I’ve been rather slack in keeping this blog up to date. Admittedly, in my attempts to noodle with various formats of content creation, I’ve spread myself rather thin, like Bilbo Baggins over too much bread. After catching up on my last big wave of content, I’ve decided to step back and re-assess what to focus on. What that mostly means right now, is no video content. While I enjoy the process of video production and editing, I found myself hitting several hurdles:

• I’m a solo content creator also managing a young family. The rate at which I was able to produce anything without burning myself out was counterintuitive to what the algorithm wanted from me so growth felt punishing.
• Video recording/editing is a big time commitment on top of the time spent planning and cooking my feasts plus giving games enough plays to give them a fair review.
• Trying to manage everything in the kitchen is tough enough without adding a camera to the mix, especially with a toddler underfoot.

For those who missed them, I did recently release two videos that I’m very proud of, for a couple of incredibly exciting Kickstarter projects:

That said, going forward I want to focus more of my creative energy into the cooking and photography elements of my content. I’m trying to resist my tendency towards being a Jack-of-all-trades – I’ve certainly lost enough board games to that strategy. This certainly feels like the most sustainable path forward for me right now in trying to set myself up for the long term without burning myself out. I may still consider the occasional video for special occasions or sponsored content. I’d also love to collaborate more with other content creators in the community.

Taking the Oath

So with a fresh vision of what I want to achieve with my content I recently announced my next big project. I’ll be taking a deep dive into Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile (designed by Cole Wehrle and published by Leder Games). This is absolutely a slow burn of a game – I’m a couple of sessions in, have only just started to wrap my head around the rules and barely scratched the surface of strategy depth and variety of cards. But it’s an incredibly compelling world and experience to marinade in, so I’m looking forward to spending some time with this one. I have a group lined up for semi-regular games, and am planning to spread content over several months, with 1 dish for each of the 6 factions featured in the game

The first dish is already live on my other social media channels and I’ll be preparing a recipe to post here soon!

The Wizards Council were contracted to magic up a most peculiar pie. By all appearances it was fit for the Chancellor's feast but there was more to this pastry than meets the eye.
The first dish of my ongoing feature for Oath, but what type of pie could it be… pic.twitter.com/HRS2VjfCZl

— Daniel Wynter – Board Game Feast 🥧 (@Boardgamefeast) November 22, 2021

Omnigaming: A balanced gaming diet

Those who don’t follow me closely may have missed the recent announcement that I now have a podcast. I’ve teamed up with the talented Mark Yuasa (of Test Coast Games Podcast fame), for a new offering called The Omnigamers’ Club. It’s a book-club style podcast, focusing on deep dives into a single game each episode but including video games and board games alike. Personally, it’s been a great opportunity to flex my review muscles, but also allows me to let my feast content stand by itself, rather than force traditional reviews on to that.

We’re nearly 10 episodes in already and still experimenting with the format but having a great time embracing our love of games both analog and digital. We have our first guest appearance coming up next episode and also looking at live stream companions of game play. You can join the club at your podcatcher of choice, find us on Twitter or our website where you can submit questions/feedback.

Final Bites

I’m very much looking forward to what the new year brings. Entering the content creation sphere can be simultaneously frustrating and rewarding, doubly so in the middle of a pandemic. A big part of why I started this endeavor in the first place was to avoid the social isolation of being a new parent, with a structured excuse to bring some friends together and share a meal over a game. Having that element dry up soon after was heartbreaking but in turn pushed me online where I’ve met so many wonderful people as part of the international board game community. That of course comes with it’s own form of isolation, especially being unable to attend any of the big conventions that have now resumed, along with my usual brand of social anxiety.

But at the very least, early 2021 looks to bring a couple of smaller local conventions, where I’m hoping to reconnect with the social elements of the hobby, meet some new friends in person, and share a meal <3

Board Appétit,
Daniel