 | |
| Industry | Tabletop games |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder | Patrick Leder |
Key people |
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| Products | |
| Website | ledergames |
Leder Games is a board game developer owned by Patrick Leder and based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is best known for publishing asymmetric games such as Root and Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile , which were both designed by Cole Wehrle. As of 2023, board games released by the company have usually been illustrated by Kyle Ferrin.
Leder Games was founded by Patrick Leder in 2014. Leder had been involved in board game design in his free time since 2001, obtained degrees in English and psychology at Hamline University, and quit his database programming job at Macalester College in 2016 to work on the company. [1] [2]
Leder Games relies on the Kickstarter platform as both a funding and marketing tool. It focuses on releasing fewer, larger games in order to build anticipation, rather than releasing a large amount of games each year. Distinct from many board game companies, the business does not use a contract worker model, instead building a team of more permanent and higher paid employees. [1]
Leder Games' titles abide by a naming format of four letters. [3]
In 2015, the company released their first game, Vast: The Crystal Caverns. In the game, a knight attempts to slay a dragon in a cave, with players able to play as the dragon, knight, an army of goblins, a thief, or the cave itself. It was the first game by the company to be funded by a Kickstarter campaign, initially asking for $40,000 but eventually raising $150,000. A second printing of the game raised $500,000 on the platform. [2]
The original game was followed by Vast: The Mysterious Manor, Vast: The Fearsome Foes, and Vast: Haunted Hallways.
In 2018, Leder Games released Root: A Game of Woodland Might and Right, the first to be designed by Wehrle. It was followed by four main expansions from 2018 to 2022:
A digital edition created by Dire Wolf Digital was released in 2020, [6] and a role-playing game based upon the original game was released in 2021. [7] Patrick Leder's Path, an open world board game that takes place in the same universe as Root, was in development in December 2022. [8]
Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile is a game about intergenerational power struggles, developed by Wehrle since 2018 and released by Leder Games in 2020. [1] In 2022, Wehrle announced that Leder Games was designing an expansion for the game. [9]
Designed by Grant Rodiek, Fort is a deck-building game themed around children competing to build the best fort. [10] It was rethemed from the 2018 game SPQF published by Rodiek's Hyperbole Games, originally depicting a kingdom of forest animals inspired by Ancient Rome. [11]
The game was nominated at the 2021 SXSW Gaming Awards for Tabletop Game of the Year. [12] Dicebreaker noted that it "fosters social interactions and emotions above everything else." [10]
A pirate themed board game designed by Greg Loring-Albright, Ahoy involves four separate factions, two of whom fight over control of the expanding ocean map, while the others gain points by picking up and delivering cargo. [13]
Dicebreaker touted the game as a "beginner-friendly" version of Root, being significantly faster and lighter but "lack[ing] the brutal politicking and long-term strategy that made Root such a standout." [13] Game Informer listed the game as one of the best board games of 2022. [14]
An upcoming release from the company is Arcs: Collapse and Conflict in the Void. It is a space opera themed 4X campaign game designed by Wehrle in which players compete to rebuild a dying empire. [15] [16] During design, a focus was placed upon quick games that each procedurally generate the next, creating an arc of three acts in which player powers begin symmetrically but diverge over time. [16]
The Kickstarter campaign for the game earned over $532,000 in its first five hours and was expected to be delivered to backers in December 2023, with a retail version to follow. [16] Polygon noted that Arcs is part of a trend of attempting to streamline board game campaigns for more rapid play, alongside games such as Legacy of Yu. [15]
Origins awards won by Leder Games were later returned in 2020 due to concerns about the Game Manufacturers Association and support for the BIPOC community. [17] [18]
El Grande is a German-style board game for 2-5 players, designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich, and published in 1995 by Hans im Glück in German, by Rio Grande Games in English, and by 999 Games in Dutch. The game board represents renaissance-era Spain where the nobility fight for control of the nine regions. El Grande was praised for its area-control mechanism, and was awarded the Spiel des Jahres prize and the Deutscher Spiele Preis in 1996. Following its release, several expansions and an alternative version were published.
Evil Hat Productions is a company that produces role-playing games and other tabletop games. They are best known for the free indie RPG system Fate, Blades in the Dark, and Thirsty Sword Lesbians, all of which have won multiple awards.
Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) is a tabletop role playing game design framework developed by Meguey Baker and Vincent Baker for the 2010 game Apocalypse World and later adapted for hundreds of other RPGs.
Camel Up is a board game for two to eight players. It was designed by Steffen Bogen and illustrated by Dennis Lohausen, and published in 2014 by Pegasus Spiele. Players place bets on a camel race in the desert; the player who wins the most money is the winner of the game. Camel Up won the Spiel des Jahres in 2014.
Scythe is a board game for one to five players designed by Jamey Stegmaier and published by Stonemaier Games in 2016. Set in an alternative history version of 1920s Europe, players control factions that produce resources, develop economic infrastructure, and use dieselpunk combat mechs to engage in combat and control territories. Players take up to two actions per turn using individual player boards, and the game proceeds until one player has earned six achievements. At this point, the players receive coins for the achievements they have attained and the territories they control, and the player with the most coins is declared the winner.
Gloomhaven is a cooperative board game for one to four players designed by Isaac Childres and published by Cephalofair Games in 2017. It is a campaign-based dungeon crawl game including a narrative campaign, 95 unique playable scenarios, and 17 playable classes. Since its introduction the game has been acclaimed by reviewers, and has been described as one of the best board games ever made.
The Quacks of Quedlinburg, also known as Quacksalber, is a board game designed by Wolfgang Warsch and first published by Schmidt Spiele in 2018. After winning the Kennerspiel des Jahres in 2018, an English version of the game was released by North Star Games.
The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine is a board game for 3–5 players designed by Thomas Sing and released in 2019. In The Crew, a trick-taking cooperative card game with 50 missions, players aim to win tricks based on their task cards, but can only communicate limited information on their cards. Upon its release, The Crew received critical success and won numerous awards. A sequel, The Crew: Mission Deep Sea, was released in 2021.
Root: A Game of Woodland Might and Right is a 2018 asymmetric strategy wargame board game designed by Cole Wehrle, illustrated by Kyle Ferrin, and published by Leder Games. In Root, players compete for the most victory points through moving and battling using various factions with unique abilities. Upon its release, Root received positive reviews, and was followed by four expansions. A digital version, developed by Dire Wolf Digital, was released in 2020.
Tellstones: King's Gambit is a 2020 tabletop game created by Riot Games under their Riot Tabletop division. Two or four players take turns placing, swapping, and guessing tokens; the goal of the game is to either guess three tokens correctly or "boast" successfully by correctly guessing all hidden tokens. Developed as part of Riot's expansion into games outside League of Legends, the game is the company's second tabletop product following their 2016 release Mechs vs. Minions. Tellstones was released in September 2020; reviewers praised the game for its presentation and build quality, but criticized its gameplay as short and uninteresting.
Second Inquisition is a tabletop role-playing game supplement released on March 16, 2022, by Renegade Game Studios, for use with the game Vampire: The Masquerade, and is part of the larger World of Darkness series. It describes globally connected groups of vampire hunters in the game's setting, and how to create antagonists belonging to them for game campaigns.
Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game produced by Magpie Games. It is set in the world of the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, and takes place in five different time periods. It sees players take the roles of martial artists, technological experts, or benders – people who can manipulate one of the four classical elements – who fight for balance in the world while also working towards their own goals and struggling with inner balance, represented by opposing ideals held by a character.
Pax Pamir is a board game originally designed by Cole Wehrle and Phil Eklund, released in 2015 by Sierra Madre Games. Its second edition was solely designed by Wehrle and published in 2019 by Wehrlegig Games. It concerns the Russian, British, and Durrani empires struggling for dominance in Afghanistan, with players assuming the role of local leaders. Pax Pamir received positive reviews upon its release and was nominated for several awards.
Summoner Wars (Second Edition) is a tactical card game designed by Colby Dauch and Plaid Hat Games which iterates on the 2009 title of the same name. In Summoner Wars, players aim to eliminate the opponent's summoner using factions by moving units and deck building. It was physically published in 2021 and received generally positive reviews for its strategy, engagement, and accessibility. A digital version was also released.
Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile is a 2021 board game with asymmetric gameplay and legacy elements designed by Cole Wehrle, illustrated by Kyle Ferrin, and published by Leder Games. In Oath, players compete to become the Chancellor, and the events of each game influence the events of the games that follow. Upon its release, Oath received positive reviews, and an expansion for the game is in development. The game is part of an increase in the release of games that are based on a scenario or have a campaign structure, and is focused on fantasy politics and crisis.
Disney Lorcana is a collectible card game released by Ravensburger in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company in late 2023. It is Ravensburger's first trading card game and features characters from throughout Disney's film history. The game competes with other popular collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, One Piece Card Game and the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Ravensburger North America CEO Filip Francke described Lorcana as "probably the largest investment that we have ever done into any type of project and initiative".
Jeeyon Shim is a second generation Korean American game designer and writer. A former outdoor educator, her body of work is strongly influenced by themes of connection to the natural world. Playing Shim's narrative games often involves creating a keepsake artifact.
Lucian Kahn is an American role-playing game writer/designer and musician based in Brooklyn. His work focuses on LGBT, Jewish, and subcultural themes, typically utilizing satire and farce. His games include Visigoths vs. Mall Goths and his music includes Schmekel.
Alex Roberts is a Canadian tabletop role-playing game designer. Her games typically lack a gamemaster (GM) and include romantic themes.
The Zenobia Award is an award given to board games with a historical focus that awards designers from underrepresented groups in the industry, including games by women, people of color, and LGBT people. The award was first founded in 2020 by a number of industry experts including board game designer Cole Wehrle and Dr. Christienne Hinz of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, who is its director. It is named after Zenobia, a queen of the Palmyrene Empire who attempted to gain control of the Roman Empire.