After 25 years in the board game industry, Z Man and Play to Z founder Zev Shlasinger just ran his first crowdfunding campaign. Here’s what he learned

Few people in the modern board game industry can boast a career as long and storied as Zev Shlasinger. After launching Z-Man Games 25 years ago, he found huge success bringing games such as Agricola to the US market - as well as signing one of the biggest board games of all time in 2008's Pandemic. After leaving his seven-year role as director of board games at Wizkids last June, Shlasinger wasted no time launching a new publishing house, Play to Z Games, and the company launched its first offering onto Kickstarter at the end of February - marking the first time Shlasinger had dipped his toes into crowdfunding. He tells BoardGameWire how he approached the campaign, lessons learned and what he plans to do next.

Gen Con-style events, an extra hall: UK Games Expo mulls expansion options as it preps for its biggest, most international event yet

UK Games Expo director Richard Denning has been organising the show since its foundation in 2007, when 900 gamers converged on a Birmingham conference centre. After a record 32,000 attendance last year, the event is now considering its future expansion - with Denning citing Gen Con's vast swathe of live entertainment as a key inspiration.

Designer Diary: How we made Carolingi

History teacher Sebastian Freudenberg describes his years-long journey to publishing his debut game Carolingi, in which players act as Charlemagne’s grandchildren fighting over his vast realm using a bag-based action selection system to control areas of the map, unite regions, develop their realms, attract followers and gain glory. Carolingi is the first game from Sea Cove Games, the joint publishing company launched last year by Peter Eggert, who created Eggertspiele in 1996, and Spielworxx’s Uli Blennemann.