Intertextual Experience: A Board Game Podcast

From the slight burn of a slide that’s gotten too hot in the late afternoon sun to the sense of ecstasy (mixed with a slight tinge of panic) from getting a little higher on the swing than you’d ever gotten before–and everything in between–it’s clear that you’ve had an awesome day at the playground.
This episode’s conversation with artist and designer David Masnato taps into a similar wonder, exploring the joys of creating and being human. There’s so much that sticks out in this episode, but David’s reflections on art that inspires him, the power of various board game communities, and breaking paradigms regarding different genres and ways we play creates extremely welcoming and optimistic thoughts to consider as the board gaming hobby constantly changes. Then there’s some of my nonsense, of course. Come for a guided trip around the playground and stay for the poignant reflections provided by David (and don’t forget to sign up for the Intertextual Experience Playground Google Drawing subscription services).
Anyway, David’s game, Pax Playground is being released through the Indie Game Night Market at PAX Unplugged. With that, the reworking of his award winning Roux Mates, and more designs and contributions to other board games such as Pax Penning, there’s a lot to look forward to from him!
Check out David’s work and social media!
Website
Board Game Geek Page
Bluesky
Here is a slides presentation created by the various snapshots of our playground journey. This will serve as the rest of the show notes (for now)! Listen to the show, and then come back to see the journey unfold again with visual context. The slides presentation also has the games mentioned on one slide and then all of the other awesome work I said I’d link in the show notes as well.
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If you like this show, liking it on whatever platform you listen to and writing a review would mean so much! Furthermore, it's as independent as it gets, so any financial support would help with the subscriptions that make this project go smoothly.
That can be done by "buying me a coffee" and/or buying a copy of my board game (I like it).
All of my socials and support information can be found here: Intertextual Experience Linktree

As fate and coincidence would have it, designer Jeff Grisenthwaite and I had actually met and played games together once and then played games at different tables of a smaller meetup just months after that. It wasn’t until our shared interest in Board Game Arena and Jeff’s great games led me to reach out before we were able to piece that together (and those games weren’t out when we’d first met or had just been released in a limited capacity). Anyway, the Wheel of Fortune timed out well, and Jeff was able to add a ton of insight into a topic that’s frequently on my mind due to how much time I spend there, and that is the aforementioned board game playing website, Board Game Arena. Several months back, Jeff wrote an article about his experience of developing his own games for the site—which is extremely cool—and this episode dives a little further into some of those thoughts. Additionally/obviously, there is some of the show’s typical antics, funky formatting, and fun discussions about playing games based on vibes, nerd beach reads, Jeff’s history of tarot reading, and more.
Based on the conversation, check out the following:
Jeff’s BGA Article (linked in previous paragraph as well)
Jeff’s Designer Page
Jeff on Bluesky
Break My Game
Protospiel Chicago

Intro (0:00)
Talking tarot and the barren days of BGA.

Cursed Soothsayers (17:44)
This is the majority of the conversation. Based on the actions/cards that Jeff selected, the conversation encompasses a lot of his blog post and more.
“BGA is weird.”
This is the perfect place to dive into some of the “why” behind that.
Speaking of weird, here is the slideshow that guided our conversation.

Wrap-up Questions (1:15:28)
A text on Jeff’s mind and things to look out for from him in the future!
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If you like this show, liking it on whatever platform you listen to and writing a review would mean so much! Furthermore, it's as independent as it gets, so any financial support would help with the subscriptions that make this project go smoothly.
That can be done by "buying me a coffee" and/or buying a copy of my board game (I like it).
All of my socials and support information can be found here: Intertextual Experience Linktree

Back like it never left, Intertextual Experience welcomes Amabel Holland—designer, video essayist, author, and co-owner of Hollandspiele—for its forty-sixth episode. Amabel has been making my favorite board game media through her video essays, so this conversation is in conversation with those videos. While the title of the episode is “Episode of Six Video Essays,” technically only four wind up being explicitly chosen through this installment’s game. With that being said, Amabel’s nuanced responses connect to more than the selected six, weaving in various other essays (future ones as well), games, movies, and more media to explore the ways in which art can impact us, why preservation is important, and how being unique and filling different niches will push boundaries of what games can do or be even if it might not be the most commercially viable strategy. Additionally, there is discussion of immersive sims and the correct way to eat skittles, some very impressive word game play, and much more. This is not an episode to miss.
Speaking of things you don’t want to miss, check out following things from Amabel:
Video Essays
Hollandspiele Website
Patreon
Bluesky
Here are the documents used in this episode: the reference document (serves as the games mentioned in this episode as well) and the word game itself. In order to not spoil too much, the sections of the episode are going to not have too many extra notes. Technically, you could cross reference the show notes, episode cover image, and the reference document to figure out what’s being talked about within each section; it’s a mini-puzzle in a sense. Regardless, each section is basically just the title of each video essay.

Intro and State of the Video Essays (0:00)

Should Board Games Be Frustrating (24:32)
The general frame of the word game is described right at the beginning, and then it moves to frustration in some various games.

Boxes: Selling, Framing, Meaning (44:42)
[There is a small, fun, post-credit audio bit that was originally in this section.]

Replay Value: Repetition, Ritual, and Improvement (57:07)

Expanding Board Games (1:09:27)

Wrap-up Questions (1:19:31)
A text on Amabel’s mind and things to look forward to from her!
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If you like this show, liking it on whatever platform you listen to and writing a review would mean so much! Furthermore, it's as independent as it gets, so any financial support would help with the subscriptions that make this project go smoothly.
That can be done by "buying me a coffee" and/or buying a copy of my board game (I like it).
All of my socials and support information can be found here: Intertextual Experience Linktree

Taylor Reiner. The Quiz 2.
Since Taylor was on the show in September 2023, he’s been busy with designing, developing, making videos, and more. We get to explore some of the things Taylor has been working on through the lens of sequels, other media, and just general chaos by the way of The Return of the Quiz.

Check out Taylor’s Trick Taking Table
See Taylor’s designs and developments.
Follow Taylor’s Bluesky.

Games Mentioned in this Episode

Intro (0:00)
Reflecting on my butchered introduction, the time that’s passed, and the extreme success of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring — Trick-Taking Game. Then we set up the quiz.

The Quiz 2 (8:14)
Can’t spoil the contents of the newest quiz, but there’s a new fun section called “The Tricky Minute.”
Also, the question on everyone’s mind is if SSX Tricky makes a return.
Home Alone 2
The Crew 2
Renaissance - Enlightenment - Romanticism
2

Mini-Director’s Commentary (55:45)
Keeping the quiz short and then doing a full Director’s Commentary as a later episode that paired with this was an initial thought of mine. Fortunately that didn’t work out, especially as that will allow more breath and rumination for The Quiz 3. Taylor reflects on sequels in general, Slay the Spire 2, and Oreos here.

Wrap-up Questions (1:05:32)
A non-StS2 text on Taylor’s mind and what to look out for from him.
There’s a 250 character limit for the titles, in case you’re wondering.

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If you like this show, liking it on whatever platform you listen to and writing a review would mean so much! Furthermore, it's as independent as it gets, so any financial support would help with the subscriptions that make this project go smoothly.
That can be done by "buying me a coffee" and/or buying a copy of my board game (I like it).
All of my socials and support information can be found here: Intertextual Experience Linktree

Shut Up & Sit Down’s Tom Brewster joins Intertextual Experience for our 44th episode, perhaps with the show’s most adventurous format yet (so adventurous that time stamps honestly wouldn’t make much sense–and that’s not just me trying to get out of doing the time stamps).
In a roguelite/like/who the heck knows the difference (& don’t go barking at me; I’ve watched all the videos that try to differentiate them and then see everyone else still arguing in the comments) structure, we fight the Western canon, make bean wine, create and remix the game we’re playing in real time, converse about wanting to share the beautiful parts of our hobbies with others, and just have so many other great moments sprinkled within a pretty wild time. This “roguelike” winds up being “4X” in a sense; it explores exploration, experience, expectations, and extermination–poor bat.
If none of that makes sense, you’ll just have to listen.
If all of that makes sense, you’re in the right spot.
You know where to find Shut Up & Sit Down, but here’s their YouTube channel & here’s Tom on Bluesky.
In lieu of the various time-stamped sections, attached below is a comprehensive slides presentation that includes the slides for Chip Cat Breach, images of the games within the game, the character creation page, the games mentioned in this episode, and more? Tom does an excellent job of bringing the visual elements of this audio-only show to life. I suggest waiting until after a listen to check out these slides to see how everything matches up in your head, but you’re your own person.
Click here for slides.

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If you like this show, liking it on whatever platform you listen to and writing a review would mean so much! Furthermore, it's as independent as it gets, so any financial support would help with the subscriptions that make this project go smoothly.
That can be done by "buying me a coffee" and/or buying a copy of my board game (I like it).
All of my socials and support information can be found here: Intertextual Experience Linktree