First off, the host Stephen is obnoxious and self-righteous. Daddy clearly didn’t stroke his ego enough as a child as he’s always listing the events where he’ll be the honored speaker, he rests on the laurels of his accomplishments at Stronghold, and makes sure to remind you of all of his travels (I guess so we know he has some money?). He loves talking about his Corvette here and there whilst speaking out about the false narrative of climate change. He just can’t even cope with tariffs because they might take away his sweet baby idol of board games. In other words, he acts like a man child. But instead of living in his parent’s basement, he has his own house with live-in girlfriend Paula, where he’ll constantly remind of that they’ve remodeled their home. No kids or legacy to take over when he collapses into dust. But, hey, he’s got board games. He’s also a shrinking violet. I once challenged him on the COVID narrative being totally false and the jab being unhelpful, so he blocked me on X. Real nice guy.
Corey is a fun addition to the show. A little of the same same. Loves to serenade you with stories of his accolades and travels. No ego on this show! He seems jovial enough, but is clearly more intelligent than Stephen and likes to rub it in Stephen’s face occasionally with minute corrections. I kind of like that.
Occasionally, Ignacy might show up. He’s your only true insider on the show. He’s pretty matter of fact about games and news after you’re reminded of how much he hates flying.
After you get past the last 50% of the show in the aforementioned, you finally get to inside board game industry stuff, some answers to user submitted questions, board games news, and some other pertinent information which is pretty enjoyable.
Show would be better if it was more succinct, less fluff, and less self-righteous. But hey, who’s paying them anyways?
