Board Game Gumbo Live!

It’s another “lagniappe” episode of the Gumbo podcast, this time with Mitchell Prudhomme, the director from Southern Board Game Fest!  First, BJ and Mitchell chat up their recent visit to another friendly local game store (sans board games) called LVL 1 Gaming. Then, we dish about recent plays of Tag Team, Big Sur, and Origin Story. Plus, we throw in some lagniappe — our first impressions of ASIAN...

It's ESSEN SPIEL week! BJ from Board Game Gumbo is back with TEN more games that he has the ENVIE to buy at ESSEN SPIEL 2025. Plus, there's a little bit of lagniappe, with six interesting games that might slip under the radar, and two expansions that would have definitely come home in the Gumbo suitcase. Do these games catch your eye, too? Laissez les bon temps rouler! Twitch Tuesdays! twitch.tv/b...

The summer break is over, and we are back in the Gumbo Pot! This time, Jeremy from the Acadiana Board Gamers is back to teach us how to play CASCADIA ALPINE LAKES, out on Kickstarter right now from our friends at Flatout Games.  You like Cascadia? You want it even more breezy, and with a 3D component? Check this game out!  But we were not alone. The chat krewe was with us, and we did some deep div...

It’s another “lagniappe” episode of the Gumbo podcast, this time with Jay from Cardboard East! Jay is the marketing manager for Bezier Games, and he’s here to chat about The Game Makers!  First, Jay gives us his two ENVIE games from Asian designers that will be featured at GENCON (to demo, check out Age of Galaxy and to buy, look at 12 Rivers). Plus, we throw in some lagniappe — Buffet Boss.  Then...

We took the month off of June from podcasting to play some games! We’re back with a special episode of Gumbo Live! this time with Steve “The Name Father” O’Rourke dishing on his recent adventures at Chuck Con IV in Salt Lake City.  But Steve’s not alone — he’s brought friends! Our old friend, Phillip Millman (“Baseball Highlights 2045”) joins Becke from the Chuck’s Gateway & Filler Games Faceb...

It’s another Twitch Tuesday in the Gumbo Pot! This time, Jeremy and Doug stop by to play Pirates of Maracaibo and Schrodinger’s Cat, which you can find on our Twitch and YouTube channels. But before they get to playing the games, they have to chat about the news that came out today — it’s Spiel nominations time! The krewe chat about their experiences playing all of the Spiel and Kennerspiel nomina...

Gumbo Live! welcomed in Josh Ballagh, designer and publisher of Coalition: Councils of the Republic, which is hitting Kickstarter this summer! Josh is also one of the co-heads of our awesome GEAUXPUB section at Southern Board Game Fest, and we chatted about the successful con! Then we chatted up the history of Coalition and how it came from Josh’s days in school to now. Plus, we played a game live...

Jerod and I opened up a new box on Twitch — the kickstarter preview copy of The Pirate Code — and once we finished, we started chatting about our top games played at Southern Board Game Fest 2025 in beautiful downtown Lafayette, Louisiana!   Laissez les bon temps rouler! 

Gumbo Live! welcomed in Rob from www.theboardboyspodcast.com and Logan from the Acadiana Board Gamers Discord to chat about everything SoBo2025! (But only after we got in a BEAUX-NESS episode with Beau from the Board Boys).  That’s right, the krewe is back from another successful Southern Board Game Fest in beautiful downtown Lafayette, Louisiana.  We chatted about the top games checked out of the...

Gumbo Live! welcomed Charlie McCarron, designer of SURPLUS OF SLOTHS, into the Gumbo Pot!  We chatted about his background in music, the process of tying theme to these mechanisms, and all of the fun of the crowdfunding campaign! For more information, click here: Plus, we chatted about his previous game, FOUR HUMOURS, that we are giving away at Southern Board Game Fest! Before we wrapped up the ni...

Gumbo Live! welcomed Gregory Alford, designer of FOOD TRUCK RACE, into the Gumbo Pot!  We chatted about his start in board gaming, the design process behind the game, playtesting the game, and all of the fun of the upcoming kickstarter! For more information, click here: https://www.foodtruckracegame.com/yes-chef Plus, we chatted about some spicy hot games that we’ve played recently:  Wilmot’s Ware...

Gumbo Live! welcomed back Glenn Flaherty from Boardgames & Bourbon to chat about the new release of TABRIZ from Crafty Games! Well, that was the plan…but everyone’s got a plan until … well, you know. So, we started talking about ALL the games that Crafty Games is releasing, and got on some tangents about conventions and content creation and even a guest appearance from the cutest little board...

Gumbo Live! welcomed back Alex Goldsmith who has done it all in the industry. He’s playtested, pod created, Kickstarter shepherded, and now he’s back to playing games with his friends in St. Louis! Alex was the former host of The Dukes of Dice (a Gumbo fave) and former marketing guru for Grey Fox Games.  Before they swim into a deep discussion of Finspan, they talk about some ENVIE games that they...

Gumbo Live! welcomed in Andrew Stiles, the designer of Wine Cellar, a brand new bidding game from 25th Century Games going out to backers and retailers soon. Andrew is also the co-host of Tabletop Submarine, where he and his co-host Josh do a deep dive into board game stories with guests each episode. But before…diving…into some board games, the Gumbo krewe talked with Andrew about his former life...

BJ and Steve welcomed in Daryl Andrews, one of the most prolific and well respected co-designers in board gaming today! BJ is a big fan of Sagrada and Dice Theme Park, but it was time to get to know the designer behind the cardboard.  Before diving into some games, Daryl talked about life in Canada, traveling to board game conventions, his favorite moments at BGG.CON, some surprise news about some...

Jeremy and Logan are back in the Gumbo Pot! At BJ’s request, Jeremy brought two games we’ve been dying to play: FROMAGE and WONDROUS CREATURES.  Plus, the krewe de Gumbo chats about their favorite games from BGG.CON! Laissez les bon temps rouler! 

BJ, Verla and Steve welcomed in Jay Bernardo, the marketing director at Bezier Games and content creator at Cardboard East!  BJ is a big fan of Jay’s wonderfully eclectic and deep diving content about the Asian board gaming scene and it was a thrill to get him on the show. Before diving into some games, Jay talked about his journey in board gaming and how the Cardboard East channel came to be.  We...

BJ, Verla and Steve welcomed in Mitchell and Logan from the Acadiana Board Gamers discord to chat about cons including their recent trip to Dallas.  Before diving into the details, Steve previewed some of the games he is excited to play at PAX-U in Philly in two weeks: Flock Together  Black Forest  Molly House Then, it was time to reminisce about the week that was at BGG.CON 2024, including some s...

BJ and Verla are live from Dallas, Texas home of BGG.CON! Thanks to Logan Lanoo, we were able to record our thoughts after two days of gaming along with some special guests:  Mitchell from the Beans & Dice Podcast, Logan who runs the Acadiana Board Gamers discord, “Capt” Mark from New Orleans, Patrick & Cindy Newman, and of course, the inimitable Dave Dooooooooogas!  Don't forget -- ticket...

Friend of the show and all around amazing fellow, Evan Halbert returns to Gumbo Live! This time as a full blown guest ready to give us the scoop on all the latest news from the world of his designs. First, we chat about AFTER THE EMPIRE's success with Grey Fox Games and Evan gives us some info on the in-progress expansion! Next up, we chat about everything METBETOCH, Evan and his design partner Ry...

Carla Kopp from Weird Giraffe Games is back to talk about some spicy hot games, including her newest two games coming out on Kickstarter right now:  REEF & RUINS (designed by Carla) and WICKED & WISE deluxe edition and expansion (designed by Fertessa Alysse). Here is a link to the Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/weirdgiraffegames/reef-and-ruins Plus, we chat about a spicy...

Dan Patriss, co-host of The Geek All Stars podcast, is back to talk about some spicy hot games and some games to look out for at Essen! Plus we get an inside look at GAMERS FOR CURES 2024, Dan’s charity for Turner Syndrome of America: https://www.gamersforcures.com/ Plus, there's talk of Charterstone, Legacy Games, Captain Flip strategy, Frosthaven scenarios, and Bat Flip Dynasty!  Laissez les bon...

BJ has been scouring the excellent list updated by Board Game Geek’s W. Eric Martin's* ( https://boardgamegeek.com/geekpreview... ) for the hottest, most interesting games. At the time of this list, there were nearly 1100 games so it made for some hard choices! This list is 15 of the games that BJ has his eye on available for purchase at ESSEN SPIEL 2024, plus a little bit of lagniappe! What games...

Gumbo Live! is back with a new fall season, and you don't even need to subscribe to TV Guide to get the new fall lineup!  In our first episode, we chat with MARK MCGEE, one of the owners of the indie publisher, HOW TO STEAM BROCCOLi, who designed one of our favorite little card games this year, TETHER.  We chat about how Mark got the inspiration for the game, some of the challenges and benefits of...

Gumbo Live! is back with a new season! In our second most final show of the season, we visit with GLENN FLAHERTY, from Boardgames & Bourbon, all about the brand new kickstarter for the reprint of TIR NA NOG from Grand Gamers Guild!  We also talk about Steve and BJ's recent plays of Unmatched: Slings & Arrows Finally, we enjoyed a rousing game of DID YOU KNEAUX (Ireland versus Louisiana) wi...