“Did it save the company? Yes and no”: FunForge’s CEO on fighting its financial woes by selling the Tokaido line to Stonemaier
Plus: Tabletop Game Designers Association persuades Barnes & Noble to start namechecking board game designers in online store listings
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Somehow it’s already almost a week since I returned from Spiel Essen, and I still have a pile of unanswered emails to get through and meetings to follow up - huge apologies if you’re one of the many people waiting for me to reply! Amid that slew of meetings I managed to sit down with FunForge CEO Philippe Nouhra, who talked through the impact of the financially-troubled company’s decision to sell the Tokaido line of games to Wingspan publisher Stonemaier - and what that move means for the future of the business. He also talked about his fears that the industry’s broken crowdfunding and distribution models are leading it to a looming crisis.
We have a rundown of the numbers from this year’s Spiel, which saw more than 204,000 people attend to mark a post-Covid record. Exhibitor numbers were down on last year at 932, however, and well below the roughly 1,200 who showed off games at the fair in 2019. Publishers at the event shared with BoardGameWire their concerns about the impact of rising booth costs, and it was clear more exhibitors are buddying up to share booth space to make the finances of attending the world’s biggest board game fair work.
This weeks newsletter also has the excellent news that US retailer Barnes & Noble has begun including the names of the designers of board games it sells through its online store, thanks to a successful approach by the recently-launched Tabletop Game Designers Association. Time will tell if other big names such as Amazon and Target follow suit, but it’s an important step in the right direction for tabletop creatives.
I’ve got a string of other interesting things to chase up following Spiel, but I’m always keen to hear from readers about what they think should be featured in these newsletters - either individual stories about the industry which aren’t being covered, or more general types of coverage you’d like to see more of. Please do get in touch! Drop me an email on mike@boardgamewire.com and I’ll gladly listen to what you have to say.
Thanks for reading, enjoy this week’s newsletter!
Mike Didymus-True - Editor
“Did it save the company? Yes and no”: FunForge’s CEO on fighting its financial woes by selling the Tokaido line to Stonemaier
After years of financial struggles, French board game publisher FunForge has taken the drastic step of selling its entire line of Tokaido games to Wingspan publisher Stonemaier Games, in a move it hopes will give the company breathing space to rebuild - and refocus - its business.
FunForge CEO Philippe Nouhra sat down with BoardGameWire at this year's Spiel Essen board game fair to discuss how the company is pivoting to small-box games in an attempt to rebuild financially and creatively, and why board gaming's broken crowdfunding and distribution models are leading the industry to a looming crisis.
Tabletop Game Designers Association persuades Barnes & Noble to start namechecking board game designers in online store listings
US retailer Barnes & Noble has begun including the names of the designers of board games it sells through its online store after a successful approach by the recently-launched Tabletop Game Designers Association. While authors and musicians have long seen their names credited alongside the titles of their works in major online stores such as Amazon and Target, board game designers have been overlooked until now, with companies instead tending to highlight which publisher produced the game.
Last Friday saw Barnes & Noble “step up” and upgrade its website to include designer names, TTGDA co-founder Geoff Engelstein told BoardGameWire, meaning creators such as Wingspan’s Elizabeth Hargrave and Ticket to Ride’s Alan R Moon now have their names credited next to their games’ titles in its online store.
Spiel Essen sells out for first time as 204,000 attendees set post-Covid record
The world's biggest board game fair, Spiel Essen, has posted a new post-Covid attendance record amid completely selling out of tickets for the four-day event for the first time in its 41-year history. About 204,000 people attended this year’s fair in north-west Germany, which closed its doors on Sunday – up around 5.6% compared to the 193,000 who visited the event in 2023.
That attendance remained just shy of the record 209,000 attendance Spiel set in 2019, a figure it was unlikely to equal this year as the event set a daily cap on how many people could be in the halls at one time.
Forest Shuffle scoops German’s biggest community-voted board game award, Sky Team and White Castle also impress
Woodland-themed tableau-building card game Forest Shuffle has triumphed in this year’s Deutscher Spiele Preis, the biggest community-voted board game award in Germany. The game is only the second published design from mononymous designer Kosch, following his 2022 debut FYFE, and marks the first Deutscher Spiele Preis win for publisher Lookout Spiele since Uwe Rosenberg’s Agricola in 2008.
This year’s Spiel des Jahres winner Sky Team added to its bulging cabinet of awards by picking up the second-place prize, while small box Edo-period Japan worker placement game The White Castle finished in third place.
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Other news:
Asmodee’s veteran head of publishing Steve Horvath has retired
Sky Team was the most widely played new game by users of the Board Game Stats over the last 12 months
Sara Erikson has joined Keymaster Games as the company’s new wholesale manager
Brettspiel has a good write-up of this year’s Educators Day at Spiel Essen, which focuses on using modern board games in education
Design Zone
Gary Kacmarcik presents some slides on how he got his game Shinjuku published in Japan
I’d hoped to speak with game designer Tomáš Holek about his incredible debut at Spiel Essen, with all three of his games to date - SETI, Tea Garden and Galileo Galilei - riding high in the hotness. Alex from Talking Shelf Space had the same idea though, and caught up with Holek at Spiel for this excellent interview
The 2025 In-Hand Game Design Contest, for games which don’t require a surface, pockets, or anything but your hands to play, is open until January 1 next year
Sen and Erica from the Ludology Podcast talk to 18-card puzzle game designer Jonathan Chaffer about puzzle design, use of technology in the space, clues vs hints and the concept of red herrings
Phil Walker-Harding talks to Mojo Nation about the 10th anniversary edition of Sushi Go!, and how the game played a big part in his decision to go full time as a designer
Designer Diary: Tikal Legend by Wolfgang Kramer - BoardGameGeek
Adam in Wales explores how niche a board game can be while still being marketable
Design Diary: War Story: Occupied France, or Making Choices About How to Design a Game About Making Choices by David Thompson - BoardGameGeek
Skeleton Code Machine explores hidden traitor and semi-cooperative game mechanisms
The Cardboard Philosophy Podcast discusses whether any subjects are off limits for board games
Designer Diary: Lenin's Legacy by Matthais Cramer - BoardGameGeek
The Decision Space podcast looks at the ‘sweet spot’ in board game design
The Unboxed podcast sees Jen Graham-Macht and Danni Loe speak with the incredibly knowledgable Ray Billings from The Op about marketing board games on TikTok and Reels
Joe Slack from The Board Game Design Course looks at finding the right board game reviewers and influencers for your game
Game Design Unboxed talks with Dan Cassar about his design Arboretum
Job Watch
US - North American Marketing Manager, Hachette Board Games USA
US - Exhibitor Manager, GAMA
US - Project Manager, GameGenic
UK - Design Operations Manager, Games Workshop
UK - Graphic Designer, Games Workshop
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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