Mice Guys, Charity Auctions, Vinyl, oh my!

Interview with Jerry Hawthorne - Designer of Stuffed Fables

Hi all! Our interview with the amazing Jerry Hawthorne hit today. Jerry is the designer and mastermind behind Plaid Hat Games' whole Mice & Mystics line, as well as their upcoming Stuffed Fables. As per usual, we cover everything games and non-games related, including military service, raising children, imaginative play, and of course, his awesome games.

2017 Stonemaier Games Charity Auction

A rare opportunity has arisen, where you can support 10 amazing causes and help the Cardboard Herald out to boot. We were selected to participate in this year's auction and we nominated The Hispanic Federation's Unidos fund to aid Puerto Rico. I encourage you to bid to support any of the charities, but please also give us a thumbs up while there. The outlet with the most thumbs up on their listing will receive an early review copy of Charterstone, which would be a huge boon to a small growing review site/podcast/channel like ours.

Rook & Record

Did I already mention that I'm doing these awesome things? Episode 2 of Rook & Record is live, a video series where I pair a board game with the perfect record in 2 minutes or less. This combines 2 of my favorite hobbies into one awesome thing!

We're Going Last With a Host of Reviews

"Previously, on The Cardboard Herald..."

First and foremost, can I say how AWESOME it was to talk with Kenna of the Going Last podcast? They are my favorite tabletop gaming podcast on the net, I have the utmost respect for their style, whit, and occasional professionalism.  Plus, that "Gaming News" stinger is great EVERY TIME. Kenna is the guest on this week's podcast, and I'm really looking forward to having her and her co-host Rich back on in the future.

A Fresh New Look

Frequent visitors will notice that the site has a bit of a revamp, but the two most important aspects of the update are the Latest Reviews and Archive tabs. I felt both of these needed a major quality of life update, so now on the Latest Reviews tab you'll see a display of our latest Written, Audio, and Video work, with links to those full libraries in chronological order. Then on the Archive, I'm building a list of all of the games we've covered (no, not just ones that got a side mention on a podcast one time, a game we actually discussed), and then a list of all the content we have corresponding to it. I think it's looking great, and if you have any feedback, feel free to send it over to cardboardherald@gmail.com.

Now, we talk reviews (Duh Duh Duhhhhhhhh):

This week is a BIG week for reviews, especially if you include last week. So basically, this AND last week are big weeks for reviews. Got it!? Let's check these puppies out:

(click on the image to hop to the review)
 

Yamatai Review - For Queen Himiko's Smile

This one is by me, I'll take all of the hate. SPOILERS - I didn't really like it. Which is a shame because I tend to adore anything Bruno Cathala is involved with. Anyway, I tried going back to my old conversational style of review, I think it worked out really well here.

Broken Token's Terraforming Mars Insert

You thought we'd limit it to games only? You were wrong! Behold, the impressive TM insert, with all it's birch smell. Also, do us all a favor and SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHANNEL!

Gumshoe Struggles - A Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective review

Occasional contributor Luke Muench comes back with a review of this awesome, classic game of deduction, social construction, and ...seduction? I got a little lost in the weeds there, but Luke did a great job. As always, you can find more of Luke's stuff over at the Budget Board Gamer youtube channel.

Elder Sign Review -

What's that, 3 written reviews by 3 different reviewers, all within a week of each other? GHASP! Cheyenne Morse, Jack's oldest friend, fierce rival, and co-host of the Fictional Females podcast, makes her reviewing debut by tackling this beloved co-op classic. (This review won't go up till Friday... Stay tuned!)

Five Tribes & Scoundrels of Skullport
Audio Reviews

What's that? A THIRD format of review, all happening this week? PHEW! We've been busy. If you are only acquainted with our interview podcast, definately check out TCbH reviews, it's like a review + behind the music, except board games, because that's what we do.

And finally, just to give you a heads up, this weekend we'll be posting the exciting conclusion to our 2 part Cardboard Cutouts Halloween special, featuring 3 totally horror-ific games to play this Halloween. Subscribe on Youtube to make sure you don't miss it!

Queen Himiko Gets Spooked While Fighting for Biternia

As per usual, I've been a busy little bee here in the Sheep Shack. First off, this week's guest is Chris Faulkenberry of Stone Circle Games. Battle for Biternia launches November 7th, so mark your calendars. You can actually hear the moment when I decide how much I want to derail the conversation to just spend 20 minutes talking about SNES RPGs. The answer is "very much". Alas, I left it at Meteos and Spoony Bards, but my inner 10 year old was tragically disappointed. Maybe someday Chris, Isaac Vega, and I can do a Final Fantasy geekout podcast...

Oh yeah, there's a new spooky episode of Cardboard Cutouts you should check out. And while doing so, why haven't you subscribed to our channel? Tut-tut... There are literally THOUSANDS of you listeners out there, and I know at least a few hundred of you are watching the videos we put up. Time to show some love and support by subscribing. It honestly helps elevate our content by showing publishers that TCbH is a channel worth supporting, and bottom line, the more ways I can share opinions, the less BAD GAMES people will have to put up with. Win Win! If you subscribe, tweet to me @cardboardherald and I'll sing your praises to the twitter-verse.

Lastly, I'm proud to say that I'm still able to piss people off when I say I don't like a game. I posted my Yamatai review here and over on BGG, and *spoilers* I didn't like the game (it's not really a spoiler when I introduce it that way, huh?). Anyway, a BGG user had a LOT to say about how terrible my stuff is, how I only played the game once, how I must not like it because I'm bad at the game, etc... etc... and everyone else? They were super supportive and had very polite discourse. Remember folks, if I say I don't like a game, that's not an attack on you.

We Inis'ially had some dignity and class

Audio:

This week we have returning guest Michael Coe of Gamelyn Games, on to talk about the new kickstarter for Tiny Epic Defenders 2nd Edition and it's expansion The Dark War. If you listened to the last episode with Michael or our episode with designer Scott Almes, you know that TED holds a very special place in my heart. Not only do I love the game, but it came at a very trying time in my life. I'm super excited by all of the changes in the second edition, and can't wait to get my hands on the game to share with you guys.

Video:

Did I make a terrible pun in our First Impressions of Inis video? Yes. Was it wrong to do so? Maybe. Will I apologize? Absolutely not. You can check it out (and even add in your own sad trombone effect) here:

One of the core tenants I had when starting the Cardboard Herald, was that I wanted to document my goals, successes, and failures. I'm planning on doing a more expansive year-in-review podcast and video, but I thought I should make a goal public.

As you can tell, I'm trying to make a big push into video. While I didn't know much about audio editing when I got started on the podcast, and knew next to nothing about video production. That said, I feel like my skills are rapidly improving with each video, learning from every auto-focus, editing, filter, and pour mic placement mistake. BUT, I'm having an awesome time, and I hope that shines through. My realistic goal is that I have a new video out every Saturday till the end of the year, with 50 subscribers by the end of October and 100 by December 31st. You all came through in helping the podcast expand to where it is now, with a few thousand unique listeners each month, and I hope you'll continue to support me through spreading the word on our video arm of things. Also, feedback is critically important. Let us know what you did or did not like, and above all, thank you for watching.

Writing:

Just a quick plug for our Expansion Review of Terraforming Mars: Hellas & Elysium. It's not so much of an expansion as it is a replacement, but hey! New content is new content, and TM is one of my favorite games to play, so check it out.

That's it for now! Until next time, internet land!

Stellar Leap! Weird Giraffes! Cardboard Cutouts, oh my!

Giraffes are weird, and so can you!

Today's episode features Weird Giraffe's new game on kickstarter, Stellar Leap! I talk with designer / publisher / awesome person Carla Copp about all kinds of stuff, ranging from games to the fears of self publishing, to giraffes! You can check that out over on our interviews tab.

3 Great Expansions that take it to Eleven!

So, I've been doing this thing that perfectly captures the balance of dumb and excitement that is in my heart of hearts:

If you like this stuff and want to see more, then all you have to do (short of sending me a million dollars) is thumbs up and subscribe on youtube. If I see that our video stuff is getting positive response, I'll keep doing it, simple as that. This series in particular (Cardboard Cutouts) will have a new set of recommendations for you every 2 weeks for the foreseeable future.

In over my head? Me? Never!

Hello Internet-land. Ooo boy, it's been a crazy couple of weeks since I last talked with you. Though most of the craziness has been the good kind for me, I should mention that my heart goes out to everyone besieged with natural disasters in Central America and the Southern United States... and the West Coast... and the mid-west... To all those who are affected, and those of you out there doing the incredible boots-on-the-ground work to help all of those in need, take care & god bless.

Video Killed the Radio Star

Thank you to everyone for the amazing response to the video channel. While we are still in the early stages for content release and subscribers, the response and feedback leads me to believe that it could grow to be a really special aspect of TCbH. My plan is to try and produce some sort of video content every week, be it First Impressions videos, Reviews, or Cardboard Cutouts which is what I'm most passionate about. That said, I don't want to drop the ball on the podcast & written side of things, so if it becomes a bit too much to manage, I may scale it back to new videos every other week. For now, checkout the rather rough first episode of Cardboard Cutouts (above) and I'll have a new second episode posted on Saturday that's already 11 times better.

Hey Mr. DJ

Since we last talked we had a pair of really great interviews with Morten Monrad Peterson of the Automa Factory and Aron West of Elzra Games. These two are on the cutting edge in defining what tabletop gaming can be. Morten and his team designed Stonemaier Games' groundbreaking solo modes for Viticulture and Scythe, whereas Aron is the co-designer and publisher of the remarkable Catacombs, a game that inexplicably manages to capture the tone and feel of a Dungeon Crawl, while being a dexterity game about flicking wooden disks on a board. If you get a chance, check out Catacombs 3rd edition and the rest of the Catacombs line, all of which have incredible artwork by Kwanchai Moria.

Oh, and you know how I mentioned things were getting crazy? I have the next 7 interviews lined up, featuring all kinds of cool guests including Kenna from Going Last (my favorite tabletop podcast on the net), Jerry Hawthorne of Mice & Mystics fame (check out his upcoming PHG design, Stuffed Fables), Michael Coe of Gamelyn Games (TED 2.0  Kickstarter will be up soon! YES!) and iconic artist Ken Meyer Jr. (Kird Ape scared the crap out of me as a kid!).

Going to PAX Unplugged

Exactly what it says! I'll be going to PAX Unplugged in November. I've never been to Philly and I've never been to a PAX, so this will be an awesome experience. Rob from Paper Heroes will be joining me and we hope to meet you all there. Interested in doing an interview? Or maybe just meeting up for a game? Either way, lets hang out!

That's it for now. As always, there's great written stuff coming out all the time by me and other guest contributors on the site. Stay tuned, and don't forget to subscribe to the video channel!

New TCbH Stuff!

Holy cow, what a crazy productive week. We have so many things to share with you, and it feels like we are just barely getting started. First off, I wanted to mention that we are (finally) making a big push toward video... Well, as big of a push as one dude in Alaska with about 10,000 other things going on can do. But I Digress! We'll have some content going up with some regularity, and hopefully we'll be able to get a really tight format down over time. To start us out, we have a first impressions video for Hellas & Elysium:

(I adore the new theme music)

Next up, I got a pair of reviews that I have yet to talk about. Luke Muench of Budget Board Gamer wrote us a nice review of one of our favorite games, Cyclades. He really hits the nail on the head as to what makes the game so special among a sea of minis on maps. As for me, I had a completely different type of area control game to discuss, the mighty Ethnos, featuring pretty much the raddest pairing of oldschool artwork and skittle-rainbow components of all time. Both reviews are up now for your viewing pleasure! Oh, speaking of reviews, are you listening to our TCbH review podcast channel? It's a great way to plug our reviews straight into your brain holes.

And FINALLY, saving the best for last, we have a new interview posted with Morten Monrad Pedersen of the Automa Factory, the guys who are contracted to help Stonemaier Games with their awesome solo variants. Morten is the brain child behind the mighty Scythe solo mode, which is what I lost my solo virginity to (that sounds salacious... and weird). Anyway, you can totally listen to that on iTunes, stitcher, or our podcast feed on the site.

PHEW! What a week...

TCbH falls into Vast: (the) Crystal Caverns

This week I'm posting my chat with David Somerville, co-designer of Vast: The Crystal Caverns (published by Leder Games). This was truly a wonderful conversation; David is affable, clever, and a kind guest. I'm not sure how the listening audience really feels about it, but I love when these talks somehow organically shift from talking about tabletop games as a hobby, into games as a medium to understand and relate to other people, just as I'm trying to understand and relate to my guests.

Anyway, happy Wednesday everyone! Check out the interview on the interview feed.

A couple of Plaid Hat Interviews

Lots of Plaid Hat Games news going on here. First off, my interview with the wonder Isaac Vega posted today, go check it out in the interview section. Isaac co-designed the MONSTER (get it?) hit Dead of Winter, along with lots of other great games including Ashes and City of Remnants.

Also, I had the pleasure of talking with Mice & Mystics, Tail Feathers, and yet-unreleased Stuffed Fables designer Jerry Hawthorne. That talk will be on the interview feed in roughly a month.

Anyway, we got plenty coming down the pike (pipe? this is one of those idioms that no one is really sure on). Stay tuned!

And lastly, if you or your loved ones are in the Hurricane Harvey area - I hope you are safe, havefound refuge, and have a speedy return to stability in your life. And to those of you officially or unofficially doing first responder work, thank you for being there for your neighbors. People helping one another in the face of tragedy, regardless of color, race, economic status, creed... It's the kind of thing that restores your faith in humanity. So once again, thank you.

Mysteriously Hopping into the Stone Circle

Hey everyone! Pretty quick updates here. Just reminding everyone to check out the great interview with Jon and Gary of Stone Circle Games. I really loved talking with those guys and I could feel how much they believed in one another, which of course makes me more interested in the games they put out. I know I can't wait to see a published edition of Battle for Biternia. 

Also, we continue to have reviews written by Luke Muench of Budget Board Gamer. The latest review is of Mysterium, a game I like but Luke? Maybe not so much. It's important to have a variety of voices and perspectives though, and most of all I want to hear yours - What do you think of Mysterium? 

Also, I haven't mentioned it recently, but I am STILL obsessing over Ethnos. I gotta figure out a way to get those sweet, sweet Fairy promo cards. What a rad game. Full review to come soon, as it's the next one on the pile.