1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,840 Welcome to Meatball to Meatball, uniting players around the 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:06,640 world, a 30 minute exploration of TJ and Gareth's four-game 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,480 experiences from across both sides of the Atlantic. 4 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:12,720 Each episode they share their thoughts and opinions on the 5 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:16,280 World of War games, including their favorite themes, games, 6 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:19,760 hot topics, and much, much more. Hello everyone, and welcome to 7 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,680 episode 96 of Meatball to Meatball. 8 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:28,200 This week it's Meatballs in the USA and PJI think for the first 9 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:31,360 time I may be mistaken, has chosen not to be with us. 10 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:34,360 He's got other things to do, which makes a change because 11 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:37,000 it's usually me. But we have Kristen Motts and 12 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:41,320 Laura with us to talk about all things gaming in the USA. 13 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:44,800 Hello, Kristen. Hi there, How are you? 14 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:45,880 I'm good. Thank you. 15 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:47,320 Thanks for joining us. And hi, Laura. 16 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:47,880 Sure. Hello. 17 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:51,240 We'd like to introduce yourselves a bit about what you 18 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:53,160 do, maybe your Instagram handle as well. 19 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,000 Sure. So I'm Kristen Mott. 20 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:02,560 My Instagram handle is at Family dot Board Gaming and I'm a board 21 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:07,560 game designer, mostly family weight games and I'm starting to 22 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,240 get into a little bit more medium weight games that I'm 23 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,600 designing. I love it. 24 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:18,760 I've been doing that four to five years now and on my 25 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,080 Instagram handle I typically just post about things that 26 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:25,480 we're playing. I'm not really doing reviews or 27 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,920 anything like that anymore. Just trying to, I don't know, I 28 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:30,880 just like posting. Share the World of War games. 29 00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:34,400 Yeah, I like interacting with people in the community, so 30 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,200 that's what I use Instagram for. Awesome. 31 00:01:37,320 --> 00:01:40,720 And Laura? I am obsessed with board games 32 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:45,680 on Instagram. I'm on TikTok and Facebook as 33 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:49,480 well, but do like minimal there. I'm so I'm primarily on 34 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:56,200 Instagram and I am doing all kinds of stuff because I have 35 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,160 little kids who like board games and my husband and I also play 36 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:01,960 board games. We're playing from kids games 37 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,120 all the way up to like heavy EUR and things like that. 38 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:10,160 So we share what we're, I share what we're playing and I also do 39 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:11,640 some reviews and things like that. 40 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:14,320 So that's what I do. That's amazing. 41 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:17,720 I think we'll get into the board game designs later, Kristen and 42 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,200 what you've been designing. Sure, but what? 43 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:24,280 So you both met PJ? Yes, So that's good. 44 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:28,560 So and you've met him at conventions, but what actually 45 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:29,760 got you into the board game hobby? 46 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,960 What was your first game? How did you get into the modern 47 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:37,960 world of board games? Well, for me, it was during 48 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:44,120 COVID and I had started my young or my oldest, he was six at the 49 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:48,000 time, and he wanted to just start playing games for whatever 50 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:49,400 reason. We found all the things we had 51 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:51,760 on our shelves. We played Candyland, we played 52 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:55,840 Monopoly, you know, everything that we had because we were not 53 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,400 into games at all. And so that was what we had. 54 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,680 And he wanted to start playing. And I was like, OK, so we played 55 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:04,320 a game every night and then he found this game. 56 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:06,600 This sort of leads into my first game, I suppose. 57 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,840 He found this game on our shelf called Dicey Peaks. 58 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:14,720 That's an older Calliope game, has a big Yeti on the cover, and 59 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,080 he wanted to play that. It's like, all right, so we 60 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:22,720 learned it and we played it, and he was six at the time and he 61 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,280 was playing it and I could see that he was making all these 62 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:28,480 decisions and he was enjoying it and thinking about what he had 63 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,160 to do on his next turn. And I thought, this is pretty 64 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:33,640 awesome. And so I thought I wanted to 65 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:37,240 sort of start using games as in our homeschool 'cause we 66 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:41,640 homeschool our kids. And so I did, and then I started 67 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:44,800 designing games for my kids. And it just sort of snowballed 68 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:46,760 from there 'cause then my husband and I started looking 69 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:51,240 into games for us that we could play and they would just never 70 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:53,960 looked back. Now we, you know, we have way 71 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,640 too many games and kids games, family games, everything. 72 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:00,120 I know that. What What game would you tell 73 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,120 you play with your partner? What sort of games? 74 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:08,160 He really likes heavier games. When he goes shopping for board 75 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:10,880 games, he has to actually physically pick up the box and 76 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:12,600 feel how heavy it is. Heavier. 77 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:17,920 And if it is not heavy enough, yeah, one of his players will. 78 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:19,519 Work out with this. Yeah, right. 79 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:21,680 Yeah, yeah. And if he picks one up and he's 80 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:24,720 like, well, it's too light. I don't know if you play that 81 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:29,400 one. He really likes Scythe and 82 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:34,080 Tapestry and he'll play any Stone Meyer game, but I really 83 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:38,560 like Puzzly, like I really like Dice Hospital and but we both 84 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,560 love Lost Ruins of our Neck. That's one of our favourites to 85 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,480 play together, so yeah. Awesome. 86 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:48,720 And then Laura, what got you into gaming? 87 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:50,680 How did you get into ball gaming? 88 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:55,440 I have always loved games. So I remember when I was a kid, 89 00:04:55,800 --> 00:05:01,000 you know, we had all the typical Monopoly, Boggle, Candy Land, 90 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:05,560 all that kind of stuff. But I also played games which 91 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:08,240 were also common, you know, easily accessible at the time, 92 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:12,720 Rook and Millbourne and other card games that were, you know, 93 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:16,480 not quite the typical ones that you would think of. 94 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,920 And I always loved playing, but I always had a horrible 95 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:23,840 attitude. But I lost my family, I don't 96 00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:25,360 think really liked playing with me much. 97 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,840 And you know what, It's understandable cuz the struggle 98 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:34,400 was real and now I'm getting it back tenfold with my own 99 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:35,920 children. But that's another story for 100 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:42,840 another day. But we so my husband and I, he 101 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:47,240 actually saw some ad for Return to Dark Tower. 102 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:53,320 OK, when it was coming back out and he decided to back it, I had 103 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:57,160 never heard, I mean at least as far as I was aware of. 104 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:00,400 I never had heard of crowdfunding games. 105 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:06,720 I was not at all aware of, you know, just the depth of modern 106 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,920 gaming as it is today. The, you know, most recent game 107 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,840 I had, like the newest game I had probably played at the time 108 00:06:13,840 --> 00:06:16,760 was Ticket to Ride and Settlers of Catan. 109 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:19,320 But that was back when I was in college and grad school. 110 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:22,320 So that was quite a while ago at this point. 111 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:29,080 And so it comes in, I think like right before COVID hit or 112 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:31,520 something really close to that time frame. 113 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,480 And we played it and I loved it and he loved it too. 114 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:41,560 And that kind of kick started us back into, OK, you know, we, we 115 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,480 want to share this together and like really dive deeper into it 116 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:50,720 because at that point, you know, stuck home with little kids 117 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:57,520 during COVID. And it really became a lifeline 118 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:00,600 for us. We started playing digitally. 119 00:07:00,840 --> 00:07:03,640 We played Gloom Haven with friends from Chicago. 120 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:10,040 We played through the whole entire thing through COVID. 121 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:14,840 And you know, during that time, we also started finding other 122 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:16,520 games. So Rolling Heights was the next 123 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,560 one that I found. Danny Standring influenced me. 124 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:24,240 She was the first person in the like world of the board gaming 125 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:26,800 community online that I found and watched. 126 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,280 And I ordered that. And immediately we were both 127 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:31,200 like, we'll love this game. This is amazing. 128 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:35,760 And that, that is what introduced me to the Instagram 129 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:40,720 board game community and how I found that it even existed. 130 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:44,880 Because I literally had no idea. Not not a single clue. 131 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:48,680 And the rest. Is the rest is history. 132 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:53,840 Life has changed dramatically in the past year and a half or so. 133 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,680 I think that reminds me because I think I got in CO2 cursor. 134 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:03,000 Our kids are about four and six and they've had far too much 135 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:05,840 time on like a device. So I've been into gamings like 136 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:09,800 Eulora from her early, early childhood and a little bit is 137 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,800 like DND maybe our Talisman Games Workshop kind of thing. 138 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:15,480 And those were like, let's get a couple of games. 139 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,040 And then suddenly you realize just how what's out there. 140 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,640 And we picked up Lords of Water Deep and my wife's not doing 141 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,720 that, but we sat down, did some research. 142 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:30,520 Seems like good for two player. And yeah, now, you know, we are 143 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:33,120 12 years later. I think it is roughly. 144 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:37,720 And, you know, the Instagram community, you know, talking 145 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,960 like this to fellow gamers around the world is, yeah, it's 146 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,960 so, so refreshed, I guess, just to talk to other people about a 147 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:45,280 similar hobby and similar passion. 148 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:49,000 So yeah, it is. It is. 149 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:53,520 You don't think really, I guess, from a ball game perspective, 150 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:55,600 getting into it and then, you know, unlocking these kind of 151 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,480 opportunities and what it's brought to us all through 152 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:01,760 friends and family and, you know, globally. 153 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:04,480 Oh yeah? What was your? 154 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,880 So we said you met, you've met PJ and you've met him at gaming 155 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,160 conventions. What's your first gaming 156 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:12,440 convention? How soon into hobby did you 157 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:16,680 start going out to games convention and where was it? 158 00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:24,920 So we started gaming and during the pandemic 2020 and then I 159 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:30,440 think Origins 20/21 was our first actual convention because 160 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:34,400 everybody still had to wear masks, the whole thing, they 161 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:36,520 were checking for vaccination records and stuff. 162 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:43,440 But yeah, Origins 2021 I think was my first and it was, it was 163 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:45,000 great. And at that time too, there 164 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:49,760 weren't very many people there. So it was very like you could 165 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:51,520 move around. Of course, Origins is different 166 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:54,440 than Gen. Con anyway as far as crowds, but 167 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:59,280 you know, it was pretty low crowds and we really enjoyed it. 168 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:03,320 It was just, it was our first one and just, you know, walking 169 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:07,080 up and down the the vendor hall and just seeing everything that 170 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,800 was available, it just sort of blows your mind the first time 171 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:13,600 that you see it all. It's like what? 172 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:16,480 This is all here. It's crazy. 173 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:20,480 And had you been to any events like that in any other hobbies? 174 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,000 Was that the first time you've been to a kind of a convention? 175 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:27,960 Yeah, no, I had never been to a convention for anything else, 176 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:33,480 but I I went and I was hooked. It's like, of course, this is 177 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:35,440 these are my people. This is where I believe. 178 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:36,320 These are my people. Yeah. 179 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:38,080 So yeah. It does feel like that. 180 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:41,120 I felt like I fit in finally. Definitely. 181 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:45,320 The first UK Games Expo after COVID was similar, you know, it 182 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:48,000 was half the size, everyone was in masks. 183 00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:51,440 But it's just great to get, I guess, get back with people 184 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:53,400 where you may have thought at one point, would this ever 185 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,720 happen again, right. Oh yeah. 186 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:57,320 So that was really good. What about you, Laura? 187 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:00,640 How long which conventions do you have you been to or do you 188 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:03,560 go to? It's crazy to think that last 189 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:08,440 year was my first convention. I went to Geek way to the West. 190 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:12,200 For the first time. And that's like 15 minutes down 191 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:16,240 the road from me, but we didn't even know about it. 192 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,680 We found out from my husband's Co worker at the time who 193 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:24,120 doesn't even live in the area anymore, but they were flying in 194 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:25,640 for it. And we were like, oh, a board 195 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:27,520 game convention. We've got to check this out. 196 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:34,160 And this is before I had my Instagram account and we went 197 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:37,720 and I was like, Oh my gosh, we played seventeen games in one 198 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:38,840 weekend. This is amazing. 199 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,960 And Geek Way is small like compared to these other like 200 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:46,520 Origins Gen. Con, Geek Way is small. 201 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:49,520 It has what, 2000 people there maybe. 202 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:54,520 It is very much about playing games. 203 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,960 There is a small vendor hall, but it is a drop in the bucket 204 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:00,920 of Origins, Pax U, Gen. Con. 205 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:07,640 So you are there to play games and hang out with people and 206 00:12:07,680 --> 00:12:10,560 maybe do a little bit of other things. 207 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:17,200 But, and I loved it. So we went from that to then 208 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:20,680 Gen. Con and I went to Gen. 209 00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:24,040 Con. I had had my Instagram account 210 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:29,440 last year for I think it was six days before I went to Gen. 211 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:33,520 Con and somehow I can't. PJ and I have different memories 212 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:37,960 of like who shared my account. I don't know who it was, I don't 213 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:42,400 know how it happened, but somehow PJ heard about me and 214 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:46,600 thought I was someone to know, even though I had literally just 215 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:50,160 Oh yes, I am. But not because I was anything 216 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:52,280 at the time. I mean, I was, I was brand 217 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:58,520 spanking new, had no intentions of doing anything big and just 218 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:02,520 it snowballed. So I, he made me run around Gen. 219 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:05,600 Con for about 30 minutes trying to find him. 220 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,760 He, he kept moving, he was literally moving through the 221 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:11,120 vendor hall. And if you've been to Gen. 222 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,880 Con, you know that it's like super gigantic and overwhelming. 223 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:18,080 And he literally would tell me where he was. 224 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,840 And then I'd, I'd show up and I'd be looking around and I'd be 225 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:22,880 like, I don't see Paige anywhere around here. 226 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:27,120 And so I finally tracked him down and then got to play games 227 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:31,040 with him and some other people later that night and met a 228 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:37,760 couple other content creators. And yeah, so that was my my 229 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:42,520 first two were teeny tiny geek way and then gigantic Gen. 230 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:48,080 Con. Very different experiences, but 231 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:51,240 both amazing, you know, on their own. 232 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:53,760 So I'm still kind of a newbie at the. 233 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:59,000 Well, I think I will do, Yeah. I met you for the first time at 234 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,480 PAX last year, right. It's. 235 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:07,520 Crazy to think that it was only last year because I feel it, it 236 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:13,720 really, this community really feels like my this is my 237 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:15,600 community. These are my friends. 238 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:19,560 Like I have seen I've I've now been with Kristen in person 239 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:27,120 three Times Now. I mean, and we're in with PJ, so 240 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,920 like it, it feels like my family and it feel it's become such a 241 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:36,560 gigantic part of my life that it is crazy to think that it's been 242 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:40,400 just a little over one year that I've even been a part of it. 243 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:44,360 So yeah, it's nuts in the best way possible. 244 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:48,240 Yeah, yeah. I think certainly through COVID, 245 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,960 the amount of connections that I made through that, you know, DM 246 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,960 chatting on DMS and we all met at UK Games Expo. 247 00:14:56,960 --> 00:15:01,160 And now, you know, we, I see these people sometimes at least 248 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:04,680 once a month, we're meeting up for small game groups and 249 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,440 they're life's on friends. That's, you know, they are, like 250 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:11,920 you said, they are our people. And yeah, it's, it's really 251 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:13,400 refreshing hanging out with people like that. 252 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:17,560 What's the, what's the best thing about going to convention? 253 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:23,600 Maybe Kristen as a designer. I mean, I love the atmosphere of 254 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:30,080 conventions, although I'm also an introvert and so being I love 255 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:32,880 being there, I love being with the people, but at the end of 256 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:38,000 every day I have to like crawl into my dark corner and be alone 257 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:42,160 and just recharge. But the best thing is the 258 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:45,520 people. I, I always still try to make 259 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:50,400 time to play games with friends, even though I end up spending a 260 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:52,640 lot of time in meetings and running around trying to pitch 261 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:56,120 my games and things like that, which I I love to do that too. 262 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:01,960 But just the people, I mean, in general, that's the best thing 263 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:04,760 about conventions. That's hands down. 264 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:06,880 Laura. Similar. 265 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:13,840 Yeah, I, I, I'm not going to say the same thing just because you 266 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:15,640 said it. Perfectly no. 267 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:17,920 No, no. I mean, I think, I think that's 268 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:19,920 what most people. Think so though, yeah? 269 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:24,680 Yeah, so I'll say something different and that that is, it 270 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:28,040 is so cool to me. Do you know when you're like up 271 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:31,520 in an airplane and you're looking down at the Earth and 272 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:35,520 you realize how tiny you are going into a place like Gen. 273 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:39,760 Con, you walk in and even when you think you. 274 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,720 I mean, maybe the people who've been in the gaming industry for 275 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:48,240 years don't feel this way, but I feel like, wow, there's so much 276 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:50,680 I didn't know was going to be here. 277 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:55,160 I have never seen before. There are so many new ideas or 278 00:16:55,160 --> 00:17:00,200 people coming up with just stories or worlds or, you know, 279 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:06,000 new types of gameplay or new art or I mean, there's just you, you 280 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:12,079 see that you are so tiny and that there is so much amazing 281 00:17:12,079 --> 00:17:19,040 creativity in the world. And I love that feeling of being 282 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:26,200 in awe of the people around me and, and honestly feeling like 283 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:28,560 look at all the amazing things in this world. 284 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:32,840 There are a lot of times where I don't feel that way at all in 285 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:34,960 life. And I can get, it's very easy to 286 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,720 get, you know, overwhelmed by the things that aren't so great 287 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:42,160 or nice or pretty and what not. And so to go to a place where 288 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:46,880 not only are you surrounded by amazing people, you're 289 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:49,640 surrounded by beauty and creativity. 290 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:56,040 And it's just the best. It's the best feeling to me. 291 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:00,000 That's such an excellent point. Awesome, awesome point. 292 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:04,280 Those things I've been to cons, there's always so much to see. 293 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:05,880 And these are like not even that big cons. 294 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:09,000 So I can imagine like I've not been to, we said earlier, I 295 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:10,600 haven't been to Essen, I haven't been to Gen. 296 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:14,600 Con and those are huge to try and take it all in and see it 297 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,040 all. You know, you're going to miss 298 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:20,360 something along the way. But there's just as I say, 299 00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:25,720 there's so much to see and do. But yeah, four days, he's never 300 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:27,920 enough. And I did the UKG in one day and 301 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:30,320 I think PJ did Jane Con in a day. 302 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,880 So it's even harder to fit all all of that in. 303 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:37,720 So that's really well explained. Really good. 304 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:39,320 You. Yes. 305 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,640 So Laurie, so you started as Instagram maybe 18 months ago. 306 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:44,640 How did you go? Did you think you were going to 307 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,800 get into content creation? It was 13 months ago. 308 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:52,320 And no, I had no idea. Unlike the parent who's like my 309 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:54,520 child is 13 months old, they're not one. 310 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:57,000 They're 13 months old. You're so proud. 311 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:04,240 No, I had no idea. I I had started posting on my 312 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,720 personal page because, you know, we're playing games and loving 313 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:10,960 them and thinking they're so cool and you know, how else how 314 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:12,800 else are people going to know about it unless you're sharing 315 00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:14,000 it? So I started sharing it and 316 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:18,400 people we're starting to respond to it. 317 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:21,240 And these are people that I haven't heard from in literally 318 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:27,640 at least one or two decades. And I was shocked at, you know, 319 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:30,440 the number of people who started responding. 320 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:34,080 And I thought, well, instead of posting on my personal page 321 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:36,840 everyday, I'm just going to go ahead and start an, an Instagram 322 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:42,160 page just dedicated to this. And so that's how that started 323 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,240 13 months ago and probably some days, who knows. 324 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:50,080 And yeah, it just really snowballed from there. 325 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:56,160 I had no idea that I that people would want to follow me. 326 00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:01,600 I had no concept of being a content content creator 327 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:05,280 whatsoever. I was just just creating to 328 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:07,920 share and in hopes of building connections. 329 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:12,440 And maybe meeting a couple new people. 330 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:17,880 And now I've met hundreds of new people and it's been the best 331 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,600 thing ever. Amazing. 332 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:25,400 And then do you do reviews or what's your, what's your primary 333 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:27,640 focus on content? Is it just posting to Instagram 334 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,960 or do you do reviews on Instagram or do you just share 335 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,200 what you're playing? It started as me sharing what I 336 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:37,840 was playing and I still do that. I have started receiving review 337 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:42,440 copies and so I do that has sort of altered my format some. 338 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:50,480 And so, yeah, I, I do reviews, I, I don't do one thing because 339 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:54,800 again, I'm, I have children, little children that are 5 and 340 00:20:54,800 --> 00:21:01,080 almost 7. And they, my youngest especially 341 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:06,760 loves to play games every day. The first thing he asks is will 342 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:09,560 I play a game with him? And it's non-stop all day long, 343 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:12,400 every day. No amount of games is enough. 344 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:17,040 And so I'm playing five year old games. 345 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:21,960 But then my husband and I really like heavy games and everything 346 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:24,600 in between. And so, you know, I'm posting 347 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:27,480 some about kids games. I'm posting some about good kids 348 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:30,960 games that parents will enjoy that aren't, you know, the ones 349 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:32,920 that get monotonous and boring all the time. 350 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,760 And then I'm also posting about other things. 351 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:42,200 I, I am posting about Kickstarters that are coming up 352 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:44,480 and games that are being released. 353 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:46,640 And so, yeah, I'm just kind of doing. 354 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:52,480 I'm an eclectic person and so my Instagram looks eclectic because 355 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:57,000 it just reflects me I guess. So obsessed with war games 356 00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,640 people need to follow if they haven't followed it already 357 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:02,520 within the last 13 months. Yeah, yes. 358 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:04,960 And then took. The hours. 359 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:09,200 And the hours, yeah. And then so Kristen, you're 360 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,840 you've gone from AI guess gamer, but more into the board game 361 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:13,800 design. Yeah. 362 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:19,240 Yeah, it was a journey there. So when I started my account, 363 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:26,680 which I think was in March of 21, I think, so I started it 364 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:30,600 because I wanted to know more about the world of kids board 365 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,600 games because I was really interested in how the 366 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:36,480 educational quality of some of these games and how we could 367 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,800 utilize them in our home school. And so that's really why I 368 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,040 started the account. I was going to research a bunch 369 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:44,680 of stuff and just see what was out there. 370 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,800 And then, you know, as my husband and I got more into 371 00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:52,400 games, I was following different people and different content 372 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:57,000 creators and seeing the plethora of what was actually out there 373 00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:58,800 and available. And we started playing games. 374 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:01,720 So then I started posting what my husband and I were playing 375 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:05,480 and stuff that I did with my kids for a little while. 376 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:08,040 I kind of got into reviews a little bit. 377 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:11,480 I, I've had some like smaller publisher send me stuff for 378 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:13,320 reviews, but I don't really do that anymore. 379 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,440 Mostly I, I don't really have the time for it, but I also feel 380 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:20,920 like it's a little bit of a conflict of interest. 381 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:24,080 It's like if I'm a designer, I don't, I don't really want to be 382 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:27,400 reviewing other people's games in a public format. 383 00:23:29,360 --> 00:23:31,640 So I don't really do that. And now I just really post about 384 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:35,480 what we are playing as a family, what my husband and I are 385 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:37,800 playing. And then I use it a little bit 386 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:42,080 to let people know about my designs that are coming out and 387 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,200 things like that. But it's, it's more for fun 388 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:49,640 because I like to just, you know, connect with the people in 389 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:53,000 the, in the industry and in the board gaming community, gamers 390 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:54,200 of all kinds. That's. 391 00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:56,720 One thing. About Kristen, one thing about 392 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:00,440 Kristen is that she's a very humble person and I and she 393 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,600 would never say that, but I will say it for her because I've met 394 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:06,200 her enough to know she's a very humble person. 395 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:09,720 So she's not using her Instagram to like hey everybody look at 396 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:15,360 this. Game. 24/7 But she's got great 397 00:24:15,360 --> 00:24:19,320 games already out there. She's got great games coming and 398 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:25,160 and so you also, no one should sleep on her, first of all, and 399 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:29,920 second of all that I mean, I, I want to say that is a reflection 400 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,200 of who she is. It's not because she's not 401 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,360 putting out good stuff. It's not because it's not worth 402 00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:39,040 your time or that she's not proud of it. 403 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:45,160 It's just she is. She's she's the quality, quality 404 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:48,640 Humblura real deal. That's so nice of. 405 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:50,480 You I mean that. Yeah. 406 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:54,520 And so you kindly sent us a copy of Sharks, I think about six 407 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:56,280 months ago. So that's a copy in the UK. 408 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,120 We played that as a family and you can see that definitely 409 00:24:59,120 --> 00:25:00,600 works. You know the family were into 410 00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:04,360 games, but you've got a game going live this Tuesday. 411 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:06,920 Which is. Insectarium. 412 00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:09,040 Insectarium. Do you want to tell us a bit 413 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:10,960 about that? Because you should. 414 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:14,200 Sure, I'll tell you. Yeah. 415 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:16,680 So it's it's going live on Tuesday. 416 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,040 It's published by Snow Bright Studios. 417 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:24,960 And it's just a nice family weight puzzle game where you are 418 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:28,440 pinning insect specimens into your display board, something 419 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:29,920 like what you would find in a museum. 420 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:33,520 And so the idea is you want to have the most precisely laid out 421 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,560 board that's going to be put into the the main hall of the 422 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:40,200 Insectarium. And so you're it's got a little 423 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:44,560 bit of drafting, it's got a little bit of special abilities, 424 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:48,200 and it's only 9 turns. And so you're filling your three 425 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:51,560 by three grid with these insect specimens and you get to decide 426 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,120 how you're going to score them. So based on the tokens that 427 00:25:55,120 --> 00:25:56,960 you're drawing, you get to decide how you're going to score 428 00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:59,960 each row and column. There's also another way to 429 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:04,640 score bonus points and bonus abilities within the game, but 430 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:09,880 it plays in about 1/2 hour. It's it's that type of game is 431 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:13,400 sort of the game that I like to play as a gamer where it's very 432 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:15,760 puzzly. You're making your board and you 433 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:18,600 have this nice thing to show for it when you're done. 434 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:22,560 But yes, it's going to be on Kickstarter on Tuesday. 435 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:29,160 It's there's also going to be a deluxe component add on which I 436 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,120 have never had for one of my games before. 437 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:33,240 I'm so excited. It's going to come with little 438 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:37,240 bug minis and these resin tokens, so. 439 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:39,560 Just looking at the artwork is stunning. 440 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:44,440 It really it's thematically that pinning insects into your frame 441 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:48,200 It it is beautiful. Meg did the artist, she did an 442 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:54,240 amazing job and when we so I got to make a lot of the decisions 443 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:57,160 with Snow Bright, which isn't really typical for a designer, 444 00:26:58,240 --> 00:26:59,560 for a designer publisher relationship. 445 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:02,920 But I got to pick out the artist and like I get to meet with her 446 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:06,080 and tell her sort of exactly what my vision of it was. 447 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:12,400 And we wanted it to look like my original vision for it was to 448 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,640 look like in the footsteps of Darwin kind of that academic 449 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,120 style. And so it's sort of evolved a 450 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:22,080 little bit from there, but just we wanted it to be sort of 451 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:25,320 muted, but with the insects to have these really bright, 452 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:29,760 vibrant colours that would stand on stand, you know, off the 453 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:30,680 cards. And you could. 454 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:33,480 Yeah, see, very well. Yeah, I was just going to say 455 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:35,920 that I love how it turned out the insects really pop off the 456 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:37,760 cards. Yeah, they really stand out. 457 00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:40,200 Have you played this Laura yet? Or have you? 458 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:41,440 I have not. I got to. 459 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:44,360 I got to learn it from the designer herself. 460 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:47,680 I made or a plane. I made, made and. 461 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:54,560 I said yes, please. And it is, it is puzzly and fun 462 00:27:54,560 --> 00:28:00,040 and and kind of cozy. I'm actually, I have a review 463 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:03,360 copy and I'm really excited to try it with my kiddo. 464 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:06,360 OK, I'm good. I'm wondering how it's going to 465 00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:09,920 play with him and I think, I think, I think it's going to go 466 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:11,640 well. I'm very excited. 467 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:15,000 I hope so. I'm yes, so interested to hear. 468 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,080 Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned about the putting it in the 469 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,520 museum. It does look just like the. 470 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:25,360 It looks a lot like when you go into a museum and there are 471 00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:28,920 displays of insects. It is the muted background so 472 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:30,800 that they just kind of pop off of them. 473 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:32,640 Yeah. And I hadn't, I don't know why I 474 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:34,800 hadn't put that together. I mean, that seems so obvious, 475 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:37,960 but yeah. Yeah. 476 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:42,960 So an insectarium is technically a Museum of live insects, but I 477 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:45,000 wanted it to. So these are specimens that have 478 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,880 already been deceased and you're pitting them on your board. 479 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,520 But I wanted it to be like a display that you're creating for 480 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:55,160 a hall or something inside that that museum, so. 481 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,360 Stunning. Cannot wait to hear more. 482 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:00,920 So we'll put a link into the podcast as well. 483 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:02,840 And of course, no thank you Tuesday. 484 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:05,560 We'll make sure that it covers all the socials. 485 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:08,560 How many other games, how much time do you spend designing 486 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:12,760 games and how many have you got in your head and paper churning 487 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:17,120 over at the moment? So currently I have three that 488 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:23,480 are on the market and then I have three that have been signed 489 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,720 that aren't out quite yet in sectarian being one of them. 490 00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:31,120 And then I have a little small box game called Prowl, which is 491 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:34,880 about tigers. It's a little area control game 492 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:36,840 about tigers marking their territories. 493 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:41,880 That's with envy born games that are doing like the small, the 494 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,720 line of small box game, tiny box, tiny game. 495 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:45,800 I can't remember what he calls it. 496 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:50,720 And then another bigger game that I have that's a Co design 497 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:54,880 with Adrian Adamescu. It's right now it's called 498 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:56,480 Dragon Warriors. I don't know that that's going 499 00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:58,920 to be the final title or anything, but that should come 500 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:05,240 to Kickstarter in 2025. And then I have probably 6:00 to 501 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:09,040 8:00 that I'm currently working on that are either in my head or 502 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:13,160 I'm working on with a Co designer and it's you know, 503 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:16,720 projects are always in process. Listen, when you meet up with 504 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:21,520 Kristen at a convention and you say, hey, do you have one of 505 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:25,200 your prototypes with you? She'll be like, only if you 506 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:27,480 really want to play. And and then she'll pull it. 507 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:29,880 It turns out she's got, like, shoved in her butt. 508 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:33,080 And so you're like you. Oh, my goodness. 509 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:37,920 You are the treasure trove of all of the upcoming goodness. 510 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:39,600 Yeah, it's. Pretty great. 511 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:42,080 You never know when you're going to need it, who you're going. 512 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:44,320 To need you might. Want to see a prototype? 513 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:48,040 Best thing You're like Mary Poppins pulling out the other 514 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:49,600 day. How many can fit? 515 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:52,960 That's right, my endless backpack full of yeah, 516 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:55,480 prototypes. Did you ever think you get into 517 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:57,400 game design? Was that just something you just 518 00:30:57,400 --> 00:30:59,800 thought with the kids? I'm just going to start making 519 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:03,080 some, I guess, simple games and it's just grown and grown. 520 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:08,880 Yeah, I never saw myself in in this industry in that way. 521 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:12,560 But yeah, I started making the games for my kids towards the 522 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,680 end of the pandemic. And we actually have some 523 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:19,680 friends, local friends, my husband that used to work with, 524 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:24,120 his name is Jordan Goddard, and he's a game designer as well. 525 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:27,480 And I met with him and his wife and they were really 526 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:29,280 encouraging. I took them just some of the 527 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:30,840 games that I had made for my kids. 528 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:32,720 And they were like, these are pretty good. 529 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:34,360 We should work on this, this and this. 530 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:36,480 And then you could start showing it to publishers. 531 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:38,040 And I was like, what? What? 532 00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:43,560 Are you okay? And so I did that and I then we 533 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:47,960 started going to conventions and I, you know, it just kept going. 534 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:50,240 And then once I started, I feel like I can't stop. 535 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:53,480 I anything that I see in my day-to-day life, I'm like, 536 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,960 there's a game there. We could, there's got to be 537 00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:01,480 something, some idea that, you know, it could be created from 538 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:02,000 it. That's so. 539 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:02,960 Cool. Yeah, both. 540 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:05,640 Read the stories about how you've you've got into different 541 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:08,680 parts of the the gaming industry, but you're having a 542 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,480 great time as well. I am, I love it. 543 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:16,280 So as we get towards the back end of the year, what are your 544 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:19,840 most played games in 2024? So games you play the 545 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:23,440 conventions or with family. What's been the highlight this 546 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:25,560 year of gaming? Who wants to go first? 547 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:28,720 I can go, that's fine. Go. 548 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:32,080 I just. As everyone grabs their phone 549 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:34,280 looking for stats. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 550 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:35,640 I need to check my Now hang on. Yeah. 551 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:39,160 I had to look it up. So our most played game so far 552 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:43,200 this year is Space Base, which we just bought this year 553 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:44,840 actually. But it great choice ended up 554 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:49,160 being such a great family game that we've played it with all of 555 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:53,000 our kids and they can all do it, even my 6 year old for the most 556 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,920 part. Yeah, can can play and my 557 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:59,480 husband and I like it. And so we've played that the 558 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:02,080 most this year. And it's great as well because 559 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,360 you can play a lot of players because you've got an expansion 560 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:06,040 packs as well. So you actually get quite a few 561 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:09,240 people around. And yeah, because it's so quick 562 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:12,960 it. Is easy to teach and easy to 563 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,040 learn. And so, yeah, that's it's a 564 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:18,640 great game. It's good on the table as well. 565 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:23,360 Good covers, Laura, you have time to do your stats check. 566 00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:27,400 I have I I didn't need to know the first one. 567 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:31,280 Technically the 1st 2. I play a lot on on board game 568 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:39,640 arena and some people in this community refer to me as the 569 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:44,880 Forest Shuffle Queen and really I dubbed myself that and it's 570 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:49,920 mostly just a joke based on how much I play, not how much I win, 571 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:51,680 contrary to what some people want to say. 572 00:33:53,560 --> 00:34:00,680 But I have played this year 139 games shuffle. 573 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:04,320 I don't think the only game I've played that many for. 574 00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:07,240 Ridiculous. I I literally have a bunch going 575 00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:12,480 on on BGABGA at one time. And so that's the base game. 576 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:14,719 That's base game plus the Alpine expansion. 577 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:17,159 And I don't know if you've noticed, there's a new expansion 578 00:34:17,159 --> 00:34:20,520 that has been announced that I may or may not have been 579 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:28,040 checking out. And so, yeah, for a shuffle and 580 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:31,840 then, yeah, I know I'm. Very impressed. 581 00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:34,880 No, it's really bad. You know, I've never, I've never 582 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:37,440 played for a shuffle. Well, would you like to? 583 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:41,760 Play on so I think what if you can share? 584 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:46,600 I'll I'll grab your BGA handle absolutely with your 139 games. 585 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:50,600 The for a shuffle queen. Indie overall, just so you know. 586 00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:54,560 That's a lot of games. You, you can, you can educate me 587 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:56,800 on how to play for a shuffle. I will. 588 00:34:56,880 --> 00:34:58,320 Gladly. Like a pro. 589 00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:01,560 After that, what other games have you got time to play? 590 00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:09,240 The next most played is actually another one on BGA, which is to 591 00:35:09,240 --> 00:35:11,840 me just kind of like a filler is can't stop. 592 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:20,360 But the the other one that's behind that is NAR from 593 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,000 Pandasaurus. Isn't that Pandasaurus? 594 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:28,680 I think so. Yeah, it is such a good game. 595 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:33,640 I love Gnar. I'm like really second guessing 596 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:37,880 myself about who does that now. I love it. 597 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:41,880 I I looked at it and I was like, oh, this looks fine, you know, 598 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:48,520 like this will be a fine game. And it is not Panda, it's 599 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:50,680 Bombix. Bombix Panosaurus. 600 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:53,160 No, they do publish it. I think they do it. 601 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:55,080 Here depends on region. Yeah, Bombix. 602 00:35:57,080 --> 00:36:00,760 It is such a good game. It's it's like a have either of 603 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:02,680 you played it? Yeah, I mean, it's a fantastic 604 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:04,280 game. The box about that charge, yeah. 605 00:36:04,720 --> 00:36:06,040 Yeah. There's a lot of games. 606 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:10,080 Yeah, it's like an engine builder plus an order 607 00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:13,280 fulfillment, plus like when do you break your engine to do 608 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:15,320 other things? Like it's, it's really 609 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:19,680 interesting and pretty easy to pick up on. 610 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:24,040 I have one complaint and it's with the physical copy and it's 611 00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:28,120 the the coloring of the like little tokens. 612 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:30,920 But literally that's the only thing I don't like about that 613 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:31,400 game. The other. 614 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:34,040 Thing annoys me. He's the scoreboard, you're the 615 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:35,960 tracker. And the tracker for the little 616 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:39,720 yeah, but I call them squids. But I think they're lutes. 617 00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:41,440 So like they're like music of instruments or something. 618 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:43,280 I call them squids, yeah. But it's. 619 00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:47,080 Yeah, it's a bit fiddly, but the game itself is absolutely. 620 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:49,160 Oh, I I wouldn't even picked it up. 621 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:52,080 I think Nick the Booger review UK tournament. 622 00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:54,280 Yeah. And I was like, this is really, 623 00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:56,400 really good to have a copy within a couple of days. 624 00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:59,040 Just yeah, just. And it's it's good and. 625 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:01,040 It's one I can just play over and over. 626 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:03,520 Yeah, you know, it's like for a shuffle to me like I can. 627 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:09,000 It's they're so many possibilities and just trying to 628 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:11,800 figure out how to do things better the next time and how to 629 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:15,200 play, you know, your hand the best you can and the most 630 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:18,040 efficiently. I really love that kind of 631 00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:22,120 puzzly aspect of a game, and so I can just sit there and play it 632 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:25,320 over and over so. I need to play more on BJI, 633 00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:26,600 think is my problem. Yeah. 634 00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:28,600 Yeah, you should. Yeah. 635 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:33,240 Is there a third game? River Valley Glass Works is my 636 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:34,960 third. That's one of the PJ's games. 637 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:36,560 Yeah, I've not played that either. 638 00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:39,760 Yep. It is my third yet either. 639 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:43,360 Man, bro, we've got to get some games in. 640 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:45,440 I know. How far? 641 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:47,320 How far away do you 2 live from each other? 642 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:51,880 Are you a long way away? About 4 1/2 hours, I think, 643 00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:52,360 yeah. Yeah. 644 00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:57,760 Yeah, not terrible, but we, I mean not super close. 645 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:02,280 Yeah, it's it's hard to in the USI feel like we all live so far 646 00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:06,720 away from each. I know I actually don't live PJ 647 00:38:06,720 --> 00:38:10,040 lives kind of between ish us closer to me for sure. 648 00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:15,640 Yeah, but even like an hour and a half feels like a very long 649 00:38:15,640 --> 00:38:18,840 time sometimes. But yeah, River Valley Glass 650 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:26,120 Works is my next one and I recently got the deluxe copy in 651 00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:30,240 person and I'm so excited to have the. 652 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:32,720 The little bits are so sparkly. Yeah, it is nice. 653 00:38:33,240 --> 00:38:34,600 And shiny. And I love them. 654 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:38,680 I love them. That's awesome. 655 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:44,560 So as we go into the dark months of the year and 2024 draws to a 656 00:38:44,560 --> 00:38:48,880 clothes, clothes, clothes, what stuff have you got lined up? 657 00:38:49,240 --> 00:38:50,920 Are you going to any more conventions? 658 00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:53,680 Have you got any games that have popped up on maybe the Essen 659 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:55,880 list that you're looking forward to playing? 660 00:38:56,120 --> 00:39:02,440 Or is it Thora first? I am headed to Pax U. 661 00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:07,160 OK, when's that? That is first or second weekend 662 00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:09,680 of December. OK, probably need to get that 663 00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:13,600 knocked down. In the next couple of months. 664 00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:16,640 In a few months, there's a lot of things happening between now 665 00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:20,600 and then, but the plan is to go to Pax U and I was there last 666 00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:25,080 year as well. So I'm excited to go again this 667 00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:31,640 year now that I know even more people and I'm I am not 668 00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:34,000 honestly, things have been really crazy the last several 669 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:36,960 weeks and my since we got back from Gen. 670 00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:40,280 Con, really, I came home with strep and we've had sickness 671 00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:43,400 after sickness. So I feel I feel out of the loop 672 00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:47,040 as far as like what is coming. So I'm not a very good person to 673 00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:51,520 ask that right now, but I'm, I'm honestly excited to. 674 00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:54,360 I know that there are people who will be at packs that I have not 675 00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:57,480 met before that I've been talking with online for at least 676 00:39:57,480 --> 00:40:00,840 a year now. So I'm very excited to meet more 677 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:03,280 people. That's what I'm excited about 678 00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:05,440 and. What unpacks you, what's 679 00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:07,000 different? There's lots of different packs. 680 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:09,880 Is that is that location. I don't. 681 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:14,120 Definitely location. I think some packs have 682 00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:19,480 different focuses. This one is board gaming focus 683 00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:24,240 as far as I'm aware, but other than that I don't really know 684 00:40:24,240 --> 00:40:27,480 the difference. I think that the other PEX East 685 00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:30,800 and West has a lot of a video game focus as well. 686 00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:34,320 OK, yeah, Pex U is unplugged. So it's just. 687 00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:36,240 Board games just. Board games. 688 00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:38,920 Yeah. That makes sense. 689 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:40,720 Yeah, it does. Obvious. 690 00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:42,200 Shouldn't even ask a silly question. 691 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:46,280 I could tell she's been in the biz longer than me. 692 00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:48,480 She's the one that asked the questions. 693 00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:51,680 So Kristen, what you have you got anything plans for the rest 694 00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:52,840 of the year? Apart. 695 00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:54,720 From turning out more games and the. 696 00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:59,040 Kickstarter, yeah, the Kickstarter and PEX Unplugged I 697 00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:02,440 think is my first or my next convention that I'm going to. 698 00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:07,360 I I want to try to go. There's a small convention in 699 00:41:07,360 --> 00:41:09,760 Nashville, I believe in November. 700 00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:11,000 I. Was. 701 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:14,640 Yes, and I was thinking about trying to maybe go there, but I 702 00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:19,880 don't know we'll we'll see. Our schedule's been crazy too 703 00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:23,440 with kids and everything, so I don't know that I'll make it, 704 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:26,680 but I would like to. I love conventions where it's 705 00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:29,840 focused on just playing games. That's. 706 00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:35,720 There's a geek way micro micro mini, geek way mini. 707 00:41:35,720 --> 00:41:37,600 I saw that coming out this. Morning. 708 00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:41,640 Yeah, I think it is. So you can also come out then. 709 00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:43,440 Maybe I will. That's. 710 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:44,400 Happened in the next year though. 711 00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:46,320 I'm sorry, that's not on. Top 2020. 5. 712 00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:47,960 Yeah. Too far away. 713 00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:52,160 I think PJ might have gone to that last this year. 714 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:53,240 Yeah, he did. He did. 715 00:41:53,240 --> 00:41:53,920 He did. Didn't he? 716 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:55,800 Yeah, he. Was supposed to because again, 717 00:41:55,800 --> 00:42:01,000 that's literally it's right here where I live, but I had 718 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:03,080 forgotten. But I did manage to go over and 719 00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:06,120 meet him and Katie. And fun fact, we drove out there 720 00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:09,640 to meet them and say hi. And it was snowing so badly. 721 00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:13,560 The the streets were a sheet of ice when we left. 722 00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:17,400 They, I don't even know if they left the hotel the whole weekend 723 00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:19,600 because it was so the weather was so bad. 724 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:24,160 But we drove out there in the storm, in the Blizzard, just for 725 00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:27,320 them, because we love them all. That is awesome. 726 00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:32,960 You guys definitely seem to have more conventions than we do over 727 00:42:32,960 --> 00:42:34,680 here. We've got kind of three or four 728 00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:37,680 biggies and there are smaller ones, but they're more like 500 729 00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:42,480 people. So they usually sell out really 730 00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:44,080 quickly. So you've got to be quick. 731 00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:49,440 And there's there's there's one in some in Southampton on South 732 00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:53,080 Coast, there's one here which is about 300, two, 150. 733 00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:56,080 That happens twice a year. But it is, it is just playing 734 00:42:56,080 --> 00:42:59,320 games. But when it's that close, we go, 735 00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:02,280 well, we'll just meet at my house and get friends and play 736 00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:05,080 with our group and then we'll go somewhere else just more for the 737 00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:08,280 for the for the scenery and maybe meet, meet in some 738 00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:10,760 different games. It's good. 739 00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:14,920 I love that. I, I love that I, I, when 740 00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:17,680 everyone came here for geek way, I was like, I want to have 741 00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:19,760 everybody over to my house. And, you know, of course, these 742 00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:22,400 are people that some of whom I've talked to for a long time 743 00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:26,840 or met in person, like Kristen and others, they're like, might 744 00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:28,760 be a little odd. I think I'll stick to the 745 00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:31,880 Convention Center. But I but I do love that 746 00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:34,640 because, you know, there's something different about 747 00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:38,480 inviting people into your home or going to somebody's home and 748 00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:43,200 and sharing, you know, a smaller space and where it it 749 00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:45,240 translates. You know, you're not just 750 00:43:45,240 --> 00:43:48,000 friends online, your friends and you're not just friends at 751 00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:50,320 conventions. You're in real life, you know, 752 00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:52,480 like so I love that you're able to do that. 753 00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:56,160 We're. In the Southampton group, 754 00:43:57,680 --> 00:43:59,480 actually a couple of people was at that. 755 00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:02,760 So it's called a shake battle roll or something. 756 00:44:03,680 --> 00:44:08,240 And two years ago it had a flood mid con, so it was raining like 757 00:44:08,280 --> 00:44:09,840 really bad. And the roof. 758 00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:12,000 Came in. So so we went, I popped to the 759 00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:15,760 shops, got some like snacks, came back and I was like why is 760 00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:18,880 everyone outside and that the roof has come in and see 761 00:44:18,880 --> 00:44:22,160 everything came like a ball game as nightmares like cardboards, 762 00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:23,600 right? Oh no. 763 00:44:23,600 --> 00:44:24,600 So. I was like, so we went back 764 00:44:24,600 --> 00:44:25,840 inside and went, well we have to go. 765 00:44:26,120 --> 00:44:29,680 So we brought some friends back and then other people we didn't 766 00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:31,400 really know but be hanging around all day. 767 00:44:31,800 --> 00:44:34,360 But now they've become like solid friends. 768 00:44:34,360 --> 00:44:37,800 We see like nearly every week. Yeah, other Southampton people 769 00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:40,480 came from. I put an advert on Instagram on. 770 00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:42,320 I have a story that I was selling some games. 771 00:44:43,680 --> 00:44:46,400 Some people came in and said, oh, can I buy this, this the 772 00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:47,640 other? And it turns out, you know, 773 00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:49,280 they're just up the road. And I didn't even know. 774 00:44:49,960 --> 00:44:53,520 So Instagram, you know, it's, it's yeah, we've made so many 775 00:44:53,520 --> 00:44:57,960 good friends, including like PJ and, you know, we had Cajuncon 776 00:44:58,680 --> 00:45:01,880 this year and PJ is always inviting us over. 777 00:45:02,440 --> 00:45:06,360 So at some time, sometime we will come to either James Bond 778 00:45:06,720 --> 00:45:09,320 or Origins and we'll come and. Sell them might come crash the 779 00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:10,920 party if y'all come over here so. 780 00:45:11,040 --> 00:45:12,880 Well, you guys come to the UK Games Expo. 781 00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:15,400 Oh. Yeah, I would love it on a 782 00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:16,240 Sunday. Yeah. 783 00:45:17,480 --> 00:45:22,480 So it's popping for the day. So I think that's, that's it. 784 00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:25,800 I mean, thank you so much both of you for joining. 785 00:45:25,800 --> 00:45:28,600 I've had an absolute pleasure talking to you, understanding 786 00:45:28,600 --> 00:45:31,520 and learning about your journey in the world of board games at 787 00:45:31,520 --> 00:45:35,560 13 months or a half and five days. 3. 788 00:45:35,600 --> 00:45:40,800 Hours I I did look up my history, so I was 23rd of 789 00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:43,600 December 2013 was my Instagram account. 790 00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:46,400 So I'm like, I'm like, I'm like the old man. 791 00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:51,040 Now you're a veteran. It's it's mad how much thinking 792 00:45:51,040 --> 00:45:54,760 back to the early days when you know, there's hardly any 793 00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:57,040 accounts we're doing, we're doing board games. 794 00:45:57,040 --> 00:46:00,280 And it wasn't really like Kickstarter had only just really 795 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:04,000 begun around then. So, you know, it was, you know, 796 00:46:04,640 --> 00:46:07,400 just not the same as it now the community that it's very 797 00:46:07,400 --> 00:46:10,440 different people didn't. Well, I guess there were no DMS, 798 00:46:10,440 --> 00:46:13,320 so you didn't really have to chat apart from in the comments. 799 00:46:13,760 --> 00:46:16,600 As soon as those DMS opened up and you could chat to people and 800 00:46:16,600 --> 00:46:19,560 obviously you got groups, you know, stories. 801 00:46:19,560 --> 00:46:22,760 It's that changes everything massively, massively engaging. 802 00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:25,720 But I haven't quite mentioned the TikTok yet. 803 00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:28,440 That's well. I old over there. 804 00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:33,480 I feel, I feel like a grandma, but you know, I, I'm not saying 805 00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:37,720 anything other than I feel old. Yeah, I keep, I keep thinking 806 00:46:37,720 --> 00:46:40,480 about it and go, yeah, I've got to work out what the format 807 00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:42,880 would be. It just feels very foreign, 808 00:46:42,920 --> 00:46:45,080 right? Like it's, yeah, like anything 809 00:46:45,080 --> 00:46:48,160 that you have never ventured into before, you know, take some 810 00:46:48,160 --> 00:46:50,240 adjusting. Yeah, that more I. 811 00:46:50,720 --> 00:46:53,160 I much prefer photographs to video. 812 00:46:53,160 --> 00:46:56,920 Yeah, yeah, which is we can't do that while pushing Reels. 813 00:46:56,920 --> 00:46:59,680 I was like, no, no, this just a photo works for me. 814 00:46:59,720 --> 00:47:03,520 I don't you know, I'm quite happy engaging with the content 815 00:47:03,520 --> 00:47:06,920 on Instagram so well, PJ didn't turn up. 816 00:47:07,120 --> 00:47:10,400 So PJ, there's there's a there's your first black mark. 817 00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:13,040 I've got about 12, but there's there's your first black mark. 818 00:47:14,280 --> 00:47:15,880 That's right. I'm sure you guys will see him 819 00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:18,400 at some point in the next six months anyway so you can give 820 00:47:18,400 --> 00:47:20,800 him a proper telling off. Thank you, I. 821 00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:21,960 Plan to. Yeah. 822 00:47:22,320 --> 00:47:24,560 You planned your DN? Yeah, your message in a minute 823 00:47:24,560 --> 00:47:25,280 there. Were you? 824 00:47:25,520 --> 00:47:27,040 Yeah. So Chris and Laura, thank you 825 00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:29,440 very much. Thank you everyone for listening 826 00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:32,720 to the show today. As ever, we will see you soon. 827 00:47:33,880 --> 00:47:35,600 Thank you. Thanks. 828 00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:39,880 Thanks everyone for listening, please subscribe and as always, 829 00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:43,880 we'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas, so make sure to leave 830 00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:48,040 those in the comments and don't forget you can also chat with us 831 00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:50,760 both on Instagram at Meeple the Meeple.