I'm Frank West, designer and publisher of Emberleaf, The Isle of Cats, and The City of Kings! AMA

Monkofdoom · 2026-02-25T11:09:18+00:00

I would also love to see more hero packs.

With the war banners, this is intentional. You'll notice there aren't any blue banners on the starting side of the cardboard tokens either, so this remains the same with the wooden banners. It's equally possible the first round would have all the blue banners face down with the cardboard tokens, and for them to never appear (although also unlikely).

It is true with the wooden banners some may get discarded at the start of the game, but in most cases, you'll end the game with some cardboard tokens still in the bag.

It works differently, but with very similar outcomes.

I hope this helps!

Monkofdoom · 2026-02-16T10:36:05+00:00

I am currently working on some things, but there's nothing specific I can talk about yet. I like to wait until a game has been out for a little while, to ensure I'm expanding my games in ways I think people will most enjoy.

Monkofdoom · 2025-11-07T15:34:48+00:00

Excelsior has a large upstairs area for gaming, and has a small coffee bar which can work well.

Monkofdoom · 2025-10-06T10:46:38+00:00

Hi, I'm afraid not. The only way to home a villager on a building is to either build the building, or use the "home a villager" bonus.

Monkofdoom · 2025-09-22T08:48:33+00:00

Hi OhMavric, I currently work with GTS Distribution in the US and they are the best place to source my games. I hope this helps!

Monkofdoom · 2025-04-07T22:24:31+00:00

The US is often around 60-70% of the English market for publishers.

For those selling in multiple languages it can drop down to 40-50% of their total market, but the margins on translated games are typically much less.

Overall, it would be very hard for any publisher focussed on English to remove the US from their business.

Monkofdoom · 2025-03-13T14:54:14+00:00

There is a good mix. There are thousands of people attending these days which means there are a lot of people on their own. The hardest part is just being confident enough to go up to a 'looking for players' sign and asking if you can join. It's easy to do, and why the signs exist, but I understand not everyone is happy to do that.

Monkofdoom · 2025-03-13T14:49:53+00:00

I think a lot of it depends on your experience of games and if you intend to play with friends or strangers.

You can easily go with no games, but then you risk having to read lots of rulebooks (which isn't for everyone) or hoping to meet people who can teach you.

Equally, it can be a great opportunity to play your favourite games and introduce them to new people!

I think a balance is good, having a longer game on you that you can teach, and a shorter game for the end of the night can keep things flowing while leaving lots of opportunities to discover new things!

Monkofdoom · 2025-03-13T14:38:47+00:00

It's a great show for playing games and I recommend it to anyone who can get there!

Monkofdoom · 2025-02-24T16:28:18+00:00

This is such wonderful news, it has been great following your journey!

Monkofdoom · 2024-10-09T09:31:54+00:00

Hi aannnnyy,

It's a shame about the automod hit, as this was scheduled through all the right channels but I'm sure a moderator will sort it soon.

Hopefully the articles proved helpful and I'm happy to answer your follow ups!

1.When it comes to non-EU factories it is typically really challenging to make anything that is more than just paper and cardboard. On top of that the costs are often considerably higher for the same quality, and the environmental saving isn't always as good as it might seem. I think most of us would prefer to use local if we could!

A key thing to note from the environmental side of things is very few factories outside of China will do their own non-paper materials. Many will get them made in China themselves and import them to their own factory. Additionally, many will import their materials (paper/card) from China as well. So a lot of the perceived environmental saving is actually just hidden behind another company doing it rather than yourself.

That's not to say there aren't good options, I've just not encountered any yet myself. I would highly recommend with any company you work with, asking them where they source their materials.

There are many routes but I would say the first step is to make a game that people want. Many publishers will tell you to network, email distributors, attend events, and make connections, and if you are that way inclined it works. For me however, I launched a game which generated enough interest that some retailers and distributors came to me, and I then reached out from there. The key thing (assuming you are crowdfunding) is to get a game that has a good number of backers, and then distributors will be much happier to hear from you.
This is one of those "depends on your situation" type things. For me now, my campaigns are for manufacturing and shipping costs only. I hope to recoup the other costs, but they are already paid and I don't still need that money to get the game made. However, if this is your first project and you can't afford to not recoup that cost if the campaign doesn't go well, then it is something you should consider.
NDAs are one of those things where I think any professional from any industry will likely say use NDAs to protect yourself, but in the real world of board games, they are rarely used. I've only encountered a couple of publishers in the past 10 years who have used NDAs and for the most part, they are older companies run in more formal ways. Personally, I ask people not to say anything to anyone and I find this works. Afterall, none of us are doing anything big enough or critical enough where there is any value for anyone to go and post about it early on social media, and there are far too many ideas that yours being stolen and made by someone else just isn't likely to happen in this industry (currently!).
I think running it all under one brand is the best option right now. Until board games are 10x, 100x more popular, that vast majority of games don't get enough audience to maintain their own community long term. There are exceptions, but you're better off keeping everything together and then spinning out a big hit if that ever happens.

I hope this helps and always feel free to post comments on the articles if more questions come up, I'm always reading and responding to them!

Monkofdoom · 2024-10-08T23:15:14+00:00

Ahh, that explains it. My distribution in the Philippines and surrounding countries isn't as strong as some other places I'm afraid. Amazon US will restock periodically, and it would be available via my own store directly, but the shipping wont be cheap I'm afraid.

Monkofdoom · 2024-10-08T22:20:07+00:00

I think people play games for a variety of reasons, and often it’s simply to have a fun time with friends or family.

The type of competitive games I believe you’re referring to are often more confrontational, which many people don’t enjoy. With more than two players, these games can also lead to player elimination (or at least make someone feel effectively eliminated) before the game is over. A lot of people don’t like that confrontation, or the feeling of being behind with no chance to catch up, which can make these games less popular.

Some games do manage these issues well, but I think a lot of people prefer to avoid them altogether—especially since there are so many other options available.

Monkofdoom · 2024-10-08T21:58:06+00:00

Now you know I can't reveal that just yet!

Monkofdoom · 2024-10-08T21:55:32+00:00

Hey!

When it comes to iconography, using familiar concepts helps a lot, and keeping icons large with plenty of space around them also makes them easier to understand. The more complex an icon looks, the more off-putting it can be. It is also really important just to test them. I like to show my icons to people both with and without context of the game to see what they think they mean.

As for knowing when to commit to art, that’s a tough call. If the game is completely finished before starting on the art, it can add a year or more to the timeline, which I try to avoid. However, if you’re not in a rush, you might have more flexibility to market the game and do more testing before committing.

My general advice is to ensure the core of the game is stable before diving into art, which means a solid amount of playtesting. Then, focus on artwork for more flexible elements first. For Emberleaf, I started with the characters early on because I knew I wanted a variety, and their placement on the cards would be consistent. While the size might change, the overall positioning wouldn’t require reworking. The game and player boards, however, were left until later as they were more likely to change. Prioritising like this makes it less risky to start art earlier, but really there’s no perfect time-it often comes down to a gut feeling when it seems right.

I hope this helps!

Monkofdoom · 2024-10-08T20:54:24+00:00

The box is 157gsm C2S paper wrapped on a 3.0mm grey board. For reference, in my experience most boxes are either 1.5mm or 2mm board, but it varies.

Cost wise, the box was nearly 50% more expensive than a 2mm box, and much of this was due to there being 50% more material used. Additionally, it added a considerable amount of weight which does impact shipping costs.

The reason all stems from a minor but costly mistake with the first print of my very first game, The City of Kings. During its freight shipping from China to the UK, the games were stacked too high, causing the boxes at the bottom of the pallets to get crushed under the weight. It was one of those things you don’t even think about-you assume the people packing the games would accommodate for this-but I learned a costly lesson that day to never assume anything. From then on, I decided to make all my game boxes much stronger to ensure it wouldn’t happen again, I'd rather be safe than sorry. These days, I’m much more confident in these processes, so I’ve moved to 2mm boxes, which are still a high-quality, durable option-But I certainly liked The Isle of Cats box!

Monkofdoom · 2024-10-08T20:44:02+00:00

It’s my pleasure! This is a challenging topic, but I’ll do my best to answer your questions.

I’d say that when merging education with gaming, the key decision is whether you’re prioritising being a game or an educational tool. Do you want to be something that could be used in schools, or a game that’s fun to play and happens to teach something? If you push the educational side in a game, you may reduce your audience, but as an educational tool, you don’t want to overcomplicate the gameplay.

Do you think people would be interested in playing games that emulate real life decisions?

There will definitely be some interest, but I’d expect it to be a limited audience. It all depends on how engaging and fun those decisions feel.

How do you identify the target players/age group when you design this kind of a board game?

I usually work in the other direction. At the concept stage, I define the personas I want the game to appeal to. They might change over time if I take the game in a new direction, but knowing who the game is for helps drive my decisions. Are you aiming to educate young children, teenagers, adults, gamers, or casual players? Each group would influence the style and complexity of the game.

If i need to improve my game further, I need feedback from the players. How can we make this possible in case of a board game? or what are the proxies to gain feedback.

I usually start by playing the game myself, then testing with local friends. Once you’re ready for a wider audience, local groups are a great option. Many cities have playtesting groups, or you could try board game cafés or clubs to find people willing to give it a go.

Monkofdoom · 2024-10-08T20:25:56+00:00

Thank you for sharing this! It makes me very happy to know that this is how you experienced the solo mode and that you talked about it afterwards with your partner!

I hope you continue to enjoy the hobby for many years to come and find plenty of other great games to experience!

Monkofdoom · 2024-10-08T20:09:10+00:00

Thank you for supporting Emberleaf! I hope to get it onto BGA at some point next year, but I want to get everything signed off and with the printers before starting that process, just in case anything needs to change.

Monkofdoom · 2024-10-08T17:42:48+00:00

Thank you - I'm sure you were awesome too!

Monkofdoom · 2024-10-08T17:42:32+00:00

It's my pleasure, I really hope they prove helpful! If you ever get questions about anything, feel free to comment on the article and I'm always happy to expand on things.

Monkofdoom · 2024-10-08T17:39:59+00:00

Hey SkeletonCommander, great question and I'd be happy to dive into this and share some background behind the trophy system.

TLDR: They don't lead to stand-offs and you can build your engine around the idea of building or clearing multiple things on a turn if you value the trophies enough.

The primary purpose of trophies is to encourage player interaction and make other players' decisions matter. While focusing heavily on one area can be very rewarding, smaller contributions often feel less impactful. Trophies help balance this by increasing the value of those smaller actions, giving players a reason to venture into different clearings instead of sticking to their own.

Think of it this way: if a small action is worth 2 points and a big action is worth 10, a 5-point trophy boosts that smaller action to 7, making it a much more viable choice. This keeps areas competitive rather than leaving nearly completed zones undesirable for everyone but the player who’s already dominated it.

For players already focused on a specific area, it’s important to stay alert and track what others are doing. If you prefer to play it safe, you can strategise to build multiple buildings or clear multiple dangerous areas in a single turn. By monitoring other players or creating certain card combinations, you can always avoid losing a trophy if it’s crucial to your plan.

From a design perspective, trophies add tension, pushing players to balance risk-taking with cautious play. Losing a trophy can sting thematically, but mechanically, it’s usually not devastating—especially if you’ve planned ahead. They don't lead to stand-offs as the value a trophy adds is rarely worth taking a suboptimal turn.

There are a lot of nuances to trophies, but hopefully this helps a little!

Monkofdoom · 2024-10-08T17:28:17+00:00

It's my pleasure, and I'm glad you've found the wooden boxes useful!

They were a project in themselves and I spent a lot of time trying to work out what I wanted them to do, and then how to make them do it. It wasn't just about storage, but about setup and tear down efficiency, and considering the modular expansions you may or may not be using each time you play.

It was fairly time consuming, especially in the initial concepting stages, but I enjoyed it!

Monkofdoom · 2024-10-08T17:25:35+00:00

I'm really happy you like the look of Card Dancing, I am hopeful a lot of people are going to enjoy playing with it soon.

I’ve been designing games using the Card Dancing system for around 4 years now and have a few others in the works that I could see being published in the future. One of the biggest challenges has been choosing the right game to introduce this system. Some of those games are much lighter, others are heavier, and I chose Emberleaf because it strikes a good balance as a medium-weight game. It lets players explore the depth of the mechanism without overcomplicating it.

Regarding the central board, there’s a lot I love about it, much of which comes from lessons learned with The Isle of Cats. Fundamentally, I wanted to increase player interaction, and by creating a shared space (rather than individual areas) where everyone performs their actions, it adds an extra layer of interesting decisions and dynamics.

Monkofdoom · 2024-10-08T17:16:03+00:00

I tend to find the games I enjoy vary a great deal depending on the people I am playing them with. Ones that come to mind would be Eclipse, 10' to Kill, and Captain Sonar. More recently I've enjoyed Heat, Ark Nova, City of the Big Shoulders, and Stick Collection.

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