Elevated tariffs continue to threaten the board game industry despite a 90-day 'truce' between the US and China - with publishers now facing a spike in shipping prices and a battle for limited container space as businesses race to take advantage of the lower-tariff window.
War of the Ring publisher Ares Games has signed a pair of new US distribution deals, with director of production Roberto Di Meglio saying the company hopes to prove "there is still life for our industry during the trade war".
Umataka, a worker placement game centred around hunter-gatherers making traditional pottery in ancient Japan, has been named game of the year in the latest Golden Box Board Game Awards.
Arcs, the hybrid trick-taking wargame from Root and Oath designer Cole Wehrle, has won a trio of awards in this year's Golden Geek Awards, with fellow space-themed game SETI notching up a pair of wins.
As the board game industry has exploded in the last couple of decades, so too has the desire and demand from designers for ways to streamline and manage the often fragmented reality of prototyping, testing and preparing to publish their new creations. In this sponsored article, the team behind board game design toolkit Boardssey explain how they've leveraged their own experiences designing games - and the pain points they ran up against - to create a one-stop shop for supporting overwhelmed game designers.
North America’s biggest board games industry trade show, GAMA Expo, is moving to Baltimore after surging attendance numbers left the event straining at the seams again - just two years after the show shifted to Kentucky to handle growing interest.
Board game publishing major CMON slumped to a loss of more than $3m in 2024 - almost double its total profits from the previous three years combined - as falling sales for its crowdfunding campaigns led the company to its lowest annual revenue since pandemic-hit 2020.
Chaos continues to engulf the sale of one North America’s biggest tabletop gaming distributors, Alliance Game Distributors, after the winning bidder scrapped its deal and sued bankrupt AGD owner Diamond Comics for the second time in three weeks - this time claiming Diamond concealed from it that AGD had lost its biggest customer, Wizards of the Coast.
High IQ society Mensa has revealed this year's recipients of its Mensa Select seal, following its traditional four-day gaming marathon to determine the winners.
French book publishing giant Hachette has continued its expansion in the board game market by acquiring 35-year-old Dutch publisher and distributor 999 Games.
Board game crowdfunding giant CMON is laying off staff and halting new game development and campaign launches, citing the ongoing unpredictability in US tariffs.
Online board game retailer Boardlandia has become the latest tabletop-related victim of the skyrocketing US tariffs on Chinese imports, with its owners announcing they have closed down the business.
