Stonemaier Streams

In regards to several recent crowdfunded games that either relaunched after an initial cancellation or are struggling to move far past their funding goal, I've heard some concerns about trust from potential backers. For example, if a project has a $10,000 funding goal but after the first few days they only have a few hundred backers and $13,000 in funding, is it a mark of dishonesty if they cancel...

https://youtube.com/live/ZueGOyxXlOw

Over the weekend I was playing a game, Takenoko, which I hadn't played in a while. I had a rule question about gardener and panda movement, and I did what I often do if I can't find a question in the rulebook: I pulled out my phone and Googled the question.   https://stonemaiergames.com/how-do-you-ask-rule-questions/

Today I discuss my favorite legacy games--games featuring permanent changes that can't be undone--out of the roughly 25 that I've played. Legacy games often feature unlocks, surprises, and consequences in a campaign format. https://youtu.be/0rc1h6WlOhI

14 years ago today--on September 10, 2012--Viticulture reached its funding goal on Kickstarter. I consider this the official day that Stonemaier Games was born, and I'm so grateful for those original backers for giving birth to that game and this company. I don't have a monumental topic today; rather, I have a few bite-size topics on which I've ruminated recently. I'd love to hear your thoughts ab...

Join Jamey for an hour of Stonemaier Games news, questions, answers, and random discussion topics! https://youtube.com/live/fj8OVuT9BPA

At Stonemaier Games,   our staff and contributors  now include a total of my 6 full-time coworkers, 1 part-time coworker and cofounder, a number of key independent contractors and creatives (designers and artists), and another 100+ paid volunteers (proofreaders and playtesters). I am so lucky to work with such talented, passionate, and kind people every day.   https://stonemaiergames.com/labor-day...

In today's video I share my top 10 favorite tabletop games of all time as of right now (September 2026). https://youtu.be/MhJHqacHXEs

Today I received an enlightening email from a fellow publisher–someone who has used crowdfunding successfully for multiple projects–about their struggles with certain types of marketing and advertising. I’ll explore this publisher’s struggles and share some constructive opinions. https://stonemaiergames.com/the-current-state-of-crowdfunding-marketing-2026/

Join Jamey for an hour of Stonemaier Games news, questions, answers, and random discussion topics! https://youtube.com/live/3ltoyqJMiTA

In a recent article, Colby offers a transparent, humble, and vulnerable perspective about his crowdfunding philosophy, how it didn't result in a successful first launch of The Monolith, and the adjustments he's made for the current campaign. Today I'll share my thoughts Colby's initial goals and how they've evolved.   https://stonemaiergames.com/admirable-goals-vs-successful-crowdfunding/

I discuss different resource systems in games; specifically, different types of costs to put things (cards, tiles, miniatures, dice, etc) into play.   https://youtu.be/Ow3V4zWB82o

We always try to make games that are easy to get to the table, but this is absurd: Just one month after customers started receiving copies of Wingspan Pocket , the game already has over 1,000 ratings on BoardGameGeek . People are getting the game and actually playing it right away--this is a publisher's dream!   https://stonemaiergames.com/one-thousand-ratings-in-one-month/

https://youtube.com/live/2qdjl8wcTGQ

I'm always fascinated by how someone handles communication when things don't go as planned, and we had a few such situations arise during our recent Iceland trip. Here's what happened, how the communication was handled, and what I learned from it as a creator. https://stonemaiergames.com/4-examples-of-good-bad-and-mixed-communication-from-our-iceland-trip/

Jamey summarizes each Stonemaier game (2013-2026) in 1 minute or less. https://youtu.be/drnFyqz2Y_I

I want our customers to feel like very important people (even if they aren't Stonemaier Champions), so I appreciate the variety of these VIP techniques.   https://stonemaiergames.com/10-ways-to-offer-vip-status-without-exclusion-gatekeeping-or-elitism/

Join Jamey for an hour of Stonemaier Games news, questions, answers, and random discussion topics! https://youtube.com/live/tGS_5OTLtSE

Jamey and Erica discuss their favorite medium-weight games with simple rules, easy to learn, and high strategic depth.   https://youtu.be/j-Z6CFfq69c

I follow Games Unlimited PGH (@ gamesunlimitedpgh ) on Instagram, and Kylie frequently offers really helpful retailer perspectives for publishers to consider. One of his recent videos (actually a repost from a few years ago) was both surprising and insightful in a few different ways, as Kylie reveals that he--a very successful retailer--does not like promos. https://stonemaiergames.com/a-surprisin...

Join Jamey for an hour of Stonemaier Games news, questions, answers, and random discussion topics! https://youtube.com/live/Sz7s4wqrmQ4

On Sunday afternoon I received an email with a question that stumped me. I knew the answer, but I was at a complete lack of resources to provide an adequate response. The question was, “Do you make any games other than Wingspan?”   https://stonemaiergames.com/this-question-about-our-games-stumped-me/

In today's video I explore games where the art plays a key role in the gameplay. https://youtu.be/C-ivNU0wmCk

I recently read an interesting announcement on  Board Game Wire  that Scott Brady (co-designer of one of my favorite party games, Caution Signs, along with some others I really enjoy like Boop and Hues & Cues), is trying a new “proof-of-play” model of publishing through his company, A Game Studio. Their goal and methodology is to make a single, small print run of selected games “to generate re...

Join Jamey for an hour of Stonemaier Games news, questions, answers, and random discussion topics!   https://youtube.com/live/GTfjOIXu8sk