“It’s probably the longest road of any game design I’ve had in play”: COIN series designer Volko Ruhnke talks new game Hunt for Blackbeard, solving the hidden information conundrum, and why he’s moving on from the series he created

Crafting a game system so compelling that other designers want to create their own games using it is a rare beast in board gaming. Veteran wargame designer Volko Ruhnke has managed it twice - first with the COIN series, which saw its asymmetric counterinsurgency design influence games including Root, and his Levy and Campaign series, which currently runs to nine volumes of designs by various creators. The former CIA intelligence analyst spoke to BoardGameWire about his continuing drive towards accessibility with new design Hunt for Blackbeard, which is on Kickstarter now, how he's solving the hidden movement mechanics conundrum, and which games have been influencing his own design processes in recent years.

“You can run a $1.5m campaign and end up with a net loss of $1m”: Why math, math, math has been key to Dux Somnium’s blossoming board game Kickstarters

Raising $1m in crowdfunding for a board game is no mean feat, even for veteran publishers with multiple campaigns under their belts. But high school sweethearts Dusty and Amy Droz managed just that last year on their first try, after more than 15,000 backers pledged funding to create Victorian-themed flower hunting game Botany. Amid juggling their wedding photograph business and managing their own lavender farm, Dusty spoke to BoardGameWire about how the lessons learned from their crowdfunding debut helped Dux Somnium score its second success in raising $550,000 for follow-up game La Fleur.

Kickstarter board games veteran Monolith unveils new campaign, Mythic Battles: Isfet [sponsored]

Monolith Board Games knows its way around a Kickstarter campaign, having raised more than €21.5m across over a dozen tabletop crowdfunding projects since it was founded a decade ago. After big successes across projects including Conan, Batman: Gotham City Chronicles and Mythic Battles: Pantheon, Monolith is back fundraising for its latest in the Mythic Battles series, which sees the wars rage on the sands of ancient Egypt. In this sponsored article, Monolith highlights the mechanics, modules and miniatures on offer in the Mythic Battles: Isfet campaign.

How All About Games Consulting created a one-stop shop for board game services [sponsored]

Launched in the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic, All About Games Consulting has swiftly grown from offering manufacturing and sales support to become a one-stop shop for board game business services. In this sponsored article, AAGC co-founder Cedric Delobelle explains how the company has quickly expanded to fill a gap in the industry, sets straight some assumptions about what a consultant actually does, and talks about why smart sales rather than pushy ones will always win out.

“It’s not uncommon for me to revise parts of the game as many as 15 to 20 times”: Descent, Arkham Horror design veteran Kevin Wilson dives into worker placement for his third Kinfire game

Kevin Wilson barely needs an introduction when it comes to the modern board games industry, having spent more than 20 years working across titles ranging from Descent: Journeys in the Dark and Arkham Horror to Cosmic Encounter and Civilization: The Board Game. Since being named director of game design at Incredible Dream upon the company's 2021 launch, he's been the design lead on a trio of games in the new Kinfire setting. The latest, Kinfire Council, sees Wilson bringing his own take on the worker placement genre - and is just about to complete a successful Kickstarter campaign. Wilson sat down with BoardGameWire to talk worldbuilding, prototyping, and best practice for designing as part of a team.