Brainwaves - Board Game and Tabletop News Show

Iain and Iain are having a nice relaxing time in the garden when all news hell breaks loose! Despite their need to kick back, the team gathers once more behind the mics to cover famous names putting their foot firmly in mouth, others moving forward with action, translation issues in the world of virtual tabletops, magic cards breaking records, and Jenga. Yes. Jenga. All this and more, on this epis...

It’s a solemn week for the team as they dive into all the controversies surrounding comments made by well loved designers. We spent a bit longer on this than we normally would, but we felt it deserved the coverage.  Over the rest of the cast we update you on Dragonlance, looking at counterfeit games, conventions moving again, and taking a long overdue trip to RPG Corner.  Headlines Video for Kicks...

The team are back after their close encounter with a rogue sound effect. Brushing off the audio cobwebs, they jump back into the studio to cover Kickstarter Growth, Catan Beer, Dragonlance Lawsuits, Games Workshop profits and much more on this episode of Brainwaves!  You might notice that Iain Chantler disappears about half way through the cast. Iain had a house emergency to attend to so Jamie and...

Iain, Iain, and Jamie take a bit of a breather from the regular cast to look back at the year. They are joined by Josh Hartley from the Unlucky Frog to look back at the big stories of 2020 and speculate on what 2021 will bring to the world of the Tabletop. Below the subjects we talk about I’ve provided links to the shows that have featured those subjects, should you want to revisit them.    Subjec...

It’s the last cast of the year, and over the Christmas break Iain McAllister is rebuilding the HQ. Thankfully the studio isn’t affected and the team gather for one last time in 2020 to cover companies going bankrupt, Gencon announcing new dates, Alexa grabbing more games and the return of RPG corner.   Headlines Sans Detour goes under https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sansdetour/confrontation-c...

It’s Christmas time at Brainwaves HQ and the two Iains are decorating the tree! It shines magnificently in the corner of the Brainwaves studio as the team cover sinkings, new awards, old awards, Wizards dropping the ball (or should that be snitch?), and the feud between Uri Geller and a card game.    Headlines The Zenobia Award https://www.dicebreaker.com/companies/the-zenobia-award/news/zenobia-a...

The Brainwaves team are back to bring you the best in Tabletop Gaming News. This week they cover the sad closure of Girls Game Shelf, troubles in a galaxy far, far away, legal troubles here on earth, convention cancellations, interesting kickstarters, and much, much more.    Headlines Girls’ Game Shelf shuts up shop https://girlsgameshelf.com/2020/11/not-goodbye-but-hello/ Asmodee moves Star Wars...

Viva le Revolution! Iain Chantler leads the charge in strike action at the Brainwaves studio! After a brief negotiation involving coffee, the team resolve their differences by coming together behind the mics. This cast we cover new studios, old money, sad partings, pay deals, auctions, and more!  Headlines Critical Role announce boardgame studio https://critrole.com/announcing-darrington-press-our...

The team is excited to bring you their first cast live from Essen! Turns out it’s been cancelled. Boo. Gathering themselves and retreating back to the confines of their hotel room the team diligently bring you the latest in tabletop gaming news: Wizards getting sued, more awards, chess cheating continued, rappers, pokemon and much, much more!    Headlines Wizards taken to court over Dragonlance Bo...

The cast has hit 10000 downloads and Iain M is throwing a party! He does seem to have forgotten about having to record the cast though. The show must go on and the team wrangle karaoking interns out of the studio and get down to the business of recording cast 58. This time round they cover Origins Awards, Magic meets the Walking Dead, Covid impact on Scottish stores, new crowdfunding sites and muc...

Jamie has returned from the depths of the Brainwaves HQ with the help of Iain C and large quantities of caffeine. As Iain M gets them back in the studio and calms things down the team get back on the news wagon. This cast covers the return of an old friend, more awards, Critical role’s charitable side, old games, new money and much more. Brainstorm returns as the team discusses whether bigger comp...

Jamie’s back from travels and Iain M has had a nice long sleep. Too long though it seems as they missed the last cast! Making up for lost time the pair, Iain C is fixing the coffee machine, cover Eric Lang leaving CMON, updates from previous reports, Avalon Hill changing hands (sort of), and much more on this edition of Brainwaves.    Headlines Eric Lang leaves Cool Mini or Not(CMON) https://twitt...

Welcome to Idle Thoughts our spin-off podcast where the team get together and talk about games they have played recently. This cast was formerly a patreon exclusive that we would occasionally share with the main feed, but it is now going to be a regular fixture of our release schedule. Patrons still get it early and extended, as we do for the Brainwaves cast.  This is a recording of our opinions a...

The deluge of news is finally slowing and the team takes a well deserved rest in the gardens, whilst still bringing you the latest information from the world of tabletop. This cast covers the Ennie Winners, Roll20 boom, Combat Wheelchairs, Asmodee going alone, Starfinder returning to Alexa and more! As the storm clouds gather overhead the team discuss the relationship between publishers and review...

Excavating Iain Chantler out from underneath a huge pile of news the team are reunited and set about the latest developments in Tabletop gaming with enthusiasm (or at least workman-like efficiency). This episode we take a look at the Spiel des Jahres, Uk Games Expo Award shortlists, a whole bunch of financial news from across the industry, Mind Sports Olympiad. Also the return of RPG corner where...

On this special episode of Brainwaves we chat to two of the people behind Project Nisei, a fan run continuation of the Netrunner card game. Serenity, Community Manager, and Jonni, Design lead, join Iain and Iain to chat about the challenges of keeping a worldwide community going amidst the current crisis, how the game is continuing to evolve, their plans for forthcoming releases, and the best way...

The HQ is on red alert as the news tubes fill up with more information than they can handle. Setting the interns on the problem Iain M and Jamie set about getting the podcast done to reduce the strain on the system whilst Iain C is lost somewhere in the piles of news! This episode we report on the return of Golden Bell to crowdfunding, Wizards having more employee troubles, Twitter Bans, Scrabble...

Iain M thought he was going to have a nice relaxing time in the Brainwaves studios over lockdown but no! There is so much news that it is threatening to bury the entire HQ! Together the team dig into the giant piles to bring you only the best nuggets of news; CAH revelations continue, WOTC part ways with artist, Ennies deals with their own controversy, AI taking over and much, much more!  Headline...

After the rose tinted glasses of episode 50 we put on the harsh specs of reality and dive into this week’s news. Together the team cover the cancellation of Origins Online, Wizards of the Coast banning cards and striving for diversity, Cards Against Humanity abuse allegations, Golden Bell tolling once more, Everything Board Games imploding and much, much more.    Headlines Origins Online Cancelled...

Brainwaves Statement on the U.S. Protests Hello everyone, before we get to the cast proper we wanted to take a moment to address how the Brainwaves team feels about the current situation in America. We feel that even though our voice is small, it is important to speak up when events like this occur. As 3 white guys we will not pretend to understand what the black community has experienced worldwid...

Iain C is having some outside time in the Brainwaves garden, leaving Jamie and Iain M to get on with the business of the cast. This week we cover convention cancellations, Avengers’ board game night, BGG Geek Game store, Spartacus returning, Hot Zones for free and more. In Brainstorm we discuss the possibility of a silver lining to all the convention cancellations: are release schedules going to g...

It’s time for the most coveted prize in the boardgame award season calendar, The Golden Brains! These coveted prizes are only given out on this cast to categories of our own devising, number two will shock you. Of course we still have time to bring you the best in tabletop gaming news: comic relief DnD, Wingspan sweeps awards and picks up some controversy, Frosthaven rocks Kickstarter, Asmodee tak...

This week on Brainwaves Iain Chantler is on trial for crimes too heinous to write down! With the proceedings out of the way the team gather to pour over the last fortnight in boardgame news: CMON trading statement, Kickstarter cuts, Game store owner arrested and companies support for your FLGS. We look at Roll20 and the ways it can help you roleplay online.    The Trial https://www.youtube.com/wat...

The Team are all together in Brainwaves HQ and Iain C has made his way back from the non-euclidean geometry of the coffee machine. Joining Jamie and Iain M they dive into the news ocean once more to bring you the juiciest pearls. This week they cover the Far Verona cancellation, the passing of a TSR founder, CMON trading woes, Asmodee generosity, Z-Man on Pandemic and much, much more. Iain M has b...

Brainwaves HQ is a lonely place for Iain M to be on his own: Iain C is self isolating, and we’ve sent all the interns home for safety. Contemplating what to do next he is thankfully joined by Jamie who has returned from his walkabout, and a very special guest. Together they look at the impact Covid-19 has had on the boardgaming world before turning to news of companies splitting, awards being anno...