<description>&lt;figure class="aligncenter wp-block-post-featured-image"&gt;&lt;img data-recalc-dims="1" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="800" height="519" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/Ep411-PAXU2025.jpg?resize=800%2C519&amp;#038;ssl=1" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Episode 411 - PAX Unplugged 2025" style="object-fit:cover;" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/Ep411-PAXU2025.jpg?w=800&amp;amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/Ep411-PAXU2025.jpg?resize=300%2C195&amp;amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/Ep411-PAXU2025.jpg?resize=768%2C498&amp;amp;ssl=1 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /&gt;&lt;/figure&gt; &lt;p&gt;It&amp;#8217;s the most wonderful time of the year &amp;#8211; PAX Unplugged is when we get to catch up with friends in the boardgame industry, see new games, and meet some of YOU!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h2 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;00:00 Fact for 411&lt;/h2&gt; &lt;p&gt;If you&amp;#8217;re a Millenial, you know that 411 was (is) a phone number to call for general information. Did you know there are other X11 codes?&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.networkworld.com/article/956606/beyond-911-other-n-1-1-codes-you-should-know.html"&gt;https://www.networkworld.com/article/956606/beyond-911-other-n-1-1-codes-you-should-know.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h2 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;Sponsor Message&lt;/h2&gt; &lt;p&gt;How do you know if you&amp;#8217;re ready to retire? There&amp;#8217;s the financial aspect, but don&amp;#8217;t forget about the emotional and physical as well.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;If you want help reviewing the financial part of preparing for retirement, set up a time to talk to First Move for free by going to &lt;a href="https://firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers&lt;/a&gt; today.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h2 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;0:05:10 What We&amp;#8217;ve Been Playing&lt;/h2&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;INK&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; &lt;a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/ink/"&gt;review out today&lt;/a&gt; of this race to place all your ink bottles.&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Odin&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; review coming next week. Best at 3-4 players.&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Chit Chat&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; had our best game ever at 9 points! Check out &lt;a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/chit-chat/"&gt;the review&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Stroop&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; still breaks our brain, but fun.&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bouba/Kiki&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; a cooperative party game about matching shapes with nonsense words.&lt;br&gt;(We talk at length about &lt;em&gt;Stroop&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;Bouba/Kiki&lt;/em&gt; in &lt;a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/episode-370-bouba-kiki/"&gt;episode 370&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tropichaos&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; a fruit-selling push-your-luck game from Oink Games.&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Person Do Thing&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; a simple word party game. Try it yourself at &lt;a href="https://persondothing.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;PersonDoThing.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Leaders&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; we will talk a lot about this later.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h2 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;0:18:00 The Family Gamers Community&lt;/h2&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/familygamersaa/posts/4228441160778675/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;Welcome to our newest community members&lt;/a&gt; on Facebook! Stop in and say hello.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;#Backtalk&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;We asked what your favorite thing to do at a convention &amp;#8211; if you&amp;#8217;ve ever been to one.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;A few of you answered &lt;a href="https://discord.com/channels/1157003438425653379/1239323617368604672" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;on the #backtalk channel&lt;/a&gt; on the Discord and&lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/familygamersaa/"&gt; in our Facebook community&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h2 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;PAX Unplugged 2025 Interviews&lt;/h2&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;0:25:35 SnapShips Tactics with Micah&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;X-wing crossed with Galaxy Trucker, and you&amp;#8217;re trying to kill each other.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Make your ship look like you want, and make it play like you want.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Starter set for two players is about $65.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.snapshipstactics.com"&gt;www.snapshipstactics.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;0:29:00 Kess with Court&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;A game based on OnePiece!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.kessentertainment.co"&gt;www.kessentertainment.co&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;0:32:30 Outset Media with David&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Guildlands&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; &amp;#8220;if &lt;em&gt;Carcassonne&lt;/em&gt; met &lt;em&gt;Root&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Karak&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; a favorite for kids, with lots of upgrades over the version &lt;a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/catacombs-of-karak/"&gt;we reviewed years ago&lt;/a&gt;. And &lt;em&gt;Karak II&lt;/em&gt; for a more challenging game!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Shadow Ninjas&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; cats sneaking into the dojo to eat the koi, and one dog trying to eliminate them all.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://outsetmedia.com"&gt;outsetmedia.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;0:36:10 Fight in a Box with Seppy Yoon&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Puppies or Poop&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; build a doggie land-mine field under the leaves. Try to survive without poop on your shoes! A cute and more memorable re-implementation of &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/triple-threat-fight-box/"&gt;Squirrel or Die&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Kaiser Cucumber&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; evil geniuses trying to out-steal each other. A sort of sequel to &lt;em&gt;Mouse Cheese Cat Cucumber&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.fightinabox.com/games"&gt;www.fightinabox.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;0:40:15 SRG Universe with Steve&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Supershow&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; a wrestling card game &amp;#8211; and &lt;em&gt;Super Lucha&lt;/em&gt; which is a crossover with luchadors.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Rummy Gummies&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; a set-playing card game. &amp;#8220;&lt;em&gt;Rummy&lt;/em&gt; with &lt;em&gt;Uno&lt;/em&gt;-like effects&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://supershowthegame.com/"&gt;supershowthegame.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;0:45:00 Envy Born Games with Matthew&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sirens&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; 1-2 player tiny game. Draft cards to make a song and lure sailors.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hercules and the 12 Labors&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; solo game. Battle your way through Hercules&amp;#8217;s famous 12 labors and choose rewards to help you with future labors.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://envyborngames.com"&gt;envyborngames.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;0:48:20 Kids Table Board Gaming / Burnt Island Games with Sean&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;River Market&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; now available!&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sea Shells&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; set collection by Bruno Faiduitti, coming summer 2026&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pack &amp;amp; Paddle&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; Kickstarter in 2026&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Treeline&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; recover the landscape. Also coming summer 2026.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Fans of &lt;em&gt;Diced Veggies&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;Endeavor: Deep Sea&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.kidstablebg.com"&gt;www.kidstablebg.com&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.burntislandgames.com"&gt;www.burntislandgames.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;0:52:50 Jason Anarchy Games&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Trombone Champ&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; yes, like the video game. Full of hotdogs, baboons, and silly fake trombone facts.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;0:55:00 Wonderful World Board Games with Ariel&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Dragonarium&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; go &lt;a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wwbg/dragonarium" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;check out the Kickstarter&lt;/a&gt; before December 11!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Last Lantern&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; coop polyomino game. Silently build a path across the board.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.wonderfulworldbg.com/"&gt;www.wonderfulworldbg.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;1:00:25 Bezier Games with Jay&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Zombie Princess&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; a sequel to &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/rebel-princess/"&gt;Rebel Princess&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;. &amp;#8220;Save&amp;#8221; the zombies by chopping off their heads. Trick-taking game that&amp;#8217;s best with partners.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Haunted Mouse&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; a ladder-climbing/shedding card game that lets you use your opponents&amp;#8217; cards.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Game Makers&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; heavier game with a rondel. You step into the role of a game publisher &amp;#8211; very meta.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Recommendations for this holiday: &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/seers-catalog/"&gt;Seers Catalog&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;Xylotar&lt;/em&gt; (we &lt;a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/xylotar-unhinged-expansion/"&gt;reviewed&lt;/a&gt; the expansion)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://beziergames.com"&gt;beziergames.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Bonus: Jay is also &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/cardboardeast"&gt;@CardboardEast&lt;/a&gt; &amp;#8211; he reviews games from Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, etc. Check out his Youtube channel!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;1:04:50 Play to Z Games with Zev&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Animal Rescue Team&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; with Matt Leacock&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Twisted Trumpets&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; route-building, sort of. You&amp;#8217;re building out very weird, twisty trumpet pipes.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Soothsayers &amp;#8211; engine-building card game using traditional tarot.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.playtozgames.com/"&gt;www.playtozgames.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;1:09:55 Doomlings with Eric&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;Mokoko Village expansion&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Nightflower Island Gold pack, and a 15-pack Gold Box (by popular demand!)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;We wanted to trick our moms into playing &lt;em&gt;Magic: The Gathering&lt;/em&gt; with us&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;TFG has really enjoyed &lt;em&gt;Doomlings&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; easy to learn, with a lot of luck, but also some depth. &lt;a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/doomlings/"&gt;Our review&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.doomlings.com"&gt;www.doomlings.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;1:14:45 Capstone Games with Chris&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sanctuary&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; an &lt;em&gt;Ark Nova&lt;/em&gt; game, a bit lighter than &lt;em&gt;Ark Nova&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Up or Down?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Rowdy Partners&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; trick taking for 1-4 players. Wrestling theme with characters, each who has their own powers&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Wandering Towers&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; a &lt;a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/wandering-towers/"&gt;TFG favorite&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Forestry&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; harvest a forest while replanting to manage it. Heavier game.&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Galileo Galilei&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; heavier game&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Aquaria&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Stick &amp;#8216;Em&lt;/em&gt; refresh&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Wandering Towers &lt;/em&gt;expansion coming soon!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://capstone-games.com"&gt;capstone-games.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;1:19:00 Moon Crab Games with Justin&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Leviathan Wilds&lt;/em&gt; &amp;#8211; cooperative boss-battling game that uses a spiral-bound book for the gameboard. &amp;#8220;Climb together. Save Leviathans.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://leviathanwilds.com"&gt;leviathanwilds.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;1:24:30 PAX Unplugged takeaways&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;Andrew: PAX Enforcers (volunteers) and employees do an awesome job. And it&amp;#8217;s really cool to see the same folks year after year. Love the culture of PAX Unplugged and its family friendliness.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Anitra: We waited in line as a family to get in and see &lt;a href="https://www.jackthewhipper.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;Jacques Ze Whipper&lt;/a&gt;. Waiting in line, even for over an hour, was incredibly pleasant: mostly because the people around us were patient and friendly.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;We hope to see you at &lt;a href="https://unplugged.paxsite.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;PAX Unplugged&lt;/a&gt; 2026, December 4-6!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h2 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;1:30:30 New Backtalk Question&lt;/h2&gt; &lt;figure class="wp-block-image size-full"&gt;&lt;img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="700" height="350" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/Backtalk-NonBoardgame.jpg?resize=700%2C350&amp;#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-60811" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/Backtalk-NonBoardgame.jpg?w=700&amp;amp;ssl=1 700w, https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/Backtalk-NonBoardgame.jpg?resize=300%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1 300w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" /&gt;&lt;/figure&gt; &lt;p&gt;We&amp;#8217;ve been listening to records. What is your favorite thing to do with your family that is NOT playing board games?&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Tell us &lt;a href="https://discord.com/channels/1157003438425653379/1239323617368604672" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;on the #backtalk channel&lt;/a&gt; on our Discord, or &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/familygamersaa" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;in our Facebook community&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 class="wp-block-heading"&gt;Find Us Online:&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p&gt;Facebook: &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/familygamersaa" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;@familygamersaa&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/familygamersaa/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;thefamilygamers.com/community&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;Twitter (X): &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/familygamersAA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;@familygamersaa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;Instagram: &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/familygamersaa/"&gt;@familygamersaa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;TikTok: &lt;a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@familygamersaa/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;@familygamersaa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;Bluesky: &lt;a href="https://bsky.app/profile/familygamersaa.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;@familygamersaa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;Threads: &lt;a href="https://www.threads.com/@familygamersaa" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;@familygamersaa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;Youtube: &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/TheFamilyGamers"&gt;TheFamilyGamers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;or join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord! &lt;a href="https://thefamilygamers.com/discord"&gt;thefamilygamers.com/discord&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Or, for the most direct method, email us! andrew@thefamilygamers.com and anitra@thefamilygamers.com.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;PLEASE don&amp;#8217;t forget to subscribe to the show, tell your friends about the show, and leave us a review at &lt;a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-family-gamers-podcast/id1031290391"&gt;Apple Podcast&lt;/a&gt; or whatever your podcast subscription source is. We&amp;#8217;re also on Amazon Music, &lt;a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Kids--Family-Podcasts/The-Family-Gamers-Podcast-p1151589/"&gt;TuneIn&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5T4hCWTyqdY2Io4fslCbOl"&gt;Spotify&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;You can also now find us on YouTube Music! So pull it up and give us a listen while you&amp;#8217;re toiling away at work :)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The Family Gamers is sponsored by First Move Financial. Go to &lt;a href="https://firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener sponsored nofollow"&gt;FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers&lt;/a&gt; to learn how the team at First Move Financial can help you pile up the victory points.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="wp-block-image"&gt;&lt;figure class="aligncenter size-large"&gt;&lt;a href="https://FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers"&gt;&lt;img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="682" height="214" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/firstmovefinancial_horiz_banner.png?resize=682%2C214&amp;#038;ssl=1" alt="First Move Financial - Financial planning for all stages of life. What's your first move?" class="wp-image-8840" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/firstmovefinancial_horiz_banner.png?w=682&amp;amp;ssl=1 682w, https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/firstmovefinancial_horiz_banner.png?resize=300%2C94&amp;amp;ssl=1 300w" sizes="(max-width: 682px) 100vw, 682px" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The post &lt;a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/episode-411-pax-unplugged-2025/"&gt;Episode 411 &amp;#8211; PAX Unplugged 2025&lt;/a&gt; appeared first on &lt;a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com"&gt;The Family Gamers&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; </description>

The Family Gamers Podcast

The Family Gamers

Episode 411 – PAX Unplugged 2025

DEC 1, 202594 MIN
The Family Gamers Podcast

Episode 411 – PAX Unplugged 2025

DEC 1, 202594 MIN

Description

<figure class="aligncenter wp-block-post-featured-image"><img data-recalc-dims="1" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="800" height="519" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/Ep411-PAXU2025.jpg?resize=800%2C519&#038;ssl=1" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Episode 411 - PAX Unplugged 2025" style="object-fit:cover;" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/Ep411-PAXU2025.jpg?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/Ep411-PAXU2025.jpg?resize=300%2C195&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/Ep411-PAXU2025.jpg?resize=768%2C498&amp;ssl=1 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></figure> <p>It&#8217;s the most wonderful time of the year &#8211; PAX Unplugged is when we get to catch up with friends in the boardgame industry, see new games, and meet some of YOU!</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">00:00 Fact for 411</h2> <p>If you&#8217;re a Millenial, you know that 411 was (is) a phone number to call for general information. Did you know there are other X11 codes?</p> <p><a href="https://www.networkworld.com/article/956606/beyond-911-other-n-1-1-codes-you-should-know.html">https://www.networkworld.com/article/956606/beyond-911-other-n-1-1-codes-you-should-know.html</a></p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Sponsor Message</h2> <p>How do you know if you&#8217;re ready to retire? There&#8217;s the financial aspect, but don&#8217;t forget about the emotional and physical as well.</p> <p>If you want help reviewing the financial part of preparing for retirement, set up a time to talk to First Move for free by going to <a href="https://firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers</a> today.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">0:05:10 What We&#8217;ve Been Playing</h2> <p><em>INK</em> &#8211; <a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/ink/">review out today</a> of this race to place all your ink bottles.<br><em>Odin</em> &#8211; review coming next week. Best at 3-4 players.<br><em>Chit Chat</em> &#8211; had our best game ever at 9 points! Check out <a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/chit-chat/">the review</a>.<br><em>Stroop</em> &#8211; still breaks our brain, but fun.<br><em>Bouba/Kiki</em> &#8211; a cooperative party game about matching shapes with nonsense words.<br>(We talk at length about <em>Stroop</em> and <em>Bouba/Kiki</em> in <a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/episode-370-bouba-kiki/">episode 370</a>.)<br><em>Tropichaos</em> &#8211; a fruit-selling push-your-luck game from Oink Games.<br><em>Person Do Thing</em> &#8211; a simple word party game. Try it yourself at <a href="https://persondothing.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PersonDoThing.com</a><br><em>Leaders</em> &#8211; we will talk a lot about this later.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">0:18:00 The Family Gamers Community</h2> <p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/familygamersaa/posts/4228441160778675/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Welcome to our newest community members</a> on Facebook! Stop in and say hello.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">#Backtalk</h3> <p>We asked what your favorite thing to do at a convention &#8211; if you&#8217;ve ever been to one.</p> <p>A few of you answered <a href="https://discord.com/channels/1157003438425653379/1239323617368604672" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on the #backtalk channel</a> on the Discord and<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/familygamersaa/"> in our Facebook community</a>.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">PAX Unplugged 2025 Interviews</h2> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">0:25:35 SnapShips Tactics with Micah</h3> <p>&#8220;X-wing crossed with Galaxy Trucker, and you&#8217;re trying to kill each other.&#8221;</p> <p>Make your ship look like you want, and make it play like you want.</p> <p>Starter set for two players is about $65.</p> <p><a href="https://www.snapshipstactics.com">www.snapshipstactics.com</a></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">0:29:00 Kess with Court</h3> <p>A game based on OnePiece!</p> <p><a href="https://www.kessentertainment.co">www.kessentertainment.co</a></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">0:32:30 Outset Media with David</h3> <p><em>Guildlands</em> &#8211; &#8220;if <em>Carcassonne</em> met <em>Root</em>&#8220;</p> <p><em>Karak</em> &#8211; a favorite for kids, with lots of upgrades over the version <a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/catacombs-of-karak/">we reviewed years ago</a>. And <em>Karak II</em> for a more challenging game!</p> <p><em>Shadow Ninjas</em> &#8211; cats sneaking into the dojo to eat the koi, and one dog trying to eliminate them all.</p> <p><a href="https://outsetmedia.com">outsetmedia.com</a></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">0:36:10 Fight in a Box with Seppy Yoon</h3> <p><em>Puppies or Poop</em> &#8211; build a doggie land-mine field under the leaves. Try to survive without poop on your shoes! A cute and more memorable re-implementation of <em><a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/triple-threat-fight-box/">Squirrel or Die</a></em>.</p> <p><em>Kaiser Cucumber</em> &#8211; evil geniuses trying to out-steal each other. A sort of sequel to <em>Mouse Cheese Cat Cucumber</em>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.fightinabox.com/games">www.fightinabox.com</a></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">0:40:15 SRG Universe with Steve</h3> <p><em>Supershow</em> &#8211; a wrestling card game &#8211; and <em>Super Lucha</em> which is a crossover with luchadors.</p> <p><em>Rummy Gummies</em> &#8211; a set-playing card game. &#8220;<em>Rummy</em> with <em>Uno</em>-like effects&#8221;</p> <p><a href="https://supershowthegame.com/">supershowthegame.com</a></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">0:45:00 Envy Born Games with Matthew</h3> <p><em>Sirens</em> &#8211; 1-2 player tiny game. Draft cards to make a song and lure sailors.</p> <p><em>Hercules and the 12 Labors</em> &#8211; solo game. Battle your way through Hercules&#8217;s famous 12 labors and choose rewards to help you with future labors.</p> <p><a href="https://envyborngames.com">envyborngames.com</a></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">0:48:20 Kids Table Board Gaming / Burnt Island Games with Sean</h3> <p><em>River Market</em> &#8211; now available!<br><em>Sea Shells</em> &#8211; set collection by Bruno Faiduitti, coming summer 2026<br><em>Pack &amp; Paddle</em> &#8211; Kickstarter in 2026<br><em>Treeline</em> &#8211; recover the landscape. Also coming summer 2026.</p> <p>Fans of <em>Diced Veggies</em> and <em>Endeavor: Deep Sea</em>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.kidstablebg.com">www.kidstablebg.com</a> and <a href="https://www.burntislandgames.com">www.burntislandgames.com</a></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">0:52:50 Jason Anarchy Games</h3> <p><em>Trombone Champ</em> &#8211; yes, like the video game. Full of hotdogs, baboons, and silly fake trombone facts.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">0:55:00 Wonderful World Board Games with Ariel</h3> <p><em>Dragonarium</em> &#8211; go <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wwbg/dragonarium" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">check out the Kickstarter</a> before December 11!</p> <p><em>Last Lantern</em> &#8211; coop polyomino game. Silently build a path across the board.</p> <p><a href="https://www.wonderfulworldbg.com/">www.wonderfulworldbg.com</a></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">1:00:25 Bezier Games with Jay</h3> <p><em>Zombie Princess</em> &#8211; a sequel to <em><a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/rebel-princess/">Rebel Princess</a></em>. &#8220;Save&#8221; the zombies by chopping off their heads. Trick-taking game that&#8217;s best with partners.</p> <p><em>Haunted Mouse</em> &#8211; a ladder-climbing/shedding card game that lets you use your opponents&#8217; cards.</p> <p><em>Game Makers</em> &#8211; heavier game with a rondel. You step into the role of a game publisher &#8211; very meta.</p> <p>Recommendations for this holiday: <em><a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/seers-catalog/">Seers Catalog</a></em> and <em>Xylotar</em> (we <a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/xylotar-unhinged-expansion/">reviewed</a> the expansion)</p> <p><a href="https://beziergames.com">beziergames.com</a></p> <p>Bonus: Jay is also <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/cardboardeast">@CardboardEast</a> &#8211; he reviews games from Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, etc. Check out his Youtube channel!</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">1:04:50 Play to Z Games with Zev</h3> <p><em>Animal Rescue Team</em> &#8211; with Matt Leacock</p> <p><em>Twisted Trumpets</em> &#8211; route-building, sort of. You&#8217;re building out very weird, twisty trumpet pipes.</p> <p>Soothsayers &#8211; engine-building card game using traditional tarot.</p> <p><a href="https://www.playtozgames.com/">www.playtozgames.com</a></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">1:09:55 Doomlings with Eric</h3> <p>Mokoko Village expansion</p> <p>Nightflower Island Gold pack, and a 15-pack Gold Box (by popular demand!)</p> <p>&#8220;We wanted to trick our moms into playing <em>Magic: The Gathering</em> with us&#8221;</p> <p>TFG has really enjoyed <em>Doomlings</em> &#8211; easy to learn, with a lot of luck, but also some depth. <a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/doomlings/">Our review</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.doomlings.com">www.doomlings.com</a></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">1:14:45 Capstone Games with Chris</h3> <p><em>Sanctuary</em> &#8211; an <em>Ark Nova</em> game, a bit lighter than <em>Ark Nova</em>.<br><em>Up or Down?</em><br><em>Rowdy Partners</em> &#8211; trick taking for 1-4 players. Wrestling theme with characters, each who has their own powers<br><em>Wandering Towers</em> &#8211; a <a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/wandering-towers/">TFG favorite</a>.<br><em>Forestry</em> &#8211; harvest a forest while replanting to manage it. Heavier game.<br><em>Galileo Galilei</em> &#8211; heavier game<br><em>Aquaria</em><br><em>Stick &#8216;Em</em> refresh<br><em>Wandering Towers </em>expansion coming soon!</p> <p><a href="https://capstone-games.com">capstone-games.com</a></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">1:19:00 Moon Crab Games with Justin</h3> <p><em>Leviathan Wilds</em> &#8211; cooperative boss-battling game that uses a spiral-bound book for the gameboard. &#8220;Climb together. Save Leviathans.&#8221;</p> <p><a href="https://leviathanwilds.com">leviathanwilds.com</a></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">1:24:30 PAX Unplugged takeaways</h3> <p>Andrew: PAX Enforcers (volunteers) and employees do an awesome job. And it&#8217;s really cool to see the same folks year after year. Love the culture of PAX Unplugged and its family friendliness.</p> <p>Anitra: We waited in line as a family to get in and see <a href="https://www.jackthewhipper.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jacques Ze Whipper</a>. Waiting in line, even for over an hour, was incredibly pleasant: mostly because the people around us were patient and friendly.</p> <p>We hope to see you at <a href="https://unplugged.paxsite.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PAX Unplugged</a> 2026, December 4-6!</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">1:30:30 New Backtalk Question</h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="700" height="350" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/Backtalk-NonBoardgame.jpg?resize=700%2C350&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-60811" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/Backtalk-NonBoardgame.jpg?w=700&amp;ssl=1 700w, https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/Backtalk-NonBoardgame.jpg?resize=300%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" /></figure> <p>We&#8217;ve been listening to records. What is your favorite thing to do with your family that is NOT playing board games?</p> <p>Tell us <a href="https://discord.com/channels/1157003438425653379/1239323617368604672" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on the #backtalk channel</a> on our Discord, or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/familygamersaa" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in our Facebook community</a>.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Find Us Online:</h3> <p>Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/familygamersaa" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@familygamersaa</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/familygamersaa/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">thefamilygamers.com/community</a><br>Twitter (X): <a href="https://twitter.com/familygamersAA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@familygamersaa</a><br>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/familygamersaa/">@familygamersaa</a><br>TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@familygamersaa/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@familygamersaa</a><br>Bluesky: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/familygamersaa.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@familygamersaa</a><br>Threads: <a href="https://www.threads.com/@familygamersaa" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@familygamersaa</a><br>Youtube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/TheFamilyGamers">TheFamilyGamers</a></p> <p>or join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord! <a href="https://thefamilygamers.com/discord">thefamilygamers.com/discord</a></p> <p>Or, for the most direct method, email us! [email protected] and [email protected].</p> <p>PLEASE don&#8217;t forget to subscribe to the show, tell your friends about the show, and leave us a review at <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-family-gamers-podcast/id1031290391">Apple Podcast</a> or whatever your podcast subscription source is. We&#8217;re also on Amazon Music, <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Kids--Family-Podcasts/The-Family-Gamers-Podcast-p1151589/">TuneIn</a>, and <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5T4hCWTyqdY2Io4fslCbOl">Spotify</a>.</p> <p>You can also now find us on YouTube Music! So pull it up and give us a listen while you&#8217;re toiling away at work :)</p> <p>The Family Gamers is sponsored by First Move Financial. Go to <a href="https://firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener sponsored nofollow">FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers</a> to learn how the team at First Move Financial can help you pile up the victory points.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><a href="https://FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="682" height="214" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/firstmovefinancial_horiz_banner.png?resize=682%2C214&#038;ssl=1" alt="First Move Financial - Financial planning for all stages of life. What's your first move?" class="wp-image-8840" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/firstmovefinancial_horiz_banner.png?w=682&amp;ssl=1 682w, https://i0.wp.com/www.thefamilygamers.com/wp-content/uploads/firstmovefinancial_horiz_banner.png?resize=300%2C94&amp;ssl=1 300w" sizes="(max-width: 682px) 100vw, 682px" /></a></figure></div> <p></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com/episode-411-pax-unplugged-2025/">Episode 411 &#8211; PAX Unplugged 2025</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thefamilygamers.com">The Family Gamers</a>.</p>