The Cardboard Herald

00:00 - Intro 02:40 - The forming of a "board game design collaborative" 07:07 - Are conventions still relevant? 10:48 - Perennial and biting your own apple 17:55 - Discovering theme through mechanics 20:52 - Killing your darlings 23:31 - Origins and aspirations of Whisperstone HOT LINKS: Our Site - 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

00:00 - Intro 01:14 - Starting as an intern 04:04 - Background in games 06:19 - Earliest pitches 08:03 - Downhill development 12:30 - A career unplanned 13:48 - First project since Kyle & Cole left 18:49 - Aspirational weirdness 21:20 - What makes it special? 24:21 - Hardest design nut to crack? 27:20 - What darlings were killed? 30:02 - Advice for those who come after? HOT LINKS: Our Site - 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

Jarratt Gray is the co-designer along with Carl de Visser of Endeavor, Endeavor: Age of Sail and Endeavor Deep Sea. 00:00 - Intro (taking TCbH by storm) 02:49 - The sense of exploration 06:09 - History of Endeavor 12:27 - An academic bent 16:50 - Designing a balance between coop & competitive 21:31 - Working partnership with Carl 25:56 - Avoiding bad expansions with uncharted waters 34:10 - Endeavor's future HOT LINKS: Our Site - 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

Jamey Stegmaier is the cofounder & owner of Stonemaier games, as well as designer of many of their hits like Viticulture, Scythe and Tapestry. 00:00 - Why release 2 new expansions at once? 03:22 - Do you buy expansions for your games? 07:11 - How have your views on expansions changed over time? 12:23 - Do you think about expansion potential when publishing a game? 15:48 - Simultaneous release expansions 20:14 - Why not repackage expansions into Tokaido? 23:03 - What metrics do you consider on if it's worth it? 25:00 - Balancing release schedule? 26:39 - Expansions that could have been? 31:48 - Types of expansions (Jamey's question for Jack) HOT LINKS: Our Site - 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

Pat Race & Aron Suring are the co-owners / co-founders of Alaska Robotics Gallery among many other businesses and projects in Juneau, Alaska, and are just all around great dudes. 00:00 - Intro "what is this shop?" 01:41 - When did games come along? 03:57 - Selling expansions 06:24 - Encouraging buying local 08:50 - Stale product 11:11 - Are expansions a boon or bane 14:12 - Closing out with favorite games HOT LINKS: Our Site - 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

Nick Murray, coowner of Bitewing Games and host of "The Bits with Joe and Nick" comes to talk Gold Country and Bitewing's work with Reiner Knizia, spanning hits from Zoo Vadis to Illiad. 00:00 - Intro 01:46 - Gold Country Excitement 07:08 - Did Bitewing set out to work with Knizia? 12:57 - Reiner's self awareness of current resurgence? 19:18 - Is there a Knizia bubble? 26:25 - Challenges with Gold Country 32:24 - Why doesn't Bitewing do expansions? 35:35 - The games that got away? HOT LINKS: Our Site - 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

Trevor Benjamin is co-designer of numerous hit games including Undaunted, Warchest, Resist and Mandela, frequently collaborating with David J. Thompson and Brett J. Gilbert. 00:00 - Intro 01:10 - Getting involved with Bitewing 02:26 - Approach to following up Iliad & Ichor 06:29 - Intentionally subverting genre? 07:52 - Late addition of solo & coop 09:47 - Why always codesigning? 14:47 - Approach to Azure 18:11 - State of the hobby trending to more shallow experiences 21:50 - Historical accuracy vs. practical game design 25:09 - Expanded scope of Undaunted 29:01 - How do you know when a game is done? 31:51 - Recent inspirations 37:35 - Next up, For the Gods 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

It’s time to butt heads and create enemies that will last a lifetime! That’s right, we’re talking about conflict, baby, and the different ways conflicts are represented in board games. 0:00 - Introductions and What We’ve Been Playing This Week! 34:22 - Conflict in Board Games 1:13:10 - Outro!

Jack and Eric haven’t chatted in a while, so we thought this would be a good time to discuss the channel, where we’re at and what we’re working on now that we’re both back from all of our trips, and what’s coming up for the channel! 0:00 - Introductions and What We’ve Been Playing This Week! 29:55 - Call to Order of the Cardboard Herald Board Meeting 1:21:45 - Meeting Adjourned and Outro!

Cameron Art (developer of Harvest, owner of PickPocket Games) comes on the podcast to chat with Eric about his time as a developer for Keymaster and what’s on the horizon for PickPocket Games PickPocket Games: https://pickpocketgames.com/ 0:00 - Introductions and What We’ve Played This Past Week 12:07 - Cameron Talks About Developing Harvest 19:25 - Was There Feedback Cameron Got Where The Feedback Disagreed With the Data? 24:18 - Cameron Discusses The Differences Between Designing A Game and Developing A Game 37:13 - Cameron Discusses What’s Different From Working Internally to Develop for a Company versus Being Contracted to Develop? 40:54 - How Does Cameron Approach Developing a Solo Mode for a Competitive Game? 47:50 - What Pushed Cameron to Republish Thief’s Market with PickPocket Games? 56:00 - Cameron Talks Starting Up PickPocket Games 1:03:15 - Cameron’s Most Influential Games 1:07:18 - The Games Cameron Thinks You Must Play As an Aspiring Board Game Designer? 1:11:22 - Outro

Check It Out! We got two tricky kids on to chat about their latest game Tricky Kids, published by Pandasaurus. We talk about their approach to games, what’s it like to co-design a game, and what’s coming next for them  Baron Jon’s Trick-Taking Collection: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/trickytime/baron-jons-2025-card-game-collection/description 0:00 - Introductions and What We’ve Played This Past Week 7:47 - What Was the Process of Coming Together to Start Co-Designing? 14:56 - What Was The Design Process of Tricky Kids? 26:09 - What Was It Like Working With Pandasaurus? 32:09 - How Do They Approach A Game Where They Know They’re Working With A Co-Designer? 36:41 - How Does Danielle Approach Games She’s Designing That Are Licensed Compared To Independent Work? 41:50 - Why Is Steven Drawn to Designing Trick-Taking Games? 46:46 - What Games Would Danielle and Steven Point to As The Most Influential For Them? 52:13 - What Games Do Steven and Danielle Think An Aspiring Game Designer Must Play? 57:20 - Outro

Join us as Eric chats with Trey Chambers, designer of Harvest, Argent: The Consortium and Empyreal: Spells and Steam! 0:00 - Introductions and What We’ve Played This Week! 09:12 - How has Harvest Changed Between Editions? 16:02 - What’s It Like Rereturning to Work on the Expansions of Harvest? 20:11 - How Did Trey’s Journey Into Game Design Start? 22:50 - What Does It Feel Like to Get Your First Game Published? 27:13 - What Does It Feel Like to Get Your Second Game Published, and Working with a Publisher a Second Time? 31:25 - Trey’s Advice for Unpublished Game Designers 35:25 - Trey’s Top Games of the Last Year 43:38 - Trey’s Most Influential Games/Games that Trey thinks Beginning Game Designers Should Learn From 47:02 - What’s Next for Trey? 49:18 - Listener Questions! 53:00 - Outro!

So long Indianapolis, thanks for all the games! Scott, aka Boardgamingbud, and Eric chat about the games we played at Gen Con and the general vibe of the convention. Jeremy Howard’s Post - https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3555308/just-some-ole-racist-history-crap Devir of North America’s Post - https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3555679/a-message-to-the-community 0:00 - Introductions 2:00 - Favorite Games of 2025 (so far) 11:41 - Topic: Gen Con Wrap Up 34:30 - Who “won” Gen Con 2025? 1:00:06- Viewer/Listener Comments 1:09:26 - Outro

Losers always have it the best! They’re chucking out bullet bills and blue shells, while I’m grinding trick jumps in first to keep my lead. This week we talk about catch-up mechanics in board games and what we like about them. 0:00 - Introductions and What We’ve Played This Week 21:45 - Our Topic This Week: Game Balance 01:02:23 - Outro

There’s a lot that comes to mind when someones says “game balance” in reference to board games, and we’re here to talk about all of them. Jack and Eric discuss what they want from game balance, games that are good examples of it, and answer some questions from commenters about the topic. 0:00 - Introductions and What We’ve Played This Week 13:29 - Our Topic This Week: Game Balance 01:05:31 - Listener Comment #1 01:08:19 - Listener Comment #2 01:16:13 - Listener Comment #3 01:23:54 - Listener Comment #4 01:29:25 - Outro

Realm of Reckoning launches on kickstarter on June 24th, 2025 here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ivstudios/realm-of-reckoning 00:00 - Intro 01:36 - From animation to the tabletop 07:40 - Starting with theme or mechanics? 10:40 - Difficulty with commitment to bespoke components 14:30 - Honing the craft of making games 18:15 - Moving industry to a smaller pond 23:06 - Beginnings of Reckoning 27:28 - Upcoming cooperative deck builder 31:20 - When to start internal and external playtesting 36:06 - Navigating Tariffs 39:51 - Why not solo? 43:05 - Feeling challenged by other publishers? 47:51 - Admiration for small design 50:39 - Original themes and world buidling 56:20 - Coming down the pike? 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

Following our discussion a few weeks ago about IP-Based games, we’re talking about different ways games can exude theme, and the levers they can pull 0:00 - A Demonstration of Technical Difficulties 0:47- The Real Introductions and What We’ve Played This Week 20:00 - Topic: How Board Games Exude Theme 1:28:22- Listener Comments and Examples 01:39:25 - Outro!

You can find out more about the book here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmlZSX1YmTI 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

These games stay Based (on other intellectual properties). This week, Eric and Jack talk about board games based on non-board game Intellectual properties, and what we want to see out of them. 0:00 - Introductions and What We’ve Played This Week 10:43 - Topic: IP-Based Board Games 45:15- Listener Question: Why Are There So Many Lord Of The Ring Games? 53:27 - Outro!

Nick Murray of Bitewing Games chats with Eric about his kickstarter for Gingham and Gazebo, his thoughts on the tariffs and what it’s like being named Nick. 0:00 - Introductions and What We’ve Played This Week 13:38 - Publishing Gazebo and Gingham on Kickstarter 27:40 - Bitewing’s Relationship with Reiner Knizia 32:20 - What Work Goes into Setting a Kickstarter Up for Success 39:30 - Nick’s Thoughts on His Post About Tariffs 48:45 - What Is the Board Game Industry Going to Look Like a Year from Now? 55:28 - Stonemaier Games’ Lawsuit 01:02:48 - Bombastic Direct-to-Retail Release 01:11:25 - Listener Question - What’s It Like Being Named Nick? 01:41:13 - Outro!