This is a copy of the “script” we used to organise Brainwaves Episode 158. It is not a full transcript but should give you an overview of the news as we reported it. Quotes are in italics.
Headlines
Steve Jackson merges with Possum Games
https://www.rascal.news/possum-creek-games-wanders-to-a-new-home-with-steve-jackson-games
https://www.sjgames.com/ill/archive/2025-02-11?ref=rascal.news
- Possum Creek Games, the publisher behind some very well-regarded RPGs like Wanderhome and Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast, has announced a partnership with venerable American publisher Steve Jackson Games. Steve Jackson Games are the publishers of Munchkin amongst many other titles including the GURPS system for RPGs.
- From the announcement on Steve Jackson’s site
- We are thrilled to announce that Possum Creek, the award-winning independent game publisher, has joined Steve Jackson Games as an imprint. Based in Philadelphia, Possum Creek is best known for Wanderhome, a pastoral fantasy RPG about traveling animal-folk. Wanderhome has won numerous awards, including ENNIEs for Best Family-Friendly Game, Best Cover Art, and Best Interior Art.
- As an imprint, Possum Creek will still have full creative and editorial control over their titles. However, the Possum Creek team will also lend their talents to the SJ Games design and visual branding. Jay Dragon, Editorial Director at Possum Creek, will join our Board Of Directors and become our Lead Game Designer. Ruby Lavin will become our Art Director while retaining that position at Possum Creek.
- There is a full interview with Possum Creek Game Designer Jay Dragon, and Steve Jackson Games’ new CEO Meredith Placko over on Rascal. It is a paywalled story.
- Thanks to Corey from our Discord for bringing this to our attention.
Mythic crumbles
- We have reported many times on the ongoing troubles at Mythic Games, the publisher of Darkest Dungeon, 6: Siege and other crowdfunding projects. Over the last few years Mythic has done the following
- Asked backers for more money for shipping, said that was the last time they would do it, then did it again. That was on the Darkest Dungeon Kickstarter. A similar situation occurred on the 6:Siege Kickstarter.
- Sold off two projects Anastyr and Hel to CMON as Mythic could no longer fulfill them
- Launched new projects while not fulfilling existing ones
- Continuously delayed projects years beyond their delivery date
- Now they have added to this litany of failures by bringing to an end their longest-running project Monsterpocalypse. This Kaiju battling game was originally a Privateer Press licence and Mythic launched a Kickstarter for a new version of the game in November 2021. That Kickstarter is now officially a failure, as Mythic has announced they are no longer going to be fulfilling it.
- On the 30th of January they handed all the STL files for the miniatures, rules, and other assets back to Privateer Press.
- The last communication with backers of the project was almost two years ago according to the reporting on Boardgamewire where we bring you this story from
- Leonidas Vesperini, co-founder of Mythic Games, told Boardgamewire
- “This is an amicable agreement – we put Privateer Press in a bad position, and we gave it all back for free. So unfortunately we’re not going to get any money to help us get back on our feet.
- “But we felt it was the right thing to do because… the more time that passes, the less likely it is that we’ll be able to deliver our latest projects.”
- Matt Wilso, chief creative officer of Privateer Press said the company would provide the STL files to the KS backers. He said
- “We know this is no substitute for what backers pledged for, and we know that not everyone is in a position to be able to 3D print the models. But it is the one thing within our control that we can offer, and our hope is that it will help bring together some of the people that were looking forward to their new adventures with Monsterpocalypse.”
- He went on to say in the interview with Boardgamewire
- {SIC} it was difficult to have no control over a situation where our brand was compromised by virtue of being licensed for another party’s Kickstarter project that was in jeopardy of failing to deliver. I’d prefer to stay in control of our own fate as much as possible, in the future.”
- In October of last year Boardgamewire spoke to Vesperini and he at that point said that by the end of the month, they should have a better idea of the company’s future. No news about the status of the company is forthcoming at this moment.
Interview with Thomas from Rascal
- We have pointed you towards Rascal News many times over the last year. They are an excellent source of RPG focused news. I had the pleasure of talking to Thomas Manuel from Rascal about how he joined Rascal, how the first year has been, and their plans for the future. We hope you enjoy it
Updates
BGA Awards update
https://boardgamearena.com/news?id=873
- Last cast we let you know that online board game platform Board Game Arena was holding its own awards. We were a little sceptical of the way they were running this as you had to play the games on Board Game Arena before voting on them. A way to drive up numbers? Perhaps.
- Our scepticism aside, the award winners have been announced.
- Best 2-player games was Splendor Duel, designed by Marc Andre and Bruno Cathala
- Best Casual Game, Castle Combo, designed by Gregory Grard and Mathieu Roussel
- Best Regular Game, Harmonies, designed by Maeva de Silva
- Best Expert Game, Darwin’s Journey, designed by Paolo Voto
- Best Animal Themed Game, The Wolves, designed by Pauliina Linjama
- There was also a special award announced which was the favourite game of the board game arena team. That game was Nana Tori Dori, designed by Toshiki Arao
- Congratulations to all the winners
News
6 out of 10 tabletop role-playing games campaigns were Gamefound. KS rattled?
https://www.polygon.com/analysis/520142/gamefound-top-10-biggest-board-game-crowdfund-campaigns
- Speaking with the American entertainment and board game news website Polygon, Gamefound, the Poland-based crowdfunding platform, has announced that in 2024 it hosted six of the top 10 tabletop game campaigns across all three major platforms. Those platforms are Kickstarter, Backerkit and Gamefound.
- The top campaign, the Cosmere Roleplaying Game from Brotherwise Games, achieved $15.1 million of funding on Kickstarter, while the 2nd and 3rd highest earning campaigns, Cyberpunk 2077 – The Board Game from Go On Board and Lands of Evershade from Awaken Realms ran on Gamefound and earned around $7 million each.
- Gamefound finished 2024 with $85 million raised in funding, which is less than half of Kickstarter’s reported $220 million, but it represents a nearly 52% increase over the previous year.
- Gamefound clients appear to be more well-established board game publishers rather than individual creators.
- Gamefound had far fewer successfully funded campaigns compared to Kickstarter in 2024, just 215 compared to 5,320, but the average amount of funding reached per campaign was much larger, $395,349 for Gamefound compared to Kickstarter’s $41,400.
- In an email to Polygon, Marcin Świerkot, founder of Gamefound had this to say:
- “From my perspective it was a good step and it comes down to one of the key reasons for Gamefound’s creation. Today, there are a lot of big, serious companies using crowdfunding — and if you are running a big business and hiring a lot of people, you need stability and reliable partnerships. This was one of the reasons we started Gamefound — to have a very high level professional approach to crowdfunding.”
GTS cancels Splotter’s Indonesia
- Splotter is a Dutch board game publisher that creates board- and card games, including titles such as Food Chain Magnate and Horseless Carriage. It has announced in a Facebook post that their US distributor, GTS Distribution, have cancelled their order for Splotter’s latest game Indonesia.
- Splotter has attributed the cancellation to the unclear situation regarding import duties imposed by the Trump Administration in the United States
- The company has come under fire on Boardgamegeek for saying the quiet part out loud and naming GTS in their press release. Responding in that thread Joris Wiersinga, one of the founders of Splotter said this
- “We wanted to convey the issue loud and clear so people have an option to find another solution or accept they will not get the game.
- “We normally prioritize Dutch clarity over friendly statements of intent that are likely not going to be followed through. This, for sure, is a cultural difference. But we would also be the ones who would potentially get over 1,000 emails from people complaining we did not warn them in time if we informed people insufficiently.
- “We could indeed have chosen to omit the exact sequence of events and kept our distributor out of this discussion. We have tried to express our understanding of what drove their decision and our appreciation of them as a long-time partner.
- With Indonesia currently being in pre-production, Splotter will most likely print fewer games than originally planned before GTS Distribution cancelled their order. So even if the US import duty situation improves, Splotter will most likely not have enough stock to supply shops in the United States.
- Splotter advises customers in the US to order the game directly from the company’s online store or a non-US retailer instead, but warns that customers may have to pay import duties or other fees on these orders, even though Splotter will try to avoid that as best as they can.
Snowbright Studio announces winners of the second annual Nonbinary Tabletop Award
https://www.snowbrightstudio.com/awards
- Founded in 2019, Snowbright Studio is a game studio located in Cleveland, Ohio in the United States, publishers of games like the RPG Tea Time Adventures and the board game Insectarium
- They recently announced the winners of their second annual Nonbinary Tabletop Award.
- This award celebrates work that improves nonbinary gender representation and advocacy in tabletop games and is open to artists, writers, game designers and board game media.
- The winners for 2024, who will receive a cash prize and an edition of Cozy Companion, the company’s magazine, are:
- Jay Dragon & M Veselak for Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast, a TTRPG that deals heavily with themes of queer interconnection, intergenerational growth and how generations of queer people care for each other.
- W.H. Arthur for CONVICT-ION, a TTRPG that sees GENDERs as superpowers, formed from the struggle between how one is defined by society and an internal sense of self.
- Kay Marlow Allen for Nectar, a one-page solo journaling TTRPG that helps nonbinary and trans players feel seen and understood, and gives cis players the opportunity to imagine both the trials and triumphs of being a genderqueer person.
- Congratulations to all the winner
Swiss Game Awards
- Another award sliding in here, this time from Switzerland. We have the Swiss Game Awards, held yearly since 2010 and voted on by members of board game clubs, game and toy libraries and gaming associations across Switzerland.
- For the 2024 awards, Harmonies by Johan Benvenuto scooped the SGA award, beating out Castle Combo by Grégory Grard, Mathieu Roussel, and Bomb Busters by Hisashi Hayashi.
- For the Family Award, Captain Flip by Remo Conzadori and Paolo Mori beat out Odin by Yohan Goh, Hope S. Hwang and Gary Kim and Castle Combo.
- Well done to all the nominees and winners.
Haba and Asmodee France
- Last year we reported on the near collapse and eventual resurrection of Haba, the German board game manufacturer of numerous children’s games, some of which have won prestigious awards.
- At the time Haba was cutting the size of the company in order to restructure and the French publishing arm of the company was one of the parts to go.
- Now Haba has engaged the services of Asmodee France to help it with distribution.
- Corinne Derudder, director of Asmodee France said
- “We are delighted to have HABA on our side as a strong partner that stands for innovative and high-quality board games. With our sales and market knowledge in France, we will be able to make the most of the growth potential together,”
- Steffen Muller, Director of HABA & Production said
- “France is an important market for us. By working together with Asmodee, we can significantly increase our presence and reach new target groups. We are convinced that this partnership will drive our joint success forward,”
Roman discovery
- News from the world of archaeological ludology.
- A team of archaeologists excavating Hadrianopolis, a site in Turkiye near to the city of Eskipazar, have unearthed a number of tokens that are thought to be part of a board game played by Roman soldiers over 1500 years ago.
- The two tokens, made of bone, have individual markings- one a four-armed cross, the other an eight-pointed cross- which academics suggest may indicate differing values or strategic purposes for each token in the game- and have been dated to the fifth century CE
- But the question remains, what game are these from? The most common theory is Ludus Latrunculorum or Ludus Latrunculi, the “game of mercenaries”, which was a very popular Roman game derived from the ancient Greek game Petteia. Unfortunately, the rules for Ludus Latrunculorum have been lost to time and history.
- Another suggested game is Duodecim Scripta, a game with a lot of similarities to Backgammon.
- The discovery of these pieces is really exciting for the team, says Ersin Çelikbas, an archaeologist who leads excavations and works at Karabuk University:
- “The discovery of strategy games in Hadrianopolis further solidifies the presence of a military unit here, as it is known that bone pieces were used to play ancient strategy games.”
Obituaries
Carla Horger
- Carla Horger, co-designer with her husband Jeff Horger of GMT’s Thunder Alley series of games has passed away.
- Thunder Alley is a Nascar racing game and has a couple of track sets as well as the base game available through GMT.
- If you would like to contribute to a fund to help her husband with the expenses around her passing then you can go to the Gofundme link in the show notes.
Jobs, Opportunities, and Events
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TabletopJobs
Young Game Designers Scholarship Open for Applications Again
- The German Young Game Designers Scholarship is open for applications once again.
- The scholarship was created in 1995 by Friedhelm Merz. Merz is the founder of the company now known as Merz Verlag which runs the biggest international board game event Spiel Messe. Merz is also the founder of German board game magazine Spielbox, which he started in 1981.
- After Merz’s passing in 1996, the Spiel des Jahres association took over the running of the Young Game Designers Scholarship.
- In 2020, the German board game designers association SAZ took over the organization of the scholarship, while Spiel des Jahres remains a sponsor. The board game magazine Spielbox has since joined as a media partner, and the Saxon Institute for Play is now responsible for the initial selection of applications.
- The scholarship aims to provide young talent with insights into various areas of the gaming industry. It is designed not only to refine their understanding of game design, but also to offer glimpses into publishing, the trade and some aspects of game development.
- Those who are accepted for the scholarship will take part in a number of internships over a period of four weeks. At the end of the program, scholarship recipients must write a report on their experience, which is published on the Spiel des Jahres and the SAZ websites.
- Additionally, the winner is offered a free designer table at the International Game Inventors Fair, held during the Nuremberg Toy Fair the following year.
- The selection process for the scholarship is overseen by an independent jury consisting of two representatives appointed by the SAZ and the previous year’s scholarship recipient, who evaluate the prototypes submitted by three shortlisted candidates. The winner is then announced during the Game Designers Meeting in Göttingen.
- To apply, the SAZ provides an application form, which must be completed and sent via email to the Saxon Institute for Play by the 14th of April 2025. The email address is provided in the form, a link to which we have provided in the show notes.
Evil Hat creator programme
- If you are a reviewer, podcaster, or streamer then you might want to check out the latest initiative from Evil Hat Productions. Evil Hat are the publishers of Blades in the Dark, Agon, and Thirsty Sword Lesbians to name but a few of their large catalogue of games.
- They are looking for folk to join up to their Creator Support Programme, where you can get access to digital assets, comp copies of games and other forms of support. You can sign up at the link in our show notes.
- Iain has signed up for this
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Outro
People of note: Cornelius O’Donovan
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgj29qly2dvo
- No Monopoly news, but a focus on a noted person who is chasing a world record, thanks in part to board games.
- Cornelius O’Donovan, a retired teacher from Thirsk, North Yorkshire, has his eyes set on the world record for most appearances on television quiz shows.
- In an interview with the BBC, Cornelius is described as “an avid collector of Trivial Pursuit” with well over forty versions of the game, saying:
- “I particularly like the style of questions in Trivial Pursuit – And that so many versions means there’s so much different knowledge to learn from.”
- First appearing in 1997, he has shown up on The Weakest Link, The Chase and Breakaway to name but a few, winning a total of £17,500 over that time.
- One of his regrets is never getting picked for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Or winning any of the major prizes in any of his appearances.
- The current world record for game show appearances is 34, held by David St John. Asked about more appearances, Cornelius says:
- “I hope to beat the record one day, but a lot of the shows now have a push for new, younger players.”
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