Brainwaves - Board Game and Tabletop News Show

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https://news.artnet.com/art-world/medieval-game-pieces-emerge-from-the-ruins-of-a-mysterious-german-castle-2497815

Outro

Medieval game pieces

Our Links

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UK Tabletop Industry Network

Monday Jun 17, 2024

Brainwaves Special Edition - UK Games Expo 2024

Monday Jun 17, 2024

Hello everyone,

In a break from our usual cast, this is a set of interviews I carried out at UK Games Expo 2024. I’ve provided links to all the folk mentioned and more besides in the show notes. Hope you enjoy!

Folks we mention on the cast

Soul Muppet Publishing

Slightly Reckless Games

Wanderer’s Tome

Burn After Running

Boardgamewire

Arcs

Darington Press - Candela Obscura

UK Indie RPG collective

Undaunted Calisto

Roland MacDonald

Crossed Paths

Tabletop Games Blog - Oliver

Tabletop Scotland

Sunday Jun 09, 2024

Brainwaves Episode 144 - Merger Palooza

Sunday Jun 09, 2024

The whole team are back together covering a bumper crop of news. Mergers everywhere, UK Games Expo expands (and we were there), awards, controversies, and of course we tell you if Ryan Dancey is accountable. The answer will not surprise you.

Headlines

Steamforged bought Privateer Press rights

https://steamforged.com/en-gb/blogs/brands/sfg-acquires-iron-kingdoms

https://home.privateerpress.com/2024/06/03/privateer-press-the-next-phase/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2PzhzcDq_j5L7gg_0Esd1OvoKskXDomYpeb4rZYiQ4EY2MLBiJ3K-ns5c_aem_ARXNYQHsZBzeuEloediavrCp-Otisvcr6wr9GP2XlHPjjhzD0SqbIcDlZOftHMmNO8TPyvLxqPTWbRWjktKcix9g

Update 1

https://steamforged.com/en-gb/blogs/brands/iron-kingdoms-manifesto-part1?_kx=-sFq1XbQgQy7s_Rxhtdsx3d0aCtUpZBpQpd6_AghaTE.Xq6fgY&utm_campaign=WM%2C+IKRPG%2C+P3+-+Manifesto+P1%3A+Vision+%26+Mission&utm_medium=campaign&utm_source=Klaviyo

UK Games Expo figures

https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2024/06/06/record-breaking-uk-games-expo-preps-for-even-bigger-future-after-being-outbid-for-its-main-hall-next-year/

Diana Jones finalists

https://www.dianajonesaward.org/the-2024-award/

Updates

Ryan Dancey update

https://x.com/rsdancey/status/1795600725034283418

Spiel Essen drops AI art

https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2024/06/06/worlds-biggest-board-game-fair-scraps-using-ai-art-to-promote-event-after-backlash-last-year-ongoing-legal-uncertainty/

News

Roll20 acquires Demiplane

https://blog.roll20.net/posts/roll20-has-acquired-demiplane/

Mantic acquires River Horse assets

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/57016/mantic-acquires-river-horses-brand-assets

Gamefound becomes a store

https://gamefound.com/en/blog/post/our-next-big-release-introducing-creator-stores-to-gamefound

https://help.gamefound.com/article/381-project-settings-for-store

Quantum teach board game with Uwe Rosenburg

https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2024/06/04/uwe-rosenberg-is-developing-a-quantum-tech-themed-board-game-thanks-to-e820000-of-government-funding/

First Wonders CCG

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3307388/a-little-light-doxxing-from-jeff

Jobs, Opportunities, and Events

https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2024/06/05/board-game-industry-professionals-band-together-for-palestinian-children-focused-fundraiser/

Palestinian children-focused fundraiser

https://www.pcrf.net/

Patreon Shoutouts

Kevin Bertram

James Naylor

Shaun Newman

Our Patreon

Support Us

Fanroll

Sir Meeple

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/345582/clue-liars-edition

Outro

Cluedo Liars edition

Our Links

Thanks very much for listening. If you like what you’ve listened to then the best way to help us out is to share the podcast and drop us a review and rating on itunes. You can also follow us on

https://cardboardedison.com/

Tuesday May 28, 2024

Brainwaves Episode 143 - Awards Accountability

Tuesday May 28, 2024

Oliver and Iain are back in the studio as Jamie continues to travel Scotland. This episode they bring you up to date news on the winners of the Cardboard Edison Award, look at the finances of our overlords, and ask “Is Ryan Dancey accountable?”. Tune in to find out the answer.

Headlines

Cardboard Edison Awards

https://cardboardedison.com/award

Asmodee financials and Embracer Write Down

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/56967/embracer-writes-down-asmodee-dark-horse

https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2024/05/23/asmodee-writes-down-more-than-620m-of-asset-value-despite-posting-strong-annual-sales/

Is Ryan Dancey Accountable?

Original tweet

https://x.com/PonchoRebound/status/1661308221326229504/photo/3

Apology Tweet

https://twitter.com/rsdancey/status/1661409374735327235

Updates

Mythic doubles down

https://gamefound.com/en/projects/mythic-games/rise-of-the-necromancers#/section/rewards/reward-product-20652

Iain’s “Review”

https://giantbrain.co.uk/2024/05/19/6-siege-first-thoughts/

News

Dicebreaker acquired by IGN

https://bsky.app/profile/soulmuppet.bsky.social/post/3kt3qiftbh32l

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ign-entertainment-acquires-eurogamer-gi-vg247-rock-paper-shotgun-and-more

18th Annual Golden Geek Winners for 2023 Announced

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3300892/18th-annual-golden-geek-winners-for-2023

Diana Jones emerging designer

https://www.dianajonesaward.org/

Dice Tower AI

https://bsky.app/profile/boardgamefeast.bsky.social/post/3ksp5kgndn22u

Funko Gets a Wizard

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/56880/wotc-prez-funko

Japan’s Game Market Website Hacked

https://gamemarket-jp.translate.goog/information/177383?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2024/05/16/hackers-attack-website-of-japans-biggest-board-game-fair-years-of-irreplacable-information-lost/

Jobs, Opportunities, and Events

Patreon Shoutouts

Kevin Bertram

James Naylor

Shaun Newman

Our Patreon

Support Us

Fanroll

Sir Meeple

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/391824/clue-conspiracy

Outro

Cluedo Conspiracy

Our Links

Thanks very much for listening. If you like what you’ve listened to then the best way to help us out is to share the podcast and drop us a review and rating on itunes. You can also follow us on

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/56802/cmon-sales-flat-2023

Monday May 13, 2024

Brainwaves Episode 142 - Unions Unite

Monday May 13, 2024

Jamie is on tour around the islands of Scotland so it falls to Oliver and Iain to bring you the latest episode of Brainwaves. They look at the finances of CMON, support for designers in the US and UK, and cover some interesting programmes from the folk behind the Spiel des Jahres.

Headlines

CMON sales

Tabletop Games Designers Association

https://www.ttgda.org/

IWBG Union welcomes tabletop members

https://iwgb.org.uk/en/post/iwgb-tabletop-workers/

Updates

Mythic review email

News

Spiel des Jahres Support Programme

https://www.spiel-des-jahres.de/foerderprogramm-2024-73-000-euro-fuer-spielerische-projekte/

Deutsche Spiele Preis

https://spiel-essen.de/de/programm/dsp#abstimmen

Black Lotus beats the One Ring

https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/magic-the-gathering-game/news/magic-the-gathering-pristine-black-lotus-sold-at-3-million-dollar-auction

Biggest card tournament

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/56813/largest-tcg-tournament-ever

Jobs, Opportunities, and Events

https://fallcon.com/CGDA/Rules

Fallcon game award

Patreon Shoutouts

Kevin Bertram

James Naylor

Shaun Newman

Our Patreon

Support Us

Fanroll

Sir Meeple

Our Links

Thanks very much for listening. If you like what you’ve listened to then the best way to help us out is to share the podcast and drop us a review and rating on itunes. You can also follow us on

https://embracer.com/releases/embracer-group-announces-its-intention-to-transform-into-three-standalone-publicly-listed-entities-at-nasdaq-stockholm/

Monday Apr 29, 2024

Brainwaves Episode 141 - Triple Threat

Monday Apr 29, 2024

It’s been a busy couple of weeks in the tabletop industry, but never fear. The Brainwaves team are here to bring you all the latest news both big and small from across the globe.

Headlines

Embracer splits up

https://embracer.com/releases/asmodee-secures-financing-agreement-of-eur-900-million-as-part-of-separation-deleveraging-the-remaining-embracer-group/

https://embracer.com/releases/open-letter-by-embracer-group-ceo-about-the-transformation-into-three-standalone-publicly-listed-entities/

WOTC ceo steps down

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/56723/wizards-coast-president-resigns

Goliath buys Lucky Duck

https://toyworldmag.co.uk/goliath-acquires-lucky-duck-games/

News

Japon Brand joins CMON

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/56786/japon-brand-love-letter-machi-koro-to-join-cmon-limited

Kickstarter implements late pledges

https://updates.kickstarter.com/first-look-late-pledges-on-kickstarter/

D&D is good for you?

https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/81119/1/JCU_Merrick%20et%20al%202023%20AAM.pdf

Steve Jackson Game Sales down

https://www.sjgames.com/general/stakeholders/

Jobs, Opportunities, and Events

Patreon Shoutouts

Kevin Bertram

James Naylor

Shaun Newman

Our Patreon

Support Us

Fanroll

Sir Meeple

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/clue-film-tv-adaptations-hasbro-sony-1235979732/

Outro

Clue TV series

Our Links

Thanks very much for listening. If you like what you’ve listened to then the best way to help us out is to share the podcast and drop us a review and rating on itunes. You can also follow us on

https://www.swedenrolls.com/

Monday Apr 22, 2024

Gothcon - How do we review RPGs?

Monday Apr 22, 2024

Hi folks,

This is another special from my time at Gothcon in Sweden. This is a panel I lead where the panellists and I talk about the state of RPG criticism in 2024 and how we go about reviewing RPG products.

The Panellists

Thanks to the panellists for joining me and discussing this interesting topic!

Andreas Lundström - Sweden Rolls

Hjlmar Norden - Red Moon Roleplaying

https://www.redmoonroleplaying.com/

Michael Ericson - Äventyrarna Rollspelspodd

https://www.facebook.com/arpodd/

Ras

https://dragon-legion.com/

Monday Apr 15, 2024

Brainwaves Episode 140 - Copied Spells

Monday Apr 15, 2024

Brainwaves is a whole 6 years old! We would like to thank all our listeners for their support and encouragement over the time we have been running the show.

The whole team are back this episode to bring you the return of Golden Bell, the defence of Hasbro by Chris Cocks, more plagiarism in Magic: The Gathering and much more!

Headlines

Webcomic Name creator sued by Golden Bell

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/56568/oh-no-suit-sends-webcomic-name-creator-alex-norris-back-gofundme?fbclid=IwAR157V87k3IHCdMbXEX1IOCca6gkQw6J7myVSPZZP2FXFDxKVgrav7Ifo9I_aem_AbGJEwj7A1FunkxrgJRj7Z16rAdAxaq8Cq67f8Vv2K8gyG1kU8GE1CIOevLobqXVhpSt2yFSzm7tMi8UWYdiwwCU

Episode 110

https://giantbrain.co.uk/2022/11/14/brainwaves-episode-110-tolling-bells/

History of Golden Bell scandals

https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/259248/golden-bell-affiliated-projects-and-companies

Chris Cocks interview with NPR

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/04/03/dungeons-and-dragons-hasbro

MTG Plagiarism again

https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/magic-the-gathering-game/news/magic-the-gathering-trouble-in-pairs-plagiarism-allegations

Post from the artist

https://www.facebook.com/story.php/?id=100001083559756&story_fbid=7377140402332005&paipv=0&eav=AfZSnOVTwNPLL5S7U8xIMYnHQ14DVal1Iacs_KVUuBbPOfyXw_04en2Y3gt2C_dnSyg&_rdr

Updates

Embracer finishes restructuring at Asmodee

https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2024/03/28/embracer-group-commits-to-asmodees-future-as-restructuring-program-ends/

News

Ellie Dix works with Hasbro

https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2024/03/27/hasbro-invests-in-design-from-women-innovators-of-play-winner-ellie-dix/

https://www.dicebreaker.com/companies/hasbro/news/hasbro-second-annual-women-innovators-of-play-winning-card-game-publishing-deal

Capstone and Spielworx

https://www.spielworxx.de/news/

Jobs, Opportunities, and Events

Patreon Shoutouts

Kevin Bertram

James Naylor

Shaun Newman

Our Patreon

Support Us

https://metallicdicegames.com/

Metallic Dice Games

Promo Code: ROLLWITHBRAINS

Sir Meeple

https://shop.scouts.org.uk/outlet/scouts-cluedo#selection.color=34&selection.size=719

Outro

Scouts Cluedo

Monopoly film, Margot Robbie’s company now producing

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-68786095

Our Links

Thanks very much for listening. If you like what you’ve listened to then the best way to help us out is to share the podcast and drop us a review and rating on itunes. You can also follow us on

https://www.swedenrolls.com/

Monday Apr 08, 2024

Blades in the Dark at Gothcon

Monday Apr 08, 2024

Bit of a different cast to our usual today. This is an actual play I did at Gothcon, Sweden. If you aren't familiar Actual Play is a type of RPG that is recorded for people to listen to how a game plays out. I hope you enjoy it. This one is for Blades in the Dark, a game I love to bits.

Players

Huge thanks to the folks who played and made my job really easy!

Andreas Lundström - Sweden Rolls

Hjlmar Norden - Red Moon Roleplaying

https://www.redmoonroleplaying.com/

Krister Svanlund

https://www.svartvikenrp.se/

Giant Brain links for Blades

How to play, and run, Blades in the Dark

https://giantbrain.co.uk/2023/04/06/how-to-play-and-run-blades-in-the-dark/

Review

https://giantbrain.co.uk/2017/07/30/blades-in-the-dark-review/

Player's Review

https://giantbrain.co.uk/2022/06/22/blades-in-the-dark-players-review/

Giant Brain socials

Blusky: https://bsky.app/profile/giantbrain.co.uk

https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2024/03/11/thousands-of-kickstarter-backers-left-out-of-pocket-as-super-dungeon-explore-publisher-ninja-division-files-for-bankruptcy/

Monday Mar 25, 2024

Brainwaves Episode 139 - "Compelling" AI

Monday Mar 25, 2024

The team of 3 are back together to bring you the best, weirdest, and most controversial news stories from around the tabletop industry. This episode cover companies collapsing, “compelling” AI, and new factories.

Headlines

Ninja Division files for bankruptcy

Hasbro presents “compelling” case for AI

https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/dungeons-and-dragons-5e/news/dungeons-and-dragons-ai-generation-chris-cocks-comments-dice-summit

https://venturebeat.com/games/how-hasbro-is-jumping-on-the-game-opportunity-chris-cocks-interview/

CGE acquires new factory

https://czechgames.com/en/home/news-24-03-01-cge-acquires-their-own-factory/

Updates

Haba emerges from Bankruptcy

https://habafamilygroup.com/en/haba-familygroup-end-self-administration-insolvency-proceeding

News

Nasa RPG

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/multimedia/online-activities/the-lost-universe/

Stonemaier Stakeholder Report

https://stonemaiergames.com/2023-behind-the-scenes-stakeholder-report-for-stonemaier-games/?fbclid=IwAR0f0pS_e4xnPPp7Dy2had_gziNjqCrdG-0d8no0f9cNnj2uBG1pxR2aLQc

James Ward Dies

https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/dungeons-and-dragons-5e/news/james-m-ward-obituary-dungeons-and-dragons-designer-gamma-world-metamorphosis-alpha-creator

Jobs, Opportunities, and Events

https://www.chaosium.com/blogthe-basic-roleplaying-design-challenge/

BRP Design challenge

Gothcon

https://wordpress.gothcon.se/en/

Patreon Shoutouts

Kevin Bertram

James Naylor

Shaun Newman

Our Patreon

Support Us

https://metallicdicegames.com/

Metallic Dice Games

Promo Code: ROLLWITHBRAINS

Sir Meeple

https://nerdist.com/article/uno-fandom-decks-celebrates-disney-villains-avatar-the-last-airbender-star-trek-and-more/

Outro

Uno fan decks

Our Links

Thanks very much for listening. If you like what you’ve listened to then the best way to help us out is to share the podcast and drop us a review and rating on itunes. You can also follow us on

Blusky: https://bsky.app/profile/giantbrain.co.uk