Leder Games names Liz Davidson as new creative director after Cole Wehrle exit

Root publisher Leder Games has named its solo game design specialist Liz Davidson as the company’s new creative director, a month after former incumbent Cole Wehrle left to launch new board game studio Buried Giant.

Davidson’s promotion comes almost two years after she was hired as solo games specialist by Leder, during which time she has worked on solo modes for games including Oath – a title which has now moved to Buried Giant alongside fellow Wehrle design Arcs.

Davidson’s non-Leder design work to date comprises Night Witches, a solitaire or two-player coop game about female Soviet bomber pilots flying harassment missions on the Eastern Front during the second world war, and Queen of Spies, a solitaire story-driven game of espionage missions set in occupied Belgium during World War I.

Both of those titles were designed alongside Undaunted co-creator David Thompson.

Davidson is also the host of award-winning podcast Beyond Solitaire, which has put out 225 episodes across 12 seasons exploring gaming history, historical games and their cultural significance with a string of guest interviewees.

Leder Games founder Patrick Leder told BoardGameWire, “When we hired Liz as our solo games specialist, I knew we were getting someone special: a designer, educator, and storyteller all in one. Beyond her work at the studio, Liz has designed Night Witches and Queen of Spies independently, and she’s spent years podcasting and immersing herself in the industry.

“Liz has a unique creative vision, with a talent for understanding what makes a game resonate with players. She shares my passion for cooperative games, which is an area I’ve wanted Leder Games to explore for a number of years. She’s earned the trust and respect of everyone on the team, as well as our audience.

“In her new role, she’ll be helping to shape the creative direction of Leder Games going forward, as well as lending her editorial eye to rulebooks and game boards. And without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that her work on solo games is far from over. I’m thrilled to have her leading on that front.”

Davidson added, “My job at Leder Games is the best I have ever had, and I am very excited to help the creative team keep doing what we do best – designing and developing great games.

“I’ll have more specifics soon, but for now, I can say that we are looking at some cool projects and that there is a lot to look forward to.”

Leder has also brought in Tyler Exsted as a game developer in the wake of losing multiple staff members to Buried Giant, including Root, Arcs and Oath designer Cole Wehrle, Leder’s long-time lead artist Kyle Ferrin and the company’s former director of operations Ted Caya, who left in December along with his design for the Leder’s now axed Kickstarter Take.

Other Leder staff who have moved across to Buried Giant include Josh Yearsley, who designed the most recent Root expansion Homeland, senior graphic designer Pati Hyun, event coordinator and community manager Matt Martens and graphic designer Megan Ganey.

The exodus left Leder with a design and development team comprising Patrick Leder – the co-creator of its debut release Vast: The Crystal Caverns and co-designer of multiple Root expansions – Davidson, and Nick Brachmann, who has worked on expansions for Root, Ahoy and Fort.

Patrick Leder said of Exsted’s hire, “I’m really excited to welcome Tyler to the team. Finding developers who share our love of meaningful, story-driven experiences is always a joy, and Tyler definitely understands the Leder Games vision.

“He’s done great work previously with Studio Midhall, and he’s been a regular at our testing nights in the studio. With over 400 games of Root under his belt, he’s right up there with some of our core creative staff in terms of deep knowledge of our games.

“Since coming onboard, Tyler’s already been a huge help working alongside the creative team on a wide array of prototypes for our line-up of future games.

“He’s also getting up to speed on our Discord community and will be stepping in to handle Root questions there. I can’t wait to see what he brings to the table.”

Leder has yet to comment on how the significant changes at the company will affect its 2026 release slate, which was due to kick off with a crowdfunding campaign for Take before the project’s surprise cancellation amid Caya’s exit.

The publisher agreed to sell well-known designs Arcs and Oath to Buried Giant as part of the shake-up, while keeping hold of its huge-selling star title Root, a game which despite its complexity has broken out of the hobby game bubble and onto the shelves of major retailers such as Walmart and Target.

The company’s last crowdfunding campaign in late 2024 saw it raise almost $2.5m from more than 27,500 backers for Root: The Homeland Expansion.

Releases from the company last year included Ahoy expansions Fang & Fortune and the Treasure Pack.