Happy New Year! What the hell have we been doing these last few months?

It’s been a busy last couple of months here at TCbH HQ. Well. I guess I wasn’t even always here. I took a trip to the Pacific Northwest, went to PAX Unplugged, then experienced all the excitement of Christmas as a parent of a 4 year old. So yeah, like I said, busy.

Anyway, there were a few things I wanted to mention as general updates.

Pacific Northwest

This was a family vacation, but the one thing I wanted to mention here is that I got to visit some really awesome friends, many of whom have contributed or supported the site in different ways (shoutouts to Mike Travis, Jen Kelley, and Rob Conley (more on him in a bit)), but also I got to visit Mox Boarding House, which was incredible.

Man. If I had known what to expect I would have set aside a full day. Not only were the facilities wonderful, clean, and gorgeously maintained, but the whole vibe and atmosphere were simultaneously deep-nerd and yet totally welcoming. The staff were really incredible, too; very talkative, great personalities, and helpful. All around, 10/10, can’t wait to go back.

PAX Unplugged

You’ve probably seen some of our coverage in one way or another, but the bottom line is that this was once again one of my highlights of the year. PAX is such a groovy, supportive convention that seems equally geared toward casual and hardcore audiences. I also like just how community driven it is, creating platforms for creators to really engage with audiences, such as the Unpub room.

That said, all of the audio and video coverage was a huge amount of work, and I could never have done it without the incredible help of Rob Conley of Ginger Cat Productions (told you he’d be back) and Robert Doremus. These two dudes hauled gear, held cameras, checked equipment… they did it all. Truly amazing friends and for the duration of the con, completely realiable teammates who made it all possible. I can’t wait to go back again, and I sincerely hope both of them are able to make it too.

20 Greatest Games of All Time

I don’t ever want to be accused of not doing ALL THE THINGS, so last minute (well, maybe 10 days) before the end of the year, I decided, why not make a video committing to my top 20 games of all time? I mean, it’s only like the first time I’ve ever done that, or even made an ordered top-anything list that I’d be willing to stand by. You see, my reluctance is that I find the whole notion kind of silly, but I still believe in it.

I felt like I got a good process and have conviction about the games I chose, so I thought it was time to really go forward. The result was spectacular. I am so proud of how that freaking thing came out. Maybe it’s not monumental in the grand scheme of things, but I think it is one of our finest edited pieces of work, and would be so honored if you checked it out.

So that’s the climax of our year. We have a few odds and ends going on right now, like finishing up our patron rewards (letters are written, now gathering packaging supplies) and some sort of “games of 2018” roundup which will hopefully come before January. Got a few upcoming projects too, ranging from Platypus Con here in Juneau, to “Cardboard Academy”, a learn to play video series.

So, with that I’m going to sign off for now. Thanks for all of your support, have a marvelous New Year.

Is anything cornier than the phrase "Audience Engagement"?

I’ve been thinking a ton about “audience engagement” recently, how to get that sweet, sweet participation of people watching, reading, and listening to TCbH. Then it dawned on me, WHY? Is it for validation? Feedback? Money? All three of those are legitimate things, and can be incredibly important for content creators, TCbH included. But I think that for me, more than anything, it’s for the conversation.

Since I was but a wee babe, I’ve been creating stuff. Drawing, music, designing poorly reskinned versions of Heroquest, you name it. But I don’t think I ever imagined a world where I was fully supporting myself doing these things, it’s that I just loved it when someone totally got where I was coming from and responded, and we could then just geek out. Whether it was the obscure track we decided to cover at a punk show, or someone seeing that I was sketching ancelary Thundercats characters, I loved engaging with people.

In a way, you could call that validation, but it’s not so much the validation of quality as it is the recognition of authenticity. Or maybe that’s what I tell myself so I can get to sleep at night.

Anyway, I really appreciate everyone out there on reddit, bgg, twitter, youtube, and elsewhere spreading the word about what we do, giving feedback, and more than anything, just starting some conversations. We have a few more projects going on these days where you can make your voices heard, too.

About once a month, contributors and friends of the show get together to record “TCbH Hangouts”, a more game focussed discussion podcast which usually has a particular question attached. If listeners contribute answers, we also bring them up there. Then we are also posting our rough draft reviews to the patreon, and asking patrons (and twitter followers, but patrons get 2 votes) to vote on upcoming reviews, Rook & Records, etc…

In other news we got a ton of new stuff on the horizon, including interviews with Ben Rossett, Carla Kopp, Jamey Stegmaier, and R. Eric Reuss. Reviews of Orbis, Root, Imperial Assault, My Little Scythe, Tiny Epic Zombies, and more. Oh, and Rook & Records of Abyss, My Little Scythe, Terraforming Mars, Clans of Caledonia.

Shoot… We just got a lot of stuff going.

Oh, speaking of which. Carla Kopp of Weird Giraffe Games has been a frequent guest and longtime supporter of TCbH. Their latest kickstarter just launched, “Dreams of Tomorrow”, which I recommend you check out this week’s interview. You can find the kickstarter here. I have not played the game, but it sounds awesome.

Recent Stuff on TCbH:

Videos

Interviews

Written Reviews

Friday at the Herald - A rag tag group of vagabonds

I don’t think I’ve really codified it here, but I wanted everyone to know what’s up with TCbH these days. You may be seeing that we are putting out way more stuff than in the past, and hardly a week goes by without 2-3 more publications, between writing, podcast and video.

The reason? We’re a team. You may not realize, but the TCbH family has grown substantially, particularly in the last few months with more contributors both on the front lines and behind the scenes. Between Luke Muench, Chris Douglas, Andrew Birkett, Joshua Simons, and Rob Conley, we have a fantastic cast of core contributors, and we even have a wider array of guest contributors that round out the “flavor” of TCbH.

That said, I also wanted to talk about games. We’ve been thinking about doing a “games we are playing” section of the site. I don’t know how this would work, maybe it’d just go up here in the blog, but for my part, I’ve been playing a ton of Scythe: The Rise of Fenris and Istanbul: The Dice Game. On top of that, the two latest Terraforming Mars expansions and Fist of Dragonstones from Stronghold Games has been seeing some play. I’ll have more official thoughts on all of those going forward, but I more or less like all of them. Well, some (Prelude and Rise of Fenris) significantly more than others.

Anyway, stay cool, stay strong, stay real. Have a great weekend!

-Jack

Oh, and album recommendation - Everyone go out and listen to Neil Young’s “Harvest” like 100 times.

The Latest & Greatest

My dearest friends! It's been a while since I've posted here, but things have been so busy and I've been trying to keep up with this beast that is TCbH. Don't get me wrong, I'm still all in, but it is a very different beast than it started as, and continually I've been trying to innovate, continue with the elements that work the best or are most creatively fulfilling, and doing away with the stuff that just turns out to be more work than it's worth.

But that said, we have an exciting few months planned for TCbH. First off, I want everyone to know that I'll be attending PAX Unplugged in Philly this year, joined by TCbH Crew Members Rob Conley and Luke Muench. You can hear those jokers regularly on TCbH Hangouts these days.

Speaking of which, isn't Chris doing a great job hosting those? If only Luke and I could occasionally learn to shut up!

A couple other updates, too. Thanks to the Patreon support as well as the incredible support of a loving wife, I now have an awesome camera & mic combo that is steadily improving our video quality. Don't get me wrong, some of the learning curve has been rough, but the rate of advancement with this is much faster than it ever was with the iPhone. I hope that between both instruments, I'll be able to make some really exciting music (this metaphor is becoming more tenuous by the second) for ya'll. In the meantime, you can see the BEAUTY of the camera, with albeit it kind of crappy sound because of the wrong mic settings in our recent Whims of the Sultan review. Once I adjusted the sound, it was much better, so don't worry about that in future stuff.

Another development since I last talked to you is that I've somehow become the face of Dragon Dice online. SFR, Inc, the makers of DD, reached out to me and asked if I could do the official how to play series, which I graciously accepted. I've been both praising and critical of the game since my time with TCbH, but it's one of those games that really had a monumental impact on me as a kid and I'm so honored to now be part of it's legacy. I have 3 videos in the series already up, and more in the works. Here's the primary overview:

Lastly, I wanted to mention that I'm leaning more heavily on our friends and supporters around here. I want TCbH to be a true platform for creative people passionate about board games, and you may have noticed a greater involvement by awesome people Luke Muench of Budget Board Gamer, now a regular on Hangouts, doing regular written reviews, and also cooking up some videos and upcoming interview episodes. Similarly, Chris Douglas is one of my longtime friends who has a knack for thoughtful conversation and moderation with a passion for games and I'm excited to see what he has down the road. You may have also heard me talk to Andrew of Atheris Games on the most recent interview episode where I talk about podcasting equipment, recording, and technique, as he will soon be doing some guest hosting on our interview channel.

Speaking of Luke, we have a couple of recent written reviews you should check out here:

Anyway, thrilled to be back in the swing of giving these updates again. I'm probably just going to do them as I see fit rather than keep it on a formal schedule. Hope ya'll are well, and we'd love to hear about whats going on in your gaming lives.

Peace!

-Jack

"I must have dreamed a thousand dreams, haunted by a million screams"

May Update - I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

This post was originally published as our monthly newsletter. Be sure to sign up!

May 1, 2018 - I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

Continuing tradition, the best way to open is with a Beatles quote, which is fitting since I got the White Album on Vinyl for my birthday. But that's not all, April has been a crazy and spectacular month, between some of the gaming we've been doing, launching a Patreon, getting our Spirit Island review up... Lots of stuff going on around here.

But really, we are talking about May. For me, May really starts convention season. What conventions are you going to this year? There's still a chance I might make it to Dice Tower Con, though I'm really not sure what other conventions I'm going to be hitting up. What are your favorite conventions, and which ones do you most want to revisit? Are there any that you absolutely didn't like? Let us know! 

Hot Strats

Tips & Tricks for the hottest of games

Anachrony:

Buildings - Dual Purpose:  Buildings give you extra actions in the game and score you points at the end. This is the dual function item that improves the engine and scores points - always watch for these in euro games and then maximise them as they are self fulfilling prophecies to win the game.

INIS:

Using The Pass: In your first few games you will want to play the key actions you want to achieve before other's do. You can do this early game, but there are key times in this game where it pays to take the last move. However, if everyone passes then you will need to discard those cards and end the turn (if you have just passed tactically!). Timing when to pass (when others will move) and when to move (when others can't) will be key to winning.

This month's strategy tips were provided by Robert Crowter-Jones of The Elusive Meeple, where you can find his full reviews and strategy breakdowns of Anachrony and Inis, as well as a ton of other games.

Designer Wisdom

Where designer homies of TCbH give you some tips from the pros.

"It's not easy to find gamers willing to play an unfinished (and possibly bad) game and give feedback at the drop of the hat. Find ways to sweeten the deal! A playtest kit with game AND cookies goes a long way."
-Andrew Bosley of Paisley Board Games
https://www.paisleyboardgames.com

Stuff that came to TCbH Last Month

Written Reviews
 

Tiny Epic Quest - Review by Luke Muench

Podcasts

TCbH Interviews
Interviews with creative gamers & game creators
(We didn't get all the updates on TCbH Interviews last month, so here's everything new)
Apr 25 - Samuel Bailey, designer of the now-cancelled Deep
Apr 18 - Nate Zabel of Damage Buff
Apr 11 - Carla Kopp of Weird Giraffe Games (the return!)
Apr 04 - Tony "Bearded Rogue" Miller, designer of Fire in the Library
Mar 28 - Tristan Hall of Hall or Nothing Games & Mark Chaplin, co-designer of Lifeform
Mar 21 - Aron West of Elzra Games makes his return!

TCbH Reviews
Audio versions of our reviews with additional thoughts & commentary
Apr 26 - Carcassonne
Apr 19 - Scythe: The Wind Gambit
Apr 05 - Cyclades 

TCbH Hangouts
Friends & Contributors of TCbH hanging out, talking games & creativity
Apr 26 - An Amalgamation of Chris & Jack

Video

Apr 24 - Manaforge Unboxing
Apr 21 - Rook & Record - Star Wars: Imperial Assault
Apr 14 - Spirit Island Branch & Claw Unboxing
Apr 09 - Rook & Record - Ex Libris
Apr 03 - Patreon Launch Video
Apr 02  - Spirit Island - Review

Whats up with us

Games We've Been Playing -
So many games, so little time. In all honesty, recently I've been playing shorter games. My wife is part of the steering committee for a big public project here, and we are often focussing on taking care of our kiddo while the other is working on our various pursuits. That said, much of our gaming has been review related. Manaforge, Flamme Rouge, Planecrafters, and Spirit Island (got a branch & claw review in the works). Still trying to love on the classics too, though, ya know? I'm really eager to get some things like Medici, Kingdom Builder, and Lords of Waterdeep to the table some more soon.

Since we are approaching the halfway point of the year, thought I'd share some game play stats. Here is each game that I've logged 5+ plays in 2018 so far:
 

• Spirit Island - 12

• Charterstone - 10

• Catacombs Conquest - 8

• Flickfleet - 8

• Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 - 8

• Coup - 7

• Elder Sign - 6

• Flamme Rouge - 6

• Kingdomino - 6

• Ethnos - 5

Upcoming Interviews -
-Kwanchai Moriya, artist extraordinaire
-Sam & Gwen of Runaway Parade Games
-Sean Epperson of Thing 12 Games
-Rob "Everything is restoration or legacy" Daviau

Be sure to tweet / email us with any listener questions you want us to tackle on air!

Announcements -
I posted a pilot for a new series Cardboard Craftworks where I do DIY/Crafty projects in the board game space. Kind of an instructional type of thing. Every episode will feature a new project and a game to showcase the project, like this pilot featuring basic organization tools & techniques with Grand Austria Hotel, or hand sewn monster bags for Elder Sign, or 3d printed stands and tokens for Gloomhaven.

This is kind of the first step toward what I wanted to accomplish through the patreon, kind of expanding what our coverage was and could be, through better equipment and access to more resources. Once we get to 20 patrons, I'll begin producing the series regularly and let patrons vote on what the next project is. This, along with all of our other core content, will remain freely available to anyone, though Patrons just get to have extra influence over where it goes and get a special thank you at the end of our videos.

Questions -
What is your ultimate comfort game? Like, imagine your favorite comfort food, except in game form. Tell me why, in what setting, when, whatever!

Parting Thoughts -
Cheyenne Morse, co-host of Fictional Females (a podcast you should be listening to), is my oldest friend. When I was thinking about starting the Cardboard Herald, I was really worried that I'd be rejected by a community for not being funny, thoughtful, whatever. She advised me "Just do it. Keep at it. If you do good stuff and just keep being earnest, the audience will come." I think of that advice several times a week as I keep plugging away on things, and how right she was. Cheyenne has been, and continues to be, the best.

Thanks everyone!

April Update - They Say It's Your Birthday

This post was originally published as our monthly newsletter. Be sure to sign up!

April 2, 2018 - They Say It's Your Birthday...

There's never a bad time to quote the Beatles, and it's not too far off because April is my birthday month, but there are so many other awesome things going on! 

What are you doing for Tabletop Day 2018? What are you doing to celebrate Spring?! Sure, it's a great time to get outdoors and do some bike rides and camping, but nothing says you can't pack a game or two in your day bag. Let me know, shoot me an email at cardboardherald@gmail.com letting me know what your favorite games on the go are.

Personally, I have lots of fond camping memories with Guillotine, and I'm in the midst of shooting an outdoor/travel focussed review of Dice of Crowns by Thing12Games.

Hot Strats

Tips & Tricks for the hottest of games

Near & Far:

Gamble earlier than you think: The easiest way to lose this game is to spend too many turns in town. You just don't score your points there. Getting out of town as early as possible even if you are taking a risk is going to help you win or stand a chance of it!

Acquire:

Recycle & Re-position: Generally, you will want cash the first two times a merger occurs, but on the third merger may be the one that creates the first hotel to last to the end of the game. This is the point to start to consider switching shares. The hotels at game end will be very valuable and the largest shareholder will get a key bonus. If you don't take shares in this company now, then watch out and make sure you merge in to this group (or get a majority in another large hotel) before game end.

This month's strategy tips were provided by Robert Crowter-Jones of The Elusive Meepl, where you can find his full reviews and strategy breakdowns of Near & Far and Acquire, as well as a ton of other games.

Designer Wisdom

Where designer homies of TCbH give you some tips from the pros.

"Playtesters are good at finding problems, bad at suggesting solutions."

-Jon Moffat
http://stonecirclegames.com
https://twitter.com/JonTexMo

"Testing and iteration are far more important than planning and inspiration"

-Tony "The Bearded Rogue" Miller
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/weirdgiraffegames/fire-in-the-library-board-game
www.twitter.com/beardedrogue

Stuff that came to TCbH Last Month

Written Reviews
 

Carcassonne, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Megacastle - Review by Jack Eddy

Podcasts

TCbH Interviews
Interviews with creative gamers & game creators
Mar 28 - No Siestas for Andreas "Ode." Odendahl
Mar 21 - Aron West of Elzra Games
Feb 14 - Alex & Mike of Lethal Chicken Games
Feb 07 - Chris & Lindsey of Behind the Box

TCbH Reviews
Audio versions of our reviews with additional thoughts & commentary
Mar 23 - Ethnos
Mar 09 - 7 Wonders - Leaders

TCbH Hangouts
Friends & Contributors of TCbH hanging out, talking games & creativity
No new episodes! Chris was on baby duty, but we recorded one which will be posted early April.

Video

Mar 31 - Scythe: The Wind Gambit - Additional Thoughts & Review Q&A
Mar 24 - Dragon Dice - Goblins!
Mar 21 - Rook & Record - 7 Wonders
Mar 17 - Scythe: The Wind Gambit - Review
Mar 15 - Ethnos - Additional Thoughts & Review Q&A
Mar 07 - Rook & Record - Galaxy Trucker
Mar 04 - Catacombs Conquest - Additional Thoughts & Review Q&A
Mar 03 - Catacombs Conquest - Review

Whats up with us

Games We've Been Playing -
Here's the deal. Finally. FINALLY. I got a chance to play the much-praised Gloomhaven and turns out, it's just a Dungeon Crawl. One big freaking dungeon crawl. Now, I had fun, mind you, but I guess given the sheer amount of praise that game received, I guess I expected it to be something different. Sure, there are lots of nobs and dials you can adjust to make it this really robust experience, but when it comes down to it, it's just a bigger, more elaborate version of most other dungeon crawls that predate it. I'm looking forward to playing another game, and maybe it's wonderful epic qualities will occur to me then. For now, I think it's just a bigger but perhaps less accessible Imperial Assault or Descent?

In other news, I got a copy of Jackson Pope's prototype of Flick Fleet which i'll be giving a spin, and other games hitting the table include more and more of my new BAE Spirit Island (even the solo is SO GOOD). But I managed to break out some older games recently, too. A few games of Carcassonne (which inspired the written review), Mystic Vale, and my slightly older BAE Terraforming Mars. I will say that my interest in Mystic Vale had waned, but getting back to it I found it charming, albeit somewhat clunky. I'm going to see if I can swoop up another expansion or two to see how it changed the game, because Vale of Magic while cool for just adding more stuff, really didn't fix some of the broken elements of the original, like sometimes having a turn with 3 ethereal bucks to spend, then the next turn you get lucky and have an explosive 16 card turn with like 35 bucks and 15 elemental symbols. Still novel though.

Upcoming Interviews -
-Kwanchai Moriya, artist extraordinaire
-Sam Bailey, designer of (the now cancelled) Deep
-Carla Kopp of Weird Giraffe Games returns
-Tony "Bearded Rogue" Miller returns
-Nate Zabel of Damage Buff on why you should have a developer

Be sure to tweet / email us with any listener questions you want us to tackle on air!

Announcements -
Our Patreon will be launching this month! Among the core values of TCbH, we believe in speaking directly with you, the listeners / viewers / readers, because we are all part of the same community. Another principle is that we believe in contributing to that community free of charge. That's what we've managed to do so far, and plan on continuing to do so, but to get to the next level, we will need your help. There won't be a paywall for our stuff, you won't see us cutting our content and reserve it only for Patrons, but we've come up with some creative ways to include and reward patrons while still delivering the same (and even better) content you've come to expect, for everyone. So if you believe this us, you believe in TCbH and want to help us out, consider becoming a Patron.

Questions -
Strategy videos? Robert from Elusive Meeple and I were thinking about how we could make cool little 2 minute strategy videos. Anyone interested in that?

Parting Thoughts -
The thing that's been on my mind lately has been how freaking cool and grass roots this community is. Even the giants are still trying to figure stuff out, and someone with raw talent, skill, and dedication has a really good chance at becoming involved in the hobby in one way or another. From designers and developers, to artists and publishers, to reviewers and hosts. It's really an amazing thing. I encourage you, if you've ever thought about doing anything in this community, try it out!

March Update - March-ing along with TCbH

This post was originally published as our monthly newsletter. Be sure to sign up!

March 1, 2018 - March-ing along with TCbH

Happy March everyone, Spring is almost here! TCbH has been cranking out sausage in full swing, and it's been a relief to finish up a lot of projects in the making. Turns out, accepting a bunch of review copies at once can be a really stressful endeavor, especially when you want to fit in several plays of each game you are reviewing...

Anyway, as you can expect in each issue of our newsletter going forward (with this being only our 2nd one ever), included you'll find hot gaming strats, designer wisdom, updates on what we've been playing, new TCbH features, announcements, and additional thoughts. Thanks for tagging along, hope you convince at least 5 other people to sign up for this newsletter (who will convince 5 more, who will convince 5 more, etc...)!

Hot Strats

Tips & Tricks for the hottest of games

Santorini:

Building on the diagonal; This is more of a defensive move, but it's important to watch the diagonal. When the player builds that third level, it's often the build from a diagonal that is left open or wasn't seen - this can cap the third level and stop the win! Building on the diagonal is often less obvious and hence powerful.

This War of Mine:

Take The Shovel; It's a bit of a trick, but in the first scavenging round you might think about taking the shovel with you. Yes it's helpful if you meet rubble at the location you are searching, but more importantly this can help ensure that if you get raided on the first night, you don't lose the shovel! You need the shovel for at least the first two days to clear a meaningful amount of the house!

This month's strategy tips were provided by Robert Crowter-Jones of The Elusive Meepl, where you can find his full reviews and strategy breakdowns of This War of Mine and Santorini, as well as a ton of other games.

Designer Wisdom

Where designer homies of TCbH give you some tips from the pros.

Do a little bit of game design practice every day, even if it's taking one note, making one doodle, reading on page from a theory book. It's so easy to think you're keeping up, then suddenly realize a week or a month has passed without any forward progress. Every little step moves you closer to your game design goals, but you have to keep moving!"

-Emma Larkins
www.emmalarkins.com/daily-practice/
www.twitter.com/emmalarkins

"Fail fast, find the fun, make your MVP (Minimum Viable Product)"

-Cody Thompson
www.goldnuggetgames.com
www.twitter.com/GoldNuggetGame

Stuff that came to TCbH in Jan 2018

Written Reviews
 

Castles of Burgundy - Review by Luke Muench of Budget Board Gamer
Ex Libris - Review by Luke Muench of Budget Board Gamer

Podcasts

TCbH Interviews
Interviews with creative gamers & game creators
Feb 28 - No Siestas for Andreas "Ode." Odendahl
Feb 21 - Tony Miller, The Bearded Rogue of Breaking Into Board Games
Feb 14 - Eddy Webb, creator of Pugmire
Feb 07 - Jackson Pope of Eurydice Games

TCbH Reviews
Audio versions of our reviews with additional thoughts & commentary
Feb 23 - Dragon Dice
Feb 09 - 7 Wonders

TCbH Hangouts
Friends & Contributors of TCbH hanging out, talking games & creativity
Feb 13 - Ep. 002 - What's Your Bit? Ft. Eric Streed & Andy Zeller

Video

Feb 26 - Charterstone - (mostly) Spoiler Free Review
Feb 22 - Rook & Record - Eclipse
Feb 08 - Catacombs - Wyverns of Wylemuir Expansion Review
Feb 06 - Rook & Record - Sheriff of Nottingham
Feb 01 - Dragon Dice Review

Whats up with us

Games We've Been Playing -
I've been mixing in a little bit of everything these days, but the two biggest standouts have been Grand Austria Hotel and Catacombs Conquest; the latter of which is for a review. So far, i've only played one game of Grand Austria Hotel, but already I completely see why people love this game. Though I lost, I felt like I had lots of choices along the way of how I could do things better, the theme is really pleasant, and while the artwork isn't great, the presentation itself looks good as a showpiece on the table. The one element that I'm not sold on is the dice; don't get me wrong, i'm not saying it's imbalanced or anything, and I can see it's merit, it just felt especially punitive if I was going 3rd/4th per turn, but then again I suppose it's not as bad as going last. I think this is one of those games where I have to be able to better anticipate what future turns could look like, and be more adaptive to what the options at hand are.

Catacombs Conquest is awesome, but you'll hear more about that during my review. The biggest drawback to Catacombs is that it is such a production to set up and get on the table. Now I can easily bring this sucker to coffee shops and knock a game or two out and still have time to finish up my coffee at lunch. I also really dig the card system involved, it's an interesting way of distilling catacombs into something familiar yet completely unique. In a lot of ways, it feels much more tactical than any Catacombs game before it. I wouldn't trade the other games away, but as an easy to teach option that plays in 20 minutes, Conquest is pretty slick.

Other games I've been playing include Spirit Island, Scythe, Charterstone, Ex Libris, King of Tokyo, and Shadow Hunters.

Upcoming Interviews -
-Chris & Lindsey of Behind the Box
-Aron West of Elzra Games
-Sam Bailey, designer of (the now cancelled) Deep
-Tristan Hall & Mark Chaplin coming on to talk about
-Kwanchai Moriya

Be sure to tweet / email us with any listener questions you want us to tackle on air!

Announcements -
No big announcements this month, other than congratulations to contributor, friend of the show, and official TCBH Strike Force member Chris Douglas on the birth of your daughter Kyra!

Parting Thoughts -
Still just trying to figure out how to harness the collective energy of all the things TCbH is doing and condense it in some streamlined format available to all of you people out there. This newsletter is an attempt to do so, but then it's figuring out HOW to sign someone up for a newsletter. So bottom line, if you found any of this entertaining, interesting, enlightening, or even a tad erotic, please share with everyone under the sun. I want to make this newsletter something worth reading, and I think you believe in that too.

Thanks for hanging out, talk to you in April!

February Update - Mic Check, 1, 2

This post was originally published as our monthly newsletter. Be sure to sign up!

Feb 1, 2018 - Mic Check, 1, 2

Hey everyone, welcome to the first TCbH Newsletter! This is a whole new ballgame for me too, so I guess the best way to start is just to outline my intentions. Since starting TCbH, I've started creating and featuring content in several different types of media, and it's been a struggle to keep everyone up to date so they can check out the stuff that interests them. So this is my attempt to get you the scoop on what's new with us, but also have content that you look forward to, including sections on games that we at the TCbH Strikeforce have been playing, as well as hot strats. As with anything we do, I want it to be meaningful, entertaining, and inclusive; so if you have feedback on stuff you like or dislike, ideas for new content, or want to contribute, contact us through the link at the top of www.cardboardherald.com.

Hot Strats

Tips & Tricks for the hottest of games

Terraforming Mars

Grab Bonuses - and watch out for others!
Some terraforming projects get you a bonus – manage your turn carefully to get those; sometimes that means waiting a turn before playing the terraforming point, and sometimes it means playing two of one type even if that requires a standard project. Grabbing these points can be really effective and once they are gone – they are gone.
 

1960: The Making of the President
 
Using the media; An early media lead allows you to shift the issues track each round, and that can help you build additional momentum / endorsements. It’s a very powerful tool which you can use whether or not you have the initiative. However, these cubes are hard to gain (support checks needed each time). There is one additional bonus to this strategy – these cubes are doubled when they go into the bag at the end of the game!

 

This month's strategy tips were provided by Robert Crowter-Jones of The Elusive Meeple, where you can find his full reviews and strategy breakdowns of (Game w/ link to review) and (Game w/ link review), as well as a ton of other games.

Designer Wisdom

Where designer homies of TCbH give you some tips from the pros.

"Playtesting your games with strangers can provide some of the most valuable feedback. They aren't invested in your friendship, so they're typically more open about your game's pain points and shortcomings."

-Lock Watson of Brain Work Inc.
www.brainworminc.com
www.twitter.com/LockWats

Stuff that came to TCbH in Jan 2018

Written Reviews
Bull Moose: 1912 Election Game - Review by Robert Crowter-Jones of www.elusivemeeple.com
Telestrations - Review by Luke Muench of Budget Board Gamer

Podcasts

TCbH Interviews
Jan 31 - Casey Hill of Arkon
Jan 24 - Gabe Barrett of Board Game Design Lab
Jan 17 - Chuck Pint of SFR, the makers of Dragon Dice!
Jan 10 - Tristan Hall of Hall or Nothing Productions
Jan 03 - Andy Zeller of ATK! The Board Game
 

TCbH Reviews
Jan 26 - Game of Thrones: Hand of the King
Jan 12 - Terraforming Mars: Corporate Colonialism in Space!

TCbH Hangouts

Jan 29 - The Pilot ft. Andrew Birkett of Atheris Games
Jan 23 - Episode 0 - The Seed


Video

Jan 24 - Rook & Record - Hunt for the Ring
Jan 14 - Review - Catacombs: Cavern of Soloth
Jan 11 - Favorite Gaming Memories
Jan 06 - Cardboard Cutouts - Critical Hits of 2017
Jan 04 - Rook & Record - Scythe
Jan 01 - Rook & Record - Suburbia

Whats up with us

Games We've Been Playing -
Been playing all sorts of games (as usual), but the ones really standing out at the moment are Charterstone, Spirit Island, and Photosynthesis. I also got a chance to play Elder Sign for the first time recently (thanks Cheyenne for the X-mas gift!). In particular, I'm kind of obsessing over Spirit Island, which we've had 3 games. A learning game, which we lost, an actual game, which we won, and a solo game, which I got stomped! I'm really loving how thematic and unique each of the spirits are, and how crunchy the game can be. It's like a co-op Cthulhu Wars by way of Terraforming Mars. 

I got Charterstone as a review copy, and will likely be my next full game review after Dragon Dice, which should be getting published tomorrow (as of writing this). We've been playing through the campaign with a group of 3, and while it's fun, I'm not really sold on how good of a game it is yet. We have 5 more games till we are done with the campaign, and my main complaint is that it wants to have it's cake and eat it too, by making it both a strategic game, and a game where you open up new stuff and change the parameters of the game as you go along. Still, the important thing is that we are having fun.

Lastly, Photosynthesis is one of those NEW HOTNESS games of mid-2017 that I hadn't had a chance to check out. Fortunately my demo-duties at our local Platypus Con included showing off this game, so it was time to learn. I like it. It's fun, it looks beautiful on the table, it's easy to understand what your options are and WHY those options exist, both thematically and mechanically. My only issue is that it takes a lot longer than the box lets on, especially for new players, as they try to get their brain to operate with the revolving sun mechanic. Consistently tables of 4 new players were taking 90-120 minutes, but at least they had fun.

Upcoming Interviews -
-Behind the Box
-Tony Miller AKA Bearded Rogue
-Kwanchai Moriya

Be sure to tweet / email us with any listener questions you want us to tackle on air!

Announcements -
The biggest announcements are this newsletter (which this is a terrible platform to announce it on) and TCbH Hangouts. Hangouts is our new podcast that's really just a venue to have broader group discussions focused on cool, creative projects in the hobby. Friends of the show and TCbH Contributors will get together on a regular basis to just hangout and talk about rad stuff. You can find the links to the channel above; grab a cup of coffee and come hang out with us!

I also am proud to announce that Robert Crowter-Jones of www.elusivemeeple.com is now contributing to The Cardboard Herald by copublishing some of his reviews on our site and providing hot strategy tips for your favorite board games for THIS VERY NEWSLETTER. Go check out his stuff.

Parting Thoughts -
First off, thanks for being an early adopter. I'm someone who likes to gab about stuff, and you've given me a platform to do so. As I work on tightening up my other output, I'm pleased that this gives me a space to just kind of talk about some things. If you like the newsletter (or I guess if you hate it too...) SHARE! Tell all of your friends, enemies, grandmas, mee-maws, and crazy Uncle Zenos to subscribe to the mailing list. I'll be sending this first email to anyone who joins in February.

Second, if you got feedback on our stuff, or want to see more of certain contributors, please let us know. I want to make TCbH feel like YOUR space. I care about what you have to say, and helping you feel included. Shoot me an email at cardboardherald@gmail.com or yell at me on twitter if you got something to say.

Lastly, take a chance on yourself. I recently took a big chance and put myself out there; I have no idea how it'll go. Like most of my endeavors in life, it very well could fail, but it'd still be worth it. All I can say is that holding back on something personally fulfilling or meaningful out of risk of rejection or failure, just leads to regret. If it ain't hurting anyone but your pride, take a chance; I believe in you!

Figuring Stuff Out

I gotta bunch of new ideas for cool stuff on the horizon for TCbH, so stay tuned for news (speaking of which, I really need to make a news letter, huh?). 

Anyway, for now please enjoy our review of Catacombs: Cavern of Soloth!

The Cardboard Herald's Critical Hits of 2017

Hi all! I'm proud to announce that every year we'll be doing a "game of the year" style video in our Cardboard Cutouts recommendation line, where we recommend our favorite games of the year. Typically on CC we recommend 3 games on a given topic, but I decided to expand this one to 3 Games chosen by me, 1 chosen by our chief not-me contributor Luke Muench of Budget Board Gamer, and 1 expansion. Here is our first one of these, now if you could be a lamb and have about 10,000 people watch, like, and subscribe, that'd be great.