 — The paid-content & publisher journey

1:03:36 — Staying selective + the one publisher he hasn't worked with (Awaken Realms)

1:04:40 — Auto-buy publishers & designers: Board & Dice + Stefan Feld

1:05:41 — HOT TAKE: Castles of Burgundy is overrated

1:08:38 — Favorite Board & Dice game (Teotihuacan)

1:09:46 — Windmill Valley & Danny Garcia

1:11:20 — More hot takes: Ark Nova & Viticulture

1:14:07 — THE ALL-TIME TOP 10 — #10 Marvel Champions

1:17:36 — #9 Avalon

1:19:09 — #8 Nusfjord

1:21:13 — #7 Blood Rage

1:22:23 — #6 Primal: The Awakening

1:23:31 — #5 Dominion

1:26:36 — #4 Santorini

1:29:30 — #3 Inis

1:30:57 — #2 Spirit Island (is it really cozy?)

1:33:01 — #1 Black Rose Wars (the forever #1)

1:38:09 — Breaking into the list: Grimm Coven

1:44:15 — The future of Board and Shield & where to follow him

1:45:20 — How he finds time for all of it

1:46:37 — Closing thoughts: the stories behind the hobby

#boardgames #boardgamecommunity #tabletopgames #booktok #blackrosewars

Agree? Disagree? Drop your own hot take in the comments. 👇

🎲 Back his game, SUNLIT'S EULOGY, on GameFound: https://gamefound.com/en/projects/dear-euthyphro-studio/sunlits-eulogy

📺 Subscribe to BigPasti: https://www.youtube.com/@BigPasti

Support this show by becoming a member: https://www.crdbrd.app/pricing

Join the Secret Club Here: https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/clubs?club=the-board-game-secret-show

Want to work together?: https://crdbrd.app/hub/creator/neon_gorilla

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⏱️ CHAPTERS

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0:00 Intro

2:58 Who is BigPasti

3:31 How the channel blew up

4:21 He makes ~$1K/month (and won't take free games)

13:11 Why he refuses publisher copies

18:10 His game: Sunlit Eulogy (the religion game)

32:03 How Sunlit Eulogy actually plays

49:14 Designed to make you miserable

51:09 TAKE: If you bring it, you learn it

52:10 TAKE: A game is 90% discovery

58:43 TAKE: Bad rulebooks & the 30-second rule

1:02:22 TAKE: House rules aren't cheating

1:05:37 TAKE: Camel Up is the best game ever made

1:08:12 TAKE: Did you even play the game?

1:11:34 TAKE: Suboptimal play is still playing to win

1:12:45 TAKE: Don't trash a borrowed game

1:14:22 TAKE: Sleeving is a waste of time

1:18:12 TAKE: "Good mad" is good game design

1:30:10 TAKE: Multiplayer solitaire is boring

1:33:48 TAKE: Can you trust BGG ratings?

1:40:28 TAKE: What even IS a game?

1:45:51 TAKE: All games are art

1:53:00 TAKE: Looks-maxing wins

1:53:52 TAKE: Be honest about player count on the box

1:56:15 TAKE: Complexity isn't depth

2:02:18 TAKE: Secret Hitler is a baby game

2:05:02 TAKE: FOMO is the sin of the decade

2:13:42 TAKE: Zombicide is Funko Pop board gaming

2:14:35 TAKE: Earth is hollow

2:16:16 TAKE: AI art is cringe

2:27:26 TAKE: Reveal your income

2:31:29 TAKE: Does the designer matter? (Phil Eklund)

2:44:26 Wrap-up + the thumbnail A/B challenge

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#boardgames #boardgame #tabletop #hottakes #bgg #boardgamereview #gamefound #kickstarter

We talked about losing everything in a single day, sleeping on a friend's couch in London, why he treats his channel like a library instead of a newsstand, and what it actually takes to build a niche board game channel without selling out to the algorithm.

If you've ever been told "the only way to grow is top-10 lists and preview videos," this episode is your permission slip to ignore that advice.

Support this show by becoming a member: https://www.crdbrd.app/pricing

Join the Secret Club Here: https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/clubs?club=the-board-game-secret-show

Want to work together?: https://crdbrd.app/hub/creator/neon_gorilla

Chapters

0:00 — Cold open

1:24 — Fleeing Moscow with nothing

6:15 — The bus across the border

9:14 — Discovering the Global Talent visa

10:25 — Falling into board games (Mice and Mystics → Gloomhaven)

14:23 — Finding purpose during visa limbo

16:11 — The first (failed) YouTube channel

20:03 — "A library, not a newspaper kiosk"

23:26 — Hobby vs. business: the Ali Abdaal scale

31:55 — Ikigai and the why behind the work

34:17 — The two things he's most proud of

35:50 — Two jobs, never a missed week

44:30 — Watching metrics without serving them

49:58 — Only covering games he actually loves

57:44 — Family, Cheltenham, and the introvert problem

1:04:08 — "I have to do this. This is my mission."

1:14:15 — Going deep on Grimcoven

1:24:03 — Too Many Bones and the Wave 2 wait

1:29:15 — Filming the official Too Many Bones tutorial

1:32:41 — Elder Scrolls vs. Too Many Bones

1:39:17 — Why he still hasn't reviewed Elder Scrolls

1:49:03 — Advice for aspiring creators

We talked about the moment they stopped making ads and decided to make the thing itself, what it actually looks like when three designers with contradictory ideas have to build one game, why they published their press kit publicly, and what Zac wrote a 120-page screenplay for. (It's a board game. It ships next year.)

If you've ever wondered how a small team ships beautiful games on time while also designing the next five and running a community tour — this is the blueprint.

Check out Altera: https://gamefound.com/en/projects/iv-studio/altera

Check out Honors End: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ivstudios/honors-end

Check Out Realm of Reckoning: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ivstudios/realm-of-reckoning

Support this show by becoming a member: https://www.crdbrd.app/pricing

Join the Secret Club Here: https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/clubs?club=the-board-game-secret-show

Want to work together?: https://crdbrd.app/hub/creator/neon_gorilla

Chapters

0:00 — Cold open

0:34 — Intro

1:48 — Animation studio to board games: the origin

4:22 — Ten years making ads for Nike, Amazon, and Bad Robot

5:34 — "We wanted to make the thing, not the thing talking about the thing"

5:59 — The Christmas break that made Moonraker

9:29 — "Grossly underqualified" — Austin runs the division anyway

13:22 — When did they actually believe this could be real?

15:06 — Six months in: "You should stop paying me"

18:32 — What happens when the design team disagrees?

24:03 — "Don't go on vacation — they'll take your rondel"

27:52 — Who leads a project and how does it get handed off?

28:46 — "You don't know anything until it hits the table"

30:22 — The cutting room floor and the games that came back

31:55 — Time to Panic was designed in a weekend (while Austin was traveling)

36:16 — Moon Rollers and why it doesn't feel like a small box game

38:40 — Toby Arnell and why Tend is a game they couldn't have made themselves

43:09 — Tend's complicated Kickstarter — their lowest ever

45:30 — How does one small team ship this many games?

48:19 — Everyone wears multiple hats (and tariffs killed the hiring plan)

49:27 — Direct to consumer, FLGS, and the Amazon experiment

53:25 — Would IV Studios survive without crowdfunding?

55:41 — What crowdfunding lets them do that nothing else can

57:50 — 800 people on the Altera tour and how feedback actually gets used

59:50 — How to parse feedback when half the room says opposite things

1:01:46 — The playtest mistake Zach had to stop and correct

1:03:38 — Danny Garcia barely plays his own games

1:05:34 — Where IV Studios stands on AI

1:09:22 — Designing for play 1 vs. play 50

1:11:38 — Why Leder Games impresses Zach as much as it does

1:13:23 — "The cover is the most important part of the game" — Zach disagrees

1:15:24 — Old Kings Crown and the second-game problem

1:17:48 — Do they actually design for the 100-play game?

1:19:04 — The guy who played Tend solo through 200 scratch sheets

1:20:48 — Why Austin gives every content creator his personal number

1:25:40 — Publishing the press kit publicly after the backlash

1:28:47 — 100 tens and 100 sevens vs. 100 nines and 100 twos

1:31:38 — "The worst thing we could possibly do is bore you"

1:34:32 — Mythic Mischief: the outlier

1:36:06 — Realm of Reckoning: the pitch

1:40:07 — How Moonraker became a co-op game (Honors End origin)

1:42:26 — The card-tucking breakthrough

1:45:08 — "I'm a quarterback co-op player and I hate that about myself"

1:47:16 — 9-to-12-month turnarounds (and why Honors End is late)

1:47:38 — Austin wrote a 120-page screenplay for a board game

1:49:21 — Nine chapters, nine envelopes, New Game+

1:51:21 — Altera: dice-builder worker placement and 12 asymmetric factions

1:55:59 — The "is this too big?" video and the unanimous playtesters

1:58:42 — Why there are no metal dice (and the Moon Rollers math)

2:00:28 — Pre-Columbian sci-fi and how they hire artists

2:03:42 — Luck vs. skill ceiling in a dice game

2:05:00 — "Toby demolished all of us yesterday"

We get into the messy reality of running a board game channel you love — failed outdoor videos, box-sliding rituals, child labor allegations, two years without a paycheck, and why they're "cowards" who won't launch a Kickstarter. Plus a lightning trivia round featuring a truly catastrophic guess at the Monopoly man's name.

Board Game Hangover: @BoardGameHangover

Support this show by becoming a member: https://www.crdbrd.app/pricing

Join the Secret Club Here: https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/clubs?club=the-board-game-secret-show

Want to work together?: https://crdbrd.app/hub/creator/neon_gorilla

— CHAPTERS —

0:00 Intro

0:32 Meatball & Worker Placement Dad Joke

1:18 Their First Board Game Obsessions

7:26 How the Two Giannises Met

9:16 Latvia's Board Game Scene

14:27 Starting the Channel in 2020

15:44 Evolving Away From Top Ten Lists

20:18 Going Full Time

22:15 Their Biggest Failures (The Outdoor Video)

23:03 David's Camping Disaster ("Nobody at All")

27:35 Growth Story & Getting Recognized at Essen

32:35 Production Value & The Box Slide → Box Throw

39:15 The Team ("Child Labor on Our Channel")

40:12 Favorite Series to Make

47:33 The Eternals Video Nobody Expected

51:09 Covering Older Games vs. Chasing the Hotness

55:27 "We Don't Take Publisher Money"

1:01:35 Living Off Savings & Finally Getting Paid

1:06:13 "We're Cowards" — Why No Kickstarter

1:07:05 Review Copies: "Not Really Free"

1:13:03 Do You Still Love It? (Follow-Up Reviews)

1:18:19 Sons of Anarchy & Never Going Back

1:22:13 How Many Plays Before You Review?

1:29:49 Responsibility to Publishers

1:37:23 TRIVIA ROUND

1:48:54 Top Three Channels — "We're Not Leaving Until You Tell Us"

1:50:44 Outro

We also get an extended look at Diabolus, his upcoming crowdfunding game inspired by the Ball de Diables — a Catalan fire festival Danny has attended over 100 times. It's unlike anything he's designed before.

In January, Danny announced he had been diagnosed with ALS. His resilience and dedication to doing what he loves, for as long as he can, make this conversation even more meaningful.

Support People Like Dani Here: https://fundaciomiquelvalls.org/es/ela/

Support Research Here: https://www.als.org

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---

00:00 — Intro: Who is Danny Garcia?

01:10 — Danny joins / host expresses his admiration

01:45 — Is Coming of Age underrated?

03:25 — "I was winning 1,995% of the times" — the luck debate

04:08 — The frustration mechanic: thematic brilliance explained

07:09 — Danny's background: 15 years in the video game industry

08:40 — How he discovered Euro games (hint: a table across the room)

10:49 — The night Brass changed everything

11:23 — Learning to design by watching Rahdo

12:28 — Weight preferences: tactical vs. strategic

15:16 — "You make the games you want to play"

16:34 — Danny's design process: no notes, just thinking

17:23 — Building the entire game in his head before prototyping

18:34 — Waiting for ideas to arrive (and why forcing it doesn't work)

20:14 — Ideas coming at midnight — and redesigning the next morning

21:12 — How he had 5 games signed before anyone knew his name

23:21 — Getting publishers to take a chance on an unknown designer

25:10 — Why he sends "unfinished" games to publishers on purpose

26:09 — The mistake most new designers make: over-polishing

28:40 — Choosing the right publisher for each game

29:08 — Why Barcelona's theme was non-negotiable

30:48 — Theme-first vs. mechanics-first: how Danny evolved

32:25 — Why theme is now the only way he can generate original ideas

34:35 — Diabolus: the game, the festival, the inspiration

36:50 — The Ball de Diables explained — and why the drums had to be in the game

39:42 — Danny's design signature: action selection

41:03 — Why action selection is where originality lives

44:42 — How action selection works in Diabolus

47:48 — The main board modules and how scoring works

51:34 — The social media mechanic — why it's in a medieval fire festival game

54:15 — How Diabolus compares to Danny's other designs

55:47 — Reinventing yourself with every game (Stefan Feld, Tomas Holik)

58:29 — Games with lasting replay value / what Danny returns to

01:00:19 — How Danny designs replayability into his games

01:01:18 — The Barcelona expansion: does it make the base game better?

01:02:16 — On designing expansions: "publishers ask, I prefer something new"

01:04:38 — Why Danny never holds back content for future expansions

01:05:47 — Does he ever regret a design decision after release?

01:06:19 — His recent themes: Catalonia, culture, childhood, home

01:07:33 — Using board games to share your culture with the world

01:09:47 — What's coming: Gaudi, Windmill Valley dual, an archaeology + time game

01:11:29 — Positive interaction as a design philosophy

01:13:03 — His obsession with time travel (and a game being designed around it)

01:14:15 — Do aliens exist? Does Danny believe in time travel?

01:15:39 — Final words on Diabolus

01:16:26 — Closing

We talked about what drew him to Taiwan, the Tokyo Game Market experience, what Western publishers get wrong, and what the data says about who's actually buying board games.

Go Follow @BezierGamesInc and @CardboardEast

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00:00:00 - Intro & "Vendor Boy"

00:02:38 - "I've fooled everyone — I'm actually incredibly shy"

00:07:36 - How Cardboard East started

00:08:24 - "I left America before the iPhone"

00:11:28 - Why he moved to a country where he couldn't speak the language

00:12:34 - The typhoon story

00:17:50 - Day to day life in Taipei

00:19:52 - How board games entered the picture

00:21:51 - Discovering board game cafes in Taiwan

00:24:49 - Taiwan's board game design culture

00:29:04 - Why trick taking games never get old

00:35:16 - How localization works (the Love Letter story)

00:38:11 - The business model of Asian publishers

00:40:19 - Tokyo Game Market vs Western conventions

00:43:28 - Can an English speaker navigate Tokyo Game Market?

00:44:51 - "You just buy on vibes"

00:49:55 - What Japanese games have that Western publishers don't

00:54:55 - Crowdfunding — where it started vs where it is now

01:02:35 - "The cover matters more than the gameplay"

01:04:51 - The board game industry is like video games in the 90s

01:05:40 - Tariffs and the board game economy

01:12:16 - Why he left cybersecurity for Bézier Games

01:13:51 - Life as a one-man marketing team

01:24:45 - "Every day is the f***ing Super Bowl"

01:27:06 - Meet Jessica — who's actually buying board games

01:39:19 - Zombie Princess deep dive

01:47:21 - Game Makers — Bézier's biggest game in years

01:55:28 - Haunted Mouse

01:59:13 - Warp 99

02:05:01 - Hot takes

02:12:47 - One Asian game you need on your radar right now

02:18:22 - Outro

Subscribe to @OneStopCoopShop

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00:00:00 - Intro

00:04:43 - How Mike took over One Stop Co-op Shop

00:16:49 - How many plays before you review a game?

00:19:27 - The scathing review that was totally wrong

00:38:36 - Why he's never taken a dollar from publishers

00:40:34 - Calling out channels that do crowdfunding deals

00:43:20 - Do personal relationships bias your reviews?

00:44:48 - "I was probably nicer than I should have been"

00:45:05 - 20+ hours a week on top of a full-time job

00:57:56 - Game design origin story

00:59:54 - Salvation Road: "I literally sang a song begging for money"

01:02:12 - Publisher horror stories

01:04:03 - NEW GAME REVEAL: cooperative mech arena

01:07:18 - Getting paid (for the first time) to design a solo mode

01:10:40 - His best video ever — that he's embarrassed by

01:13:16 - "You can't lie on a playthrough"

01:14:28 - Salvation Road is getting a fantasy retheme

01:20:13 - Spirit Island and the venture capitalist problem

01:23:58 - What makes a great solo/co-op game?

01:24:18 - Time to table

01:33:23 - Luck and randomness

01:44:27 - Session length

01:47:05 - Replayability and asymmetry

01:53:08 - Tactical depth

01:58:44 - Automata design

02:18:22 - Challenge curve

02:19:36 - "Spirit Island often has a boring ending"

02:23:10 - Win rate: 20% vs 75-80%

02:24:29 - Cooperative tension and the alpha player problem

My @BoardGameBollocks conversation. He is human, hilarious and incredibly thoughtful. Whether you agree with his takes or not I can assure you this conversation shows a side you almost surely have never seen before. If you don't know Bollocks then even more reason to sit down with us and hang out for a while.

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Follow Bollocks here: https://www.youtube.com/@BoardGameBollocks

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Board games in a digital world: getting real people in a room

0:48 - Fan messages that warm a coal heart

1:41 - Running 104 miles (London to Oxford) for charity

3:47 - Training for ultras: slow and steady wins the race

9:14 - How it all started: Magic Robot and 1970s childhood games

11:42 - Defending Monopoly as a gateway game

12:15 - Fighting Fantasy game books and spending 2p pocket money

14:08 - Discovering D&D at school (1985) — the cool kids played it

17:14 - Why 1st Edition AD&D is still the best (and why the DM WILL kill you)

22:29 - Games Workshop glory days: White Dwarf, Dungeon Quest, Blood Bowl

24:08 - University, a philosophy degree, and coming back to board games

25:00 - Discovering board game YouTube / Wil Wheaton's Tabletop

26:49 - Why he started his channel: rough naval city, not a posh boy

27:45 - First video: iPhone 4, Railways of the World, absolutely horrific

29:35 - Getting comfortable on camera and building confidence

31:04 - "What if a football hooligan did board game reviews?"

33:27 - No paid or sponsored content. Ever.

33:54 - Bands, music, and a guitar solo he's proud of

34:59 - Getting kids into board games (and why he had them in the first place)

36:52 - Games are for human interaction: playing with his 74-year-old mum

37:47 - Nemesis and the wife who got eliminated and sat waiting for her lift home

39:11 - Three kids: 15, 12, and 9 — all trained correctly

42:14 - SU&SD and other channels: respect, but they don't speak to him

43:23 - Channel philosophy: nasty, aggressive, funny — walking the tightrope

44:47 - Getting banned from Board Game Geek and telling them to do one

49:03 - Dealing with critics: "Where's your Godfather?"

50:35 - Recognition at UK Games Expo: selfies and people shouting across rooms

52:07 - Making videos: film degree, no script, all ad-lib, bullet points only

58:53 - Reviews vs top ten lists: where the views actually come from

1:00:09 - Are we heading for a board game crash? Market saturation parallels

1:05:06 - The Catan moment (1995), Zombicide, and Kickstarter bloat

1:06:32 - The psychology of anticipation: why games sit on shelves unplayed

1:08:05 - How Kickstarter killed game development: selling you the game in pieces

1:10:07 - Expansions: when they work and when they absolutely don't

1:13:53 - War Room all-day session and games the wife refuses to touch

1:16:59 - Tom Vassal and respecting anyone who puts their face on camera

1:19:07 - UK Games Expo press pass drama: Vanguard Tactics can do one

1:20:02 - This is a hobby, not a business — and that's exactly the point

1:21:41 - Life is cyclical: the board game market will go back to basics

1:25:19 - Gary Gygax changed the world, but designers are running out of ideas

1:28:49 - Obsession: the last game that truly blew him away (2018)

1:33:10 - Kickstarter and the game discovery problem

1:35:00 - Best designer of the last 5 years: John D. Clair (Space Base, Mystic Vale)

1:38:22 - AI-generated board game content: "Someone went on ChatGPT and made a script"

1:40:37 - AI in board games: why the table itself is safe from digital takeover

1:43:02 - AI as a tool for indie publishers: if the game's good, who cares?

1:44:22 - There's no such thing as originality: Picasso, Van Gogh, and 12 musical notes

1:46:11 - Wrapping up: 30 years left and must choose games more wisely

🔔 Subscribe to @TheGroveGames : https://www.youtube.com/@TheGroveGames

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—————————————————————————

⏱ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro & cold open

0:36 Hot dog hypothetical & desert island game picks

2:21 Solo picks: Ten, Void Fall, Cosmic Encounter

6:06 Desert island game durability problem

8:13 Would you design a game on the island?

9:45 Stone Saga & the crafting system that surprised me

11:02 Aphantasia, hyperphantasia & how it affects rulebook learning

13:02 Visual imagination & reading rulebooks

16:23 Meet The Grove — 12 people, one channel

17:11 How a 12-person friend group stays together after college

19:23 How The Grove all met (college RAs and dorm life)

21:43 Taco Bell is ruining us financially

24:50 How board games entered the picture

27:01 Why you need to play Twilight Imperium IV

31:25 The great 5 vs 6 player TI4 debate

33:40 14-hour game days, lunch break rules & secret texting

35:10 The psychological warfare of TI4 alliances

36:41 Galactic nukes and the Embers of Muaat

39:35 Holding a secret winning path for an hour (chest pains)

40:15 The 3D printed TI4 trophy

40:53 Blood on the Clock Tower

44:08 Grove game nights: 20 people, custom lights, full immersion

45:07 Chris Couch Games & Holiday Hills

47:08 Garden Club vs Pedal — the debate

48:44 What it means to give a game a 10

50:55 "When my brain starts to buzz" — the flow state ten

53:50 The Grove's review philosophy

57:52 Do you have an obligation to report the bad?

1:00:28 How many people are actually in The Grove?

1:04:03 Are you compromised by knowing designers?

1:05:06 Everyone has a full-time job — this is pure passion

1:07:15 The Earth playthrough disaster (6 days, no sleep)

1:10:19 How to get noticed by publishers when you're small

1:12:57 Algorithm vs. depth — the niche content trap

1:15:44 Their worst video has 150,000 views (and they hate it)

1:16:46 Why do they actually do this?

1:17:39 Bonanza filming sessions & the grind origin story

1:22:07 Playing Arcs in 94° heat with no AC

1:24:38 Advice for small creators trying to grow

1:32:39 How they landed partnerships with major publishers

1:33:27 Cold emailing 40 publishers a week

1:37:19 Authenticity as the only real strategy

1:40:33 The Ivy Studios relationship story

1:48:26 Dream publishers they haven't worked with yet

1:55:26 What's next for The Grove

1:57:33 Eli's big goal: become the go-to How to Play channel

1:58:11 Could The Grove and Cardboard work together?

2:00:27 How they built a studio in a detached garage

2:00:54 Wrap up

Support the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund: https://www.jackvasel.org

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0:00 — Introduction & the Dice Tower set

2:46 — Desert island game

4:45 — Growing up without a TV

5:58 — Thrift store hunting & the friend who probably went to jail

7:23 — Why board games became his thing

8:26 — Starting a board game club in college

10:19 — Pride, opinions, and the "Tom is Wrong" inbox

13:44 — How the reviews started

17:03 — Moving to Korea / the father-in-law he swore he'd never work for

19:26 — Turning 50 and thinking about mortality

20:06 — From writing to podcasting (2005)

21:53 — Launching the Dice Tower / the top ten list origin story

24:38 — 9,000+ games played

27:44 — The anti-hype problem at Dice Tower

29:53 — Board games as job and hobby

31:07 — The unplayed games backlog

34:59 — The part of the job nobody sees

35:48 — The quality vs. quantity debate

40:10 — "You guys are just surface level fun"

43:07 — When Sam left — lightning in a bottle

44:14 — Going full time: the scariest moment

44:35 — The $25 YouTube day that changed everything

46:42 — The investor who wanted 50% of Dice Tower

48:59 — Why conventions?

50:13 — What running a convention actually costs

55:26 — "I'm here so you have a good time"

56:26 — The Dice Tower Cruise

59:17 — Have his ratings gotten tougher over time?

1:07:31 — Board game weight, complexity, and why BGG gets it wrong

1:09:55 — How many plays before reviewing?

1:14:28 — The lookback video: revisiting reviews after 20 years

1:17:02 — Reviewing games from people you know and like

1:19:48 — "I do it and I'm not ashamed of it"

1:20:33 — The toughest conflict in this business

1:21:58 — Sponsorships canceled / GenCon awkwardness

1:24:16 — Losing his son Jack

1:26:16 — The Jack Vasel Memorial Fund

1:27:47 — His daughter's cystic fibrosis diagnosis

1:29:18 — The most traumatic night of his life

1:30:13 — Board games as healing

1:33:22 — Where to donate / closing

Sub to @CanjeStudios

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00:00 Cold open — Seattle weather and introductions

02:22 Getting to know Derek and his channel

03:20 How Derek got into board games

04:09 Losing his father and discovering Gloom of Kilforth

04:59 Finding the wider hobby through a coworker

07:33 How the board game community helped him heal

10:24 Parenting, breaking cycles, and emotional growth

12:25 Losing a parent to cancer — shared stories

15:48 Transitioning back to board gaming

16:53 Why board games bring people together

17:51 Going down the solo gaming rabbit hole

18:40 Live streaming vs. recorded playthroughs

21:27 D&D, RPGs, and becoming a world-builder

22:11 How the hobby changes you

24:56 First convention: Dice Tower West and the epiphany

27:29 Being your authentic self

28:37 GenCon stories and meeting the community

30:08 How Derek started content creation (thanks to Rob)

31:09 Getting the setup right — lighting and sound struggles

33:47 Playing An Trespass Odyssey with Mark

34:42 Fear of going live and dealing with bad comments

40:29 Handling rules corrections and toxic comments

41:47 Why do you make content? Finding your "why"

43:43 Dealing with racism in the comments

50:32 Long-form playthroughs vs. the YouTube algorithm

51:01 Does subscriber count matter?

52:43 Stopping the grind and enjoying the hobby again

55:24 Why deep-dive channels deserve more attention

01:00:57 Punishing games — Robinson Crusoe and hard bounces

01:01:46 Donating games to at-risk youth (Potions & Pixels)

01:02:23 Born Rangers — better than Arkham Horror?

01:03:43 Earthborn Rangers deep dive

01:05:38 Mr. President — worth digging out?

01:10:42 Iridium — true solo vs. two-handed

01:11:43 Games that aren't built for solo players

01:14:18 Kin Fire Chronicles: Nightfall first impressions

01:24:02 Stone Saga and the crafting system

01:27:29 Dice Throne Adventures and Unchained

01:32:10 An Trespass Odyssey — is it worth the price?

01:34:23 When a game punishes you into a wall

01:36:17 Designer intent vs. player enjoyment

01:37:50 Too Many Bones and bouncing off games

01:39:59 Enormity — the sci-fi space game Derek is most excited about

01:40:45 Prototype impressions of Enormity

01:42:29 Editing workflow and removing silence

We get into all of it: how GameFound actually handles bad actors behind closed doors, whether crowdfunding is thriving or dying, the ethics of reviewing games when you know the people who made them, and why full transparency in this hobby might be impossible anyway.

Also: the Quack breakup, his BoardGameCo origin story, and he admits on camera that he likes GameFound games better than Kickstarter games.

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Find @BoardGameCo here: https://www.youtube.com/boardgameco

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00:00 Intro — GameFound vs Kickstarter

01:31 Meet Alex / starstruck moment

05:51 Why this show exists / humanizing creators

10:45 Board game origin story

22:32 How Wingspan changed everything

23:17 Finding board game YouTube / Quack & Root

29:33 The Quark situation

39:54 Running Board Game Co for 8 years

51:31 Closing it down — relief or sadness?

54:24 Going full-time YouTube

59:28 Toxic commenters & the one dislike

01:02:27 His kids / the real impact of content

01:03:55 What does a GameFound CMO actually do?

01:08:57 Is GameFound taking market share from Kickstarter?

01:10:35 GameFound's API transparency vs Kickstarter

01:13:43 Stretch pay — GameFound's biggest differentiator?

01:18:03 Are publishers running crowdfunding Ponzi schemes?

01:21:15 How many campaigns should one creator have open?

01:25:28 Should platforms block late creators from launching again?

01:29:37 What GameFound does when a creator goes dark

01:33:13 Crowdfunding fatigue — real or not?

01:39:09 The conflict of interest: CMO who reviews campaigns

01:46:32 "You like GameFound games better?" — Clip it.

01:50:05 Nuance in reviews / a mini review that bothered him

01:52:40 Defending creators — the hobby's most passionate rant

01:55:14 How many plays before you call it a review?

01:59:33 Are experienced reviewers even relevant to normal players?

02:06:01 Do your ratings drift over time?

02:10:02 Cardboard's #1 game: Castles of Burgundy (and Slay the Spire?)

02:13:23 The videos that cost the host the most money

02:16:13 Shallow Sea vs Cascadia — the tile layer debate

02:20:42 Layers — expansion money grab or hidden gem?

02:23:39 Wrap up

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support the campaign here : https://gamefound.com/en/projects/chip-theory-games/20-strong-awaken-realms-nemesis

@ChipTheoryGames @awakenrealms

Topics covered:

- Tainted Grail: did they solve deck building?

- Ether Fields: a legacy deck that's uniquely yours

- Nemesis: the biggest departure in 20 Strong history

- Too Many Bones 2 — confirmed

- How Chip Theory thinks about luck, dice, and player agency

00:00:00 - Intro & Trover origin story

00:02:04 - Too Many Bones 2 CONFIRMED

00:03:45 - What TMB2 will look like (bespoke characters, cooldowns, evolution)

00:06:31 - The stat training problem & how they're fixing it

00:12:11 - Chip Theory's customer service philosophy

00:15:17 - Why great customer service built a fanbase

00:21:50 - Salem's origin: customer support → game designer

00:23:28 - Breaking Cloud Spire & writing pages of notes

00:26:58 - Redesigning Polaris & getting moved to the dev team

00:29:23 - Ryan's origin: lore writer → director of design

00:33:33 - Creative ownership at Chip Theory

00:37:38 - How 20 Strong revealed itself as an adaptable system

00:45:38 - The challenge of compressing giant IPs into 20 dice

00:47:49 - Tainted Grail 20 Strong: design breakdown

00:49:33 - Ether Fields 20 Strong: the escape room concept

00:55:24 - "Your deck is yours. Nobody else has one like it."

00:58:58 - The secret boss (and how to find it)

01:07:41 - Nemesis: the biggest departure in 20 Strong history

01:09:44 - Did they solve deck building?

01:12:03 - The one in, one out mechanic explained

01:19:17 - The node system & chaining combos

01:22:50 - Player agency vs dice luck in 20 Strong

01:26:08 - Why luck perception fades the more you play

01:29:31 - The backup plan, tenacity, and dice design philosophy

01:35:47 - Final thoughts & what's next

In this episode, Chris walks us through the origin of Chris Couch Games — from a hand-illustrated Marvel game made for a bachelor party to a growing catalog of beautifully designed, sneakily strategic titles. We talk about what it actually takes to launch on Kickstarter as a small publisher, the design philosophy that shapes every game he makes, and why he believes friction is the secret ingredient to bringing people together.

We also get into Holiday Hills, Garden Club, Petal, and a first look at what's coming next — including Haunted Hills and Headliner.

If you love board games and want a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to build something real in this industry, this one's for you.

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---

Chris Couch Games

🔗 https://chriscouch.games/

Nerdy Soul (Chris's YouTube)

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/@the_nerdy_sole

Garden Club Kickstarter

🔗 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/chriscouch/garden-club

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Check out Cardboard: 🔗 https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/scroll

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Timestamps

0:00 - Intro

1:21 - Who is Chris Porter?

2:46 - The bachelor party game that started it all

4:27 - How "Chris Couch" got its name

9:37 - Walking into GenCon with no connections

12:33 - The advice from Jamey Stegmaier that changed everything

17:11 - Trying to do something different with board game art

19:14 - Baby Grand Creative & the design background

22:51 - "Sneakily Strategic" — the Chris Couch brand mantra

28:37 - From idea to Kickstarter: becoming a real publisher

33:19 - Kickstarter vs. retail: what most people get wrong

37:09 - The state of crowdfunding for small publishers

40:10 - What it actually takes to get noticed

44:18 - Holiday Hills — why make a Christmas game?

49:59 - The 3D trees: going all-in on the deluxe experience

54:00 - Philosophy on expansions and promos

57:57 - Naughty vs. Nice mode

1:04:54 - Haunted Hills: a first look at what's coming for Halloween

1:10:45 - Garden Club: the full breakdown

1:24:07 - Petal: the bite-sized version

1:32:11 - Headliner: the announcement

1:36:20 - Wrap up & shoutouts

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/colewehrle/arcs-beyond-the-reach

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00:00:00 - Intro & Cole's origin story

00:03:00 - Root, above the table play & why it matters

00:04:15 - Lords of Vegas & games that create stories

00:08:00 - 18xx games & the case for long games

00:09:28 - "Long, not slow" — what big games do differently

00:11:11 - Why short sci-fi games fail & the origin of Arcs

00:18:17 - Oath's design philosophy — no lore, no rules

00:21:23 - Why Cole doesn't trust paragraph-driven storytelling

00:25:32 - How Cole actually starts designing a game

00:28:49 - "Most people don't play games for fun"

00:34:12 - Depth, backgammon & what it means to understand a game

00:41:23 - "Arcs is about frustrating players"

00:45:47 - The problem with baroque Euro design

00:50:14 - Legacy games & why they'd be better as a TV show

00:57:01 - The trick-taking question & where it came from

01:01:45 - The ambition system — two years to figure it out

01:07:41 - Leaving Leder Games & founding Buried Giant

01:12:04 - "I didn't create the studio to publish my games"

01:14:55 - "Produce fewer games, more slowly"

01:17:27 - Lost Vaults & Faded Leaders expansion breakdown

01:19:09 - The fifth player problem

01:28:08 - Beyond the Reach & Halls of Power campaign expansions

01:32:00 - Arcs campaign — the Build-A-Bear analogy

01:35:00 - Why Arcs is easier to balance than Root

01:36:00 - Cole's advice for playing the campaign

01:37:19 - "Arcs is the best piece of design I've ever done"

01:38:05 - How Cole teaches Arcs in 20 minutes

01:43:34 - Closing thoughts & Buried Giant's gratitude

Ryan Guerra from How I Roll had never made a single video — then he cold emailed Dice Tower and Game Boy Geek, and everything changed. In this episode, we talk about his unlikely start in board game content creation, his top 10 games (which I roast), building publisher relationships, the magic of board game community, and my dream to bring games to children's hospitals across America.

Find @howiroll here: https://www.youtube.com/@howiroll

Join the Secret Club Here: https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/clubs?club=the-board-game-secret-show

Want to work together?: https://crdbrd.app/hub/creator/neon_gorilla

Time stamps

0:00 Intro & Meeting Ryan Gara

6:18 Wear or Tear Rapid Fire

13:27 Metal Coins, Deluxe Components & Food Chain Magnate

20:57 Custom Inserts, Food at the Table & Card Bending

35:09 Miniatures, Culling Collections & The T-Series

51:36 Board Game Ratings & Why Context Matters

59:13 Ryan's Origin Story: No Camera, No Experience

1:06:24 Finding His Style & The Pivot to How-To-Plays

1:17:56 Building Publisher Relationships & Making Friends

1:25:15 The Power of Board Game Community

1:35:00 Children's Hospital Dream & Board Game Club

1:48:42 Roasting Ryan's Top 10: Dominion to Gaia Project

2:05:16 Great Western Trail, Descent & The T-Series Debate

2:35:38 Trickerion, Lisboa & Lacerda Games

2:46:21 Scythe & Clank Legacy: His #1 Gaming Experience

2:59:46 Wrap Up

@boardgameapprentice https://www.youtube.com/@boardgameapprentice

Join the Secret Club Here: https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/clubs?club=the-board-game-secret-show

Want to work together?: https://crdbrd.app/hub/creator/neon_gorilla

🎧 TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Intro

1:16 Origin Story of Board Game Apprentice

4:27 The Game That Started It All

6:27 Kickstarter: Has It Gone Too Far?

9:04 Games That Got Away

15:00 The Future of Crowdfunding

21:58 Solo Gaming: Why Play Alone?

29:20 Conventions & Wargaming

31:52 Life Changes & Channel Future

35:25 Long-Form vs Short-Form Content

39:28 The Algorithm & Board Game YouTube

44:32 Deep Dive Into Horror

49:33 Horror Movie Recommendations

1:04:35 Defend Your Top 10

1:46:04 Top 3 Mechanic Combinations

2:04:32 Closing & Plugs

Join the Secret Club Here: https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/clubs?club=the-board-game-secret-show

Want to work together?: https://crdbrd.app/hub/creator/neon_gorilla

🎬 One Mike One Game: https://www.youtube.com/@onemikeonegame/featured

0:00 Intro

0:19 YouTube algorithm struggles & what's changed

2:51 The video he almost didn't publish (now at 200K views)

4:00 Mike's content creator origin story & the Callin Show

5:53 The learning curve of editing — DaVinci Resolve vs Adobe

8:42 Advice for new board game content creators

12:27 Where is Mike's channel headed?

13:49 The Dice Tower West epiphany — gaming vs. content

18:02 YouTube Shorts strategy for small creators

25:46 Introducing the Top 10 Roast segment

27:11 #10 Shogun — "What is this doing on your top ten?"

31:16 #9 Draft and Write Records — "Defend."

34:42 Rolling & writing games we love

36:55 #7 Mansions of Madness — "One roll can end your whole evening"

41:13 Luck in board games — when bad beats feel good

44:01 The Calico rant

45:55 Vindication — "You're a wretched scumbag"

50:52 #5 Undaunted Normandy — Best deck builder?

54:26 #3 This War of Mine / #2 Federation — "Explain yourself"

58:19 Diversity in top 10 lists & why it matters

59:24 #1 Tyrants of the Underdark — nobody's heard of it

1:07:08 Endeavor Deep Sea — overview & elevator pitch

1:09:46 Specialist recruitment & the ramping engine

1:15:52 The mid-game despair to late-game combo explosion

1:16:40 The conservation board

1:19:45 Exploration & discovering ocean tiles

1:24:03 Does it scale well at 2 players?

1:27:45 Mike's rating reveal

1:32:06 David's rating & what would push it higher

1:35:17 Cardboard app feedback & BG Stats integration

1:40:56 Wrap-up & Seattle game group plans

🔗 Find every game on Cardboard:

Shogun — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/06efe794-2508-420b-8009-32ad2d0e72b3

Draft & Write Records — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/0fac3aa9-882d-4064-8609-fd4b6ebd2a79

Mansions of Madness — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/b79ed0bd-c5bb-41dd-ab6d-263abc245776

Vindication — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/38127025-a948-4269-9a72-6ff116732255

Undaunted: Normandy — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/5ed26062-ceb9-49e6-9e66-e6360e7efd99

Endeavor: Deep Sea — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/bcb00fe5-9279-4b91-b933-6cb0d34796e3

This War of Mine — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/3c998c7b-7942-4591-854b-e560598bf46a

Federation — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/4eda18b1-4466-4ece-982e-38def3895051

Tyrants of the Underdark — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/7bca9046-e03a-4d94-958b-1055bede41b4

Endeavor: Age of Sail — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/2371dd27-14ca-4687-96a7-e1c90d28f87b

Too Many Bones — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/5cc80ba6-47bb-4310-a27e-8bf877b688d4

Lords of Vegas — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/c504f244-cd79-48e3-aba4-35c13e054482

Calico — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/d84983d0-c82c-4b22-a5fd-26c3b654f66e

Three Sisters — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/c012000c-4ba3-4d69-bec1-c8f5a56bf5d0

Fleet: The Dice Game — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/6c442fc5-eada-4e7d-ae00-926b5dff33dd

Lost Ruins of Arnak — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/098b4c16-65a8-4bdf-adfd-8a40580353fb

Dead Reckoning — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/bdf54f8d-b5d2-4e23-8f75-327abbe31e52

Foundations of Rome — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/88664473-10e0-4f39-90b0-ccc651056a8e

Brass: Birmingham — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/52101105-bbe3-4b4e-8331-0c86693392e4

Slay the Spire — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/341b1e2a-fbc9-4e3d-a477-2fc171535c32

Castles of Burgundy — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/e3b9a7d9-308b-4da2-b925-06524c0de67c

Dominion — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/0b300d7c-f019-4594-8d4b-ef94c0e26585

Cosmic Encounter — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/0b642fac-ee89-4a0a-99f5-8c98924fe801

PRIMAL — https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/game/716b5f58-922a-4ac7-b295-d101cbc7122f

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

TIMESTAMPS

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

0:00 Cold Open

0:07 Meet Eric & Leo

1:24 Dice Tower West — How They Met

3:33 The Ready Set Bet Find

5:44 Meeting Vlad

8:06 The Game Library

9:30 Captain Sonar & Con Goals

13:07 Leo's Board Game Origin Story

16:31 RPG Tangent

19:25 Eric's Flea Market Table

23:20 Con Pickups

27:21 Wear or Tear — Eric's Top 10

28:21 Clank! vs. Survive (the 9.5 bubble)

30:27 #9 Lords of Vegas

31:35 #8 Captain Sonar

32:34 #7 Telestrations

35:46 #6 Blood Rage

37:37 #5 Colt Express

40:39 #4 Viticulture

43:22 #3 Secret Hitler

45:41 #2 Stone Age

48:32 #1 Santorini

51:49 Top Plays of the Con

52:14 Secret Hitler (Leo #5 / Eric #4)

57:18 Captain Sonar (Eric #5)

1:01:07 Project: ELITE — #1 Play of the Con

1:09:12 Thunder Road: Vendetta

1:12:18 Coup: Rebellion (Leo #3)

1:13:50 Lords of Vegas (Eric #2)

1:22:52 Coup (Leo #1)

1:27:05 Vlad's Favorite: Mindbug

1:28:43 Leo's Top 5 Games for Kids

1:29:19 #5 Catapult Kingdoms

1:31:24 #4 King of Tokyo

1:32:27 #3 Kitchen Rush

1:33:41 #2 Fireball Island

1:36:33 #1 Exploding Kittens

1:38:48 What's Next — Lost Ruins of Arnak

1:40:33 Wrap Up

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

GAMES REFERENCED

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

ERIC'S TOP 10

Survive: Escape from Atlantis! — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-363a32dc-9309-47c2-a56d-1d1de640a2d5

Clank! — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-704ddf39-3c4c-4381-9d9b-841d790fe61f

Lords of Vegas — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-c504f244-cd79-48e3-aba4-35c13e054482

Captain Sonar — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-aeb1cc8f-b7ed-4a44-af3b-3be80b2e57db

Telestrations — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-e35dcc67-e926-4e7c-a186-82176ca375e9

Blood Rage — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-6f5f7600-ade4-4f2a-b2d9-87ddb08ada46

Colt Express — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-ecb98991-88bf-4afc-92de-05424a63562e

Viticulture — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-1ab341e9-2c42-4935-99f3-88eb0618ee4a

Secret Hitler — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-52da0500-f4d8-4360-8391-be6506c39300

Stone Age — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-f00d8eb9-1020-4518-9909-c884aa5830e9

Santorini — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-ec3ff3bc-43de-40a0-b196-adf1286f2c14

TOP PLAYS OF THE CON

Project: ELITE — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-2b368ce8-023d-47ae-8005-a55f0313099c

Lords of Vegas — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-c504f244-cd79-48e3-aba4-35c13e054482

Thunder Road: Vendetta — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-c7cb62f8-3842-4eb4-8022-22c0a073bce4

Captain Sonar — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-aeb1cc8f-b7ed-4a44-af3b-3be80b2e57db

Secret Hitler — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-52da0500-f4d8-4360-8391-be6506c39300

Coup: Rebellion G54 — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-58eef8bd-90b3-4ade-8682-a0da71acb735

Coup — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-abb29ee9-be1c-4b19-8531-a4887ea29b76

LEO'S TOP 5 FOR KIDS

Catapult Kingdoms — (not yet in Cardboard)

King of Tokyo — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-fafd0872-98a9-4dc4-889f-2e0f916e468f

Kitchen Rush — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-6e942f08-f88f-482b-babd-1fd2d285fc0f

Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-ec35dbd5-aa40-4f3e-92b2-b687133631bd

Exploding Kittens — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-e87ef4de-f54d-4883-8829-5a7c8e882316

ALSO MENTIONED

The Chameleon — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-34f3c3b3-9cb6-4beb-a7dd-06bf066da585

Ticket to Ride — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-845dd5f5-8f31-47ca-951d-671775b0ac88

Ready Set Bet — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-c44c7132-825f-4bd8-924a-c3087e9dea5b

One Night Ultimate Werewolf — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-105e9a53-a7ab-4119-9fd8-8fe1b502cbc4

The 7th Continent — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-dd234178-0e2e-43da-9d4b-77bd8df2e51b

Puerto Rico — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-56da2c71-3253-4b8d-92ee-a0d83596a1ae

Food Chain Magnate — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-48ff082e-8d1a-48cb-83d6-fc9e83218f98

Mindbug: First Contact — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-4efd73de-43a8-4982-9627-ed7a15976310

Lost Ruins of Arnak — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-098b4c16-65a8-4bdf-adfd-8a40580353fb

Arkham Horror: The Card Game — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-5039850d-42dd-4a02-b7c0-e83caaddae8c

Marvel Champions: The Card Game — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-77acff14-8e25-4bad-9200-2aca9cc13b05

Reggie from the Board States podcast and Rolling Reggie sits down for an episode unlike anything else. First he has to DEFEND his entire top 10 against real criticism from users on the Cardboard platform. Then we run a board game draft, picking only games from 2015 and older, and the stakes are real: YOU vote on whose list wins:

David's List: https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/scroll/eed372a2-373a-4224-89de-4ad36285a0e2

Reggie's List: https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/scroll/6322198e-02d9-450a-85d7-bf86260c165c

Vote Here: https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/clubs/threads/04d7a580-db8f-4d56-88f1-ab0d2bd7667d

Board States Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2NfMCQAv4DagXgVyostysX?si=x80KPuYUT_-Ax6tY_rSAcA&nd=1&dlsi=b7ee52425c7e4400

@rolling.reggie https://www.youtube.com/@rolling.reggie

Join the Secret Club Here: https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/clubs?club=the-board-game-secret-show

Want to work together?: https://crdbrd.app/hub/creator/neon_gorilla

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

TIMESTAMPS

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

00:00 Cold Open

00:32 Meet Reggie

08:52 Show Format Explained

13:40 Defend Your Top 10

14:30 #10 Imhotep

17:15 #9 Viticulture

20:31 #8 White Castle

24:16 #7 Rez Arcana

28:34 #6 Challengers!

34:06 #5 Castles of Burgundy

37:45 #4 Dune Imperium: Uprising

42:32 #3 Ark Nova

48:09 #2 Marvel Champions

52:45 #1 Wingspan

1:01:15 The Draft (2015 & Older)

1:43:29 Final Lists + Vote

1:44:45 En La Mesa

1:54:10 Wrap Up

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

GAMES REFERENCED

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

REGGIE'S TOP 10

Imhotep — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-3c38d6c3-3cea-48ce-82c3-decab9e5536d

Viticulture — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-1ab341e9-2c42-4935-99f3-88eb0618ee4a

The White Castle — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-b898df73-526f-4271-8ef1-6cf4f012297b

Rez Arcana — (not yet in Cardboard)

Challengers! — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-9dee450a-dc09-4eaf-b9d9-746f094bf18a

The Castles of Burgundy — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-5df9eaf2-bdb1-4d91-bb2e-a0275d5f6322

Dune: Imperium – Uprising — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-4015dea3-f201-46c2-9043-01cebee16fa6

Ark Nova — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-17bbbe0a-cc8f-4755-ba6c-3faa958de078

Marvel Champions — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-77acff14-8e25-4bad-9200-2aca9cc13b05

Wingspan — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-087cbe1f-756f-440a-9388-ae3cdcc86b86

dbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-4dd82420-e5a0-4cc4-afaa-3b7d2b60ce97

Splendor — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-a6022a6b-fd2b-4c20-83c6-7e14dc7d0475

ALSO MENTIONED

Barrage — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-b89c8d5b-b813-42b3-a8bc-50669a98767a

Race for the Galaxy — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-36fdeb46-b7e7-4866-a615-a12b97d32c1b

Fliptoons— https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-4caa7678-7c2a-4b66-8ca0-e8d70834ea35

Dune: Imperium — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-2622c617-cf7e-443c-951a-18ee401959ca

7 Wonders — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-2a6c1e18-b28a-42bb-b8e2-d4b79aa82989

Ascension — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-077eee6c-9a23-4f10-b72b-776c45514d2a

Space Base — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-484d4441-c8f4-4c70-b67f-34e416ccb14d

Fantastic Factories — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-d37008ec-f37a-4901-84f0-15f1ae5793a7

Tearable Quest — https://crdbrd.app/hub/games?panel=game-01dbfe84-742f-4b6b-bfe0-94caf679d00b

Dice Tower West 2026 Recap | Top 5 Plays, Convention Tips & Would You Rather

Vlad and I sat down (for the second time — RIP first recording) to break down our Dice Tower West 2026 experience at the Westgate in Las Vegas. We talk about how we met, what it's like overcoming social anxiety at your first board game convention, the games that blew us away, and why some of the best board games you'll ever play are already 10+ years old.

We each share our Top 5 Plays from the convention, and spoiler alert — we share a #1. We also run through some Would You Rather rapid fire questions and roast the Westgate food options.

Games Mentioned:

Lords of Vegas | Captain Sonar | Secret Hitler | Colt Express | Telestrations | I'm the Boss | Thunder Road Vendetta | Foundations of Rome | Survive: Escape from Atlantis | Everdell Silver Frost | Cretaceous Rails | Terrorscape | Eternal Decks | Ready Set Bet | Blood on the Clocktower | Coup | Root | Barrage | Brass | Chameleon | Hot Streak | Flip Seven | Zoo Vadis

🎲 Go Check out Cardboard: crdbrd.app

📋 My full Buy / Try / Sell list from DTW 2026: https://www.crdbrd.app/hub/neon_gorilla?panel=list-381808b8-27e2-4b4e-b555-b430f20cc309

Shoutout to Eric, Leo, Vlad, Nixie, David and Courtney for making this the best convention experience of my life.

Timestamps

0:00 Intro & Re-Recording Backstory

1:25 Episode Overview

1:53 How David & Vlad Met (Shoutout Eric & Leo)

2:20 First Impressions & Shady Strategies

3:38 Vlad's Second Dice Tower West Experience

3:50 Conquering Social Anxiety & Throwing Plans Aside

5:07 Using Cardboard to Remember Game Rules

6:17 Games We Wanted to Play But Couldn't

7:23 Best Table Presence: Eternal Dex, Cretaceous Rails, Terror Escape

9:29 Terror Escape Deep Dive

10:43 Learning Cretaceous Rails at the Con

11:08 Everdell Silver Frost & Accidentally Selling for Starling

11:47 Our Group Bonded Over Take-That Games

12:38 Live Gameplay Clip: Stealing Casinos

13:28 Group Dynamic: Monsters, Blocking & Chaos

14:14 Cerebral Euros vs Interactive Games

15:38 Westgate Food Review (It's Bad)

16:48 The Nachos Guy Who Ate the Whole Plate

17:45 Benihana & the $20 Cake Boss Machine

18:48 Vegas Pricing Rant

20:10 Venue Layout & World Series of Board Gaming

21:33 Friday Night Magic: The Best Convention Moment

23:15 Dice Tower at Sea & The Poop Cruise Tangent

24:21 Publisher Area Year Over Year

26:09 Buy Stuff Convention vs Play Games Convention

27:06 Play Stats: 21 Games, 25 Plays, 3.5 Days

28:29 Social Anxiety & the Welcoming Vibe

30:39 Prototype Area Recap

31:58 Demo Area Thoughts

32:28 Blood on the Clocktower: Three Tries, Not For Us

35:09 Flea Market Finds & Eric's Insane Table

38:39 Honorable Mention: Survive Escape from Atlantis

41:15 Vlad's #5: Foundations of Rome

42:43 David's #5: Telestrations

45:43 Vlad's #4: Thunder Road Vendetta

48:08 David's #4: Colt Express

51:34 Stop Chasing New Hotness, Play Older Games

52:02 David's #3: Secret Hitler

54:58 Vlad's #3: I'm the Boss

58:31 David's #2: Captain Sonar

1:02:28 #1 Shared: Lords of Vegas

1:07:43 Big Takeaway: The Best Games Already Exist

1:09:28 Would You Rather: 10 Games Once or Favorite Game 10 Times

1:10:40 Would You Rather: Amazing Strangers or Terrible Friends

1:11:13 Would You Rather: Win With No Memories or Lose With Great Stories

1:12:14 Would You Rather: Lifetime DTW Pass or One Con With $5K

1:13:56 Would You Rather: No Schedule or Every Session Pre-Booked

1:14:46 Would You Rather: Lifetime DTW Pass or Essen Spiel Once

1:16:06 Outro & Call to Action

1:16:50 Post-Show Banter: Tiramisu Confessions