The Cardboard Herald

We got too many games and we’re not gonna take it anymore! In this week’s episode, Eric and Jack talk about why somewhat might cull their board game collection, what factors to determine which games to keep, and best practices for removing games from your collection. 0:00 - Introductions! 01:26 - What Games Have We Played This Week! 21:45- Topic: Purging a Board Game Collection 01:09:35 - Listener...

John has designed numerous hit #boardgames most prominently for #AEG and #brotherwisegames. This was a great chat we had after getting a chance to hang out for the weekend at Platypus Con 2025 in Juneau, AK. 00:00 - Intro 01:19 - Breaking in and beyond card crafting 05:51 - The origin story 12:43 - Transition to game design full-time 18:15 - Honing your craft 24:25 - Pitching, showing & develo...

But like what do we even mean when we say something's our favorite game? Jack and Eric discuss that and more in this week’s episode 0:00 - Introductions! 01:21 - What Games Have We Played This Week! 20:49 - Topic: The Concept of “Favorite Games” 51:56 - Listener Contribution #1 01:02:18 - Outro!

Had this great chat with Nick at PAX U and afterwards got to play SWARM with him, which is NOT an official greenlit Leder project (yet), just something Nick has been working on that the studio may produce. 00:00 - Showing Ahoy materials 03:31 - Swarm 05:07 - Your focus at conventions? 07:49 - What's inspiring you these days?

Jack and Eric talk the inaugural BGG Hall of Fame inductees 0:00 - Introductions! 03:34 - What Games Have We Played! 16:49 - Board Game Geek Hall of Fame Class of 2025 43:05 - Discussion on the omission of Puerto Rico 01:01:48  - Listener Question #1: Thoughts on Upgrading Games versus Buying New Games? 01:07:00 - Listener Question #2: Do we like games more when we win? How about when we teac...

Jack, Eric, and special guest John give their hot takes on whether people are overreacting to board game etiquette quandaries 0:00 - Introductions! 01:44 - What games have we played 13:22 - Podcast topic, AITA 16:42 - AITA for not wanting to learn and teach every game? 21:35 - AITA for trying to win the board game? 28:25 - AITA for making a casual game competitive? 34:44 - AITA for going for playe...

Eric and Jack have chat about board game components, why they’re important and why the film American Tale deserves to be developed into a mid-weight Euro 00:00 Introduction and Games We’ve Played this week 21:13 Board Game Components 01:07:29 Listener Question - What topic or concept do we want to see more board games made about?

Jack and Eric discuss how luck affects board games 00:00 Intro 02:04 Games We've Played 16:18 2025 Luck in Board Games 56:58 1st Listener Question - Our take on how luck in board games has evolved? 01:03:43 2nd Listener Question - Only No-Luck games or Only Medium-Luck Games? 1:06:26 3rd Listener Question - Our thoughts on games that feature negative emotions?

Jack and Eric discuss what 2025 will look like for the board game industry as we know it 00:00 Intro 01:23 Games We've Played 26:20 2025 Board Game Industry Outlook 01:04:49 Listener Questions

Eric and Jack chat about our experiences and tips for teaching games. 00:00 - Intro 02:16 - Games we've been playing 20:41 - Teaching Games 58:11 - Listener questions Links: Our Site - https://www.cardboardherald.com Our Video Channel - https://www.youtube.com/TheCardboardHerald Our Twitter - https://twitter.com/CardboardHerald Our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/user?u=9669551

Eric and Jack sit down to talk about our experience and the games we played at PAX Unplugged 2024. You can watch the video for this chat on our youtube channel here: https://youtu.be/TX0A9JFHtak

00:00 - Releasing a game at GenCon 04:33 - Did River of Gold start as an L5R Game? 09:25 - Working with an imprint of Asmodee 11:34 - Why no solo mode? 14:55 - Developing the linear aspect of the game 18:32 - Commercial pressures for success 21:24 - Motivation to become a designer 25:13 - What makes a good sell sheet & game pitch? 27:18 - Dream universe to adapt into a board game 31:34 - What'...

00:00 - Intro 03:42 - From editing to design 04:42 - What makes a good rule book? 07:53 - Why big floppy rulebooks? 10:15 - Root 4 a New Hope 11:42 - Big box for all your stuff? 14:57 - What's the pitch room like for Root content? 22:21 - What was the starting point? 25:50 - Clockwork & hirelings support 28:26 - Coolest part of the expansion? 31:06 - Reach and player count for new factions 32:...

00:00 - Intro 01:42 - Different approach than with Distilled? 04:21 - Did you always plan on publishing in addition to design work? 07:17 - How do publication concerns impact game design? 09:45 - What sets Luthier apart from other games? 13:19 - Was there hesitation over the complexity level? 17:11 - How much do you design for the catalog? 20:27 - Did the long public exposure impact development? 2...

The backer kit campaign for Ahoy: New Horizons launches November 14, 2023 here: https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/fd610745-96dd-4289-839e-ac0757c468bd/landing 00:00 - Intro & genesis of the expansion 02:04 - What type of expansion is this 04:09 - New factions, same limitations? 04:46 - Solo considered? 06:09 - Approach to figuring out what to expand 08:15 - Smugglers in a 2 player game?...

Earthborne Rangers is the exciting new cooperative, open-world adventure game that I highly recommend. You can find our review here: https://youtu.be/uX91cv5H43M?si=m6WW_zI7V3BLKILx 00:00 - Earthborne Rangers background 05:25 - Inspiration for the setting 12:51 - 15 years with Fantasy Flight Games 21:27 - Creative director and leaving FFG 28:23 - Earthborne's commitment to sustainability 36:24 - H...

Freelancers is the new crossroads game from Plaid Hat Games. Timestamps are below, pre-order here: https://www.plaidhatgames.com/news/2023/03/30/announcing-freelancers-crossroads-game/ 00:00 - Introduction & feelings leading up to release 04:26 - The Plaid Hat Way 06:10 - Starting Board With Life 11:00 - Freedom & flexibility in the design process 13:53 - What defines a crossroads game? 17...

Prefer audio? Check out this interview on our pod channel. Also, go check out Tim and the rest of the BGHT team at: https://boardgamehottakes.com 00:00 - Intro 03:43 - Getting games played for the podcast 08:21 - Evolution of tastes 14:30 - Vested interest in recruiting gamers 17:58 - Gaming history starting with MTG 24:25 - Converting to board games 30:06 - Goals for the podcast 33:40 - Cost of c...

00:00 - Intro 00:52 - Distribution of Frosthaven vs. Gloomhaven 03:25 - Moving into a managerial role 05:19 - Fatherhood 06:16 - Frosthaven Design & Development 10:54 - Frosthaven a response to Gloomhaven or Jaws? 15:42 - Settling on a hefty MSRP and leftovers on the cutting floor 18:47 - Crimson Scales 21:13 - Gloomhaven RPG 25:45 - Card integration into the RPG 29:45 - Who is the market? 31:...

00:00 - Intro 01:10 - Making war games more approachable 03:31 - Origins as a designer 06:01 - First pitch, first publish 08:25 - Mistakes as an early designer 10:55 - Developing a partnership with Trevor 14:08 - Did you know how big Undaunted would be? 18:09 - Fetishizing elegance 20:01 - When to work alone vs. co-design 22:42 - No solo in Stalingrad? 27:29 - Origins of Resist! 31:26 - Accuracy v...

00:00 - Intro 00:48 - Radlands 02:21 - Dice Conquest 04:03 - Voyages 04:52 - Orichalcum 06:15 - Life Siphon 07:53 - Once Upon a Time 08:56 - Star Fighters Rapid Fire 10:47 - Kitchen Rush 12:38 - Twilight Inscription 14:45 - Dinosaur Island Rawr 'N Write 16:57 - Flamecraft Links: Our Site - https://www.cardboardherald.com Our Video Channel - https://www.youtube.com/TheCardboardHerald Our Twitter -...

Find out more at PC's site here: https://www.getpostcurious.com or watch our review of Adrift here: https://youtu.be/bNiYeftscXY 00:00 - First time with a booth 00:57 - A more robust lineup 02:21 - Panneling for puzzles at the con 03:04 - Audience awareness 04:21 - Upcoming projects Links: Our Site - https://www.cardboardherald.com Our Video Channel - https://www.youtube.com/TheCardboardHerald Our...

Had to guerrilla shoot this at the airbnb, so please excuse the limited camera angle & dim lighting. The audio version of this interview is up on our pod channel. 00:00 - Intro 06:15 - Defenders of the Wild 16:43 - Design & Development in the KS Cylce 21:32 - Defenders of the wild 31:31 - Frustrations with projects? 35:22 - Pitching at PAX U 2022? 37:08 - Signature style 39:27 - Research t...

00:00 - Intro 00:22 - What is this game? 02:10 - Card play & management 03:43 - Combat units 05:06 - Attacking 06:55 - Tactics & Strategy 07:22 - Final Thoughts Links: Our Site - https://www.cardboardherald.com Our Video Channel - https://www.youtube.com/TheCardboardHerald Our Twitter - https://twitter.com/CardboardHerald Our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/user?u=9669551

Want to just listen to the review? Check it out on the podcast channel. Also you can check out the Jaws of the Lion Review here: https://youtu.be/0jYwmUwZ6uc 00:00 - Intro & Gloomy Review 01:36 - What is this game? 03:34 - Characters 04:30 - Bannerspear 05:51 - Blinkblade 06:46 - Deathwalker 08:18 - Outpost phase & base building 11:07 - Loot & Crafting 12:48 - Rules presentation 15:21...