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Deco-Stop 005: Tabletop Trenches
October 3rd, 2025
The full episode
The full episode
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Tabletop Trenches: Marine Biology and the Board Game Revolution
Tabletop Trenches: Marine Biology and the Board Game Revolution
The Deco-Stop: a deeper look into the humans behind deep sea science and technology.
The Deco-Stop: a deeper look into the humans behind deep sea science and technology.
"The human element in deep-sea stories" - Alan
This month Thom attended Wellycon with his roving reporter kit, made a day of it and had a great time visiting all the booths and interviewing two of our guests in person. His only lack was a PRESS hat while he interviewed and chatted his way across the convention floor.
Alan is back in Scotland, comfortably ensconced in his office, with a piping hot Fosters from the bucket in the garage while the liquid sunshine drips down the darkening windows. The perfect stage is set for an evening of boardgames, but not just any board games, Deep-Sea inspired board games...
Finspan with Michael O'Connell
Finspan with Michael O'Connell
In our fifth installment of the Deco Stop series we get our game on with the creative teams behind two incredible Deep-Sea inspired and supportive board games. First we hear from Michael O'Connell from Anarchy Game Studio, the co-designer of Finspan, the third installment in the 'span' game series, preceded by Wingspan, and Wyrmspan.
Michael gives us an insider look into the development of this game for 'fish people' which features ocean zonation, the creation of your own personal eco-system and the midnight zone- filled with all our "favorite guys"!
Packed with incredible science illustration each card is checked by a Marine Biologist for accuracy, and not only features an artist drawn fish, but also engaging fish facts, making the gameplay a multi-layered learning experience. One card even includes the Faceless Cusk eel, a fish that Thom has some history with since he named it via a casual Tweet comment! Considered the easiest to learn out of the 'Span' series from Stonemeier games, Finspan is a great way to introduce your friends to the wonders of the deep-sea while enjoying connection time and feasting your eyes on incredible science art.
While Alan isn't a boardgame fan... yet... he does plan to purchase several copies of each game for the boat, and maybe even create a deck sized gameboard with paint where his crew can play with real specimens, in real time, with real scientists.
“the whole point is to read the cards, play the games, and care more about the ocean and the creatures in it” -Michael O’Connel
See some of the Finspan game art created by Ana M Martinez
Endeavor Deep-Sea with Carl de Visser and Jarratt Gray
Endeavor Deep-Sea with Carl de Visser and Jarratt Gray
Our second featured Boardgame is Endeavor Deep-Sea from Burnt Island games, developed by New Zealand-based co-designers Carl de Visser and Jarratt Gray. In this deep-sea exploration game you play as a science team, mapping areas, conducting research, and restoring habitats in a game that perfectly imitates the most engaging parts of real life deep-sea research.
Endeavor Deep-Sea won the prestigious 2025 Kennerspiel des Jahres (Connoisseur/Expert Game of the Year) and is a great game for family play. Using real-life deep-sea research, articles, and habitats makes this game utterly authentic to the growth path of a deep-sea researcher, as validated by our favorite Thom who IS a deep-sea researcher. Join us to hear Carl and Jarret walk us through their creative process, and elaborate on the personal importance of creating hope within the gameplay, by providing the player with science based actions to fix real world problems.
Our in-depth interview really gets into the creation details, such as how the team used a real-life collaborative effort to find online deep-sea research that could become interesting themes, the process of turning this research into tiles and activities, and upcoming expansions that even include a race to the bottom of the Mariana's Trench. Take a peek behind the process of adding mutliple scenarios beginning with ocean exploration, oil spills and now trench diving in the expansions to create a rich replay experience making each game night a new and engaging deep-sea adventure.
As one of our infrequent in-person interviews, this one hums with personal connection, bringing another heartwarming Deco-Stop Episode all about the human aspect of the deep-sea community to you, our much appreciated listeners.
The Bounty Trough Expedition: an Unexepected Crossover
The Bounty Trough Expedition: an Unexepected Crossover
The creators of Endeavor Deep-Sea, Carl de Visser and Jarratt Gray with Dr. Thomas Linley during our in-person interview at Welly-Con
We would love to hear about your love for deep-sea pop-culture
We would love to hear about your love for deep-sea pop-culture
Is there a deep-sea inspired game you love? Have you played either of the boardgames and want to share your thoughts?
Tell us all about it in a short 90 second recording:
We want to say a huge thank you to those patrons who have already pledged to support us.
Thanks again for tuning in, we’ll deep-see you next time!
Podcast Merchandise: Show your LOVE for the DSP
Podcast Merchandise: Show your LOVE for the DSP
Follow us on social media
Follow us on social media
Keep up with the team on social media
Keep up with the team on social media
Twitter: Alan - @Hadalbloke | Thom - @ThomLinley
Instagram: Thom - @thom.linley
Bluesky: Thom - @deepseapod.com
FURTHUR RESOURCES
FURTHUR RESOURCES
Looking for our customary list of excellent reading resources? While we don't feature news articles on a Deco-Stop episodes but we will have extra for you next month!
Tagged: deep sea, deep ocean, marine science, marine biology, marine bio, podcast, sci comm
Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or your own comments on:
podcast@armatusoceanic.com
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