Stonemaier Streams

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

Welcome to Gen Con week! In a similar way to Essen Spiel, the games, announcements, and events at Gen Con attract attention well beyond the tens of thousands of attendees (which is both a lot of people and also a very small percentage of people who play games worldwide).   https://stonemaiergames.com/gen-con-2026-stonemaier-games-and-2-hidden-gems/