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Having caught up with the chaps from Paper Fort Games over the convention circuit we wanted to get some proper time to chat with James & Chris from the studio to talk all about their experiences, their lessons and ultimately their upcoming games Terraria & Cult of the Lamb.

GUEST PLAYERS: James Faulkner & Chris Kingsnorth
PLAYERS: JP & Davey

In this episode you'll learn:
- about how James & Chris got into the hobby and how Paper Fort Games started
- more about the world of Terraria and the challenges of making a true sandbox game as a board game
- more about the new and upcoming title Cult of the Lamb also based on the video game IP
- that James won't rest until he's converted all the core retro video games from our childhood.

LINKS REFERENCED IN THE SHOW
Website - https://paperfortgames.store/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/paperfortgames/
Cult of the Lamb Preview Page -https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paperfortgames/cult-of-the-lamb-the-board-game
Terraria Board Game - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paperfortgames/terraria-the-board-game

EPISODE CHAPTERS

0:00 - TURN 1 - Player Count

1:25 - TURN 2 - Paper Fort Games - Introducing James & Chris

2:31 - How did James get into the hobby & birth of Paper Fort Games

8:38 - How did Chris get into the hobby?

15:14 - What are your favourite games?

17:28 - TURN 3 - Terraria

24:27 - A fish tank sandbox experience

29:05 - How do you put an end to a sandbox game?

38:42 - TURN 4 - Cult of the Lamb

49:09 - A worker placement with teeth

51:27 - Turning retro games into board games

57:34 - TURN 5 - Keeping the community engaged & what's coming up?

1:06:39 - TURN 6 - The Final Turn

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Instead of board games Rob takes us to another part of his hobby space which is Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and invites his DM and friend of the podcast Stewart to join in on the conversation.  Lets hope he rolls a natural 20 people.

FIRST PLAYER: Rob
OTHER PLAYERS: Becky
GUEST PLAYERS: Stewart

In this episode you'll learn:
- about the new Ada's Dream by Alleycat Games from our guest player Stewart
- Rob is enjoying his solo adventures in Star Wars Outer Rim by Fantasy Flight Games
- that Tenby is not only a Welsh town in Pembrokeshire but also a pretty good card game
- all about why the gang play Dungeons and Dragons, from DM'ing, to playing and all elements around this side of the hobby.

LINKS REFERENCED IN THE SHOW
N/A

EPISODE CHAPTERS

0:00 - TURN 1 - Player Count

1:03 - TURN 2 - Let's Talk About Hex

1:17 - Stewart - Ada's Dream

7:28 - Becky - Tenby

11:20 - Rob - Star Wars Outer Rim

20:17 - TURN 3 - Main Event: Playing with your mind (Dungeons & Dragons)

29:49 - What led Stewart to becoming a DM & why?

32:57 - Beckys first proper D&D experience

35:55 - The reality of prep time for D&D sessions

41:06 - A lot of pitfalls for starting DMs

45:06 - Getting started in creating characters

51:15 - How does a relevative newbie feel going into D&D for the first time

58:04 - D&D can be whatever you want it to be

1:12:54 - What advice would you give a group to start their first sessions?

1:20:12 - TURN 4 - Konn4ct F4ur

1:23:49 - TURN 5 - The Penultimate Turn: What's Coming Next?

1:29:23 - TURN 6 - The Final Turn

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We've recently returned from our most local convention which is GridCon 6 ran by Paul Grogan and team from Gaming Rules!  Get a coffee, some snacks and strap yourself in as this is our biggest GridCon episode ever as we cover over 30 games & expansions between the players. 

OUR PLAYERS: Adrian, JP, Davey, Becky
 
OVERVIEW
In this episode you'll learn:
- about all of our experiences of GRIDCON 6 from Thursday to Sunday with 30+ games covered...wowzers
- who we met up with, designers & content creators and also shout outs to our listeners

LINKS REFERENCED IN THE SHOW
N/A

EPISODE CHAPTERS

0:00 - TURN 1 - Player Count

3:37 - TURN 2 - GRIDCON 6: THURSDAY

5:43 - Dutch Resistance: Orange Shall Overcome - Liberation Game Design

12:23 - Lord of the Rings - Fate of the Fellowship - ZMan Games

16:28 - TURN 3 - GRIDCON 6: FRIDAY

17:38 - Tenby - Mighty Boards

18:46 - Kutna Hora: The City of Silver - Czech Games Edition

22:11 - Chrysalis Prototype - Mike Dennis (Ready Steady Play)

28:01 - Clans of Caledonia - Karma Games

33:31 - Tianxia (Sponsored Demo) - Board&Dice

37:08 - Ice & Idols (Sponsored Demo) - Inside Up Games

42:47 - Obsession - Kayenta Games

49:13 - Star Trek Captains Chair with Dávid Turczi - Wizkids

53:25 - Covenant - Devir Games

1:06:30 - Viking Seesaw - itten

1:09:20 - Bomb Busters - Cocktail Games

1:17:20 - TURN 4 - GRIDCON 6: SATURDAY

1:17:27 - The Defence of Procyon III - PSC Games

1:33:48 - Verdant - Flatout Games & Mycelia - Split Stone Games

1:36:42 - Planet - Blue Orange

1:40:25 - Let's Make a Bus Route - Saashi & Saashi

1:43:45 - Railway Boom - Cranio Creations

1:54:50 - Voidfall Resurgence Expansion (Sponsored Demo) - Mindclash Games

2:02:30 -  Boss Fighters QR - Pegasus Spiele

2:08:08 - Bean to Bar - analog lunchbox

2:19:11 - Thunder Road Vendetta - Restoration Games

2:25:29 - Ada's Dream - Alley Cat Games

2:35:18 - Emberheart - Mindclash Games

2:44:50 - ***Redacted*** - Eerie Idol Games & On Mars - Eagle-Gryphon Games

2:47:59 - Orloj: The Prague Astronomical Clock - Perro Loko Games

2:56:26 - TURN 5 - GRIDCON 6: SUNDAY

2:56:34 - Nemesis: Retaliation - Awaken Realms

3:01:46 - EVE: War for New Eden - Titan Forge Games

3:10:18 - Not Once, Not Twice, But Thrice...GridCon Raffle

3:19:00 - Adrian's Light Games Round-Up

3:24:09 - Tag Team - Scorpion Masqué

3:28:05 - TURN 6 - GRIDCON Debrief & Final Turn

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Your ears don't deceive you...three years has passed since Rob has secured the first player and he's back to talk all about solo gaming, why we do it, why some of us don't and everything in between.

FIRST PLAYER: Rob
OTHER PLAYERS: JP & Kerley

In this episode you'll learn:
- JP likes to go "off road" in Restoration Games' version of Thunder Road Vendetta
- Kerley's latest adventures into Dungeons and Dragons having been away for a long long time
- Rob is collecting all the Hall or Nothing Games with the latest purchase of Kreel Manor
- about our experiences with solo gaming, whether we enjoy it, why we don't do it and a chin wag about the subject

LINKS REFERENCED IN THE SHOW
N/A

EPISODE CHAPTERS

0:00 - TURN 1 - Player Count

2:37 - TURN 2 - Let's Talk About Hex

3:00 - Kerley - Dungeons & Dragons

12:08 - JP - Thunder Road Vendetta

19:05 - Rob - Kreel Manor

23:16 - TURN 3 - Main Event: Playing with yourself

25:38 - Kerley's flirtation with solo gaming

33:59 - JP's deep delve into solo gaming

41:54 - Using solo modes to help learn games for multiplayer sessions

50:54 - How solo play aligns nicely to campaign style games

1:04:37 - The fulfilment factor has to be worth the payoff

1:11:29 - TURN 4 - Konn4ct F4ur

1:19:08 - TURN 5 - The Penultimate Turn: What's Coming Next?

1:29:06 - TURN 6 - The Final Turn

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In Becky's last episode of her run she and the gang do a deeper dive on games and mechanisms which have changed the hobby forever. 

FIRST PLAYER: Becky
OTHER PLAYERS: Adrian & Tambo

In this episode you'll learn:
- all about the latest T game Tianxia from Board & Dice from Adrian with his recent experiences
- whether Nemesis: Retaliation is the best version of the game after Tambo has been un-aliving aliens whilst staying frosty in Awaken Realms latest iteration of the game
- that Becky has finally got her copy of Power Vacuum to the table by Keen Bean Studio
- about an exploration of games and mechanisms which have fundamentally changed the hobby space

LINKS REFERENCED IN THE SHOW
N/A

EPISODE CHAPTERS
0:00 - TURN 1 - Player Count

2:09 - TURN 2 - Let's Talk About Hex

2:20 - Adrian - Tianxia

11:36 - Tambo - Nemesis: Retaliation

22:46 - Becky - Power Vacuum

29:49 - TURN 3 - Main Event: Games that Changed the Hobby

39:31 - Games that brought in mechanics which were never seen

46:52 - The importance of engine & tableau building in games

49:58 - The surge of worker placement games

52:54 - How have story driven & narrative games evolved?

1:00:20 - The impact of Zombicide on the industry within crowdfunding

1:04:56 - Stepping into the modern age with accessibility and asthetics

1:16:45 - Raising the bar in party games to influence wider games

1:22:31 - TURN 4 - Konn4ct F4ur

1:25:08 - TURN 5 - Penultimate Turn: What's Coming Up?

1:28:42 - TURN 6 - The Final Turn

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One episode isn't enough to cover the biggest board game show in the world so JP, Davey and our special guest Mark from NinjaGeekGames returns to cover Friday, Saturday and Sunday's highlights.  So get ready to jump back in, there's a LOT of games covered.

OUR PLAYERS - JP & Davey
SPECIAL GUEST - Mark Monk (NinjaGeekGames)

LINKS REFERENCED IN THE SHOW
Gaming Rules Pre-Essen Stream featuring JP - https://www.youtube.com/live/xYcKA9NcANI?si=NgUK6VQfiHViP3Kc

Essen Diaries - Missed our vlogs during the event, you can catch them on our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJMkOlbitmc&list=PLKzfzaHJK9iEgvZ1MGW1-d2Lhuu6ZqpHi

EPISODE CHAPTERS

0:00 - TURN 1 - Player Count

0:35 - DAY 2: FRIDAY

46:03 - DAY 3: SATURDAY

1:18:02 - DAY 4: SUNDAY

2:03:08 - TURN 2 - The Final Turn

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The delicious schnitzel's are calling us over to Germany again for another round of Essen Spiel 2025 and as always we've got you covered with games, experiences and bringing to life the convention.  In this first part we cover the journey over including an encounter with "Double Bake Brenda" on Tuesday, Wednesday including the press event and Thursday.  Stay tuned for the next part which includes Friday - Sundays shenanigans.

OUR PLAYERS - JP & Davey
SPECIAL GUEST - Mark Monk (NinjaGeekGames)

LINKS REFERENCED IN THE SHOW
Gaming Rules Pre-Essen Stream featuring JP - https://www.youtube.com/live/xYcKA9NcANI?si=NgUK6VQfiHViP3Kc

Essen Diaries - Missed our vlogs during the event, you can catch them on our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJMkOlbitmc&list=PLKzfzaHJK9iEgvZ1MGW1-d2Lhuu6ZqpHi

EPISODE CHAPTERS

0:00 - TURN 1 - Player Count

3:08 - TURN 2 - Welcome to Essen SPIEL 2025

16:27 - DAY 0: WEDNESDAY

49:18 - DAY 1: THURSDAY

1:31:58 - TURN 3 - The Final Turn

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Becky takes us back in time when we had our first experiences of tabletop gaming and what our "gateway games" were that brought us in.  Has those games defined our tastes, how did we step stone through to games we play today and do we still go back to them.

FIRST PLAYER: Becky
OTHER PLAYERS: JP, Rob & Dan

In this episode you'll learn:
- more about a Scout like card game called Odin by Helvetiq as Becky explains all
- how JP has been trying to stop children from freezing in Frostpunk by Glass Cannon Unplugged and failing miserably
- Rob has ventured deeper into the Lacerdaverse with his first impressions of The Weather Machine by Eagle-Gryphon Games
- Dan has busted out Nucleum: Australia for the first time and his thoughts
- about our gateway games and how they have influenced our journey through the hobby

LINKS REFERENCED IN THE SHOW
UpgradeMyGame Etsy Store as mentioned by Rob -  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/UpgradeMyGame

EPISODE CHAPTERS

0:00 - TURN 1 - Player Count

3:58 - TURN 2 - Let's Talk About Hex

4:10 - Rob - The Weather Machine

11:31 - Dan - Nucleum Australia

15:07 - JP - Frostpunk

24:01 - Becky - Odin

28:04 - TURN 3 - Main Event: The red carpet roll-out

35:15 - Did our gateway games shape our gaming tastes for today?

44:08 - Have we ever gone back to gateway games after delving into the heavy stuff

48:04 - Can playing gateway games still be rewarding?

1:01:40 - Do we still play our first gateway games?

1:12:13 - TURN 4 - Konn4ct F4ur

1:16:56 - TURN 5 - Penultimate Turn: What's Coming Up?

1:24:35 - TURN 6 - The Final Turn

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Light up the fire, throw a blanket over yourself as it's time to get cozy with non other the queen of cozy, Rozie Pocket from Cozyboardgames.  

GUEST PLAYER: Rozie Pocket
PLAYERS: JP & Becky

In this episode you'll learn:
- how Rozie started her Cozyboardgames channels on TikTok and Instagram
- what are Rozie's favourite cozy games of all time
- more about "Murder She Wrote" style D&D sessions...yes this is a thing people
- that Rozie really loves frogs, yep frogs
- how Rozie's content promotes inclusivity in the hobby and how her journey has led her to working for Cardboard Alchemy.

LINKS REFERENCED IN THE SHOW
TikTok Channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@cozyboardgames
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cozyboardgames/

EPISODE CHAPTERS
0:00 - TURN 1 - Player Count

1:01 - TURN 2 - Introducing Rozie

1:46 - How did Rozie get into the hobby?

5:35 - What has been the biggest changes to UKGE over the years?

11:10 - What is Rozie's favourite board game?

15:32 - What games have hit Rozie's table?

21:54 - TURN 3 - Cozyboardgames - How did you get started?

32:55 - What is Rozie's definition of cozy?

39:35 - Discussion around bad teaches impacting likeability

47:03 - If you could give your cozy treatment to any intense games, which ones would they be?

54:07 - If Rozie was a board game character what would her special ability be?

57:24 - TURN 4 - What's coming up for Rozie

1:05:28 - TURN 5 - The Final Turn

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Becky's back with a bang as an age old topic rears it's head after her turmoil of will we, won't we on the latest Ark Nova 3Dition crowdfunding campaign.

FIRST PLAYER: Becky
OTHER PLAYERS: JP, Kerley & Adrian

In this episode you'll learn:
- that JP finally managed to preview Terraria thanks to Paperfort Games and gives his first impressions
- that Kerley likes it oldschool in Chinatown by ZMan Games
- Adrian finally managed to get his first of the City Collection series of Hamburg by Queen Games
- that Becky has found a dudes on a map game she enjoys in Wroth by Chip Theory Games
- about the positives and negatives of expansion / upgrade content for board games and our thoughts on this.

LINKS REFERENCED IN THE SHOW
N/A

EPISODE CHAPTERS

0:00 - TURN 1 - Player Count

2:08 - TURN 2 - Let's Talk About Hex

2:26 - JP - Terraria

11:53 - Kerley - Chinatown

17:10 - Adrian - Hamburg

27:37 - Becky - Wroth

33:32 - TURN 3 - Main Event: Add-Ons and Let-Downs

35:42 - Is it morally right for games to be released knowing expansions are already planned?

40:56 - What games have been ruined by expansions?

52:25  - Expansion that make the base game better

57:08 - Which games do we think would be incomplete without it's expansion?

1:01:43 - What's the most extravagant blinging we've done for our games?

1:07:02 - If you had to ban expansions for content or upgrades which would it be?

1:11:35 - TURN 4 - Konn4ct F4ur

1:15:27 - TURN 5 - Penultimate Turn: What's Coming Up?

1:20:08 - TURN 6 - The Final Turn

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