Board Game News

We’re in a golden age of tabletop games, but that can make it hard to keep up with everything that’s happening in the hobby. Worry not — Meeple Mountain has got your back!

Below you’ll find news and announcements from the world of tabletop gaming as well as hyperlocal information from Nashville, the birthplace of Meeple Mountain.

News Team, Assemble!

“I’m a lot less apologetic about the types of games I design”: Descent, Arkham Horror design veteran Kevin Wilson on heading back to freelance after Incredible Dream downsizing

Kevin Wilson, the veteran tabletop designer whose abundant list of work includes Descent: Journeys in the Dark, Arkham Horror and Cosmic Encounter, spent most of the 2010s working a successful freelance career after a decade at Fantasy Flight Games. Wilson became director of game design at Incredible Dream upon the company’s 2021 launch, but a tariff-disrupted year for the Kinfire series publisher has seen the business downsize to just two permanent staff – putting Wilson back into the freelance pool. He spoke to BoardGameWire about how his time at Incredible Dream has helped him hone his design strengths, why visibility as a freelancer is key and which of his older unpublished designs might now get another bite at the cherry.

German board game sales grow again despite wider economic slowdown – but brick and mortar retail is falling

Board game sales in Germany, one of the world’s biggest tabletop markets, are continuing to grow despite an ongoing economic slowdown in the country, new research from German toy and game trade association DVSI and its tabletop publisher-focused subsidiary Spieleverlage shows.

“Keep the foot on the gas, and don’t get complacent!”: Wyrmspan designer Connie Vogelmann on making the jump to full-time board game design

Few board game designers score the kind of rapid success that has come to Connie Vogelmann – with her debut design Apiary from 2023 flying high in the BoardGameGeek rankings, and follow-up creation Wyrmspan selling “far beyond the wildest dreams” of publisher Stonemaier Games’ founder Jamey Stegmaier following its high-profile release last year. That double success – and the “destruction” Donald Trump’s administration has had on her work as a grants law attorney – has seen Vogelmann decide to take the plunge into full-time board game design. She spoke to BoardGameWire about navigating freelance design, branching out beyond worker placement, and the challenges that face full-time designers in the current economic climate.

Pax Unplugged: This year’s best panels for current and aspiring board game industry professionals

The last big board game convention of the year kicks off on Friday as Pax Unplugged returns to the Philadelphia Convention Center. BoardGameWire rounds up some of the most interesting-looking sessions for tabletop game industry professionals from across the three days, ranging from how to grow your own evergreen title to getting your start as a tabletop gaming artist.

Tilt 5: The Much-Anticipated Arrival of AR Glasses for Board Games

November 22, 2023

Guest Contributor

Tilt5 has designed a system that’s perfectly fused traditional board gameplay with 3D, stereoscopic visuals and ultra-realistic holograms. Here’s how...