If you have ever photographed your game shelf and posted it online, Brotherwise Games has made a collectible with your name on it. The studio has revealed Shelfy, a line of miniature board game boxes that shrinks tabletop favourites down to pocket size, and it debuts at Gen Con at the end of July.
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Start organising for freeSeason One gives you 28 games to collect, from the heavyweight campaign of Gloomhaven to the tile-laying favourite Cascadia and the deckbuilder Dune: Imperium. The starter set comes with a little display shelf, five mini boxes and matching collector's cards, while booster boxes hold three randomised wooden boxes plus art cards. Four rare alternate "chase" foils hide in the mix for anyone who wants the thrill of the pull. Brotherwise has signed up 20 publishers for the first wave, including AEG, Dire Wolf, Devir, Stronghold Games, Eagle-Gryphon Games, Horrible Guild and Van Ryder Games, so the shelf reads like a greatest-hits rack.
The pitch is unashamedly about hobby pride. Brotherwise chief executive Chris O'Neal told BoardGameWire the idea grew out of the "shelfie" photos gamers share online and the pride they take in their collections, arguing that hobby board games have become brands worth collecting in their own right. It is a cheeky nod to how attached we all get to a good box.
Got a regular group? Create a private community, poll for the best date, vote on games, and let your friends RSVP in one place.
Set up your group for freeBrotherwise, the studio behind Boss Monster and Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere roleplaying game, has not announced pricing yet, and blind-box collectibles live and die on the price per pull. That number will decide whether Shelfy becomes a cult hobby-within-a-hobby or a fun novelty. Either way, it launches at Gen Con in Indianapolis from 30 July, so expect the first full-shelf photos, and the first "still hunting the chase foil" posts, shortly after. And if the tiny boxes leave you itching to play the real ones, find a game night near you.
Sources: Brotherwise Games | BoardGameWire | Gen Con
