A former airline pilot who has spent the last decade building a board game distribution business and chain of retailers in the Middle East is hoping to create the region's equivalent of Gen Con with the launch of a Dubai-based convention this November.
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.
One of the UK's biggest board game retailers, Zatu Games, has moved to fend off a wave of online criticism claiming it exploits low-paid apprentices and runs a toxic 'hire-and-fire' culture in its growing warehouse operation.
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.
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.
Part 2 of our ongoing series exploring the trials and tribulations of launching a board game-focused YouTube channel in 2025. JC Wollslager is now seven months into his attempt to “flip the script” on How To Play videos with his channel How To Teach, which he believes fills an underexplored niche in the industry. But the chaotic US tariffs situation is affecting more than just publishers and manufacturers - and in this edition JC details the impact on his fledgling channel, his mental health, and what the future holds for the project.
As the board game industry has exploded in the last couple of decades, so too has the desire and demand from designers for ways to streamline and manage the often fragmented reality of prototyping, testing and preparing to publish their new creations. In this sponsored article, the team behind board game design toolkit Boardssey explain how they've leveraged their own experiences designing games - and the pain points they ran up against - to create a one-stop shop for supporting overwhelmed game designers.
Few board game artistic redesigns of recent years have drawn as much polarising opinion as CMYK's recently announced reworking of Quacks of Quedlinburg, with online forums torn over the switch to the 3D clay-style imagery of Ryogo Toyoda. CMYK chief executive Alex Hague - the creative director for the redesign - spoke to BoardGameWire about the motivations behind changing up the look of the million-selling game, and CMYK's vision for breaking board games out of their 'visual and demographic monoculture'.
Modern board gaming's boom over the past 20 years has been accompanied by an avalanche of creatives reviewing, discussing and celebrating the growing hobby. That media continues to be dominated by video reviews and previews - but five years ago long-time film magazine editor Dan Jolin and art director James Hunter took a chance that there was room in the industry for a beautiful, high-quality magazine "celebrating the craft, creativity and community" of tabletop gaming. That hunch has proven well judged, with the magazine's readership having grown five-fold compared to its original Kickstarter campaign thanks to its beautiful presentation, thoughtful reviews and articles, and interviews with the biggest names in board gaming. Editor Dan Jolin spoke to BoardGameWire about the magazine's journey so far, how the industry has changed and what the future holds for Senet.
Another record attendance at North America's biggest board games industry trade show, GAMA Expo, has left the event pressed for space once again - just a year after the show was transported to Louisville in an attempt to handle surging interest.
