Finding Games

Welcome to episode 25 of the Finding Games podcast, where we talk to people who work in and around the tabletop games industry and find out how they got there. In this episode, we talk with Juliana, a tabletop game designer and founding member of the Wild Optimists who specialises in puzzle games. We talk about her experiences self publishing and her insights into the tabletop games industry plus she provides some amazing advice for people wanting to follow in her footsteps. Here's some more information about the Wild Optimists in their own words: The Wild Optimists began when Juliana Moreno Patel & Ariel Rubin, combined their theatre degrees and writing backgrounds with their lifelong love of gaming to create the Kickstarter sensation Escape Room In A Box: The Werewolf Experiment, the first game in the tabletop Escape Room genre and winner of Game of the Year at the Mattel Inventor Awards. Since then The Wild Optimists have created immersive gaming experiences for a wide variety of clients including Sony, Fox, Universal, the CW, AEG, and http://vampire.pizza. Their goal is to design new ways to play, creating memorable interactive experiences for tabletop games, virtual games, family entertainment centres, theme parks, music festivals, historical sites, marketing activations, and more. You can follow the links below to see more from The Wild Optimists: Twitter: @EscapeRoomInBox Website: https://www.wildoptimists.com

It's Episode 24 of the Finding Games podcast, where we talk to people who work in and around the tabletop games industry and find out how they got there. In this episode, Sophie talks with Bez, who is a tabletop game designer, developer, consultant, artist, self-publisher, streamer, and reviewer. Bez currently streams daily at 10am UK-time covering everything from interviews to discussions, chats, and play-alongs. If you're interested in finding out more about Bez and her work, check out these links! https://twitter.com/stuffByBez https://twitter.com/ell_deck http://www.stuffbybez.com/ https://www.twitch.tv/stuffbybez/ https://www.youtube.com/stuffbybez https://www.instagram.com/stuffbybez/ https://www.instagram.com/categorick.ell/ https://www.facebook.com/thingsbybez/ www.stuffbybez.bigcartel.com/ http://stuffbybez.com/streams Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod “Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

In this episode, Sophie is catching up with James Naylor. James is a London based board game designer and publisher who is passionate about product design and its role in creating game experience. His first game is Magnate: The First City, a midweight city building/property game. After a successful Kickstarter and a very positive critical reception, it will be coming to game retailers in the middle of 2021. James' Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/naylorjames Naylor Games website: https://naylorgames.com/ Magnate Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Magnateboardgame Magnate website: https://magnategame.com/" Producing Fun Podcast: https://anchor.fm/naylorgames Sophie's Links: Terrain making on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sophiemakesterrain Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/sophiemakesterrain Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod “Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Stephen had a long career before decided to work in Tabletop Games and gives a great insight into his process and approach to breaking into the industry. A lovely chat which I hope you enjoy! Stephen Hart is a freelance RPG writer and producer. Publishes The Oracle, a monthly RPG magazine and run frequent crowdsourcing campaigns for creative RPG content - both 5e compatible and system-neutral. http://thegrinningfrog.com http://patreon.com/the_oracle Stephen also has one Kickstarter currently running and another coming up. You can check them out here! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tks/zinequest3-docks-of-caswarren-a-legacy-rpg-city-guide https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/undiscoveredgems/contemplation As ever, if you'd like to hear episodes early, go to www.patreon.com/needycatgames, where we tear up the schedule and just release them as soon as they're edited. Thanks for listening! Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod “Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Despite the ongoing lockdown and the challenges of homeschooling a 5 year old, we're managing to claw our way back to some kind of schedule. Here's a new episode for you! This one is a real treat with Amudha and Kara who both work at Fantasy Flight Games. They have some great approaches to game design and the tips at the end for anyone looking to work in the industry are excellent. You can follow Aumdha on Twitter @mightymudha and you can follow Kara on Twitter @CHyphenD As ever, if you'd like to hear episodes early, go to www.patreon.com/needycatgames, where we tear up the schedule and just release them as soon as they're edited. Thanks for listening! Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod “Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

This time we talk to Tom Mecredy, a freelance writer, editor and game designer. He's helped out on games like Blood Red Skies and Black Seas, and written articles for Wargames, Soldiers, and Strategy. Tom lives on top of a hill in Sheffield with his wife and cat Spaghetti. He loves medieval history and playing with toy soldiers. You can follow Tom on Twitter @TomMecredy Thanks for listening! Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod “Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

We're nearly at the end of 2020 (finally) and here's another early access episode of Finding Games for you! This is Nathan Blades, who is a podcaster, streamer and occasional game designer. This is seriously one of the most enjoyable and interesting podcasts I have ever recorded and I had such a blast talking to Nathan. You really must check this one out. We cover all the topics we normally do in the podcast, Nathan's journey into where they are now and their tips for someone wanting to follow in their footsteps. But there's also some amazing discussion on roleplay games as a performing art and a lot of chat about RPGs in general. A little Christmas treat for you! You can follow Nathan Blades on Twitter: @WriterBlades and @PhantomArtsEnt You can also check out their work here: http://arslingua.co.uk/ We mention an RPG during the podcast which Nathan couldn't remember the name of. You can check that out here: https://possumcreekgames.itch.io/esoteric Thanks for listening! Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod “Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Oh my, here's a blast from the past! Originally released in May 2019, this is Episode Zero of the Finding Games podcast, which was originally released as an exclusive at www.patreon.com/needycatgames. To keep the stakes low, Sophie interviewed James (the other half of Needy Cat Games). It's a pretty rambly chat, the audio quality's a bit poor, and Sophie's (undeservedly!) nervous about her interviewing skills. But it's still a fun chat, and it's a great chance to see how far we've come! We hope you enjoy it - and Merry Christmas :) Sophie and James Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod “Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

In Episode 18, I talk to Phoebe about her geek chic fashion boutique, Ludo Cherry and discuss her motivations for creating such an iconic brand. In her own words: Phoebe is the founder of LudoCherry, a company specialising in "geek chic" fashion. Their first series of designs were successfully funded on Kickstarter in April this year, and will be delivered to backers in October! Phoebe also previously worked for Bézier Games for three years as their social media manager and ran her own board game review website Cardboard Vault. When not pushing wooden cubes around, Phoebe can be found decorating her island in Animal Crossing. You can follow Phoebe on Twitter @LudoPhoebe Check out Ludo Cherry here: https://www.ludocherry.com/ Thanks for listening! Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod “Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

In Episode 17, I'm talking with Bryan. Bryan is a writer and he is frankly overflowing with advice for those wanting to follow in his footsteps and it's great to hear his take on how to get noticed. In his own words: Born in northern Indiana in the wake of the original Star Wars, Bryan grew up with a powerful imagination – something that has since fueled more than a million published words, countless plotlines, game designs and more. He grew up with his nose in comic books and roleplaying tomes, often turning the pages with the feet of an action figure or a sword on a little lead (yes, they were once actually lead) D&D miniature. Never stymied by the banality of the world around us, Bryan defined himself through creativity. From the early age of seven, Bryan can remember always keeping gaming as a big part of his life, and now it is just that. Moving from playtesting and demo-staffing to his first paper publication with Warmachine: Prime in 2003, he has leapt into the gaming industry with both feet. Working on award-winning projects with a number of different companies over the years, he has had input on several fan favorite games such as Iron Kingdoms, Traveller, Shadowrun and RuneQuest. Bryan has also been fortunate enough to work with such fantastic settings as Conan, Babylon 5, Starship Troopers and Judge Dredd over the years. Branching out into professional miniature painting and sculpting, Bryan has done his best to try his hand at every aspect of the industry. Writing, designing, collaborating, marketing and managing; if it has something to do with the enjoyment of gamers, Bryan has shown that he happily will be a part of it! Currently a freelancer with retaining gigs all over the world in RPGs, miniature games, novelizations, and multimedia voice actor work, Bryan is always looking to put smiles on gamer faces. He wants to make the world a more enjoyable place for his kids and their generation – one die rolled, miniature moved or page turned at a time. You can follow Bryan on Twitter @BryanCPSteele Thanks for listening! Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod “Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

In Episode 16, I talk with the ever-lovely James Wallis. He has had a fascinating career from journalist to TV presenter to game designer and is now the Studio Manager for Green Board Games (who are the only UK-based game publisher for the Asmodee Group). Along the way, we talk about networking and building links in the community and James even puts out a call for submissions! Here he is in his own words: "Since starting his first RPG fanzine instead of revising for his O-Levels, James Wallis has been in most parts of the UK games industry: designer, writer, publisher, reviewer, consultant, lecturer, historian and more. These days he's the studio manager at Green Board Games, the only UK-based games publisher in the Asmodee group." Just a heads up that we had a few issues with James' audio on this one. We've done the best we can with it but it's still a great listen! You can follow James on Twitter @JamesWallis To receive the submission details email james.wallis@asmodee.co.uk and he will give you information on their submission procedure. Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod “Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Here's something a bit different for you! In an effort to combat the lockdown blues and remind ourselves that we do still have a life outside work - honest - we've decided to record some podcasts where we talk about things we love outside of tabletop gaming. In this one, we're talking about Empire LARP, which stole our hearts when we tried it out last year. We can't wait to get back into the field (erm... next Spring, at the very earliest) but we had a great time chatting about it, and why we love it so much. If you'd like to give it a go yourself, or just read more about it, head over to https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/. You should also check out the LARP Noobs podcast (James was a guest on there a little while ago!), which lets you follow the progress of a bunch of newcomers to Empire. https://thelarpnoobspodcast.podbean.com/ And if you'd like to buy a ticket, you can use our recruitment code to get £15 off: 10658.19267 Thanks for listening - and if you'd like to hear more We Love Stuff, let us know with a comment or a tweet (@needycatgames).

Has it been two weeks already? It's time for another episode of Finding Games - and once again, if you were supporting us on Patreon, you'd have had access to this one last week! Just back us for a dollar for early access to future podcast episodes, as well as a whole host of game design tips and other goodies. That's www.patreon.com/needycatgames In this episode, Sophie is chatting to Maisy Hatchard, who we met through the Tabletop Mentorship Program that we talked about in episode 13. In her own words: Maisy translates board games from Japanese to English full time, with all the hats of localisation, graphics, production, Kickstarter stuff, and whatever else is on the cards! She lives in Tokyo, drinks too many lattes, and is almost 40% glitter. Notable games that will eventually make the foundations of her board game box fort include: Tokyo Sidekick, Dragon Gyas (coming soon), The Last Brave, and Tateruto. Follow Maisy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Maisykuv Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod “Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

In case you missed the announcement, Finding Games is moving to a fortnightly release schedule. There are currently eight or nine episodes recorded and awaiting editing, and Sophie's recording more every week, so we're really confident about sticking to that. If you'd like to get episodes early - as soon as they're edited! - you can back us for $1 or more over at www.patreon.com/needycatgames. Anyway, on with the episode! This might be our longest one yet, and it's a goodie. In Episode 14, Sophie catches up with board games writer and designer Calvin Wong Tze Loon. In his own words: Calvin writes about games and thinks about stories, and he was in a film one time. You can follow Calvin on twitter at @ithayla. Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod “Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

It's Episode 13 of the Finding Games podcast, where we talk to people who work in and around the tabletop games industry and find out how they got there. Mike Belsole (he/him) and Grace Kendall (they/them) are the organizers of the Tabletop Mentorship Program. Both are avid game designers and have worked at many conventions, and now can be spotted working at a board game cafe in Ohio. Grace's game Celestial Stories came out from Inkwell Games this summer, and they have a co-designed riddle-filled party game in the publishing pipeline. You can find out more about the Tabletop Mentorship Program at https://www.tabletopmentorship.org/, or follow on Twitter @tabletopmentor. If you'd like to see what Sophie's been up to, check out www.needycatgames.com or follow us on Twitter @needycatgames. If you'd like early access to future episodes of the podcast, head to www.patreon.com/needycatgames and pledge your support - we couldn't make this podcast without it! Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod “Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

It's Episode 12 of the Finding Games podcast, where we talk to people who work in and around the tabletop games industry, and find out how they got there. This time around, Sophie's chatting to Victoria Caña. By day, Victoria is a producer at Wizards of the Coast where she leads a team of game designers in the Magic R&D department. By night, she is an award-winning indie game designer and co-founder of Cat Quartet Games, a boutique publishing company that focuses on bringing fun, fast, and accessible games to the world. Victoria's first board game, Gladius, successfully raised over $96,000 on Kickstarter in March 2020. You can find Victoria on virtually every social media platform at @victoriacana. You can also check out Gladius on Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/catquartetgames/gladius Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod “Happy Boy End Theme” by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Our accelerated release schedule continues with another cracking interview - this time, with AnnaMaria Jackson-Phelps, Editor-in-Chief of Girls Game Shelf. In addition to creating media for the table top game industry, she also designs board games and is on the quest for the perfect taco. They had a great chat, covering - among other things - Jaffa Cakes, AnnaMaria's journey into the industry, and the upcoming online convention Shelf-a-pa-Luza (https://www.shelfapaluza.com/) Give it a listen, and don't forget to subscribe for more tabletop industry insights coming soon!

It's Episode 10! This time, Sophie's chatting to another one of our Nottingham buds - not that we've seen Ross in the flesh since lockdown began. Ross (aka More Games Please) is a freelance tabletop photographer and community manager for Alley Cat Games, and has been working in the industry since 2018. His photography has appeared in publications such as Tabletop Gaming magazine and Senet, as well as on countless websites, online stores, and Amazon. He has photographed board games raising over one million dollars on Kickstarter, but big or small he shows all titles the same love and attention. He can be found playing board games on his twice-weekly Twitch live streams, exploring the solo games in his collection, and has a passion for board game art interviewing over 50 artists and graphic designers in the tabletop industry on his website. Ross' links: https://linktr.ee/moregamesplease Sign up to the Needy Cat Games Newsletter by going to https://needycatgames.us17.list-manage.com/subscribe?id=38433034fe&u=4cea6bcdeae68790dedb912c2 Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" and "Happy Boy End Theme" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Episode 9 is here! We'll get back to a monthly release schedule soon, but in the meantime we're catching up with some quickfire releases. In this episode, Sophie chats to our Nottingham industry buddy Zachary Cox, who's a genuine inspiration. We both wish we'd had his drive and dedication in our early twenties! (I'll be honest, I wish I had his drive and dedication *now*.) Zach runs SoulMuppet Publishing, an indie RPG company. He is the writer behind Best Left Buried and A Doom To Speak, and the publisher of books such as Esoteric Enterprises, Rakehell and Stygian Library. He lives in Nottingham, loves kitbashing wargaming miniatures and really likes megadungeons. Zach's links: Website: www.soulmuppet.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/soulmuppet Gumroad Store: www.gumroad.com/soulmuppet Twitter: www.twitter.com/jellymuppet Sign up to the Needy Cat Games Newsletter by going to https://needycatgames.us17.list-manage.com/subscribe?id=38433034fe&u=4cea6bcdeae68790dedb912c2 Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" and "Happy Boy End Theme" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Boom! Back from our unannounced hiatus, it's Episode 8 of the Finding Games podcast! As ever, we're talking to someone who works in or around the tabletop games industry to find out how they got there... but in celebration of our triumphant return, this episode's a little different. Sophie Williams is normally our host, but this time around she's moving to the other side of the desk and being interviewed by Needy Cat Games co-conspirator James Hewitt. Needy Cat Games is a family business that's been running since July 2017, and offers bespoke game design services, runs tabletop industry networking events, hosts a podcast (clue: it's this one) and runs game design courses. Among other things. Basically, we don't stop. Sign up to the Needy Cat Games Newsletter by going to needycatgames.us17.list-manage.com/subscri…db912c2 Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" and "Happy Boy End Theme" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

It's episode 7 of the Finding Games podcast, where we speak to people who work in and around the tabletop games industry and find out how they got there! Danielle Reynolds is a Chicagoland designer that co-hosts design meetups, organizes gaming fundraisers and pitches at conventions. She has spent the past 2 years diving into the industry and all that it offers. You can follow Danielle at the links below: Facebook: www.facebook.com/DMRCreativeGroup Twitter: @CreativeDmr Website: https://www.dmrcreativegroup.com/games Blog (where she writes about every convention she attends, with things she learned): https://www.dmrcreativegroup.com/blog-1 Find out more about the Tabletop Mentorship Program by getting in touch with Mike Belsole on Twitter, @MikeBelsole3. Sign up to the Needy Cat Games Newsletter (and be in with a chance of winning a signed copy of Hellboy: the Board Game) by going to https://needycatgames.us17.list-manage.com/subscribe?id=38433034fe&u=4cea6bcdeae68790dedb912c2 Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" and "Happy Boy End Theme" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

John Mizon runs South West Megagames, a full-time endeavour that aims to bring megagaming to the South-West of the UK (and sometimes beyond). Megagames are still a surprisingly niche hobby, which have started to see more mainstream appeal in the last few years after a Shut Up & Sit Down video brought many new eyes to the genre. These games are massive day-long experiences that blend roleplaying, board game-style mechanics, social gameplay and model-UN style simulation to a venue filled with anywhere from 30 to 300 players. Though the themes of games can range from sci-fi colony planets all the way to medieval courts, the unifying feature is simulating a massive, confusing crisis or conflict, and seeing how the existing structures and factions deal with the challenges of information and communication that the situation brings. If you'd like to know more about Megagames, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IlqTWTiiN8 Also, here's the Shut Up & Sit Down video that was referenced in the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN71v9H_gg8 Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

NOTE! We had some audio issues with this one, but it's a great episode so we didn't want to lose it. We're renewing our audio recording setup before the next ep, so everything should be a lot smoother. Sorry about this! Rob Burman is the social media and online sales manager for Mantic Games, a publisher of board game and miniature games based in Nottingham. He is responsible for marketing a wide variety of tabletop games, from licensed properties such as Hellboy and The Walking Dead, to more niche hobby products, like Kings of War and Deadzone. He also runs Mantic’s Kickstarter projects. After starting as local newspaper reporter, he went on to work in a variety of specialist hobby industries, including videogames, Japanese culture, collectable toys and tabletop games. He has worked/freelanced for a number of publications, including Nintendo Official Magazine, Xbox 360 Gamer, Cartoon Network, NEO, Collectors Gazette, Diecast Collector, Geeky Monkey and created Tabletop Gaming Magazine in 2015. Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "Happy Boy End Theme" by Kevin MacLeod "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) "Lobby Time" by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

As a game designer for River Horse and independently as Cæsar ink, Jack spends much of his time thinking about fun ways to randomly generate numbers, the life cycles of monsters, and why a wizard decided to make a talking sword in the first place. He can be found designing cool new dungeons on twitch every Monday at 8.00 GMT. Music from filmmusic.io (incompetech.com): "Happy Boy End Theme" by Kevin MacLeod "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) "Lobby Time" by Kevin MacLeod Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Episode Three of the "Finding Games", a podcast by the people behind Needy Cat Games which showcases talented individuals from the tabletop industry and finds out how they ended up doing such a weird job. In Episode Three, Sophie catches up with our old friend Nathan Dowdell, who's been writing roleplaying games professionally for the best part of a decade. He cut his teeth on Warhammer 40,000 roleplaying games like Black Crusade and Only War, before working for Modiphius on Mutant Chronicles Third Edition. He must have done something right as he's now the lead developer for their 2d20 system, where his work has included the award-winning Star Trek Adventures. Finding Games is supported by the Needy Cat Games Patreon backers - sign up at www.patreon.com/needycatgames! Follow Nathan on twitter: @N01H3r3 Follow Us: Website: www.needycatgames.com Twitter: @needycatgames Facebook: Needy Cat Games Music from filmmusic.io: "Happy Boy End Theme" by Kevin MacLeod "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) "Lobby Time" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Episode Two of the "Finding Games", a podcast by the people behind Needy Cat Games which showcases talented individuals from the tabletop industry and finds out how they ended up doing such a weird job. In Episode Two, Sophie has a chat with Matt Jarvis. Since 2016 Matt has been the editor of Tabletop Gaming, the UK’s leading magazine and website about board games, card games, miniatures and RPGs. The magazine was launched in the summer of 2015 and has since exploded in popularity, going from quarterly to bi-monthly and, most recently, monthly, accompanied by a redesign and, this year, exclusive subscriber benefits including artwork covers, discounts and promo gifts. The magazine features in-depth interviews and features with the people who make games, reviews of the latest releases, hobby tips and much, much more, while tabletopgaming.co.uk hosts daily news and up-to-date coverage of the hobby. In September 2018, Tabletop Gaming launched its first Tabletop Gaming Live convention in London’s Alexandra Palace, giving visitors the chance to play upcoming games, take part in tournaments and hear from creators in talks, workshops and seminars. The convention is back in Alexandra Palace this September 28th and 29th; tickets are on sale now via The Ticket Factory. Before he wrote about tabletop games, Matt was a video game and technology journalist. His greatest honour remains being named Best Painter in his middle-school Warhammer club. He also owns a needy cat of his own – her name is Holly, she is missing a fang and she snores like a beast. Finding Games is supported by the Needy Cat Games Patreon backers - sign up at www.patreon.com/needycatgames! Follow Matt: Website: www.tabletopgaming.co.uk Twitter: @liquidmatt / @TabletopMag Facebook: Tabletop Gaming Follow Us: Website: www.needycatgames.com Twitter: @needycatgames Facebook: Needy Cat Games Music from filmmusic.io: "Happy Boy End Theme" by Kevin MacLeod "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Episode One of the "Finding Games", a podcast by the people behind Needy Cat Games which showcases talented individuals from the tabletop industry and finds out how they ended up doing such a weird job. In Episode One, Sophie strolls down the hall to talk to Needy Cat Neighbour Annie Norman, a.k.a. Bad Squiddo Games. Annie's had a really unusual career path by normal standards, but as you'll see as this series progresses it's more normal than you might think in this industry! Finding Games is supported by the Needy Cat Games Patreon backers - sign up at www.patreon.com/needycatgames! Follow Annie: Website: www.badsquiddogames.com Twitter: @BadSquiddoGames Facebook: Bad Squiddo Games Follow Us: Website: www.needycatgames.com Twitter: @needycatgames Facebook: Needy Cat Games Music from filmmusic.io: "Happy Boy End Theme" by Kevin MacLeod "The Show Must Be Go" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licence: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)