Deluxe editions 'have become sort of an arms race... we often do the opposite': Roxley CEO Gavan Brown on the stellar success of Brass: Pittsburgh's $9.1m crowdfund
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Welcome to the latest BoardGameWire newsletter!
Board game awards season is well and truly under way, with contenders emerging and winners beginning to be unveiled across several contests for 2025’s best designs.
Among the highest profile of the year’s awards are the Golden Geeks, voted on by BoardGameGeek users, which have just unveiled their nominees for the 20th annual incarnation of the competition. YouTube reviews giant the Dice Tower has also announced the slate of nominees for its annual awards, while the results are in for the American Tabletop Awards and American Mensa’s Mind Games prize.
One design which could make a big showing in next year’s awards is Brass: Pittsburgh, which has just closed off a $9.1m Gamefound campaign to seal the biggest board game crowdfund of the year to date. Roxley Games CEO Gavan Brown, who co-designed Pittsburgh alongside original Brass creator Martin Wallace, spoke to BoardGameWire about soaring past his expectations for the crowdfund, avoiding the ‘arms race’ of deluxe editions, the advantages of Gamefound over Kickstarter and overcoming the campaign’s biggest mis-step.
Crowdfunded board game heavyweight CMON’s attempt to battle enormous losses over the past couple of years has taken a new turn, with the publisher pinning its future on a push into video game development and blockchain-based projects - beginning with a $2.1m investment in NFT game maker Blissful Link. CMON’s board said it planned to transition its titles such as Massive Darkness and Super Fantasy Brawl Reborn into “high-quality digital assets”, adding that it believed integrating its board games with digital and Web3 technologies “would enhance the long-term commercial value of the group’s portfolio”.
And we have the news that Isaac Childres, the founder of Cephalofair Games and designer of its runaway successes Gloomhaven and Frosthaven, is stepping down from his role as CEO to focus exclusively on game design at the company. Cephalofair’s long-time chief operating officer Price Johnson has been promoted to CEO at the publisher, while industry veteran Julie Ahern has been hired from Van Ryder Games as its new COO.
Plus there’s all the rest of the essential news from the board game industry, designer-focused advice and articles, and our regular jobs roundup.
One final note: BoardGameWire celebrated its third birthday on April 24! Thanks as always for reading the newsletter, and thanks especially to those of you able to help support my reporting through a paid subscription!
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Mike Didymus-True - Editor
Deluxe editions ‘have become sort of an arms race… we often do the opposite’: Roxley CEO Gavan Brown on the stellar success of Brass: Pittsburgh’s $9.1m crowdfund
The follow-up to the top ranked game on BoardGameGeek, Brass: Birmingham, was always like to attract significant attention for its crowdfunding campaign. For Roxley Games’ Brass: Pittsburgh, that interest converted into more than $9.1m, securing the biggest board game crowdfund of 2026 so far and one of the top ten tabletop gaming raises of all time.
Roxley CEO Gavan Brown, who co-designed Pittsburgh alongside original Brass creator Martin Wallace, spoke to BoardGameWire about soaring past his expectations for the crowdfund, avoiding the ‘arms race’ of deluxe editions, the advantages of Gamefound over Kickstarter and overcoming the campaign’s biggest mis-step.
CMON to invest $2.1m in NFT video game maker, says digital shift needed to expand revenue, remain ‘relevant’
Financially-troubled board game publisher CMON is pinning its future on a push into video game development and blockchain-based projects, beginning with a $2.1m investment in NFT game maker Blissful Link.
CMON’s board said it planned to transition its titles such as Massive Darkness and Super Fantasy Brawl Reborn into “high-quality digital assets”, adding that it believed integrating its board games with digital and Web3 technologies “would enhance the long-term commercial value of the group’s portfolio”.
GAMA president Nicole Brady loses re-election bid, VP Meredith Placko voted into role
The president of hobby games trade organisation GAMA, Nicole Brady, has failed in her bid to be re-elected to the role, with vice president Meredith Placko instead being voted in by the board of directors.
Brady, who spent two years as president of GAMA, had been a key driver of a plan for the organisation to become the “epicentre” of global tabletop gaming, underpinned by the unveiling of its first-ever 10-year plan last October.
Lucky Duck cuts back on “resource intensive” localisation strategy, shifts focus to developing own titles
Lucky Duck Games, the board game publisher behind European localisations of major hits such as Dune Imperium and Cascadia, is scaling back that side of its operations to prioritise development of its own designs.
Scott Morris, the company’s global brand director, told BoardGameWire that while localisation had been an important part of the business over the years it was “resource intensive” and dependent on external factors – adding that developing in-house titles provided “more opportunity for long-term value”.
Flat River sells Greater than Games brand, Sentinels of the Multiverse to digital developer Handelabra
Almost a year of uncertainty over the future of board game publisher Greater than Games has been partially resolved, with Flat River Group selling the brand name, and the rights for the Sentinels of the Multiverse titles, to Handelabra Games.
Video game developer Handelabra has a long history with the comics-themed cooperative card game, having spent more than a decade creating digital versions of the title and its expansions – as well as for Greater than Games’ best known release, Spirit Island.
Isaac Childres steps down as Cephalofair CEO to focus on game design, promotes Price Johnson to role, hires Julie Ahern as COO
Isaac Childres, the founder of Cephalofair Games and designer of its runaway successes Gloomhaven and Frosthaven, is stepping down from his role as CEO to focus exclusively on game design at the company.
Cephalofair’s long-time chief operating officer Price Johnson has been promoted to CEO at the publisher, while industry veteran Julie Ahern has been hired from Van Ryder Games as its new COO.
Hasbro delays Q1 results after cyber attack, expects revenue rise from ongoing Magic strength
Toy and game maker Hasbro has delayed its quarterly results by almost a month after suffering a cyber attack, but said it expects to post Q1 revenues of up to $985m thanks to continued strong performance of Magic: The Gathering.
Hasbro said it identified “unauthorized access” to the company’s network on March 28, but believes that access has been “contained” – adding that Magic’s shipments and release cadence had continued unaffected.
Arydia leads Golden Geek nominations with nods in six categories, Vantage and Fate of the Fellowship up for five each
Co-op fantasy adventuring game Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread has scored six nominations in the 20th annual Golden Geek Awards, which are selected and voted on by BoardGameGeek users.
Fellow open-world exploration game Vantage, designed by Scythe and Viticulture creator Jamey Stegmaier, is challenging across five categories this year, as is Pandemic creator Matt Leacock’s spin-off design The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship.
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Support BoardGameWire as a Paid SubscriberOther news:
Chaz Marler Files Legal Complaint Against Rodney Smith - Board Game Beat
High-IQ society Mensa reveals its top board games after annual four-day judging marathon
Hot Streak, Magical Athlete race to wins in this year’s American Tabletop Awards
French board game designers’ union SAJ adopts new name to better represent women, non-binary people
The nominees for this year’s Dice Tower Awards have been announced
Design Zone
Root and Arcs designer Cole Wehrle chats to The Game Design Round Table podcast about leaving Leder Games to found Buried Giant, making "fewer games more slowly", and why board games should remain ‘small and homey’ compared to video games
What makes games deep? The Decision Space podcast chats to Hot Streak designer Jon Perry about complexity, luck and skill
Designer Diary: Diplomacy: The Golden Blade Card Game by Rosco Schock - BoardGameGeek
Skeleton Code Machine looks at how SpyNet by Richard Garfield uses cards and a Dutch auction-style mechanism to keep the market moving
Game Design Unboxed chats with Jade Shames and Ben Bronstein, co-founders of Pillbox Games and co-designers of Side Effects, about how a mental illness–inspired card game idea sparked their collaboration and company, the power of bold visuals and the balance between realism and accessibility
Designer Diary: Threaded by Ellie Dix - BoardGameGeek
The Tabletop Takeaway Podcast discuss what makes for satisfying blocking mechanics, and why repetition matters, in Tag Team.
AJ Brandon and Peter C Hayward have posted their latest grab bag of board game design chat, including discussing careers in the hobby
Job Watch
US - Principal Data Analyst, D&D - Wizards of the Coast
US - Associate Project Manager, D&D (Contract/Temporary) - Wizards of the Coast
US - Operations & Sales Manager - Open Owl Studios
UK - Business Operations Manager - Tettix Games
UK, Canada, Spain or Italy - Global Brand Director - Asmodee
France - Community Manager UK & Content Creator - ATM Gaming (Asmodee)
Denmark - Junior Graphic Designer - Bezzerwizzer Studio (Asmodee)
All these jobs are from the very excellent Tabletop Game Jobs Facebook Group - head there to take a look at all the latest listings
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