This is a copy of the “script” we used to organise Brainwaves Episode 171. It is not a full transcript but should give you an overview of the news as we reported it. Quotes are in italics.
Headlines
Altering the Deal
https://gamefound.com/en/projects/altered/seeds-of-unity/updates/10
- There are few amongst us who haven’t over played a hand, talking up our achievements beyond what really happened, plumping up a CV, hoping to garner attention, kudos, and maybe a better job.
- We also know that such actions come with a cost.
- Altered is a CCG that launched in 2024. It did so through crowdfunding raising just over 6 million euros on Kickstarter. While it hasn’t made huge waves on the scene over the last year it seemed to be well liked by its fans. Equinox, the company behind the game, did tours to promote it when the game eventually came to retail.
- As many companies do, Equinox went back to crowdfunding for some new expansions with a modest target of fifty thousand euros.
- They broke through this in short order but then things took a turn for the strange
- In a post on the 3rd of November the campaign laid out where the project stands, the size of the team behind it, and the production requirements of the organization. They then go onto say this
- All these important steps have a fixed cost, currently budgeted at €2.5 millions in sales per set. This figure is a very concrete amount: it is the total required to fund a complete new set plus the operation of our ecosystem under healthy conditions (without cutting the team, quality, or ambition of the game).
- They do make it clear that this required amount is a total both from the campaign and pre-orders for the new sets from retailers. Answering the question “why did you set the goal on Gamefound to fifty thousand euros, the company said this
- We understand why the initial €50K milestone, met within minutes, created the confusing impression that the campaign had already secured its necessary funding. The contrast between the initial and final €2.5 millions goals unfortunately led to the perception that we were attempting to hide the true cost. We sincerely apologize for this feeling and completely validate your frustration.
- This €50K figure is a symbolic threshold, a standard crowdfunding best practice used to build early momentum and avoid discouraging backers with a seemingly unattainable final number.
- They go onto explain that while they won’t shutdown overnight if this threshold is not reached, that it would represent an end to the Altered CCG.
- The campaign has now ended and the total results were as follows
- Gamefound: €896,967
- Retailers: €1,423,000
- Equinox said this about the result
- What this means is that while we haven’t reached the objective of 2.5M € mentioned initially, we’re not that far off our goal, and with some adjustments on our part (which includes reviewing some budgets and determining new production processes) we believe we can cover that difference.
- This is the task we are tackling now along with applying lessons learned to make Set 6 a better campaign experience.
Steamforged Slash Terra Mystica Special Edition
Terra Mystica Gamefound campaign: https://gamefound.com/en/projects/steamforged-games/terra-mystica
Campaign update announcing the price drop: https://gamefound.com/en/projects/steamforged-games/terra-mystica/updates/7
Campaign’s comments page – you need to click “load more” many times to get to the relevant comments though: https://gamefound.com/en/projects/steamforged-games/terra-mystica/comments
- Board game news website BoardGameWire shared that Steamforged Games Ltd, the UK publisher that is known for board game conversions of popular computer games and that has recently started doing reprints of classic games, had received a large number of complaints about the all-in price of their latest deluxe special edition crowdfunding campaign for Terra Mystica.
- Comments ranged from checking if the price was a “misconfiguration” of the pledge, to calling it “ridiculously offensive”, “absolutely insane”, “utterly comical” or “out to lunch”. One commenter said that the deluxe edition wasn’t different enough to the original game to make the cost worth it for them. Another commented compared this campaign to the deluxe editions of Agricola and Castles of Burgundy by Awaken Realms, which cost below the 200 US Dollar mark.
- As a result, the price was dropped from 389 US Dollars to 288 US Dollars a mere three hours after launching the campaign on Gamefound.
- Steamforged Games CEO Rich Loxam told BoardGameWire that the company had been surprised by the reaction to the original price. He said this:
- “It was certainly a surprise. We’d done a fair amount of benchmarking beforehand and, while it’s always difficult to compare directly because components aren’t always an exact match and campaigns vary in structure, our pricing was broadly in line with recent, similar campaigns.
- “I think a lot of it comes down to perception of value. In crowdfunding, presenting multiple, smaller products can look higher value, and miniatures can also add perceived value compared to triple layer boards, metal coins, and unique faction illustrations for the screen-printed wooden pieces.
- “It’s a subtler kind of premium that doesn’t immediately have the same visual ‘wow’, but will mean a significantly improved experience on the tabletop.”
UKGE promotes AI art
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1aAkxyfbrB
Gates of Krystalia Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gatesofkrystalia-rpg/gates-of-krystalia-book-anime-tt-jrpg-in-style-isekai
- In a Facebook post dated the 28th of October, UK Games Expo, the largest hobby games convention in the UK, promoted a game called Gates of Krystalia by Top Notch International. Alongside the advert, the post contains three images showing some of the art used in the game.
- As it turns out, the images were created using generative AI, as the game’s Kickstarter page confirms:
- “[…] Andrea [Ruggeri] is […] a professional graphic designer. He has strategically utilized artificial intelligence to generate the initial graphics, allowing for the quick creation of imaginative visuals. However, these AI-generated images serve as a starting point. Andrea will personally edit and refine each image using tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, ensuring that the final visuals meet the highest standards of quality and artistry. By combining his human creativity and graphic design expertise with the power of AI, Andrea is able to offer a product that is both innovative and polished, giving you the best of both worlds.”
- People soon commented on UK Games Expo’s Facebook post to share their disappointment with the board game convention for promoting generative AI art.
- In response, UK Games Expo either hid or deleted these comments, without any further response.
- As of the 11th of November, there are only 3 comments on the post, one of which is by George C. Cotronis who says this:
- “AI garbage for slop enjoyers”
- A number of people took to other social media platforms, including Bluesky, to share what had happened and to ask UK Games Expo for an official reply.
- Unfortunately, at the time of recording there still hasn’t been any official response to explanation for what has happened, and the post is still visible.
- Thank you to Corey from our Discord for bringing this to our attention.
- Discussion: Do we expect UK Games Expo to police the use of AI in board games?
- No but when they promote a game on their channel I do expect them to do some research. They brought this on themselves.
Kickstarter United victory
https://www.rascal.news/kickstarter-united-workers-will-strike-beginning-october-2
https://www.rascal.news/kickstarter-united-ends-six-week-strike-with-a-resounding-victory
https://kickstarterunited.org/?ref=rascal.news
- Back in episode 169 we brought you the news that Kickstarter workers were striking over failed negotiations with Kickstarter management for better working conditions.
- The union, called Kickstarter United, has announced that the strike is at an end with strong protections in place for the 4 day working week, setting up safeguards for workers against the use of AI to replace their roles, improving pay equity and a minimum salary floor.
- The union has said that five-day work week can be considered, but must be justified and involve bargaining with the Union.
- One of the members Dannel Jurado told Rascal
- “For 42 days we sustained a historic and novel remote strike that won protections for the working hours we’ve already been doing for years, protections that continue to make Kickstarter the great place to work that we know it is. The workers fought for this victory and hope that it can inspire other workplaces and unions to not just accept the status quo but fight for a better workplace of their own.”
- Kickstarter has not commented on the negotiations at this time
Updates
Ravensburger wants money back from Upper Deck
- Last episode we told you that Upper Deck was trying one more time to successfully sue Ravensburger for effectively stealing the design for Disney Lorcana, Ravensburger’s hugely successful CCG.
- A claim directly against the designer Ryan Miller for breach of contract was settled in Upper Decks favour to the tune of $39,000. That is going to pale in comparison by what might happen next.
- Ravensuburger is asking for Upper Deck to pay the $3.8 million it spent in legal fees on the case.
- The court filing said
- “Upper Deck’s case was frivolous in conception, objectively unreasonable in prosecution and pursued in a manner that multiplied costs while consuming vast judicial resources.”
- Ravensburger says that Upper Deck’s litigation was extremely costly with copyright infringement claims having to be handled on 43 separate game elements including such mechanisms as ‘taking alternate turns.
- While it sounds like this is bringing things to a close, it isn’t.
- Upper Deck plans to continue the lawsuit in Europe after filing a suit in the Netherlands.
News
Braincrack Games shutters
instagram.com/p/DQfH0H3jH8t/?igsh=MXFjejF3aHhoZGc1OA==
- On the 2nd of November, Braincrack Games, a UK games publisher behind games such as Farsight, Dead & Breakfast, and Venice, announced in an Instagram post that they have closed down.
- According to the announcement, the business had recently started to struggle with increasing operational pressures.
- The statement referred to difficulties experienced during the fulfilment of Venice, which coincided with COVID and the birth of the company’s owner, Lewis Shaw’s child. Braincrack Games released three more games after Venice: Florence, The Gig, and Last Resort.
- Unfortunately, these games also increased financial pressures on Braincrack Games and eventually led the company into a two-year insolvency period before the business fully closed.
- Many of Braincrack Games’ staff were able to find new roles, including one team member now working for Rebellion Unplugged.
- The announcement ended with a warning to prospective business founders about the challenges of running a board game company.
Wise Wizard Games
- On the 4th of November, Wise Wizard Games, the US publisher known for card-battling game Star Realms, announced on their website an internal reorganisation in response to rising production costs and unpredictable US tariffs affecting the tabletop games industry.
- As part of the restructure, Wise Wizard Games has cut its staff. While the company’s digital development team will remain in place to continue supporting existing apps, some employees will leave the company but continue working with it as external contractors, while a number of staff were let go.
- It is clear that the company is focusing on its digital tiles, which are unaffected by tariffs. Star Realms and Hero Realms apps continue to grow, while the Draconis 8 app will launch soon on Steam Early Access, and two additional titles, Caution Signs and Sherlock Solitaire, are now also available on mobile.
- Wise Wizard Games said its small box game strategy is helping it manage increased costs, and the company continues to expand its international reach through partnerships and more localisation agreements.
- Wise Wizard Games has begun distributing titles originally published outside the US, including Locus, which has already won two Toy of the Year awards in Europe, and the company reported increased sales at Origins, Gen Con, and Essen Spiel.
- Debbie Moynihan, Chief Operating Officer of Wise Wizard Games, finished the post with the following note:
- “We’ve poured our hearts and souls into Wise Wizard Games for over a decade. We know this transition is hard, and we’re sorry for the delays and disruptions. But we’re optimistic about the road ahead. We’re so grateful for your patience, your encouragement, and your belief in our games. Thanks for sticking with us.”
- Of course, the whole Brainwaves team hopes that those who lost their jobs will find new employment very soon.
Asmodee interim report April-September 2025
- On the 20th of November, Asmode, the worldwide tabletop gaming giant, shared its interim report with investors.
- The report covers the time period from April to September 2025, and in short, the figures are looking good.
- Net sales amounted to 752.4 million Euros, an increase of 25.7%, of which 28.2% organic growth. The increase was in part due to the number of games published by Asmodee’s studios going up by 2.5% and those games published by partners going up by 39%.
- EBITDA, that is “Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation”, and which is a figure often used to show a company’s performance, for the interim report period was 116.0 million Euros.
- Transparency: Oliver has done paid demo work for Asmodee.
Bezier Games’ Socials Hacked
- On the 18th of November, Bezier Games, the US board game publisher known for games such as Ultimate Werewolf, Suburbia, and Castles of Mad King Ludwig, announced in a post on Bluesky and other social media platforms that several of their online accounts, including those belonging to the company’s founder and CEO Ted Alspach, had been hacked.
- According to the statement, in the early hours of Sunday, the 16th of November, cybercriminals used the hacked accounts to post hate messages on Twitter (now X) using Ted’s account.
- We were unable to find any of these messages ourselves, as they had been quickly deleted by the company once the cyber attack had been identified.
- Bezier Games’ statement finishes as follows:
- “These abhorrent messages [on X] in no way reflect the views or opinions of Ted Alspach, Bézier Games, or any member of the Bézier Games team. We deeply apologize to anyone who was hurt or offended by these messages.”
Jobs, Opportunities, and Events
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TabletopJobs
Tabletop Games Blog Raffle in aid of Trussell / UK Food Banks
http://tabletopgamesblog.com/raffle
- The raffle in aid of Trussell, a charity that runs UK food banks, is back.
- In the winter raffle, tickets are still £1 and there are bundles available again. For example, buy 4 tickets, get 1 free.
- This time the main prize is a copy Ayar: Children of the Sun. The second prize is a games bundle consisting of Bad Trevor, Isle of Night and Club of Cthulhu. Some games were played a few times, but they’re all in great condition.
- UK shipping is covered for free, but for other destinations, the prize winner needs to pay, unfortunately. All proceeds, minus fees, go directly to Trussell, whose work is so important, especially now that the weather is getting colder again.
- To find out more, go to https://tabletopgamesblog.com/raffle
Patreon Shoutouts
Iain
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
Outro
An Important Announcement
Our Links
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