Senet co-creator and editor Dan Jolin:<\/strong> Thanks! This is a tricky question, because if I said \u201cno\u201d, that would make it sound like I didn\u2019t have much faith in the concept, which obviously wasn\u2019t the case. However, I do think it\u2019s fair to say that I had no expectation that the magazine would still be going after five years \u2013 and going stronger than ever \u2013 if only because both James [Hunter, co-founder and art director] and I were so focused on the Kickstarter campaign itself, then of course making the launch issue the best board- game related print experience it possibly could be. It really was a case, to mangle the script for Field of Dreams, of \u201cLet\u2019s build it, and then see if they will come.\u201d And they came. And they kept on coming. And here we are!<\/p>\n\n\n\n You launched the magazine to celebrate \u201cthe craft, creativity and community of board gaming\u201d \u2013 why do you think that was missing from a lot of coverage about the industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I think it would be a bit unfair of me to say that it was missing entirely from all the coverage that was out there in 2019\/20, but I did feel that nothing, in print media at least, was really committed to treating board games seriously as an art form and entertainment form. You use the word \u201cindustry\u201d, but the word I see most in relation to board gaming is \u201chobby\u201d. This is not a bad word per se, but it does infer triviality \u2013 it feels almost dismissive \u2013 and as such, I believe, does board gaming little justice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I wanted to elevate board gaming to the same level as cinema, literature, theatre, or the way some publications treat video games. Like any of those art forms, board games require skill to craft and attract a community around them, comprising both creators and players. But I felt the majority of coverage out there just treated games as \u2018products\u2019 to be marketed, and gaming itself as little more than a frivolous pastime. I felt Senet could do more \u2013 in the premium print medium, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you think things have changed now? Or do you think Senet is still somewhat of an outlier in terms of what it does?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In terms of our commitment to treating board games seriously (which isn\u2019t to say the magazine is po faced \u2013 far from it!) in a purely print format, I\u2019ve not actually seen a huge change since the turn of the decade. There have been other English-language magazines taking a similar approach to related topics – Wyrd Science<\/a> on tabletop role-playing games and ON Games Journal<\/a> on video games, for example – but to my knowledge no-one else has done it for board games. However, I would say that on a general level, it\u2019s my impression that board games feel far more part of the culture they were before Senet launched. Which is lovely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where do you go to read about board games, when you\u2019re not busy editing the magazine?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In print, I read Tabletop Gaming<\/a>, which is published here in the UK (I\u2019m a former contributor, so rather fond of it), and also Spielbox<\/a>\u2019s English-language edition. Online, I\u2019m a huge fan of SPACE-BIFF!<\/a> There\u2019s a good case for Dan Thurot being the world\u2019s best board-game writer\u2026 which is why he\u2019s been contributing to Senet since Issue 1!<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s your favourite segment of the magazine, and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m trying to resist replying \u2018that\u2019s like asking who\u2019s my favourite child\u2019\u2026 But I will say I remain very proud of what I call our \u2018cross-sectional approach\u2019. By which I mean, rather than filling our features section with piece after piece hooked on a new title that\u2019s out, each issue focuses on the four main strands of game creation: the author (in the form of an in-depth designer Q&A), the artist (in the form of an insightfully captioned gallery), mechanism and theme (both of which get a deep-dive treatment by a great writer). I should also add that I always love seeing what amazing covers James comes up with. So I guess the cover is my favourite \u2018segment\u2019 of the magazine!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which piece are you most proud of publishing over the last five years?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ooh, good question. But I couldn\u2019t possibly give you just one answer. So, in no particular order: I really loved Dan Thurot\u2019s interview with Cole Wehrle (Issue 16<\/a>), Owen Duffy\u2019s piece on colonialism as a board-game theme (Issue 2<\/a>) and Alexandra Sonechkina\u2019s feature on social deduction games (Issue 8<\/a>), even though it\u2019s not a mechanism I\u2019m hugely into. It was also a huge honour to have the gorgeous work of artists like Kwanchai Moriya (Issue 2 again) and Kyle Ferrin (Issue 3<\/a>) on our pages, and a personal highpoint was interviewing Sir Ian Livingstone, who\u2019s one of my lifelong heroes (Issue 9<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n What are the biggest changes in the industry that you\u2019ve seen take place in the last five years?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The headline for the past five years is clearly growth. Precise industry figures are hard to come by, as you\u2019ll no doubt well know, but it does appear that board gaming is a steadily growing business, now bigger than it\u2019s ever been. Of course, that\u2019s not a change, just the continuation of a heartening trend, but it bears highlighting, I think. In terms of big shifts, I suppose the move by many publishers away from Kickstarter to Gamefound for their crowdfunding is a key one. Then there\u2019s the current situation with Trump\u2019s tariff frenzy, which is looking a bit grim, sadly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What are the big challenges for board game creatives \u2013 designers, artists, writers \u2013 currently?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Presuming you mean creatively rather than commercially, I would say it\u2019s keeping things fresh and exciting and engaging enough in an increasingly crowded scene. Also, as in any creative industry right now, the threat of generative AI is also a big and very concerning challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How do you feel about the future of creativity within board game art and design, and what are the opportunities out there now that maybe didn\u2019t exist five years ago?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The capacity for board-game creators of all types to stay innovative impresses me on a yearly basis, so I\u2019m feeling pretty optimistic about the future of the industry \u2013 assuming we can deal with this AI nonsense. I love the sheer breadth of themes we\u2019re seeing in games now, which not only welcome more people into the hobby (see, I use that word, too), but can open doors into other cultures if handled appropriately. It doesn\u2019t all have to be spaceships, dragons, Lovecraft and steam trains! It\u2019s also been good to witness more non-male designers rising to prominence \u2013 though we are still far from reaching the kind of parity there that we should have by now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And how do you feel about the rising amount of AI art making its way into new board games \u2013 and what challenges is that creating for traditional artists in the space?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Honestly, I think it\u2019s lazy, clumsy and despicable. I have no time for anybody who, instead of commissioning an artist, uses a quick-fix tool which only exists through the wide-scale theft of copyrighted art. It\u2019s a challenge for artists because it provides potential clients an incredibly cheap (if not free) way to avoid hiring them. Which sucks even more because that alternative to hiring them has already shamelessly ripped off those artists\u2019 work. It\u2019s just a horrible, hateful situation. Senet will never knowingly use, publish or promote AI-generated art \u2013 just as we\u2019d never publish AI-generated writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Print publishing has obviously taken a hammering in the last couple of decades, across both newspapers and magazines. Why do you think Senet has managed to thrive regardless?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Primarily because we\u2019re beholden to nobody other than our readers. We have no owners or shareholders pushing us down shiny new commercial cul-de-sacs, and are blissfully free of the corporate anxiety that grips so many big publishers. We\u2019re not trying to be a multi-platform brand that clings gaudily to the newsstand while spreading itself thin across the ever-shifting digital space. We are a subscription-focused service that understands a simple, fundamental fact: that people who have a passion for something love to read about it on a well-made paper product they can hold in their hands, and will happily spend a bit of their hard-earned money to do so, for a few quality hours, away from their screens and all the other stresses of their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What sort of circulation does Senet have these days, and how does that compare to the initial print run for the first magazine?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve grown from around 500 Kickstarter backers to over 2,500 subscribers worldwide, and our print run has more than tripled since launch. We\u2019ve even reprinted a few early issues, in response to requests from new readers who want to complete their collections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you considered expansion into web publishing, podcasting, or any other types of media for Senet, or do you think its home will remain in magazine form?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n James and I regard Senet purely as an analogue artefact \u2013 just like the board games we love. We believe that the immersive tactility of words, photography and illustration on high-quality paper just can\u2019t be beat, which is why we don\u2019t even have a digital\/pdf edition. That said, I admit I have toyed with the idea of doing a Senet-adjacent podcast, as I do love podcasts and enjoy podding myself (I\u2019m an occasional member of the Empire pod team). So who knows? Maybe one day I\u2019ll actually get around to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What are you most excited about for the future of Senet \u2013 for the next year, and for the next five? Will we be doing this interview again for its 10th anniversary?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, I can\u2019t reveal too much right now \u2013 we like our subscribers to hear about things first \u2013 but let\u2019s just say that our next issue (which is out at the end of May) marks the start of a new phase in Senet\u2019s editorial development. So I\u2019m very excited about that, obviously. And with regards to another five years, I can only judge by the last five, which, thanks to the brilliance of the Senet team, all the board-game talent out there in the world and our amazing readers, have been huge fun, highly satisfying creatively and a bigger success than I could have hoped back in early 2020. I think that\u2019s a strong enough basis for me to say: see you on the 10th anniversary!<\/p>\n\n\n\n —<\/p>\n\n\n\n Current and previous issues of Senet are available at senetmagazine.com<\/a>, where you\u2019ll also find a list of bricks-and-mortar stockists. It\u2019s also available at selected WHSmith and Waterstones stores in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/boardgamewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Dan-Jolin.jpg\")
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