The Cardboard Herald

Following up with a bit more solo talk for your brain.

01:09 - What makes a good solo game?

01:27 - Type 1 - Multiplayer Solitaire

03:02 - Type 2 - Automated Opponents

04:53 - Type 3 - Cooperative Games

Games I've been playing:

06:38 - Gloomhaven

08:18 - Viticulture

09:58 - Animal Kingdoms

HOT LINKS: Our Site - https://www.cardboardherald.com

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*Note, you get images of many spirit boards in the video version on youtube right here - https://youtu.be/AFzxRMMVd-E * We get some nitty gritty on the design and development of the upcoming Spirit Island expansion, and to know how Eric made such a bold leap from that to the 15 minute realtime spacial dexterity puzzle "For Science".

01:00 - What's been going on since the Jagged Earth Kickstarter?

04:07 - Spirits left on the cutting room floor?

07:44 - Iterating spirits during development

16:30 - Are you "spirit cursed"?

18:32 - Design, testing and balance changes

23:03 - Making major powers cinematic

31:00 - Involvement in the digital adaption

36:05 - What is For Science!

39:16 - What makes an "Eric Reuss" joint?

42:23 - Still designing & pitching games?

45:11 - Expectations of being the "Spirit Island" guy

48:44 - What genre of game would you most like to design next?

HOT LINKS:

Jagged Earth KS - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gtgames/spirit-island-jagged-earth

For Science! KS - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zonedout/for-science

Spirit Island Digital - https://www.handelabra.com/spiritisland

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

Rita’s next project The Emerald Flame will be hitting kickstarter May 27th, so we thought it was a good opportunity to get down and deep into her prior box of madness, The Tale of Ord. There are spoilers abound, so you are warned, but if you haven’t had a chance to play, don’t worry too much as TTOO is likely to never be produced again. Follow the kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/postcurious/the-emerald-flame

HOT 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

As promised, here's our casual stream of consciousness on solo games # 1 except now in audio form so you can mow your lawn or whatever.

01:20 - Why should you play solo games?

09:17 - Why I'm playing more solo games

10:28 - Wingspan

11:27 - Root

12:43 - Shadows of Kilforth

13:49 - Everdell Bellfaire & Spirecrest

14:59 - Clans of Caledonia

16:55 - Tiny Towns

17:42 - Spirit Island

20:10 - Solo plans for the future

HOT LINKS: Our Site - https://www.cardboardherald.com

Our Video Channel - https://www.youtube.com/TheCardboardHerald

Our Twitter - https://twitter.com/CardboardHerald

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Tuomas and I talk epics, Tolkien, and Kalewala: Tale of Sampo, launching April 13 on Kickstarter.

01:16 - What is the Kalevala?

04:01 - How pervasive is the Kalevala in Finland?

06:16 - What makes this an ideal setting for a game?

08:40 - What is the overall flow of the game?

12:06 - What stage of completion is the game?

13:44 - Experience as a game designer

15:33 - Kalewala vs. Kalevala

17:31 - Unique challenges publishing from Finland?

19:30 - Action items moving forward?

23:05 - Hidden movement and approachability

28:37 - What is the killer moment in this game?

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

Walking through 13 years in 13 minutes. Lots to unpack here, would love to hear your thoughts.

Link to vid for visual companion: https://youtu.be/86-CyHYv5Sg

00:42 - Foundation of Asmodee

02:32 - The Age of Acquisition

04:56 - Worldwide Distribution & PAI

05:38 - Recent Layoffs

06:34 - Component Replacement

09:25 - Plaid Hat Goes Indie (Again)

10:19 - Price Hike

10:52 - Where Does That Leave Us?

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

Talking about the hot new entries in the Gloomhaven series, and about the changes from then to now with the founder himself, Isaac Childres.

01:02 - COVID Impacts on Frosthaven

04:21 - The Gloomhaven phenomenon and managing expectations

09:31 - Prepping for Jaws of The Lion Retail Release

12:31 - Unique challenges in JoTL Design & Development

17:20 - Design approach to Frosthaven

24:11 - Could Frosthaven become the new, definitive edition?

29:05 - Unique approaches to characters

31:46 - Legacy elements

35:14 - Changes to campaign structure?

37:48 - Adjusting to “boardgame celebrity” status

41:57 - Open ended city building in Frosthaven

46:24 - How do the seasons & weather affect the game?

48:14 - Fail forward games?

50:20 - Most challenging aspect in designing Frosthaven

53:17 - If you weren’t the “Gloomhaven guy”

56:28 - Expanding the 3 pillars of Gloomhaven

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

A bonus episode to keep you company during your social distancing. Thank you to Platypus Con for bringing up Mike Selinker. We’ll have a regularly scheduled interview next week.

03:30 Introduction

08:20 - Finding the fun in your games

10:20 - What is elegance?

12:40 - The long process of designing Apocrypha

15:00 - What are my game’s 3 things?

16:40 - Vetting your games

21:30 - What I look for in a designer

22:50 - Q: Once you have an idea, where do you go from there?

34:00 - Q: What about when a game design is cost prohibitive?

38:40 - Q: Do you ever work on video games?

41:15 - Q: How do you reduce setup time on games?

46:45 - Q: Can you tutorialize a board game?

50:10 - Q: Advice for breaking into the industry?

53:40 - Q: How protective are you as a game designer?

To watch us have this chat with supporting imagery, check out the vid here: https://youtu.be/Ntv_TCtH4Fs

I spend some time talking about Plaid Hat's shocking separation from Asmodee and their plans for the future.

00:45 - How long has splitting from Asmodee been in the cards?
04:50 - Saying goodbye to friends and IPs
06:48 - The early spirit of Plaid Hat Games
12:28 - Colby & Isaac
17:40 - Plaid Hat Ideals
24:57 - Jerry Hawthorne's next project
30:07 - Did staff know about the separation?
31:52 - What does "a crossroads game" mean now as opposed to 2012?
33:18 - Forgotten Waters Overview
38:12 - App integration in Forgotten Waters
43:23 - Summoner Wars 2nd Edition Development
49:39 - New Summoner Wars factions

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