Ex-Elf Creek Games designer tries to save one of the floundering company’s Kickstarter projects, as publisher’s months-long silence continues

The former head of game development at struggling Kickstarter board game specialist Elf Creek Games is working to save one of its unfulfilled crowdfunding projects through his new publishing house.

Paul Salomon, the designer of Elf Creek’s Honey Buzz and recent Stonemaier Games title Stamp Swap, left Elf Creek at the end of September while owed “an enormous and life changing amount of money” – the latest in a string of employee exits at the business, whose sole staff member is now founder Brent Dickman.

Elf Creek raised $1.6m through eight Kickstarter campaigns following its launch in 2017, scoring big successes for games including Merchants of the Dark Road and Honey Buzz.

But the publisher has been in turmoil since being hit with a $226,000 freight bill for shipping Merchants of the Dark Road in 2022 – more than four-times its initial $50,000 estimate – after global freight costs soared in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rather than hold back fulfillment until prices fell, Elf Creek ploughed on in delivering the game at the vastly inflated cost, relying on the entirety of the game’s profits, credit, and forecasts for future sales – a decision from which company founder Brent Dickman admitted last summer the business had “never fully recovered”.

Elf Creek revealed last year it was also facing a shipping shortfall of almost $80,000 for its Atlantis Rising: Monstrosities Kickstarter, which raised $242,000 from over 5,000 backers in 2020.

It said manufacturing costs had also risen by about 28%, and estimated that unexpected storage fees from the delayed project added another $3,000 to $5,000.

The company asked backers for donations of $5 to $20 to help offset the extra shipping costs last summer, and within a month had raised more than $5,500.

French and German editions of that game have still not arrived with backers four years later, and Elf Creek has been radio silent on the status of any of its four outstanding Kickstarter campaigns since August 30 this year.

They include Santa’s Workshop, which Salomon is now fighting to get into the hands of backers through his new role as creative director for GameHead, which rebranded from GamerMats last month as part of a plan to expand the game mat supplier into publishing board games.

Salomon told BoardGameWire he was attempting to acquire all rights to Santa’s Workshop, enabling GameHead to fulfill pledges to backers, sell remaining stock to retailers and distributors, print more copies and develop the product line.

He added that he had also reclaimed the license to Honey Buzz due to unpaid royalties, and is hoping to acquire the rights to existing art and print files so he can control the future of the game.

Salomon said, “I left Elf Creek Games at the end of September and began work at GameHead on October 1st, 2024.  A few months prior, the severity of the company’s debt was revealed to me, and I worked to negotiate and restructure some of the debt and keep the company in business.

“I have not spoken with Brent much at all in the last two months, but I know that he has enlisted a lawyer to help negotiate sales of assets to allow the fulfillment of existing campaigns.”

He added that GameHead is planning to release six small box games all at once next year, split across the party, casual gamer and strategic games segments.

Salomon has also been liaising with UK distributor Spiral Galaxy Games in order to get undelivered copies of Honey Buzz: Fall Flavors into the hands of backers.

Elf Creek currently has almost $340,000 of entirely unfulfilled Kickstarter projects, including Secret Villages & Santa’s Workshop (+Related Story Puzzles!) and Paradox Initiative.

Hickman said in July last year he had been in talks with other companies about investing in the business, or in taking on Elf Creek as a captive studio.

But he added at the time, “Those sorts of things take months, at best, and oftentimes fizzle out before they’re realized.

“…I will be applying for a loan. But there’s no guarantee. And I have gotten the names of a couple of possible investors, but those will essentially be cold calls with people who I learned about word of mouth through the industry. They are not solid leads.”

The future of the company and its undelivered projects remains uncertain. When BoardGameWire reached out to Dickman we received an automated message saying he was out of the office due to ill health, and asking for patience as he navigated “serious health issues”.

Dickman eventually responded to a follow-up email to say, “Unfortunately, I am not able to answer your questions right now.

“I will officially comment that I am actively looking for a home and way forward for all of our games, including our unpublished Kickstarter projects, and will make official statements when I am able.”

Fears erupted at the end of last month that Elf Creek had been liquidated, after the company was flagged for “involuntary dissolution” by the state of Illinois for failing to file financial reports.

A similar situation had also taken place in previous years, and the company has since been reinstated after making the requisite filings.

Dickman told BoardGameWire, “I contacted the state and filed our required reports. It may have lapsed during a hospital stay, but as far as I know, there’s nothing newsworthy there.”