Happy new year, and welcome to my newsletter!

I’m Ali, a board game designer based in London. You’re receiving this because we met at a convention or playtesting event during 2025 and you expressed interest in hearing when games you tested are coming out.

I’m thrilled to share that I’ve signed my first two game contracts:

• Stumped / If a Tree Falls — a light social deduction game about someone secretly cutting down trees (scheduled for release late 2026)

• Entangled — a 2-player abstract strategy game inspired by quantum entanglement (scheduled for early 2027)

A huge thank you to everyone who helped to playtest these designs and get them over the line. Once the publishers formally announce them, I’ll share more details here, and on my website.

Join my remote playtest group

I’m busy working on lots more games. When a game is nearing completion, I occasionally send physical prototypes by mail to a small group of playtesters to check clarity, balance, and fun.

• Small card games: you can keep the prototype

• Larger games: I’ll cover return postage to send it back to me, so I can then show the game to publishers

As a thank-you, I’ll also run a prize draw where one playtester will win a free copy each time one of my games is released (The group is currently quite small, so the odds are quite good!)

If you’d like to join this group, just reply to this email with:

• Your name

• Types/genres of games you particularly like (or don’t like)

• Your address (I will ask before posting anything to you!)

Thanks again for the support — more soon.

Best wishes and happy gaming,
Ali