A message from BGA founder, Greg Isabelli (aka Sourisdudesert):


Dear players,

13 years ago I got this crazy idea of launching Board Game Arena. Today, it is time for me to leave and let BGA stand on its own feet.

During the past 2 years 1/2, we set up all what is needed to prepare this transition and make sure it happens well. In particular, we recruited a wonderful team of 10 extraordinary people who manage BGA everyday and have now all the needed skills to make it better. I was lucky to have full trust from our mother company, Asmodee, when assembling and organizing this team.

Since January, Alexandre Schlecht (lordalx on BGA) is already managing BGA and I have been there only as a support and an adviser. Alex has been working with BGA for years, and developed a total of 13 games on BGA including hits like CATAN, Splendor or recently "Next Station: Tokyo". All the time I spent with him these last months made me absolutely convinced that he is the right person to lead BGA and continue to make this service better. I will not unveil anything about the next BGA updates, but you will not be disappointed

Each time there has been an important event on BGA we used to write a small "FAQ", so here is one !


What about Emmanuel Colin (Een) who co-founded BGA with you?

Emmanuel left the company a few months ago and announced it in this message . Our 2 departures are obviously linked by all what is explained in this FAQ.


Why now?

Founders departure is a major risk for any Internet services. My co-founder and I are perfectly aware of that, and this is the reason we would like to prepare and organize this transition. First, when selecting a buyer, we care about choosing a company for which BGA will always be important, so we are 100% sure they will care about it over the years. Then, we selected and trained a team ourselves, to make sure the service will not be affected by our departures. The complete process took 2 years and 1/2 and ends now.

We have seen too many bad situations where founders want to keep their positions while they do not have anything to bring to the service anymore, and are finally pushed away: we did not want that for BGA.


Are you leaving because of Asmodee?

Absolutely not. I have been very clear from the start with Asmodee: BGA buyout was part of a transition strategy to a new team to make it sustainable over time. They accepted and supported that all along the way.


What do you think about the latest BGA updates and price increase?

I support 100% the latest updates: I followed the development of almost all of them.

About prices: it is quite obvious that the "historic prices" we used to have were too low. The catch-up that has been done these 2 last years was welcome. Among other considerations, something that everyone should keep in mind is that the BGA revenues are shared with Premium games publishers as "royalties". Significant royalties means more money to create new future games, but also make it more probable to have them on BGA.


What are you going to do now?

I am lucky enough to be able to focus on non-profit projects.

I have always found fascinating the possibility of using technology to make new kinds of social interactions possible. It was a pleasure to see all what you created using BGA as a community of players all along these years.

A specific social organization is not going very well at the moment: representative democracy.

I have created a new mobile app, Baztille, which make it possible to infiltrate representative democracy to allow citizens to participate directly to decisions affecting them. Each week, you vote and take collectively a decision for your country, your area or your city. Then, at election time, "Baztille" candidates can be elected to apply decisions taken by citizens, week after week, using the app.

If you also want to make democracy enter in the XXIe century, you can register on this website to make sure you will be part of the very first to try the app in your country. And who knows, they may be future Baztille representative among you?


I want to know more about BGA history !

As I am leaving BGA, this is an occasion to talk about BGA history. This is a quite particular story since BGA was launched as an amateur service at first.

A very complete video about this is unfortunately only available in French by "Un Monde de Jeux" since this is the only media that asked us. If I have the occasion to do something similar in another language I will let you know!


What did you learn in this adventure? Which advice would you have for other entrepreneurs?

There is so much to say and this would not fit here. In 13 years, I had to acquire skills in domains as different as web development, distant team management, large community management, subscriptions based economic models, UX design, multilingual systems, development platforms, scalable application hosting, accountability, personal data protection, IT security, and many others ...

I thought about writing articles with a "blog" format to talk about some of these subjects in the context of BGA, but I have difficulty evaluating if this can interest you or not.

So let's make a simple thing: if you think about a subject that could make a good article, please write it down as a comment to this post. If I see that there are many interesting subjects I will select some of them to write articles on a "blog" and will see where it goes.


Any last word?

A huge thank you to everyone who make this service possible to exist and to grow: game publishers and game designers who believed in this project (there is nothing without you), Asmodée team, the BGA team: Ian, Jurica, Tof, Xate, Sunil, Cyril, Aurélien, Alex & Pietro - you are my Avengers, my co-founder Emmanuel who support me all along the way, and obviously YOU, all the players who made BGA what it is today, and especially the game developers, the testers, the moderators, the translators, the tutorial authors, and all those who at some point help us to go further.

For those who are interested by my future projects & publications, you can follow me on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gisabelli
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sourisdudesert/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gisabelli/

During BGA's first years, we used to end our meeting with "To infinity and beyond". Well, see you for the next adventure, beyond infinity!

Greg

Have you come to appreciate the charms of London and its winding railroad lines?

Now is time for you to take over Tokyo!
Travel to the city of Tokyo, Japan, and compete to redraw their metro plans in order to meet the tourist challenges of tomorrow.

Each turn in Next Station: Tokyo you reveal the next station card and draw a subway line on your map. You have to optimize your network to collect a maximum number of stamps and stay connected to the central green loop to earn as many points as possible.

That's it, as short and fun as it sounds, and you can play it by clicking there:
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?ga ... ationtokyo

Take up the daily challenge and try to reach the top of the leaderboard available here: https://nextstationtokyo.blueorangegames.eu/

We would love to thank the amazing Blue Orange team and Matthew Dunstan for their authorization to bring the game to our platform, and a big thanks to the developers team, darhf and lordalx, who managed to make the game shine on your usual browser!

Oh and by the way, did you know that you can install a shortcut to BGA on your smartphone/tablet? Like an app?
On Chrome for example, go to the website you want to create a shortcut for (like Board Game Arena). Then tap on the menu button (three dots) on the top-left. Finally, on the slide-out panel, select Add to Home screen. And ta-daaa!
It works on most browsers and i-things, so don't hesitate to use this to have a shortcut in your daily online board gamer life!

That's it for today,
Enjoy the tchoo-tchoosen title of the day,
and until Wednesday,
Take care and play fair!

Plan and build a modern, scientifically managed zoo to support conservation projects!
With more than 20 awards won all over the world, there was just a matter of time to see Ark Nova join the Board Game Arena platform. And today we're really proud to say it's officially its release day!

In Ark Nova, you will plan and design a modern, scientifically managed zoo. With the ultimate goal of owning the most successful zoological establishment, you will build enclosures, accommodate animals, and support conservation projects all over the world. Specialists and unique buildings will help you in achieving this goal.

Each player has a set of five action cards to manage their gameplay, and the power of an action is determined by the slot the card currently occupies. The cards in question are:

CARDS: Allows you to gain new zoo cards (animals, sponsors, and conservation project cards).
BUILD: Allows you to build standard or special enclosures, kiosks, and pavilions.
ANIMALS: Allows you to accommodate animals in your zoo.
ASSOCIATION: Allows your association workers to carry out different tasks.
SPONSORS: Allows you to play a sponsor card in your zoo or to raise money.

255 cards featuring animals, specialists, special enclosures, and conservation projects, each with a special ability, are at the heart of Ark Nova. Use them to increase the appeal and scientific reputation of your zoo and collect conservation points.

It's a serious game with a lot of depth, and you can reach its page and play it by clicking this link below:
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=arknova

The game has been played a lot of time during the Alpha and Beta version, and we would love to thanks Tisaac and vincentt for their huge achievement by porting this game to Board Game Arena. You two rules.

We also have to mention the publisher, Feuerland Spiele, and the game designer Mathias Wigge for their authorization and work to bring the game online for all of you to enjoy.

We're more than happy to see this game online, and being able to see people enjoy it as much as we do is our reward.
So that's it for today,

Take care and play fair,
and see you next week for another WRT (Wednesday Release Time) on Board Game Arena!

You and your fellow players are eager and curious astronomers, determined to explore and understand the constellations of the mysterious night sky. You are willing to assist each other and share your discoveries, but in the end, only one of you will become famous enough to be remembered throughout history.

Astra is a clever mix of tactics and strategy, with a streamlined and intuitive rule set that makes it easy to pick up and quick to play. A game of Astra consists of continuous player turns until a certain number of Constellation cards are taken, when, after an endgame scoring, the player with the most Fame points wins.

On your turn, you may choose to either Observe or Rest.

The Observe action allows you to spend Stardust to discover stars on the Constellation cards using your dry erase marker. You may only mark stars in a straight continuous line, but you may spend Telescope tokens to start new observations. As soon as you mark the last star in a Constellation, you take the card from the Night Sky, granting you a powerful reusable ability for the rest of the game. But other players also benefit from the discovery: based on how many stars they marked, they may choose one of the card’s instant benefits (Boons) at the time it is discovered.

The Rest action allows you to not only refill your Stardust up to your capacity, but also to reactivate all of your card abilities that match the currently active Sphere. Your card abilities are very powerful and strategy-enabling, so a well-timed Rest action can give you a huge advantage.

You can play the game right now by clicking below before looking at the stars, up there...
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=astra

Of course you can also try the included tutorial to learn about the game in no-time.

You can thank Kayvon and Mogri who developed the game for your beloved platform, as well as the publisher Mindclash Games & the team of game designers Patrik Porkoláb, Frigyes Schőberl, & Eszter Krisztina Sas for their authorization and support to bring the game online!

And that's it for today!
Enjoy your week on Board Game Arena,
and as always, take care and play fair!

Hadara plunges you into the heart of a civilization. You will populate your civilization with characters from several continents, but also from different cultures and eras. In Hadara, players develop their empire in 3 eras by recruiting specialists in key fields, thanks to the priority wheel: Arts and Culture, Agriculture, Armies, Trade and Crafts...

The acquisition of these skills will then allow them to form new colonies and spread their influence.

In the end, the most successful civilization will be victorious!
The original, simple and rich game system will attract families as well as experienced players in search of an accessible strategy game with no dead time. No player is on hold: everyone participates at the same time. The mechanics are quick to grasp while being articulated in such a way as to create infinite strategies.

You can play it now online by clicking this link, that will bring you to the game page, where you will be able to find more information, players (or opponents), and the way to start a game shaped the way you like to play:
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=hadara

No games without designers and publishers. Or at least not this one. And it is all thanks to Benjamin Schwer and the publishing team of Hans Im Gluck Verlag that it is possible for you to enjoy it online!
Send them some love for this.
Also, to be able to play it on BoardGameArena, you need at least one developer, if you want to have things handled automatically (how many people discovered they misunderstood some rules after playing on here ^^). And we would like to thank Sir Heo for adapting the game to our platform.

That's it for today's release!
Until next week, take care and play fair...

(Oh and by the way, don't forget that you can play ANY games with friends. You need only 1 player to be Premium to join the Premium games together. But everything else is mostly free. Think about it during the long rides for this summer... )

"In the Wild West, the shootouts between the Outlaws and the Sheriff are becoming particularly tough. Players must be ready to welcome the Dalton Gang, keep cool during the Gold Rush, and be really careful when walking in the ghost town!"

In this Premium expansion to BANG!, there are 15 new High Noon cards: shuffle them and put the one called "High Noon" at the bottom. Each turn the Sheriff reveals a new High Noon card which all players must follow for the entire round.

For example, during 'Hangover' all characters lose their special abilities. With 'Blessing' the suit of every card becomes Hearts (so, Barrels always work and Dynamite never explodes, etc.).

Even if you are already out of the game, you can come back as a ghost for a round during the 'Ghost Town' phase, and try to win!

This first expansion brings a lot more fun to the base game, but beware what you say!
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=bang

The game designed by Emiliano Sciarra and distributed by DV Giochi is an absolute classic that can shine on BGA as long as you are respectful of other players. Remember that you can report anyone that is behaving mischievously (outside of the scope of the game roleplay focus).

We would love to thank the publisher as well as the game designer for the authorisation to run the game on our platform, as well as the remarkable work done by KuWizard to develop the game for the platform. It's not that easy regarding the millions of possibilities.

That's it for today! Thanks for reading,
And waiting for Wednesday, as always, take care and play fair!

A wide orchard lies in front of Applejack's cottage.
Help him and his daughter plant apple trees and harvest the juicy apples. Do not forget to set up the beehives between the trees. Because at the end of this game, whoever gets the most honey wins!

On their turn players choose 1 tree tile from the harvest board in the middle of the table. This tile shows a combination of types of apples and apple blossoms as well as beehives. The beehives show the cost for the tile in honey.

The tree tile will be placed on the players orchard. The beehives need to be places next to other beehives on tiles already in play in order to get the players honey tiles.

When the Applejack die on the harvest board comes across an apple icon this type of apple will be harvested- again gaining the players honey tokens. But only if they arranged the apples in a meaningful way.

After 19 turns each player's orchard is filled and the final scoring takes place. Apples, apple blossoms, and collected honey will be scored. Whoever has the highest score will win a game of Applejack!

If you feel like you do not want to read the rules, or like you do not have a good-good brain to learn the rules, there's a tutorial available!

If you want to give it a try, check the rules, or play against an opponent, here is the link to go:
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=applejack

Thanks to the game designer Uwe Rosenberg and the Game Builders publishing, you are now able to play it on Board Game Arena. A lot of thanks to them.
But no games without developers, and it is all thanks to the work done by Sarix87 and vurtan who did an amazing job to port the game to your platform!

That's it for today's WRT!
See you next week for more amazing games and weird movie quotes.
Until then, take care and play fair!
That would muh muh muh muh make the moderators happy!

...and they are not twins!
VILLAGERS and STREETS are two TOTALLY different games published by SInister FIsh Games that shares the same graphic feel and the same game designer, but that's it!

Now it is up to you to decide which one fits your taste best.

On the left side, you have VILLAGERS:
You are the founder of a new village during the middle ages, in the years after a great plague. The loss of so many people has created big problems for the survivors. Many of the people the villagers used to depend on for essential things like food, shelter, and clothes are gone. Craftsmen find themselves without suppliers of raw materials, traders have lost their customers and many have lost their farms and workshops as they escaped the plague.

The roads are full of refugees seeking a new beginning. They come to you, hoping to settle down on your land and make a living. Your grain farm is the ideal starting point for a village, reliably providing food for many people. You must choose wisely who you allow to settle with you, as your food and resources are limited.

The people on the road have valuable and unique skills, but they all in turn rely on other people with very specific crafts to be able to work. Raw materials, tools and services must be provided by other people from the road.
If you manage to find people that can work together to make a profit, while increasing your food surplus and capacity for building new houses, your village will be prosperous.

You can learn it by trying the tutorial available here. Do not worry, you can even share it, because you do not need to be logged in to try it!

On the right side we have... STREETS!
The city was once a small and sleepy town, but the affordable properties have attracted artists, startup companies, and families. Celebrities and influencers are moving in, and after some recent archeological findings, the tourist industry is booming. Street by street, the city is transforming into a centre of culture and commerce.

Players are investors creating attractive new streets in the growing city, investing in new businesses and homes. Some streets will become hotspots for hipsters, others will be dominated by tourists or families with children. Others still will become designated shopping areas. Where will your Microbrewery profit the most? What is the best location for a Toy Store? What kind of environments are the other investors creating, and can you exploit their work for your own gain?

As each street is completed, the people on it will move to new buildings that interest them- hopefully one of your buildings on an up-and-coming street. Can you compete with the hype of your rivals and grow your following over time? To earn the most money and win the game you need to manage your limited investment funds cleverly, planning ahead while keeping your mind open to fresh opportunities.

Streets is a tile-laying game where players build a city together. Each building has a simple evaluation formula which earns money for the owner when the street is scored. Values are affected by the other buildings on the street, so smart placement is essential to maximise profit. On top of this, the city is populated by hipsters, families, shoppers and tourists, each with their own preferred building type. Cleverly located properties can benefit from the growing crowds of people who further increase the value of the buildings they visit.

Optional expansion modules add powerful asymmetric player abilities, extra layers of strategy, & tough decisions. It also has a SOLO mode, so you can even play it alone. But it is more fun with friends.
You can of course learn it also by clicking your way through the short interactive tutorial, available right here.

You can play both of the games and discover more about them (rules, videos, etc...) by clicking the related links below:

- PLAY VILLAGERS NOW
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=villagers

- PLAY STREETS NOW
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=streets

And that's it! Play both of them, and come tell us which one you prefer!
You like both of them? Share it with the publisher: They are the one we should thank for this port to Board Game Arena.
Also, let's not forget the very cool work done by the developers, Kayvon & Mogri, who did an excellent job on both games. A big thanks to them. You can play the games on many devices. Nothing is perfect, so if you tried to play it on some very fancy or very old device, do not hesitate to tell us about any bugs using the report form. That's cool for us, and for other users.

Thanks a lot for playing on BGA.
These games are part of a line from an indie company, and we are counting on you to spread the word about them.
That's it for today... and it's only Monday!
See you on Wednesday for our WRT ('Wednesday Release Time) post, and until then...
Take care and play fair!

A newly released Roll & Write driven territorial war with a modular board!

In Lumen: The Lost World, two clans clash in the Lost World where the seasons coexist in harmony. The inhabitants are another matter, mind you, with the People of the Day and the People of the Night at perpetual war for possession of the Lumens.

The game is a territorial duel driven by a roll-and-write mechanism, and players will try to spice up their choices and recruit mercenaries by developing the skills of their factions. Each round, the players choose to combine the result on two dice in order to recruit fighters and give orders to those existing on the board. Each territory is worth Lumens. With each movement, reveal the discovery tokens that will bring you Lumens or bonus actions. The player with the most Lumens wins.

There are, of course, a lot of scenarios to change-up your gameplay.
The game is quite simple, quite deep, and you can judge it for yourself if you want to go through the very short tutorial available here.

You can play it right now from this link to discover everything you need to know about it:
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=lumen

We would like to thank the Lumberjack Studio team, as well as Bruno Cathala and Corentin Lebrat for the authorization to have the game on our platform.
And nothing would have been possible without the cool work done by thoun to make the game playable on pretty much any web-enabled device. Try it.

That's it for today!
Until next week, take care and play fair!
(And thanks a lot for your support. You make BGA what it is today, and for the years to come.)