Helaina Cappel turned down more games than she published — and that's why KTBG and Burnt Island look the way they do. Teacher, publisher, and the one who rescued ⚓ ENDEAVOR off Z-Man's shelf and steered it into 🌊 DEEP SEA.
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🎙️ IN THIS EPISODE:
🎓 Teacher to publisher — FOODFIGHTERS at the kitchen table
⚓ A year convincing Jarratt & Carl to hand her ENDEAVOR
🌊 Leaving the colonization theme behind for DEEP SEA
🌱 Zero plastic — "but it's flammable"
🗝️ LAIRS: $33, three print runs, all sold out
🔮 Ten more years of Endeavor
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🔗 LINKS
🎲 Kids Table Board Gaming & Burnt Island Games
▶ https://www.kidstablebg.com/
❤️ Support My Work — Join Cardboard
▶ https://crdbrd.app/
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🎧 TOO LONG TO WATCH? THIS IS NOW A PODCAST!
🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-board-game-secret-show/id6785378165
🟢 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033GRnTDINaxqcoJksaCl4
🔵 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/01414914-23bd-4f4c-a29f-50daa231f364
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⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 - Cold open
00:33 - Intro — who is Helaina Cappel
01:45 - Before we started rolling
02:24 - The teacher, Josh, and Foodfighters
08:53 - Funding on day 31 — Kickstarter in 2015
13:23 - "When did KTBG become a business?"
20:08 - Catan, Carcassonne, Caylus — becoming a gamer
22:53 - The KTBG DNA: fun, and scalable
26:13 - The "family weight" problem
32:23 - Cystic fibrosis — an unexpected connection
37:03 - Why Burnt Island exists
39:38 - Endeavor: from Z-Man's shelf to a year of convincing
44:43 - Decolonising Endeavor into Deep Sea
53:53 - Zero plastic: the bagasse insert fight
59:23 - Age of Sail is out of print for good
1:02:53 - Fall of the Mountain King — the one that should have hit
1:08:23 - Killing the print ads
1:13:23 - "New is better" — the treadmill
1:17:23 - Tariffs, Play the North, looking past the US
1:25:43 - Lairs — the $33 game she can't print fast enough
1:42:23 - How Lairs found her — an Eric Lang post
1:47:43 - Gen Con and Essen slate
1:49:33 - The future of Endeavor — ten games in ten years
1:56:48 - Advice: ask every single question
#cardboard #bgss #endeavor #kidstableboardgaming #burntisland
