Play table · New project

Run your own board game publisher

A cozy management sim for Windows, Mac and Linux, in English and German. Design games, give them a cover, print them for real, and answer to the market.

Board Game Tycoon key art: the publisher sketches a hex-tile prototype at the play table while the studio cat watches, a turquoise die beside the board and a game plan on the whiteboard behind

Note to self

Make a game people love.

Test it until it clicks. Print just enough copies. Don't go broke before the fair.

Watch the trailer Wishlist on Steam Steam page in the works

Prefer email? I'll write when there's news.

Table cam · Six takes

From an idea to a box on the shelf

Every game you publish walks the same road. Here it is in six short takes from the current build.

Take 1 · Game table

Lay your cards on the table

Pick a theme, a player count and an audience, then draw mechanics from your decks. Each card says what it promises and what it risks. There is no recipe to follow.

Take 2 · Cover designer

Make it yours

Give your game a name and build its cover from layers, motifs and colors. The box you design here is the box that lands on the shelf.

Take 3 · Playtest night

The playtest tells the story

Simulated groups play your prototype. Click a tester to hear what bugged them, fix what needs fixing, and test again. You decide when it is ready for print.

Take 4 · Stock corner

Off to the printer

Get a quote, pick a print run and pay the printer in installments. Too few copies and you sell out while the reprint takes weeks. Too many and your money sits in boxes.

Take 5 · Release night

Your first box

The box drops, the stamp lands, and the first week's numbers come in. Your prototype is a title in your catalog now, and the magazines have their review copies.

Take 6 · Award gala

Sometimes the Golden Die is yours

Magazines review over weeks, players rate your games on BoardGameFreak, and once a year a jury picks the finalists. A gala night lifts a title's renown, and its demand.

You design it. You print it. You answer for it.

Every game you publish walks the same road as a real one: from an idea on the whiteboard to a box in a warehouse to a review in a magazine.

Design Core

No recipe to follow

Pick two to four mechanics; each states its promise and its risk in plain words. There is no lookup table of best combinations. You find out at the table.

Finding · Focus group "Downtime drags with four players."

Production Core

Print runs are real

Build the cover in the designer, pick one signature piece, commit to a run and pay the printer in installments. Unsold boxes sit in your stock and cost money. Selling out? A reprint takes weeks, so order before the shelf is empty.

Invoice · Meeple Manufaktur Balance $4,922 · due week 15

Market Optional

Critics take their time

Five magazines review your game over weeks, not instantly, and players rate it on BoardGameFreak, the game's own community site. Invite a content creator to a stream night, put on a demo at the fair, and see your title on the longlist for one of three annual awards.

Press · Announced "Three reviews are on the way."

Repertoire Optional

Ideas come from playing

No research points. New mechanics and themes land on your idea wall because you experienced them: a walk across the fair, a game night with rival titles, the jury evening after a nomination.

Idea wall · New "Push Your Luck, seen at the fair."

How it plays together

Wild clicking dies, iterating wins. Weekly turns, no timers, a real economy working quietly underneath, and the whole game lives in one walkable studio instead of menu screens.

Trailer

The box is on the table. The cameras come next.

Trailer · In production The gameplay trailer is being cut right now. Check back soon, or leave your email and hear about it first.

The person behind the box

Board games first, code second

Board Game Tycoon is made by one person. In the first Dev Talk I say who, and why, and then open the project.

Dev Talk #1 thumbnail: a photo of the developer in front of a shelf full of board games next to the game's office, captioned Why I'm making this — Dev Talk #1 · Why I'm making this · 21 min

Prints from the studio

Your office is the menu

No menu screens. You walk through an isometric studio: plan at the whiteboard, playtest at the table, manage money at the PC, and let a week pass on the sofa. The big nights get a stage of their own.

Playtest night in the studio: four testers around the game table, the cat watching, hotspot labels for the game table, the whiteboard and the stock corner, and a speech bubble reading: Over several turns, everyone only looked at their own tableau — Playtest night. Click a tester to hear what bugs them.

The mechanics step of the project assistant: two Brainwork cards laid on the table, the open deck of thirteen cards below, the direction note on the right — Two to four mechanics, laid on the table.

The cover designer: a large box cover titled Lord of the Meeples with a raven layer selected, the layer list and color swatches beside it, small previews for catalog, shelf and panel below — The cover designer. Layers, motifs, your title.

Release night: the published box with its stamp, launch-week revenue and copies sold, the delivery note from the print shop and the payment plan beside it — Release night. The first week's numbers are in.

Award ceremony on the dark stage: three finalists on the podium, Lord of the Meeples in the middle wins the Golden Die, confetti and the jury citation beside it — Award night. Sometimes the Golden Die is yours.

The publisher's stand at the fair: the Gladrex Interactive banner over two demo tables full of visitors, a shelf of games, boxes and a queue in front of the stand — Your own stand at the fair. Full release preview.

The publisher's shelf: five game boxes sorted by sales, the bestseller lifted, a tag with units and ratings under each box and the ledger below — Your catalog, box by box, on the shelf.

A larger office with a team at their desks, a game table in the middle, the publisher's shelf by the door and the studio name on the wall — From home office to studio. Full release preview.

Work in progress · captured from the current build · fully playable in English and German · two previews show the full release

Board Game Tycoon: Vom Prototyp zur fertigen Schachtel als Management-Simulation

By Daniel Krause

The first article about the game, in German: who makes it, how a game goes from the first idea to a reprint, and when the Steam page opens.

Read it on Brettspiel-News.de (German)

Post from the publisher

I'm making this game alone, so I only write when there's something to tell: the demo, the release and the big moments in between. A few emails a year, and one click takes you off the list.

Alex

Reply card · Board Game Tycoon

Delivery note

Press, creators and questions welcome. One person packs every box.

Title: Board Game Tycoon
Developer: Gladrex Interactive, a one-person studio from Bavaria
Platforms: Windows · Mac · Linux
Languages: English · German
Status: In development · Steam page coming soon
Press kit: Screenshots, key art, factsheet
Dev talk: #1: Why I'm making this (YouTube)
Contact: hello@gladrex.com