Solo play ranked as the third most prevalent component in games released between 2020 and 2025, behind only dice rolling and hand management.
After years spent engaging with publishers and designers - both at Capstone Games and through his Board Again Gaming podcast - Christopher High believes the several thousand new board games and expansions released each year are pushing publishers towards commercially safer bets. Now he's wagering his company Valor Mountain Games can succeed by taking chances on the kinds of titles other publishers are passing over.
As trading card games continue to fuel growth across the tabletop industry, hobby retailers are placing greater emphasis on the accessories that support organised play. In this sponsored article, TCG and board game accessories maker Sanseking explains how changing player behaviour is reshaping retail strategy and why competitive accessories are becoming a more important part of the European hobby market.
The annual awards, which have now been running for 17 years, aim to act as a showcase and celebration of business practices, community-building and operational innovations that other hobby retailers can learn from.
While many of Generation Analog 2026's presentations explore environmental issues, the conference's broad 'Green' theme also encompasses topics including newcomer experiences, representation, identity, game history and design philosophy.
JinxO designer Martin Ang's victory underscores the growing internationality of the venerable German board games award, which until last year's success for Hishashi Hayashi's Bomb Busters had never been won by an Asian designer.
Marino joins Devir in the newly-created role after nine years at The Op, including the last four as director of hobby games, where he helped oversee releases such as runaway hit Flip 7, Gnome Hollow and Tacta.
The publisher will debut 'Season One' of Shelfy at Gen Con later this month, featuring 28 miniature recreations of board game boxes for titles including Gloomhaven, Dune Imperium and Boop.
While many indie game designers and small publishers view moving to overseas manufacturing as an inevitable step once demand grows, Eurydice believes its experience demonstrates that remaining in-house can make commercial sense for certain types of games.
Unlike bespoke icon systems created by publishers for individual games, Francisco and Eastridge hope they have created a universal visual language that players can learn once and recognise across multiple titles.
