Welcome to episode 25 of the Finding Games podcast, where we talk to people who work in and around the tabletop games industry and find out how they got there.

In this episode, we talk with Juliana, a tabletop game designer and founding member of the Wild Optimists who specialises in puzzle games. We talk about her experiences self publishing and her insights into the tabletop games industry plus she provides some amazing advice for people wanting to follow in her footsteps.

Here's some more information about the Wild Optimists in their own words:

The Wild Optimists began when Juliana Moreno Patel & Ariel Rubin, combined their theatre degrees and writing backgrounds with their lifelong love of gaming to create the Kickstarter sensation Escape Room In A Box: The Werewolf Experiment, the first game in the tabletop Escape Room genre and winner of Game of the Year at the Mattel Inventor Awards.

Since then The Wild Optimists have created immersive gaming experiences for a wide variety of clients including Sony, Fox, Universal, the CW, AEG, and http://vampire.pizza. Their goal is to design new ways to play, creating memorable interactive experiences for tabletop games, virtual games, family entertainment centres, theme parks, music festivals, historical sites, marketing activations, and more.

You can follow the links below to see more from The Wild Optimists:

Twitter: @EscapeRoomInBox

Website: https://www.wildoptimists.com

It's Episode 24 of the Finding Games podcast, where we talk to people who work in and around the tabletop games industry and find out how they got there.

In this episode, Sophie talks with Bez, who is a tabletop game designer, developer, consultant, artist, self-publisher, streamer, and reviewer.

Bez currently streams daily at 10am UK-time covering everything from interviews to discussions, chats, and play-alongs.

If you're interested in finding out more about Bez and her work, check out these links!

https://twitter.com/stuffByBez

https://twitter.com/ell_deck

http://www.stuffbybez.com/

https://www.twitch.tv/stuffbybez/

https://www.youtube.com/stuffbybez

https://www.instagram.com/stuffbybez/

https://www.instagram.com/categorick.ell/

https://www.facebook.com/thingsbybez/

www.stuffbybez.bigcartel.com/

http://stuffbybez.com/streams

Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com):

"The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod

“Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod

Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

In this episode, Sophie is catching up with James Naylor. James is a London based board game designer and publisher who is passionate about product design and its role in creating game experience. His first game is Magnate: The First City, a midweight city building/property game. After a successful Kickstarter and a very positive critical reception, it will be coming to game retailers in the middle of 2021.

James' Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/naylorjames

Naylor Games website: https://naylorgames.com/

Magnate Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Magnateboardgame

Magnate website: https://magnategame.com/"

Producing Fun Podcast: https://anchor.fm/naylorgames

Sophie's Links:

Terrain making on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sophiemakesterrain

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/sophiemakesterrain

Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com):

"The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod

“Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod

Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Stephen had a long career before decided to work in Tabletop Games and gives a great insight into his process and approach to breaking into the industry. A lovely chat which I hope you enjoy!

Stephen Hart is a freelance RPG writer and producer. Publishes The Oracle, a monthly RPG magazine and run frequent crowdsourcing campaigns for creative RPG content - both 5e compatible and system-neutral.

http://thegrinningfrog.com

http://patreon.com/the_oracle

Stephen also has one Kickstarter currently running and another coming up. You can check them out here!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tks/zinequest3-docks-of-caswarren-a-legacy-rpg-city-guide

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/undiscoveredgems/contemplation

As ever, if you'd like to hear episodes early, go to www.patreon.com/needycatgames, where we tear up the schedule and just release them as soon as they're edited.

Thanks for listening!

Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com):

"The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod

“Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod

Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Despite the ongoing lockdown and the challenges of homeschooling a 5 year old, we're managing to claw our way back to some kind of schedule. Here's a new episode for you! This one is a real treat with Amudha and Kara who both work at Fantasy Flight Games. They have some great approaches to game design and the tips at the end for anyone looking to work in the industry are excellent.

You can follow Aumdha on Twitter @mightymudha

and you can follow Kara on Twitter @CHyphenD

As ever, if you'd like to hear episodes early, go to www.patreon.com/needycatgames, where we tear up the schedule and just release them as soon as they're edited.

Thanks for listening!

Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com):

"The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod

“Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod

Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

This time we talk to Tom Mecredy, a freelance writer, editor and game designer. He's helped out on games like Blood Red Skies and Black Seas, and written articles for Wargames, Soldiers, and Strategy. Tom lives on top of a hill in Sheffield with his wife and cat Spaghetti. He loves medieval history and playing with toy soldiers.

You can follow Tom on Twitter @TomMecredy

Thanks for listening!

Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com):

"The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod

“Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod

Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

We're nearly at the end of 2020 (finally) and here's another early access episode of Finding Games for you! This is Nathan Blades, who is a podcaster, streamer and occasional game designer. This is seriously one of the most enjoyable and interesting podcasts I have ever recorded and I had such a blast talking to Nathan. You really must check this one out. We cover all the topics we normally do in the podcast, Nathan's journey into where they are now and their tips for someone wanting to follow in their footsteps. But there's also some amazing discussion on roleplay games as a performing art and a lot of chat about RPGs in general. A little Christmas treat for you!

You can follow Nathan Blades on Twitter: @WriterBlades and @PhantomArtsEnt

You can also check out their work here: http://arslingua.co.uk/

We mention an RPG during the podcast which Nathan couldn't remember the name of. You can check that out here: https://possumcreekgames.itch.io/esoteric

Thanks for listening!

Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com):

"The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod

“Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod

Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Oh my, here's a blast from the past!

Originally released in May 2019, this is Episode Zero of the Finding Games podcast, which was originally released as an exclusive at www.patreon.com/needycatgames. To keep the stakes low, Sophie interviewed James (the other half of Needy Cat Games).

It's a pretty rambly chat, the audio quality's a bit poor, and Sophie's (undeservedly!) nervous about her interviewing skills. But it's still a fun chat, and it's a great chance to see how far we've come!

We hope you enjoy it - and Merry Christmas :)

Sophie and James

Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com):

"The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod

“Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod

Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

In Episode 18, I talk to Phoebe about her geek chic fashion boutique, Ludo Cherry and discuss her motivations for creating such an iconic brand.

In her own words:

Phoebe is the founder of LudoCherry, a company specialising in "geek chic" fashion. Their first series of designs were successfully funded on Kickstarter in April this year, and will be delivered to backers in October! Phoebe also previously worked for Bézier Games for three years as their social media manager and ran her own board game review website Cardboard Vault. When not pushing wooden cubes around, Phoebe can be found decorating her island in Animal Crossing.

You can follow Phoebe on Twitter @LudoPhoebe

Check out Ludo Cherry here: https://www.ludocherry.com/

Thanks for listening!

Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com):

"The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod

“Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod

Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

In Episode 17, I'm talking with Bryan. Bryan is a writer and he is frankly overflowing with advice for those wanting to follow in his footsteps and it's great to hear his take on how to get noticed.

In his own words:

Born in northern Indiana in the wake of the original Star Wars, Bryan grew up with a powerful imagination – something that has since fueled more than a million published words, countless plotlines, game designs and more. He grew up with his nose in comic books and roleplaying tomes, often turning the pages with the feet of an action figure or a sword on a little lead (yes, they were once actually lead) D&D miniature. Never stymied by the banality of the world around us, Bryan defined himself through creativity.

From the early age of seven, Bryan can remember always keeping gaming as a big part of his life, and now it is just that. Moving from playtesting and demo-staffing to his first paper publication with Warmachine: Prime in 2003, he has leapt into the gaming industry with both feet. Working on award-winning projects with a number of different companies over the years, he has had input on several fan favorite games such as Iron Kingdoms, Traveller, Shadowrun and RuneQuest. Bryan has also been fortunate enough to work with such fantastic settings as Conan, Babylon 5, Starship Troopers and Judge Dredd over the years.

Branching out into professional miniature painting and sculpting, Bryan has done his best to try his hand at every aspect of the industry. Writing, designing, collaborating, marketing and managing; if it has something to do with the enjoyment of gamers, Bryan has shown that he happily will be a part of it!

Currently a freelancer with retaining gigs all over the world in RPGs, miniature games, novelizations, and multimedia voice actor work, Bryan is always looking to put smiles on gamer faces. He wants to make the world a more enjoyable place for his kids and their generation – one die rolled, miniature moved or page turned at a time.

You can follow Bryan on Twitter @BryanCPSteele

Thanks for listening!

Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com):

"The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod

“Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod

Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)