Brainwaves

That sound isn't the Brainwaves HQ starting to strain under the weight of all the new interns, no it's the sound of Creaking Shelves recently installed by our latest guest Matt Evans, we really must get professionals to do this kind of thing. Matt joins us to discuss Kickstarter Unions, cash prizes, fast food RPGs, discuss "Killer Games" and much, much more.   Headlines   Kickstarter Unionisation https://rowanrookanddecard.com/kickstarter-heart-and-the-union/ https://twitter.com/ksr_united/status/1181591340624334848   Keyforge Cash Prizes https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/9/26/rise-of-the-vaultwarrior/?fbclid=IwAR3Y1s7UoH1SMu-aiygveiZYn8f_ySRzLKso_eW-B6iQDdmQ_RGB4NKYEhk   Wendy’s RPG https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/10/wendys-has-unveiled-its-own-tabletop-rpg-feast-of.html?fbclid=IwAR15M2XLJc52BSb8j8Bg7KsuzVVD8wROYyzWUmBdkT0pGNbnl12-3MaH4TE   KFC Dating Sim https://store.steampowered.com/app/1121910/I_Love_You_Colonel_Sanders_A_Finger_Lickin_Good_Dating_Simulator

Iain & Jamie are back from their vacation with a longer cast than normal to catch up on all the tasty boardgame news. They are joined by Glenn Ford of Man O’Kent Games to cover Kickstarter Unions, CMON time machines, trucks full of dice, when RPGs go wrong and much more!    Headlines       Kickstarter in the Firing Line https://slate.com/technology/2019/09/kickstarter-union-organizing.html https://www.evilhat.com/home/a-word-about-kickstarter/ https://www.evilhat.com/home/a-further-word-about-kickstarter/   CMON goes back in time https://cmon.com/news/back-to-the-past?fbclid=IwAR1v-Mx4Y_U08vXFN-mQBKJcEX7BZPoh-DyI-6EEO-cdtoZRwlnJfVXkJcE   Fantasy Flight Games looks to the future https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/9/6/scry-the-future/   News   Dice hit the road https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP1iaE42DU4   Stores given grants by Wizards https://icv2.com/articles/columns/view/44094/rolling-for-initiative-wizards-puts-its-money-where-its-mouth-is-other-trends   Evil

We are taking a little break this week from our regular cast but rest assured we will be back in two weeks time with all the usual Tabletop News from near and far. This episode was recorded before Sam was lost in 'the incident' and covers Keyforge, Scrawl and Dungeons & Dragons.  This episode was made possible by the kind sponsorship of all our patrons. 

This week on Brainwaves we are bringing you a series of interviews we conducted at Tabletop Scotland. This convention took place in Perth on the 24th and 25th of August, 2019. We spoke to the sponsors of the convention, various retailers, exhibitors and some friends of the show. We hope you enjoy. The links below are in the order they appear on the cast.    Daniel Taylor Woodworking https://www.instagram.com/dtaylorwoodworking/?hl=en   Inspiring Games https://www.inspiringgames.com/   Unlucky Frog https://www.unluckyfrog.com/   The Boardgame Book https://www.boardgame-book.com/   DMB Games https://dmbgames.co.uk/   Murphy’s Vault https://www.murphysvault.com/   Dice Roll Cafe https://www.facebook.com/DiceRollCafe/   Geeknson http://www.geeknson.co.uk/uk/   Bez http://www.stuffbybez.com/   Iain (Unpopular Mechanics) https://twitter.com/UnMech   Lucky Sparrow Games Cafe https://www.facebook.com/luckysparrowgamescafe/   Handiwork Games https://handiwork.games/   Campaign Coins https://campaigncoins.com/   Jon Ho

Iain has been trying to bring the Brainwaves garden under control but much to his annoyance has found the place overrun by wrestling Gnomes. Laying the blame squarely at the feet of Robbie Munn, Robbie joins Iain and Jamie on the cast as penance for his out of control Sumo Gnomes. We cover more awards, Golden Bell/ Unbroken Kickstarter, hirings, mergers and lawsuits. In Brainstorm we tackle the weighty issue of problematic themes in games.  Headlines Golden Bell/ Unbroken Kickstarter https://boardgamegeek.com/article/32704614#32704614 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1227872561/unbroken-a-solo-game-of-survival-and-revenge Ennies http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/2019-ennie-winners/ Diana Jones Award https://twitter.com/dianajonesaward?lang=en https://bullypulpitgames.com/ https://dreadthegame.wordpress.com/about-dread-the-game/   News Ross O’Connell joins Alleycat Games https://twitter.com/moregamespls/status/1159892361373192197?s=20 https://www.moregamesplease.com/ https://www.alleycatgames.com/ Wil Wheat

The team dare to roll and welcome the excellent Mike Barnes back to the cast. This episode we cover the announcement of the Teburu smart board, along with how to pronounce it, Spiel des Jahres winners, deaths of some giants of the industry, Digital innovations and much more. In Brainstorm we turn our attention to the biggest conventions and ask if there are just too many games.   Headlines   Mike Brunton & Richard Berg die https://twitter.com/RBMStudio1/status/1154885530649165825?s=09 https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/135/richard-h-berg https://twitter.com/cubicle7/status/1153270713228419077    CMON announces smart tech https://www.cmon.com/news/teburu-a-new-evolution-in-board-games    Spiel des Jahres winners announced https://www.cmon.com/news/teburu-a-new-evolution-in-board-games    News   Terraforming Mars Digital Studio shuts https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/346822/Terraforming_Mars_dev_LuckyHammers_has_closed_down.php    Bezier Games digital 'try before you buy'

Wrecking his way into Brainwaves HQ Mark Mckinnon from Dream Big Games joins Iain and Jamie on this week’s episode. Together they tackle plagiarism, the rise of the robots, oddly shaped awards, the meteoric rise of Kickstarter and the interns have finally finished off the new RPG corner!  Headlines   Plagiarism accusations hit popular boardgame site Reddit thread https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/c972ja/katies_game_corner_accused_of_plagiarism/ Punchboard Media Statement https://www.punchboardmedia.com/home/2019/7/5/punchboard-media-statement-on-plagiarism-regarding-katies-game-corner Robot AI takes on Poker https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/11/20690078/ai-poker-pluribus-facebook-cmu-texas-hold-em-six-player-no-limit Diana Jones Award http://www.dianajonesaward.org/   News 7 Tabletop Games fund a day https://icopartners.com/2019/07/crowdfunding-and-tabletop-games-2019-mid-year-update/ Lewis Chessmen Update https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jul/02/lewis-chessman-bought-for-5-sold-at-auction-for

In this special episode Iain and Jamie are joined by John Mizon of Southwest Megagames and Mr. Megagame himself Matthew Bambridge to discuss everything about this increasingly popular type of game. We go in deep to what makes megagames tick from the history of the genre to the recent arrival of products like Vampire: The Masquerade, Bloodlines. We hope you enjoy and would like to thank John and Matthew for being such excellent guests.  Intro to Megagames Off cast John recommended this video as a good primer for the genre https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IlqTWTiiN8 Shut Up & Sit Down https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/videos/susd-play-megagame-2-pt1/ https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/videos/watch-skies-2-pt-2/ Becky Becky Blogs We mention Trope High in the cast https://www.beckybeckyblogs.com/ PAXsims https://paxsims.wordpress.com/ Megagame Coalition These are where you will find the games running at Gencon https://megagamecoalition.com/ Southwest Megagames (John Mizon) https://www.swmegagames.co.uk/ https://

Iain and Jamie are joined by journalist Owen Duffy this week to cast their eyes over the gaming papers and see what is worthy of your attention. Amongst news of review bombing, Kickstarter guidelines and boardgame inspired TV shows the gents manage to sit down for a chat about the state of boardgame journalism.  Headlines Kickstarter new guidelines https://www.kickstarter.com/honest?fbclid=IwAR3-yno3b1KjdZhaY3TUokueyFan-2PckwDFit7NXJo1E5h_nZ17oOd6rKk#framing Watch the skies in a box https://www.stonepaperscissors.co.uk/games-purchase/watch-the-skies-megagameinabox Review Bombing on Boardgamegeek https://www.geeknative.com/66873/angry-geeks-manipulate-barrages-board-game-geek-rating-in-protest/?fbclid=IwAR1w3yFITkDFhmXVCKm1RVZWDoQIQ_mjDH8mkugwr0aRQvppWVuFNrY9sGM Tarrifs Update https://icv2.com/articles/columns/view/43524/rolling-initiative-good-bye-lee-garvin News Cyberpunk 2077 is getting a Tabletop prequel https://www.techradar.com/news/cyberpunk-2077-prequel-is-on-the-way-in-tabletop-rpg-board-game-form Tic

Iain & Jamie have gotten out the Necronomicon this week to summon themselves another roving reporter back to the fold. Garbed in his best cultist outfit Peter Hopkins from Drawn to the Flame joins the team to discuss Lewis Chessmen found in drawers, Origin Awards, Contrast paints and more! In the Brainstorm this week the 3 acolytes discuss seperating art from artist.  Headlines James Mathe Dies http://www.jamesmathe.com/ https://wreckandruingame.co.uk/james-mathe-a-tribute/?fbclid=IwAR0uUPttcfeN4KfIvG6YfJrBODOHsX5IxcNXiw96vCEV4iwf1PJ1_pSYMKE http://oneblogshelf.blogspot.com/2019/06/tribute-to-james-mathe.html Lewis Chessmen https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/medieval-chess-piece-set-go-auction-12-million-180972352/ Origins Awards https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/43425/origins-awards-2019-winners   News Contrast Paints https://citadelcolour.com/ Asmoplay https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/43404/new-asmoplay-program-launches-july https://b2b-media-production-ana.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/2a/9

The team are back from UK Games Expo and whilst everything was fresh in their minds, sat down to wax lyrical about the games they had seen at the convention. Our special guest is our honorary member of The Giant Brain, Rich Stokes: long time friend of Iain and the show. We cover a wide range of games and products from ones so new they barely have a name to the behemoth that is Games Workshop. Do let us know what you saw at the show and if you think we missed any gems. Chapter 2 - Strudle Games https://twitter.com/RomanRybiczka   Watch the Skies 2 - Second Sight http://www.megagame-makers.org.uk/megagamet-wts.htm   Villagers https://www.sinisterfish.com/   Flat Pack Forces https://flatpackforces.com/   Team 3 https://www.publishing.brain-games.com/team3   Seminars Smart Party https://smartparty.wordpress.com/   Paul Grogan - Gaming Rules https://gaming-rules.com/   Megacity Oceania https://www.wearehubgames.com/our-games/megacity   Big Book of Battlemats https://www.gamingbooks.co.uk/shop/big-book-of-battle-m

UK Games Expo is on the horizon and the crew are setting sail to this promised land. Joining them on the good ship Brainwaves is a man who is no stranger to the Expo himself: Mr. Rory Sommers of the Polyhedron Collider Crew.  Before they get to chatting about the convention we cover the latest in Tabletop news including the potential impacts of the US/China trade war, Elder Scrolls getting into some plagiarism and all the news from D&D live. Do get in touch and let us know what you are looking forward to at Expo!    Headlines   U.S. Tarrifs https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/43201/games-books-periodicals-toys-targeted-new-round-china-tariffs    CMON Profits https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/43164/cmon-reports-down-year-2018   Elder Scrolls  https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/05/bethesdas-latest-elder-scrolls-adventure-taken-down-amid-cries-of-plagiarism/    News   DND Live https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/43237/product-highlights-d-d-live-2019-the-descent-livestream    Dice To

Iain and Jamie are delighted to welcome home their space based roving reporter Janice Turner from Wren Games. The crew cover legal rustling on the Great Western Trail, companies producing less games and Aliens returning to the tabletop. In our Brainstorm we turn to the subject of Kickstarter and seek sage advice from Janice who has been down that road in the not too distant past and has a background in project management.   Headlines   Indie Game Studios sues Plan B Games https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/88986/indie-game-studiosstronghold-games-sues-plan-b-gam    AEG pledges to make Less Games  https://www.alderac.com/2019/04/25/publish-fewer-new-games/    Steve Jackson games releases stakeholder report for 2018 http://www.sjgames.com/general/stakeholders/report19.html   News   Alien films return to the Tabletop  https://frialigan.se/sv/startsida/    Asmodee launches Aconyte fiction arm https://www.asmodee.co.uk/news-item/asmodee-announces-fiction-imprint-aconyte/   Steamforged g

Jamie, Iain and..... well Sam is away doing things beyond Space and Time. In the meantime it's time to call in our band of roving reporters in from the wild and get them a seat at the table. First up is Ross Connell from More Games Please. The team cover the recent cancellation of Kollosal Games kickstarters, why they didn't win any Golden Geeks, loads of financial news from across the hobby and discuss the importance of art in games. Headlines Kickstarter pulls Kollosal Games' campaigns https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/389480684/folding-space?ref=discovery_category&term=Folding%20space https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kolossalgames/papillon?ref=discovery&term=papillon https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kolossalmikro/hunt-the-ravager?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=hunt%20ravager Mensa Select Awards https://www.us.mensa.org/newsroom/press-releases/2019-mensa-select-winners-announced/ https://mensamindgames.com/about/information-for-first-timers/ 13th Annual Golden Geek Awards http

Well it's the morning after the party and the crew are all nursing a headache and wondering what is going on in the basement. In the meantime they get down to the business of news reporting. We cover 7th sea sailing into a safe habour, scholarships from gaming luminaries, controversy at GMT and debate the merit, or not, of expansions.  Headlines 7th Sea finds safe harbour https://www.chaosium.com/blogjohn-wick-joins-chaosium/ Geoff Englestein announces Scholarship https://www.tabletopnetwork.com/new-voices-scholarship Scramble for Africa pulled by GMT https://mailchi.mp/a9c2643ed89c/p500-update-removing-scramble-for-africa?fbclid=IwAR0blZiYs6U02Nw8YhTEFyQDEU5QT2KdkV_aFB2GQXXV71UrcKFDmN7phBE News Games Workshop rebrand Warhammer and Warhammer 40k https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/04/05/together-at-last/ Acquisition Incorporated book from Penny Arcade and Wizards of the Coast http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/acqinc Hunter's Enterainment to produce Altered Carbon RPG https://www

Get on your party hats, blow up the balloons and cut the cake because Brainwaves is one year old! On this special episode we are joined by our executive producers Robert and Sadie from the Lucky Sparrow Games Cafe and a few friends of the show. Although we were mostly partying we still had time to cover a bit of news with our guests and debate the merits of various party games!  Iain, Jamie and Sam would like to thank all our listeners, friends and family for supporting us over the last year. The response to the cast has been more than we could have hoped and we are looking forward to what the next year will bring.  Resolution to Martin Wallace/Eagle Gryphon https://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/2167942/resolution-aos-situation?fbclid=IwAR3NATWG89Ya3_aRYmP14rkDvMiHZoYrxc9o5dCi3PMN-2I72Ht6DPRjBxA Dune reprint from Gale Force 9 https://twitter.com/therewillbegame/status/1106260088308686848?s=19&fbclid=IwAR1FpdJEFdmZEJ1GkyXLxE2fLl6wRcYKK34ByMam7L20LVxPQU1n-Br_nM4 CMON and Asmodee enter exclusive agreement htt

On the eve of our 1st year anniversary the guys look into the depth of the news sea and hook only the tastiest bites for you. This week the world of Bridge is rocked by doping, Martin Wallace has a bone to pick with Eagle Gryphon games, Asmodee loses track of its Bears, franchise tie-ins galore and we finally get down to debating the merits, or not, of Monopoly.  Headlines Top Bridge Player faces doping ban https://amp.theguardian.com/sport/2019/mar/01/world-no1-bridge-player-suspended-after-failing-a-drugs-test-geir-helgemo?__twitter_impression=true Martin Wallace says Eagle Gryphon does not have the rights to publish Age of Steam Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/eaglegryphon/age-of-steam-deluxe-edition Original accusation: https://boardgamegeek.com/article/31426723#31426723 Christian Petersen statement: https://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/3920163#3920163 Resolution that came about after recording: https://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/2167942/resolution-aos-situation Heidelbar leaves

On this episode we address controversy withing the RPG community, the nature of randomness in dice, head to France for some awards, Glasgow for some games cafe action and feature more news than you can shake a reasonably sized game at!  Headlines Wizards issue statement regarding Zak Smith Wizards Statement - http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/news/dndstatement Mandy Morbid's Statement - (Content Warning for descriptions of abuse) https://m.facebook.com/amandapatricianagy/posts/10215845527064252  Awards Season comes to France http://www.festivaldesjeux-cannes.com/en/asdor/winners How random are your dice? http://www.awesomedice.com/blog/353/d20-dice-randomness-test-chessex-vs-gamescience/ http://www.markfickett.com/stuff/artPage.php?id=389 News Keyforge Expansion announced https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/2/12/age-of-ascension/ Funko gets into board games http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/02/15/1726226/0/en/Funko-Acquires-Award-Winning-Board-Game-Studio.html Root expands again https://twi

They're back with a brand new invention, or at the very least a new cast. This week they steady themselves from the Aftershock of a cancelled KS, counter their pennies as CMON announces financial results and journey to the Outer Rim with FFG. Relaxing into RPG corner, we use our new widescreen TV to watch the Champion of the Wild and finally look at a very, very expensive games.    Headlines   Aftershock Kickstarter Cancelled KS - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/strongholdgames/aftershock-deluxe-edition Paxsims - https://paxsims.wordpress.com/2019/02/05/aftershocks/   Cmon Profit Update https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/42395/cmon-promises-better-q4   FFG announces Outer Rim https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/2/8/star-wars-outer-rim/   News ITB looking for summer intern https://itbboardgames.typeform.com/to/QjB9DG?fbclid=IwAR3tM7BfhIiVv7TaTVNjuWnc_eFNFi4fvuI9GYW9V2ykG6wAoepjPwe-EOI   Talisman Lives https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/42429/licensed-talisman-game

Iain, Jamie and Sam are back in the news saddle and are roping the best in Tabletop gaming news. On this episode we look at the smashing success of Tabletop Games on KS, wonder about some Russian inspired design, get excited about Captain Sonar and talk about ways we can all be more welcoming to new people in the hobby.  Headlines Tabletop Games smashed records on KS this year https://www.polygon.com/2019/1/15/18184108/kickstarter-2018-stats-tabletop-video-games?fbclid=IwAR1QxgokulvgZLiip7NIr9Wga9mth-m9h1wzFZ0JX8nFkXq4rVGYsCW7eD8 Dobble has smashed the million sales target https://www.toynews-online.biz/retail/dobble-named-uks-biggest-selling-card-game-as-one-millionth-unit-sold Our guys in Salisbury https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/24/salisbury-novichok-attack-board-game-on-sale-russia?fbclid=IwAR05EqG7RddHDO6AN9FR4beHf_PrE4fBz7VB9_tooIecnY9MvXUorx-i1_Q News Fog of Love sequel - Midlife Crisis https://twitter.com/FogOfLoveGame/status/1087092840285507584 Days of Wonder announce Roll and Write game "