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Hey, and welcome to episode 146 
of Maple to Maple. 

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This is the third in my content 
creator community series, so 

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thanks for joining today. 
My guest joining me is such a 

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dear friend who I've known for 
years, who is an amazing content

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creator, an amazing person, a 
power for this community. 

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She is really well known not 
just for wandering around the 

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game table, but wandering around
the world. 

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It's our very own wanderer, 
Maple Adrie. 

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Mora Adrie, how are you? 
Hey DJ, that's awesome of you. 

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Thank you. 
I'm just glad to see you. 

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Thanks for doing this, I 
appreciate it. 

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I'm happy to do it. 
Yeah, you know, it's it's in the

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previous two episodes with Bonds
and Rachel talked about how 2025

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is just kind of a rough year. 
It is. 

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And I was like, you know what? 
We're just going to quit with 

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all that. 
And we're just going to build 

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and nurture our community by 
getting to know everybody and 

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just focus on your story. 
You know, you've got a voice and

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a story to tell. 
I'm excited to share you with 

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the world. 
Thank you, BJ. 

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So let me ask you, what was the 
very first game? 

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This is a two-part question. 
What was the very first game you

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ever played like as a kid? 
And then the second question is,

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what was the first game you 
played that got you into the 

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modern gaming hobby? 
So back to when I was a kid, I 

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used to play a lot of Snakes and
Ladders with my brother. 

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OK, Jenga, Scrabble, those like 
the basic games, you know? 

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Yeah. 
Hey, Snakes and Ladders. 

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So there's a game here in 
America called Chutes and 

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Ladders. 
Is it kind of the same thing? 

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It is the same thing but I don't
know if if it's a bit different,

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but the one that I used to play 
hot snakes snakes. 

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So you climb up the the ladders 
and you go down through the 

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snake. 
Yeah, it's so interesting how 

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you can take one game and you 
just, you relocate it to another

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country in another culture and 
it's still the same game, just 

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slightly different. 
A slight variation, yes. 

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I'm constantly reminded whenever
I'm talking about the game Clue 

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with all of our friends in 
England. 

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I'm always got to remember to 
call it Cludo because they 

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don't, you know, it's just, it's
interesting. 

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As different as we are, we're 
all the same and I love. 

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That that's true, and we've 
played almost all the games, but

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in different versions. 
Also Monopoly is different in 

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different countries too so. 
Yeah, So what about the modern 

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hobby? 
What was your first modern board

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game? 
You wouldn't believe it, but it 

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was actually zombie side. 
Really. 

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Yeah. 
Interesting. 

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Yeah, that's kind of hardcore. 
It was hardcore, but the I think

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it's the reason why is because 
like the person that got me into

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the board gaming, like the hobby
itself was a hardcore gaming 

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gamer. 
So he introduced me to some 

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beside and I got hooked and that
was one of the games I played. 

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Wow, have you? 
Do you still play it 

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occasionally? 
Because Halloween is almost upon

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us. 
And that's a really good, you 

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know, a lot of people like to 
play it at Halloween. 

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Right. 
No, I don't actually own it. 

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It was his. 
So Yep. 

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I am never, I've never played 
zombie side. 

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You haven't played any. 
No. 

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No, it's a lot of fun. 
Yeah. 

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When you have all of the zombies
around you and you're trying to 

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escape, super fun. 
I've I've played Dead of winter.

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I played last night on Earth. 
I mean, there's so many zombie. 

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Well, there's zombies, right? 
That's an old game too. 

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Yeah. 
Yeah, zombies, right? 

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The Walking Dead. 
I think there's zombie teen 

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zombie kids. 
Yeah. 

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A lot of games around zombies. 
Zombies are so Hey, did you know

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that I wrote a book on about 
zombies? 

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Really. 
No, I didn't know that. 

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Back in 2013, I don't even know 
if my listeners know this. 

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So in 2013 I published a book on
Amazon. 

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You can go to Amazon and you 
will find it there. 

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And it's called Z, how zombies 
Shaped History. 

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And it was a, it's an actual 
history, right? 

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Because I mean, I was AI studied
history in school and I wanted 

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people to get interested in it. 
And zombies were so popular, and

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I was like, what if all the 
major events throughout history,

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ancient Egypt, Greece, the 
Mayans, just everything went all

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the way up to about the 20th 
century? 

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What if the real reason these 
events happened were because of 

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zombie outbreaks? 
Yeah, I think. 

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That's really interesting. 
Yeah, I think I sold 30 copies. 

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Wow. 
There and you can. 

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Go. 
I really want to read that now. 

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Yeah, Z, how's Z shaped human 
history. 

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Yeah. 
OK, so go check that out. 

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Or don't. 
I will, yeah. 

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I'm curious now. 
Yeah. 

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So it's it's kind of 
interesting, but I love that. 

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Sounds interesting. 
Zombie side not. 

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Not Katan, not Carcassonne, not 
Ticket to Ride like everybody 

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else, or I just discovered 
Bonds. 

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She got into modern gaming 
through playing Castles of 

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Burgundy, so that was pretty 
interesting. 

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Really. 
That's awesome. 

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Last week, Rachel was talking 
about Copenhagen, so I was like,

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yeah, these are this is what I 
love about this series is 

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learning how different creators 
got into gaming. 

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And it's like, that's that's 
what is. 

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Because I'm going to be honest, 
most of the games that I've 

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played with you in person, 
they've been a lot of party 

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games because we're usually in a
big group. 

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Yep. 
So I can't say that I know the 

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answer to this question. 
What, he's your favorite player 

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color? 
Yeah, I don't. 

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I don't think we've played a 
game with pieces that you had to

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choose. 
No, I don't think so. 

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I don't remember if Obsession 
has The Color Purple, but that's

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my color. 
It's a good choice. 

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Yeah, if I can't, if I can't 
find purple, then the other two 

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colors that I would choose is 
black or blue. 

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Black or blue? 
Hey, so, so why? 

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I mean, I know, I know. 
Why for me, why purple? 

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What? 
What is it about purple that has

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just attracted you? 
It's just my favorite color. 

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Yeah, I think it's like so 
different. 

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And it is actually. 
I think that I have purple 

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inside me, purple inside my 
veins for some reason. 

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I used to have my I used to dye 
my hair purple too. 

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So it's something about the 
color that he has always told to

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me. 
So yeah, that's that's the color

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I I will always choose for sure.
Everybody knows I grew up in 

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Baton Rouge, so purple and gold 
are the colors of LSU. 

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Purple, green and gold are the 
colors of Mardi Gras. 

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So that's in my cultural DNA. 
Yeah. 

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It jokes that as LSU fans, we 
bleed purple and gold. 

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So if you were to cut me open, 
blood would be two colors. 

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I play purple, Katie plays gold,
which is just fantastic. 

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So I'm really excited when 
someone else plays green. 

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So like the Mardi Gras colors 
are represented on the table, 

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which is fantastic. 
So good. 

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So we'll have a problem playing 
purple, you know, because you 

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like playing purple and we and I
like playing purple. 

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So pick it up this time. 
No, I would totally let you play

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purple and just I would play 
gold if not I'd play green if 

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not I'd play black if not. 
Yeah, Yeah, there are like a lot

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of options always. 
So many options, I love that. 

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So do you have Cuz Homicide is 
kind of an interesting game. 

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Do you have a favorite game 
mechanic that you really love? 

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I have I think like two or 
three, but the ones I can 

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remember them both right now are
worker placement and tile 

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placement or tile lane. 
Yeah, those are my 2 favorites 

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that I can recall right now. 
Also rolling, right? 

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Yep. 
Sleep on, right. 

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Yeah. 
You're just going to list all 

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the. 
Some of my favorites. 

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They're all good. 
I think for me, tile placement 

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is like my favorite. 
Like I don't care what the theme

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is, I don't care what the game 
is. 

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If it's tile placement, I'm in, 
you know, because I like to 

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manipulate the map and the board
and everything like that. 

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Do you? 
Remember what? 

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Do you remember what your first 
worker placement game was? 

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My first work placement. 
Wow. 

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OK, maybe one of my favorites. 
Everdale. 

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Everdale. 
Yep, that's a good one. 

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That's definitely a worker 
placement. 

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It definitely. 
Is yeah, it was, I think once. 

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I've literally just sort of be 
one of my favorites and the 

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mechanic. 
Yeah, it's really interesting 

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because and I have a lot of 
friends who are new to the new 

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to the hobby or they're just 
getting involved people at work,

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friends, friends in the 
profession. 

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So they don't, sometimes they 
don't know what I'm talking 

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about when I talk about 
mechanics, I think why worker 

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placement? 
And you tell me if you agree or 

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not. 
I think what's so great about 

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worker placement is it's so 
easy, right? 

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You place a worker and then you 
get resources so that you can do

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a thing later, right? 
It's just, it's easy to teach. 

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That's what I think. 
But you actually played place 

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the worker to get either 
resources or to get actions or 

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to do both or get cards. 
Yeah, so it actually depends on 

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the game, but it's easy to teach
and also easy to play. 

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And you will always have like a 
lot of options where to place 

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your workers on most of the 
times. 

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But. 
Yeah. 

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It's really easy, yeah. 
I think one of my one of my 

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favorite, I don't know what to 
call this my favorite worker 

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placement space on a board is 
from the game Stone Age, where 

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you place two workers in the Hut
so that you can get another 

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worker in the next round 
because. 

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It's you're procreating. 
Yeah, yeah, we all know that. 

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No other game replicates that 
right? 

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That you know, it's usually you,
you take an action or you go 

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here and you train a worker, 
right? 

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No mom and dad are going in the 
Hut to. 

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To procreate. 
Yeah. 

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Huh. 
Yeah, honey, it's so funny 

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because everybody knows that. 
Everyone, everyone knows. 

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But now it's it's so funny. 
You. 

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You can't. 
It is really funny. 

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Laugh. 
You just can't help but laugh. 

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But you have to take that action
because you got to make more 

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workers. 
It's just. 

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You need more workers. 
It's, it's hilarious. 

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I I think at the same time 
though, the big, the big 

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complaint about worker placement
is how limiting a lot of worker 

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placements could be. 
If I place my worker, then you 

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can't. 
I know that's not true in all 

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games, but I know that can be a 
frustration too. 

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It is a frustration because 
sometimes it's just one, like 

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tight space for one people. 
But some games have the option 

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to place more than one. 
Yeah, which is great. 

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This is really nice. 
But it depends on the game and 

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sometimes it's frustrating 
because I wanted that let's see 

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if I can get a next turn and 
then next turn I won't get it 

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because I didn't end up being in
the 1st, 1st place to get the 

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next resources on the 1st place.
So yeah, it's hard. 

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Yeah, and I've heard people 
complain about like, like, not 

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only do they complain about it, 
they don't like worker 

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placements as a mechanic because
of that, right? 

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Because of the fighting, yeah. 
I'm like, I get that, but you 

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know, not all worker placements 
are the same, you know? 

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Yeah. 
Yeah, which is so like back to 

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Eberdell. 
So instead of putting 2 workers 

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in a space to get another worker
and procreate, you get them, 

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right? 
It's some of they're up on a 

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tree and you get to like a 
season, like it's like the first

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round is like autumn and then 
the next round's winter. 

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I can't remember exactly but you
get to a season and it unlocks 

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additional workers for you. 
Which is kind of you get 

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different workers from the tree.
Yes, that's true. 

228
00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:29,680
Because you don't have to spend 
2 because that's that's two 

229
00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:34,000
workers dedicated to 1 action. 
Yeah, Stone Age. 

230
00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:35,880
But yeah, so that's. 
That's true. 

231
00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:37,840
Good. 
So do you have right? 

232
00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:39,480
Do you have like a favorite 
game? 

233
00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:43,120
This is this is twofold as well.
Do you have a favorite game of 

234
00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:46,520
all time? 
If not, because I know that's a 

235
00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:48,720
difficult ask. 
It's a difficult do. 

236
00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:51,000
Yeah. 
Do you have, like a favorite 

237
00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:56,000
game today? 
Like you're playing it a lot 

238
00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:58,440
right now. 
It's hard to say because I'm 

239
00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:02,240
playing a lot of games at the 
same time, mostly on board game 

240
00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:04,200
arena. 
That's when I play the most, 

241
00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:10,560
when I kind of always go to the 
games that I normally love 

242
00:14:10,560 --> 00:14:15,280
playing. 
And right now I'm playing, well,

243
00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:19,800
some of my favorites from all 
time are Castles of Burgundy. 

244
00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,000
So I get to play a lot of the 
Castles of Burgundy. 

245
00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,760
I've been playing a lot of Seven
Wonder Stool. 

246
00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:30,800
OK. 
I've played that a lot, yeah. 

247
00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:35,440
I also love space based. 
I play that a lot. 

248
00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:38,160
OK. 
That's. 

249
00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:38,920
A lot. 
It's a game. 

250
00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,600
I've I've only, I've only played
that once. 

251
00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:44,520
Really. 
Yeah, I've not played it. 

252
00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:47,840
It's been a while. 
It's. 

253
00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:51,760
Been a while every we should get
get a game going on BDA. 

254
00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:54,000
We should. 
Well you and I are currently 

255
00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,960
playing Obsession and it's been 
your turn for like 3. 

256
00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:00,160
Days. 
Nah, that's not true. 

257
00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:06,320
I know I'm late, but The thing 
is that you normally I don't 

258
00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:09,880
have the time to do it 
throughout the day, but only at 

259
00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:13,480
night. 
And if you normally select like 

260
00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:17,880
to do a turn twice a day, that's
complicated for me. 

261
00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:21,560
So it has to be like 2 turns 
every two days or a turn every 

262
00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:25,120
two days so that it will give me
like a lot more time for me to 

263
00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:26,200
play. 
Yeah. 

264
00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:28,640
And we're playing with Goja, 
who's in Poland. 

265
00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:31,120
So then there's the there's a 
time difference. 

266
00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:35,400
So yeah, that's that is true as 
well. 

267
00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,760
That's a toffee. 
Thus proving that you wander 

268
00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:42,240
from game to game. 
I think I have around almost 60 

269
00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:46,000
tables right now. 
Wow, I have two. 

270
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:48,600
I have. 2 tables. 
I'm playing Obsession with you 

271
00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,600
and Goja right now, and then 
Goja and I are playing Arc Nova.

272
00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:53,360
That's it. 
Wow, that's it. 

273
00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:55,760
Yeah. 
It's. 

274
00:15:56,280 --> 00:16:02,080
It's it's hard to find the time 
to play and I don't want to. 

275
00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,320
I don't like making people wait 
on me, especially with the time 

276
00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:06,400
zone differences. 
That's. 

277
00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:09,840
True. 
Two things that I've learned, 2 

278
00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:14,920
criticisms that I have of BGA. 
The first one is you can't use 

279
00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:17,040
BGA if you don't know how to 
play a game. 

280
00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:20,680
It's not good. 
It's not a good way to learn a 

281
00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:22,560
game. 
So if you don't know the game, 

282
00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:25,520
forget about it. 
This, this cuz then you're like,

283
00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:26,920
what's going on? 
I did what? 

284
00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:27,760
What? 
I don't, Yeah. 

285
00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:31,320
And then the second thing is I 
was in a tournament. 

286
00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:32,880
Someone invited me to a 
tournament. 

287
00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:37,880
It's like a year ago and I was 
matched up with someone on the 

288
00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:40,680
opposite side of the globe. 
I think maybe they were in 

289
00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:43,760
Thailand or Australia, I don't 
know. 

290
00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,520
And so the problem is, is that I
would time out because they 

291
00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:49,160
would take their turn while I'm 
asleep. 

292
00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:51,640
And then I'd get up in the 
morning and in my turn was over 

293
00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:54,000
and I get penalized. 
And then I got kicked out and 

294
00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:56,800
I'm like, OK, BGA can kick you 
out. 

295
00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:00,800
Yeah, BGA can kick you out. 
It has happened to me too, Yeah.

296
00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:04,000
It can. 
So that's that's lovely. 

297
00:17:04,599 --> 00:17:07,880
It's rough. 
But it's a great, it's a great 

298
00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:11,599
tool for building our community 
because we can't all be 

299
00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:14,119
together. 
And it gives us a chance to, but

300
00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:16,680
I like to see your smiling face 
while we're gaming, you know, 

301
00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:20,640
and I like to, I like to play 
out the actions that are 

302
00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:23,000
happening at the table. 
You know, it's like if I'm 

303
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,560
playing Dinosaur World, I want 
to narrate the tour, then my 

304
00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:31,040
Jeep's going through the park or
in Obsession, I want to turn to 

305
00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:33,720
you and gossip about what are 
what are opponents doing in 

306
00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:35,440
their state, you know, or 
whatever. 

307
00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:38,880
I can't really do that. 
I know, yeah. 

308
00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:44,080
But with the distance and 
different time zones and friends

309
00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:46,920
all over the world that I think 
that's the only way you can do 

310
00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:49,200
it these days. 
It's it's true. 

311
00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:55,280
You know it, you know it. 
So let me ask you about your 

312
00:17:55,280 --> 00:18:00,640
transition from being a gamer to
a content creator. 

313
00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:03,240
We've certainly talked about 
this a lot recently. 

314
00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:05,240
What's the difference? 
I think the difference is 

315
00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:07,760
intention, right? 
Yep. 

316
00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:10,440
One day you're just you're 
playing board games and you're 

317
00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,840
just taking pictures and you're 
posting them just to share with 

318
00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,040
your friends. 
And then you become more 

319
00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:19,240
intentional. 
Like I'm, I, I'm creating 

320
00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:23,680
content with a specific message 
or a specific image or a 

321
00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:27,280
specific purpose, whether it's 
because you've been given a 

322
00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:32,240
review copy or you are getting 
ready to learn a game for and 

323
00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:34,560
we'll talk about this a little 
bit later. 

324
00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:37,880
If you're going to teach a game 
at a convention that you are 

325
00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:40,000
going to be working the Bender 
hall for, right, whatever that 

326
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:48,240
is, when when for you, when did 
you like make that transition to

327
00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:53,920
becoming like a content creator?
That was I think some time ago 

328
00:18:54,920 --> 00:19:00,560
because I only used to play 
board games with the person that

329
00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:02,800
I was with at the moment. 
Yeah. 

330
00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:07,880
And he used to have, he still 
has an account. 

331
00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,440
I don't know if he's working on 
that or not anymore, but I saw 

332
00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:15,720
that he was struggling a bit 
like creating content for the 

333
00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:21,600
account itself. 
So I tried to starting 

334
00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:26,800
connecting with a lot of other 
accounts to see fine. 

335
00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:31,680
I don't know techniques or 
things to do or maybe how to 

336
00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:34,720
reach out to publishers if that 
was an option. 

337
00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,920
At the point. 
At that moment, I didn't know 

338
00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:44,000
that the community was such a 
welcoming space that when you 

339
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,840
actually reach out, even if 
you're in a different country, 

340
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:52,520
they will try to find a way to 
send you a game for you to 

341
00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,600
create content about it. 
And they won't ask you for 

342
00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:59,960
anything other than just do some
of them. 

343
00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:05,320
Just do whatever you feel like 
doing with the game that we're 

344
00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:10,400
sending you. 
So I actually decided to start 

345
00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:14,640
helping him with the account, 
like being in the background of 

346
00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,480
the account. 
At some point I actually started

347
00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:24,640
appearing also like posting my 
face and doing silly things and 

348
00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:30,600
and we played the games and we 
posted about the games and we 

349
00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:32,320
did reels together and all of 
that. 

350
00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:36,600
But it came the time that we had
to split up. 

351
00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:39,720
So we broke up. 
Things didn't work out. 

352
00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:47,160
We broke up and I had some 
games, like a few games of my 

353
00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:52,640
own, but he had the bigger 
collection and the games that we

354
00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:56,560
actually asked as a review 
copies, he kept them all. 

355
00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:01,400
So basically what I have to do, 
I used to have a like a personal

356
00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:03,720
account. 
What I had to do was just to 

357
00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:08,200
transform my personal account 
into a board game account 

358
00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,240
because I wanted to continue 
because I have I have built 

359
00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:15,880
connections at the moment, like 
a lot of friends around the 

360
00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:20,760
world and also connections with 
publishers. 

361
00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:25,080
Right. 
It was like hard to just step 

362
00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:26,720
out of it. 
I didn't want to. 

363
00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:31,480
So I switched my personal 
account into a board game 

364
00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:34,000
account. 
And after going, I remember 

365
00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,640
after going into one of these 
past years, talks about, Oh 

366
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:41,920
yeah, I started posting more 
frequently about it. 

367
00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:48,360
And did you become Wanderer 
Meeple before PAX or was it your

368
00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:50,520
experience at PAX is when you 
like, I'm going to change 

369
00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:52,840
everything. 
That's when I actually decided 

370
00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:56,960
to change everything like my 
name and, and after that it came

371
00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,840
like the new logo with the 
meatball around the world and, 

372
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,600
and all of that. 
So yeah, it was after that. 

373
00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:09,400
But I used to have two meatballs
in guess I, I visited Washington

374
00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:12,280
once and I took a photo with two
meatballs. 

375
00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:14,920
So that's the photo that I used 
to have as my. 

376
00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:18,200
I remember that. 
That's my photo and that's one 

377
00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:24,360
of the when I started like fully
into content creator and just 

378
00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:27,640
like socializing and meeting 
people at conventions, I started

379
00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:31,640
like handing stickers out. 
So those were like the first 

380
00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:35,280
stickers that I gave out, which 
was like really great. 

381
00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,320
I have one. 
Yep, there you are. 

382
00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:40,800
You're right there. 
There you go. 

383
00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:46,000
Yeah, that was it. 
Man, that's a that's a great. 

384
00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,080
So PAX unplugged. 
Wow. 

385
00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,440
Hey, so I've never been to PAX 
unplugged. 

386
00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,600
What, Like you, You and I, You 
know, we've been to Origins, 

387
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:57,840
We've been to Geek Wage. 
Junk. 

388
00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:00,880
What? 
How do you how do you compare 

389
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:05,240
PAX to those other conventions? 
Think I will compare it. 

390
00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:10,360
It's like, it's not like Jankon 
because it's not as big and it's

391
00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:14,040
not as Origins, but is I think 
it's something in between 

392
00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:17,600
because it's not as big as 
Origins, I'm sorry, it's not as 

393
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:19,960
little as Origins, but it's not 
as big as Jack. 

394
00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:22,680
So something in the middle so. 
It's in the middle. 

395
00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:31,760
It has a lot more gaming area 
and they also have like big 

396
00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:35,520
library where you can just go 
and pick the games and play and,

397
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:40,480
and they also have like a lot of
publishers and stands and all 

398
00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:44,560
everything like Jankon. 
But there's a lot more around 

399
00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,600
it. 
Like, I don't know, it's, it's a

400
00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:52,640
different vibe just being in 
Philly and being around the 

401
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:55,520
restaurants over there and just 
hanging with people. 

402
00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:59,640
And it feels different because 
it's also like almost Christmas 

403
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:03,480
time. 
So it feels like you are like 

404
00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:06,840
giving yourself a Christmas 
present because before Christmas

405
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:10,360
or maybe getting Christmas 
presents at the convention 

406
00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:13,680
because like you're buying games
at boxing Club too. 

407
00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:17,520
So just giving yourself and your
family members and your friends 

408
00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:21,000
games because you're like 
attending that convention before

409
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:24,120
Christmas. 
What about because I worry about

410
00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:26,400
this right? 
Being from Louisiana and even 

411
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,000
though I'm in the Illinois and 
it gets cold in the winter time 

412
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:33,760
I'm still not used to it. 
At Gen. cons in August it is 

413
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:35,240
hot. 
Towards. 

414
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:40,000
Is in June it is hot, but PAX is
in December in Philadelphia. 

415
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:44,000
So what is that? 
What is it like going to a big 

416
00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,400
game convention in the winter 
time when it's so cold? 

417
00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:52,000
It's not super cold. 
I think it's not as cold. 

418
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:56,280
I mean, you feel cold, but it's 
still manageable. 

419
00:24:57,120 --> 00:25:00,720
It's not like all winter. 
Is there a lot of those 

420
00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,800
pedestrian bridges that you can 
walk from building to building 

421
00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:05,640
over the streets? 
You know, Gen. 

422
00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,000
Con's got that. 
So there is OK. 

423
00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:13,200
Yeah, you can do that there too.
You don't have to go outside too

424
00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:17,080
much too. 
Long no, no, you you need to go 

425
00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:19,560
outside just in case you need to
eat something. 

426
00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:22,080
But there are things for you to 
eat inside too. 

427
00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:24,200
So if you don't want to go 
outside, just don't go. 

428
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:28,480
It's fine. 
Would you say PAX is your 

429
00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:30,640
favorite convention? 
That's tough. 

430
00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:34,080
I don't think it's my favorite 
around. 

431
00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:39,320
A lot. 
Of yeah, I think if I can pick a

432
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:43,040
favorite convention, maybe it 
would be Pax. 

433
00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:48,800
This is not as crowded as Jankon
and it's not as small as 

434
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:52,120
Origins. 
So now that I have like the full

435
00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:58,040
picture I think I will pick Box 
and Block as my favorite but I 

436
00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:01,640
haven't attended origins before 
so I didn't know. 

437
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:06,760
I think I do like blacks and 
blacks a lot more for sure. 

438
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,160
Because just just hearing your 
story, I'm thinking PAX is like 

439
00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:17,600
this integral experience for 
you, kind of blossoming and 

440
00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:22,760
becoming who you are, right, as 
a gamer, as a content creator 

441
00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:26,520
and just as an individual that 
it would hold a special place 

442
00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:28,120
for you. 
Yep. 

443
00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:31,040
Yep. 
It's also closer to you because 

444
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:33,120
you're in New England, You're up
in New Hampshire, right? 

445
00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:34,840
I think somewhere's up there, 
right? 

446
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:37,640
Yeah. 
So, so you don't have to take 

447
00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:41,720
the bus or the train or the 
plane all the way across the 

448
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:45,920
country to Indianapolis. 
To Indianapolis, Yeah, I 

449
00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:50,720
remember like taking me around 
24, a lot more than 24 hours for

450
00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:55,200
me to get to Indianapolis. 
It was insane, but it was worth 

451
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:56,480
it. 
It is always worth it. 

452
00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:59,400
You are. 
You are so much braver than me. 

453
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,200
I don't know. 
I don't know if I could do it. 

454
00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:09,000
It's just a long wait, but when 
you're there it's like, man, I 

455
00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:10,600
made it. 
This feels awesome. 

456
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:15,520
Yeah, so you create you, you 
kind of recreate yourself, you 

457
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:19,200
rebuild your collection, you go 
to PAX, you, you just immerse 

458
00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:21,680
yourself in this community 
they've welcomed you in. 

459
00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:24,520
You're here sharing how awesome 
you are. 

460
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:28,040
You're creating your content. 
Do you have, I've been asking 

461
00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:30,480
everyone before and I will 
continue to ask throughout the 

462
00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:32,640
series. 
Do you have a favorite platform 

463
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:34,960
that you like to use when you're
creating your content? 

464
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:40,920
I think the easiest, my favorite
right now, and he has to be 

465
00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:42,880
since the very beginning is 
Instagram. 

466
00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:49,320
I've been there for quite some 
time now and it's simple. 

467
00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:53,320
And you just, I mean, sometimes 
you just don't have enough space

468
00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:55,120
to write everything you want to 
say. 

469
00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:58,760
That's the thing. 
But you have enough. 

470
00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:02,040
If you don't have enough space 
in the post, you can still write

471
00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:05,680
in the comments. 
So I think there's another space

472
00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:08,080
for you to say everything you 
want to say. 

473
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,520
And you can be artistic in 
Instagram too. 

474
00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:15,920
You can post reels, You can edit
through different apps and still

475
00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:19,560
post them to Instagram. 
You can, I don't know, like 

476
00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:22,520
endless possibilities. 
There's apps also for you to 

477
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:28,200
just add thanks into your photos
to change your photos to right 

478
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:30,400
now. 
Also AI, which I don't really 

479
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,800
like and I haven't used it, but 
a lot of people use that. 

480
00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:38,520
So a lot of things you can use 
into Instagram these days. 

481
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:42,320
So I know that I love watching 
your reels. 

482
00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:45,320
I mean, you do some amazing 
work, you know you. 

483
00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:46,080
Really do. 
Thank you. 

484
00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:51,000
And I think that this is while 
I've never heard you say this, I

485
00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:55,800
believe that something that's 
important to you is creating a 

486
00:28:55,800 --> 00:29:00,040
space to advocate for women in 
this community. 

487
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:05,160
You do a lot of collaborations 
with other female content 

488
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,200
creators across it, and 
sometimes you even visit them. 

489
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:10,200
I think there's one recently. 
You were with. 

490
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:12,160
Who were you with? 
And you with Meg? 

491
00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:15,480
Yeah, y'all were. 
Dancing in front. 

492
00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:18,680
Of the Game Shelf, the Guinea, 
the Guinea pig mom. 

493
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:22,720
Yeah, but but you do you also do
a lot with. 

494
00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:28,200
Kareem. 
Kareem and a bunch a bunch of 

495
00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:31,920
women over in Europe. 
I've seen you do like some smash

496
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:35,360
up videos you. 
Know with Julie with. 

497
00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:37,840
Julie, Julie's mom. 
Yeah. 

498
00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:42,720
So talk to me about that. 
Talk to me about the community 

499
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:46,960
of women that you have 
surrounded yourself with at this

500
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:50,880
time. 
I think it's important for for 

501
00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:54,640
us women to know that we can do 
this too. 

502
00:29:55,480 --> 00:30:01,000
Because when I started into the 
board gaming hobby, I saw that 

503
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:06,880
there were a lot more men and 
there are still a lot of men in 

504
00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:08,280
the hobby. 
And I get that. 

505
00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:11,760
But we can also, we can also 
learn games by ourselves. 

506
00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:15,640
We can teach games. 
We can advocate for women that 

507
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:19,920
maybe are not fully aware that 
they can do this. 

508
00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:25,640
So that's why I am trying to 
just collaborate with women that

509
00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:28,520
I know that they are like doing 
awesome. 

510
00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:35,520
But if not, if they are not like
big or or they haven't like find

511
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:39,920
maybe their spark or their thing
into the community, I will also 

512
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:43,480
like to help them. 
But I don't know. 

513
00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:47,880
It's it's hard to just reach out
to everyone because sometimes 

514
00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:53,240
you don't know who's going to 
collaborate with you or I don't 

515
00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:59,320
know, XY or Z, but it's not like
I just want to do it with women.

516
00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:06,600
It's just like I see there are 
more women around the board game

517
00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:09,840
community with my same wife 
maybe. 

518
00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:15,960
So when I see their reels or 
when I see their content, I'm 

519
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:19,520
like, man, I would love to 
collaborate with them at some 

520
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:21,840
point. 
So I just reach out and with 

521
00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:24,440
Irene was like, I really like 
what you do. 

522
00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:31,520
So if you feel like we could do 
a crazy reel sometime, just let 

523
00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:33,480
me know. 
And since then we have been 

524
00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:35,800
having these crazy ideas about 
reels. 

525
00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:37,680
The first thing was chicken 
banana. 

526
00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:43,000
I'm sure you saw it. 
This is the craziest thing and 

527
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:47,480
it was silly, but we did it and 
it was fun for me, for her. 

528
00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:51,520
And the next one was this Spice 
Girls thing. 

529
00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:55,440
But we come up with ideas from 
time to time because I know 

530
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,920
she's a mom, like she's busy. 
She has a work to do and all of 

531
00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:00,720
that. 
She's teaching. 

532
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:02,400
I think she's teaching French 
also. 

533
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:07,280
So I know people is like a lot 
more busy than me. 

534
00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:12,040
I get that, totally get it. 
I have a lot more time at hand 

535
00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:16,280
to do things, but I want to do 
things with people. 

536
00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:20,920
I want to connect. 
Which is why we're here, This is

537
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:23,280
why we're in this community. 
It's making those connections. 

538
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:30,760
And I know Meg is not as like me
as much as me, but she's happy, 

539
00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:33,040
still happy to create content 
with me. 

540
00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:38,800
I didn't actually think that she
would Just Dance, but she was up

541
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:44,160
for it, which was awesome. 
That was great, I I have to 

542
00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:46,560
admit. 
So why do One of the reasons 

543
00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:51,840
that I love your content is your
willingness to embrace the 

544
00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:53,440
silly. 
Yeah. 

545
00:32:56,400 --> 00:33:00,400
I am jealous. 
I, I'm too serious of a guy, 

546
00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:02,560
right? 
That's why I have a podcast, so 

547
00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:05,240
I could just like talk to you 
and let you carry on. 

548
00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:09,160
You know, I don't. 
I don't have to be silly because

549
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:13,840
I'm not good at it. 
You don't know if you're good at

550
00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:15,440
it if you haven't done it 
before. 

551
00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:18,920
I, you know, it's from a years 
of experience. 

552
00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:21,640
When I try to be silly, it just 
falls flat. 

553
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:23,560
People are like, what did he 
just say? 

554
00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:27,240
And I thought it was funny. 
It's why I love my friend Craig.

555
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,280
Get into games. 
Yeah, You know, it's why I love 

556
00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:34,320
him coming on, because he kind 
of honestly hit between him and 

557
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,640
Adam from Tabletop Odds. 
The two of them, they make me 

558
00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:41,720
look so good because they put up
with me and they just do their 

559
00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:44,560
silly shenanigans and I just, I 
go for it. 

560
00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:48,040
Like I'm, I'm open, but I'm 
just, I don't know, I get in my 

561
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:49,440
own. 
Way you're open, but you're 

562
00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:52,480
still serious about it. 
Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

563
00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:55,040
I totally get it. 
Well, but I love it. 

564
00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:59,920
We can try to, we can try to do 
something BJ together for sure. 

565
00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:03,480
We should, yes, yes, we 
definitely should do that. 

566
00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:07,360
Yeah, that's the SO that's the 
real reason I had you on the 

567
00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:10,159
podcast. 
OK, that's good. 

568
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:11,800
Good to know. 
Yeah. 

569
00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:13,360
Embrace, CJ. 
Embrace it. 

570
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,760
I know it works, I know that's 
what people love and I'm like, I

571
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:20,520
can't. 
You know, sometimes you think it

572
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:24,400
will work, sometimes it won't 
work because it's some days are 

573
00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:27,159
really good days, some days are 
really bad days. 

574
00:34:27,159 --> 00:34:30,480
But it depends also on the 
algorithm and the algorithm 

575
00:34:31,159 --> 00:34:33,520
sucks. 
I am not trying to understand 

576
00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:35,440
that anymore. 
I just do. 

577
00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:38,199
I just create. 
That's it. 

578
00:34:38,199 --> 00:34:40,239
The. 
Algorithm is interesting, right?

579
00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:42,239
We talk about the algorithm 
constantly. 

580
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:47,000
So just recently created Maple 
to Maple on TikTok. 

581
00:34:49,159 --> 00:34:51,239
I mean, Tik Tok's got a lot of 
baggage right now. 

582
00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:53,440
Because TikTok is a lot. 
Even though the even though the 

583
00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:55,880
federal government shut down the
federal government's trying to 

584
00:34:56,080 --> 00:35:01,160
tell TikTok what to do. 
Yeah, I recreated my Facebook 

585
00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,120
account so that I can have a 
page for Meatball to Meatball 

586
00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:06,720
don't care about me. 
I care about the podcast. 

587
00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:09,760
So I'm doing all this stuff and 
here's what I've discovered. 

588
00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:14,040
The algorithm for Instagram 
based on everything I've been 

589
00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:15,880
reading. 
Because I'm like, because I'm 

590
00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:18,120
the serious guy who does all the
research right? 

591
00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:21,640
So that y'all could be silly. 
I'm like doing all the behind 

592
00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:22,920
the scenes. 
Right. 

593
00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:30,320
So the algorithm in Instagram 
caters to your followers, people

594
00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:33,120
who are already following you. 
So it creates kind of an echo 

595
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:38,040
chamber. 
TikTok caters to a larger 

596
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:44,760
audience, and people are using 
TikTok as a search engine, so 

597
00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:48,520
they're using Google less, and 
they're going to TikTok to find 

598
00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:52,840
that YouTube is doing this too. 
Find that video, find that 

599
00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:55,440
instruction, find that song, 
find that, whatever. 

600
00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:58,760
And so it's interesting. 
So if you want more followers, 

601
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:03,000
you create a TikTok page and you
post everything there, but then 

602
00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:04,920
you got to transfer it to 
Instagram. 

603
00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:10,920
Content creating is a lot of 
work, but y'all do it and y'all 

604
00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:14,280
do it well. 
Sometimes you actually post into

605
00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:17,960
Tiktok, but that doesn't mean 
that it will bring followers to 

606
00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:21,360
Instagram because that's not 
happening for me so. 

607
00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:24,080
I'm, I'm figuring it out. 
I'm figuring out, you know, 

608
00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:25,880
there are people who've already 
figured it out. 

609
00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:29,880
And so I'm just trying to, you 
know, so I'm constantly reaching

610
00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:33,360
out, going, hey, got any tips 
that you know, tell me what 

611
00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:34,640
works. 
Tell me what doesn't. 

612
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:37,240
I'm not trying to steal your 
content. 

613
00:36:37,240 --> 00:36:42,120
I'm just trying to mimic your 
strategy, as it were. 

614
00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:48,800
What I normally do on TikTok is 
just to post every, sometimes, 

615
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:53,600
not all the silly wheels, but 
the unboxings that I'm doing on 

616
00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:57,080
Instagram, I just post them on 
TikTok so that people will see 

617
00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:01,360
the content or the board games 
that I am reviewing. 

618
00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:03,440
I think that's helpful. 
Yeah. 

619
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:08,440
So let me ask you unboxings, 
that's a really great example. 

620
00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:10,880
So everyone does them. 
And my problem is. 

621
00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:13,360
So as a point of fact, I had a 
box come in today. 

622
00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:17,040
Nice. 
Had a game arrive and what 

623
00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:20,320
happens is that my wife and I, 
we open the box, we open the 

624
00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:24,080
wrapper, we open the game box 
and we start playing and then 

625
00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:27,200
it's over and I'm like I should.
Have the important. 

626
00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:34,040
Yeah, right. 
Do people, do you like put 

627
00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:38,320
everything back in a box and 
then record an unboxing after 

628
00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:41,400
you've already opened it? 
Is that something that people do

629
00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:44,400
like that's how stupid, Like 
what kind of questions that but.

630
00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:47,680
I think that's something that 
people do, but I also think that

631
00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:53,560
most people don't really care 
about unboxings but about the 

632
00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:58,640
post or how to play or about the
video on how to play because 

633
00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:04,360
they will also see most of the 
components like in the video or 

634
00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:06,920
in the post depending on how 
people does it. 

635
00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:13,840
I just do both because sometimes
some boxes will show components 

636
00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:19,000
that I won't be showing in my 
photos so that people will know 

637
00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:23,600
that what comes in the box. 
And I do it differently because 

638
00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:28,840
I try to, when I have like, the 
inspiration, I go to a different

639
00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:35,200
place and try to match the Bible
of the game to the boy game. 

640
00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:39,320
I'm so the Bible, yeah, the 
Bible of the place to the board 

641
00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:40,440
game. 
That's what I meant to say. 

642
00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:45,320
So let me see if this is a 
perfect example. 

643
00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:48,320
I think I got you. 
So just, you know what, a couple

644
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:50,720
well, by the time you're 
listening to us November. 

645
00:38:50,720 --> 00:38:53,600
But at the time of recording, 
this was just a few days ago. 

646
00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:57,000
It's funny how time works. 
So there was the moon festival, 

647
00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:01,160
right? 
And we have an Asian market here

648
00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:04,440
in Springfield. 
So we were able to go and we 

649
00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:07,840
bought a tin of moon cakes Moon 
Festival. 

650
00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:09,600
That was, I think we call it the
Harvest Moon. 

651
00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:15,520
It was like Monday night or 
whatever and so we we ate moon 

652
00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:19,920
cakes and these were the 
traditional Lotus paste moon. 

653
00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:21,360
Cakes. 
Yeah, while. 

654
00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:24,360
Playing moon Bunny by hot banana
games right? 

655
00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:26,800
I love that I do those little. 
Experiences. 

656
00:39:27,240 --> 00:39:31,040
But then I posted photographs on
my Instagram, my TikTok and 

657
00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:36,400
everything of the game with a 
plate of moon cakes and even the

658
00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:39,360
little rubber moon cakes that 
are components in the board 

659
00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:42,920
game, I put them around the real
moon cake on the plate, Right? 

660
00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:45,680
Like, I know that sounds 
ridiculous. 

661
00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:49,200
It's like, it's so obvious, but 
I think that is that kind of 

662
00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:50,600
what you're talking about, 
matching the vibe. 

663
00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:55,920
To the game, Yes, Yes, yeah. 
I'm really good at seeing it, 

664
00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:58,800
but it's always after the fact 
that I'm like, oh, I should have

665
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:01,600
done that. 
Exactly what I did. 

666
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:06,240
I don't know if you if you saw 
my unboxing of Lovecraft love 

667
00:40:06,240 --> 00:40:08,520
letter. 
I do remember that now that you 

668
00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:12,480
say it, yeah. 
I went to I actually look for 

669
00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:17,440
places in Salem in Massachusetts
that are related to buildings 

670
00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:20,440
that are related to Lovecraft 
stories. 

671
00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:24,360
Right. 
So I did that research and since

672
00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:29,400
it's kind of close to where I am
right now, I just went and 

673
00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:33,400
visited those places, not all of
them, but like 3 or 4 of them, 

674
00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:37,200
and just walked because it was 
like a walkable distance. 

675
00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:41,160
I just walk and just did a 
little shots, a little videos 

676
00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:47,960
with the components of the boy 
game around the city. 

677
00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:51,680
And I think he matched perfectly
with the vibe. 

678
00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:53,560
But yeah, that's that's the 
point. 

679
00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:59,200
For example, with this other 
game, Pergola, pergola, Yep, 

680
00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:01,920
seems super, pretty, super 
beautiful. 

681
00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:06,040
I just went to a park that is 
like full flowers. 

682
00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:13,640
I just recorded a video around 
around the the park and it came 

683
00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:15,880
out pretty great. 
So yeah, you. 

684
00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:18,720
You, you, you travel compared to
me. 

685
00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:20,600
You travel more frequently than 
I do. 

686
00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:23,800
Both around the United States as
you're going to game 

687
00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:26,280
conventions, but also around the
world. 

688
00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:32,040
How intentional are you about 
carrying just board game 

689
00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:35,040
components with you when you're 
traveling, right. 

690
00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:40,960
You see people and it's like, 
OK, so they go to Paris and 

691
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:43,960
they've got, you know, they've 
got the like the Eiffel Tower 

692
00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:47,680
cardboard cut out piece from 
Paris City of Lights and they 

693
00:41:47,720 --> 00:41:49,120
put it down and they take that 
picture. 

694
00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:53,680
It's like you have to, you have 
to know that you're going to or 

695
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:56,760
taking a picture of Acropolis 
while you're on the Acropolis in

696
00:41:56,760 --> 00:41:57,960
Athens, right? 
Like, yeah. 

697
00:41:58,120 --> 00:42:00,680
And you know, and my thing is, 
is I'm not thinking about 

698
00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:02,720
carrying those things. 
Do you do that? 

699
00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:07,120
And how intentional are you 
about making sure you carry some

700
00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:09,160
things relevant to where you're 
traveling? 

701
00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:15,160
I do that and it depends on 
where I'm going and if I have 

702
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:19,920
any game components around the 
places that I'm visiting. 

703
00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:25,320
If I don't actually have 
anything, what I just do to 

704
00:42:25,320 --> 00:42:30,120
sometimes record my experience 
on stories or on posts is just 

705
00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:36,520
to carry a meatball and I just 
put the meatball in places or in

706
00:42:36,520 --> 00:42:39,240
cafeterias, restaurants, or 
wherever I go. 

707
00:42:39,240 --> 00:42:43,480
I just put the meatball and took
a photo and then that's how I 

708
00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:48,800
create content, let's say board 
game content around the places 

709
00:42:48,800 --> 00:42:52,560
that I visit. 
But yeah, it actually depends 

710
00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:55,480
because I've seen a lot of 
people like carrying game 

711
00:42:55,480 --> 00:43:00,480
components, but I haven't like 
traveled to a big city with a 

712
00:43:00,480 --> 00:43:03,960
board game before. 
So I wouldn't be able to tell. 

713
00:43:05,120 --> 00:43:06,600
But I would love to do that for 
sure. 

714
00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:12,000
The most that I've ever done is,
in fact, I've got them over my 

715
00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:15,240
shoulder here somewhere, but 
I've got a little Maple of a 

716
00:43:15,240 --> 00:43:19,120
panda and a little Spock, and 
I've done reels and stuff. 

717
00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:22,280
I'll travel, I'll go to the zoo 
and I'll just put them on like 

718
00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:23,720
the little rail. 
Yeah, I've seen them. 

719
00:43:23,720 --> 00:43:25,680
Pictures. 
Yeah, I did that with. 

720
00:43:26,800 --> 00:43:28,520
It was my first Gen. 
Con. 

721
00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:34,040
And Katie and I went and we had 
the meatballs and it was like 

722
00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:36,560
the adventures of Panda and 
Spock, right? 

723
00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:38,480
And I'm like, OK, that's kind of
cool. 

724
00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:40,160
But then I forget. 
I leave them. 

725
00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:42,880
I leave them down here on the 
shelf and they don't travel with

726
00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:44,760
me. 
And so I'm like, I should do 

727
00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:49,440
better. 
Yeah, but you know, there's a 

728
00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:53,960
lot around conventions that's a 
lot to do and a lot to remember 

729
00:43:53,960 --> 00:43:58,160
and a lot of people to meet and 
go here and go there. 

730
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:03,160
So yeah, it's just exhausting to
remember everything and try to 

731
00:44:03,160 --> 00:44:07,800
do all things. 
So just not taking your maples 

732
00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:11,960
is I think it's fine for for one
or two travels. 

733
00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:15,040
You'll remember at some point 
and you'll do it for sure. 

734
00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:19,000
I think intentionality for me is
the one that I struggle with 

735
00:44:19,360 --> 00:44:22,560
probably the most is like the 
content that this is the kind of

736
00:44:22,560 --> 00:44:26,920
content I like to create is 
conversations with people and 

737
00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:30,960
telling stories like, you know, 
that this is this is the stuff I

738
00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:35,760
really love. 
And so I have to work hard at 

739
00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:39,280
being intentional about bringing
a Maple with me if I'm going 

740
00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:41,920
somewheres and and I fail at 
that a lot. 

741
00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:45,760
And I think that's why I don't 
have the the followers and the 

742
00:44:45,960 --> 00:44:48,600
everyone that watching the 
podcast because I'm not doing 

743
00:44:48,600 --> 00:44:52,360
all the things that need to be 
done because it's. 

744
00:44:52,520 --> 00:44:55,400
OK. 
Yeah, I mean, you just said it. 

745
00:44:55,880 --> 00:45:00,200
People realize how much work 
goes into board game content 

746
00:45:00,200 --> 00:45:01,680
creation, you know? 
Yeah. 

747
00:45:03,280 --> 00:45:07,120
And I actually, and I so I keep 
on just reaching out to the 

748
00:45:07,120 --> 00:45:12,640
people that I know that want to 
and will at some point, which is

749
00:45:12,680 --> 00:45:15,200
fine too. 
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. 

750
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:18,680
I mean, I reached out to as part
of this content creator 

751
00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:22,520
community series that we're in 
the middle of now that you are 

752
00:45:22,520 --> 00:45:25,200
now a part of. 
I reached out to a lot. 

753
00:45:25,200 --> 00:45:26,600
I had to reach out to a lot of 
folks. 

754
00:45:27,560 --> 00:45:29,480
OK. 
I've had a couple of people who 

755
00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:32,680
just never responded and I 
attribute that to their being 

756
00:45:32,680 --> 00:45:34,920
busy. 
It's also part of that algorithm

757
00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:38,720
that you were talking about. 
Just because I send you a DM on 

758
00:45:38,720 --> 00:45:41,800
Instagram, I can tell whether 
you've seen it. 

759
00:45:41,880 --> 00:45:46,240
And when I go look, they haven't
seen it because it's buried 

760
00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:48,760
under. 
I mean, they get so many. 

761
00:45:48,760 --> 00:45:53,160
Cons of messages, yeah. 
But I was fortunate enough to 

762
00:45:53,160 --> 00:45:57,960
start the I had bands from bands
inator she was she started. 

763
00:45:57,960 --> 00:46:00,960
She's awesome, I love her. 
You know, we had Rachel from 

764
00:46:00,960 --> 00:46:04,480
Queen Games and you're here and 
I got, you know, we'll have 

765
00:46:04,680 --> 00:46:07,040
Jerry from Tabletop Worldwide. 
Yay. 

766
00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:11,080
Yeah. 
Grant Lines Grant lines will be 

767
00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:13,960
on Lincoln Steam Bar Awesome 
will be on. 

768
00:46:14,760 --> 00:46:18,960
And then I'm reached out to so 
many creators across the globe. 

769
00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:21,480
It was really important that I 
made sure that this was a 

770
00:46:21,480 --> 00:46:28,440
diverse group of people, not 
just gender and sexuality, but I

771
00:46:28,440 --> 00:46:30,280
also wanted, you know, around 
the world. 

772
00:46:30,280 --> 00:46:34,680
And I've got right, I managed to
do and I'm still waiting for 

773
00:46:34,680 --> 00:46:37,680
people to respond, so we'll see 
what happens. 

774
00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:44,080
This was these past other. 
Yeah, they are fantastic people,

775
00:46:44,360 --> 00:46:47,080
just proving how great this 
community really is. 

776
00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:49,520
Yeah, that's true. 
So speaking about this 

777
00:46:49,520 --> 00:46:54,480
community, you've also you've 
got a unique perspective in that

778
00:46:54,480 --> 00:47:00,200
you have been able to travel to 
so many conventions because you 

779
00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:03,960
have while not on a not on a 
permanent basis, but you've been

780
00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:08,320
working for all play at their 
booths at the vendor hall. 

781
00:47:08,360 --> 00:47:11,400
I was, I was wondering if you 
could just tell me a little bit 

782
00:47:11,400 --> 00:47:14,680
about that experience. 
How did you get connected with 

783
00:47:14,680 --> 00:47:17,400
all play? 
And once you got connected, was 

784
00:47:17,400 --> 00:47:20,320
it easy to stay connected and 
keep doing it? 

785
00:47:20,320 --> 00:47:22,400
Because I know you did Origins 
and Gen. 

786
00:47:22,400 --> 00:47:25,920
Con this year for them for for 
maybe people who are thinking 

787
00:47:25,920 --> 00:47:29,280
about doing that in the future, 
maybe not would all play, but 

788
00:47:29,360 --> 00:47:31,880
how easy was that whole process 
to connect? 

789
00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:35,800
Well, I think it was pretty easy
because they are pretty 

790
00:47:35,920 --> 00:47:40,880
accessible to reach out. 
So you can just reach out 

791
00:47:40,880 --> 00:47:47,840
through the Ms. you know, ask 
Delia is the one that's handling

792
00:47:47,840 --> 00:47:50,520
media right now. 
She said only through emails, 

793
00:47:50,560 --> 00:47:54,640
But I the first time that I 
reach out to, I think it was 

794
00:47:54,640 --> 00:48:00,080
Mark, he's the one like in 
charge of like sales if I'm not 

795
00:48:00,080 --> 00:48:02,480
wrong. 
So I reach out to him and I 

796
00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:08,800
said, hey, I know that there's 
the option for people to work at

797
00:48:08,920 --> 00:48:11,160
booths. 
I don't know if I should talk to

798
00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:14,520
you or who should I talk to? 
And he said, yeah, we would love

799
00:48:14,520 --> 00:48:17,480
to have you on board. 
Let me see if I can send you the

800
00:48:17,480 --> 00:48:23,000
form and if there's enough space
for us to just give you the 

801
00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:26,560
opportunity because we have like
a lot of people like applying 

802
00:48:26,560 --> 00:48:29,680
for every convention and we have
to keep rotating. 

803
00:48:29,680 --> 00:48:33,080
And yeah, you know, you know how
it works. 

804
00:48:33,800 --> 00:48:37,760
So, yeah, the first time that I 
did that, that I work for them 

805
00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:42,040
was Junk on last year. 
And I am sure you remember that 

806
00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:48,120
I was the mascot for River 
Valley Glass Works. 

807
00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:50,760
That's right. 
Yeah, I was. 

808
00:48:51,720 --> 00:48:55,400
Was Rosie the alligator? 
Rosie the Alligator? 

809
00:48:55,400 --> 00:48:59,080
Yes, I remember that. 
So how did you get that 

810
00:48:59,080 --> 00:49:03,400
particular gig? 
I think it was just luck because

811
00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:08,920
I was like gonna work for the 
booth and just like play games, 

812
00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:12,640
demo games. 
But he was like, well, maybe I 

813
00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:15,000
can give you this offer. 
Would you be interested in doing

814
00:49:15,000 --> 00:49:15,800
that? 
And I'm. 

815
00:49:15,800 --> 00:49:19,360
Oh yeah, just give me that. 
I'll gladly do it. 

816
00:49:19,360 --> 00:49:22,880
That would be so freaking 
awesome for sure. 

817
00:49:22,880 --> 00:49:27,040
So that's how I got it. 
We talked about this at Gen. 

818
00:49:27,040 --> 00:49:29,920
Con this year. 
I remember after hours we talked

819
00:49:29,920 --> 00:49:33,200
about this experience. 
But so for our listeners, tell 

820
00:49:33,200 --> 00:49:35,800
me about what was that like 
being dressed up? 

821
00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:41,640
You have no idea how awesome 
that is because you're like, 

822
00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:50,480
fully covered with the costume. 
Like fully covered with all of 

823
00:49:50,480 --> 00:49:52,880
it. 
Like the mascot is like super 

824
00:49:53,160 --> 00:49:56,360
hot inside. 
They don't even have like a 

825
00:49:56,360 --> 00:50:05,120
ventilator or anything, but just
be in there and just get to see 

826
00:50:05,120 --> 00:50:12,080
how happy kids get around. 
Seeing the the characters from 

827
00:50:12,080 --> 00:50:14,880
River Valley Glass works because
it was not only me, but I was 

828
00:50:14,880 --> 00:50:20,560
just doing, I was dancing and I 
was just saying hi and just 

829
00:50:20,560 --> 00:50:24,720
doing things for the people to 
come around and smile and I 

830
00:50:24,720 --> 00:50:27,200
don't know, just approach and 
try to get photos. 

831
00:50:27,200 --> 00:50:34,800
And people were so happy about 
it that it was just so heart 

832
00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:38,600
warming for me. 
You have no idea because even 

833
00:50:38,600 --> 00:50:43,240
though they didn't see me, I was
inside that and I was almost 

834
00:50:43,240 --> 00:50:45,800
trying how beautiful that 
experience was. 

835
00:50:46,680 --> 00:50:49,560
I love that story, thank you for
sharing that. 

836
00:50:49,880 --> 00:50:51,760
Yeah. 
I love it. 

837
00:50:52,360 --> 00:50:55,720
And I would do it again with any
other mascot and any other 

838
00:50:55,720 --> 00:50:57,480
publisher. 
I would do it again because the 

839
00:50:57,480 --> 00:51:03,480
feeling of just being there and 
seeing through the 2 little eyes

840
00:51:03,480 --> 00:51:07,120
from the mascot scene, all the 
people is smiling at you and 

841
00:51:07,120 --> 00:51:11,480
waving at the kids hugging you. 
And can I take a photo with you?

842
00:51:11,480 --> 00:51:13,960
Yes. 
Everything is so awesome. 

843
00:51:14,640 --> 00:51:17,600
Fantastic, fantastic. 
I love it. 

844
00:51:17,720 --> 00:51:20,200
I love that. 
That is amazing. 

845
00:51:20,600 --> 00:51:24,800
I think I didn't find out you 
were in the rosy costume until 

846
00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:26,680
after. 
It's like I saw you. 

847
00:51:27,160 --> 00:51:28,240
In the. 
Costume at Gen. 

848
00:51:28,240 --> 00:51:30,320
Con, but I didn't know that was 
you. 

849
00:51:31,280 --> 00:51:32,480
I. 
Knew you were working, all 

850
00:51:32,480 --> 00:51:33,480
playing. 
I think somebody was like, Oh, 

851
00:51:33,520 --> 00:51:37,200
yeah, well, she was dressed up 
and I'm like, yeah, see, once 

852
00:51:37,200 --> 00:51:43,080
again, I'm late to the show and.
What I normally what I was doing

853
00:51:43,080 --> 00:51:47,840
so that people would know it was
me, was posting and stories with

854
00:51:48,080 --> 00:51:52,040
her head or with part of her 
toes. 

855
00:51:52,040 --> 00:51:54,240
Just that people would know that
I would throw seeds. 

856
00:51:54,320 --> 00:51:57,800
So come and say hi or friends 
will take pictures with me. 

857
00:51:57,800 --> 00:52:02,360
And I remember Kristen 
approaching to me and saying, 

858
00:52:02,360 --> 00:52:04,640
Andrew, is that you? 
And I was, yes, it's me. 

859
00:52:04,920 --> 00:52:09,280
So I took a picture together, 
and it was pretty awesome. 

860
00:52:09,280 --> 00:52:11,080
Yeah. 
That's amazing. 

861
00:52:11,760 --> 00:52:18,080
So so in your experience, what 
do you think the overall board 

862
00:52:18,080 --> 00:52:23,280
game community just does really 
well like you were so happy to 

863
00:52:23,280 --> 00:52:25,040
be a part of? 
It I think the board game 

864
00:52:25,040 --> 00:52:30,760
community accepts everyone in 
the community no matter what, no

865
00:52:30,760 --> 00:52:34,360
matter if you are like an 
expert, no matter if you're just

866
00:52:34,360 --> 00:52:38,960
starting, no matter if you are 
different, no matter if you have

867
00:52:39,760 --> 00:52:43,880
any type of. 
I don't know how do you call it 

868
00:52:43,920 --> 00:52:47,760
if you have any difficulties 
being yourself or any 

869
00:52:47,760 --> 00:52:52,680
difficulties in your world at 
this time, or if you have, I 

870
00:52:52,680 --> 00:52:55,520
don't know, different references
in your life, different 

871
00:52:55,520 --> 00:52:58,160
religion, any of that matters. 
Actually. 

872
00:52:58,160 --> 00:53:01,520
They are just welcoming you into
the community because they want 

873
00:53:01,520 --> 00:53:03,960
to play with you. 
They want to teach you games. 

874
00:53:03,960 --> 00:53:08,000
They want you to enjoy the world
around games. 

875
00:53:08,880 --> 00:53:11,440
I think that's what this 
community is doing. 

876
00:53:12,240 --> 00:53:14,520
Most of the people that I know 
are like that. 

877
00:53:14,840 --> 00:53:17,920
They will just accept you the 
way that you are into their 

878
00:53:17,920 --> 00:53:20,000
tables. 
On the flip side, is there 

879
00:53:20,000 --> 00:53:23,800
anything you've seen that you 
think we need to do better? 

880
00:53:24,080 --> 00:53:26,760
On the other side, it actually 
depends. 

881
00:53:26,760 --> 00:53:32,760
I haven't actually encountered 
anything wrong, but sometimes 

882
00:53:32,760 --> 00:53:37,600
when, and this is more of the 
following on following side of 

883
00:53:37,600 --> 00:53:42,360
the accounts. 
If you go and check out into an 

884
00:53:42,360 --> 00:53:46,040
account and say, oh, wow, I 
can't believe this content 

885
00:53:46,040 --> 00:53:50,720
creator like as just this 
content creator is has just 

886
00:53:50,720 --> 00:53:54,800
followed me and is, I don't 
know, likes my content. 

887
00:53:54,800 --> 00:53:58,440
And you reach out and you're 
thankful for that and and you 

888
00:53:58,440 --> 00:54:02,720
meet this person to in the 
community and they feel like 

889
00:54:02,720 --> 00:54:07,320
they are honest with the first 
interaction, but then for some 

890
00:54:07,320 --> 00:54:14,240
reason they just stop following 
you so. 

891
00:54:14,240 --> 00:54:15,480
It's. 
Like you actually. 

892
00:54:15,760 --> 00:54:18,160
Numbers a little. 
Bit right follow you so you 

893
00:54:18,160 --> 00:54:25,080
don't actually know if there was
just manipulating numbers or if 

894
00:54:25,240 --> 00:54:30,360
they just don't like some of the
content that you just created 

895
00:54:31,280 --> 00:54:34,120
and it bumps you out. 
But you know that there are a 

896
00:54:34,120 --> 00:54:40,000
lot of people is still 
supporting you that OK Yeah, 

897
00:54:40,360 --> 00:54:44,520
well, this one follower that is 
leaving and the people that 

898
00:54:44,520 --> 00:54:48,040
really want to stick with you, 
they will stick through think 

899
00:54:48,040 --> 00:54:50,000
and then there will be always be
there. 

900
00:54:50,680 --> 00:54:54,040
So that's something that I don't
really like. 

901
00:54:54,360 --> 00:54:59,400
If you're going to be following 
me for my content and you don't 

902
00:54:59,400 --> 00:55:03,840
like something about it, you can
just approach and tell me. 

903
00:55:04,120 --> 00:55:05,840
Listen, I don't think this is 
appropriate. 

904
00:55:06,880 --> 00:55:11,800
Maybe you can have a different 
approach or maybe you can do 

905
00:55:11,800 --> 00:55:15,120
this different or just try to 
give you feedback instead of 

906
00:55:15,120 --> 00:55:18,440
just following you out of the 
blue. 

907
00:55:19,560 --> 00:55:23,480
Why would you do that? 
Or people that just keep on 

908
00:55:23,760 --> 00:55:25,880
doing that game with you, 
following you. 

909
00:55:26,280 --> 00:55:29,720
So you'll follow back and then 
they unfollow you and later on 

910
00:55:29,720 --> 00:55:32,680
you find out that they'll follow
you and then you're like, I'm 

911
00:55:32,680 --> 00:55:34,320
not going to play this game 
anymore. 

912
00:55:34,880 --> 00:55:40,200
Right, sure. 
It's Oh, darn it. 

913
00:55:40,200 --> 00:55:41,840
I had a thought and I forgot it.
Oh well. 

914
00:55:43,960 --> 00:55:47,600
Oh, I got it. 
One of the things that I've had 

915
00:55:47,600 --> 00:55:53,560
this conversation a lot, just in
general, not, not even, not even

916
00:55:53,560 --> 00:55:55,320
with gamers, just in. 
General. 

917
00:55:55,400 --> 00:56:01,400
In general, I, I think, I think 
that we, I think we as 

918
00:56:01,400 --> 00:56:06,360
Americans, because I don't see 
this with our with our non 

919
00:56:06,360 --> 00:56:09,080
Americans followers and 
community members. 

920
00:56:09,080 --> 00:56:14,200
I don't see this as much. 
The no is a perfectly good 

921
00:56:14,200 --> 00:56:20,560
answer and it it's OK to say no.
In fact, sometimes you should 

922
00:56:20,560 --> 00:56:24,520
say no as part of self-care. 
If you can't do a thing, don't 

923
00:56:24,520 --> 00:56:26,640
over commit. 
We say that all the time, but 

924
00:56:26,760 --> 00:56:30,240
but then we worry about how 
hurting people's feelings. 

925
00:56:30,280 --> 00:56:35,120
Well, you know my telling you no
is a perfectly good answer and 

926
00:56:35,120 --> 00:56:39,280
just yeah, that's simple. 
Rather than telling stories and 

927
00:56:39,280 --> 00:56:43,440
making up excuses to try to make
yourself feel better. 

928
00:56:43,440 --> 00:56:47,400
And then you're just waiting. 
Yeah, yeah, I see this outside 

929
00:56:47,400 --> 00:56:49,200
the board game community as 
well. 

930
00:56:50,920 --> 00:56:54,200
But, you know, and the, the the 
key is my listeners are going to

931
00:56:54,200 --> 00:56:56,400
get tired of hearing me quote 
Cicero. 

932
00:56:56,400 --> 00:56:59,360
But here he comes. 
You know, so Cicero was talking 

933
00:56:59,360 --> 00:57:03,360
about how a Republic because 
he's like, he's he's in ancient 

934
00:57:03,360 --> 00:57:07,440
Rome during the Republic period.
And he was talking to how the 

935
00:57:07,440 --> 00:57:11,760
republican only survived through
respect and trust. 

936
00:57:12,080 --> 00:57:15,240
And that if you take away 
friendships, OK, this is the 

937
00:57:15,240 --> 00:57:17,880
quote here. 
If you take away friendships, 

938
00:57:18,280 --> 00:57:23,240
then you take away our culture. 
So it's really important that we

939
00:57:23,240 --> 00:57:28,120
just treat each other with 
respect, trust each other, be 

940
00:57:28,120 --> 00:57:30,480
honest, and our community can 
thrive. 

941
00:57:30,800 --> 00:57:33,360
So thank you. 
You just need to be genuine, 

942
00:57:33,480 --> 00:57:34,600
yeah. 
That's it. 

943
00:57:34,960 --> 00:57:39,120
That's it. 
So yeah, well, Adri, I've taken 

944
00:57:39,120 --> 00:57:41,600
up more than enough of your time
this evening. 

945
00:57:42,760 --> 00:57:45,040
Thank you so much for being a 
part of this. 

946
00:57:45,040 --> 00:57:49,960
Thanks for your honesty, your 
integrity, your inspirational. 

947
00:57:50,240 --> 00:57:52,800
I love your silliness. 
I love that you embrace it so 

948
00:57:52,800 --> 00:57:55,760
much, you know? 
So I'm still trying because I I 

949
00:57:55,760 --> 00:57:58,800
still don't know if if people 
would like it. 

950
00:57:58,800 --> 00:58:02,800
So I still have a lot of doubts 
about it and I still struggle, 

951
00:58:03,560 --> 00:58:10,640
but I am trying my best to keep 
on with it and if I don't have 

952
00:58:10,640 --> 00:58:15,680
anything silly to do I just I 
will just keep on creating board

953
00:58:15,680 --> 00:58:18,240
game content because that's what
I love. 

954
00:58:18,960 --> 00:58:21,200
Keep doing it. 
So tell everyone where they can 

955
00:58:21,200 --> 00:58:22,880
find you. 
If they want to collaborate with

956
00:58:22,880 --> 00:58:26,120
you, where can they find you on 
the socials? 

957
00:58:27,440 --> 00:58:33,920
So I'm on Instagram, Wander 
meatball TikTok is mostly just 

958
00:58:33,920 --> 00:58:38,160
to repost the videos that I'm 
doing, but I'm also on TikTok. 

959
00:58:38,800 --> 00:58:41,960
I'm also on Facebook because you
know, like the board game 

960
00:58:42,000 --> 00:58:46,800
community is like trying to also
do Facebook and the board game 

961
00:58:46,800 --> 00:58:51,880
video thing is also in there. 
So you have to like try to be in

962
00:58:51,880 --> 00:58:55,160
all the socials. 
The idea may be part of the 

963
00:58:55,160 --> 00:58:58,360
unboxings that I'm doing just 
reposting those there. 

964
00:58:58,400 --> 00:59:00,680
I've been thinking, but I still 
don't know. 

965
00:59:00,840 --> 00:59:03,160
We'll see. 
That's an idea. 

966
00:59:03,600 --> 00:59:09,080
I also have that and yeah, those
are pretty much and board game 

967
00:59:09,080 --> 00:59:10,960
arena. 
If you want to play with me, 

968
00:59:10,960 --> 00:59:14,440
just start a table. 
And you're Wanderer meatball on 

969
00:59:14,440 --> 00:59:16,000
board game. 
Arena on board or meatball? 

970
00:59:16,000 --> 00:59:19,160
All of them, yes. 
Yeah, will you keep wandering? 

971
00:59:19,160 --> 00:59:22,920
And you know we will. 
We will see you at a game table 

972
00:59:23,400 --> 00:59:26,280
soon, hopefully. 
Hopefully yes. 

973
00:59:26,280 --> 00:59:30,240
So much for joining me. 
Thank you so much, Virginia, for

974
00:59:30,240 --> 00:59:32,520
the invitation and it was an 
honor to be here. 

975
00:59:33,320 --> 00:59:34,400
Thanks. 
Thank you guys. 

976
00:59:34,400 --> 00:59:37,640
Don't forget to hit that like 
and subscribe button. 

977
00:59:37,640 --> 00:59:39,400
We need those numbers. 
You just. 

978
00:59:39,400 --> 00:59:44,080
Are yes the. 
Algorithm and as always, be kind

979
00:59:44,080 --> 00:59:46,360
to each other and let's play 
more games. 

980
00:59:46,440 --> 00:59:47,040
Thank you.