Interview with Matt Voss on Charm City Games and Cockfight

Hi, this is Kevin Conroy, and you're listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. You are now on

the inside of what I like to call the circle

of trust. We are all connected in a great circle

of life. You know something, Bert? I think you

and I are going in circles. It feels like we're

going in circles. The Circle is now complete.

When I left you, I was but the learner. Now,

I am the master. Because it's a circle. Yeah,

we heard about the circle. Yeah, I swear. I believe

it changed. Hi, this is Chuck. This is Greg.

And this is Dan in New York, Talking in Circles,

brought to you by the Keycast Radio Network,

the podcast that... all about gaming, at least

for today. I say that because we have a very

special guest with us today, Matt Boss from Charm

City Gaming. He was gracious enough to come on

the podcast and talk about his company, Charm

City Gaming, and some of the games they have

to offer. So, Matt, I'd first like to thank you

for joining us today. We really appreciate you

taking the time. Thanks for having me here. I'm

really, really excited to be here. First guest,

first guest, first guest. That's definitely an

honor. Yeah, yeah. Geekcast Radio's had a lot

of guests, but this is the first Talking in Circles

guest, so you get that award. Awesome. Yeah.

You can add that to the resume. I know that's

really gonna, that'll really go far. But I guess

to start things off here, for those that don't

know, can you explain what Charming City Gaming

is and kind of what brought you into the land

of tabletop gaming? Sure. So Charm City games

started from an experience I had playing another

card game called Nuts. I don't know if you guys

have ever played Nuts or are familiar with Nuts.

I play with my Nuts all the time. That keeps

you healthy. But this game is all about being

a squirrel and grabbing Nuts and stealing Nuts

and guarding your own Nuts. Tons of double entendre.

Great game a lot of laughs, but we played it

I sat down and I was like, you know, I can do

I can do this I can do something like this. I

have a dirtier mind than this and and just for

I don't know how vulgar I can get with you guys

We go all out. Alright, so so basically just

for shits and giggles. I was like, well fuck

this I'm gonna make a game called cockfight and

Within that week, I had the first prototype of

cockfight made. It was a 54 card deck, four player

elimination style card game with giant roosters

in the underground cock ring. So, you know, we

have attacks like cock block and cock punch and

every cock enabled attack or defense you could

think of. And it took off from there. after demoing

it to a couple of friends and getting some really

positive feedback and taking it outside that

circle of people that don't want to insult you,

I decided to do a Kickstarter for it. So I set

a hard date of April 5th for the Kickstarter.

I love that it's a hard date. A hard date for

cockfight, yes. It was a rouse. It was an exciting

time. Did you say a rousing? I'm sorry. I was

going to say it was a rousing event, but it was

just a little bit too much. This is shaping up

to be the perfect episode for me, especially.

I'm well aware this is going. But yeah, so the

Kickstarter was my first goal. The first goal

was just to be to take it to the Kickstarter

to say, let me see if I can do this. and you

know i didn't want to i went on kickstarter as

myself just as matt voss which is a terrible

mistake once you set a kickstarter name you can't

change it once you launch a project so now every

project i make is going to be as matt voss not

as charm city games it's good but good thing

to know Yeah, yeah, definitely. That would be

one piece of advice. Make sure you set your Kickstarter

account up with the name that you want to be

known as. Definitely has to hurt with marketing

when you try and grow out the company, everything

having a Kickstarter under your name instead

of the name of the company. Yeah, I really think

it does. And there's a there's actually a really

big you guys have heard of the resistance for

regarding Kickstarter. Yeah, yeah, huge game.

The guy that runs all of those kickstarters,

his Kickstarter account is Travis. That's just

Travis, you know what I mean? So even though

he does all these great games, his company is

Indie Boards and Cards. And you know, I think

he's ran like 14 incredibly successful kickstarters.

His most recent one I think was Dragon Slayer.

you know every single one is us travis just something

i wish i had known beforehand but um it's almost

in a way the more badass that way in some ways

it's like yeah i just need my own name and that's

all i need yeah it's it's it's definitely something

that makes you proud but again i just wish i

had known that you know starting off so uh yeah

i made the kickstarter you know, begged and pleaded

with family and friends and everyone I had ever

met to support it. And I hit my goal within that

30 day period. And two and a half months later,

I shipped out all of my product to the Kickstarter

backers. Well, it seems like a pretty impressive

turnaround there for for two months to get the

product out to everybody. Yeah, it really is.

It's actually something like I want to say it's

like one percent or less of Kickstarter projects

deliver on deliver early, let alone on time.

My big thing was because I'm nobody, I wanted

to at least get this into people's hands as soon

as I possibly could and not let people down.

That was my big thing was not to fail the people

that supported me in this dream. It's definitely

important to get the cock in people's hands.

From when you're like 10 years old, that's your

primary goal is to get that cock in somebody

else's hands. Because they want to play with

it as soon as possible. Right, everybody wants

to play with my cocks. And then I say multiple

because again, there's four, you know. But yeah,

no, it was just that was a big thing was not

disappointing people that had pledged their money

to help me make a bunch of dirty card games.

I always found it best in the business world

is to promise very little, but give a lot at

the end to like, promise little but give a lot.

Oh, absolutely. It's the whole Scotty principle

from Star Trek, you know, I mean, Make sure you

set incredibly low expectations and then deliver

really high results. Well, we're really good

at setting low expectations. It's the results

we're having trouble with. But I found out that

with I work at a photography studio and with

the retouching the photos and everything, like

people always expect it super early. So I. try

and say like, oh, it's a month down the road.

But if I get it out in a week, they're really

excited to get it that week instead of that month.

So their expectations are not that great. But

when you actually do it, they're so excited for

it. Yeah, they're they're over the moon because

they feel like you went above and beyond what

you could do for them. So yeah, so anyway, you

know, cockfight was out there. It's out in the

world. It's across the Atlantic. Yeah, it's awesome.

And I've always been into making my own games

and I finally just decided to say F it, you know,

I'm going for it. That's I mean, that's pretty

awesome when you see like, you know, someone

actually go out there and succeed. I'm curious

with creating that own game, did you end up having

to do most of the stuff yourself, like creating

the car design and the artwork and stuff like

that? Or how did that all work? So the artwork,

I actually there's there's first off, there's

tons of, you know, resources out there. Thanks

to Google. Yeah, I can find the artwork. I actually

used a site called Elance and I was able to put

a proposal out and have people submit various

types of art and I was able to find an artist

that their style work with what I because I wanted

it to be humorous and I wanted it to be cartoony

I didn't want it to be too serious or too I didn't

want to broach the vulgar concept with the cards.

I wanted it to be fun and tongue -in -cheek.

And the artist that I found, Nadina Cardillo,

is actually from Spain. Very young artist, but

she's phenomenal. And her artwork was perfect

for cockfight. So that was the only thing that

I outsourced. Everything else, the layout, the

graphic design of the cards with the egg and

all that jazz, I did all that stuff myself. Very

nice. Very cool. To give a little bit of background,

I actually met Matt at... Baltimore Comic -Con

of which we talked about a way back when and

I got the opportunity to purchase cockfight myself

and had an opportunity to play It's a lot of

fun. I do really reason I asked about the artwork

said you kind of enjoy it and especially the

the logo for cockfight I don't know. It's very

eye -catching and Yeah, the the the logo the

the text I did myself then and obviously the

background is the is the cockfight card artwork

Yeah, the artwork is phenomenal Nadina. She did

a great job Yeah. How much inspiration came from

the family guy chicken fights with Peter Griffin?

You know, actually, that never that never really

came up, but that's exactly what that cockfight

card looks like. Yeah. No, that that never came

up. But yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. So I mean,

you know, we we started with that was from the

very beginning. Yeah, we I can definitely relate

into this is not to like. But when we I don't

want to say like ten years ago or so we we bought

a game I think Chuck and I it was like the Marvel

versus game a card game and we didn't really

like it that much So instead I ended up just

like going up and like creating our own card

game Nice, which is which I'm sure it's pretty

illegal because I used all the Marvel like images

and comic book characters But we weren't selling

it though. We were totally fine. You're totally

fine. Then it's just art yeah so it because it

wasn't like we got that game and it was like

we don't really like it because it i like i want

to be able to battle these guys and it ended

up not working out that way so like screw it

You know, I was working at Macy's Dock at the

time, so I put it all together. This was long

before the Kickstarter came together, but I love

seeing people who kind of actually go out there

and do it themselves and actually kind of make

something of it, where we just kind of played

it ourselves and didn't tell anyone about it,

really. Yeah, but you know what? That kind of

stuff, I mean, I think, like, I know, because

I have, you know, my friends, we're all nerds.

So in our group, I mean, we've done that. We've

made our own games and played them. And you don't

tell anybody else about it, but it's just something

that you as a group of friends really enjoy and,

you know, make memories together with. Yeah,

definitely we've we've played in a few years,

but maybe we'll open game back I don't know if

you heard of it, you know the game hero clicks

by any chance. Yes. Yeah I just I worked at a

comic store in college when hero clicks first

came out. So I was I never played it for years.

I got into it this past summer and then I got

Chuck into it and Chuck got Greg into it. So

it's like this fever that's going on. I'm still

on the fence. Yeah, I'm still on the fence about

it. I'm big into Catan, Cards Against Humanity,

Munchkin, Seven Dragons, Ticket to Ride, that

kind of stuff. But I'm not quite into hero clicks

yet. Do it. Just do it. Just jump in with both

feet. Because you know what? Then you have cool

stuff to put on a shelf. That's kind of the point.

I'm by Carol Quick because it's like acting.

I'm already into Funko Pop and statues now. Don't

get me involved in something else, Matt. I know.

I need a second shelf for my Funko stuff now.

It's bad. And you know what? Being at Baltimore

Comic Con didn't help. Yeah. I know Greg got

a bunch of Funko stuff at Baltimore Comic Con.

And I got a lot of Hero Click stuff. So that

was in comics. So it was just... I went in a

budget and like, I think I spent that budget

within the first day. Well, that's why you know

you had fun. Yeah, exactly. I do know, though,

like not only Cockfight, but you have like other

games that are currently in the works. I think

both are looking to come out. In this fall is

that yeah that actually one of them is being

postponed crime Lords is a more European style

gameplay where you don't really know who's winning

until after the game is over and you've tabulated

everything and it's also a lot of resource management

We have a prototype board and everything but

with all of the effort that I've been putting

into rune cast It's taking a backseat rune cast.

I actually first came up with that idea in February

as well right after I came up with cockfight

then it was like everything just started to work

over time again. Runecast is awesome. I think

it has a ton of potential and it's a blast to

play. The last few game weeks we've had, we've

been playing it. It's a two to six player co

-op dice game where you take on the role of a

Viking warrior and you're battling through a

number of scenarios in mythical Norse battles.

So you might be taking on a bunch of Jotuns or

fighting some undead. And who doesn't like to

roll a bunch of dice? I'm a big fan of dice.

Yeah. So the really cool part about, sorry, go

ahead. No, I was going to say, are you using

the same artists for the artwork for that as

you did for Conch Fight? No, I'm not actually.

Nadina's art style is very, very unique. And

it's very specific. The artist that I got for

RuneCast is also from Elance. His company is

called Desmond Creations. He's on Facebook. He's

actually based out of Columbia, South America.

And it's a team of artists working on the RuneCast.

to start. And it's phenomenal. I don't I don't

know if you guys have seen any of it on the on

the charm city games Facebook page Or on the

website, but it looks it's amazing. Yeah, so

it's gonna be it's gonna be fantastic. It's gonna

be beautiful Yeah, I look like it could be its

own within its own comic book. Just looking at

all the garden I remember at waltz more comic

-con. You had a few like like blown up image

of I had those two giant stand -ups. Yeah. Yeah

Very eye -catching. Yeah, nothing like a badass

Viking. So yeah. Yep. So I mean, it's uh, it's

a great like I said, it's a great game. It's

got some blind fate mechanics to it, which you're

dealt a hand. That's your fate hand. You don't

know what's in your hand. And you have to make

that choice every turn if you want to draw a

card from your fate hand and see what fate has

in store for you. That sounds similar to real

life almost. So it seems like with your the games

that you have coming out like there's they all

kind of hit different quadrants and different

styles obviously cock fights more of a card community

game and moon cast it's like it's real pain,

you know more so I'll be serious on that end

but and In crime lords is a lot different is

was that a conscious decision like making them

all different ones or those are just the ideas

that came to you You know, it's those were really

just the ideas that came to me And I don't want

to say crime lords came to me crime lords is

a joint project with a very close friend of mine

Okay, but it We're designing games that we love

to play, you know? I mean, it's my gaming interests

are all across the map. I mean, I love every

type of game out there because I've, you know,

we've all played some bad games, but I'm not

gonna be a Euro game snob or an American game

snob. I just, I love to play games and I love

to play them with my gaming group, you know?

So really, whatever I like is what I'm gonna

try and... try and come up with a concept for

we actually it's funny we had a i had a brainstorming

session with my same friend that we're doing

we're doing crime worlds together and uh we just

came up with a tile auction goblins and gnomes

game which sounds really cool so we're gonna

pursue that after rune cast oh wow you're like

the nerdest of board gaming i hope you're taller

than chris hardwick and keep you my girlfriend

yes So is gaming, has that been something that

you've kind of been a part of like your entire

life? It seems like you have a pretty steady

background and you're into it a great deal. So

is that something you've been into for for a

while now? Oh, yeah. Like I said, I've just I've

always been a nerd. You know, we can totally

relate to that. Yeah. So, you know, I mean, I

went through the whole phase when I was younger

where you just want to be cool. But I've always

been a nerd. I've always collected comic books

and I've always, you know, been into video games

and gaming and I mean. I was one of those people

that was up in arms when D &D 2 .5 came out.

So it's been forever. Very nice, yeah. So I guess

if you're in the comics, you work at a comic

book store, I guess you have to ask the question,

Marvel or DC? That is like the toughest question.

So my favorite hero is Green Lantern, specifically

Hal Jordan. Outside of GL and some Justice League

stuff, I've always tended to lean more Marvel.

And I think just because of the prevalence of

crossovers in the Marvel universe, I think there's

a little bit more of them. And every kid, I think,

or every outcast kid identifies with the X -Men

at some point. And every nerd likes Spider -Man

at some point. And Marvel was just more accessible

to me when I was a kid, it feels like. I feel

like they didn't really ever hit the slump that

DC has. feel like DC hit for a while in the late

80s or early 90s. Yeah, and you're a very friendly

crowd because we are all also big Marvel fans.

I mean, not that we don't just like DC, but you

know, I think if we're going to wear like a couple

characters each that we go to DC for. Yeah. Yeah.

I was surprised you didn't say Batman, to be

quite honest. You know, I mean, I feel like you've

got to read Frank Miller's Batman, you know,

of course, and you've got to read the great you've

got to read the read the runs by the great artists

and the great writers on both sides of the fence.

But, you know, I think with Green Lantern and

with Hal Jordan specifically, it's just that

he can be such an ass sometimes. I really like

that. He's like the Nick Fury of D .C. because

Nick Fury can be an ass, too. But yeah, it's.

You kind of like I don't really like that guy,

but you know what he gets job done. So I Understand

where he's coming from. But yeah, so I I guess

the other question beyond Marvel DC. Yes Well,

I guess I should bring this question to you because

last week we're having a big debate I we had

an episode where we were trying to determine

if we made a movie franchise Matt Rushmore what

I voted Oh, you did? Oh, yeah. Yep. We had, you

know, we had a debate. It came down to some hard

choices, but I was curious, like, if you were

going to build that, what would you put on it?

So I went with Indy. I went with Star Wars. I

went with Die Hard, and I went with the Marvel's

universe with the Avengers. Very close. Yeah.

See, I was very, I too was very close to adding

Indy. My only worry, of course, was that fourth

film, but. yeah it was yeah yeah the movie that

shall not be named but still man the first the

first three yeah hard to beat i mean come like

i can still remember being a kid and watching

a guy's heart get ripped out or or watching a

nazi sympathizer's face melt off you know like

come on yeah and then you said star wars we're

gonna get a nazi face melter game from you guys

yeah I mean, I feel like you got to get to at

least one game that you are allowed to kill Nazis,

maybe Nazi zombies or something. Yeah, I mean,

you know, it's just it's funny because I feel

like, I mean, I don't know. Obviously, I think

we're all pretty close to the same ages. But

I feel like Nazis is the bad guys. It's just

kind of going out the window anymore. You know,

you really don't see it anymore. At least the

Russians are making come back in the villain

category. I think Russia throwing a big fit over

there with Putin. Yeah, and that's awesome because

we need a really big bad -end. I want my son

to grow up watching G .I. Joe's where the Russians

are the bad guys. Something where lasers are

shot everywhere and nobody gets killed. If you

make a card game with Russians as the bad guys,

please make a Vladimir Pupin card. Yeah, and

we can get another Rocky movie where he ends

the Cold War again, you know, it just We need

another one Yes, come on there's got to be some

Jonas brother that wants to be the next top compilers.

Oh god Well, it's bad enough that Justin Bieber

is gonna be the voice of kit for the 80 80 for

the New Knight Rider comeback. That's just Yeah,

it's been it's been verified because they hate

the world. I don't know I know who came up with

it. This is Canada's revenge for all of the mocking

It's all it's for all the bad things we said

about Canada. This is like Justin Bieber's our

revenge They're usually such a docile people.

Well, you know, I mean, I think they just got

tired of sending their most talented people over.

I mean, come on, Mike Myers, you know, Jim Carrey,

Tammy Anderson. Oh, yeah. Right. So talented.

So, you know, we got all her talent came from

Los Angeles when they put the breast implants

in. Bet you she'd be good at playing cockfight

Well, she had experience with a rather large

You don't have like an expansion pack to you

by any chance It's self expanding you should

have one that's a expansion of puppies puppies

versus cocks Have like a Michael Vick card in

there, but then they'll be like represent like

back in WWE when they used to call boobs puppies

all the time Wow, yeah, I guess to one thing

I should I know you're in the Baltimore area

So are you are you rooting hard for the Orioles

these past days? Yeah, I mean Like I told you

earlier, I have a toddler that's going a little

bit nuts at night right now. So as soon as the

sun goes down, it basically I try to sleep as

much as possible. So I'm just catching up on

on stuff during the day. But yeah, it's it's

exciting, man. I mean, like, you know, I'm sure

a lot of people's neighborhoods are like this,

but like my neighborhood goes crazy. And I just

love it. You know, like there's a there's a guy

like a couple blocks away who just had like he

professionally had a giant Orioles logo spray

painted into his yard. And it's got to be like

25 feet long by like 15 feet high. It's awesome.

That's hardcore. Yeah. Yeah. Was it the cartoon

bird or the regular? It's the cartoon bird. OK.

Yeah. All the real birds are confused. They're

like flying over. I mean, it's it's huge. It's

like I drove by and I literally stopped my car

and I was like, this is awesome. I like that

I live in this neighborhood. You know, it's just

cool to see because even in this Washington,

I didn't have the opportunity to go to the games,

but I know people that did. And just seeing the

atmosphere, it's like, wow, it's just kind of

kind of crazy. And I like the fact that they're

playing Kansas City because it's like two teams

that definitely deserve to get into this world

series. So yeah, not sure. Not the Yankees, not

the Red Sox, actually. Now two teams who aren't

rooted by douchebags. It's really nice Well,

it's i'm a i'm a transplant. I've been here for

about eight years now And um, I grew up in new

jersey. So everybody was philly fans. Okay, so

you want to talk about douchebags grouping for

people but uh I can understand see I am too a

transplant. I guess we we must move down around

the same time. I moved 2008 somewhere 2008 from

Scranton PA where Chuck and Greg still are so

I I'm somehow a New York Giants fan because of

my dad So I understand the the hatred of Philly

fans. Yes. Oh man. Yeah, let me tell you that

fly Eagles fly just instantly ignites an anger

in me That since I don't live in South Jersey

anymore has no random targets Yeah, I can understand

that and every time I see you I like it I love

Personally, I love walking by like novelty shops

of NFL stuff and seeing mugs of the Eagles and

just wanting to put a choking hazard sticker

on Well, I mean and that's that's that should

be on every Philly team stuff Yeah, you know

very cool. Um, I guess it's some some other question

I know you were talking about earlier that you

you know, you you went to the process of getting

cockfight me through Kickstarter was how was

that process? Like I've heard a lot about it,

but I've never actually spoken with someone before

that actually went through it. So skipping out

on handing out all the Kickstarter stuff like

most people do. No, no. Oh, man, that makes me

so mad that that's even a thing that people do.

All of the resources are out there. It's just

like so many other things trying to find out

where to start. It can be so overwhelming. So

I in the beginning, I stuck. just with the Kickstarter

because Kickstarter has a lot of like, I don't

want to call them classes, but that's what they're

trying to be to help you create your project.

Tons of information. And you know, I have no

background in marketing or anything like that.

And one of the biggest screw ups I made was not

building up any awareness or, or base audience

for this before I started. And, you know, so

it was, I just dove right in and started typing

up my story and, you know, creating Graphics

and stuff like that and going over and over the

Kickstarter the Kickstarter like tutorials or

colleges or whatever They want to call them.

It was it to be honest. It was a pretty shitty

looking Kickstarter page but it did the trick

and it got me funded and it got you know, it

got a thousand copies of cockfight produced and

I think I've sold almost 50 % of them at this

point. Oh, wow. That's pretty impressive in a

few months. Yeah, it's been really awesome It's

gotta say something for your idea when you feel

that the page isn't very good yet, you still

make your goal, I guess. Yeah. Well, you know,

I mean, so Dan, we met at Comic -Con, and going

to Baltimore Comic -Con, because everything I've

done so far, I've paid pretty much for out of

pocket, with the exception of the production

of the cards. You know, I went to Comic -Con

with the mentality that if I sold one game, I

was going to be happy. I wound up selling like

50 or 60 copies of Comic Con. Oh, nice. So I

was psyched, you know, like here I went into

this thinking like, ah, if some person buys it,

if I sell $15, you know, if I sell one game for

15 bucks, I'll be so excited. Or if I get one

email, I'll be happy. And it was like Sunday

came around and I was like, holy crap, this was

awesome. You know, like this is this is great.

But so the so the Kickstarter process, it can

be a little confusing. It's one of the most it's

one of the most intimidating processes because

you they break it down into sections. So there's

like a basic section where you fill out your

title and you know what you're like a little

blurb on your project, like a tweet. And then

it comes to the story. And it's just you're met

with this page that's just completely blank.

And you've got a blanking cursor. And it's like,

Well, here you go. Here's everything you just

fill it up. And that was the hardest part. And

then of course, once I got that done, it was

like, Holy crap, you want you want a video from

me to like I am not I don't have a face for video.

You know, we have we have a face for logo because

Ben, sorry, Ben, Greg can adjust it and make

it and make us look better. And then we have

a really great face for radio. So it's perfect.

I barely have a voice for radio, but I have a

face for radio. But yes. So so the Kickstarter

project was it was just. god i didn't know whether

i was coming or going half the time another cock

joke here you know i mean we started so the whole

thing from the idea for the game was in february

created prototypes and play tested and play tested

and play tested and created more prototypes all

the way through march launched the kickstarter

april 5th and then for those 30 days it's like

you're not living or breathing anything else

because you know here this is like this is your

baby you know and You take everything incredibly

personally. I was not prepared for the people

that I would offend. And while I knew that I

might offend some people due to the content,

I didn't expect to offend people due to the imagery

of claws or eggs or blood. And that was some

of the biggest, there was one person that was

incredibly vocal about their issues with the

game. And their issues with the game were all

based on animal cruelty. And that was a crazy

time. wow that is like a warning on there that

this is not supporting um the abuse of animals

or something and maybe like calm them down or

something no animals are harmed in the making

of cockfight maybe i actually uh in the rules

i have a thing that's like look this game is

about fun you know i'm not i'm not supporting

killing animals or anything like that but it

was just uh i mean the guy was just Vicious and

to the point where he was like threatening legal

action and all this other stuff and and You know,

this is all within the first 48 hours of watching

the project and so need to calm down It was a

you know, it was a big it was a big hit to my

ego and a big hit to my Yeah, just to like holy

crap. Am I doing the wrong thing and I stood

up for myself and I said look, you know that

What I'm doing is protected by the First Amendment.

It's protected by freedom of speech and what

I've created here is a piece of art and if you're

If you're willing to get so worked up and so

offended, then please don't, don't back me. Take

your $1 back and, you know, click somewhere else

because that's, you know, you might see offensive

things here. Feel free to move on. But when you

start to talk about censorship, then I get all,

you know, I hate, I hate censorship in all of

its forms. And I took him to task on it. And

then he never said another word. But you know,

it was a rough 30 days and it was an exciting

30 days and the ups and downs. Oh my God. You

know, the first day when all your friends and

family come out and pledge and then you're like,

yes. And then, you know, you've got a 10 day

plateau and you're like, I am the worst person

in the world. Why does everybody hate me? And

then you'd have like a pledge would come in and

to be like, that's fucking right. I know you

want this, you know, and to fund when I hit that

funding goal, man, you want to talk about the

fact I do them backflips. I was psyched. And

the thing that I did that I think a lot of people

didn't is that I had the artwork already taken

care of before I even launched the Kickstarter.

I knew who was going to be producing it. I knew

what my timeline was going to be from when I

pay them to when they were going to ship it.

I knew how long it was going to take to ship.

I knew how long it was going to be in customs

because I wanted, like I said before, I was nobody.

I wanted people to know that at least this guy

delivers on what he says he's going to deliver.

So the day that the Kickstarter ended, You have

a couple of days, Kickstarter or Amazon Payments

will try to charge people that have backed for,

I think, a week. And you know, a card might bounce

back or whatever, but you've got a week where

they'll continue to try. And as soon as the payments

were through, I contacted my rep over at Print

Ninja, a guy named Alec who was awesome. And

I was like, Alec, here's the money. What do I

need to give you? What file types? Whatever.

We banged it out over the course of another couple

of days. within 10 days after the Kickstarter

ended, production was getting ready to start

on the game itself. Oh, wow. So, you know, it

was, I mean, I took all the horror stories and

took my lessons from those because I know there

was one guy I think this year or last year who

went to Kickstarter to fund his web comic being

created into a book and it was too successful.

He didn't know how to deal with the fulfillment

issues. And he got to the point where he was

basically just like, fuck you guys, if you want

your book, it's here. Otherwise, I'm starting

a bonfire. And he did. He burned all of the books

and videotaped it. Geez Yeah, you know I've heard

I've heard stories about that too or like some

similar things where the production is they can't

keep up and then it's yeah It's it's it is kind

of like a double -edged sword in some ways It

is and and the Kickstarter community is very

supportive because you know, we're like I'm a

member of the community I backed a bunch of projects,

you know, and if if you're open with me and you're

up front I'm going to give you all kinds of leeway.

You know, the big one like Meeple source right

now, they've got a, you know, they did custom

meeples back in March and their project was hugely

successful. They raised like 160 grand and they

were looking for 15 and they've had nothing but

issues because their fulfillment wasn't in line

with what they were prepared to do. But the entire

time they've been entirely honest, open, you

know, pictures of the masses of meeples that

they have to sort and by hand and send out. And

so here it is seven months later, you know. the

estimated delivery date was August, they're two

months behind that, and nobody is giving them

a hard time because they're honest about it.

And I think most of the Kickstarter community

is understanding about that, that we're working

together to create something that doesn't exist

in the product space yet. And if I'm coming to

you and asking you to... you know, to fund my

dream. And I'm going to give you a part of that

back in the form of a retail product. If I run

into issues, I should be honest with you and

tell you like, look, you know, customs has held

my stuff for the past six weeks. This is the

issue. I'm working on it. I'm sorry. How can

I, how can I make this better? I just think that

transparency needs to be there. Yeah. I can definitely

understand that because I think two people realize,

you know, you're it's an independent product.

So as long as they're understanding and people

are being honest, like, you know, they kind of

have a sympathy for you already because they're

supporting you as long as they feel like they

get it in the long run or they know have a knowledge

of it. It's even with, you know, you think you'd

be nice if the bigger companies sometimes shared

that same idea of being honest with people and

not treating them treating the people like humans.

That's kind of like a. Yeah, it's a fresh kind

of perspective that you're getting from people

like you and other kickstarters that do the same

thing. You're open. Yeah, thank you. And that's

true. I mean, we've stepped so far away from

the mom and pop stores and the mom and pop products

in our society that, you know, I mean, we reward

companies for having human entity status without

Caring or giving a shit about the people that

they're serving Yeah, you know and and stuff

like Kickstarter and Indiegogo and other crowdfunding

sources are a way to kind of move back to that

Because you know, I couldn't walk into a bank

and get funding, you know through traditional

means to say hey I want to make a card game about

dick jokes. It would never happen. So that'd

be just a guy staring at you go If you videotaped

it, it'd probably be a great thing to throw on

Kickstarter Tons of funding Long story short,

but I've been involved with partners in the past

in an attempt to open a land center like 15 years

ago when they were when they had the potential

to be big here in the states and Trying to get

across the idea of what we wanted to do like

oh We want to open a space where people pay us

to come in and play video games and then the

silence and the blank stares that you met with.

To walk in and try to get traditional funding

to make a game of any type, I think, is near

impossible. And you'll hear me use the term we

a lot when I talk about Charm City games, and

that's the royal we, because I'm including everybody

that's backed and everybody that's helped me

out, even though it's just me. So I'm just one

guy, and it's hard sometimes, but... I love the

shit out of it, you know, even when it is hard.

So. So regarding that, like, do you know when

your your when RuneCast will be going up on Kickstarter?

Is that happening anytime soon? My plan for RuneCast

is to launch in November, whether it's November

1st or November 15th. I'm giving myself a little

bit of buffer because I don't want to rush the

process. I did rush it the first time around,

and that was more because I didn't have the knowledge.

So I'm actually sitting in. in my finished basement

right now, which has been kind of converted into

a semi -professional studio with a light kit

and everything for filming parts of the video.

The process from the previous one to this one

is so different that I now have a video shot

script. I have the layout of my different shots

for the video, what we're going to be doing,

and I have a rig to do playthrough videos and

stuff like that. So I have a plan for like...

between 5 and 10 videos for this project. So

I'm giving myself a buffer space to really get

the project out there. But November is my target

month. I'm actually working with IsolatedTheDragon

.com to do a preview review of the Kickstarter.

So they're going to be getting a prototype copy

of Runecast to play and review. And Father Geek,

I'm talking to Father Geek to do the same thing.

Oh, very nice. Cool. And we'll make sure that

we'll throw out all the links and whatnot regarding

November as well. November 13th is my birthday.

So maybe I'll try to tell my wife for my birthday.

Maybe you should support in terms of the gaming.

That's awesome. It's a great birthday present.

And you know it would take you less than a year

to get it. Because that's the thing that I want

to kill about Kickstarter is I want to be able

to give people a good Because I'm tired of the

$80 card. I'm tired of $80 board games. I'm tired

of walking into my local gaming store and seeing

a game for $80. Yeah. That I know. I know now,

having been in the Kickstarter community, that

it's a times five. You're multiplying your production

cost by five on a Kickstarter. And that's I don't

want to do that. You know, I want to make a game

that's thirty five dollars that you can play

with up to six, you know, up to five of your

friends. I want to make games that are cheap.

I want to make games that are fun. And I want

to make them so that you guys can get them in

less than a year with Kickstarter. It's I mean,

it's an impressive story so far. I got to say

first game that you did definitely. It deserves

your time. So people that are listening, I will

throw all the links in the show notes and whatnot.

But you can still get Caught Fight on Amazon,

is that correct? Yeah, you can get it on Amazon.

It's up there with Prime Shipping for $14 .99.

I actually just published the errata rules on

the CharmCityGames .com website. Nice, nice.

Yeah, and I'll make sure to put that. So you

can check it out because it's worth 15 bucks

support it. And it's by far you have a lot of

fun. It's a it's a fun game to play. I mean,

I will not call myself a board game aficionado

by any means. I'm trying to get into it more

like recently I played. I've been going into

some gaming nights and we played a little bit

of Seven Wonders and Smash Up and kind of going

going beyond the normal, you know, monopoly and

scrabble and stuff slowly but surely, you know,

bring my wife along too. But it's been it's been

an adventure. Check out red dragon in it's a

great game. I will definitely do that and it

lends itself to drinking really easily I'm all

for that. Yeah, it is the time of year, you know

october for whatever reason October's a perfect

time for drinking. And really, oh, all the time.

Let's be honest. I'm drinking right now. I don't

know what you're talking about. Yeah, I meant

to, but I forgot my beer in the fridge. I have

a Brooklyn brown ale going. But Matt, was there

anything else you wanted? I didn't want to. I

know your time is limited because you said you

had a cranky toddler, so I didn't want to take

too much time out of your hands. Yeah, yeah.

None of us knows what that's like, Matt. We just

have a cranky Greg, which is hard enough to deal

with. You know, I mean, you think it's all going

to be over when you're done the infant stage,

and then the toddler stage comes along and it's

like, holy crap, I am more exhausted and I am

emotionally shattered. Well, now they can talk

back and say no, right? Listen, they're little

domestic acts of terrorism. They are. And mine's

a boy, and boys are hardwired for weapons. So

luckily, I've learned to defend myself with a

Thor's hammer pretty good against plastic swords

and stuff. But yeah, no, I really don't have

anything else to talk about. I mean, I would

definitely love to come back later, talk about

Runecast or general geeky stuff. I know that

I'm totally going to check my DVR and find out

if the flash recorded, because I really want

to see that. Yeah, I second that. Yeah, yeah.

Speaking of which, anyone sticking with Gotham

at all? I don't know if anyone's given up on

that. Oh, man. I think it was Penny Arcade that

had a great comic that wrapped up Gotham in that

they're beating you over the head with who people

are. And it's a shame because the cast is great,

right? The cinematography is wonderful. Gotham

looks dark. It looks gritty. They could have

an awesome film noir show on their hands and

they're just shitting all over it. All they need

is the guy who planes Penguin and they'd be good.

Yeah, and I don't know if jay to pick and spenth

just watches batman 66 on a loop, but she just

needs to stop She's not eartha kit. I mean if

she wants to play that role play that role, but

it just she seems so Play that role somewhere

else exactly exactly. Yeah, but we definitely

have that lovely happy back on talking about

cast or anything else you're up to I uh, I just

don't want to take too much out of your time

because I know you know kids kids are needy they

have to be fed and Burps and all that stuff.

So you can't and you cannot leave them like you

can't they frown on it when you leave them in

your car You they do and I mean they like society

almost as much as leaving a dog in a car not

as much but no not as much which is odd but like

You know, I jokingly I remember I jokingly said

I'll just run to Wawa He's asleep to my wife

when he was like six months old and that That

was a mistake, my friends. Don't do that one

down. Do not say that. Not a good joke. I feel

like that's something you would do, though, Dan.

I probably would be like, oh, it's like you forgot

something today. Oh, the kid. Yeah, about that.

Figured he's old enough now. Six months. He's

been here. He's got it. He can handle it himself.

Time to kick him out of the nest, you know. Yeah,

I really appreciate you guys having me on and

then it was great to meet you a comic con Dan

and then it's been a blast Yeah, so what where

can people find all your stuff? Um, so they can

find cockfight on Amazon. We have a Facebook

game a Facebook page It's just a Facebook slash

charm City games, you know You should start a

Facebook game. I actually have a couple of people

that have told me that I should make cockfight

into an app And I am not a smart man. So that's

why you find somebody to do it for you. Like,

yeah, design and the artwork and stuff. Yeah.

Yeah. Just got to be careful when people Google

it to search for you. What comes up? Yeah, that's

just that's all SEO. I'm sure somebody out there

will be willing to handle that stuff. But, you

know, you can check out our website at charm

dash city dash games dot com. I tweet out stuff

at at CC Games LLC. So I try to be out there

as much as I possibly can. Appreciate it. Yeah.

So I just appreciate you guys really having me

on. It's awesome. Yeah, no problem. And make

sure to check out our stuff. Buy his game. Support

his Kickstarter. Like I said, do it. Because

if you're a geek, you should support other geeks.

That's what I think. Yeah. Anyways, thank you.

And I guess we'll see you. We'll probably talk

to you sometime soon. Awesome, guys. Thanks a

lot. I'll talk to you later. See you. Every week

on the InSessionFilm Podcast, you can expect

to hear reviews on all of the latest movies,

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We'll also do top three segments relating back

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It's What's On Joe Mind, every week on the Geekcast

Radio Network. Inside Pulse .com, Stitcher Smart

Radio, and iTunes. Download and listen today.

I suppose I still can't say something about Transformers,

can I? Good grief. What about sports? Yeah, that's

alright. Well, I hope you enjoyed a very first

interview with Matt Voss from Charm City gaming

Like I mentioned all of his stuff will be available

on our show page at geek cast radio .com Do yourself

a favor check it out. It's a lot of good stuff

Like I said, I played cock fight myself and it

was a lot of fun good game to kind of play with

a bunch of friends quick and easy like she likes

it, but uh Well, anyways, there are also tons

of different ways to get in contact with us you

can contact us at feedback at geek cast radio

.com or At talking in circles at live .com that

will come directly to us in addition. We're on

twitter and facebook That's search talking in

circles. Greg. You are also on twitter. Is that

correct? Nope, i'm no longer on twitter at the

create forge Because i'm lying I'm actually on

Twitter at the Create Forge. I was like, oh,

wow. I did not know you ended up leaving Twitter.

Yes, if you want to see me retweet Funko to win

different vinyl figures all the time, I am at

the Create Forge. I use your account to find

out what other Funko things are out there, so

I appreciate it. It's like, oh, that's pretty

cool. Maybe I'll get that one. So you're that

middle man that everybody talks about. Yes. And

Chuck, you are still not on Twitter. So if you

want to follow Chuck on Twitter, just follow

at talking in circles because that's that's our

Twitter. So it's in spirit. It's Chuck is in

there to at least his photo is. But wait, what?

Yes, we have a naked photo of you. It was leaks

from your iPhone. Chuck. Yeah, like I have an

iPhone, come on. There's a big crack in that

story, Chuck having an iPhone. I have like a

satellite phone. There's a lot of crack in that

photo. It's actually a picture of Chuck from

behind. On Jennifer Lawrence's body. I have the

blue Mystique paint on. But yes, and probably

the best way to get in contact with us is by

commenting on the episode posts at geekcastradio

.com and at nerdly .co .uk where we get our most

reaction interaction from fans and whatnot. But

anyways, that'll be it for this week. We'll be

back next week. Same time, same channel, same

podcast feed. But for now, this has been Chuck.

This has been Greg or Matt Doss from Charm City

Gaming. Go check it out. And this has been Dan,

and we've been talking in circles. We'll see

you next week. Maybe we'll see you next week.

Dan's having an aneurysm right now. I really

am, man. It is not going well. I don't know what

it is. it's just one of those days you know it's

one of i think i think i need it i do need a

couple of those beers we were talking about because

holy crap my head oh yeah my head has just been

i'm feeling good what's sad is that like i have

a six pack that i got like last you know last

week and a half and i still have like three beers

that's how much i drink my wife literally said

to me the other day because i only have one left

it's like wow i'm proud of you you only have

one beer left i'm like Am I that pathetic that

my wife has to get proud of me that I don't drink

that much? I think I dropped two on the floor.

Don't tell her that, she might hear you. and

this is dan and we've been talking in circles

wait i messed it up this is what the 40th episode

and i screwed it up um and this has been well

and this wow what am i doing it's been chocolate

with dan and okay and this has been dan and we've

been talking in circles we'll see you next week

Maybe we'll see you next time again. Dan's having

an in.