239 – James Hudson, Skybound Games – The Family Gamers Podcast

This week, we welcome James Hudson, friend of the Family Gamers and part of Skybound Games publishing. Also, it’s become tradition – James on the ’39s! He was on episode 39 and episode 139, so why not 239 as well?

You may have noticed we opened the show a little differently this week. That’s because our fact this week is about a band out on the west coast. Playing guitars, banjo and cello, the band is called Trillium 239. You can check out Bullwinkle, the song you heard, and more at trillium239.com.

Sponsor message: Did you know that 401(k) you have from an old employer may be getting weighed down by fees? If you want help looking at your 401(k)s to make sure you’re not overpaying, go to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers to set up a time to chat.

What We’ve Been Playing

The Gallerist

Jurassic Parts (25th Century Games) – our review. Highly recommended for family play – an area-control game that just works.

Fruit Passion (Eagle Gryphon) – basically a memory game, but approaches it in an interesting way, building up stacks in front of you that you aren’t allowed to re-examine.

Maglev Metro (Bezier Games) – pickup and deliver (pick up passengers & drop them off) with an engine-building flair. Pick up robot passengers to upgrade your personal train board.

Pebble Rock Delivery Service (Skybound Games) – we are amazed at how much fits in this box; you might be better off playing this game on the floor rather than on the table. The world feels so real and kids will probably enjoy playing with it just as a map. Also there’s so much art here! Every character and island has its own set. Parents and older kids can enjoy the strategy, while younger kids can enjoy traveling around the islands. There’s also a catch-up mechanism that feels just right (move farther without risking bad stuff).

Aside: James recommends the “Level Up” to lift up games from being “on the floor” or on a coffee table. (YOu can still find it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thelevelup/the-leveup)

Poisons (Ankama) – reminds us of In Vino Morte, but with more player agency, and played over several rounds. Place a card in everyone’s “cup”; when your cup returns to you, decide whether to drink (risking poison for a larger point reward) or not (get one point).

Ruins of Mars (Atheris Entertainment) – action selection with lots of resources.

SNAP Review – Kombo Klash

Video and transcript coming soon. We love this Hub Games title and highly recommend it.

Welcome new Community Members!

Join us in welcoming them over at The Family Gamers Community on Facebook.

James Hudson, Skybound Games

Lately we’ve been seeing a lot of board game companies doing “kid” imprints (Space Cowboys with space Cow, Iello with Loki and Lucky Duck with Lucky Kids). But Skybound just released Pebble Rock Delivery Service under their main label – Any plans to change this or should we continue to just look for the Skybound Tabletop logo?

Short answer: “As we get good games, we just make them!” No plans for a separate imprint (at this time). But they do have some more kid/family games in the pipeline.

What’s on tap?

Kim-Joy’s Magic Bakery will be coming straight to retail this fall. A cooperative, baking themed card game. “If The Crew was made for families.”

Valor and Villany 2 – cooperative dungeon crawl game with a resettable campaign. And there’s an expansion that will let you cross-play with the first game.

Tidal Blades 2 is a dungeon crawl adventure game. You’ll be able to explore the world and find out why the Tidal Blades exist and why monsters keep coming out of the reef. One interesting factor is a solo puzzle using a 3×3 grid that works a little bit like Imhotep: The Duel; but enemies can put cards onto your grid and mess up your plans!

Wonderland’s War will be fulfilling this summer.

There is something else coming Q4 direct to retail… we can’t have any other details yet.

Tidal Blades also has an RPG coming out, using Monty Cook’s Cypher system. If you want to dive into the world of Naviri and become a Tidal Blade, this is for you.

Find James / Skybound Online:

He hangs out a lot in the Board Game Spotlight on Facebook.

Anything that says Druid City Games or Skybound Tabletop.

Instagram: @JamesMatthewHudson

TikTok: @DruidCityGames

Twitter: @DruidCityGames

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