Gaming Industry

To say that board games is in a bubble needs to be qualified first: it isn't the act of playing games that's in a bubble. To some extent, it's not even the act of publishing games that's in a bubble. It is a specific type of publishing -- rapid, small print projects -- that is in a bubble, in addition to some of the culture that surrounds board games. Board game developers, publishers, and distributors are all feeling a crunch right now, as board games become more expensive to produce and yield a smaller piece of the pie to each one.

Kickstarter is the largest venue for board game publishing. Even companies that already have their own funding and an established following are publishing their new games on Kickstarter. Large IPs use Kickstarter to gauge public interest and to obtain funding before the development of their project. Consequently, it's no wonder that problems arise -- such as the failure of the Evil Dead 2 game. 

With over 1,700 games, Van Fujishige is about as serious a hobbyist as you can get in the board gaming community -- and one of my closest friends. Running demos for multiple companies and involved in the local convention scene, he's constantly posting the best information on the best games. And it doesn't hurt that he has impeccable taste.