Ukrainian board game studio born during Russian invasion breaks into US hobby distribution with ACD deal

Ukrainian board game studio Boardova has broken into US hobby distribution through ACD, four years after being launched by two volunteers who met while supporting refugees and Ukraine’s army in the wake of Russia’s invasion.

ACD has added the Lviv-based publisher’s debut title Aridnyk and upcoming George Orwell-inspired game 1984: Unperson to its extensive catalogue, a year after the first title’s $132,000 Kickstarter success.

The move into US distribution continues a unique success story for Boardova, whose co-founder Volodymyr Kuznietsov told Wargamer earlier this year he had been forced to flee his home city of Sievierodonetsk for the second time amid Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Kuznietsov relocated more than 1,000km away to Lviv in western Ukraine, leaving behind possessions including his entire board game collection – which he described to Wargamer as being “occupied by Russia”.

He added that while volunteering to support refugees and the Ukrainian army he decided to change the status of those games on BoardGameGeek to “pre-owned” – a joke spotted by fellow volunteer and board game enthusiast Zholud “Acorn” Dobrovolskyy, sparking a conversation which led to the pair founding Boardova the same year.

The company’s first game, Aridnyk, draws on the mythology and traditions of the Hutsul people of the Carpathian Mountains. Boardova released the game in Ukraine in January 2024, before raising more than $132,000 from almost 1,600 backers – almost half from the US – via a Kickstarter campaign the following year.

1984: Unperson, meanwhile, is a semi-cooperative card game designed by Kuznietsov and Yaroslav Kifor inspired by George Orwell’s dystopian novel. The game sees players trying to fulfill collective directives handed down by a totalitarian regime, while also trying to achieve their own secret ambitions.

Kuznietsov told Wargamer the subject had an unavoidable resonance for a Ukrainian studio, describing the dangers of blindly following government orders as a “painful and obvious topic while we are under attack from Russia”.

Boardova has also previously expanded into Germany, signing a localisation deal for Aridnyk with Koalla Spiele shortly after Spiel Essen last year.

ACD said it had separately added five titles from Los Angeles party game publisher McMiLLER to its catalogue, including Jolt, Dummeez and Fish Fight.