Spirited Discussion: A Spirit Island Podcast

Sad news this week, as Greater Than Games (Spirit Island’s Publisher) is reducing staff and heading towards shuttering due to tariffs. Donald Trump’s Tariffs have made things very difficult for everyone, including those in the board game industry. It would not be right to ignore this, so join Kalen and Alex in a shorter episode as they talk about what this means for Spirit Island.

Dice Monkey Article: https://www.dicemonkey.net/2025/04/17/greater-than-games-shutters-due-to-tariffs/

R. Eric Reuss: https://rericreuss.com/2025/04/17/sad-greater-than-games-news/

Greater Than Games Statement: https://www.greaterthangames.com/blogs/news/greater-than-games-team-reduced-in-response-to-tariff-crisis

Cephalofair piece: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/cephalofair/gloomhaven/updates/20854#top

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spiriteddiscussion.substack.com

BINGO! In this episode, Kalen and Alex dig into randomly selected Minor and Major powers (because oh my goodness there are a LOT of them). How powerful are these cards? What situations are they useful in? Which ones are cool from theme alone? Hope you enjoy the show!

Spirit Island Card Katalog link: https://sick.oberien.de/?query=

Our theme is Ambient Wonderful by Ovani Sound.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spiriteddiscussion.substack.com

It's Jagged Earth time! This one's a really big box expansion, so big that we can't even cover everything this time. Despite that, Kalen and Alex have a ton they want to say just in this episode! Listen in and hear what they think the highs and lows are in Spirit Island's second (and, to date, biggest) expansion.

Due to technical difficulties, we had to split this week’s episode into two pieces.

Our theme is Ambient Wonderful by Ovani Sound.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spiriteddiscussion.substack.com

It's Jagged Earth time! This one's a really big box expansion, so big that we can't even cover everything this time. Despite that, Kalen and Alex have a ton they want to say just in this episode! Listen in and hear what they think the highs and lows are in Spirit Island's second (and, to date, biggest) expansion.

Due to technical difficulties, we had to split this week’s episode into two pieces.

Our theme is Ambient Wonderful by Ovani Sound.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spiriteddiscussion.substack.com

The Blight episode! Kalen and Alex talk about when to allow Blight on the island, power cards that add Blight, and what you could be doing instead of preventing Blight. Plus even more talk about Call to Trade, BoDaN breaking the game, and England!

Our theme is Ambient Wonderful by Ovani Sound.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spiriteddiscussion.substack.com

It's the eye of the tiger! In this episode, Kalen and Alex are joined by special guest AryaFireheart to discuss the OG beast spirit, Sharp Fangs Behind the Leaves. Will they get Too Near the Jungle? Will Fangs Prey on the Podcasters? Prowl along and find out!

Fangs' Wiki Page

Spirit Island - Second Wave Discord Server

Our theme is Ambient Wonderful by Ovani Sound.

Sound Effect by Sherimfal from Pixabay

"Oh, Christmas Tree" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com); Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spiriteddiscussion.substack.com

BINGO! In this episode, Kalen and Alex dig into randomly selected Minor and Major powers (because oh my goodness there are a LOT of them). How powerful are these cards? What situations are they useful in? Which ones are cool from theme alone? Hope you enjoy the show!

Spirit Island Card Katalog link: https://sick.oberien.de/?query=

Our theme is Ambient Wonderful by Ovani Sound.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spiriteddiscussion.substack.com

Kalen and Alex branch out into new content with their second box review, Branch and Claw! What shines in Spirit Island’s first expansion, and what doesn’t quite measure up?

Branch and Claw on the Spirit Island Wiki

Our theme is Ambient Wonderful by Ovani Sound.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spiriteddiscussion.substack.com

Hypothetical scenario: What if Kalen pitched his five favorite scenarios to Alex? Let's make it real! Also this episode takes an interesting turn in the second half. Apologies for the slight audio issues.

Kalen's Scenario Suggestions: Scenario 1: Blitz Adversary Pairing: BP 3 Official Difficulty: 6 Spirit Count: 1 Suggested Spirits: Green, Thunderspeaker, Eyes

Scenario 2: Elemental Invocation Adversary Pairing: HLC 2 or 3 Official Difficulty: 6-7 Spirit Count: 1 Suggested Spirits: River, Whirlwind, Teeth

Scenario 3: Dahan Insurrection Adversary Pairing: Sweden 3 or 4 Official Difficulty: 9-10 Spirit Count: 2 Suggested Spirits: Wildfire, BoDaN, Shadows, Lightning, Thunderspeaker

Scenario 4: Ward the Shores Adversary Pairing: France 2 Official Difficulty: 7 (probably harder in reality) Spirit Count: 2 Suggested Spirits: Fangs, Many Minds, Shadows (Reach), Mud, Lightning (Wind)

Scenario 5: Guard the Isle's Heart Adversary Pairing: England 6 Official Difficulty: 10 (or 11) Spirit Count: 1 Suggested Spirits: Earth, River, Fangs

Our theme is Ambient Wonderful by Ovani Sound.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spiriteddiscussion.substack.com

Why only destroy invaders when you could drown them? Kalen and Alex dive into Ocean's Hungry Grasp, and Ocean trades them in for energy. Somehow, both of them survive, and they spend this episode looking at Ocean from thematic, mechanical, and strategic lenses.

Ocean's Wiki Page

Our theme is Ambient Wonderful by Ovani Sound.

Wave Sound Effect by solarmusic from Pixabay

"Oh, Christmas Tree" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com); Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spiriteddiscussion.substack.com

BINGO! In this episode, Kalen and Alex dig into randomly selected Minor and Major powers (because oh my goodness there are a LOT of them). How powerful are these cards? What situations are they useful in? Which ones are cool from theme alone? Hope you enjoy the show!

Spirit Island Card Katalog link: https://sick.oberien.de/?query=

Our theme is Ambient Wonderful by Ovani Sound.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spiriteddiscussion.substack.com

Kalen and Alex talk about all things that come in the base game box of Spirit Island. Find out what they like and don't like about the earliest version of the game.

Base Game Wiki Article: https://spiritislandwiki.com/index.php?title=Base_Game

Kalen's 100 Win Stream: https://www.youtube.com/live/qOH8HaxecAA?si=wK5XvjzMCjy8sQmG

Our theme is Ambient Wonderful by Ovani Sound.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spiriteddiscussion.substack.com