Big Industry Moves: D&D Designers Shift to Daggerheart
Two major names in tabletop RPGs, Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins, are leaving Wizards of the Coast to join Darrington Press, the publishing arm of Critical Role. These longtime D&D architects bring decades of experience with them and will now focus on Daggerheart, which recently launched and is getting attention as a more narrative-friendly RPG system. This adds serious weight to Darrington’s projects and signals their long-term goal to seriously compete in the RPG space.
Industry Shakeups and Policy Trouble in Québec
Asmodee is making news again. This time, by locking down a major distribution deal with Frosted Games, covering Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. That gives another indie publisher a pipeline to larger markets, but it’s also one more feather in Asmodee’s growing cap of worldwide partnerships.
In related news from the province of Québec, Bill 96 is causing serious problems for local game stores. The law went into effect June 1 and requires that all packaging include French translations. That’s jeopardizing around 90% of products on many game store shelves. Store owners across the region are asking for exemptions—arguing that tabletop games are a part of cultural life just like books—but nothing’s guaranteed yet. You can view a CTV News report here covering how severe the situation really is.
2025 Diana Jones Award Finalists Announced
The shortlist for one of tabletop’s most respected awards is out. The 2025 Diana Jones Award nominees are:
- Daybreak – A cooperative game about climate action from Matt Leacock and Matteo Menapace
- Charlie Hall – Journalist formerly with Polygon, recognized for games journalism
- Rascal News – A new platform covering TTRPGs and industry transparency
- Rose Estes – Classic gamebook designer behind several early D&D-related works
The winner will be named on July 30, just before Gen Con kicks off.
Austria’s Game of the Year: Gloomies Picks Up the Prize
The Österreichischer Spielepreis has crowned its Spiel der Spiele 2025, and the top award went to Gloomies from designer Filippo Landini and publisher Ravensburger. This 2 to 4 player game brings dungeon-crawling charm with strong narrative beats. U.S. release is expected around Q3 2025.
Other category winners include:
- Expert Game: SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
- Card Game: Castle Combo
- Family Game: Ziggurat, another title by Matt Leacock
Classic Bidding Game Big Shot Back in Print
If you like games that force you to play the players just as much as the board, then here’s a good heads-up: Big Shot is back. This area control and bluff bidding game from 2001 is getting new printings courtesy of publisher Playte. It’s a mean, fast, tightly wound game where you spend all your cubes through high-stakes auctions and hope you don’t tie—and lose big. Veteran game writer W. Eric Martin recently walked through the game’s legacy and tactics.
SETI and The Publish or Perish Game Gain Academic Attention
SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence was not only awarded Austria’s top prize in the Expert category, it continues gaining buzz for its combination of abstract mechanics and science-themed gameplay. The board game offers a compelling fictional lens through which to explore real-world scientific methodology.
And while it’s not a mass-market game, another title generated unusual press: The Publish or Perish Game got a full feature in The Washington Post Book Club. The satire-heavy game skewers academic life with card titles like “Zombie Ant Fungus and Management Techniques” and “The Quantum Uncertainty of Schrödinger’s Emails.” A quirky win for indie publications.
Two-Player Conversions: Hits and Misses
A new article by K. David Ladage on Meeple Mountain spotlighted 2-player reworks of popular games. As you’d expect, 7 Wonders Duel lands firmly in the “Good” category—Ladage praises how the game implements face-up and face-down cards to create interesting draft tension without overwhelming the pacing. Other adaptations weren’t so lucky, falling into “unnecessary” or “poorly balanced.” It’s a helpful piece if you’re wondering which versions work best for date night or small group sessions.
Upcoming Highlight: Alpine Trails
An excellent designer diary from Nate Jenne gave us insight into Alpine Trails, a map-building game about hiking and managing wildlife. The development shifted from open drafting to a draw-from-a-bag mechanism to streamline decisions. Combined with smart use of tile loops to earn waterfalls and balanced scoring via animals, this one’s looking tighter with each revision. It’s not available yet broadly, but it should make its way to Kickstarter or retail soon based on current publisher activity.
Spotlight: Video Games Inspiring the Tabletop
On the lighter side, Bell of Lost Souls is spotlighting board games that scratch a familiar video game itch. If you’re waiting out a battery recharge on your Nintendo Switch 2, games that echo the feel of Tetris, Hades, or Stardew Valley are getting nods. On the flip side of cozy, keep an eye on Emberleaf a peaceful game with light adventure mechanics about rebuilding your home in a fantasy forest—no dragons, no dungeons, just restoration vibes with adorable production values.
Trends Watch: Cozy vs Cutthroat
Two standout upcoming titles show how wide the scope is right now:
- Emberleaf leans hard into soft aesthetics, taking cues from games like Meadow and Everdell.
- Beetown Beatdown (due in 2026), by contrast, hides a brutal hybrid of area control and tech trees beneath cute fuzzy artwork. Expect a serious strategy title disguised as a bee party.
Players continue to explore “cozy” themes, but publishers are upping the gameplay weight to match longer-lasting interest.
Final Notes
We’re edging closer to Gen Con 2025, and the award buzz, industry hires, and regional policy changes are already showing where the next few months might swing. More big publishers appear ready to double down on crowdfunding and