The Board Game Secret Show
A podcast that features conversations with interesting people in the board game hobby. The show explores various aspects of board gaming, from design to community, with a focus on the people behind the games.
Episodes
The BIG Tend Episode | The Design, The Success, The Future | BGSS ep_033
Tend began as a Stardew-flavored side project Toby Sarnelle built just for his friends โ then IV Studio co-founder Zac Dixon helped turn it into one of the most-requested flip-and-writes out there. ๐ฑ TEND's designers open up the legacy version that almost shipped, and the two expansions coming next โ ๐ HIVE and ๐ท CELLAR.
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๐๏ธ IN THIS EPISODE:
๐งช The legacy "mega sheet"
Scam Tables, Board Game S*x Dolls & Mr. Beast | The Dragons Tomb Unfiltered | BGSS ep_031
Jeff Kornberg has taught hundreds of thousands of people how to play board games, and not one of those rules has ever been true. ๐บ THE DRAGON'S TOMB is eight years of completely straight-faced tutorials with entirely invented rules โ and the man making them spent his day job building ๐ฌ CONDร NAST's biggest YouTube series, with over 800 million views on videos he personally produced.
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The Rise of Galactic Cruise | The Kinson Key Guys | BGSS ep_030
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Koltin Thompson took a sick day from teaching fourth grade to launch his Kickstarter. It did $300,000 in the first 24 hours. He went back to work the next morning anyway โ state testing was coming โ and his co-workers wanted to know what on earth he was doing there. That game was ๐ GALACTIC CRUISE, and it just won Dice Tower Game of t
Matthew Meeple Talks ASCENDANCYโs Breakout Success And COLA WARS | BGSS ep_029
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Matthew Meeple took his first game to Gen Con, put six people on it at once, and found out mid-demo that it literally could not be won. He raised $476,000 on it anyway. He's the founder of One More Turn Games โ publisher of โ๏ธ ASCENDANCY and the upcoming ๐ฅค COLA WARS โ and he quit his job to do all
From Tables to Publishing 20 Games a Year, The Allplay Story w/ Chad DeShon | BGSS ep_028
Chad DeShon ran a million-dollar Kickstarter, added another half million in add-ons, and made basically nothing โ then turned that wreckage into one of the busiest publishers in board games. He's the founder of ๐ฒ ALLPLAY, formerly ๐ช BOARDGAMETABLES.COM, and he runs the whole thing out of a limestone mine.
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๐๏ธ IN THIS EPISODE:
๐ณ๏ธ The Allplay warehouse is inside a deco
Wroth, Wreck & A Little Dice Throne | Manny Trembley | BGSS ep_027
Manny Trembly had never designed a board game when he made ๐ฒ DICE THRONE โ he was a comic artist who'd just been laid off. Ten years, 40+ heroes and a Marvel licence later, he still draws it, designs it, and now runs his own studio inside Chip Theory building โ๏ธ WROTH.
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๐๏ธ IN THIS EPISODE:
๐ผ Laid off ten years ago this week โ a prototype in Nate's kitchen two days la
From Teacher To KTBG Founder | Helaina Cappelโs Story | BGSS ep_026
Helaina Cappel turned down more games than she published โ and that's why KTBG and Burnt Island look the way they do. Teacher, publisher, and the one who rescued โ ENDEAVOR off Z-Man's shelf and steered it into ๐ DEEP SEA.
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๐๏ธ IN THIS EPISODE:
๐ Teacher to publisher โ FOODFIGHTERS at the kitchen table
โ A year convincing Jarratt & Carl to hand her ENDEAVOR
๐ Le
Justin Gary is a Pioneer | Magic, Ascension & LOTR | BGSS ep_025
He won a Magic: The Gathering national championship at 17 โ the youngest ever โ and got the cards he won with banned. Then he built Ascension in 18 months, bet his life savings on 10,000 copies, and sold out at Gen Con. Justin Gary of Stone Blade Entertainment opens up 15 years of design secrets: why balance is a misnomer, how the One Ring broke his game (and the story moment that fixed it), and w
John D. Clair is UNSTOPPABLE | BGSS ep_024
He invented card crafting โ and he may have just reinvented deck building. John D. Clair designed ๐ SPACE BASE, ๐ดโโ ๏ธ DEAD RECKONING, ๐ฒ CUBITOS, ๐ READY SET BET, and ๐ฎ MYSTIC VALE โ and his new "momentum" system in โ๏ธ UNSTOPPABLE is the engine behind the smash-hit ๐ DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL board game. In this one, I review Unstoppable to the designer's face for the very first time.
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From Z-Man to Play-to-Z | 30 Years of Board Game Publishing | BGSS ep_023
One of the most storied rรฉsumรฉs in the entire board game industry. Zev founded Z-Man Games, published ๐ฆ PANDEMIC and the first English ๐พ AGRICOLA (and basically invented the "animeeple" by deluxing it), signed the original ENDEAVOR, spent seven years exploding the WizKids catalog with ~100 games, and now runs his own publisher โ โจ PLAY TO Z.
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๐๏ธ IN THIS EPISODE, WE GO
Letโs Talk Rolling Deep & More w/ Peter C. Hayward | BGSS ep_022
Board game designer Peter Hayward (Rolling Deep, Things & Rings, That Time You Killed Me) sits down for a wide-ranging, 3-hour conversation about what actually makes a game fun, why he's stepping back from designing to chase screenwriting, and how he reverse-engineered the feeling of Balatro into a tabletop roguelike.
We get into the apex of game design, the difference between fun, satisfac
We Talk Board Games & Books w/ โจ@ZeBoardandShieldโฉ | BGSS ep_21
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Zeshawn from Board and Shield has played over 500 board games โ and he's just as deep in the book world as the board game one. In this episode of the Board Game Secret Show we go all the way down the rabbit hole: how a Game of Thrones version of Risk pulled him into the hobby, why
The Unhinged Takes of โจ@BigPastiโฉ + Much More | BGSS ep_20
BigPasti makes $1,000 a month on YouTube, refuses every free game publishers send him, and is building his own game designed to make you miserable. So we sat him down and ran through 20 of the spiciest board game takes on the internet โ Earth, Secret Hitler, Zombicide, FOMO, sleeving, AI art, and whether the designer even matters.
Agree? Disagree? Drop your own hot take in the comments. ๐
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He Made 40+ Elder Scrolls Videos | BGSS ep_019
Daniel from@thinkgaming fled his country in 2022 with no job, no money, and no plan. Three years later he's running one of YouTube's most dedicated nerdy strategy channels โ 500+ hours into Elder Scrolls, the official How-to-Play creator for Too Many Bones, and somehow he's never missed an upload week.
We talked about losing everything in a single day, sleeping on a friend's couch in London, why
The IV Studio Episode | BGSS ep_018
@iv-studio-games started making commercials for Nike, Amazon, and Bad Robot. Then one Christmas, Zac invited Austin over to "just make a board game" โ for fun, for nostalgia, no plan. That became Moonraker. Six years later, IV Studios is one of the most design-forward indie publishers in the hobby โ shipping on 9-to-12-month timelines, running 800-person community tours, and somehow maintaining a
Hanginโ With @BoardGameHangover | BGSS ep_017
Two Latvian guys, one YouTube channel, zero plans to stop โ I sat down with Jฤnis G and Jฤnis T from Board Game Hangover to talk about building one of the most creatively ambitious channels in the hobby from Riga, Latvia, going viral with Eternals, refusing publisher money on principle, and what it actually costs to do this full time.
We get into the messy reality of running a board game channe
Dani Garcia is a Genius | His Rise, Design & Diables | BGSS ep_016
Danny Garcia has quietly become one of the most thoughtful designers in board games โ and in this episode, we go deep on exactly why. We talk about his unconventional design process (he builds entire games in his head before writing a single note), his obsession with action selection, why theme always comes first, and what it means to share your culture through cardboard.
We also get an extende
He Left America & Became Asiaโs Board Game Expert | @CardboardEast | BGSS ep_015
Jay runs @CardboardEast one of the most unique channels in the hobby. He spent nearly 20 years living in Taipei, learned Chinese and Japanese, and became one of the best windows into Asian board game design the English-speaking world has. Now he's back in the US as Marketing Manager at Bรฉzier Games.
We talked about what drew him to Taiwan, the Tokyo Game Market experience, what Western publish
โฏย Mike is my Co-op Sommelier | BGSS ep_014 | OneStopCoOpShop Conversation
Mike Kelley of One Stop Co-op Shop sits down to talk the real side of board game content creation โ review ethics, publisher horror stories, and much more. Then we break down his framework for what actually makes a great solo or co-op game, using his recent reviews as the lens. Plus: an unannounced mech game reveal you won't want to miss.
Subscribe to @OneStopCoopShop
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The Man Behind Board Game Bollocks | BGSS ep_013
The NSFW Episode Beware ;)
My @BoardGameBollocks conversation. He is human, hilarious and incredibly thoughtful. Whether you agree with his takes or not I can assure you this conversation shows a side you almost surely have never seen before. If you don't know Bollocks then even more reason to sit down with us and hang out for a while.
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This Board Game Channel Is A Hidden Gem | BGSS ep_012 | The Grove
Eleven friends from college in central Arkansas turned game night into a YouTube channel โ and they're in debt doing it. In this episode I sit down with Matt, Eli, and Robert from The Grove Games to talk Twilight Imperium betrayals, why they refuse to trash a game even when it's bad, and what it actually takes to build something real in the niche of all niches.
๐ Subscribe to @TheGroveGames : h
The Definitive Tom Vasel | He Built A YouTube Empire | BGSS ep_011
Tom Vassel has been the face of board game media for over two decades โ hundreds of written reviews, 21 years of top ten lists, a YouTube channel (@thedicetower ) a podcast and conventions. In this conversation we go beyond the games. Tom talks about what it actually cost him to go full time, what it costs him to stay honest, and what shaped him long before any of it started.
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The Playthrough King | A Conversation with Canje Studios | BGSS ep_010
Derek from Canje Plays joins the show for a wide-ranging conversation that starts with board games and goes deep into life, loss, and community. We talk about how Derek found his way into the hobby after losing his father, how content creation gave him a new sense of purpose, and what keeps him going despite YouTube's brutal algorithm. Plus: his top game picks, thoughts on solo vs. co-op, and why
The BoardGameCo Conversation | Crowdfunding, Conflicts & Ethics | BGSS ep_009
Alex Radcliffe is the CMO of GameFound โ the platform quietly eating Kickstarter's lunch in tabletop crowdfunding. He's also one of the most watched board game reviewers on YouTube. That's one person. One very uncomfortable conflict of interest.
We get into all of it: how GameFound actually handles bad actors behind closed doors, whether crowdfunding is thriving or dying, the ethics of reviewin
The BIG Chip Theory Interview | 20 Strong x AR, Eldre Scrolls, TMB2 & More | BGSS ep_008
I sit down with Ryan and Salem from Chip Theory Games to talk about the three new Awakened Realms 20 Strong decks โ Tainted Grail, Ether Fields, and Nemesis โ plus a massive announcement about what's coming next from Chip Theory. We get into the design philosophy behind each deck, how Salem went from customer support to lead designer, and why these three decks are the most different from anything
The Board Game Renaissance Man | Chris Porter | BGSS ep_007
Chris Porter isn't just a board game designer. He's also a publisher, a graphic artist, a branding expert, a YouTuber, and a soccer player โ and somehow he's doing all of it at the same time.
In this episode, Chris walks us through the origin of Chris Couch Games โ from a hand-illustrated Marvel game made for a bachelor party to a growing catalog of beautifully designed, sneakily strategic titl
The BIG Arcs Interview w/ Cole Wehrle | BGSS ep_006
Cole Wehrle โ designer of Root, Oath, Pax Pamir, and Arcs โ joins the Board Game Secret Show for a wide-ranging conversation on storytelling, frustration as a design tool, and why he walked away from Leder Games to found Buried Giant. Plus: the new Arcs expansion, Lost Vaults & Faded Leaders, is live on crowdfunding now:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/colewehrle/arcs-beyond-the-re
He Interviewed w/ Tom Vasel Before Starting โโจ@howiroll | BGSS ep_005
Welcome to the Board Game Secret Show!
Ryan Guerra from How I Roll had never made a single video โ then he cold emailed Dice Tower and Game Boy Geek, and everything changed. In this episode, we talk about his unlikely start in board game content creation, his top 10 games (which I roast), building publisher relationships, the magic of board game community, and my dream to bring games to childre
The Best Mechanic Combinations | BGSS ep_004 | w/ Board Game Apprentice
Board Game Apprentice joins the Board Game Secret Show! We get into his origin story, the state of crowdfunding, solo gaming, horror movies, I roast his top 10, and we share our favorite mechanic combinations.
@boardgameapprentice https://www.youtube.com/@boardgameapprentice
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Endeavor Deep Sea Deep Dive + More | BGSS ep_003 | w/ OneMikeOneGame
Mike from One Mike One Game joins the Board Game Secret Show to defend his top 10 games against roasts from the Cardboard community. We dig into some unconventional picks, talk about the realities of being a small board game content creator, and then dive deep into Endeavor Deep Sea โ a game we've both been obsessed with. Mike gives his first-ever rating live on the show.
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Do Kids Belong at Board Game Conventions? | BGSS ep_002
Eric and Leo are back fresh off Dice Tower West โ and they brought Vlad along to keep things honest. Eric's entire top 10 gets put through the Wear or Tear machine, Vlad pulls no punches. Then all three share their top plays from the convention, Leo drops his top 5 picks for kids, and the crew makes plans to get Lost Ruins of Arnak to the table online.
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TIMESTAMPS
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The Old Board Game Fantasy Draft | BGSS ep_001
Welcome to the Board Game Secret Show
Reggie from the Board States podcast and Rolling Reggie sits down for an episode unlike anything else. First he has to DEFEND his entire top 10 against real criticism from users on the Cardboard platform. Then we run a board game draft, picking only games from 2015 and older, and the stakes are real: YOU vote on whose list wins:
David's List: https://ww
The Big Dice Tower West Show | Top 5 Plays + Recap | BGSS Ep 000
Welcome to the Board Game Secret Show [reboot]
Dice Tower West 2026 Recap | Top 5 Plays, Convention Tips & Would You Rather
Vlad and I sat down (for the second time โ RIP first recording) to break down our Dice Tower West 2026 experience at the Westgate in Las Vegas. We talk about how we met, what it's like overcoming social anxiety at your first board game convention, the games that ble
