By Paco Garcia Jaen

Not very often one has the opportunity to host a panel with one of the most successful game designers of the moment and, judging by the stellar success of X-Win, Jay Little is, without a doubt, extremely successful.

But since that’s not all he’s done, by any stretch of the imagination, this seminar also covers other games he’s developed and turned into terrific products.

For starters the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game 3rd Edition. Undoubtedly one of the biggest successes of this game has been to get a totally different set of mechanics but manage to retain the feel of the Warhammer universe. With a gorgeously produced product line, this is a must have for any WHFRPG fan.

Blood Bowl Team Manager. Another product that indeed succeeds in capturing the spirit of a much loved game, re-hash it, turn it into something different and yet satisfy.

And then there are X-Win and the Star Wars RPG. But I won’t go into these because they’re covered *extensively* in the talk!

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By Paco Garcia Jaen

Organising seminars at conventions is hard work, though they’re also tremendous fun and, when one has the privilege of sharing the space with personalities like the ones in this seminar, it becomes a joy.

This seminar takes four influential names in the board and role playing games industry and puts them in touch with the public, answer questions and and challenge views you didn’t know were there.

Larry Roznai is the president of Mayfair games. Publishers of Settles of Catan, it is probably the best known gate-way game and one of the best sold games of the last two decades. Personally, I can’t wait to see it overtake Monopoly in sales!

Dominic McDowel is the CEO of Cubicle 7, one of the biggest publishers of RPGs with titles under his belt like the Dr Who: Adventures in Time and Space game, the Dr Who Card Game, Primeval, Victoriana, Airship Pirates, Kuro and many, many others.

Mark Wotton is… well… for me he is the President of All Things Cool at Alderac Entertainment Group. In reality, though, he is the Director of Company Development for the company. May not sound as cool as the title I gave him, but is still quite impressive!

Andrew Hackard, from Steve Jackson Games, is the line developer for the Munchkin Line, which means he’s one of the responsible people to ensure all those lovely expansions are really good fun to play and keep coming!

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The first episode of the interviews we recorded at Salute 2013. Bit later than we would have wanted, but here they are.

Interviews with:
Aquilifer Miniatures (https://www.facebook.com/aquilifer.miniatures?fref=ts)
Gaming Club Network (http://www.gamingclubnetwork.co.uk/)
Leisure Games (http://www.leisuregames.com/)
Fenris Games (http://www.fenrisgames.com/)

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By Paco Garcia Jaen

The last of the 5 DVDs we created. We end the series with some of the best interviews we recorded at the show. It was a pretty spectacular show this year with some genuinely amazing games and new companies being seen for the first time, and new trend of companies that have never created boardgames taking some first steps into the industry. Also a lot of new companies, very often with just one or two people at the helm.

Overall, Spiel showed a very healthy face of the industry, both in terms of players and companies willing and able to make an effort to come to Germany, that is likely to continue and expand in 2013.

The first interview is with the managing director of Gale Force 9. Paul takes us through Spartacus the board game, as well as the philosophy behind the company and some plans for the future.

We then came back to Europe to interview Lorenzo Silva, from Cranio Creations, creators of Dungeon Fighter amongst other games. As well as discussing the massive success of the game, which was largely unexpected, we talk about their new games, Like, The Social Game and 1969.

It was also my pleasure to get together again with Andrei Novak, from NSKN Legendary Games and see their new games. But this meet also came with the added bonus of meeting Agniegska Kopera, one of the really clever minds behind the games the company produces.

And from Europe to South America. There weren’t many companies from the South American continent, but Sagaze, a Peruvian Company run by Martin Williams. Martin has a very interesting approach to games and is truly passionate about spreading the word. His puzzle and football games, as well as the more abstract games he’s designed are indeed worth a good look.

The success of Days of Wonder as a company is truly remarkable. They have an incredible ability to come out with great game after great game and the expansions for Small World and ticket to Ride continue to be popular after so many years. We talked to their European PR manager to find out about their newest game, Shadows over Camelot, which has been re-formatted into a card game that looks truly excellent.

And lastly we have a true legend of boardgaming world, Larry Roznai from Mayfair Games. Although he will be very modest and quick to give credit to anyone and everyone else in the company, his vision has taken the company to being a multi-million dollar company and have the game that catapulted boardgaming into the notoriety that has continue to expand to our days. With a catalogue of games that would make people’s eyes water in anticipation, Mayfair has established itself as an industry leader. The short, when Larry talk, you listen. And listen good!

Look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy the show!

If you have enjoyed this video, please consider donating a small amount of money to help us with the on-going costs of hosting the website and podcast.

Thank you for your support

By Paco Garcia Jaen

Fourth out of the five DVD episodes with more interviews, and this one is a cracker! We start with a truly excellent interviewee and end up with another just as interesting. Watch and read!

We start by interviewing Vince from Victory Point Games. Yes, THAT Victory Point Games. The very one that used to produce their games in jiffy bags and now they have also boxes! Starting with Darkest Night, a cooperative game that raises the bar considerably in many aspects for the company.

From an USA based company to a French one, but not just anyone. This is Matagot, and with Takenoko in the pocket, they release two games at Essen, River Dragons and Kemet. We catch up with their marketing manager and talk about the production of both games and the future plans for the company.

To help cover more than just games, we also spoke with Didier Deller, the publisher of Plato International magazine. He is also behind Sit Down Games. Running a printed magazine is not easy at best, and to do it in our hobby is very, very difficult. Yet, Plato hasn’t just been going for over 5 years in France, it’s also expanding into the English speaking countries!

And to prove they make lovely games, we also spoke to Pascal Cadot, the creator of Karnag. Really good fun to hear the story of how this gorgeous looking game was created and the gameplay behind it.

Robinson was, by far, one of the hottest releases at Spiel. Portal Publishing surprised everyone by releasing a game that was as good as it promised and looked as good as it needed to. Caught up with Ignasi to talk about Robinson, The Convoy and a lot more.

And last, but by no means least, we also talked to Geoff Engelstein, one of the most prolific and scientific minds in the world of game design. Thanks to Stronghold Games, he was around with Space Cadet, his latest endeavour.

Look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy the show!

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating a small amount of money to help us with the on-going costs of hosting the website and podcast.

Thank you for your support

By Paco Garcia Jaen

Once again more interviews from Spiel. This time there are 7 interviews with both big and small, known and not very well known companies, but they all have great games!

We start with Greater Than Games and the latest edition of Sentinels of the Multiverse. We talk about their latest plans, how they managed to get the new edition out, their work with Richard Launius and much more. We also catch up with Adam Rebottaro, the artist and art director responsible for the terrific artwork in all the cards in the game.

Second there is an interview with one of those hidden gems. We talk with one of the organisers of the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. They have come with the great idea of promoting the festival by creating a boardgame to reflect the fun and diversity at the festival. It does sound really fun and clever, but you can judge by yourself!

And from Denmark we go to Ireland and talk to the guys from Black Spindle Games. They released Guards! Guards! last year and, after a quick time with Z-Man Games, they are now self-publishing the game and also released Codinca, an abstract puzzle type game in which you have to create the right alignment. Sounds easier than it is, though, as the other players will move your pieces too, and you have to think ahead!

And after that we hop up North Europe and talk to Juha from Revision Games. Last year they were in full production of Iron Sky the movie, while the design of the game was going on in full force. Now they are back and they have released the game that promises to be more serious and have more depth than the movie. Now the game is ready and they had plenty of copies at Essen, with plenty of people taking a proper and good look at it!

DV Giochi is one of those companies that you probably know the names a great deal more than you know the company itself. The Italian based company released at Spiel BANG! 10th Anniversary and BANG! Samurai Sword. To find out about the games and the company, we popped over the booth and had a quick chat. And I am sure you’ll like what you hear as much as we did!

Kuznia Gier is one of the companies I am very fond of. If anything because, as well as having terrific games like Alcatraz, The Witcher and, now, 1984: Animal Farm. We caught Piotr Zuchowski on camera to talk about the past, present and future of the company, and find out more about the less well-known activities they carry out, like developing games for the Polish government.

Lastly we have a lovely interview with a no less lovely man from Alderac Entertainment Group. Todd has been the public face of the company for a while now and, listening to him, is not difficult to see why. As well as being the heck of a spokesman, he is just as passionate about games and gaming and his enthusiasm is very infectious. Of course that is helped by the fact that AEG has a terrific portfolio of great games, that saw this year an increase with Smash-Up and, since its release at Essen, Guildhall.

Look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy the show!

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating a small amount of money to help us with the on-going costs of hosting the website and podcast.

Thank you for your support

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