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May 24, 2024

Veteran designer Kevin Wilson on his dive into worker placement, and Asmodee writes down more than $620m

Plus: Dicebreaker owner Gamer Network bought by IGN, redundancies begin across group

An incredibly short intro this week as I’m keen to get this newsletter away before the weekend! But lots of interesting stuff to check out, including a $620m write down by Asmodee amid “macroeconomic headwinds and rising interest rates”, an interview with Descent and Arkham Horror co-designer Kevin Wilson about his dive into worker placement for new game Kinfire Council, and news on the four winners of this year’s Diana Jones emerging designer award, which saw them pick up a $6,500 prize package. Plus the usual designer notes and jobs section if you scroll down far enough.

Please keep your comments, tips and support coming - and if you have colleagues, industry friends or clients you think would be interested in our coverage, please forward them this newsletter so they can sign up!

Have a great week,

Mike Didymus-True - Editor


“It’s not uncommon for me to revise parts of the game as many as 15 to 20 times”: Descent, Arkham Horror design veteran Kevin Wilson dives into worker placement for his third Kinfire game

Kevin Wilson barely needs an introduction when it comes to the modern board games industry, having spent more than 20 years working across titles ranging from Descent: Journeys in the Dark and Arkham Horror to Cosmic Encounter and Civilization: The Board Game. Since being named director of game design at Incredible Dream upon the company's 2021 launch, he's been the design lead on a trio of games in the new Kinfire setting. The latest, Kinfire Council, sees Wilson bringing his own take on the worker placement genre - and is just about to complete a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Wilson sat down with BoardGameWire to talk worldbuilding, prototyping, and best practice for designing as part of a team.

Read more


Asmodee writes down more than $620m of asset value despite posting strong annual sales

Tabletop gaming giant Asmodee has written down the value of its assets by more than $620m, with owner Embracer Group blaming macroeconomic headwinds, rising interest rates and “prudent future expectations”. The write-down represents about 20% of Asmodee’s €2.75bn acquisition price when it was bought by Embracer in 2021, and comes amid plans to spin off the board gaming business as a separate entity before the end of March next year.

Asmodee has been loaded up with about €900m of debt as part of that process – the vast majority of its parent company’s hefty debt pile – as Embracer believes it is the part of the business most likely to successfully carry the lending load given its history of stable cash flows. That belief was underscored by strong annual results for Asmodee for the 2023/24 financial year, released yesterday, which saw the tabletop business’ sales increase 13% to about $1.38bn.

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Dicebreaker owner Gamer Network bought by IGN, redundancies begin across group

Board game news website Dicebreaker and its video game-focused stablemates have been bought by IGN Entertainment, with redundancies immediately starting across the newly-purchased sites. US events company ReedPop has sold Gamer Network, which also includes GamesIndustry.biz, Eurogamer, Rock Paper Shotgun and VG247, six years after buying the UK-based business in an attempt to expand into digital news and video.

Dicebreaker has not posted any new articles since the takeover was announced on Wednesday, and its Tabletop Creators Summit scheduled for today was cancelled with less than 48 hours notice.

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“If the artwork compels, it drives people to learn more”: graphic designer Ross Bruggink on how strong visuals helped his Vicious Gardens Kickstarter bloom

When professional graphic designer Ross Bruggink decided to mix his love of gardening with his eye for creative artwork and create his first board game, he was adamant that visual beauty should be at the heart of the game. That push to create a striking game that was also strategic and quick to learn has reaped big rewards, with Vicious Gardens currently closing in on $300,000 with half the campaign still to run.

Bruggink explained to BoardGameWire how his design and playtesting process, and his decision to partner with services providers for publishing and marketing, helped the campaign to blossom.

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Diana Jones Award reveals emerging designer winners of $6,500 prize package

The Diana Jones Award Committee has revealed the four latest winners of its emerging designer program, who will each receive a $6,500 prize package that includes an all-expenses trip to Gen Con. The program aims to amplify the voices of up-and-coming tabletop designers, with a focus on creators from marginalized communities.

Quinn Brander, Taylor Navarro, Clarence Simpson and Basil Wright will all receive an expenses-paid visit to this year’s Gen Con, the largest tabletop game convention in North America, as well as a TableTakes interview at the event and a spot demoing their game on Gen Con TV. The winners will also pick up a one-year voting membership to trade body GAMA, prototyping credit at The Game Crafter, copies of the Affinity 2 graphic design suite and an online badge to virtual playtesting event Protospiel.

Read more


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Other news:

  • Adepticon moves out of Illinois after 20% attendance jump this year

  • GAMA has been showing profits after its pandemic-induced 2020 loss - ICv2

  • Tokyo Game Market 2024 Spring: Report from Table Games in the World - BoardGameGeek

  • Hackers attack website of Japan’s biggest board game fair, ‘years of irreplacable information’ lost

  • Hegemony lives up to its name by dominating latest Golden Geek Awards, Sky Team also flies high


Design Zone

  • Underdog Games founder Hasan Hasmani on how to generate awareness for your board game

  • The latest Unboxed podcast talks with Watch It Played’s Rodney Smith about how to how to successfully teach a game - and how publishers can step up in making positive player experiences

  • Designer Diary: Striking Flint by Join duBois - BoardGameGeek

  • A BGG thread: If most people are only going to play a game fewer than 10 times, should we bother with playtesting?

  • What is a sizzle reel, and do you need one? The Dark Imp’s Ellie Dix explains all in this video

  • Designer Diary: Pole Position by José Joaquín Bernal - BoardGameGeek

  • Clint Warren-Davey on simplifying large-scale conflicts in wargaming


Jobs of the Week

  • US - Senior Hobby Sales Manager - Asmodee North America

  • US - Hobby Strategy Manager - Asmodee North America

  • US - Marketing Manager - Asmodee North America

  • US - Disney Lorcana TCG Creative Project Manager - Ravensburger North America

  • US - Associate Technical Artist - Wizards of the Coast

  • US - Graphic Designer, Marketing Creative - Wizards of the Coast

  • US - Sales Representative - ACD Distribution

  • US - North America Sales Exec - Mantic Games

  • UK - Project Manager - Wayland Games

  • Netherlands - International Sales Coordinator - Exploding Kittens


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