Category Feature

Board game publishers Stonemaier, CMYK and Eurydice Games on how they’re utilising – and paying to include – fan designs in their releases

Homebrew designs and fan-made rules and variants have been part of hobby board gaming for as long as the pastime has existed - and some publishers have leaned into utilising design work from fans in their published games. BoardGameWire spoke to Jamey Stegmaier from Stonemaier Games, Alex Hague from CMYK Games, and Jackson Pope from Eurydice Games about how they've approached bringing in fan-made ideas for their titles.

“There’s more to historical board games than just hex-and-counter WWII”: Candice Harris on turning her video talents to making historical wargaming more accessible after her surprise BoardGameGeek exit

Candice Harris has been an ever-present, vivacious stalwart of the BoardGameGeek front page for more than five years, bringing her infectious enthusiasm and joy for gaming to visitors through her news posts, appearances on live play video series Game Night! and three years helming the BoardGameGeek podcast. But she's now turning her video and presenting talents to the publisher side by showcasing and marketing designs from GMT Games, best known for its complex historical, wargame and strategy titles. Harris spoke to BoardGameWire about her plans for expanding GMT's audience, the challenge of making complex game more accessible, and breaking assumptions around historical gaming and its designs.

“I’m a lot less apologetic about the types of games I design”: Descent, Arkham Horror design veteran Kevin Wilson on heading back to freelance after Incredible Dream downsizing

Kevin Wilson, the veteran tabletop designer whose abundant list of work includes Descent: Journeys in the Dark, Arkham Horror and Cosmic Encounter, spent most of the 2010s working a successful freelance career after a decade at Fantasy Flight Games. Wilson became director of game design at Incredible Dream upon the company’s 2021 launch, but a tariff-disrupted year for the Kinfire series publisher has seen the business downsize to just two permanent staff - putting Wilson back into the freelance pool. He spoke to BoardGameWire about how his time at Incredible Dream has helped him hone his design strengths, why visibility as a freelancer is key and which of his older unpublished designs might now get another bite at the cherry.

“Keep the foot on the gas, and don’t get complacent!”: Wyrmspan designer Connie Vogelmann on making the jump to full-time board game design

Few board game designers score the kind of rapid success that has come to Connie Vogelmann - with her debut design Apiary from 2023 flying high in the BoardGameGeek rankings, and follow-up creation Wyrmspan selling "far beyond the wildest dreams" of publisher Stonemaier Games' founder Jamey Stegmaier following its high-profile release last year. That double success - and the "destruction" Donald Trump's administration has had on her work as a grants law attorney - has seen Vogelmann decide to take the plunge into full-time board game design. She spoke to BoardGameWire about navigating freelance design, branching out beyond worker placement, and the challenges that face full-time designers in the current economic climate.

“We felt like we’d made a profit. But we hadn’t. Not really”: Chroma Arcana creator Mo Shawwa on the financial wrinkles behind even a target-smashing crowdfund, and what tariffs mean for his next project

Soaring past the crowdfunding goal for your debut game might seem like a dream scenario for a first-time designer, but the financial realities of even a successful campaign can be far more complex than at first meets the eye. Roc Nest Games founder Mo Shawwa explains the lessons he learned from the Kickstarter success of his first game, Chroma Arcana last year - and how US tariffs are throwing a further spanner into the financial calculations for creators looking to crowdfund new games.

“We’re like a Tiny Epic Asmodee”: Tycoon Games CEO Dan Yarrington on the company’s ongoing acquisition spree, future plans and criticism of his past business practices

The purchases of Blood Rage, Rising Sun, Ankh: Gods of Egypt, Arcadia Quest and Starcadia Quest were followed today by a buyout of the Gamelyn brand, including the Tiny Epic series and the Heroes of Land, Air, and Sea game lines - and more deals are likely on the way, CEO and founder Dan Yarrington told BoardGameWire.

BackerKit’s quest for investment and the future of crowdfunding – and how their lead investor worked for DOGE

About a month ago, users of the crowdfunding platform, BackerKit, received an email about an opportunity to invest in the company. Most didn’t know what to make of it. Some thought it was a scam and moved on. But as of today, even before the ‘equity crowdfunding’ campaign becomes available to the general public, the company has already raised more than $1m from their customers - both backers as well as creators.