Stonemaier Games is an American board game publishing company founded in 2012 by Jamey Stegmaier and Alan Stone.
| Company type | Board game publisher |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2012 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Number of employees | 8 |
| Website | https://stonemaiergames.com |
History
editStonemaier Games was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, by Jamey Stegmaier, a student at Washington University in St. Louis, and Alan Stone.[1][2] In 2012, Stegmaier and Stone crowdfunded funds for the publication of their first game,Viticulture, on Kickstarter, earning about $65,000 from supporters. For legal reasons, they formed a limited liability company titled "Stonemaier Inc.", which would allow them both to self-publish games that they designed and games from other designers.[3] According to Stegmaier, early ownership of the company was split evenly between himself, Stone, and two other partners, but this was later restructured such that Stegmaier and Stone were the sole owners, with former as the majority partner.[4]: 47–48 Stonemaier Games hired additional staff in 2023, and as of then employs one part-time and seven full-time employees.[5][6]
In 2019, Stonemaier Games published Wingspan, which was featured in publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and Vox, receiving widespread acclaim.[7][8][9] Demand for the game upon release was far greater than expected, and Stonemaier Games issued an apology for initial supply issues.[10] Wingspan is the company's largest selling game to date, with 1.9 million copies sold as of March 2024 and overall sales at the company largely related to those of the game.[5][11] A successor to the game, Wyrmspan, was published by Stonemaier Games in 2024.
On April 24, 2024, Stonemaier Games announced their next game Vantage, to be published in 2025.[12]
Published games
edit- Apiary
- Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig
- Charterstone (with Mantic Games)
- Euphoria
- Expeditions
- Libertalia (adapted from the Asterion Press version)
- My Little Scythe
- Pendulum
- Red Rising
- Rolling Realms
- Scythe
- Smitten
- Tapestry
- Viticulture
- Wingspan
- Wyrmspan
References
edit- ^ Schrappen, Colleen (4 March 2021). "Wooden dice and gold-foiled playing cards. St. Louis is hotbed for fantastical, elaborate 'designer' games". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ^ Mather-Glass, Jane (19 November 2021). "How St. Louis-based Stonemaier is changing the (board) game". St. Louis Public Radio. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ Mastrangeli, Tony (23 May 2013). "Interview with Jamey Stegmaier of Stonemaier Games". Board Game Quest. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ^ Stegmaier, Jamey (2015). A Crowdfunder's Strategy Guide: Build a Better Business by Building Community. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. ISBN 9781626564084.
- ^ a b Carter, Chase (20 March 2024). "Wingspan maker's sales decline for second consecutive year, but the board game company isn't worried". Dicebreaker. Archived from the original on 7 April 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ Hewer, Dave (14 March 2024). "2023 Behind-the-Scenes Stakeholder Report for Stonemaier Games". Stonemaier Games. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Perling, Anna (19 November 2021). "The Best Board Games". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ^ Jolin, Dan (20 April 2019). "The board games turning science into playtime". The Guardian. ISSN 0029-7712. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ^ Anderson, Brian (2 February 2022). "One Good Thing: A soothing tabletop game about birds". Vox. Archived from the original on 6 August 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ Whipple, Tom (6 June 2024). "Birdwatching game Wingspan flies off the shelves". The Times. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ^ Griepp, Milton (19 March 2024). "Stonemaier Sales Drop for Second Year in 2023". ICv2. Archived from the original on 24 March 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ Hall, Charlie (25 April 2024). "The publisher of Wingspan, Scythe, and Vituculture's next game was inspired by Zelda: Breath of the Wild". Polygon. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.