It's been a couple of weeks since PAX AUS, and while those following the Big Milkshake Podcast can look forward to hearing all about it there, I still wanted to share my thoughts here as well.
Unlikely as it sounds, none of us at Two19 had been to PAX before, so we didn't know quite what to expect. I will say though, PAX exceeded my expectations and was a truly amazing experience, not only for myself but for all of Two19 and, most importantly, Kingless. Getting to meet so many fans and share Kingless with so many new players was incredible.
When we started planning for PAX several months ago, we had many grand ideas of how we would present and demo Kingless. We very quickly swept them aside in favour of letting the game speak for itself, by playing with as many people as possible. I can confidently say that this was the right decision, as Kingless was very well received by everyone who had the opportunity to try it. We always set out to create a game that players could sit down with, play a couple of rounds, and quickly have a great time. It also helped that after years of development and testing, Nathan is well-versed in teaching the rules!
We have had lots of positive feedback since we shared Kingless with the world, but getting to speak in person and see their genuine enthusiasm for what we worked so hard to create was a very special feeling. One of my favourite moments was when someone told us they had played Kingless the night before with their friend, who brought it back from PAX after playing it with us. They were so taken with it that they came by to grab their own copy!
This was a continuing theme. Everyone that played Kingless thought it was great, and so many were willing to spend their hard-earned money to take it home that we ended up completely selling out. This does come with the caveat that you would struggle to find anyone more likely to enjoy Kingless than someone dedicated enough to tabletop games to be in the tabletop gaming hall of PAX. In turn, these same people know how to choose games they will enjoy for years to come, and many had insightful questions that showed a deep understanding of game mechanics and grew more excited the more they learned about Kingless.
Of course, PAX wasn't just about us! There were so many people, companies, and products there that I couldn't possibly give them all the time they deserved. In particular, seeing the other indie developers was fantastic, with all of them showing an outstanding level of talent and creativity. The Australian tabletop gaming industry is growing quickly, and I'm looking forward to the wonderful times that lie ahead.
Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by our stand for a game or two, purchased Kingless, asked us about the creative process, bumped into us in the hall, our fellow indie designers, and everyone who just had a chat. You're really what made PAX so special.
One thing is certain: We will be back at PAX AUS next year!
-Sebastian
]]>One thing that consistently excites me about our projects at Two19 is how different it is to step back from the digital world we are all immersed in, and design something physical that brings people together in a tangible way.
A small part of our design work for the most significant of these projects, Kingless, was deciding which of the players should start the game. We came up with an elegant, on-theme solution by making the shortest player begin. This isn't anything new. In fact, this is a staple of all games, someone has to begin. But wouldn't it be nice if every game could start a different way?
Unlike digital products, where you can push out content updates, physically manufactured games, designed to last a lifetime, are a lot more difficult. You can pass the onus onto the player, allowing them to decide their own way of choosing the player who goes first, but oftentimes this is an unneeded barrier to beginning.
This is why we decided to work on a modern-day solution to drawing the short straw, delivered as a digital app. We call this DecideOn.
DecideOn is our way of combing both the physical and digital in its simplest form. allowing players to quickly and easily decide "who goes first?" With hundreds of hand-crafted "Deciders" neatly organised into various topic packs and many more to come in the future, there are clear advantages to launching DecideOn digitally.
This is the first digital product for Two19, going from design concept to reality in a surprisingly short timeframe. We have lots more planned in the future; Apple Watch, iPad, Apple TV apps, cloud sync, and a bunch more topic packs. This is just the beginning for DecideOn, Two19 and our journey into producing digital offerings alongside our physical ones.
DecideOn is available on the app store starting today.
Alex and I have been writing our monthly shakeup now for over 2 years! They started off as a way to keep our Kickstarter backers up-to-date with the progress on manufacturing Kingless. Shortly after, the shakeup morphed into our monthly roundup of news and updates.
Since then, Two19 has changed a little. We've recently launched our new Podcast, The Big Milkshake. This has proven to be such a fun and exciting endeavour for us, it's changed the way I have thought about providing these updates.
Going forward, we are planning to do something a little different with the Shakeup. We are getting close to launching our new behind-the-scenes club, Club Two19 where we will share all sorts of never before seen content, including Artwork, Video content, pre-show podcast episodes and much more. We will have more on this in the coming weeks, but it's going to be a lot of fun.
Like a fine wine pairing, Alex and I have been working on building a new set to shoot some juicy video content. We are not quite ready to start filming just yet, hence the written update again this month, but this will be the new format going forward. It's also the perfect spot to share some of the new cards and mechanics you will see in the Festival of Explosions.
Oh, and if you made it this far down, we will be exhibiting at PAX Australia this year... More to come on this later! 🤫
See you all very soon for our first video!
-Sebastian
Today is the big day - our podcast goes LIVE, and I could not be more excited to share it with everyone!
I remember the very first meeting I had with the team when the idea of starting a podcast began brewing. I knew I was incredibly keen from the get-go to help make this happen - I was in my final semester of uni finishing my degree in Media Communication, so I was so enthusiastic to jump in and put some of my skills into some fun Two19 content!
I have some experience featuring in gaming podcasts, but had never hosted, produced and edited one before... until now! It was definitely a challenge, but such an amazing experience.
By starting this podcast, we wanted to tell people more about who Two19 are, what we do, and what goes into making a tabletop game. So whether you’re a tabletop fan, a fan of Kingless and/or looking at creating your own game - this show is for you!
We knew our first episode was going to be about introducing the team and of course - talking about Kingless. As the newbie of the team and fan of the game, I personally had so many questions to ask! I almost forgot at times we were recording because I just wanted to keep chatting - it sometimes got to the point where we debated whether the answers to some questions might be worth being a whole episode in itself! There were also some absolute gems during recording from the team that would make some quality bloopers…
While we film our next episodes, if you have a question that hasn't been asked yet - let us know! You can comment on this post, tweet us or drop us a DM - who knows, maybe we'll shout you out in our next episode!
There were admittedly a few nerves before hitting 'record', but I could not be prouder of Sebastian, Alex and Nathan - getting to listen back to our chats during the editing process was so rewarding to watch come together. I grabbed any spare moment I could at the computer to work on the episode, and I sometimes caught myself smiling while watching the show back. The guys might tell you I made them sound good, but I guarantee they won't admit they are podcast naturals!
Here’s a team photo taken from our second episode, coming soon!
Something that was really important to me when it came to creating the podcast is making sure it was available in as many formats as possible. For our first episode we have the video of our show on YouTube, the audio available on many streaming platforms, and the transcript of the show available here on The Big Milkshake website.
I wanted to make sure that it was accessible as possible so anyone and everyone can tune in to the show in some way. So whether you want to watch our episode on TV, listen to our episode on-the-go and/or read the episode's transcript, you can do so wherever you go! The next step is to add (accurate subtitles) to our YouTube episodes.
I truly hope you enjoy the first episode of The Big Milkshake Podcast. If you love it, make sure to subscribe to the platform(s) of your choice so you don't miss future episodes!
Thank you to Sebastian, Alex and Nathan for trusting me with leading the way with the show - I couldn't be prouder to finally debut this episode, and I can't wait to share the many more episodes we record together!
-Bianca
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