Meeple Minded

Introducing new players to the hobby.

March 02, 2021 Meeple Minded Season 2 Episode 6
Meeple Minded
Introducing new players to the hobby.
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Show Notes Transcript

" Inside of everyone there is table top gaming just trying to break out and have some fun "

For this episode the duo of Ian & Jason share there five tips for introducing new people into the hobby and hopefully provide u with the tools to turn the people into regular players :)

with the experience of running gaming clubs and introducing new players for the past ten years, this is a shortlist of the tips and tricks they have learned along the way.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++  NEWS  +++++++++++++++++++++++++

Paul is also back with his faithful rubber duck Brian in the news shed to bring you all the news, crowdfunding campaigns & event information we think you need to know about. including but not limited too.

  • Stardew Valley - The Board Game by Concerned Ape
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - The Board Game by Modiphius
  • Rainbow Six Siege: The Board Game by Mythic Games
  • Magic The Gathering: Universes Beyond by Wizards of the Coast
  • Earth Rising: 20 Years To Transform Our World by Stop Drop And Roll
  • Orconomics by Ares Games
  • Tiny Epic Dungeons by Gamelyn Games
  • Batman: The Dark Knight Returns – The Game by Cyrptozoic Entertainment


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Thank you all so much for choosing to listen to our humble down to earth Table top gaming podcast. If you do like what you hear, please do subscribe as we will be uploading a new show every Tuesday @ 7am GMT, ready for that commute into work, or gym session :)

you can also now watch our new video content on the Meeple Minded YouTube channel links down below.

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Find our audio Podcast on all good podcast platforms or find the links on our host site .  

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Please also Like, Share & Subscribe here on Youtube

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Support the show

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Find our audio Podcast on all good podcast platforms or find the links on our host site .

https://meepleminded.buzzsprout.com/

You can join the ever growing Meeple Minded community

https://www.facebook.com/MeepleMindedMedia

https://discord.gg/HtgzKDAB

https://twitter.com/MeepleMinded

https://www.instagram.com/meepleminded/

Please also Like, Share & Subscribe here on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCInqK3k50OVrutTCodvw3FA

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Thank you all so much for choosing to listen to our humble down to earth Table top gaming podcast. If you do like what you hear, please do subscribe as we will be uploading a new show every Tuesday & Thursday @ 7am GMT, ready for that commute into work, or gym session :)

Jason:

What's up guys, welcome to the Meeple Minded podcast, the podcast where we talk all things tabletop gaming. My name is Jason.

Ian:

And my name is Ian, and along with Paul in the newsroom, join us as we Bumble our way through the board gaming industry. So pop the kettle on, grab a brew. And let's get on with today's episode,

Jason:

brew in hand and what are we going to discuss today?

Ian:

So, we were having a think, and we were we were actually going down a bit down memory lane, and what converts people or what to people, what interests people in joining our communities, and joining our board gaming,

Jason:

hobbies, indeed, indeedy. And it that sort of moved on a bit to how you essentially bring someone in to our beloved hobby. So yeah, I mean, we've the past few years showing drastic increases in the number of gamers within the tabletop industry. It's never been a better time to really introduce new people to our hobby, but it's not always as easy as it sounds.

Ian:

No, I mean, Jason's my perfect example. For this. We go way back. And the irony is, is he had, Jason had his club before I had mine, I think. And I made my way over to Crawley gaming club. And he literally just solely the type, the type of war game, tabletop Wargaming. And it took me weeks to get him to actually entertain a normal board game.

Jason:

Indeed, yeah, I never used to be I never used to be a board game or card game or really for, for that matter. I was always more into the war games. But yeah, introducing new people into just the tabletop hobby as a as a whole, whether it be roleplay, that seems to be the easiest one to get people to try at the moment. But card games, board games, war games, it's really, really hard to get people to actually try it. But we've been doing this for a long time. And and I think when we sat down and really think about it, through all of us successes and failures, we have managed to narrow our processes down to saying to a five stage checklist.

Ian:

Yeah, thanks. I think it's a fair judgement. It's the common things we find of what gets people to come back. You know, what gets people interested, what gives people the bug of gaming, or car gaming? You know, what, tabletop? In general, what get what gets people the gaming hobby, and gets gives you that itch?

Jason:

Yeah, it makes you have to keep coming back. Indeed. And I think it's now fair that we have this platform that we allow our knowledge to be used by the general population. So if you guys have someone that you think might be in, might get into the board gaming, we're going to give you our five things to help you make them take that plunge into this a wonderful hobby.

Ian:

Would you like me to start us off,

Jason:

you can do start with that and start with number

Meeple Minded:

five.

Ian:

So I'm going to say, you know, we're gonna put set the same, you got someone new turned up to a board game club was the first thing you really need to do with that new person, in my opinion, you need to get to know them, they might be timid, they might be shy, it might be a big, scary world for them. We've mentioned it in some of the older podcasts, how it can be quite difficult to just pull that plunge and actually turn up to one of these events in the first place, you know, is a big step for some people. So you need to be friendly, warm and welcoming, and actually get to know what sort of things interest them, you know, before you even start to pick a game.

Jason:

Yeah, exactly. And that goes with with not even being a board game club, or any kind of gaming club for that matter. But you know, maybe it's one of your friends that you would like to introduce into it. If it's your friend, you probably know a bit about them anyway, but it doesn't hurt to try and find out a little bit more information about a person, you know, did they have any other hobbies? You know, what sort of movies today? What sort of music do they like? Because all of these things do generally point to what type of game they might enjoy playing. And we'll get onto it a bit later about how theme would actually really matter to these people. But the last thing you really want to do is start recommending a game like let's say Disney villainous to find out later that they have an irrational hatred of Disney, they're never gonna come back from that. So yeah, getting to know the person is vitally, vitally important.

Ian:

And again on that front, you know, it's one way of being friendly and open towards people and you know, people need to feel welcome. People might not want to gain if they don't feel like They're going to be part of it

Jason:

for So for number four, this one we have entitled it's not about you. And the reason we say that is because we all have games that we really want to play, some of us have got absolutely massive game collections where they want to play every single game. However, just because you want to play something does not mean that they will enjoy it will even want to play it.

Ian:

I've mentioned this before, especially as us as tour organisers, we have to be willing to play absolutely anything. Because we want people to have fun, especially Paramount being there first time and somewhere, you know, you're with anything in life. First impressions are, what makes or breaks everything. You know, and we're no exception in this industry. And

Jason:

you know, or in this hobby. First impressions will define what how we feel about it, if you didn't make it, so it's not fun people won't come back. Exactly. The analogy I've, I always like to use is put yourself in your first experience at a restaurant, if it goes bad, and you don't have a great first impression there. Would you likely go back? Because I'm pretty sure the answer is no. same principles.

Ian:

And again, another thing to can contemplate and consider if you chuck someone into the deep end with like some really complex, horrendous game for their first experience. Some of these games can be quite frightening with the amount of things you see which we'll cover later. But if just because we wanted to try that one big game, there might only be enough players for one game of something. And if you chuck someone in the deep end, you know, same thing applies if they don't enjoy it, that might be them done, you know, like a game or something like Twilight Imperium. It's gonna take all all day or potentially a weekend to play those away. We even look at things like monopoly, you know, how many people want to play a game of Monopoly when they know it's gonna take like five hours to play? Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Jason:

Great example, three. And coincidentally, that does lead us on to the next point for number

Ian:

three mountains of components. And lots of rules become a big new

Jason:

new players are likely only going to have ever been exposed to maybe simple tabletop games, as Ian said, the likes of monopoly, Cluedo, that kind of stuff. Or maybe, maybe they're transitioning over from the digital games, where they're not used to having, you know, loads of rules to learn before you even get to play the game. So yeah, seeing mountains of components or a big thick rulebook before they're even starting the process of learning how to play a game is, as we've said, countless times is incredibly daunting. And the likelihood is they will put up a mental block. And no matter how much fun you incorporate into that game, that mental block is going to be damn near impossible to break those, you have to break through those walls.

Ian:

Yeah, you know, Twilight Imperium is what I mentioned a minute ago is a good example. It's a huge game, it takes a long time, it's got lots of components, even zombie site, one of my absolute favourite Co Op games, has a long time to set up and a long time to pack down. You know, you've got to think even those sort of things into consideration. How long are these people going to want to play their first game for, you know, are you better off with a short, like half hour to an hour long game? Or would they be someone that would be interested in the long haul, you know, if you can work that out before you start, you're not going to frighten them off with something that they might not want to do after they feel like they're compelled to finish? Yeah,

Jason:

yeah, I couldn't, I couldn't really agree more with that one, to be honest. And again, it all sort of all of these are intertwined with each other that really draws back to that getting to know the person, because you should get a rough idea if, if when you're getting to know someone, they openly say I've got a fairly short attention span. Why on earth would you start introducing them to possibility of a really big in depth game? So yeah, it's really all intertwined. You really need to get to know those people know that it's not about you. And then know whether a mountain of components or lots of rules is going to be something they're attracted to, or something that they're essentially scared of. But another thing that does draw back to what I said earlier about getting to know people is our number two thing and that is theme really matters to new gamers now. This one is gonna sound biassed from both of us because you all know by now we love our IP games. However, please do listen to this because this one is actually one of the most demonstrated things to both of us when we're introducing new people to games.

Ian:

However, I will put in a disclaimer now It's not a guarantee, you know, this one isn't a, you know, always 100% sort of accurate thing, you know, there are people out there that don't need a theme on them. But again, we'll go through why we think this is key to us and to our clubs, you know, our clubs or our experience. And I'd say a good like 90% of the people we've had at our clubs, or new people, especially, are attracted to this point.

Jason:

And Ian said at the outset of this podcast of how he and it's become a well known story, really about how he got me into board gaming itself. And this one I should have clocked on. Personally, I should have clocked on to this a lot quicker than I did, because it worked on me. And that is, from my first experience, what got me into the ballgame. It was even pushing the right buttons with a theme that I absolutely loved in Marvel. So yeah,

Ian:

yeah. So when I first turned up to Crawley gaming club, I had just got Breton and my brand new copy, and you guys are gonna grow. And because we bring up a lot of that authorising and again, I've seen all the tabletop stuff, x wing and Star Wars played a lot. You know, Jason had things like destiny. And, you know, it was always interested in the Wargaming side of things, and all the miniatures. But when I rocked up, tried a few weeks of just trying to get into play with sorts of games, no luck, stick sign offs in the middle of the table, and the massive cardboard Infinity Gauntlet, and he just kept walking past the table, and we hooked him and got him in. And it was a nice, simple game, but the theme fit really well. And it just showed that you don't need a bunch of rulers and a bunch of dice to enjoy

Jason:

the dice base game.

Ian:

But you know what I mean, you know, you didn't need a dice, throw at it. But again, I've seen the opposite as well, I've seen board game is nice. I'm a good example for this. I like the ideals of Wargaming. But I find it really difficult to justify like the massive cost of money and everything involved. And then a long swoop Star Wars Armada, and then it went all my money with it. Exactly. And things what got me gaming in the first place. My entry into gaming was through the Pokemon card trading card game. And that was through one of my friends at school showing me it before Ironically, the craze hit but the crate when the craze exploded, you know, so did the game. And that was my entry into this world.

Jason:

So yeah, to give you guys some food for thought really imagine the cult classic that we all know right now the most well known modern tabletop gaming pandemic, you know, put yourself in the in the shoes of someone who's not into games, and let's say doesn't really care for that particular theme. And you know, someone has suggested you play that because they didn't bother to get to know you. Find out what your likes and dislikes were, but they managed to convince you to play the game. After all, in your eyes, all that game is doing is moving little cubes about on a big colourful board, that there's not really anything inspiring about that in their eyes. And yet, all they're being told is Oh, this is the best game since sliced bread. But now, if you want to have that exact same game, with the theme that they enjoy, those same cubes become the keys to something far more immersive in in their eyes. So yeah, its theme really does matter to new gamers. And, yeah, there will be some people out there that won't care about the theme. But I would say a good 80% of new gamers that I have managed to convert have been drawn to a theme have tried a game because of the theme really enjoyed it. And that has opened their minds to actually playing other games which don't need a theme. And Jason has to include himself in all of this. I do indeed I am one of those people, we have managed to get ourselves to our number one thing pretty quickly, which is good, but I have a feeling we're going to talk about this one a fair bit. So number one, it is vital, absolutely vital the first game they have. Once you've done all of the other four steps, the first game they have, they must have fun fun is what our hobby is about, isn't it?

Ian:

It's one of those things that people actually forget a lot. Sometimes the drive to win becomes more important for some people than actually enjoying a game. Me and you have come to the conclusion many a time that one of the most fun things we can do in this hobby is actually lose games. Yeah. But it's Be careful about things not to pick on people you know, even like when you think to things like video games, how many games you could have the most fantastic video game ever. If you're with a group of toxic people You're not going to enjoy. And if you don't enjoy it, you don't go back. Your first impressions in anything in the world in general are so key I mentioned earlier and fun is still a first impression. Yeah, you know, if you're trying to coax people into playing, you know, joining our world, and wondering why we do what we do and why we have so many games and things like that, you want to make sure they enjoy their first one. The

Jason:

experience here is the analogy should we say that I like to use here is that of going to a supermarket, you can have the best go to the best supermarket in town, you have nothing but great things to say about it all the way round. But when you get to the checkout, that is the equivalent of you playing, playing your tabletop game. If you get served by the rudest person in the world, the human brain will remember that. So it doesn't matter the fact that they've had a great time before that the very last thing they remember was something they didn't enjoy, that didn't have fun, and it leaves a negative taste in your mouth.

Ian:

I can even relate this to myself in a weird way. There's games that I have stopped playing, because I've had such bad experiences with just particular people that that stuck in my mind, and I've not wanting to go back. So not wanting to have that same experience again. And it's no different for someone new to the hobby. You know, if they think that the experience was bad, then they'll assume that's the case for all of them. And like with any sort of hobby or any interest, if you're gonna go into it, you need to know you're gonna enjoy it. Yeah.

Jason:

And this is where you start figuring out you know, what, what type of games is best for these people. And we always recommend, really, if it's a new player, and they don't really know what they want, you know what they want, we definitely recommend trying out the likes of Co Op games, because it's a little bit less pressure on them far easier to, to learn the rules, because you're able to work as a team in order to do it. However, my key thing to recommend there is you have to avoid the quarterbacking side of things and playing the game for them, because they're not going to have fun doing that,

Ian:

as far as I am. The other thing to note is also which Co Op games you're playing, and to you know, with the warning that some Co Op games are brutal. Even the good you know, the friendly ones, they can go badly, we had one member that one of our own gaming groups that absolutely despises the Thunderbirds board game, because we literally lost in the first three times because the game just went Nope. But we played another game. I remember it was another Co Op game like the week before or the week after. And they kept asking to play that again, you know, two more almost identical sort of games that they just had this mental view that Thunderbirds was almost impossible. Not gonna do it again. didn't enjoy that. Yeah, never going back.

Jason:

So yeah, they had a negative experience on their first time playing it. And yeah, never, never wanted to play it again. It's something you just have to do. You have to have fun playing a game. It's why we do it. But at the end of the day, and I think a lot of people do need to actually remember that this is meant to be a fun thing. There is it is nice to be competitive once in a while. But really, when it's not fun for everyone involved, there's something pretty wrong, I think.

Ian:

Yeah. Again, as with all of these five things, as well, it's all about balance. You know, remember your first experience, you know, like, Is it a memorable one? You know, like the fact that me and Jason can remember our first experience are because of the funny story that goes behind it of the war of attrition of Oh, it's a board game, it'd be boring. Yeah. But then me bringing out this nice shiny Marvel miniature and all of these IP, you know, pretty cards and bright colours and stuff. And you know, that is like dangling a carrot in front of someone. Yeah. And again, this industry is growing. People are realising it's one, it's acceptable to be nerdy and people are realising games just aren't for, you know, aren't for nerds anymore, you know, for everyone, which is how it's always been, it should be when people are realising for the cost of a board game and your takeaway and a few drinks, you can save so much money on the sake of you know, a few nights out on the town instead, you know, four nights out with a group of four people with a board game that they can keep playing, you know, just adding the drinks and food to go with it. Versus each paying like 100 quid a night owl, he suddenly saved a lot of money for the same amount of fun.

Jason:

Yeah. So yeah, I think that is pretty much all of the advice that we have really in in in regards to trying to create new gamers, you know, it sounds rather Frankenstein esque, doesn't it? But no, it's all about converting those people that have never tried a modern board game. You know, let's be honest. We've all played the classics. It's about converting people to modern board games. They are totally different. And of course, that extends over to the likes of war games, roleplay games and card games as well. They're all totally different to what they were even 1020 2530 years ago, whatever it might be. They are totally different and it's about introducing them to what we what we like

Ian:

now I suppose a bonus round for this sort of subject as well it's actually the type of games that you choose to play as well. We already mentioned like our love for Co Op games so we're always going to be biassed on that from that if you've got a lot of people that love storytelling or love immersing themselves in video games why not tempt them with a really if you know somebody who really good Dungeon Master try and rope him into a good you know role playing game session if you know people that like their strategy games war games are perfect for that you know and this great card game not just competitive ones you know like me and my Pokemon but there's a really good party games out there as well a lot of which are card based you know the obvious one being Cards Against Humanity but things like Kim sushi go magic decaro or you know even continuing like the party silly party thing and things like joking hazard. They're just such a different way of playing and it's a it's an entry into this world. Yeah,

Jason:

definitely. party games are a whole whole separate list really because they are the bridge nowadays you know that a lot of people have played party games without even knowing that they have so that that that's an interesting one. That is definitely an interesting one. So guys, that is our list. Have you got any secret hints, tips or tricks that have seemingly done what you needed them to do and help you bring people across the troubled waters of uncertainty into the land of plastic and cardboard dreams? Let us know at any of the social media pages Facebook, Instagram Twitter by searching for the Meeple Minded Media. Also let us know if there is something that we forgot Is there something we didn't expand upon enough we are always willing to revisit these things and help you out as much as we possibly can

Ian:

always feel free to come over chat to us on our Discord server. You know drop us an email we're always happy to chat about these things as well if you want to know more that we don't we don't come back to indeed

Jason:

Yeah, I always forget that one but the link for it will always be in the podcast description there somewhere on that night goes I think we're gonna call it a nice short short one for you today we will pass over for the weekly news Kickstarter. So crowdfunding campaigns because we have game found nowadays and local events and even worldwide events but that is the business of our main man Paul and his rubber duck Brian so yeah, over to you guys.

Paul:

Here me now, you is here with myself dj mix master MC triple B, A boop boop boop. As always, my eco Yella Brava from our side is the one and only DJ quackquack What's up bro? What's wrong? Is you on mute? Anyway, we are some banging news this week with loads of video games coming to the table some things happening over with their magic cards and our posse over at stop drop and roll needs your help along with some crowdfunding things we have all over this Firstly, this week may under quackquack have been mostly playing top bomb of a game and that is drop makes we have been banging out some proper tunes on them big card game electrical thing a weaker whereas you have to bro nevermind is probably off to the Little Ducks room. Our tracks have been so wicked that even me missus has been saying that they need to be played far far away days good. So we are sending them off to some proper legends and as I was just waiting here to get signed up for some top DJing gigs I hang on the quacks coming back Why are you doing with a frying pan? bruff I don't want no more breakfast as already asked me sugar puffs. Quack Quack stupid in me. Stop stop stop out what was I doing? She's certainly not mad at me. Yeah, you're right. Why too much dropmix makes sense. We definitely going back on the shelf for a bit. I think I should get on with a new should know I think we've wasted enough time. First up this week and the first of three games making their way from the digital to the analogue platform is a much loved Stardew Valley Stardew Valley released in 2016, and is an open ended country life RPG video game available on most consoles, PC and mobile platforms. In the video game, players inherit a farm plot from their grandfather within Stardew. Valley players then have an open world to explore. The option to hunt for resources to craft with grow and cultivate crops tend to farm animals and develop relationships with the villagers living in the valley turning their small plot into a home that's to their liking. Stardew Valley was created by Eric Barone and developed and published by concerned ape the studio that's also responsible for releasing the board game adaptation. Cole Madeira's co designer of gups, a game of wit and luck and creator of web of spies as co created Stardew Valley the board game alongside Barone over the course of the last two years. The announcement of Stardew Valley the board game follows the creation of a fan made tabletop adaptation of the video game by Hungarian Reddit user name or Rex bomb, the Stardew Valley fan constructed the game in secret as a gift to their partner who had trouble concentrating on screens due to an ear infection. Stardew Valley board game is a co op title for one to four players that tasks its farmers with protecting the land they've inherited from their grandfather and idyllic patch of farmland. The valley is under the threat of being redeveloped by the Georgia Corporation destroying its natural beauty and its residents way of life. To prevent the corporate takeover. Players must work together to complete the goals laid out by grandpa and restore the valleys community centre to its former glory before the Jojo lackeys arrive. grandpa's goals in each playthrough of the board game are randomised, meaning that Stardew Valley the board game offers a different experience each time it's played. rounds are determined by the valleys seasons with a start of each round having a player draw a season card and reveal its unique weather and events. Players may want to perform different tasks depending on the weather patterns for that round, or they might want to catch a certain event in the hopes that it will aid them with their goals. Throughout the game, players will be able to complete farming tasks such as watering crops and feeding animals as well as performing more exploitative activities such as visiting the valleys mine in search of rare resources or venturing to the beach to do a little bit of fishing. Players can get ahead in the video game board game by coordinating their efforts each round, but they're also free to seek their own personal desires. As the game progresses, players can upgrade their existing equipment and acquire new tools as well as Discover Items and obtain fresh skills. There will even be opportunities to make friends with the locals who will give players access to unique gifts and community centre bundles. Players collectively win the game if they manage to complete all of grandpa's goals and finish the restoration of the community centre before the end of the last season. Stardew Valley the board game is available now at a retail price of $55 or 38 pounds with shipping applicable to you. As residents only concerned ape said it's looking into opening up shipping beyond the US our second video game making its trip to the tabletop is Skyrim the immensely popular entry in the Elder Scrolls series of role playing video games as first reported by polygon the latest tabletop spin on the 2011 video game comes courtesy of modiphius who brought Fallout and dishonoured to the tabletop and previously turned the open world fantasy adventure into a skirmish based miniatures game. The Elder Scrolls call to arms details on the pitifully named The Elder Scrolls five Skyrim. The board game I currently scan with its pre launch crowdfunding page simply describing it as and describing it as an epic board game of adventure across Skyrim. For one to four players. The Skyrim board game will be launched in June on crowdfunding platform game found marking modiphius his first project onto the fledgling Kickstarter rival not to be left out is the news that the tactical multiplayer first person shooter at Rainbow Six Siege is another video game adaptation getting a board game overhaul Rainbow Six Siege released in 2015 and has since gained a strong following in the esports and competitive online community publishing Ubisoft announced the board game during a live stream reveal for the video games latest Crimson heist season of content Rainbow Six Siege the board game is being designed in collaboration with mythic games, and is scheduled for release this summer. Although details of the game's content and gameplay are sparse, the short teaser trailer on their website gives us some indication of what we can expect from the tabletop offering showing a covert operative decked out head to toe in combat armour secretly running around a darkened cargo come face to face with a huge miniature version of an enemy combatant before a title card appears to reveal a lineup of unpainted operative minis With the limited content details aside is not too difficult to imagine how Rainbow Six Siege can be adapted for board game mechanics. mythic games is no stranger to tabletop adaptations of video games successfully kickstarting and miniatures board game version of indie dungeon crawler Darkest Dungeon in January this year. Next up on the news is Wizards of the Coast announced this week that collectible card game Magic the Gathering will release future sets based in established fictional universes such as games workshops is Warhammer 40,000 and Lord of the Rings, as part of its new universe is beyond initiative, both games workshop and Middle Earth enterprises, which handles licencing for the works of author JRR Tolkien have given Wizards of the Coast permission to print full sets of playable cards based on their worlds and tell stories with their characters wizard set in a blog post on February 26, that its goal with universes beyond is to expand magics potential audience. The blog stated, many of us imagined what it might be like to play a game of magic with with Gandalf the Grey sketched out how we might translate the One Ring to magic or wanted to build a deck around the mighty Space Marines in many ways universes beyond is us living out those dreams of our own. But we also hope that universes beyond will bring the game we love to more people who might not have otherwise found us. We hope fans of these worlds and characters will find our games through universes beyond and we hope they'll stay a while and become part of our amazing community. The announcement of universes beyond accompanies a larger restructuring by parent company Hasbro, moving dungeons and dragons and Magic the Gathering under its own new dedicated division called wizards and digital any sets printed in the universe is beyond line will feature a distinct foil stamp used for the Walking Dead secret lair box or print on demand Deluxe offering of cards not found anywhere else in fact was stated at the Walking Dead would be retro actively added to the universe is beyond line since it exemplifies what it hopes to offer fans fun Jones into popular entertainment worlds that do not interfere with Magic the Gathering standard release schedule Warhammer 40,000 characters will grace a line of commander decks and the Lord of the Rings with grace a themed expansion cards in both will be completely new and playable in all formats but standard the same rules as applied to the walking dead set, fans might still see old cards re skinned in future universes beyond releases akin to secret lair Godzilla bad company to be a Korea layer of BAM offset in 2020. And last up in the news this week. Our good friends Laurie, Rob Ray and the team over at Stop, drop and roll studios are on the lookout for play testers for their latest game stop drop and roll successfully funded their first game pokes in mugs on Kickstarter last year, and it's well on its way to fulfilling very shortly the latest game Earth rising 20 years to transform our world. We'll be hitting the crowdfunding platform later in the year, but at the moment needs your help in ironing out any last remaining issues. The game itself is a cooperative game for one to six players of families and friends aged 10 plus about saving our world. Earth rising isn't about vanquishing evil or undoing some terrible plot instead, up to six players, each taking on a role from a specific industry, Energy, Agriculture, politics, culture, industry and infrastructure must work together to bring the world into a sustainable harmony, balancing the needs of people with the limits of our own planet's biosphere. It will take strong cooperation and careful planning to reverse the damage done and transform our society into a sustainable one. You have 20 years to transform the world are you up to the task, stop, drop and roll. I've already announced that 50% of profits from the game will be split between six charities but like I said they are in need for some playtesters in the coming weeks to help out. And with a digital simulation of the game running in a browser window pretty much anyone can help out so pop on over to either the stop drop and roll or Earth rising 20 years to transform our world Facebook pages the drop the team align and show your interest and we're heading on over to crowdfunding now. And the first game of this week is all economics by Aries games crowdfunding campaign finishes on Friday March The 12th is for two to five players is for ages 10 and over and we'll take you 60 minutes to play the crowdfunding game. One pledge and that's for 36 pounds or $49? Or are you sad that the days of heroes are in the past? Do you feel upset that brave warriors such as yourself have no chance to use their fury and courage? If so, that just the thing for you dive into the world of business, a vortex of competition, a fight to be the best build up your companies with your strong green hands and bargain to the bitter end with your rivals. Legends will be told of your glorious business ventures. Economics is a game for two to five players competing against each other to establish companies in 10 industrial sectors, the game board assembles randomly for each new game that gives a good replay rating our sectors will have different value and will affect each other companies in each industrial sector generate income or losses and grant players abilities that can be used during the game. To win the game, a player needs to be the first to found 10 companies on the game board or sometimes even less if they successfully fulfilled some business quests of greed, rage or their next step on crowdfunding is tiny epic dungeons by gambling games. The project ends on Wednesday, March 17. It's a one to four player Co Op game, ages 14 and over. There's a print and play version available for eight pounds or $10. The base game comes in at 18 pounds or $25. There's a deluxe pledge, which includes the base game and a potions and perils expansion for 22 pounds, or $30, or they're all in the pledge includes the base game, potion and perils and a story's expansion, including eight new heroes, plus the miniatures that go with them. And that's 29 pounds or $40. Tiny epic dungeons is a fully cooperative dungeon crawler for one to four players, setting the fantasy world of oak more. In tiny epic dungeons, players control one of eight heroes, or 16 with the expansion, each with their own miniature in a band of heroes exploring a treacherous dungeon in search of a fearsome dungeon boss heroes make their way through the dungeon one room at a time, but around every corner goblins and ferocious minions seek to block the hero's path where there isn't an enemy traps are set ready to spring on even the most prepared hero. Tiny epic dungeons features a modular dungeon that is unique with each play, the game is played over two acts the dungeon and the dungeon boss. In both acts the players are constantly struggling against the waning firelight of their torch, which decreases each turn when the torch goes out. Heroes are forever lost in the darkness. After clearing the dungeon of all its minions and finding the entrance to the layer. Players must engage in an epic battle against the boss. Each boss has unique abilities and a lair with a unique environment that gives various advantages and disadvantages depending on the skill used and where the hero attacks from. In order to do that heroes will need to collect legendary loot and supreme spells. In addition to say that I'm a fan of a tiny epic series of games is an understatement from what the crowdfunding page goes by this game looks amazing. And if you didn't manage to get in on the heroquest relaunched and this is certainly one to go back and at that price point with miniatures. Amazing it gets mine and the ducks seal of approval this week. And lastly, I've been crowdfunding this week is Batman The Dark Knight Returns the game by cryptozoic Entertainment project ends on Friday March the 19th. It's actually a solo game. It's for ages 14 and over and each mission will take 90 minutes. The base game is 44 pounds or$60 and the deluxe game comes with miniatures and is $99 or 72 pounds. In the Solitaire Batman The Dark Knight Returns board game you play the world's greatest detective who's been pulled back from retirement into a gritty Gotham, do everything you can to beat back a relentless tide of ruthless mutants, cops and press looking to bring you down instead of traditional levelling up. This is a game of attrition, and old Batman tries to survive one final gauntlet facing old and new villains such as to face Billy Berzerk and the Joker, and even his most powerful ally, the Man of Steel himself. The game is playable as standalone missions, or one epic playthrough in which the results of each mission carry over to the next Frank Miller's iconic story Batman The Dark Knight Returns comes to life in a single player strategy board game experience crafted by acclaimed game designers, Morgan Danville for as God's chosen and Darrell Andrews of sagrada fame, your skills will be tested across four scenarios or books that each feature Unique roles, allies abilities and epic boss battles, you'll have unlimited number of resources and turns to complete each of the four books. And if Batman's grip, sanity or health ever drops to zero, it's game over. Beyond staying alive in the short term, the world's greatest detective also has to plan for the long term, the doomsday clock, the doomsday clock persists across all four books, as does the constantly evolving and always chaotic Gotham City. The Doomsday Clock ever strikes midnight or Gotham becomes to overrun with riots. It's all over, hang up your cape and cow or just try again. I mean, heading on over to events now with the UK Government press conference last week planning our route out of lockdown it certainly has given us hope that in person events can start happening albeit as we approach the summer I believe myself and the other local organisers will leave it until a little closer to the summer before we make any announcements of our own groups, but it does bode well for any conventions later in the year with our main one here in the UK being UK g pencilled in for the last weekend in July, fingers crossed but to tide us over till then, you know, we're here for you. Our local groups are always around during the week by discord and zoom, playing games via tabletop simulator board game arena table topia. And as we stop, drop and roll asking for play testers now our browsers to Thursday sees both wording board gamers and Louis board game group chatting via zoom. So head on over to their relative Facebook pages for times and minx, Jason and Ian would love to hear from you on a Monday evening with the Crawley gaming community via their Discord server. And there are plenty of games being arranged over on the table topia Facebook group each week. So head on over there to join in. I know it's a bit of a long one this week, boy made it till the end, Look after yourselves. meeples stay safe. Keep those dice rolling, card shuffling. And we'll be right here for you next week. Say goodbye, Brian. And it's a goodbye from me.

Jason:

Thanks very much for that, Paul. And thank you guys for joining us once again here on the Meeple Minded podcast how it was an interesting discussion today. And

Ian:

yeah, I've thoroughly enjoyed that. It's always nice to think back to what we did getting into this industry and hobby, I don't have to keep using the word industry what we did to get to get into this hobby and what pulled us in what keeps pulling us in, you know why? And I find exploring that fascinating and, but also some good memories. As I said, I'm always wanting for telling stories and things of what's happened and what's been. And it's always a good laugh and always makes me smile to think back.

Jason:

Yeah, especially as the mountain that you conquered in, you know, bringing me down to down to your level of board gaming this, you know, from my high horse of Wargaming, you know?

Ian:

Yeah, and the rest.

Jason:

But yes, it's, it's nice to actually go back and really think about it because it really has opened a lot of doors for me in the sense of you know, we're now doing this in something I've wanted to do for years, but never really had the subject that I felt I was passionate enough about to really talk about on a weekly basis. And now we have it, we do. And, you know, the passion is also there to get it out to the masses, you know, get more people into this wonderful hobby experiencing the fun and games that we face on. I mean, I would say a weekly basis. But you know, normally for us, it's 345 times a week, you know,

Ian:

when the world hasn't fallen over?

Jason:

Of course, indeed. Anyway, I think we should close it off there. Thank you very much for joining us guys. It has been a pleasure talking to you once again. We will be back next week with more tabletop gaming, gossip news and all that jazz. And we look forward to you joining us. Yeah,

Ian:

stay well. Stay safe, everyone. We chat to you next week.

Jason:

Indeed we will. Thanks very much, guys. Goodbye game safe. See you next week. Goodbye.