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Mergers, Splits, and Distribution Deals: Collecting Sets, Pulling the Pin, and Finding Good Things in Small Boxes

Mergers, Splits, and Distribution Deals: Collecting Sets, Pulling the Pin, and Finding Good Things in Small Boxes
From gallery of W Eric Martin
• Even in December 2019, I'm still working through industry announcements that ended up in my "to do" folder because they arrived during the run-up to SPIEL '19.

One such announcement: In October 2019, PlayMonster — which was known as Patch Products until 2016 — acquired Set Enterprises, Inc., publisher of (among other things) the game SET, which a far younger W. Eric Martin demonstrated to customers when he worked in game stores in San Francisco from 1991 to 1993.

Man, I loved showing people how to play SET, and it's an ideal POP (point of purchase) game as customers can learn the game in seconds while they're checking out with something else. Marsha Falco's SET relies on a beautifully simple concept that nearly anyone can grasp, and if nothing else, you can treat it as a solo puzzle through the daily challenge on the Set Enterprises website.

From gallery of W Eric Martin
Daily challenge complete!

Board Game Publisher: Pull the Pin Games
• In October 2019, Overworld Games — best known for Good Cop Bad Cop — changed its name to Pull the Pin Games. Why the change? "The new branding signals the beginning of a focus on quick, large group, small-box social games that are very easy to learn for new players, but are packed with strategic choices for veterans — all at a very affordable price." The "pin" is a hangtag on the box that owners pull to remove the game contents.

The first titles from Pull the Pin Games are the streamlined third edition of Good Cop Bad Cop, which is already released, and The Zorro Dice Game, due out in June 2020.

External image

Board Game: Hard City
Board Game: Slyville
• Ares Games has signed a distribution deal with Polish publisher Hexy Studio to release its titles Hard City and Slyville in the United States and other countries outside of Europe in Q2 2020 once the former game's Kickstarter fulfillment has taken place.

• In mid-2017, designer John Clowdus of Small Box Games sold his back catalog of designs to Kolossal Games and started working with the company to reissue older SBG titles and publish new larger non-SBG designs such as Mezo.

Board Game: The North
However, Clowdus' time with Kolossal ended in the first half of 2019, and he's now started publishing through SBG once again, with The North being his first such release. (If you missed the Kickstarter, No Regret Games has a few copies still in stock.) As for what's coming in the future, Clowdus posted the following on Facebook in November 2019: "New, different stuff coming in the next year, a few different ways, from Kickstarter to preorder to direct from DTC [DriveThruCards]. Really excited to bring all of these new games and worlds to you all. Thanks again for supporting what I do through Small Box Games!"

From gallery of W Eric Martin

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