A podcast streaming out of the small outback town of Cloncurry, in north west Queensland, has gone internationally viral, talking about all things board games.
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Local man Steven Chivers started The Board Game BBQ podcast on May 25, 2020 and has produced 31 episodes and turned over 6500 downloads.
Mr Chivers said he teamed up with eight other Australian gamers to produce the podcast twice a week.
"Living in Cloncurry I found it quite boring listening to myself talk the board game hobby for an hour, so I thought I would find people with a similar interest and produce some creative content," Mr Chivers said.
"I host the podcast and the other eight rotate each fortnight on the show and we have received an influx of listeners, more then half are from the Unites States which was a bit of a surprise.
"We've had some massive guests on the show during our time so far. Without knowing the hobby, we have had some of the biggest players in the hobby come on and talk about their games, companies and involvement in the hobby which has been a lot of fun."
Mr Chivers said having an international audience from a small town in Outback Queensland was "bizarre".
"It was certainly unexpected," he said.
"Because we are Australian, the response has been huge, it's not a voice you hear very often in the hobby because almost all content in the board game industry comes from the Northern Hemisphere, there is not much that comes from the Southern Hemisphere."
Mr Chivers said the podcast held regular segments during each episode.
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"The first is called Sizzling Games, which is basically talking about the games we have been playing recently and liking. We also have a general topic of the podcast, which could be anything from a particular type of game or getting new gamers into the hobby.
"We currently have a segment called the Board Game Bracket, which we put our favourite games in a random generator and get them up in a bracket so that each episode we battle-off two against each other and get our social media following to vote on that as well.
"And a big part of our hobby is Kick Starter which is a crowdfunding new games, and talking about what games we are interested in or backing to shed light on games that people may not have heard about before, especially Aussie ones."
Mr Chivers said the podcast solely discussed any topics associated with board games, but it was not what people imagine.
"The nine of us are all board game nerds realistically," he said.
"When you mention board games there are a number of board games people will automatically assume you're talking about, including Pictionary, Cluedo, Monopoly, those types of games.
"But most of the games we discuss and play are games so far removed from that mass market and all about creating these humongous experiences. For example there is a game which is currently considered the number one game in the world which is called Gloomhaven. I play it here with a group every weekend and we have played it for over 70 hours. The story just continuously builds and grows, no two sessions are the same and the story is continuously building through that time.
"But while there are still some elements of those older games in modern board gaming, there has been a huge shift of ideas around board games in the last 10-15 years."
"I use to play a lot of video games and it's you with one monitor against the world but with board games it is you sitting down at a table with a group of people, its an experience not just a game."
You can listen to the The Board Game BBQ podcast on any podcast app.