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A Gaming Life
Heavy Cardboard – For Those Gamers of the Heavier Persuasion
(Edit: 3/15/19) – Since this article posted, there have been a lot of changes with Heavy Cardboard. Amanda and Edward are divorced and have moved all the way across the country to separate areas. Edward’s in the Boston area and doing the show solo with guest hosts, but the live streams are still coming fast and furious and are still always interesting.
I really miss Amanda’s presence on the show, but Edward is still killing it, doing a great job covering everything. I can’t even imagine how much work is going on behind the scenes.
The podcast and guest hosts have been great, though I am slightly behind (I’m behind on all of my podcast listening, so this isn’t because of the quality). I still tune in to the live streams or watch some of them later, and it’s still a high-quality network.
I highly recommend checking the channel and podcast out if you’re into heavier games at all.
(See below for the original post)
Periodically I like to highlight a boardgame podcast or media channel that I greatly enjoy as a gamer.
I had not necessarily considered myself a gamer of the “heavy” variety (I’m not talking about physical weight, I’m talking game complexity). I have played some of the heavier games out there, but much of my gaming is of the lighter, Euro variety.
Then I found myself actually playing some. Games from Vital Lacerda like The Gallerist and Vinhos (or looking forward to playing Lisboa). Or the wonderful Terraforming Mars and Great Western Trail.
That’s all a prelude to say that I find myself fascinated by some of these games now, and I follow a number of “heavy” gamers on Twitter.
That was when Katie from Katies Game Corner tweeted a link to a video made by a group called Heavy Cardboard.
I don’t even remember what it was, but I do know that it was Gamer Love At First Sight.
Heavy Cardboard is a media channel (both podcast and Youtube) created by Edward Uhler and a buddy of his, and now the podcast is co-hosted by his wife Amanda.
Most of the content is on Youtube, at least at first. The podcast audio feed later gets most of the same content fairly quickly, with the exception of the game teaching and playthroughs.
As you can tell from the name, the channel concentrates mostly on the heavier side of the boardgaming hobby. You’re probably not going to see anything by them about No Thanks or Valley of the Kings. Instead, you’ll see stuff about Lisboa, Le Havre or Through the Ages.
Edward and Amanda make a wonderful team to listen to, and to watch if you’re checking out the video channel. They’re engaging, passionate about the hobby, and most importantly they’re interesting.
I listen to a number of boardgaming podcasts, and I do check out some of the Dice Tower videos. But with one exception, I’ve never actually sat through a live play session of a game. These videos, depending on the game, can be two hours or more.
That changed when I discovered Heavy Cardboard.
I’m thankful for lunch breaks where I can digest these videos in hour-long chunks when the mood strikes me.
The first one I watched was their playthrough and teaching of Time of Crisis, the game about the chaotic 3rd century in the Roman Empire where there were almost more emperors than there were years.
I had been eying the game for a while, but it was watching this playthrough that cemented my decision to buy the game.
The playthrough was 4 hours long. And I watched all of it (over a number of days).
I then did the same with their Lisboa playthrough. Four hours, and I didn’t care.
That’s saying something when the longest videos I generally watch are 20 minutes.
Edward and Amanda (and their friends who do the playthroughs with them) seem like really nice people, people I would love to game with.
Just have to make it to Denver!
One other thing to note about Amanda is that she is very open with how she has to deal with Borderline Personality Disorder. On her recent Q & A (which I agree with Edward that she should do more of!), she talked a bit about how she deals with it when she’s gaming and just through life in general.
I think it’s wonderful that she is so open about it and that she shows fellow gamers who may be hiding it (or any other mental illness) that they are not alone, and that they can succeed even while fighting through something like this.
All in all, I am so thankful that I found Heavy Cardboard. Sure, they don’t talk about all of the games I love, but I have other outlets for that. When I want to dive into something meaty, that’s when I check them out.
I’m now a dedicated podcast listener and suggest that you do the same if you are into heavy games at all. Even if you don’t watch videos or don’t have the time to delve into lengthy playthroughs, the channel is well worth the time.
Thank you, Edward and Amanda!
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