New board game publisher Wharf Rat Games launches, aims to speed up publication process for designers
A new board game publisher hoping to cut down the time it takes for a designer’s game to go from contract signing to publication has been launched.
Wharf Rat Games has been created by Charles S Roberts Award winner Ryan Heilman, whose designs have been published by Hollandspiel and Blue Panther, and designer and developer Wes Crawford, his co-creator on forthcoming assassin-hunting game The Pursuit of John Wilkes Booth.
Heilman told BoardGameWire the company hopes to stand out by initially only focusing on one game at a time, in the hope of accelerating how quickly it can get a designer’s game to market.
He said, “Many designers that I have spoken to feel that it takes too long to work their way through the publishing process as there are tons of projects in the pipeline.
“We are only going to sign one game and plan to focus on the development and publication of that game over the course of the next year.
“As designers, we want to reward and treat our designers as well as possible and involve them in the process from design to fulfillment as much as possible. Communication is the key to a great relationship!”
Wharf Rat – the name a reference to the maritime working class history of the company’s home city of Baltimore – says it plans to produce games with “engaging themes and exceptional components”, and will prioritise working with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
Heilman said, “I think that Alex Knight’s Land and Freedom is a good example of the type of medium difficulty game I am hoping to sign. It is quick playing, fairly easy to pick up, but has a lot of meat on the bones.
“Our The Pursuit of John Wilkes Booth [published by Blue Panther] game would be another example. Gameplay is not very difficult, but the number of interactions of the cards is staggering and each turn presents a novel situation to face and maximize capabilities with limited resources.”
He added that his own co-designs Brave Little Belgium and White Eagle Defiant – both published by Hollandspiel – were also good models for the games Wharf Rat is hoping to publish.
Heilman said, “They are simple to learn yet more difficult to master. They are quick playing and lots of fun.
“While Brave Little Belgium and White Eagle Defiant are historical games, we are also open to sci-fi and fantasy games.
“We are looking for interesting games that have unique themes or interesting twists on tried and true ones. We want the gameplay to thoroughly mesh with the theme and not feel superimposed.”
Heilman told BoardGameWire he had been contemplating creating a publishing company for the last few years, while designing games such as the Charles S Roberts Award-winning Lucky Little Luxembourg, a quick chit-pulling solo game which attempts to simulate the beginning of World War I in Luxembourg on a 6″ x 4″ postcard.
He said, “While I greatly enjoy working with other companies, I really wanted to take full control over the entire process of creating a game.
“Wes and I started working together when I did prototype artwork for him for the Raid on St Albans and Engine Thieves. We hit it off and then we decided to co-design a game about the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth.
“As part of this collaboration, we realized that we had very similar ideas of the kind of games that we wanted to create and that we both had a desire to start a company. I thus asked him to partner with me on this endeavor.
He added, “Starting your own company is always a scary venture. We are investing our hard- earned savings in something that is quite unknown at this point. The chance of failure on any new venture is quite high.
“Wes and I are overcoming this by creating a very clear mission for the company with very limited initial goals. We have other sources of income so for now this is just our part time business.
“That helps a lot as well as we are not relying on the company to put food on the table.”
He said a successful 2025 for Wharf Rat would include the company finding “a great game that we love and that we are excited to publish”, as well as attending a string of conventions to demo the game ahead of a crowdfunding campaign.
Wharf Rat is actively seeking game submissions that meet the following criteria:
- Entertaining and engaging
- Interesting and novel topics
- Medium difficulty level
- Historical, science fiction, or fantasy themes
- Solitaire or multiplayer options (with solitaire required for multiplayer games)
- Polished and playtested games
- Must include a rulebook
What We Provide: - Quick turnaround from contract signing to publication
Anyone interested in pitching to the team can submit a proposal to info@wharfratgames.com
