7 Wonders creator, Repos Productions co-founder launch new publishing company PlayPunk

Antoine Bauza, the veteran designer of games including 7 Wonders and Takenoko, has launched board game publishing company PlayPunk alongside Repos Productions co-founder Thomas Provoost.

Bauza and Provoost officially announced the company this morning, almost a year after it began quietly hunting for prototype designs to craft into finished games.

PlayPunk said its first game will be Captain Flip from Ethnos and Libertalia designer Paolo Mori and co-designer Remo Conzadori, who previously worked on Amul and Rise.

The game is described as “a devilishly clever family game for 2 to 5 players”, and is expected to hit retail in the first quarter of next year.

No further details about the game have been revealed yet by PlayPunk, although images from Festival Alchimie du Jeu in Toulouse last month show Provoost demoing a prototype version of a pirate-themed game called Keep or Flip as per the image below.

PlayPunk also announced it is working on an “expert game” for either two or four player designed by Gregory Grard and Mathieu Roussel, which is earmarked for a release at next year’s Essen Spiel in October.

Grard designed newly released tile-placement game In The Footsteps of Darwin, and previously worked on set collection card game Kameloot with Roussel in 2021.

The company’s Twitter feed shows it has been in discussions with Asmodee about distribution of its games.

Bauza made a name for himself with Ghost Stories in 2008, before going on to design the widely lauded 7 Wonders in 2011 and Spiel des Jahres winner Hanabi in 2013. His other games include 7 Wonders Duel, Draftosaurus, Conan and Terror in Meeple City.

A statement from PlayPunk announcing the company’s official launch said, “On the strength of their long collaboration, [Bauza and Provoost] decided to set up a new publishing company together, based on their solid experience and shared vision of the publishing profession.

“For them, authors are the key creative players, and will be supported – and challenged! – so that each game reaches its full potential.

“PlayPunk’s games will be polished down to the smallest detail: game design, narrative, ergonomics, graphics, production, writing…

“To achieve this goal, PlayPunk will take the time to mature its games and will have a limited catalog.”