Episode 105: Lizzy, Ben, & Josey - Where Game Mechanics Meet Art - Top 3 Games for Bookworms - Fun weekend plans

9 Oct 2026 · 1 h 37 min · Episode 105

Episode Episode 105: Lizzy, Ben, & Josey - Where Game Mechanics Meet Art - Top 3 Games for Bookworms - Fun weekend plans

0:00 1:36:31

Meet the designers and artist behind Bookwrym from Sword and Rose Press. We talk about how mechanics influence the art and vice versa in their game. For the book lovers, there’s a few game recommendations. And then we end with our fun weekend plans.

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:29 Get to know my guests

00:00:41 Lizzy Ives

00:01:28 Ben Kepner

00:01:53 Josey Tsao

00:04:48 How did they meet?

00:09:24 How did they get into board games?

00:11:42 How did Josey become a board game artist?

00:13:38 What's their favorite Book?

00:19:34 Where Board Game Mechanics, Meet art.

00:20:05 When did Josey come into the process?

00:23:15 Bookwyrm from Sword and Rose Press

• Kickstarter Link • Instagram - @swordandrosepress

00:24:02 Kitty fur babies in the game.

00:26:02 Cats and Plants expansion

00:27:43 Importance of good art and graphic design

00:29:24 Artist input

00:36:40 Layers of Discovery

00:38:06 Who's cats are in the expansion?

00:40:55 Real life in a fantasy world

00:44:43 Artist input is important

00:46:37 How important is graphic design?

00:49:04 A good artist is worth their weight in ... books.

00:53:49 Top 3 games for Bookworms

00:54:27 ContraBanter

00:56:38 Décorum

00:58:55 Spots

01:00:06 Detective: City of Angels

01:01:15 A Place for All My Books

01:04:22 Leaf

01:05:22 Rocca Town

01:07:01 The Lord of the Rings: Trick Taking Games

• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Trick-Taking Game • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Trick-Taking Game

01:09:07 Roots: A Game of Inventing Words

01:10:38 Dune

01:12:03 Enchanted Ivy

01:14:03 My Shelfie

01:19:35 Moment of Positivity

01:29:04 Bookwrym on Kickstarter

01:31:24 Where can you find my guests?

01:31:36 Ben

• Ben Kepner’s Website • Social Media: @kepneraptor (Instagram)

01:31:59 Lizzy

• Social Media: @lizzytacular (Instagram, Tiktok) • Substack Newsletter: https://lizzyives.substack.com/

01:33:26 Josey

• Social Media: @joseytsao (Instagram) • Website: https://www.joseytsao.net | https://ginkgohouse.co/

01:35:10 Outro

(Please note that these time stamps might not be accurate due to the use of dynamic ads.)

Back Stormlight: War for Roshar on Kickstarter

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brotherwise/war-for-roshar

Web: https://boardgamegeek.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@boardgamegeek Twitter: https://twitter.com/BoardGameGeek Email: podcast@boardgamegeek.com

Links in the notes 13

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