Host Tim Jennette (Metal Meeple), and co-hosts George Breden, James Fitzgerald, and Brian Jennette

It's that magical time of year again when the entire board gaming world descends upon Essen, Germany...except for us, and collectively loses its mind! Over one thousand games, hundreds of thousands of gamers, enough cardboard to build a small European nation! That's right — SPIEL Essen 2026 is here! And while we may not actually be wandering the halls ourselves, that's not going to stop us from doing what we do best: digging through the massive list of new releases and figuring out which games deserve your attention.

So, gather your game group, grab your dice, crank the meeples to eleven, and let the cardboard adventure begins... enjoy the show!

Please subscribe, leave a review on your favorite podcast app, follow us on social media, and email us your questions!

Host Tim Jennette (Metal Meeple), and co-hosts George Breden, James Fitzgerald, and Brian Jennette

What happens when a wildly popular video game makes the jump from the screen to the tabletop? In this episode, we sit down with the designers behind Wobbly Life: The Board Game, Adrian Adamescu and Karl Juhlke, to talk about how this quirky, chaotic video game was transformed into a board game experience. We dive into the creative process, the challenges of adapting a digital world into a tabletop adventure, and how they captured the humor, fun, and unpredictable moments that make Wobbly Life so special. Join us as we go behind the scenes to discover how Wobbly Life became a board game!

So, gather your game group, grab your dice, crank the meeples to eleven, and let the cardboard adventure begins... enjoy the show!

Please subscribe, leave a review on your favorite podcast app, follow us on social media, and email us your questions!

Host Tim Jennette (Metal Meeple), and co-hosts George Breden, James Fitzgerald, and Brian Jennette

In this episode, we're asking a pretty simple question… what actually makes a board game good? Is it the mechanics, the theme, the strategy, or just whether everyone at the table is having a good time? And while we're at it, we're tackling another big question in the hobby — do board games really need to be deluxified? Do we need metal coins, upgraded components, giant boxes, and enough miniatures to enlist a small army? Also, a spicy discussion about Take That in board games!

So, gather your game group, grab your dice, crank the meeples to eleven, and let the cardboard adventure begins... enjoy the show!

Please subscribe, leave a review on your favorite podcast app, follow us on social media, and email us your questions!