Planet Money – "We Make a Board Game" (October 1, 2025)

Overview

In this episode, the Planet Money team embarks on an ambitious—and playful—experiment: designing their own board game with hopes of creating a "Monopoly killer." The episode delves into the economics of tabletop games, interviews successful independent designers, explores the explosion of gaming thanks to platforms like Kickstarter, and reveals the show's plans to co-create a game with the makers of "Exploding Kittens." Throughout, the team reflect on business models, manufacturing challenges, and the mechanics of making a great game, all while inviting listeners along for the creative and commercial journey.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Board Game Boom: At Gen Con (00:27–07:14)

• Gen Con Experience: Kenny Malone and Erica Barris attend the country's largest tabletop gaming convention, marveling at the thousands of new games released annually.
• Indie Success Story: Interview with Leonie Grundler, founder of Lioness Games and creator of "Biome," showcases the indie hustle, from handmade prototypes to family involvement in marketing (e.g., parents demoing, wearing game-piece earrings).
• The Competition: Acknowledgement of the steep challenge—upwards of 5,000 games debut each year.

“If you love to play games, it has never been better. But the flip side… there has never been more competition.” — Erica Barris (04:16)

2. Economics "Embedded" in Board Games (05:26–07:14)

• Both "Monopoly" and "Settlers of Catan" are highlighted as economic simulators, serving as inspiration for the Planet Money game.
• Eureka: The show’s premise aligns naturally with board games—making economics accessible and fun.

“The CliffsNotes definition of economics is the allocation of scarce resources.” — Kenny Malone (06:20)

3. The Indie Board Game Path & Kickstarter Revolution (09:19–19:57)

• Leonie’s Journey: Originally inspired by “Settlers of Catan” and “Wingspan,” Leonie describes moving from game nights to rapid prototyping and seeking market feedback.
• Kickstarter as Game Changer: The rise of crowdfunding has allowed designers to bypass traditional publishers, maintain creative control, and reach eager backers directly.

“Tabletop Games is actually the largest category on Kickstarter… It’s so cool.” — Leonie Grundler (13:30)

• Biome’s Success: Raised $400,000, manufactured 12,000 copies (in multiple languages), and overcame major logistical hurdles—especially international tariffs and manufacturing constraints.

“If I had tried to sell a very sad cardboard only game of Biome, I would have to charge 100 to $120 to the consumer.” — Leonie Grundler (19:21)

4. Manufacturing & Tariff Rollercoaster (18:19–19:41)

• Leonie details the volatile costs of importing her game, with duties jumping from $255 for 5,500 games to over $6,300 for 1,700 games—a vivid illustration of how global trade policy impacts small creators.

“From about 5 cents per game, up to about $3.74 per game.” — Kenny Malone (19:03)

5. To Partner or Not to Partner (19:57–20:54)

• Discussion of the relative merits of going independent versus working with an established game publisher. Leonie validates both paths, emphasizing community-building.

“No, you’re not selling out. You’re just… bringing more people to the hobby.” — Leonie Grundler (20:33)

6. Learning from Exploding Kittens (23:15–33:08)

• Planet Money’s Past & Exploding Kittens’ Mega-Kickstarter: NPR’s past shirt campaign is dwarfed by Exploding Kittens’ $8.8 million success.
• Game Design 101: Alon Lee of Exploding Kittens helps the team clarify its goals: Who is the audience? What does “success” mean? Should the game be educational or just entertaining?

“The game itself should not be entertaining. The game should make the people you’re playing with entertaining.” — Alon Lee, Exploding Kittens (29:35)

• Party Games vs. Eurogames: Contrasting high-complexity, niche strategy games (Eurogames like Catan) with simple, mass-appeal party games.

“Party games are much simpler to learn, they take way less time to play, and as a result, they tend to have more of a mass appeal.” — Erica Barris (28:48)

• Core Mechanics: Alon critiques “Candyland” as lacking player agency, explaining the critical importance of game loops that are engaging and interactive.

“Candyland is… get to the end of this path… There is no faculty there, right? There’s no decision making, there’s no mastery, there’s no interaction, you might as well not be in the room.” — Alon Lee, Exploding Kittens (30:09)

• Innovation Mandate: Alon insists their joint game should offer a novel gameplay mechanic—not just a clever retheme of an existing game loop.

7. Next Steps: Game Development Homework (33:08–33:54)

• Both teams agree to do “homework”: Exploding Kittens will prototype new mechanics; Planet Money will brainstorm three big economic themes for the game to explore.

“The next phase will be really intriguing.” — Alex Goldmark (33:48)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• The Crowd at Gen Con:
  “I instantly regress into a giddy little child. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. It’s overwhelming.” — Kenny Malone (01:16)

• Kickstarter’s Impact:
  “Decades of game fans with decades of ideas didn’t need to go through Parker Brothers anymore.” — Kenny Malone (14:33)

• On Unrealistic Board Game Manufacturing in the US:
  “If I had tried to sell a very sad cardboard only game of Biome, I would have to charge 100 to $120 to the consumer.” — Leonie Grundler (19:21)

• The First Exploding Kittens Meeting:
  “Let’s agree we’re aiming for fun, something that will sell well and we don’t care how it does on board games.” — Alex Goldmark (32:49)

• Exploding Kittens’ Design Philosophy:
  “The game itself should not be entertaining. The game should make the people you’re playing with entertaining.” — Alon Lee (29:35)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment / Topic | |-------------|--------------------------------------------------------| | 00:27–03:00 | Gen Con convention, meeting Leonie/the Biome game | | 03:00–05:04 | "Monopoly Killer" dream, defining the market | | 06:07–07:14 | Economics as core to board games, launching the project| | 09:19–14:26 | Leonie’s design journey, prototyping, Kickstarting | | 14:26–16:31 | Kickstarter's impact and the flood of indie games | | 16:31–17:07 | Biome’s Kickstarter numbers and manufacturing | | 18:19–19:41 | Tariffs and manufacturing constraints | | 20:10–20:54 | Partnering in the industry, Leonie's advice | | 23:15–24:45 | Exploding Kittens’ record-breaking Kickstarter | | 25:03–26:37 | Defining success, audience, and the "educational" label| | 29:35–30:39 | What makes a game fun: core mechanic | | 32:49–33:27 | Agreeing on fun, broad reach, and innovation | | 34:10–34:25 | Teaser for next episode: spinning economic ideas |

Tone and Style

Playful, curious, and self-aware—with nerdy enthusiasm and a lively, accessible approach to economics and entrepreneurship. The hosts are candid about their lack of prior game-making experience, honest about the challenges, and eager to learn from the best while inviting listeners to contribute.

Summary & Takeaways

• The Planet Money team is taking a hands-on approach to understanding the board game industry's explosive growth—and underlying economics—by making a board game themselves.
• They learn from indie success Leonie Grundler ("Biome"), whose story illustrates the shift from corporate gatekeeping to crowdfunded independence.
• Tariffs, global manufacturing, and creative control are central, ever-changing challenges for new game makers.
• The team partners with Exploding Kittens, revealing fundamental debates: party game versus strategy Eurogame, educational versus simply “smart,” innovation versus retheming, and what it means to make a game with mass appeal.
• The next episode promises listeners a peek into game design: spinning complicated economics into playful, innovative game mechanics.

For those who missed the episode, this is a brisk, entertaining primer on how economic forces shape even the most fun corners of culture—and how launching a board game is at heart an economics experiment itself.