There is something irresistible about a board game whose entire premise is other board games. The Game Makers, designed by Ben Rosset and published by Bezier Games, hands you a board game factory and challenges you to manufacture the greatest collection of titles ever assembled. The twist is that the titles are real: more than 300 actual published games from over 100 real-world publishers, with everything from Wingspan to Terraforming Mars rolling off your assembly line.
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Set up your group for freeUnder the bonnet it is a worker-placement game with a clever shared engine. All players draw components from a central warehouse wheel at the same time, then spend them on a hand of multi-use cards that can become either parts of a game you are building or upgrades to your factory: workers, machinery, buildings or marketing multipliers. Gather the right requirements, manufacture a game, and slot it proudly into your display case while juggling contracts and keeping the production line moving. It plays with 1 to 4 players in around 70 minutes.
The appeal here is not just the mechanics but the love letter to the hobby itself. Spotting a game you actually own coming together on the table is the sort of thing that gets a knowing laugh from a group of regulars, and the spread of publishers means there is plenty to recognise whatever your shelf looks like.
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See how it worksA retail edition is on the way, but you do not have to wait to try it. The Game Makers is already free to play on Board Game Arena, no download required. It is a fitting one to learn with your group before the box arrives, so round up your players and see who can build the better catalogue.
Sources: Board Game Arena
