This is a copy of the “script” we used to organise Brainwaves Episode 168. It is not a full transcript but should give you an overview of the news as we reported it. Quotes are in italics.
Headlines
Cmon passes the buck
- Over the last few casts, we have reported on the ongoing financial troubles facing board game company Cool Mini or Not, more commonly known as CMON.
- CMON blazed the trail for Kickstarter, running multi-million dollar campaigns laden with miniatures that folk loved. When the pandemic hit and companies were saddled with massive hikes in shipping costs, it hit many companies that were focused on Kickstarter and CMON was no exception. Despite still turning a profit for most of the intervening years, the company has struggled to deliver Kickstarters, with 10 of its projects still awaiting delivery to backers.
- They recently announced that their losses for the first half of 2025 will be close to $8million, more than three times its overall profit for the last 10 years.
- Boardgamewire, who have been on top of reporting CMONs decline, have recently posted that the company has offloaded two projects it bought from Mythic games to Don’t Panic Games.
- These two projects have been in what can only be described as development hell since funding on Kickstarter in 2020 for Hel and 2022 for Anastyr.
- When CMON took the projects on they said they needed extensive development work to bring them to backers. Now it seems those folk are going to have to wait even longer for their games.
- Don’t Panic was founded in 2013 and the main focus of their business is French translations for games like Final Girl and Champions of Midgard.
- When contacted by Boardgamewire, Don’t Panic Games said
- “We always had a special fondness for these two exceptional titles, and we were already collaborating with some of the original creators, hence the fact that we have decided to take over these highly anticipated games and make sure they come to existence.”
- Don’t Panic Games have had their own issues, coming under fire from Hegemonic Project Games over the translation of their game Hegemony: Lead your class to victory. They made some mistakes in the translation that Hegemonic objected to, and the resolution became a public spat.
Ludonatue stops making new games
- French publisher Ludonaute is well known for such titles as the Spiel des Jahres winning Colt Express and the Kennerspiel winning game Living Forest, amongst many others. It was founded in 2009 by Anne-Cecile and Cedric Lefebvre.
- Earlier this year, the publisher sold those title,s along with game Lewis & Clark, to Tycoon Games, formerly Tabletop Tycoon. This seems to have been the beginning of the end for Ludonaute.
- On the 8th of September, Boardgamewire reported that the publisher was calling time on making new releases. The company is not shuttering at this point as it still has two releases to put out this year, Arigato and Limit.
- The team said this in a statement
- “In recent years, we have seen our profession slide from a small circle of enthusiasts to a professional economic sector where passion has given way to what we call ‘economic reality’.
- “The decisions made in the name of this ‘economic realism’ are increasingly difficult to accept. What we need to learn to progress no longer really stems from a passion for gaming, but rather from fields like marketing, which do not appeal to us at all.
- “It must also be said that the emotional and human commitment required to publish a game leads to a deep feeling of disappointment when success is not forthcoming. The frantic pace of releases to keep the company afloat forces us to bounce back very quickly, to move on too quickly, which can be difficult to live with.
- “Furthermore, we have observed that there are too many games being produced today, and behind this
logic of overproduction lies a broader consumer society. We no longer find our way. - “We are therefore taking responsibility by deciding to no longer produce more, and, faced with the dilemma of ‘fighting within the system or getting out of it’, the response Cédric and Anne-Cécile want to provide is to take a step back.
- “Cédric is also convinced that an economic contraction – sudden or gradual – is inevitable. From a personal perspective, he therefore prefers to begin to withdraw gently.”
- Last episode we reported on the shuttering of another French publisher Funforge and the industry is just waiting for Mythic Games to announce the same after months of silence from the Kickstarter focused publisher.
Tabletop Scotland grows
- Jamie and Iain (rephrase depending on who covers) attended Tabletop Scotland, based just outside of Edinburgh from the 5th to the 7th of September. We were given access to the convention for free in return for coverage of the event and running the pub quiz.
- The convention has just released its attendance numbers for 2025 and they grew once more.
- Unique visitors were up 9% to 4259 from 3920 in 2024. The Turnstile figure counts each day you turn up, so one person might be counted 3 times. That figure was up 6% to 6834 from 6468.
- The difference in percentage increases can be accounted for by assuming that although there were more unique visitors, a lot of them only attended for one or two days.
- The con had 133 exhibitors and a variety of events from miniature and card game tournaments to RPGs and board games.
- The convention partnered with Waverley Care as its charity. Waverley Care is an HIV and Hepatitis C based charity providing information to sufferers and funding research that aims to bring and end to these diseases having such a devastating impact upon people’s lives. The charity was fundraising over the course of the convention, and money from both a charity raffle and the bring and buy went towards the final total. That was £10,757. David Wright and Simon Harper told me that the total would probably go over £11,000 after the final amounts were added up alongside some donations from the convention itself. This was during an interview I conducted with both of them, looking back at the convention.
Updates
Diamond
https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/60388/order-clarifies-next-steps-diamond-consignment-inventory
https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/60503/diamond-files-adversary-proceedings-against-31-vendors
https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/60518/diamond-fees-top-1-million-july
- As we reported previously, Diamond Distribution, one of the largest distribution companies for comics and RPGs in North America, ran into financial difficulties earlier in the year and was declared bankrupt. Since then, the company has been in the news a few more times, and today is no exception.
- In a court order released on Monday, the 25th of August, the procedure concerning Diamond Distribution’s attempt to seize and sell inventory held under contracts with various publishers was clarified.
- The court order explains that.Diamond Distribution is required to initiate a so-called adversary proceeding against each publisher whose inventory it seeks to claim, before it may seize or sell that inventory. An adversary proceeding is a specific type of action in a bankruptcy court that allows the court to determine whether particular debts should remain enforceable despite the debtor’s bankruptcy filing.
- As a result, Diamond Distribution has filed adversary proceedings against 31 companies, including Titan Comics, Paizo, Oni Press, Goodman Games, Fantagraphics Books, Dynamic Forces (parent of Dynamite Entertainment), DSTLRY, Dark Horse Comics, and BOOM! Entertainment.
- The court order also makes provisions for potential settlements between Diamond Distribution and the publishers.
- A hearing has been scheduled for the 30th of September and will consider motions by publishers asking that Diamond Distribution either assume or reject the consignment agreements effective at the time of its bankruptcy filing. If rejected, publishers can terminate their contracts and reclaim their inventory, as well as request to be paid any outstanding amounts due.
- Paizo CEO Jim Butler said the following in an interview with Rascal
- “It’s all kind of ridiculous, since it’s clear Diamond: never paid for the books to be printed; never paid artists, editors, game designers, graphic designers, and others for the work they did to create the book;, signed contracts with us acknowledging that they don’t own the stock and that they were selling the book on consignment; and never paid taxes on the books sitting in their warehouse,”
- He went on to call the proceeding the “end of the beginning rather than beginning of the end”
Meanwhile, the legal and consulting fees in the bankruptcy case exceeded 1 million US Dollars for the month of July, despite the acquisition of most ofDiamond Distribtuion’s assets having been completed in May.The largest fees were billed bySaul Ewing LLP,Diamond Distribution’s legal counsel, andGetzler Henrich & Associates LLCwho are the restructuring consultants.- To date, bankruptcy‐related fees have cost Diamond approximately 13.75 million US Dollars.
- Unsurprisingly, publishers whose inventory is at stake are concerned not only about the size of the legal fees, but also the value of the inventory involved.
- For example, Fantagraphics Books has said it has “millions of dollars” of inventory in question.
- The outcome of this legal battle will affect rights to unsold stock, unpaid sums owed, and the distribution channel integrity in the comics market. In fact, the court rulings in this case will establish legal precedents for how bankruptcy proceedings intersect with consignment contracts in this industry.
News
Dutch boardgame prize
- On Wednesday the 3rd of September, the nominations for the Dutch Games Prize were announced. This is the 25th anniversary of the award and any game released in Dutch between the 1st of July 2023 and the 30th of June 2024 are valid for nomination.
- There are 3 categories: Family, Connoisseurs and Experts. Family games are for a large audience. The Connoisseurs for those aged 10+ that want a game of an hour and a half or so with more rules, where the game can be explained in 15 minutes. The Experts game is for those with more playing experience and feels similar to the Kennerspiel des Jahres.
- In the Family genre is the Spiel des Jahres winning Bomb Busters, Faraway, and Pixies.
- In Connoisseurs, we have Botanicus, Komeet (The Comet) and Pirates of Maracaibo.
- Finally, in the Experts category we have Men-Neferenic, Seti, and Windmill Valley. Men-Neferenic is the only one in this category we hadn’t heard of. It is from publisher Ludonova and is about developing the culture of Egypt.
- The awards are announced on the 11th of October
Gender split in designers
https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/297088/games-by-women-and-people-of-marginalized-genders
- Elizabeth Hargrave, designer of Wingspan, Mariposas, and many other popular titles has realised their annual update looking at the gender split in designers of the top 500 games on BGG>. This data was taken on the 1st of January 2025.
- The split was 92% weighted towards men, 6% designed by a mixed gender group and only 1% designed by women or non-binary. The remaining 1% is accounted for by games with no named designer.
- Elizabeth says that although the change is small for those craving representation it is noticeable. The number of games designed only by women or non-binary people has quintupled in the last 10 years. Elizabeth does admit that is easy because the baseline was 1 game in the top 500.
- Addressing why people should care, Elizabeth says this
- When things are this far off parity, it feels like a sign that something is weird. You’re probably not getting the best games you could be getting if design were being undertaken and published by a broader spectrum of people.
- I think most of this situation is rooted in inertia, not malice. But we could all be doing more to encourage EVERYONE to game, and to design if they’re inclined, and to pitch designs. Designers and publishers especially can help speed up change by mentoring and supporting new designers.
- Elizabeth also shares a list of games designed by women & people of marginalized genders that we will share in the show notes.
Nominees for Bobby Nunes Memorial award
- The Bobby Nunes memorial award is given at SDhistcon, the San Diego Historical games convention. It commemorates the work of Bobby Nunes who did much to advance the knowledge and appreciation of historical games, supporting the convention and the many designers and players that passed through its doors.
- The award recognises exceptional media coverage of the historical games genre.
- This year the nominees are
- Amable Holland and their video essay entitled Vonnegut’s Board Game: Preservation, Annotation, Context
- Homo Ludens and their video Unpacking the Clean Wehrmacht’s Legacy in Wargames – Wargame Ethics
- Charlie Theel and his piece Philosophy and Board Games: The Categorical Imperative
- Dan Thurot’s podcast and its 42nd episode that interviewed designer Francsico Gradaille and his game Onoda.
- Mark Herman’s book According To Mark: A Historian’s View of Wargame Design
- Roger B Macgowan and their book the Art of Rodger B. Macgowan. Rodger passed away in February but his art was well known across the historical games section.
- Maurice Suckling and their book Paper Time Machines: Critical Game Design and Historical Board Games
- The winner will be announced on the 8th of November 2025 at the Summit convention in San Diego.
- Congratulations to all the nominees.
Jobs, Opportunities, and Events
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TabletopJobs
- Tabletop Games Blog Raffle
- http://tabletopgamesblog.com/raffle
- The raffle in aid of The Trussell Trust, a charity that runs UK food banks, continues in June. Tickets are £1 and all proceeds, minus fees, go directly to the charity. The prizes for the September raffle are review copies of Mars Expedition: Sol 43, Isle of Night and Fled, plus a used copy of Synchronized. All are in great condition.
Patreon Shoutouts
Kevin Bertram
James Naylor
Shaun Newan
game-a-lot.fun/en
facebook.com/gamealotboardgames
Our Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/thegiantbrain
Fanroll
https://fanrolldice.com/ref/2783
Jamie
Outro
Monopoly Coin
- Despite its origins being a game that despised the capitalist system, Monopoly is a game that revels in Avarice, greed, and of course bundles of cash.
- To represent the 90th anniversary of this game the Royal Mint in the Uk, the institution that makes all our money, is releasing a celebratory coin. This is a colourful 50p coin that has icons from the family game and will retail for between £15 and £25 pounds. If you are Mr. Moneybags though you can get yourself a gold version of the coin for £1730.
- Rebecca Morgan, director of commemorative coins at the Royal Mint said this
- “For nearly 90 years, families have been trading millions in Monopoly currency around kitchen tables, and now we’re celebrating that beloved tradition with this collectible coin.
- Neil Scallan, a man we have reported on before as he has the world’s largest monopoly collection said
- “It’s like finding a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card, that celebrates the game we all grew up loving. This represents the holy grail for any serious Monopoly enthusiast.”
- Discussion: Anyone getting one? It is actually quite a good looking tribute.
Our Links
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