Rebellion defends Joyride over plagiarism claim as Powerboats designer presses for royalties
Plus: Ex-Elf Creek Games designer tries to save one of the floundering company’s Kickstarter projects, as publisher’s months-long silence continues
BoardGameWire is proud to have our newsletter sponsored by the following companies. Please click on the logos to support our reporting, it really helps!
Welcome to (probably) the penultimate BoardGameWire newsletter of 2024! I’ve still got a couple of feature interviews in the tank that I’d love you to read asap, as well as some feelers out for two or three potential news stories, so we should have one final edition next Thursday to close the door on a fantastic year, and begin prep for a (hopefully) busy 2025.
This week’s headline story is a detailed run-down of plagiarism accusations levelled at Rebellion Unplugged by Corné van Moorsel, who claims the publisher’s hit game Joyride is largely a mechanical copy of his 2008 design Powerboats. We explore van Moorsel’s demand for royalties, Rebellion and Joyride co-designer Duncan Molloy’s dismissal of the claims, and hear from Tabletop Game Designers’ Association co-founder Geoff Engelstein on the ethics and legality of building on other designers’ work.
We also hear from Paul Salomon, the former head of game development at struggling Kickstarter board game specialist Elf Creek Games, who is working to save one of its unfulfilled crowdfunding projects through his new publishing house. And we also report that Facebook has banned ads for a Kickstarter from small historical board game publisher Fort Circle Games for the second time this year – this time claiming its game about the history of the US Supreme Court is a “sensitive social issue”.
It’s a hefty newsletter this week! Don’t forget to read on beyond the news for our exhaustive collection of all the latest designer focused news, tips and discussions, followed by our run-down of the board game industry’s latest job openings.
Thanks as ever for reading, I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter!
Mike Didymus-True - Editor
Rebellion defends Joyride over plagiarism claim as Powerboats designer presses for royalties
The tabletop arm of UK video game and comics major Rebellion has defended its post-apocalyptic car racing game Joyride: Survival of the Fastest, after being accused of copying the design from a title it was previously in negotiations about publishing. Corné van Moorsel, the creator of 2008 board game Powerboats, is pressing Rebellion for royalties and a co-design credit for Joyride, which he says copies his game’s core movement mechanics – a claim Rebellion has denied, although it acknowledges Powerboats was one of its influences for the title.
But the situation has been complicated by the fact that Joyride co-designer Duncan Molloy, head of the Sniper Elite and 2000AD publisher’s board game arm Rebellion Unplugged, approached van Moorsel in 2019 about reprinting Powerboats, before changing his mind several months after the pair met up at Spiel Essen that year.
“Hopefully people can see the difference between what we are being accused of and what has transpired”: Rebellion Unplugged’s Duncan Molloy on Joyride plagiarism claims
In addition to our feature story above, Rebellion Unplugged head and Joyride co-designer Duncan Molloy provided extensive answers to BoardGameWire explaining where he believes it is right to draw the line between a new design and development of an existing title, and details the ways he says Powerboats and Joyride differ in their mechanics. He also admits he worries the dispute will have a knock-on effect on how Joyride is viewed, and outlines his regrets about not acknowledging Joyride's influences more clearly.
Ex-Elf Creek Games designer tries to save one of the floundering company’s Kickstarter projects, as publisher’s months-long silence continues
The former head of game development at struggling Kickstarter board game specialist Elf Creek Games is working to save one of its unfulfilled crowdfunding projects through his new publishing house. Paul Salomon, the designer of Elf Creek’s Honey Buzz and recent Stonemaier Games title Stamp Swap, left Elf Creek at the end of September while owed “an enormous and life changing amount of money” – the latest in a string of employee exits at the business, whose sole staff member is now founder Brent Dickman.
Salomon is now fighting to get Santa’s Workshop into the hands of backers through his new role as creative director for GameHead, which rebranded from GamerMats last month as part of a plan to expand the game mat supplier into publishing board games.
Facebook bans Votes for Women publisher’s ads again – this time for its board game about the history of the US Supreme Court
Facebook has banned ads for a Kickstarter from small historical board game publisher Fort Circle Games for the second time this year – this time claiming its game about the history of the US Supreme Court is a “sensitive social issue”. Fort Circle previously faced a shortfall of up to $60,000 for its Kickstarter for Votes for Women, its critically acclaimed card-driven wargame about the fight for women’s suffrage in the US, when Facebook repeatedly pulled ads for its campaign in January.
Facebook eventually admitted those ads had been “removed in error” and restored the campaign, although Fort Circle founder Kevin Bertman said at the time the unbanning after several weeks of fighting came too late to benefit the Kickstarter campaign. But despite apologising for its error, Facebook is now rejecting ads for Fort Circle’s current Kickstarter campaign for First Monday in October, which sees players recreating the history of the US Supreme Court between 1789 and 2010.
Anti-fascist Spanish Civil War semi co-op Land and Freedom wins 2024 Summit Award
The Summit Award, which aims to celebrate historical board games that have successfully broadened the hobby, has announced Alex Knight’s Land and Freedom: The Spanish Revolution and Civil War as its latest winner. Knight’s design sees players take control of three factions – anarchists, communists and moderates – who must balance working together to defeat the fascist forces while also pushing their own side’s claim to control the Spanish government.
Land and Freedom, which is published by Blue Panther, was among four finalists for the award, alongside Stephen Rangazas’ design The British Way: Counterinsurgency at the End of Empire, Halls of Hegra by Petter Schanke Olsen and We Are Coming, Nineveh by Harrison Brewer, Rex Brynen, Juliette Le Ménahèze and Brian Train.
Portal Games ends nine-year US distribution partnership with GTS, will focus on distributors that can ‘provide the best service for its brand’
Polish board game publisher Portal Games has ended its almost decade-long US distribution partnership with GTS, saying it will focus on partners it believes can best inform retailers about its games. Portal Games founder Ignacy Trzewiczek told BoardGameWire, “With the amount of products released each year on the market, on the distribution level there might come the lack of understanding of the brand, product and the publisher strategy behind the new releases.
“We decided to focus on a fewer distributors and work with those who can provide the best service for our brand, who know Robinson Crusoe, Detective or Neuroshima Hex lines and can supply retailers with the knowledge of the line, new exciting promos, and the full support.”
Hachette Boardgames seals US, UK distribution deals for MicroMacro publisher Edition Spielwiese
Hachette Boardgames has added another publisher to its ever-growing distribution business, scoring a deal to distribute MicroMacro publisher Edition Spielwiese‘s games in the US and UK. Edition Spielwiese has scored significant success with cartoon map-based deduction game MicroMacro since the launch of its debut title MicroMacro: Crime City, in 2020.
That game went on to win the Spiel des Jahres in 2021, as well as a string of other prizes including Most Innovative Board Game and Light Game of the Year in BoardGameGeek’s 2020 Golden Geek Awards, and the French As d’Or game of the year in 2021. More MicroMacro titles are set to be announced next year, with the line falling under Hachette’s distribution in the second half of 2025.
The White Castle, Forest Shuffle seal wins in this year’s Gouden Ludo awards
Forest Shuffle has added to its triumph in the German language Deutscher Spiele Preis last month by winning the Gouden Ludo Flemish family game of the year award. The win means Forest Shuffle has also done the double of Dutch language awards this year, having already scooped the 2024 Nederlandse Spellenprijs for best family game – replicating the success of double award winner The Wandering Towers last year.
Fellow multi-award nominee The White Castle scooped the expert game gong in the 2024 Gouden Ludo, having been up against The Isle of Cats and Starship Captains.
Finalists revealed in debut Bobby Nunes Memorial Award, celebrating exceptional media coverage of historical gaming cultural issues
A new award recognising historical gaming’s most exceptional culture writers, podcasters and video essay makers has unveiled its four debut finalists. The Bobby Nunes Memorial Award was launched this year in memory of the eponymous Robert “Bobby Factor” Nunes – a hugely popular figure in historical gaming circles who was central to the recent growth of the San Diego Historical Games Convention – who died of cancer in March.
SDHistCon founder Harold Buchanan, the designer of games including Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection, said the award aimed to reflect Nunes’ enthusiasm for and interest in discussing important cultural issues within the historical gaming hobby.
Enjoying BoardGameWire?
Great! We love writing about all the board game news that isn’t being properly covered elsewhere. But to do that, we need your support! If you’ve found our writing interesting or useful and want to help us do more, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Other news:
Tabletop Workers United secures “key non-economic demands” after a year of fraught negotiations - Rascal News
Games Workshop Reaches Final Agreement With Amazon for Warhammer Adaptation - Wall Street Journal
Don't roll the dice on intellectual property: Battling fakes in the tabletop industry - a virtual discussion organised by the US Patent and Trademark is taking place on December 12
Design Zone
Game designer Fabio Lopiano talks Shackleton Base – and why he’s drawn to themes grounded in reality - Mojo Nation
The Boulogne-Billancourt international board game designers competition celebrates its 44th edition next year, entries open January 7
Applications for the 2025 Nonbinary Tabletop Awards are open until December 31
Badge sales are open for the next Protospiel Online between January 17 and 19 2025, with early bird pricing available until the end of January 6
An excellent BlueSky thread of board game design tips from Wyrmspan and Apiary designer Connie Vogelmann
The latest Ludology ‘Thinking Beyond Mechanisms’ podcast sees Erica Bouyouris and Sen-Foong Lim talk with Sarah Shipp about failure and how loss can drive gameplay
Designer Diary: The White Castle: Matcha by Shei Santos and Isra Cendrero - BoardGameGeek
Skeleton Code Machine explores card shedding games with Saashi & Saashi's 1 A.M. Jailbreak
Stonemaier Games’ Jamey Stegmaier’s three steps to self-publishing a board game
Suzanne Sheldon from Restoration Games discusses crowdfunding’s effect on board game margins in this BlueSky thread
Designer Diary: Daitoshi by Dani Garcia - BoardGameGeek
The latest Cardboard Philosophy podcast invites The Dice Tower’s Chris Yi to consider the topic: What is play?
Joe Slack from The Board Game Design Course on making sure your board game box label requirements are met
The podcast My Favourite Game speaks to Mathue Ryann from EnvyBorn Games about their love of Quacks of Quedlinburg, game design vs development, accessibility in games, and the intricacies of pitching to publishers
Board game design podcast The Tabletop Takeaway looks at the intricacies and design features of Heat: Pedal to the Metal
Job Watch
US - Marketing Manager, Ravensburger North America
US - Digital Marketing Producer, Lorcana, Ravensburger North America
US - Associate Brand Manager, Ultra PRO
US - Associate Marketing Manager, Ultra PRO
US - Writer, Space Cow Media (for eg. Magic, Star Wars Unlimited, Lorcana)
US - Community & Events Coordinator, Paverson Games
US - Senior Logistics Coordinator, UVS Games
US - Social Media Manager, Goliath
All these jobs are from the very excellent Tabletop Game Jobs Facebook Group - head there to take a look at all the latest listings
That’s it for this week - please share this email with your friends and colleagues if it’s been useful or interesting! It’s as easy as clicking the button below:
And if you value BoardGameWire sourcing exclusives and covering all the most important industry news, please help support us to keep doing so through our Patreon: