Brainwaves

Iain and Jamie aren’t at Gencon but are scouring the interwebs for the latest and greatest in tabletop news. This cast they cover Kickstarter controversy, GAMA elections, awards galore and much, much more!    Headlines Tournament Fishing Controversy https://twitter.com/425suzanne/status/1435393263196798981?s=21 https://twitter.com/AMathemagician/status/1438190440549961736 https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2724788/tgg-negative-experiences-and-controversies https://twitter.com/ludicreations/status/1436270962723463174?s=21 https://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/2723017/badgers-mars-and-tgg-games https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2721966/article/38427073#38427073   GAMA  https://www.gama.org/news/580337/Press-Release-GAMA-Announces-Results-Of-Special-Board-Election-.htm   Diana Jones https://twitter.com/nibcardgames/status/1438468347100811266 https://www.dianajonesaward.org/the-2021-award/   Updates Dragonlance comes to DnD https://twitter.com/Polygon/status/1436422655012392970?s=20   Global Shi

Excited by the news of a Blades in the Dark TV series Iain pitches Jamie his best boardgame based TV shows. Will he pass muster or fall flat? Whilst Jamie is mulling it over they cover the latest news from a well known publisher shutting its doors to a team up between Magic: The Gathering and football. All this, and more, on this episode of Brainwaves.    Headlines   IDW shutters publishing arm https://www.dicebreaker.com/companies/idw-games/news/idw-games-closure   Kickstarter board games do well https://medium.com/icopartners/state-of-kickstarter-and-games-mid-2021-update-132964d2c523   Blades in the Dark TV show https://www.screendaily.com/news/uks-warp-films-and-anton-team-for-international-development-partnership/5162777.article   https://twitter.com/bladesinthedark   News   Broken Token Update   Pandasauraus Games statement https://twitter.com/Pandasaurusgame/status/1430239890617286658   Broken Token Statement https://twitter.com/tbt_gaming/status/1433528322474971137?s=21   There

Iain and Jamie dust off their hats, strap on a pen and paper, and venture into the wild west of tabletop news to bring you only the chunkiest nuggets. This time they cover abuse allegations at Broken Token, the Zenobia awards finalists, global shipping problems, sad passings and more.    Headlines Broken Token abuse allegations https://medium.com/@ashrtaylor13/speaking-up-to-protect-others-73f152bcb772   Iello Comment https://twitter.com/IelloUSA/status/1428747934078685188?s=20   Pandasaurus https://twitter.com/Pandasaurusgame/status/1428421753919901709?s=19   Broken Token Statement https://twitter.com/tbt_gaming?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor   RAINN (US) https://www.rainn.org/   Rape Crisis (UK) https://rapecrisis.org.uk/about-us/who-we-are/   Women’s Aid (UK) https://www.womensaid.org.uk/   Femicide Census https://www.femicidecensus.org/   Brissaud Assault https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/41392/security-camera-footage-brissaud-gen-con-incident https:/

It’s the latest episode of Brainwaves! Join Iain and Jamie as they inspect the underbelly of the industry so you don’t have to. This cast the team report on finances at Wizards of the Coast and Games Workshop, abuse allegations, a games company going under, D&D competitions going awry and much more! They also announce the Brainwaves Apprenticeship. Listen in to find out how to get involved!    Headlines Wizards of the Coast post sales figures https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/48915/wizards-coast-digital-gaming-segment-sales-surge-q2?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter   https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2021/07/dd-digital-roleplaying-is-in-the-cards-after-wotc-leads-hasbro-stock-surge.html   https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/26/hasbro-ceo-expects-robust-toy-demand-to-continue-despite-higher-prices.html   https://www.pymnts.com/news/retail/2021/digital-business-helps-hasbro-make-up-for-lagging-board-game-sales/   Games Workshop Sales, Wages https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/27/war

Iain has made so much money from reviewing over the years that he is off to an island, and Jamie has become a Doomsayer? Is this the end of Brainwaves? Nah, it’s just a skit. The team bore of their new lives quickly and decide to get back in the podcasting saddle for a cast featuring Iain on paid reviews, Jamie on awards, old white guys being wrong on the internet and so much more!    Headlines   Jamey Stegmaier on paid reviews https://stonemaiergames.com/is-it-unethical-to-pay-the-media-to-form-and-broadcast-their-opinion/   SdJ winners 2021 https://twitter.com/SpieldesJahres/status/1417051241964834816?s=20   Diana Jones Award 2021 finalists https://www.dianajonesaward.org/the-2021-award/   News   UKGE changes tack https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/plan/before-the-expo/playwithconfidence/   *sigh* Phil Eklund https://twitter.com/SeanFranco_/status/1416516388345286664   Gama unveils fellowship Program https://www.gama.org/news/574483/GAMA-Announces-30000-Horizons-Fellowship-To-Support-Underr

We are outside in the garden again, and Iain seems to be experiencing a strong sense of Deja Vu. The reason is that we are covering TSR again, alongside news of convention’s covid preparations, GAMA restructures, Knizia vs grail games and much more on this episode of Brainwaves!  Headlines TSR continues to dig its own hole https://www.geeknative.com/133043/its-not-over-tsr-games-3-re-returns-tsr-games-4-tsr-games-3-5/ Banned by Gencon https://twitter.com/gmsmagazine/status/1411237903427121153?s=09 https://twitter.com/Gen_Con/status/1408930300185432071 Origins statement https://twitter.com/originsgames/status/1409576625147154440 Gun statement Legal action threatened https://www.geeknative.com/132668/tsr-games-3-threatens-legal-action-against-osr-community/ Wonderfilled  https://twitter.com/wunderfilled?lang=en Gama Restructures https://www.gama.org/news/572134/GAMA-Adopts-New-Membership-Structure.htm Conventions announce covid commitments https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/plan/before-the-expo/pl

In our first live interview Iain talks to miniature and board game designer James Hewitt about his career, current state of the industry, and the use of Kickstarter. They also take questions from the audience.  James on Twitter Needy Cat Games Games Workshop Mantic Games Steamforged Games Blacklist Games Tabletop Mentorship Programme - Brainwaves Special Bad Squiddo Games    

Iain and Jamie once more get behind the mics at the Brainwaves Studio to bring you freshly baked news. On this episode they cover the bizarre return of TSR, no not that one, Kickstarter death threats, a dispute with an industry legend and much, much more!    Headlines TSR games returns https://www.enworld.org/threads/tsr-is-back-again.680779/ https://www.geeknative.com/132526/the-new-tsr-games-clarify-position-as-key-names-appeared-to-distance-themselves/ And then https://twitter.com/TSR_games/status/1408236783264047106?s=19 https://twitter.com/danielhkwan/status/1408248241754345475?s=19 https://twitter.com/ANerdery/status/1408133590563627010?s=09   Kickstarter Death threats https://twitter.com/TriciaSydney/status/1406634001163456515   Grail vs Knizia https://www.dicebreaker.com/companies/grail-games/news/grail-games-cancels-knizia-reprints https://twitter.com/ReinerKnizia/status/1407242460250640385 News RIP Andrew Hackard https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/48624/r-i-p-andrew-hackard

The Brainwaves team have exclusive boardgame coverage of the G7 summit in Cornwall to share with you! Listen to our exclusive interviews with some of the world leaders before settling down with a nice ice cream to absorb the latest in tabletop gaming news.    Headlines   Brexit Deadline looms for small businesses  https://twitter.com/AllRolledUpUK/status/1403283946251632641?s=09 Deities and Demigods manuscript goes under the hammer https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/48558/original-manuscript-classic-advanced-dungeons-dragons-sourcebook-ends-up-ebay-correction-6-10-2021 Ken St. Andre joins the old white guy club https://twitter.com/frasersimons/status/1402286855060561927?s=19   News Coiledspring update Brainwaves 74 Palestinian Aid Bundle https://www.dicebreaker.com/topics/indie-bundle-for-palestinian-aid/news/indie-bundle-palestinian-aid-itchio United Nations Relief and Works Agency.  Queer Games Bundle https://itch.io/b/861/queer-games-bundle-2021 Pokemon cards https://kotaku.com/logan-

Jamie’s away so Iain gets Oliver from Tabletop Games Blog in the studio for a tryout. Jamie’s surprise return puts things on a rather awkward note but together they come together to report on this week’s news. From distributors getting themselves tied in knots, Kickstarters getting cancelled and convention season looking a bit wobbly, no news corner is too dark for the Brainwaves team to stick their snout in.  Headlines   Coiledspring games promotion with Mumsnet sparks backlash https://twitter.com/coiledspring/status/1396058393287213056?s=19 https://twitter.com/coiledspring/status/1397643793248161795?s=20   Spiele des Jahres https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/48381/spiel-des-jahres-nominations-revealed   Games Expo to go ahead, tickets on sale https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/   Gencon Indy has big exhibitors bail https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/48400/big-companies-continue-bail-attending-gen-con-indy-2021   News   Plastic Soldier Company cancels Prison Architect Kickstarter after controv

Iain recently participated in the Tabletop Mentorship programme as a mentor to Adam Richards. Adam writes reviews and opinion pieces on his own site Punchboard Reviews. He joins Iain to talk about the programme along with the progamme creators Mike Belsole and Grace Kendall. We dive in the history of the programme, how it's changed since inception, and what the future holds.  Adam's Info Review site Tabletop Mentorship Programme Website Mike's Twitter Grace's Twitter

  It’s time for your fortnightly does of boardgame news. Please take with plenty of water along with some food. Headlines Richard Halliwell passes away https://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2021/05/rip-richard-halliwell.html California court rules Amazon responsible for third party goods https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/1/22414185/california-appeals-court-amazon-marketplace-responsible-third-party-hoverboard Golden Geek Awards announced https://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/2652238/15th-annual-golden-geek-awards-winners-2020   News Zak Smith lawsuit against Gencon dismissed https://www.geeknative.com/130984/court-appears-to-dismiss-zak-s-gen-con-lawsuit/ DnD Movie begins shooting https://collider.com/dungeons-and-dragons-movie-filming-begins/ Daniele Tascini update  https://boardanddice.com/news/update-on-the-situation-with-daniele-tascini/ Walmart and Target pulls Pokemon cards https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/48339/mass-merchants-pull-pokemon-tcg-sports-cards-off-shelves https://www.theguardi

Iain has gotten Ben Porter from the Unlucky Frog round for some painting and decorating, but has rather misunderstood what sort of thing Ben paints. He joins the team to discuss the latest news including Wizards of the Coast looking at NFTs, Christian T Petersen buying up Fantasy Flight property, Games Workshop Supply issues, pokemon cards and much more. In our interview with Ben we look at the world of commission miniature painting and what brought Ben to setup his own business.    Headlines RIP Robin Wood https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/48169/r-i-p-robin-wood   Wotc makes up 75% of Hasbro https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/48207/wotc-segment-75-hasbro-profits-q1 https://www.dicebreaker.com/companies/hasbro/news/magic-the-gathering-nft-earnings-call   Christian T Petersen Company buys Fantasy Flight Games Centre https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/48174/christian-petersen-company-buys-fantasy-flight-games-center   News Games Workshop hit by supply issues https://www.warhammer-community.co

The Brainwaves team may have lost a host but that hasn’t stopped them hunting down the best stories with their patented news nets. This episode they cover GAMA, Board Game Atlas, American Tabletop Awards, and more Monopoly news than you can shake a reasonably sized stick at.  Headlines GAMA’s bad year https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/48102/gamas-tough-2020 Metacritic for Boardgames https://www.boardgameatlas.com/forum/kLTWmAAzzE/critic-reviews--new-feature-preview-and-invitation-to-content-creators American Tabletop Awards https://americantabletopawards.com/   News Suez Canal update https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-56743556 Zenobia Awards https://zenobiaaward.org/advancing-game-proposals/ Stonemaier Games sales https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/48056/stonemaier-games-sales-up-40-covid-year Wizards lifts in store play ban in Japan https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/48107/wizards-coast-lifts-magic-the-gathering-in-store-play-suspension-japan Freeplay https://twitter.com/free

It’s a momentous episode as we hit our 70th show, our 3rd year anniversary, and say goodbye to our host Iain Chantler. Of course we won’t let sad goodbyes and jubilant celebrations get in the way of the news! The team cover yet more Wizards of the Coast entanglements, Netrunner booting up, daring robberies, and golden Uno. The team also answer questions from listeners and chat about what they’ve learnt over the last 3 years in a longer than normal episode (we hope you don’t mind us indulging ourselves a little).   Headlines Candlekeep flame sputters https://twitter.com/joindicebreaker/status/1374767970736427012?s=19 https://twitter.com/POCGamer/status/1373847320370970626?s=20 Netrunner opens the gates https://nisei.net/ Tokyo card robbery https://kotaku.com/man-arrested-following-daring-pokemon-card-robbery-1846574146 https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210329/p2a/00m/0na/020000c    News Luke Crane update https://www.polygon.com/22352782/kickstarter-luke-crane-perfect-rpg-adam-koebel https://

This episode on Brainwaves the team are catching Bullets, drawing up Plan B’s, and realising that the best thing about Heroquest is the fraud cases. Come and join us as we bring you the best in Tabletop Gaming news from the big stories to the faintly ridiculous.    Headlines Level 99 has to bite the bullet ♥︎ https://mobile.twitter.com/Level99Games/status/13709274650618880 Asmodee adds Plan B Games https://www.toynews-online.biz/2021/03/11/asmodee-group-acquires-award-winning-azul-publisher-plan-b-games/ https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/36552/f2z-team-had-plan-b Heroquest fraud case https://twitter.com/lagoon83/status/1372333603024162817 https://www.elconfidencial.com/tecnologia/2020-02-09/heroquest-estafa-crowdfunding-dionisio-rubio-gil_2443744/   News Racist spell list is racist, also awful timing https://www.dicebreaker.com/amp/companies/legendary-games/news/legendary-games-apology-asian-spell-compendium?__twitter_impression=true https://www.makeyourgamelegendary.com/category/design-team/

Iain Chantler is back from holiday and the team are raring to get back in the studio and breakdown the latest tabletop news for you. This episode we cover many Kickstarter issues, Wizards of the Coast rebranding and rising, lawsuits, and the influx of computer game themed boardgames!  Headlines   Bamboo Bash Original KS https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sleevekings/376876876/description?ref=bw5mj4&token=c4999380 New KS https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sleevekings/1878321907?ref=ei1m77&token=c5ae6a95 Sleeve Kings post https://sleevekings.com/blogs/news/bamboo-bash-blows-up Mayday Games Post https://www.maydaygames.com/blogs/news/about-click-clack-lumberjack Why Seth left Mayday https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2327859/bait-and-switch-publisher   Roxley Games IP dispute https://twitter.com/roxleygames/status/1364244245859561476 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/roxley/radlands?ref=discovery&term=radlands   Luke Crane launches then cancels the “Perfect RPG” https://www.k

Iain Chantler has been given time off by Jamie so it’s up the remaining Iain to fill the shoes of two Iains! With fewer big news stories than recently the team have an interview with Ian Parovel of Boardgame Arena regarding their recent acquisition by Asmodee. On top of that they cover some updates to Wizards of the Coasts legal entanglements, the world of Pokemon scalpers, and an ancient game brought back to life in beautiful detail. All this, and more, on this episode of Brainwaves Headlines Asmodee acquires Boardgame Arena https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-02-11-asmodee-acquires-board-game-arena https://venturebeat.com/2021/02/11/asmodee-acquires-board-game-arena-a-platform-for-playing-tabletop-games-online/   News Gale Force Nine and Wizards of the Coast settle https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/47558/gale-force-nine-wizards-coast-settle   ACD Distribution takes hit in case against Wizards of the Coast https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/47603/acd-distribution-required-pay-250k-wotc-

Iain and Iain are having a nice relaxing time in the garden when all news hell breaks loose! Despite their need to kick back, the team gathers once more behind the mics to cover famous names putting their foot firmly in mouth, others moving forward with action, translation issues in the world of virtual tabletops, magic cards breaking records, and Jenga. Yes. Jenga. All this and more, on this episode of Brainwaves! Headlines Radho runs into trouble https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/114062/rahdo-talks-through-episode-69   Tascini Update https://www.facebook.com/daniele.tascini - You can find Tascini’s statements on his facebook page https://kulturgutspiel.de/politik-und-gesellschaft/rassismus-diskussion-der-fall-daniele-tascini/ https://twitter.com/sebastianwenzel/status/1357632971897995264?s=20   Tabletop Simulator outsources translation to Google? https://steamcommunity.com/games/TabletopSimulator/announcements/detail/3024698921216466933   News Muppets and Chainmail bras https://mobile.twitter.com/Wizards_D

It’s a solemn week for the team as they dive into all the controversies surrounding comments made by well loved designers. We spent a bit longer on this than we normally would, but we felt it deserved the coverage.  Over the rest of the cast we update you on Dragonlance, looking at counterfeit games, conventions moving again, and taking a long overdue trip to RPG Corner.  Headlines Video for Kickstarter campaign Pingyao: First Chinese Banks https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jingstudio/pingyao-first-chinese-banks Screencapture on our site Daniele Tascini Capture of the original words from Tascini https://twitter.com/MyCryptomaniac/status/1350493656394952704?s=19 Hans im Gluck Statement https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2582616/statement-regarding-racist-remarks Rolling Dice interview https://www.fustellarotante.it/inclusivita-e-giochi-da-tavolo/ Previous form mentioned in the piece https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/1cddhj/tzolkins_designer_responds_to_criticism_about/ Board, Deck and Dice Statem