The Covenant Cast

The Sorcery TCG Dust launch illustrates a number of lessons in the pursuit of perfection and the reality of the world. Join us as we wrestle with them.

People often optimize for efficiency and fairness, which is often times counter to optimizing for fun. Alpha Clash has pivoted to maximizing fun at their tournaments and now Sorcery with their Avatar prizes. Zach is hot off rebuilding his Earthborne Rangers decks to make them harder to play and Steven has a long history of making weak characters in D&D for greater roleplaying opportunity. With pla...

The best and hardest part of tabletop games is that they require other people to play. It's what leads to such amazing communities, but also a lot of frustration for those who just want to play their favorite games. Today, we talk about the lessons we've learned from over a decade of bringing people together. 00:06:37 Earthborne Games News 00:16:58 Sorcery TCG News 00:17:56 Flesh and Blood TCG New...

00:09:03 "Let's Cover the News" 00:09:35 Earthborne Games News 00:18:39 Sorcery TCG News 00:40:40 Warlord TCG News 00:41:45 Covenant News 00:50:49 Main Topic: Say Less

A great game can happen anywhere two people want to gather. With breweries, libraries, and community centers opening their doors to tabletop, what can an LGS do to become that preferred third space?

We ask ourselves if, in our current moment, it is enough to make the best game possible, or if there is now an even more competitive meta game that designers need to understand to ensure success. 00:11:21 Flesh and Blood TCG News 00:11:53 Warlord TCG News 00:15:17 Arkham Horror LCG and Marvel Champions LCG News 00:19:27 Alpha Clash TCG News 00:39:46 Sorcery TCG News 00:57:46 Can Sorcery be Success...

In this episode, we share highlights from our recent travels to the Flesh and Blood TCG Pro Tour in Las Vegas and to the Erik's Curiosa offices in New Zealand (Sorcery TCG). The filming and conversations at each were enlightening. 00:06:12 Here Be Monsters TCG News 00:08:57 Hubworld: Aidalon News 00:25:26 Alpha Clash TCG News 00:32:07 Flesh and Blood TCG News 00:37:35 Warlord TCG News 00:42:07 Mar...

We can all feel it.  So many new TCGs on the market, so many new products from the old games, digital repacks, exclusives, stretch goals, and a seemingly endless supply of gimmicks.  Perhaps we've lost our way.  Perhaps it's time to return to the fundamentals. 00:02:36 Here Be Monsters TCG News 00:09:05 Alpha Clash TCG News 00:20:48 TCGs in the Internet Age 00:22:03 FAB TCG News 00:25:37 Sorcery T...

This week, Here Be Monsters TCG launched their Kickstarter campaign with a game-changing business model. Are they the first to solve the problem of TCGs without jettisoning all the upsides? We think that just might be the case! 00:00:00 Intro 00:08:32 Here Be Monsters TCG News 00:12:02 Zattic News 00:13:39 Alpha Clash TCG News 00:14:56 Flesh and Blood TCG News 00:19:07 Sorcery TCG News 00:19:31 Su...

It's time we addressed the perennial question. 00:36:38 Main Topic: Are TCGs Gambling? 

On a fateful Monday, BradW shared an ad for Rush of Ikorr, the TCG from Upper Deck, coming to their ePack platform. What's the ePack platform, you ask? An abomination. It's not what tabletop is, and it misses the point completely. Digital integration? We don't want it, and it's ruining the hobby. Join us for a direct message to publishers thinking this is the future—it isn't. 40:30 Main Topic

Our current crowdfunding and tcg-heavy tabletop gaming era necessitates a question: is there nobility in removing overtly FOMO-creating elements from your campaigns and product design, or are you just losing sales? 00:00:00 Intro 00:04:42 Sorcery TCG News 00:07:23 Warlord TCG News 00:07:44 Alpha Clash TCG News 00:08:03 Arkham Horror The Card Game & Marvel Champions News 00:21:42 FAB TCG News 00:22...

A few weeks ago, the Earthborne team came to our office to share a vertical slice of their new game, Earthborne Trailblazer, with us, our team, and three fans of Rangers. Now, with the launch of the Earthborne Trailblazer Kickstarter, we are excited to share our thoughts with the world! Earthborne Trailblazer Kickstarter: cov.link/earthborne-trailblazer 00:50:49 Main Topic: Earthborne Trailblazer...

Traditional distribution serves a critical function for tabletop gaming, but for many publishers it is often a hindrance to success—that's why we launched Covenant Fulfilled earlier this year. With the platform receiving a number of updates this week, including the addition of Earthborne Games, we're diving into exactly how our approach to distribution was a necessary improvement for indie publish...

All last week we stared at the beautiful Earthborne Trailblazer board, created by Evan Simonet and inspired by Jaro Hess's "The Land of Make Believe". This week we wake up to a fresh controversy involving long time Magic: The Gathering artist Dan Frazier. There is clearly a line somewhere between the kind of artistic inspiration that both grounds and elevates a project and sticking so close to you...

Fresh off of their Earthborne Trailblazer announcement, Andrew Navaro joins us to answer your questions and ours!

In the early days of crowdfunding, we were very hesitant to consider games that used the platform. Crowdfunding was seen as a negative. Somewhere along the way we entered an era where crowdfunding every game, or even every set, is seen as the standard. We wonder aloud how we got here and what the future holds. 00:07:15 Preview Pack 2026 Update 00:08:53 Sorcery TCG News 00:09:55 "What is Fulfilled?...

In this episode, we revisit the topic of LCG viability. Are there ways, tested or untested, that an LCG can prosper as a long-running game and also on the balance sheet of the local game store? After a week of reflection and so many good comments across the internet, there may indeed be some light at the end of the tunnel. We'll try to find it with you. 00:03:39 Announcing the Preview Pack 2026 00...

Gudnak has pulled off the pipe dream of LCG fans everywhere by creating a functional limited experience. Hubworld announced that every set will be also be a draftable cube. Arkham Horror continues to tweak how it's products are delivered. None of these games are taking a similar path, but we have to wonder, will any of these paths finally create an offering that is as appealing to the game store a...

Sorcery TCG has announced its Cornerstone events emphasizing Creativity, Mastery, and Wonder. Alpha Clash has gone international, announcing an even more open tournament scene in locations from Vegas to Dubai to the Philippines. FAB continues to deliver ever more on it's promise of high-level face-to-face competition. With all of this swirling in the wind, we ask ourselves, what does the perfect o...

First Sorcery TCG, then Altered TCG, and now Cyberpunk 2027 TCG. These games continue to break crowdfunding records, but what does that mean for the actual health of the game? Zach and Steven sit down for an all new podcast format where we talk about all things indie card games.

At the end of our 12-hour Gothic release stream, we got to chat with Erik Olofsson—founder of Erik's Curiosa and co-founder of Grinding Gear Games—about Sorery's new Gothic set and the future of the game. That content was over the archive limit for YouTube live, so we're releasing it here in its totality. Enjoy!

"I think as long as you're following your heart, your life will take you wherever you're intended to go."   Andrew Navaro, Former Head of Studio at FFG and current Head of Studio at Earthborne Games, sits down with us to talk about his journey so far. Join us as we discuss Netrunner, Asmodee, Earthborne Rangers, Hubworld: Aidalon and the many, many things in between. It's an inspirational intervie...

Ridge Kiley, co-founder of Rising Empire Studios, sits down with Zach to discuss their recently announced Alpha Clash comic book series and how the comics allow for a top-down design approach that will completely reshape the Alpha Clash trading card game. Find out more: https://alphaclashtcg.com/news/alpha-clash-comic-book-series-launcheswhere-lore-cards-and-fun-competition-collide Get the comics...

Garett Kiley, co-founder of Rising Empire Studios, sits down with Zach to discuss their recent move away from traditional distribution and into direct LGS relationships via their Champion Store program. This is the most honest accounting of what it's actually like working with traditional distributors as an indie publisher, and a must-listen for publishers and players of these games.