133 Devon Dice Podcast: Very Late News, Crowdfunding Wrap-Up, and Joel’s Essen 2023 Retrospective Buys

In Episode 133 of the very late Devon Dice Podcast, Joel is joined by Nick, Claire, and their mascot Honey for a jam-packed episode covering gaming news, crowdfunding (October highlights), and Joel’s Essen Spiel 2023 retrospective. The team discusses upcoming conventions like the Ocean City Games Expo in Plymouth on 26th October, Devon Boardgame Weekend at Fox & Hounds (8th–10th November), and the ever-popular Gridcon (15th–17th November, already sold out). Joel shares his experience with Return to Dark Tower, while Nick dives into Pampero and Foundations of Rome with its Roads of Fortune expansion.  The episode’s main topic sees Joel reflect on his purchases from last year’s Essen Spiel, including titles like Cabanga!, Forest Shuffle, Zoo Tycoon, and Ark Nova: Marine Worlds, scoring their performance over the past year. Tune in for gaming insights, reflections, and plans for the season ahead!

Welcome to Episode 133

Upcoming Local Conventions

• Ocean City Games Expo – gaming convention in Plymouth on 26th October – run by Andy Bright, from our Monday Night Games group
• Devon Boardgame Weekend @ the Fox & Hounds – 8-10th November
• Gridcon (15-17 Nov) (sold out, as usual)

Played Games

Joel:

1. Return to Dark Tower

Nick:

• Pampero
• Foundations of Rome + Roads of Fortune expansion

News

• Spiel news: for the first time the event sold out of weekend tickets 
• Over 204,000 turnstile attendance (just shy of the 209k from 2019)
• Notebook LM – an “AI” that will consume PDFs and you can ask questions about the content – upload rulebooks, FAQs, etc and it’ll answer your rules questions for you!

Crowdfunding

Kickstarter

• Trust Me
• Isla (successfully funded)
• Roborover 2077 – Technology-Augmented Board Game
• Dark Tomb: The Ice Chasers
• Restart

Gamefound

• Puerto Rico 1897: Special Edition

• Above and Below: Haunted

Topic: Scoring Joel’s purchases from last year Essen Spiel show:

1. Cabanga!
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