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Another expansion pack is upon us and this time JP & Davey grab their cups of tea and sit down with Brendan McCaskell from Open Owl Studios (formally OOMM Games) to talk all about his entry into the industry, how he got started with game design and a chat about their upcoming crowdfund project Stonesaga, a stoneage survival, crafting & exploration in a persistent world.

GUEST PLAYER: Brendan McCaskell from Open Owl Studios
THE PLAYERS: JP & Davey
 
OVERVIEW
In this Expansion Pack episode JP & Davey sit down with board game designer Brendan McCaskell who has previously designed Stars of Akarios & Mythwind with Open Owl Studios.
  In this episode you'll learn:
- How Brendan got into the industry through the rise in popularity with battle royale games (PUBG / Fortnite)
- the important process in game design about capturing that feeling you want out of a play experience
- about the growing trend of becoming less tutorial dependant in gaming
- more about Open Owl Studios latest project "Stonesaga" which is live on Kickstarter right now!!!
- more about Brendan's niche number 1 answers (Hint: be careful if you play Game of Thrones with Brendan)

LINKS REFERENCED IN THE SHOW
Check out more on Brendan & Open Owl Studios below
- Website - https://oommgames.com/
- Stonesaga Kickstarter Page - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mccaskellgames/stonesaga

You can learn more about Brendan on his socials:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brendanmccaskell/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BrendanMcCask

EPISODE CHAPTERS
0:00 - TURN 1 - Player Count
0:51 - TURN 2 - Introducing Brendan McCaskell
2:34 - How did you get into the hobby?
7:14 - What games is Brendan enjoying right now?
9:03 - What's Brendan's favourite games?
16:33 - TURN 3 - Main Interview - How did you get into the hobby?
19:11 - The comparison with modern boardgames to couch video games
21:23 - The importance of capturing that "moment" in game design
22:38 - How did OOMM Games start and how did you get involved?
27:12 - Lessons learned on Stars of Akarios and applying them to Mythwind
31:52 - The growing trend where tutorials are becoming phased out
35:13 - How this trend applies to their new game Stonesaga
37:01 - Exploring the next level crafting system in Stonesaga
39:30 - The uniqueness of the games from OOMM Games
40:27 - Stonesaga actions feel intuitive & tactile
42:54 - The minimalist approach to help immersion
44:39 - Telling your story by leaving your mark
48:01 - How big is Stonesaga as a campaign?
50:02 - The tri-hex trays help the set-up and tear down
54:03 - The importance of communities when launching new games
56:42 - Brendan's Niche Number 1's
57:21 - Favourite game that never hits the table?
59:31 - Favourite game that you got rid off that you regretted the most
1:00:12 - Favourite game that puts you in the state of zen
1:01:19 - TURN 4 - Planning Your Turn - What's coming up for our guest
1:03:38 - Thanking Brendan
1:04:02 - TURN 5 - The Final Turn

You can check out JP's new podcast called Just Play right here https://www.justplaypod.co.uk we'd love to have you and also on the new YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@JustPlayPodcast

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