Jeff Grisenthwaite

It's certainly attention-grabbing. And I do agree that dry mechanical hooks aren't often compelling enough.

That video was excellent, but the way he's defining "Appeal" is essentially the definition I've always used for "Hook."

What game design takeaways do you have from it?

That's such a better solution than constantly yelling "NO SCREEN PEEKING!"

Playing Cards & Board Games Market | Industry Report, 2030 The global playing cards and board games market size was valued at USD 19.90 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 31.93 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 8.3% from 2025 to 2030

Annual global revenue for the tabletop industry appears to be around $20B. That's a lot higher than I would have guessed.

I'm sure a good chunk of that is games from the 1900s. And another sizable chunk is MTG, Lorcana and other such cash sinkholes.

But still, $20B is huge.

It's a good perspective. I feel like that 10% estimate is the big gap between today's world and your calculations. I suspect it's maybe more like 1% in terms of the number of people that purchase 1+ games annually.

Given enough time, I think it could grow to 10%.

More generally, don't let theme get in the way of usability. Don't call a deck "the library" and a discard pile "the graveyard" and your hand "the tome."

I've only seen tiny clips of it when my wife watches it. I refer to it as the "meaningful gazes" show, because every scene ends with someone staring at someone else in a manner that is rather cryptic if you have no context.

Thanks, that means a lot!

It's getting a new release as Best of Neapolitan

Children of Time is great! Fascism is not so great.

This one was signed as a direct result of your contest, so thank you!

YES!! Grant put Outfox the Fox in his top 5 this month, saying, "It's my favorite party game I've played in a while!"

a man in a blue suit and bow tie is standing in front of a large screen with a green stick flying in the air . ALT: a man in a blue suit and bow tie is standing in front of a large screen with a green stick flying in the air .

When you die, your life will be reduced to an unpredictable tally of points

🎲✂️ to get this in the board game design feed

Tricky Kids is a trick-taker, in which the cards have no numbers. Players write whatever numbers they want on them, as long as the total equals 21.

3 word headings that start with verbs do work very well for sell sheets and pitch videos

10 sq ft seems like a great rule of thumb. Sizing my game down by 10% seems entirely reasonable.

For table hog games, how big is too big? I'd love to see some measurements of the smallest tables that you regularly play games on. 🎲✂️

This is my Arches prototype. It spreads over roughly 11 sq ft (1 sq meter).

So, are these fictitious screenshots of games that don't exist (yet)? What do you do with them?

My approach is to just send out my emails when I'm ready. And if I don't hear anything after a month or two, I'll reach out again with a gentle nudge.
Publishers are always busy. I'm not sure that there's a perfect time.

Yesterday, I played Rurik, No Loose Ends, and Anomia. All first time plays, all enjoyable!

In those examples, it's also central to the game.
I've also played a fair number of prototypes, in which guessing the hidden thing feels kind of ancillary.

I hope you enjoy it! It tends to go over really well with fans of Wits & Wagers

OUTFOX the FOX box

My sly trivia party game, OUTFOX the FOX, is now on sale on Amazon and Target (online)! It'll be on store shelves soon.

Rank Top 5 lists & spot the fake answer (The Fox!)

It recreates the team fun of pub trivia night. The game's one-vs-many structure pits the question reader vs. everyone else.

squidward from spongebob squarepants is holding a bouquet of flowers ALT: squidward from spongebob squarepants is holding a bouquet of flowers

BGA just went full Asmodee with their branding.
Let's pour one out for the original janky site that brought us so much joy

Interesting! If you're open to sharing, I'd love to know key ratios that you've seen, such as:
- Conversion rate from your mailing list
- Cost per conversion via ad spending

I'm thinking about doing a PnP crowdfunding launch sometime next year, but I know very little about this stuff.

Arches was the biggest hit of my four games. The table presence drew people in, and the gameplay felt closer to finished than I anticipated.

Arches game prototype

Protospiel Chicago was fun and productive this past weekend. I played 25 prototypes (!) from other designers and felt like I was able to help at least a few of them unlock the next evolution of their games.

I tested Arches, Pasghetti, Compass & Ink, and Food Frenzy and got helpful feedback.