When the US announced 145% duties on Chinese imports in April 2025, three designers at Glasshouse Games were one month away from launching their debut on Kickstarter. Sean Fosse, Logan Fitz, and Michael Maldonado had spent years building Whisker Wars, a card battler for up to four players where cute but ruthless critters clash in morale-driven head-to-head rounds. Players draft champions with unique abilities and burn through action cards trying to crush their opponents' spirit before their own crumbles. The tariffs threatened to derail the whole project.
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Set up your group for free"We had long discussions about whether to keep going," Fitz told Wargamer. With most board games manufactured in China, the tariff spike threatened to blow their production budget apart. Fitz, who works in supply chain operations at the Lego Group, understood the logistics better than most. The trio faced a choice: delay again and risk losing their built-up audience, or launch into uncertainty.
They chose to launch. "We've got one shot," Fosse explained. As a hedge, they had deliberately scaled back their original, heavier game concept to a lighter card game, reducing both manufacturing complexity and financial risk. The timing turned in their favour when, on 12 May 2025, the day before the campaign went live, a 90-day agreement lowered tariffs to 30%.
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Find events near youWhisker Wars funded at over fourteen times its original $10,000 goal, raising more than $142,000 from backers. As of March 2026, the game has reached its final manufacturing checks and should be in backers' hands later this year.
Sources: Wargamer | Kickstarter | BoardGameGeek
