Two Latvian guys, one YouTube channel, zero plans to stop — I sat down with Jānis G and Jānis T from Board Game Hangover to talk about building one of the most creatively ambitious channels in the hobby from Riga, Latvia, going viral with Eternals, refusing publisher money on principle, and what it actually costs to do this full time.

We get into the messy reality of running a board game channel you love — failed outdoor videos, box-sliding rituals, child labor allegations, two years without a paycheck, and why they're "cowards" who won't launch a Kickstarter. Plus a lightning trivia round featuring a truly catastrophic guess at the Monopoly man's name.

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— CHAPTERS —

0:00 Intro

0:32 Meatball & Worker Placement Dad Joke

1:18 Their First Board Game Obsessions

7:26 How the Two Giannises Met

9:16 Latvia's Board Game Scene

14:27 Starting the Channel in 2020

15:44 Evolving Away From Top Ten Lists

20:18 Going Full Time

22:15 Their Biggest Failures (The Outdoor Video)

23:03 David's Camping Disaster ("Nobody at All")

27:35 Growth Story & Getting Recognized at Essen

32:35 Production Value & The Box Slide → Box Throw

39:15 The Team ("Child Labor on Our Channel")

40:12 Favorite Series to Make

47:33 The Eternals Video Nobody Expected

51:09 Covering Older Games vs. Chasing the Hotness

55:27 "We Don't Take Publisher Money"

1:01:35 Living Off Savings & Finally Getting Paid

1:06:13 "We're Cowards" — Why No Kickstarter

1:07:05 Review Copies: "Not Really Free"

1:13:03 Do You Still Love It? (Follow-Up Reviews)

1:18:19 Sons of Anarchy & Never Going Back

1:22:13 How Many Plays Before You Review?

1:29:49 Responsibility to Publishers

1:37:23 TRIVIA ROUND

1:48:54 Top Three Channels — "We're Not Leaving Until You Tell Us"

1:50:44 Outro