Welcome to News-a-palooza: Free the Meeple! I’m Joel, your host, and today we’re diving into a whirlwind of board gaming news and exciting updates. Joining me is Nick, our podcast’s very own board game designer.

News Segment:

3:16 – Meeple trademark dispute (+ update) https://gamefound.com/en/projects/cogito-ergo-meeple/meeple-inc/updates/9

10:50 – Game Brewer shutting down https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/162203/spiel-essen-24-sells-out-game-brewer-shuts-down-an

11:50 – Star Wars: X-Wing game not being developed anymore https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/162203/spiel-essen-24-sells-out-game-brewer-shuts-down-an

14:20 – Dicebreaker, the boardgame news site, appears to be collapsing, 2 weeks after being bought by IGN https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2024/06/12/dicebreakers-future-remains-unclear-as-silenced-site-makes-editor-in-chief-senior-staff-writer-redundant-after-ign-takeover/

15:55 – Figures for UK Games Expo attendance:

• Uniques: 39,306
• Total Attendance: 65,281
• Almost 30% growth over 2023

19:39 – Essen Spiel sells out to exhibitors

21:16 – Spiel des Jahres (+ Kennerspiel) nominations announced: https://www.spiel-des-jahres.de/nominierte-spiele-2024.html

• SdJ: Sky Team, https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/373106/sky-team
• In the Footsteps of Darwin, https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/376683/in-the-footsteps-of-darwin
• and Captain Flip. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/393325/captain-flip

KSdJ: Daybreak; https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/334986/daybreak

The Guild of Merchant Explorers; https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/350933/the-guild-of-merchant-explorers

Ticket to Ride Legacy – Legends of the West. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/390092/ticket-to-ride-legacy-legends-of-the-west

Coming Soon:

29:14 – Star Trek: Captain’s Chair: A Star Trek game using the Imperium games’ design https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/422541/star-trek-captains-chair

32:55 – Sky Tea