S J Macdonald's next design has dropped quietly into the Garphill Games webshop, and if you missed the Kickstarter you can finally get hold of it. Secret Societies, the long-teased mystery project from Garphill, is now available exclusively at garphill.com. It is a 2-5 player euro where rival shadow cabals bid against each other to "own" the nations of the world.
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Start organising for freeIf the name does not ring bells, Macdonald has co-designed Garphill's West Kingdom trilogy with Shem Phillips (Architects, Paladins, Viscounts, 2018-2020), which sits comfortably inside BGG's top 100, with Paladins of the West Kingdom currently around the #64 spot and a strong fan rating to match. Phillips, the New Zealand designer behind the North Sea series (Shipwrights, Raiders, Explorers, 2014-2016), is on board as developer and publisher.
The Kickstarter campaign wrapped in October 2025 with NZ$211,243 raised against a NZ$23,000 goal, around 9.2 times funded, and threw in a Lycan Society faction expansion as a backer bonus. Secret Societies is not getting a traditional retail run. Garphill's retail partner Renegade Game Studios decided not to print the title for retail due to financial pressure from last year's tariffs, so the only way to grab a copy outside of the campaign is direct from the publisher.
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See how it worksIf you fancy a Garphill marathon when it lands, find a euro game night near you.
Sources: Garphill Games | Kickstarter | BGG Designer
Correction (15 May 2026): An earlier version of this article credited Shem Phillips as the designer of Secret Societies with S J Macdonald as co-designer. Macdonald is the sole designer; Phillips was the developer and publisher. The article also stated that Garphill skipped a traditional retail run as a deliberate move. In fact, retail partner Renegade Game Studios decided not to print the game for retail due to financial pressure from tariffs.
