1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:05,480 Hey, and welcome to Episode 129. Origins Game Fair 2025 turned 50 2 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:07,920 this summer. To celebrate this milestone, the 3 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:10,640 Table Talk community came together for games, memories, 4 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:14,440 and gathering around the table for epic showdowns and sprawling 5 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,920 strategy games to light hearted laughs over party favorites. 6 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,880 This year's golden anniversary was a heartwarming reminder of 7 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:24,120 why we play. In this episode, we are sharing 8 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,680 the highlights of the games we explored, the amazing people we 9 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:30,560 connected with, and the unforgettable energy that only 10 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,160 Origins can deliver. Today, I've invited Chris 11 00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:36,720 Preston to join me and return to the show and share our 12 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,280 experiences at Origins in Columbus, OH. 13 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:41,480 Chris. How are you? 14 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:43,440 I'm good, man. It's good to see you again. 15 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:45,880 It's always a pleasure. Yeah, it's been a year since you 16 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:47,720 were on the show. Has it been that long? 17 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:49,680 You said that earlier. You said last year. 18 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:51,520 And I was like, that was just a few months ago, wasn't it? 19 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,520 Yeah. It was, it was, it was like 20 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:58,560 August. I think it was like episode 9091 21 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:01,640 or something like that. Maybe it was 89, but it's been a 22 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:03,480 while. Doesn't seem like it's been that 23 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:05,000 long ago. I know, I know. 24 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:07,520 And it feels like origins was this past weekend, even though 25 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:11,040 it's been like 3 weeks. So yeah, crazy. 26 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:15,440 So yeah, I again, thanks for joining and I just want to talk 27 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,080 about our experiences and origins. 28 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:22,160 So I've got a few stats we'll talk about first, if that's 29 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:24,280 cool, and then we can get into the experience. 30 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:30,360 So according to Origins game fairs website, they had 19,171 31 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:35,880 attendees this year, which is an increase of 8% over the previous 32 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:41,880 year, which is kind of good. They had 410 exhibitors of which 33 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,000 one of them you worked for this year. 34 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:51,480 And then there were 8810 scheduled events. 35 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:56,560 And that was an increase of 26% from last year. 36 00:01:57,000 --> 00:01:59,200 So what do all these statistics mean? 37 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:01,720 Here's here's the cool conclusion. 38 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:03,040 And I'm really excited about this. 39 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:04,960 Like, can you tell I am such a nerd? 40 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:08,000 Like, I don't think anyone else cares about this, but I do. 41 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:08,960 So I'm going to share it with you. 42 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:13,440 OK. So this means that Origins is 43 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:19,400 now the number 5 tabletop convention in the world. 44 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:22,960 And here's here's how it's calculated. 45 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:29,640 So last year in 2024, Essence Spiel had 204,000 attendees. 46 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:34,040 Sticking at #1 no big star, obviously #2 Gen. 47 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:37,400 Con with 71,000 attendees last year. 48 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:44,720 This year, because it has already come and gone, UKGE had 49 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,440 42,000 attendees. Wow. 50 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:49,440 Which I got. Really. 51 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:52,120 Yeah. I didn't know that was that big. 52 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:55,800 I had no idea. That one surprised me as well. 53 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:57,880 I was like, wow, man, that's that's a. 54 00:02:58,120 --> 00:02:59,920 Just means we need to go over there sometime. 55 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:03,280 Yes. And we have, we do we really 56 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:07,360 need to last year's numbers PAX Unplugged was approximately 57 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:09,720 30,000. They don't keep track of 58 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:14,160 attendees stats like the other conventions, but OK, that's kind 59 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:18,360 of the number. And then 19,171 at Origins, 60 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:22,560 making it the fifth largest convention in the world, and 61 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,480 that is exciting. I believe it used to be #4 62 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:27,320 though, didn't it? I think it's just here in the 63 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:31,480 past few years that Pax U has started to surpass from what I 64 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:33,720 understand. So that's my understanding as 65 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,880 well as PAX used numbers have just skyrocketed. 66 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:39,920 I have not yet been to PAX Unplugged. 67 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:42,480 Yeah, same. It's a little far. 68 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,480 It's, it's not only is it far, it's like the first weekend of 69 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:48,480 December. And so it's between 70 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:52,080 Thanksgiving, it's right before Christmas where you have holiday 71 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,520 travel, right? It's kind of a mess, right? 72 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:57,120 So. Which I think they changed the 73 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,400 dates this year. It's still in between Christmas 74 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,080 and Thanksgiving, but it's in November instead of December 75 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:03,000 this year. It is. 76 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,480 So that maybe will help. Yeah, I think I would love to go 77 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:10,480 up to that one. I was talking to somebody. 78 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:12,760 Her name eludes me, so I won't try to get it wrong. 79 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:17,160 But she was saying that it has become a bigger one for a lot of 80 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:19,720 the bigger publishers, especially because #1 81 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:23,200 geographically it hits a different region and #2 it's not 82 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:25,320 5 weeks apart like Origins and Gen. 83 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:27,280 Con. So which, you know, if you want 84 00:04:27,280 --> 00:04:29,680 to get into it, I'll go ahead and start on my negative note. 85 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,920 One of my like, one of my only disappointments of Origins was 86 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:34,040 yeah. Tell me about. 87 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:37,760 There were a lot of bigger or well known and well established 88 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:40,800 publishers that weren't there that I anticipated would be. 89 00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:43,360 Now it's not the end of the world and I don't feel like I 90 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:44,960 missed anything without them there. 91 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:49,600 But from what I knew of Origins years ago, I expected there to 92 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:54,520 be a little bit more of a Gen. Con exhibitor hall feel, and it 93 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:57,960 definitely felt smaller and it felt like there were some 94 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:00,360 publishers that were missing a little bit. 95 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,160 Now, again, if that's my only gripe, then I think the con was 96 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:07,640 a success. From this conversation, I kind 97 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:11,680 of deduced that a lot of them have not necessarily pulled out 98 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:15,360 of Origins, but maybe aren't doing Origins every year because 99 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,840 it's so close geographically and time wise to Gincon. 100 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:22,440 They've kind of gone in on packs and Gincon to give a little bit 101 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,640 of separation there. So that's, that's an interesting 102 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:33,400 observation given the fact that the stats stay there were 410 103 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:40,040 exhibitors and that's up. So there were in fact more 104 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:42,800 exhibitors than there have been before. 105 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:45,040 Yeah, that that is very interesting. 106 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,280 And she even said that there were, I don't want to 107 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:50,280 overestimate the numbers, but there were a decent amount that 108 00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:53,640 had to back out fairly last minute because of they didn't 109 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:56,800 get the stock in they needed to be able to be at the convention, 110 00:05:57,200 --> 00:05:59,240 right. And so, you know, there, there 111 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:02,000 could be a plethora of reasons why some of them weren't there 112 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:03,880 this year. It could be the separation of 113 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,120 time and geography and packs you being more appealing that way. 114 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:11,760 It could also be the tariff situation or the shipping issues 115 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,320 that have, you know, there's a little bit of a backlog and 116 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:16,720 costs have gone up recently. So it's true. 117 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,080 All that to say, it's interesting that I, I do agree 118 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,040 that it's interesting that the numbers are up, but there were 119 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,120 also a lot of great exhibitors still. 120 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,040 There was just a good handful of publishers that I was kind of 121 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,680 surprised to not see there, knowing that Origins used to be 122 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:34,560 #2 in the country. Yeah. 123 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:37,080 And Yep, so. It's interesting. 124 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:41,160 So I want you to come back in August after Gen. 125 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:42,320 Con, because you're going to be a Gen. 126 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:44,760 Con, right? And that's the plan right now. 127 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:47,680 Yep, actually, we just kind of solidified that of this past 128 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:49,440 week. And and I will be a Gen. 129 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:50,600 Con. I think this will be an 130 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:52,560 interesting conversation after Gen. 131 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:56,360 Con to do a side by side comparison because we know 132 00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:01,480 there's some big vendors that will not be a Gen. 133 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:03,120 Con this year. Yeah, that have already that 134 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:05,680 have already backed out and backed out months ago. 135 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:09,880 And I'm curious to see some of the non American ones, like 136 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:12,080 who's going to make the trip? Who's going to be here? 137 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,400 Yes, because I saw that Borden Dice is still going to have a 138 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:17,040 booth, which I'm really excited about. 139 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:19,040 They've become one of my favorite publishers in the past 140 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:21,120 year or two. And so that's cool that they're 141 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:24,040 still coming, but I am curious to see how that plays out. 142 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:29,080 I can confirm that there will be a team from Mosaic Games. 143 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:31,480 This is their this is their first Gen. con. 144 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:34,640 Just to remind you guys this Mosaic Games, this is Palgan 145 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:38,400 from Bangalore, India, who I had, who I had on the show. 146 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,600 Yeah, he's coming. Him and his wife and two of his 147 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:44,920 staff members. I don't, I don't know. 148 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:47,280 He didn't tell me who they are, but there's four of them, a 149 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:48,800 contingency coming to Gen. Con. 150 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:50,240 So. So that's exciting. 151 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:52,240 I'll have to make sure and go say hey to him. 152 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:57,600 Make sure to listen to next week's episode, Episode 130. 153 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:01,880 I have a really frank conversation with the creative 154 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:03,880 director of Game Head Games, Paul Solomon. 155 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,160 OK. And we talked a lot about his 156 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:09,360 booth and what he's gonna be doing. 157 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:11,480 And so we'll make sure to go say hi to him as well. 158 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:15,200 So, so stay tuned for that one, but we'll save our conversation 159 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,640 about Jen Khan for a month from now because this is supposed to 160 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,200 be about origins. It is, yes, absolutely. 161 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,160 So you told me what your least favorite thing was. 162 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,720 What was Do you have a single favorite? 163 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,720 Thing whether that's. A game played. 164 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:34,000 A person met and experienced in the vendor hall. 165 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,240 Whatever I mean, other than getting to sit and play games 166 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:39,440 with Mr. and Mrs. Cajun Gamer themselves. 167 00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:41,880 I mean. Because, you know, yeah, it's 168 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:44,320 hard to beat that, I mean. It's it is hard guys. 169 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:46,960 It's really hard to be playing a game with me and my wife, I'm 170 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,440 telling you. Yeah, I think the best thing 171 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:54,720 just overall for me was I got to see and meet a lot of people 172 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:57,280 that I've known online for years. 173 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:00,840 And you know, I don't live up around all these conventions 174 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,160 where there's small pockets of groups of people that get 175 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:05,240 together. I know that y'all usually have a 176 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:06,920 big group get together in geek way. 177 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,640 I haven't been able to make it up for that, you know, living in 178 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:11,960 Oklahoma, a little bit further away than that and I don't get a 179 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:14,480 meet and see a lot of these people that I see online very 180 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,800 often. I got to meet quite a few people 181 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:20,560 for the first time in person. So that was, I mean, that's 182 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:22,960 always exciting to get to say, hey, you actually exist in real 183 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:23,880 life. Yeah. 184 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,640 And then also just getting to see through some of the 185 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,280 conventions we've been to the past few years, we've built in 186 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:34,560 person relationships with a lot of the people that started 187 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:38,240 online. And so that is always a blast of 188 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,080 getting to, you know, we chat online and text periodically 189 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:43,160 throughout the year, but it's a blast getting to like hug each 190 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,320 other's necks and play a game and talk about life together. 191 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:51,760 And I think, I mean, overall, obviously I love games and I 192 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,760 play board games, right? You know, hey, that's why we're 193 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:58,200 here. But I think it's the people and 194 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:01,200 the connection with people that make the games so special. 195 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:05,960 And without that it's, you know, I mean, games would still be fun 196 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:09,040 without the relational aspect, but I think it just enhances it 197 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:10,880 and makes it more special and enjoyable. 198 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:13,280 Yep. I agree and I feel like that's 199 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:16,760 what everyone's the typical answer is the people, right? 200 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:19,360 I know for me that's my favorite thing is getting to see 201 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:21,440 everyone. Although I didn't get to I 202 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:24,320 didn't get to socialize as much this year. 203 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:28,240 The schedule was weird for for me, You know, I had, I had a 204 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:30,120 great time. So here's my favorite thing 205 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:33,400 about Origins and why we will go to Origins forever. 206 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:37,360 So the hotel we stayed at was not connected to the Convention 207 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:38,640 Center but was across the street. 208 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:41,960 OK. And it is infinitely closer than 209 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:45,720 any connected hotel in Indianapolis at Gen. 210 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:46,600 Con. Yeah. 211 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:50,960 I walked out of my hotel and I'm across the street and there I am 212 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:52,920 in the Convention Center. It was great. 213 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:55,400 Yeah, I love that. I love it. 214 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:58,160 Must have been nice. It was it was fantastic. 215 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,520 And and of course the hotel prices don't they're not as high 216 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:03,840 as they are in Indy. I mean, Gen. 217 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:05,320 Con, Gen. Con's got a bigger draw. 218 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:09,120 So naturally, but but yeah, that was that was the fun thing for 219 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,240 me. I really my favorite thing at 220 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:12,680 least wasn't fun. It was just. 221 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:16,560 Fantastic. Yeah, I'm interested to see how 222 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:18,440 that plays out. Obviously we said we'd hold our 223 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:22,040 Jincon conversation for later, but I saw Monday morning, as I 224 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:24,640 was getting ready and eating breakfast before I started the 225 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:27,280 drive back home, I saw a post where somebody said this was 226 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:30,440 their first origins and they were kind of evaluating their 227 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:32,480 thoughts and feelings versus Jincon. 228 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:36,520 And the comments section was all over the place, as they often 229 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:38,480 are. But a lot of people agreed and 230 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:40,520 supported for some of the same reasons you just said. 231 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:43,160 The hotels are cheaper. It's easier to stay closer. 232 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:48,000 The city itself, with the hotels and restaurants and Convention 233 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,240 Center, feels closer and easier to navigate and so. 234 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:55,080 North Market, The North Market is the single greatest feature 235 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:58,680 of origins, that it's right there in walking distance and 236 00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:00,960 you can eat anything. Yeah, you know. 237 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:03,240 I'm kind of bummed we didn't get to experience any of that. 238 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:07,680 We stayed, it was 2025 minutes out from the Convention Center. 239 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:12,160 We, you know, we had a 20 minute drive in and out every day and 240 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:15,920 when it was time to go we got in the car and drove out and we 241 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:18,200 didn't really get to see an experience much downtown. 242 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:21,000 So I would like to do that next time if we can. 243 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:26,160 But but wise, we had to find a cheap hotel so we stayed in the 244 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:28,920 Dublin area on the northwest side of the city. 245 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:31,480 Yeah, Dublin's kinda. Yeah, it's. 246 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,280 Gonna fall on a bad drive. I won't comment on the drivers 247 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:39,280 in the Columbus area. Fuck off. 248 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:43,160 So talk to me about your experience working in the vendor 249 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:46,240 hall cuz you were with bitewing games correct? 250 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,520 So how did you get that gig? How did you enjoy that gig? 251 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:55,680 Tell me all about it. Yeah, so I was thinking after I 252 00:12:55,680 --> 00:12:58,520 said my favorite thing in the con, my second favorite thing 253 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,920 probably was working the booth. We have gone to several 254 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:05,360 conventions now and worked with publishers to demo and teach 255 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:07,400 games. And I don't know what it is 256 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:09,600 about it, but I just love doing that. 257 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:14,680 I think it's a blast to being able to to teach a game and see 258 00:13:14,680 --> 00:13:17,440 it click for somebody and see them get excited about it. 259 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,760 And you know, the responses, they're like, we gotta buy this, 260 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:23,320 you know, we gotta have this game and there's just something, 261 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:26,200 you know, fun and rewarding. And also being on the exhibitor 262 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:29,880 floor working a booth like that, it allows you to see and talk to 263 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:31,920 people more. And so there were a lot of times 264 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:35,240 that I got to see and and catch somebody's eye that I might not 265 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:37,320 have been able to catch otherwise because they just 266 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:38,560 happened to be walking by the booth. 267 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:42,880 PJ being one of those people, it taught you icore and sadly you 268 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:45,520 were not one of those people that fondled and decided to buy 269 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:48,400 them, and you were one of the rare ones. 270 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:50,480 But yeah, Bitewing was a new company for me. 271 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:53,480 I've heard of them and I've played a few of their games. 272 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:57,320 My gaming bestie, as I refer to him, who we were there together 273 00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:59,160 you got to meet. Kyle, I did. 274 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,600 He he has backed a few of their games and so I've played some 275 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:05,920 with him. But one of the people that I've 276 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:09,120 met, actually his wife and I connected online several years 277 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:11,920 ago and they live in North Carolina and we've met them by 278 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:14,800 going out to Tantrum Con in January or February. 279 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:16,840 And depending on the year, they've changed the month a 280 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,680 couple Times Now there's some of those in person friends, like 281 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,680 we've stayed at their house with them when we go out or if we 282 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:24,800 don't get to stay with them, we go to dinner and hang out and 283 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:26,480 play games before or after the convention. 284 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:29,480 So like they've become some, you know, really treasured friends 285 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:31,720 for us. He texted me out of the blue. 286 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:35,920 It was probably April, end of April, beginning of May. 287 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:38,600 And he was just like, hey, you want to come to Origins? 288 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,000 I'm working with Bite Wing, and they need some more people. 289 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:45,080 And I said I would love to, but I can't go by myself. 290 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:46,680 And we don't. We didn't have anybody that 291 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:49,000 would be able to watch the kids for Caitlin and I to go together 292 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:51,440 like we would have liked. But I just texted Kyle. 293 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:53,680 I was like, hey, you want to go to Origins and work with Bite 294 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:55,840 Wing, knowing that he likes the company already. 295 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:57,960 And so he talked to his wife. She was like, yeah. 296 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:00,560 And so we ended up getting on with them. 297 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:02,640 And, you know, it's really cool. I mean, for one thing, it makes 298 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:06,160 it affordable, right? Because you get a free badge 299 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:09,000 typically. Now, not all publishers have the 300 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,280 means or capability to provide what some of them have, but our 301 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:14,760 experience typically is minimally, you get a free batch 302 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:16,600 and sometimes a free game or two. 303 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:18,760 But a lot of publishers also pay by the hour. 304 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:21,800 So, you know, that just helps offset the costs and make it 305 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:25,160 affordable because without that hourly pay, it's like I couldn't 306 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:27,120 have afforded to go up to make the trip up there. 307 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:29,920 And right, even then, we didn't fully cover all of our travel 308 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:32,720 costs, but it made it doable for both of us. 309 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:35,680 And so, you know, you get a badge, you get paid a little bit 310 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:38,440 typically. I know they gave a free game 311 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:41,000 with the deluxe upgrades to and Pandasaurus. 312 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:41,880 We worked with it. Gen. 313 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:44,760 Con, the only time we've been in 22, we're working with them 314 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:47,400 again this year. They give two games and so nice. 315 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:50,200 So, you know, different publishers do different things. 316 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,360 There's some groups that will even potentially cover housing. 317 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:55,640 So if if you're interested in going to one of these 318 00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:57,800 conventions, that's definitely the way to do it. 319 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:00,280 If you're willing to work a little bit during the day, which 320 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:02,760 I mean, if you call standard around teaching games work, then 321 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:06,640 we don't really agree on life. But so yeah, the problem was is 322 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:11,600 I didn't know a lot of the games really well, but I had played I 323 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,960 core once before the convention. I had played Cascadero once 324 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,160 before the convention. And those were the two games 325 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:21,960 that I ended up teaching spent we worked 4 hour shifts and I 326 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:24,840 did I Core 2 days and Cascadero 2 days. 327 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:27,000 And it was interesting because there were a couple of other 328 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,480 games that I had played once but didn't, you know, fully 329 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,000 understand the race but didn't know the rules well enough to 330 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,680 teach women by the last day. And being around the games, like 331 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:37,360 people would walk and say, hey, well, we don't have a lot of 332 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,520 time, tell us what all you have. And I was the only one standing 333 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:44,680 there and I got to give a quick 5 minute spiel of all of the 334 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:49,840 games at one time and managed to do OK with, yeah, managed to do 335 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:52,600 OK with a couple of them that I wasn't as familiar with. 336 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:54,760 But I don't know, I just, I really enjoy it. 337 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:57,240 It's, it's a cool way to get to know publishers and build 338 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:01,320 relationships and meet tons of people that you wouldn't get to 339 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:04,160 interact with otherwise, right Than just passing them in the 340 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:06,280 exhibitor hall. You know, Kyle had a great 341 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:07,440 moment. I don't know if you've ever 342 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:11,240 played Zevedas 7. Reiner can eat a game. 343 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,839 He's played it two or three times and unfortunately the two 344 00:17:14,839 --> 00:17:17,440 groups he's played it with haven't played the game the way 345 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:20,400 it's supposed to be played. And it's funny because he and I 346 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,440 were just talking about this today, but that was one of the 347 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:26,400 ones he got to teach and the group loved it and they were 348 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,120 playing the game. So it's got a lot of negotiation 349 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:30,920 in it. The negotiation is a little bit 350 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,920 backwards. Instead of like buying something 351 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:36,800 from somebody or making promises, basically each 352 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:39,680 character has an ability and instead of that being your own 353 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:41,760 ability, you like rent it out to people. 354 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:43,800 Essentially. That's the negotiation is like, 355 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,840 hey, my ability would really be really beneficial for you right 356 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:49,200 now. So if you want to use it, give 357 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:53,320 me a little money or promise me a vote when I need it, you know, 358 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:54,800 so you can kind of barter and negotiate. 359 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:57,720 So he hadn't gotten to really experience the negotiation of 360 00:17:57,720 --> 00:17:59,480 the game. And I was teasing him earlier. 361 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:03,320 I was like, man, you. It was so fun watching you just 362 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:07,720 immerse yourself with this group and get to play that game the 363 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:10,320 way it was intended. And he had a blast with that. 364 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:13,120 So, you know, it's just there's a lot, there's a lot to be said. 365 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:15,960 And one of the guys working there with Bitewing was one of 366 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:19,040 the designers of a few games they've put out recently, Bebop 367 00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:22,360 and Shuffle and Swing. And it was cool getting to talk 368 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:24,600 to him. Looking at Bebop was out to demo 369 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:26,600 a day or two. And, you know, reading through 370 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:27,800 the rules and learning that game. 371 00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:32,000 I always like to, to pick designers brains and say, hey, 372 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:35,120 I'm just like, this is an interesting different twist that 373 00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:38,440 is backwards from some games. So why, how did that end up in 374 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:40,120 the game? Why did you go that way? 375 00:18:40,120 --> 00:18:42,400 And you know, it's just, it's really cool to get to meet 376 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:44,680 people and talk to people that you may not get to otherwise. 377 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:47,280 Or if you do, it's going to be a brief interaction. 378 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:50,720 But we got to spend 4 days getting to know Nick, which is 379 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:53,160 one of the guys that started the company and Robert of the 380 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:55,360 designers talking about. We got to have lots of 381 00:18:55,360 --> 00:18:57,520 conversations and get to know these guys a little bit. 382 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:00,440 And so there's a lot to love about working with a publisher 383 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:04,160 at Right and Right again. The people are what makes it 384 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:05,920 fun. And getting a free game and 385 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:06,720 getting to teaching. Games. 386 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,920 That's great. My first and only experience 387 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:13,320 working for a publisher on the Venter Hall floor was with Wise 388 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:15,360 Wizard Games. Yep, I remember. 389 00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:16,520 You talking about that? Yeah. 390 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:21,280 What was that, 2023? I don't, I don't know it it 391 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:23,160 seems like a long time ago. Yeah. 392 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:27,880 So like, I have this affinity for that company because of that 393 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:29,360 experience. So I get it. 394 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:31,880 Yeah. I would say my, so my favorite 395 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:36,200 thing, and in my mind, the biggest draw to Origins is also 396 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:38,440 my biggest criticism of Gen. Con as well. 397 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:42,320 So what I love about Origins is that you get a you get a true 398 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:44,600 vendor hall. Like it it's it's it's 399 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,040 legitimate. Yeah. 410 exhibitors. 400 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,280 That's amazing. And then you've got open gaming 401 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,400 right outside the vendor hall. That you don't have to pay extra 402 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:56,680 for. And a games library that is open 403 00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:59,840 to check out games. I mean, that is my absolute 404 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:04,600 favorite because that is what I miss at Gen. 405 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:07,880 Con. And I think Origins delivers in 406 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:10,320 a real way. And I love that. 407 00:20:10,360 --> 00:20:12,760 My wife would say that is probably her favorite part. 408 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:16,800 She loved the games library. We checked out four or five 409 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:20,120 games from the games library that we went into the vendor 410 00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:24,040 hall and purchased later because because we have to do that so. 411 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:27,400 Yeah, the games were there, an open gimmick, so oh God, they 412 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:30,000 were all play games. Panda, Panda. 413 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:34,480 OK and Mountain Goats is because we demoed it. 414 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:37,080 A word Z because we played. Where we played that. 415 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:40,440 We did, we played where it's E she loved it so we bought it. 416 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:43,240 I can't remember. There were a lot of it feels 417 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:47,760 like All Play was the dominant publisher of games that we 418 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:51,280 played a lot of at Origins this year. 419 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:54,680 And you know, I don't know if you noticed this just in general 420 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:57,520 at different conventions, whether it's Tantrum Con, 421 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,600 whether it's Tennessee Game Days, whether it's Origins Gen. 422 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,520 Con, whether wherever you are, there always seems to be 1 423 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:08,040 publisher that kind of comes to the top in terms of the games 424 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:10,880 that you play, right? When you play, when you play. 425 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:13,240 And it seemed like all play this year. 426 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:15,440 And that probably had to do with the fact that we had several 427 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,560 friends doing demos at all plays. 428 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:20,920 Yeah, tables. And that that was helpful. 429 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:25,560 Well, I think that and they had about a bajillion demo tables 430 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:26,880 that they're booth. Yes. 431 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:31,360 I was talking to Joe, one of the all play guys, during Wednesday 432 00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:33,880 setup time and I was like, hey, man, like how's it going? 433 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:35,960 You guys about done? He said, yeah, and he had this 434 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:37,080 concert. Look at his face. 435 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:40,520 He said the problem is, is we make a map and we set all the 436 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:43,320 tables up and then we say how can we fit about 10 more? 437 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:47,000 And they did. They had them crammed in there. 438 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,400 So I think you know one, they had so many tables for demo, but 439 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:55,360 they've also been cranking out games a ridiculous pace. 440 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:59,480 And they're all they're not all hits for me typically not that 441 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,400 they're bad games. I think they're usually solid 442 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:04,280 dreams. Yes, they're just not all 443 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,640 something I want to on in my collection. 444 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:11,760 But they're also quick to pick up, yes, easy to learn and they 445 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,640 don't take long to play. And so I think they're like kind 446 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:17,640 of that perfect convention game. Yeah. 447 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:33,440 Right. Yes, I agree. 448 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,520 They are pretty fantastic individuals and they seem to 449 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:47,360 treat their their demo, their contract workers on the vendor 450 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:50,400 floor well. At least that's what I have 451 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,000 noticed and I like that. I like that a lot. 452 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,040 So kudos to all play and keep it, keep it going. 453 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,160 You know, but we played a few other games, too. 454 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,080 We played well, you and Katie and Kyle and I. 455 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:04,200 We played Word Z and Chomp. Chomp. 456 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,560 And then Kyle and I played Vegas Strip, which we both really 457 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:10,520 liked. And while there are two player 458 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,040 rules, I don't think it's intended to be a two player 459 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,200 game. So we both were like, I want to 460 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,240 play this with more players. Yeah, which I've heard somebody 461 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,080 say 4 is kind of the sweet spot. It plays up to six. 462 00:23:21,120 --> 00:23:23,600 But neither of our wives would enjoy the game. 463 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:25,720 So it's like we may never get to try it again. 464 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:29,320 But so I think I don't think there was another all play game 465 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,320 that we played. I think it was those three. 466 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:34,400 I'm going to look at my stats and make sure. 467 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:37,680 Yeah, do that and tell everyone what other games you and I 468 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:39,240 played, because I can't even remember. 469 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:41,720 Remember Chomp? I think it was just those two. 470 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,000 I think that's always you sat with us for a while. 471 00:23:45,120 --> 00:23:48,640 We did one day, but I think that was all that we got to play 472 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:51,960 together. OK, you and Kyle got to play 473 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,600 Rococo, yes? So I've dedicated an entire 474 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,920 episode to this. So anyone listening, you can go 475 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:01,400 back and listen 1 of Gareth's favorite games. 476 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:04,480 You liked Rococo, didn't you? Didn't you like it at the end? 477 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,120 I thoroughly enjoyed that. Kyle didn't like it as much as 478 00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:11,880 he anticipated. He has this problem where when a 479 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:15,560 game gets talked about and he sets expectations for it. 480 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:17,600 I mean, we all are guilty of this. 481 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:19,040 I'll say that because I've done the same thing. 482 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:21,880 Sure. He had his expectations a little 483 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:25,000 high for that game and they didn't quite live up to it. 484 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:27,720 OK. And it's funny that we're having 485 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,040 this conversation because he and I had a conversation earlier 486 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:33,760 today on the phone for a while and we talked about Rococo. 487 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:37,760 He loves Eagle Griffin games. He's a huge Vital Lacerta fan, 488 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:41,600 and his biggest gripe was his biggest gripe was one of the 489 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,720 things that I liked the most about it. 490 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:48,120 So it's funny is that it has the box size, it has the artwork, it 491 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:52,000 has the componentry and the look and feel of a Vital Lacerta 492 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:57,000 game, but it's just a step down enough in complexity that it 493 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:02,160 just doesn't hurt. Yes, and he I liked that. 494 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:06,600 I do enjoy a Vital Lucerda game on occasion, but I appreciated 495 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:11,000 how I it still gave me similar feels while just not being 496 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,680 impossible to succeed at. But that was his biggest 497 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:19,000 downfall of the game in his mind, was he would rather play a 498 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:20,800 Vital. He would rather the extra 499 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:24,320 complexity, sure. And I think he anticipated it 500 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:26,000 being a little more complex than it was. 501 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:29,560 And it just didn't quite hit for him as well as it did for me. 502 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,840 But I liked it and I can't wait to play it with Caitlin and 503 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:34,840 yeah, potentially own it at some point. 504 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:37,920 It is, it is truly a worthy game. 505 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:42,000 I agree with your assessment. So it it, it has the look and 506 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:46,120 the feel of a lacerda, but it's not so burdensome, right? 507 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:47,360 It. That's a great word. 508 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:49,680 Burdensome. It is really important. 509 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:53,840 I have said this on so many occasions on this show. 510 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:56,040 Almost every time in a conversation, I say this. 511 00:25:56,160 --> 00:26:01,960 You've got to embrace the theme because the theme really informs 512 00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:04,960 the gameplay. In particular this game, right, 513 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,000 Because it's a the whole idea of is that you're the dress 514 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:11,040 designer, so you need your lace, you need your thread, you've got 515 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,200 to purchase fabrics. You're going to, you know, I 516 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,040 mean, you played the game, but it and I've talked about an 517 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:18,840 entire episode Gareth and I did a couple years ago. 518 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:21,640 It's so good. It is so good. 519 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:26,920 I really feel as though I'm immersed in that French period 520 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:30,000 of fashion design, you know, and I like that. 521 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:31,640 I like that a lot. It was cool. 522 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:32,920 Let's go. What? 523 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:37,800 What else did you play, Excuse me, that you really enjoyed? 524 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:40,040 You got to give your stats. So I'm going to give my stats 525 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:45,120 real quick because I am an avid BG stats user. 526 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,120 My wife likes to give me a hard time that it's my hobby within 527 00:26:48,120 --> 00:26:50,320 the hobby. Kyle and I got into Columbus 528 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:53,480 Monday evening and got to spend Tuesday playing games, and then 529 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:56,400 we play games at the hotel at night after we got back as well. 530 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:01,880 And so over the course of that Monday to Sunday, I'm making 531 00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,760 sure that I don't have anything extra in here that shouldn't be 532 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,880 here. I logged 56 plays. 533 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:11,040 Yeah. Of 43 different games. 534 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:15,600 Wow. 32 were new to me. Wow. 535 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:20,840 And my favorite game that I played that entire week was one 536 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:24,120 that he brought from home. And I think you'll understand my 537 00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:26,160 feelings on this. But we played it at the hotel 538 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:28,440 because we didn't want to take the time down to play it at the 539 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:30,840 convention. And it was the galactic cruise. 540 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:36,080 Yeah, that game is phenomenal, and it's another one similar to 541 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,680 Rococo. It gives me Lacerta Field. 542 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:42,760 I would say it's a little step up from Rococo, but still not 543 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:45,760 quite as burdensome. I liked that word. 544 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:49,240 You're welcome. As a typical Lacerta game, yes. 545 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:53,120 And ever since we played it, I have wanted to play it again and 546 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:55,680 it's one that I would love to own at some point. 547 00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:00,080 Mm hmm. Budget being a thing, that is a 548 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:03,120 huge hindrance there. But also I can't pay the kind of 549 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:05,840 money for that game without Caitlin playing it and liking 550 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:07,760 it. So I need her to play it and 551 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:11,160 then we need some Christmas money and maybe we'll get a copy 552 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:13,720 at some point. But that game was great. 553 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:15,600 It was so good. Here's what. 554 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:17,960 I'm hearing from all that. Here's the take away. 555 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:24,840 You and Caitlin need to come stay here for a weekend or a day 556 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:27,200 before Gen. Con on your way to Gen. 557 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:30,640 Con and we could play Rococo, Angle and Cruise. 558 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,560 See, the problem is, is we'll be going to Gen. 559 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:37,000 Con from Louisiana, OK? And so that would be 560 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:39,080 considerably up. Wait. 561 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:43,400 Well, I mean, it's straight up I-55. 562 00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:46,400 I'm just saying it's. A little. 563 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:47,760 I don't know. We'll see. 564 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,400 We'll see what we can do. But yeah, that's what you need 565 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:54,200 to do because, because then we can introduce that, introduce 566 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:56,160 Caitlin to games that you've gotten to play. 567 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:59,920 And if she loves it, and I understand that if the wife 568 00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:01,360 loves it, then you're going to love it too. 569 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:02,880 You're going to get to play it all the time. 570 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,920 So I get it. Galactic Cruise is amazing. 571 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:07,800 It was fantastic. We. 572 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:11,960 Purchased the small box expansions and the deluxe bits 573 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:14,200 from Kenton Keys booth at Origins. 574 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:16,640 Yeah. So they're really. 575 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:20,280 Really nice dudes they. Are and I'm hoping to have them 576 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:22,040 on the show. Oh, it'll be cool sometimes 577 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:23,960 sometimes this year they were busy. 578 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:27,160 I gave them my card, I told them about the podcast and I'm like, 579 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:30,240 guys, I don't know, we'll see. Hopefully we'll hear from them, 580 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:31,800 but. I stopped in their booth real 581 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:34,560 quick one day just to because I had seen them. 582 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,640 They've been at Tantrum Con the past two years demoing Galactic 583 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:40,600 Cruise, and every year I talked to him like, we're going to come 584 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:42,880 try it this year, and we've never had the time. 585 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:45,240 Yeah, we've. Well, we've never taken the time 586 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:47,600 to do it, all right? But it's hard, you know? 587 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,400 Sure. And so I told him, I said, you 588 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:52,320 know, we've seen you guys at Tantrum Con and I've had 589 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:54,560 intentions the past two years and I finally got to play it 590 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:56,840 this week and holy cow, this game's good. 591 00:29:57,080 --> 00:29:58,880 I wish I could buy it, but I can't right now. 592 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:02,800 And they gave me the the cockpit and the engine. 593 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:06,280 They're not enamel pins. They're acrylic, Yes. 594 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:08,320 And I was like, Oh my gosh, that's amazing. 595 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:10,560 And if you've played the game, you'll understand the joke. 596 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:12,360 And I'm a nerd. I laugh way too hard at it. 597 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,160 But they're like and. I already know what the joke is 598 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:16,960 because you're I know what you're going to say. 599 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:22,760 The engine and the cockpit are free and we have, what are they 600 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:25,080 called, rooms. Yeah, they're like the 601 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:27,960 compartments. Yeah, the rooms for the shuttle, 602 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:30,800 you can purchase those separately. 603 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:34,360 And if you've played the game, the cockpit and engine to start 604 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:38,400 a new shuttle are free, free. But you have to buy the rooms to 605 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:41,000 build out your shuttle and have space for your passengers. 606 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:43,280 That is right. I was like, Oh my gosh, that is 607 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:44,720 amazing. So. 608 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:49,360 So here's another thing, another strategy or tip for you if you 609 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:52,480 want to get Galactic cruise on a tight budget, and I'm speaking 610 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:55,960 from experience, is take some of the games on your shelf that you 611 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:59,040 haven't played in three or four years and sell them at your 612 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:02,600 local game store or, or at a consignment sale at Origins. 613 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:04,920 Yeah, Katie and I or. A virtual flea market. 614 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:09,240 Katie and I made over $300 in sales of the consignment sale at 615 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:11,800 Origins. See, I didn't even know the 616 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:13,800 consignment sale was a thing. So here's the tip. 617 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:17,360 If you go to Origins, there is a consignment sale that I don't 618 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:19,560 even know where it was John and Sarah. 619 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:22,600 I can tell you where it is. They're board gaming duo on 620 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,680 Instagram and they're friends that we've had on mine that we 621 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:28,720 hang out at conventions now. They did it and they did pretty 622 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:32,760 well, but they said it was like off the path and not super 623 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:35,360 convenient to anything else at the convention, which is a 624 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:39,840 bummer. But but yeah, I wish I had known 625 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:42,560 about that because we definitely would have gone through it. 626 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:46,360 I didn't have anything that I was ready to put in it yet 627 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:50,760 because between tantrum con and token con, shout out to my local 628 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:53,040 Oklahoma City con. We sold everything that was on 629 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:55,720 our coal pile at the time. And they go. 630 00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:00,480 Not quite so. Katie and I, because we try to 631 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:03,760 play our entire collection a minimum of once every year. 632 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:07,840 Yes, right now. Right now we're at 69.8%. 633 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:10,800 That's insane. We tried to do that last year 634 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:14,560 and we failed, so we turned it into play it all in two years. 635 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:17,480 That's fair. And we're still at 71%. 636 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,640 Well, but I think your collection is bigger than. 637 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:24,440 Mine it could be, you know. You know. 638 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:26,520 I don't know. You got a big collection too. 639 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:28,120 I got to see it last year in person. 640 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:31,800 It's not small. No, but we try to hover at about 641 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:35,640 200 to 300 games. We're right there in that range, 642 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:39,040 you know, we don't want to exceed 300 because that's just, 643 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,280 it's just too many games. Too much play, Yeah, agreed. 644 00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:44,440 So we sold a bunch of games at our local game store here in 645 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:49,080 Springfield and use the store credit to buy the base game of 646 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:50,800 Galactic Cruise. Nice, that's cool. 647 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:54,080 And all we had to do was buy the upgraded bits and the two 648 00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:57,080 expansions at Origins. So I basically had the whole 649 00:32:57,080 --> 00:32:59,880 Kickstarter for a lot less. There you go. 650 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:02,920 Except for that neoprene mad. I have to say I'm not a big fan. 651 00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:08,880 Really I have only played on the neoprene mat, so I'm curious as 652 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:12,000 to. Well, yeah, I don't like the 653 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:16,000 holes in the neoprene mat. See, that's why Kyle, I was 654 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,640 surprised he brought it because he doesn't typically love 655 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,880 neoprene mats for games. But he brought it and I said, 656 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,320 are we using the mat? And he said yeah, and that's why 657 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:27,640 he liked it is because of the holes that yeah, set and hold 658 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,160 the things. I don't like it. 659 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:32,080 I don't think it rolls up very well. 660 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:33,320 It's. That's fair. 661 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:36,000 I love neoprene mats. I just think it could have done 662 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:40,960 without the holes or make the board dual layer so that things 663 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:43,000 fit and you save the but that's OK. 664 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:44,800 That's another. That's an entirely different 665 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:46,000 conversation. That's all different 666 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:47,080 conversation. We're off track, yeah. 667 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:49,440 Oh yeah, that's OK. Yeah, I think y'all wanted to 668 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:51,280 hear about origins, right? Is that what we're here to? 669 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:54,160 So that was my favorite game that I played throughout the 670 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:55,320 week. OK. 671 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:59,920 And again, it was at Origins, but not technically at the 672 00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:01,480 convention, but they were there so it counts. 673 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,440 Oh yeah, and. There were a lot of people 674 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:07,320 buying that game and there were a lot of people playing it in 675 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:10,880 the gaming area. Now I will say that open gaming 676 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:13,040 area, I want to give a special shout out. 677 00:34:13,159 --> 00:34:16,560 I have no clue if he listens to your podcast or not, but Kevin, 678 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:20,120 also known as Berkey from Game Toppers, partnered with Origins 679 00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:24,040 and made game mats. Not only Origins branded game 680 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:28,199 mats, but game mats for the specific tables that the 681 00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:31,400 Convention Center puts in the open gaming area because they 682 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:35,360 are oddly shaped, they are long and they are skinny. 683 00:34:35,639 --> 00:34:39,080 Yes. And those mats made playing 684 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:42,840 games in that hall so nice. And I say that because most of 685 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,679 the conventions we go to are more you check out games and 686 00:34:45,679 --> 00:34:47,600 play them. That's there's the exhibitor 687 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:49,360 hall. If it's there is a minor focus, 688 00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:53,840 but you're there to play games and hotel and Convention Center 689 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:57,400 tablecloths aren't the greatest, especially for games. 690 00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:01,440 And they get crummy and dirty. And by the end of the weekend 691 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:03,960 it's, you know, you're like shaking them out to be able to 692 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,280 play a game on it. And these Matt, I mean, they 693 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:09,360 were just, they were so nice. And murkies are really special. 694 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:13,880 He's a great dude and he and I had a really cool personal 695 00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:16,480 moment at the end of the convention that almost left me 696 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:18,320 in tears, so I won't get into that story. 697 00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:21,880 But if you've never gotten to meet him and talk to it, if 698 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:25,240 you're at a convention where he is at, he is somebody you need 699 00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:27,280 to talk to and become friends with because he's just a 700 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:29,920 genuine. Well, challenge accepted because 701 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:32,440 it sounds like it. And yeah, those mats were 702 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:34,560 amazing. And I mean, he makes, I mean, 703 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:36,080 their company makes incredible products. 704 00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:39,000 They're very good quality. And so, but yeah. 705 00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:42,040 I want to talk about Tavern Wire games. 706 00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:44,760 We check out their booth. So they've got a game that's 707 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:47,320 going to be launching on Kickstarter later this month. 708 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:50,800 It's called Vine. And they were selling, Yeah, 709 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:53,960 they were selling like it wasn't really prototypes. 710 00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:55,840 It was, I don't know how to describe it. 711 00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:58,800 It feels like a prototype but basically they were selling like 712 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:01,520 these pre made copies of the game. 713 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:04,600 I saw. I saw that box somewhere. 714 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:06,440 I had to look it up so I knew. What you're talking? 715 00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:10,640 And so it's a tile laying game where you draw 2 tiles from the 716 00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:13,160 bag and you're creating a vine, right? 717 00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:16,680 And so you take one of the tiles and you put it on your vine. 718 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:20,240 So you're growing your vine and then you give the other one to 719 00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:23,920 an opponent who has to take it and put it on their bind. 720 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:27,560 And then the play continues cool around and you're trying to grow 721 00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:31,400 beans and you get victory points for the number of beans that you 722 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:34,200 have and you can harvest them and that's how you get the 723 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:36,000 points. It's a really great game. 724 00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:38,880 And it comes in this beautiful green velvet bag. 725 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:43,560 And the bag is what yes, it is. It's really incredible. 726 00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:49,240 And I'm hoping I got to talk to both Bobby, the designer and 727 00:36:49,240 --> 00:36:51,520 David. I can't remember David's last 728 00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:53,880 name, but he's like the great. He's like the art artist of the 729 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:54,720 game. Interesting. 730 00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:59,320 So he's pitching the game to my wife and I and does not mention 731 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:02,320 that he's the artist at all. Like he's just like, I thought 732 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:06,000 he was a contract worker. So so we we listen to the demo, 733 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:08,320 hear the pitch, then I'm like, hey, I really, they're like, 734 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:10,320 well, the designers over here. And I'm like, I really want to 735 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:11,760 talk to him. I want to get him on the show 736 00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:15,680 because this game is so cool. And then when I finally get to 737 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:19,280 talk to him, he tells me that David was the artist. 738 00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:21,880 And so I ran over the David and gave him hell. 739 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:24,360 And I'm like, why didn't you tell me that you were the artist 740 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:26,640 of this game? You got to talk that up because 741 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:29,880 this game is worthy. So I want to mention that be on 742 00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:34,600 the lookout for the Vine by Cavern Wire Games. 743 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:40,720 You can find that cavern Cavern Cavern Wire games on Instagram. 744 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:43,360 It looks neat. It's pretty cool. 745 00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:45,440 That was a great moment for me as well. 746 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:46,960 So I really enjoy talking to them. 747 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:50,080 And, you know, yeah, so I did a lot of networking this year. 748 00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:53,120 That just kind of the interesting thing about being a 749 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:59,160 podcaster as opposed to your typical, not normal, typical 750 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:02,880 standard content creator. A lot of my friends who are 751 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:06,240 content creators on Instagram and other social media, they 752 00:38:06,240 --> 00:38:09,040 schedule a lot more meetings. They have more pitches. 753 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:13,120 Being a podcaster, it's really more about relationships and 754 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:18,400 it's more organic and Origins just really fit that well and 755 00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:22,720 gave me the opportunity to continue to nurture 756 00:38:22,720 --> 00:38:25,640 relationships that I already have established and establish 757 00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:28,360 new ones and I really enjoyed that probably more than 758 00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:29,840 anything. That's cool. 759 00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:31,600 Yeah, yeah. We didn't get a check out a lot 760 00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:33,800 of the smaller booths, unfortunately. 761 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:36,000 We did have a lot of fun demoing some games though. 762 00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:42,680 We spent a lot of time in the Hachette group and we demoed 763 00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:47,080 quite a few games, which if you were there or familiar with 764 00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:49,240 Hachette, it's a lot more than just them. 765 00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:53,400 They've got a whole list of companies that they usually have 766 00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:59,400 smaller publishers that they're they're demoing and selling for. 767 00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:04,440 They had one of the favorite games that I demoed was Pina 768 00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:06,320 Colada Ice. I don't know if you've gotten to 769 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:09,000 play that one yet. You know anything about that 770 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:11,080 one? I mean, I'm, I'm aware that it. 771 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:15,960 Exists so #1 the theme is random and cute, it doesn't really 772 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:20,400 matter at all but I grew up our family played Yahtzee all the 773 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:23,680 dadgum time and I. I will still play a game of 774 00:39:23,680 --> 00:39:27,280 Yahtzee to this day, but at its core pina colada I says Yahtzee. 775 00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:31,920 You get 3 rolls on your turn, but the role objectives will 776 00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:35,280 vary game to game. And there's this grid of 4 by 4 777 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:39,480 cards laid out on the table that have various role objectives. 778 00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:44,240 So two pair or three of a kind, four of a kind, a full house, a 779 00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:46,920 straight, you know, so and, and they're kind of a mixture. 780 00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:50,120 Some of them have specific numbers like you need 2 twos and 781 00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:53,200 two fours or all evens, all odds, you know. 782 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:55,440 And so at its core, it's got so you're trying to hit those 783 00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:57,840 objectives. If you hit an objective, you get 784 00:39:57,840 --> 00:39:59,520 a place one of your player pieces on it. 785 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:03,160 And the player pieces are all various drink shaped glass like 786 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:06,800 glasses that you would find, you know, a pina colada or a mojito 787 00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:10,000 or a beer. So why in Cosmopolitan Martini, 788 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:13,400 those types of glasses, so like each player has a unique shaped 789 00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:16,240 glass that is their pieces that are their pieces whatever. 790 00:40:16,920 --> 00:40:19,720 And if you complete one of the objectives for the first time, 791 00:40:19,720 --> 00:40:22,040 you're going to place one of your glasses on it and you score 792 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:24,800 the points for it immediately. Some of the objectives have 793 00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:27,480 multiple spots to claim. Some only have one. 794 00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:30,560 And now the goal of the game is either to be the player with the 795 00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:33,800 highest amount of points when somebody has placed all of their 796 00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:38,880 all six of their glasses, or if you can manage to connect 4, 797 00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:42,880 essentially claim 4 objectives in a straight line, horizontal, 798 00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:45,760 vertical diagonal, you win the game immediately it's over. 799 00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:49,840 And so it just, it was an interesting challenge and I got 800 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:52,560 real close and couldn't roll what I needed to get it. 801 00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:54,760 But but it was really interesting because by the end 802 00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:58,280 of the game, you later rounds you're seeing, OK, well, they're 803 00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:01,560 getting close and I need to block them, but I also need to 804 00:41:01,560 --> 00:41:03,920 roll this objective over here so I have a chance. 805 00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:06,440 And so while its core is Yahtzee, there was a lot more 806 00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:10,240 strategy. It was just it was really, it 807 00:41:10,240 --> 00:41:12,160 was really enjoyable. So that one was fun. 808 00:41:12,200 --> 00:41:15,520 I think the second the game that surprised us the most, and I'm 809 00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:19,280 speaking a little for Kyle here because sometimes he loves games 810 00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:20,600 like this and sometimes he doesn't. 811 00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:23,440 It's like Kyle is here on the pile. 812 00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:26,800 It's like he's here. Have you tried Beeno? 813 00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:29,560 No. Okay, so Beeno is it's been 814 00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:33,360 around longer than I thought it had and I've primarily seen it. 815 00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:38,360 Ryan from one board family talks about it online a lot and runs 816 00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:42,920 tournaments in the Atlanta area for Beeno and he and his family 817 00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:45,960 are huge fans of it. Well, they had a booth there and 818 00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:48,880 the last day toward the end of the hall hours, we snuck over 819 00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:50,920 there because I was like, we need to go try this because I've 820 00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:54,480 heard it's a lot of fun. It's so take Crocodile and air 821 00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:57,120 hockey and put them into a flicking game. 822 00:41:57,120 --> 00:42:02,320 So the board is a soccer field and you're flicking the ball 823 00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:04,400 trying to score a goal like air hockey. 824 00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:09,840 OK, but there's metal pegs that are set up in front of the goal, 825 00:42:10,200 --> 00:42:13,280 the net, and you've got to like flick it through and around 826 00:42:13,280 --> 00:42:17,320 them. And I mean, it's not, you know, 827 00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:20,240 it's not galactic cruise or AV Tel Lacerta game. 828 00:42:20,240 --> 00:42:23,960 But if you're a fan of of flicking games, dexterity games 829 00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:27,520 or you're a soccer fan, it's definitely one to check out. 830 00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:31,080 Because it was just, I mean, we were laughing and we were having 831 00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:33,480 so much fun with it. And the really interesting thing 832 00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:36,920 is if you seeing the board online so many times, I just 833 00:42:36,920 --> 00:42:40,080 assumed the edge of it was, you know, like a hard plastic or a 834 00:42:40,080 --> 00:42:41,360 wood or something. Sure. 835 00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:43,840 But it's like a, an elastic band. 836 00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:47,200 So you can like play the edge and try to, you know, bounce it 837 00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:48,760 off the edge. OK. 838 00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:53,000 So it's, it was a lot of fun. It was a really cool game and 839 00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:56,240 and I mean I figured it would be enjoyable to try, but we had way 840 00:42:56,240 --> 00:42:58,160 more fun with it than either of us expected. 841 00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:03,800 The game that we the first game we played in all of Origins. 842 00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:06,200 Not a new game by any means. We played bonsai. 843 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:11,240 That game is so good that. Game is a lot of fun, So good. 844 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:13,800 Like how did we not play this? Well, I know how we haven't 845 00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:15,120 played it. There's just so many games out 846 00:43:15,120 --> 00:43:17,160 there. Too many games, not enough time. 847 00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:20,880 But bonsai was the game that we started or with playing it at 848 00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:23,800 four players. And it was just this, I was 849 00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:28,040 like, this puzzle is amazing and there's so many ways to score 850 00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:30,240 when you're building out your bonsai tree. 851 00:43:30,240 --> 00:43:32,560 And I love tile placement, so I'm in. 852 00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:37,200 Yeah, that game was, that game was really incredible. 853 00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:39,640 And I was glad that we got to play that. 854 00:43:39,680 --> 00:43:40,400 So. Yeah. 855 00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:42,720 And we played that at Games Library. 856 00:43:42,720 --> 00:43:43,840 We played that at. Tantrum. 857 00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:48,840 Yeah. This past January, and I think, 858 00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:51,720 you know, we've played so many puzzly tile drafting, tile lane 859 00:43:51,720 --> 00:43:54,520 games like that, that after a while some of them all feel the 860 00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:57,200 same. But the cool thing about bonsai 861 00:43:57,200 --> 00:44:01,280 is there was like very little restrictions to how you created 862 00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:05,280 your bonsai, which number one thematically makes sense, but 863 00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:09,440 also it could look so stupid as long as you're having fun and 864 00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:12,400 scoring points, right? Like there's it's just because I 865 00:44:12,400 --> 00:44:16,240 think mine was all like super like, you know, wonky looking. 866 00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:19,160 But excuse me, I think the game was great. 867 00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:23,480 My bonsai tree only grew this way like it didn't grow up or 868 00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:24,800 out. It was like, I'm going to the 869 00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:26,000 right. Yeah, that's funny. 870 00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:27,760 I don't know what to say about that. 871 00:44:27,840 --> 00:44:30,680 So what are the things I do enjoy about Origins? 872 00:44:30,680 --> 00:44:33,120 Now this. This vendor is a Gen. 873 00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:36,920 Con and other conventions, but it's Queen games. 874 00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:40,160 OK. So Queen Games is the only 875 00:44:40,160 --> 00:44:43,520 vendor whose booth is not in the vendor hall. 876 00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:45,880 It's right outside the vendor hall. 877 00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:50,680 And it's brilliant because across from their booth or all 878 00:44:50,680 --> 00:44:53,960 the tables where they have their scheduled events, learn to plays 879 00:44:53,960 --> 00:44:56,920 and everything like that. And it's just amazing. 880 00:44:56,920 --> 00:45:00,120 And I'm a huge fan of Queen Games. 881 00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:03,000 In fact, we were reorganizing our shelves yesterday and we're 882 00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:04,880 like, I want all the Queen Games together. 883 00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:07,880 And so we managed. So how many Queen Games games 884 00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:10,800 games do you have? You know, that is a really good 885 00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:13,120 question and I'm going to turn around for just one second. 886 00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:16,400 I have 9 queen games OK in my do. 887 00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:18,960 You OK? So I'm curious, this has been a 888 00:45:18,960 --> 00:45:22,120 hot button topic OK the past couple years in the hobby. 889 00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:24,840 Do you have any of the Steffenfeld City Collection 890 00:45:24,840 --> 00:45:26,000 games? I have one. 891 00:45:26,440 --> 00:45:27,520 You have one. Which one do you have? 892 00:45:27,840 --> 00:45:29,880 I have Marrakech. I love Marrakech. 893 00:45:29,880 --> 00:45:31,360 That's my favorite one that I've played. 894 00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:33,960 Really good. Of that series, I know there's a 895 00:45:33,960 --> 00:45:36,880 lot of people that aren't the biggest fan of Queen games 896 00:45:36,880 --> 00:45:41,880 anymore because of a lot of major production issues and 897 00:45:41,880 --> 00:45:46,560 seeming lack of customer service care and follow up with those 898 00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:48,080 issues. And people have spent a lot of 899 00:45:48,080 --> 00:45:49,880 games on the Stephenfeld City Collection. 900 00:45:50,040 --> 00:45:52,880 Sorry, a lot of money on the Stephenfeld City Collection 901 00:45:52,880 --> 00:45:57,440 games and they've arrived with some major issues and the 902 00:45:57,440 --> 00:46:00,760 complaints and requests for replacements are often ignored 903 00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:02,120 and not heard. Interesting. 904 00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:02,880 It's. Interesting. 905 00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:06,080 I'm indifferent on Queen games. I don't own any of their games, 906 00:46:06,200 --> 00:46:08,160 I've enjoyed most of the ones I've played. 907 00:46:08,400 --> 00:46:10,680 But it's interesting hearing how much you like them as a 908 00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:14,160 publisher and all of the drama that I've read and heard from 909 00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:16,520 people online. So. 910 00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:19,760 So I think. I didn't know if you had any 911 00:46:19,760 --> 00:46:22,440 experience within that. And. 912 00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:27,400 Seeing any of that yourself? My my experience with Queen 913 00:46:27,400 --> 00:46:32,240 games is very pleasant. Also, it's a long relationship. 914 00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:36,280 OK. My wife when we were dating, 915 00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:39,120 right, And we just celebrated 16 years of marriage. 916 00:46:39,120 --> 00:46:40,960 Oh, happy anniversary. Yeah. 917 00:46:40,960 --> 00:46:42,440 That was back in April though, so. 918 00:46:42,440 --> 00:46:43,320 To be fair. Oh. 919 00:46:43,320 --> 00:46:46,120 Well, but yeah, happy. Belated anniversary so. 920 00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:49,160 She had queen games. She brought into the, you know, 921 00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:52,080 the marriage essentially. And so we've been playing. 922 00:46:52,080 --> 00:46:56,800 So I've been playing queen games since marriage 1617 if you count 923 00:46:56,800 --> 00:46:58,680 engagement and if you count dating. 924 00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:01,520 So for 18 years I've been playing Queen game. 925 00:47:01,520 --> 00:47:06,040 They've been around for a while. A long time and so I just love 926 00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:08,280 their games and most of the games I have are old. 927 00:47:08,640 --> 00:47:12,160 You know, we picked up old London Bridge at the end of the 928 00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:14,560 weekend on Sunday. I haven't been. 929 00:47:14,560 --> 00:47:17,240 Super achieved, didn't they? They did, they did. 930 00:47:17,240 --> 00:47:19,160 And it's been around a while. It's been a game I've been 931 00:47:19,160 --> 00:47:21,760 eyeing for a long time, but I didn't really know a lot about 932 00:47:21,760 --> 00:47:24,440 it and I'm like, check it out. I think Katie and I have played 933 00:47:24,600 --> 00:47:28,600 like 5 or 6 times its Origins because it's just such a good 934 00:47:28,600 --> 00:47:33,920 game and good at two players. So that's a real, that's a real 935 00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:36,120 bonus. Again, my only experience with 936 00:47:36,120 --> 00:47:38,280 the city collection is Marrakech. 937 00:47:38,320 --> 00:47:40,000 I haven't you. Didn't backing on Kickstarter 938 00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:42,560 did. You I did not know so because I 939 00:47:42,560 --> 00:47:44,280 think a. Lot of the gripes come with the 940 00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:46,600 deluxe editions. Sure. 941 00:47:46,760 --> 00:47:50,880 And some of the stuff, yeah. And Kyle has gone in on a lot of 942 00:47:50,880 --> 00:47:53,000 those games and he's got some gripes. 943 00:47:53,000 --> 00:47:55,840 And I don't know, it's just interesting because they're 944 00:47:55,840 --> 00:47:58,040 still selling a ton of games at conventions, they're still 945 00:47:58,040 --> 00:48:00,800 running successful Kickstarters, and there's still people that 946 00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:03,200 really love their games, but there's a lot of people that are 947 00:48:03,320 --> 00:48:08,040 really angry right now. Well, I I that's interesting. 948 00:48:08,040 --> 00:48:10,040 I'm glad to hear that. So that's, you know, something 949 00:48:10,040 --> 00:48:12,240 to consider. I'm really hoping to get Rachel 950 00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:16,160 from queen games or one of another team member to come on 951 00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:18,560 the show because they've got a really interesting story. 952 00:48:18,560 --> 00:48:21,120 I'm not going to say much about it, but I learned it origin just 953 00:48:21,160 --> 00:48:24,440 about some of their successes and survival skills through 954 00:48:24,440 --> 00:48:27,400 everything that's going on and just I was I'm like, I need 955 00:48:27,400 --> 00:48:30,160 y'all to come on the show because this is this is cool. 956 00:48:30,320 --> 00:48:33,720 I think it's a great story worth telling because I hope, I hope 957 00:48:33,720 --> 00:48:36,960 that Rachel or one of her team is able to come on the show and 958 00:48:36,960 --> 00:48:37,880 talk about that, that. Would be great. 959 00:48:38,320 --> 00:48:40,720 So I was really excited about that and that was cool. 960 00:48:40,800 --> 00:48:43,760 Yeah, they had games. I played a new to me queen game. 961 00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:46,960 Oh yeah. At Origins, that was one of my 962 00:48:46,960 --> 00:48:49,720 favorite games that I played out of the library, OK. 963 00:48:50,200 --> 00:48:53,000 And that is the game that you've talked about and really enjoy. 964 00:48:53,120 --> 00:48:56,000 And we even talked about it at Origins, and that is Daba Walla. 965 00:48:57,560 --> 00:49:03,240 That game was so much fun, and they had some killer deals on 966 00:49:03,240 --> 00:49:06,320 their games. And I'm kind of in this place 967 00:49:06,320 --> 00:49:09,960 where I'm trying to not buy a whole lot unless I know that we 968 00:49:09,960 --> 00:49:12,400 like it or it's kind of a guarantee. 969 00:49:12,920 --> 00:49:19,480 They had it for $25, yeah, and I was so tempted to buy it, but 970 00:49:19,560 --> 00:49:22,960 somebody said that it's not the best at 2, and since my wife and 971 00:49:22,960 --> 00:49:25,920 I tend to do most of our gaming at two players, I decided not to 972 00:49:25,920 --> 00:49:28,040 buy it without her playing it. Sure. 973 00:49:28,440 --> 00:49:31,680 But I was tempted. But anyway, I really like Double 974 00:49:31,680 --> 00:49:34,080 Walla. That was one of my favorite 975 00:49:34,080 --> 00:49:35,760 games is that I played out of the library. 976 00:49:35,840 --> 00:49:39,400 We love Polyamino games. We have a ton, we play a ton. 977 00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:43,080 And I just thought the flow of the game was so unique and how 978 00:49:43,080 --> 00:49:45,920 you're stacking the tiles and I don't know, it was really 979 00:49:45,920 --> 00:49:47,320 interesting and it really stood out. 980 00:49:47,800 --> 00:49:49,480 And I was shifting. To my, but I decided not to. 981 00:49:50,000 --> 00:49:54,160 Now you and Caitlyn have to come over and add Baba Walla to the. 982 00:49:54,240 --> 00:49:56,360 So there's three games that. We have to play. 983 00:49:56,360 --> 00:49:58,840 Here's the problem. Sure, if we come, we have 984 00:49:58,840 --> 00:49:59,960 children. I got room. 985 00:50:00,040 --> 00:50:05,440 You can come to us too. I already extended that invite. 986 00:50:05,960 --> 00:50:09,720 I'll have our camper trailer set up and cooled off and ready. 987 00:50:09,720 --> 00:50:13,520 For you, you in fact did extend that invitation and. 988 00:50:14,120 --> 00:50:16,320 That's my ongoing offer with gaming friends. 989 00:50:16,320 --> 00:50:18,480 It's like, hey, we've got a camper in our driveway, you got 990 00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:22,080 somewhere to. Sleep, you know, so we've, when 991 00:50:22,080 --> 00:50:24,720 you stayed with me, we had the guest room in the basement. 992 00:50:24,720 --> 00:50:26,480 We've now moved everything upstairs. 993 00:50:26,960 --> 00:50:29,960 OK. So it's a lot easier on our 994 00:50:29,960 --> 00:50:33,360 guests and that that that creates that big room is now a 995 00:50:33,360 --> 00:50:35,440 space. So if your kids aren't wanting a 996 00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:38,360 game and they don't want to sit in the room with mom and dad 997 00:50:38,360 --> 00:50:41,240 playing board games, there's a whole room they can hang out and 998 00:50:41,440 --> 00:50:45,680 just do stuff. So we reconfigured the way our 999 00:50:45,680 --> 00:50:48,640 guests experience at the OOB hostel. 1000 00:50:49,840 --> 00:50:51,720 Hostel, yeah. That's great. 1001 00:50:51,800 --> 00:50:55,360 Well you know Springfield IL is not a destination, but by God 1002 00:50:55,360 --> 00:50:58,240 I'm trying to make it 1. Hey, it was a destination for me 1003 00:50:58,240 --> 00:51:00,360 last spring. Well, it's a great you're going 1004 00:51:00,360 --> 00:51:03,720 somewhere, it's a stop point, you know, it's a waste. 1005 00:51:03,800 --> 00:51:05,040 It made it. It made it great. 1006 00:51:05,040 --> 00:51:06,840 I was like, hey, what are you doing this night? 1007 00:51:06,840 --> 00:51:08,400 I'm driving through. You want to hang out? 1008 00:51:09,640 --> 00:51:12,080 I will feed you and play games with you. 1009 00:51:12,080 --> 00:51:13,920 That is what I will do. That's true. 1010 00:51:14,360 --> 00:51:15,520 And have a good. Conversation. 1011 00:51:15,800 --> 00:51:17,960 Absolutely. So, so yeah. 1012 00:51:18,080 --> 00:51:21,640 So is there anything else about Origins that you want to share? 1013 00:51:21,640 --> 00:51:25,240 I don't know. I'm still trying to parse my 1014 00:51:25,240 --> 00:51:29,280 thoughts of OK, I definitely think everybody should go to 1015 00:51:29,280 --> 00:51:31,880 Origins absolutely at least one time. 1016 00:51:32,000 --> 00:51:34,760 Yes, to experience it because like you said, it's such an 1017 00:51:34,760 --> 00:51:38,800 interesting middle ground between we usually try to go to 1018 00:51:38,800 --> 00:51:43,080 BG Spring and hopefully BG Fall usually every year because it's 1019 00:51:43,080 --> 00:51:48,520 three, 3 1/2 hours from us. Their shining star is the board 1020 00:51:48,520 --> 00:51:52,280 game geek library, which is just insanely massive. 1021 00:51:52,280 --> 00:51:55,280 I mean, I think, and I'll say Origins had a really big 1022 00:51:55,280 --> 00:51:58,000 library. BGS is like twice that size. 1023 00:51:58,040 --> 00:52:02,800 Sure, it's just massive. And so, you know, that con is 1024 00:52:02,800 --> 00:52:05,320 all about check them out, play them, check them out, play them. 1025 00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:07,880 You know, how many games can you get in a weekend? 1026 00:52:07,920 --> 00:52:11,520 Yes, the convention in Oklahoma City token Con is similar. 1027 00:52:11,520 --> 00:52:14,280 They don't have, I mean, it's it's a good sized library for a 1028 00:52:14,280 --> 00:52:17,240 small local 3 day convention. And they're always changing it 1029 00:52:17,240 --> 00:52:18,800 out every. That's the interesting thing 1030 00:52:18,800 --> 00:52:21,200 with them is it's different every year that they don't just 1031 00:52:21,200 --> 00:52:23,760 keep adding to it. Yeah, they'll take some games 1032 00:52:23,760 --> 00:52:25,880 out, put some new ones in. They've always got good hot 1033 00:52:25,880 --> 00:52:29,080 games, but there's a small vendor hall there as well. 1034 00:52:29,080 --> 00:52:31,680 But it's you check games out and you play them like that's the 1035 00:52:31,680 --> 00:52:33,000 goal of that convention. I love it. 1036 00:52:33,000 --> 00:52:34,840 And then you've got and then you've got Gen. 1037 00:52:34,840 --> 00:52:36,800 Con. I think that's geek way too. 1038 00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:40,000 Primarily, yes. It's a library and it's a 1039 00:52:40,000 --> 00:52:42,520 library. Win, but it's play to win, yeah. 1040 00:52:42,520 --> 00:52:45,200 Yeah, play to wins is their thing, which is, I mean, it's a 1041 00:52:45,200 --> 00:52:47,280 similar idea, right? You check out a game, you play 1042 00:52:47,280 --> 00:52:49,640 it, you just hope you get to take a copy home you. 1043 00:52:49,720 --> 00:52:53,360 Got it buddy. And but then you've got Gen. 1044 00:52:53,360 --> 00:52:59,200 Con that while there is open gaming space available, there is 1045 00:52:59,200 --> 00:53:02,840 the library and Lucas Oil, but you have to pay for it, which. 1046 00:53:02,840 --> 00:53:05,360 Yeah. I have mixed feelings on that. 1047 00:53:05,360 --> 00:53:07,760 Whatever it is, what it is, they've got to pay to be able to 1048 00:53:07,760 --> 00:53:14,240 use the space. Yes, it's not cheap and but you 1049 00:53:14,240 --> 00:53:16,320 go to Gen. Con for the vendor hall, right? 1050 00:53:16,400 --> 00:53:20,040 Like that's that's why people go there's game releases, it's the 1051 00:53:20,040 --> 00:53:21,320 vendor hall. Same thing from what I 1052 00:53:21,320 --> 00:53:23,960 understand, Essen, it is a shopping trip. 1053 00:53:24,120 --> 00:53:29,920 And so Origins is right there in between where it's got a great 1054 00:53:29,920 --> 00:53:32,400 presence for both. And again, I know I started with 1055 00:53:32,400 --> 00:53:34,600 my negatives saying that there were some publishers I wish had 1056 00:53:34,600 --> 00:53:37,160 been there. There were still there were 1057 00:53:37,160 --> 00:53:39,920 still plenty of publishers to see there. 1058 00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:42,120 I mean you could have demoed games all day every. 1059 00:53:42,120 --> 00:53:42,720 Day. All day. 1060 00:53:42,800 --> 00:53:46,040 Still probably not demoed every game that was in the hall. 1061 00:53:46,040 --> 00:53:47,120 Yep. Absolutely. 1062 00:53:48,360 --> 00:53:50,520 So don't, don't mishear me there. 1063 00:53:50,520 --> 00:53:52,080 It still was a great vendor hall. 1064 00:53:52,080 --> 00:53:54,680 It just, I think I was expecting a little bit more than it was. 1065 00:53:54,680 --> 00:53:55,480 So that's, that's fair. That's. 1066 00:53:55,480 --> 00:54:00,360 Fair. So but then it had a good sized 1067 00:54:00,360 --> 00:54:03,200 library and it had open gaming and I loved that they were right 1068 00:54:03,200 --> 00:54:06,200 there next to each other. And so while I don't know that 1069 00:54:06,200 --> 00:54:09,080 Origins is going to be in every year for me, partially just 1070 00:54:09,080 --> 00:54:12,560 because of the time of year, the distance, I mean, Indianapolis 1071 00:54:12,560 --> 00:54:15,080 is hard to get to as it is. And then Origins two extra 1072 00:54:15,080 --> 00:54:16,520 hours. Right, right. 1073 00:54:16,880 --> 00:54:19,560 It's definitely one that I would like to go back to and it's one 1074 00:54:19,560 --> 00:54:23,280 that I recommend everybody try at least once because it hits 1075 00:54:23,280 --> 00:54:26,280 that sweet spot really well. And I think my favorite thing 1076 00:54:26,280 --> 00:54:30,880 just convention wise is I'll never forget. 1077 00:54:30,880 --> 00:54:32,520 I think it was the Saturday of Gen. 1078 00:54:32,520 --> 00:54:35,200 Con and Caitlyn and I were walking and I turned around to 1079 00:54:35,200 --> 00:54:37,240 look at something and I turned back and she's gone. 1080 00:54:37,920 --> 00:54:40,760 Because there's just, I mean, you're, you're here, right? 1081 00:54:41,160 --> 00:54:46,720 And you're packed in. You're shoulder to shoulder even 1082 00:54:46,720 --> 00:54:48,640 at its busiest. Origins was. 1083 00:54:48,640 --> 00:54:52,720 Not Origins was not like that. And while I don't mind that 1084 00:54:52,720 --> 00:54:55,480 briefly at Gen. Con because it's like there and 1085 00:54:55,480 --> 00:54:57,280 you can still get out of it easily. 1086 00:54:57,360 --> 00:54:59,720 And when we worked last time, and this time we're working the 1087 00:54:59,720 --> 00:55:02,160 morning shift so we don't have to fight the running of the 1088 00:55:02,160 --> 00:55:04,160 nerds, as they call it. Right. 1089 00:55:04,760 --> 00:55:07,360 That, I think that was the thing for me with Origins, is it hit 1090 00:55:07,360 --> 00:55:10,280 that sweet spot well. It never felt overwhelming. 1091 00:55:10,360 --> 00:55:12,760 It never felt daunting. Agreed. 1092 00:55:14,000 --> 00:55:16,920 And it was just so if, and that was a lot of people in that post 1093 00:55:16,920 --> 00:55:20,280 that I mentioned that Gen. Con was just too big and too 1094 00:55:20,280 --> 00:55:22,960 much for them. And Origins gave them a similar 1095 00:55:22,960 --> 00:55:26,200 exhibitor hall, but less people, less overwhelming. 1096 00:55:26,240 --> 00:55:29,360 And so if you struggle with social anxiety, you're Uber 1097 00:55:29,360 --> 00:55:34,560 introverted and you want to get that feel, Origins is, is one 1098 00:55:34,560 --> 00:55:36,440 that I recommend going to because you're going to get a 1099 00:55:36,440 --> 00:55:37,600 lot of the big name. Publishers. 1100 00:55:38,080 --> 00:55:40,680 You're gonna get a good gaming library and a chance to play 1101 00:55:40,680 --> 00:55:43,680 games, but you're not gonna be packed in like sardines at the 1102 00:55:43,680 --> 00:55:47,720 peak hall hours it is. It's less crowded and less 1103 00:55:47,720 --> 00:55:50,840 intense and but it's also. 60,000 less people. 1104 00:55:51,240 --> 00:55:54,000 So I mean it makes it's. True, it's true, but I, I would, 1105 00:55:54,000 --> 00:55:56,040 I would agree with that assessment completely. 1106 00:55:56,080 --> 00:55:58,880 Yeah, I think Origins hits the sweet spot. 1107 00:55:58,880 --> 00:56:02,800 It's perfect. It's a great way to kind of work 1108 00:56:02,800 --> 00:56:05,840 your way in and experience Columbus as well because it's a 1109 00:56:05,840 --> 00:56:07,040 great city. So yeah. 1110 00:56:07,040 --> 00:56:10,080 So Chris, thank you so much for sharing all of your experiences 1111 00:56:10,080 --> 00:56:11,560 and observation. I'm glad we got to hang out. 1112 00:56:11,560 --> 00:56:13,120 I'm glad we got to play games at Origins. 1113 00:56:13,360 --> 00:56:14,800 Absolutely. Good to see you again. 1114 00:56:14,800 --> 00:56:17,880 Guys. Remember to like and subscribe. 1115 00:56:18,120 --> 00:56:21,360 We are at 78 subscribers. We're trying to get to 100 by 1116 00:56:21,360 --> 00:56:23,400 October. So help me get there. 1117 00:56:23,400 --> 00:56:25,840 I'm not sure. Next, next week, episode 130 1118 00:56:25,840 --> 00:56:28,160 with Paul Solomon. We've got a few more things 1119 00:56:28,160 --> 00:56:30,120 coming up before Jen kind of Chris is going to come back. 1120 00:56:30,360 --> 00:56:33,000 You're going to come back and we're going to talk about Gen. 1121 00:56:33,000 --> 00:56:34,280 com. We're gonna we'll do our 1122 00:56:34,280 --> 00:56:37,200 comparison and that'll be great. So thank you once again. 1123 00:56:37,200 --> 00:56:40,680 And guys remember, be kind to each other and play more games.