Spin the Wheel

Board Game Kickstarter Drama December 2025

The board game community has been shaken by a series of high-profile Kickstarter controversies and crowdfunding disasters throughout December 2025, revealing the precarious nature of the crowdfunding model that has become central to the modern board game industry. These incidents have left thousands of backers disappointed, raised questions about accountability in crowdfunding, and exposed the financial vulnerabilities that can plague even successful campaigns. One of the most shocking developments was the unexpected cancellation of "Take" by Leder Games, a publisher known for critically acclaimed titles like Root and Arcs. The cancellation came as a complete surprise to the nearly 8,700 followers who had been eagerly anticipating the game's Kickstarter launch. The decision followed the departure of the game's designer, Ted Caya, who had been with the company for six years. Caya's decision to leave the studio and take the game with him created an impossible situation for Leder Games, forcing them to cancel a campaign that had generated significant buzz and anticipation throughout the board game community. The Take cancellation highlighted the complex relationships between publishers and designers in the modern board game industry. When a designer leaves and takes their intellectual property with them, it can derail years of development work and marketing efforts. The situation left many potential backers feeling frustrated and confused, wondering why they had invested their attention and anticipation in a project that would never come to fruition. This incident also raised questions about how publishers and designers structure their agreements, and what protections exist for both parties when creative partnerships dissolve. The Take situation was particularly notable because Leder Games has built a strong reputation for delivering high-quality games and maintaining good relationships with their backers. The fact that even a well-regarded publisher could face such a sudden and complete project cancellation served as a reminder that the board game industry is not immune to the uncertainties that plague creative industries. It also demonstrated how dependent the modern board game ecosystem has become on crowdfunding, where a single personnel change can derail an entire project. Perhaps the most devastating development in December 2025 was the official liquidation of Mythic Games, a publisher that had raised over $19 million from board game crowdfunding campaigns over five years. Their most successful Kickstarter, Darkest Dungeon: The Board Game, had amassed more than $5.6 million from over 28,000 backers in 2020. The company's financial struggles and inability to fulfill numerous crowdfunding commitments led to its dissolution, leaving thousands of backers without the promised products they had paid for years earlier. The Mythic Games liquidation represents one of the largest failures in board game crowdfunding history. The scale of the loss—$19 million raised, thousands of backers affected, multiple unfulfilled campaigns—has sent shockwaves through the community. Many backers had been waiting years for their games, watching as delivery dates were pushed back repeatedly, holding onto hope that the company would eventually deliver. The liquidation announcement shattered those hopes, leaving backers with little recourse beyond potentially joining class-action lawsuits or accepting their losses. The Mythic Games situation exposed critical flaws in the crowdfunding model, particularly around financial management and fulfillment logistics. The company's inability to fulfill its commitments despite raising millions of dollars suggests serious problems with cost estimation, production planning, and cash flow management. This has led to broader discussions about whether the crowdfunding model adequately protects backers, and whether there should be more regulatory oversight or mandatory escrow accounts for large campaigns. The liquidation also highlighted the emotional investment that backers make in crowdfunding campaigns. Beyond the financial loss, many backers had formed connections with the games they backed, following development updates, participating in community discussions, and building anticipation for months or years. The loss of these games represents not just a financial hit, but the loss of anticipated experiences and the disappointment of seeing a creative vision fail to materialize. In a different but equally revealing controversy, Steamforged Games faced significant backlash after launching a deluxe special edition of the eurogame Terra Mystica on Gamefound. The initial "Town Founder" pledge level was priced at $389, which many potential backers immediately deemed excessive. The pricing sparked outrage across board game social media platforms, with critics arguing that the cost was out of touch with the value being offered and the economic realities facing many board game enthusiasts. The Terra Mystica pricing controversy highlighted the growing tension in the board game community between premium editions and accessibility. As publishers increasingly offer deluxe components, upgraded materials, and exclusive content, the price points for these premium editions have climbed steadily. The $389 price tag for Terra Mystica represented a new high-water mark that many in the community found unacceptable, leading to accusations that publishers were exploiting FOMO (fear of missing out) and collector mentality rather than offering genuine value. The backlash was so intense that Steamforged Games took the unprecedented step of reducing the price by over $100 to $288 within just three hours of the campaign's launch. This rapid response demonstrated both the power of community feedback in the crowdfunding era and the company's recognition that they had misjudged the market. However, the damage to the campaign's momentum was already done, and the incident left many questioning the company's pricing strategy and market research processes. The Terra Mystica situation also raised questions about the psychology of crowdfunding pricing. Publishers must balance the desire to maximize revenue with the need to maintain community goodwill and ensure campaign success. The initial $389 price point suggested that Steamforged Games believed there was sufficient demand at that level, but the community's reaction proved otherwise. This disconnect between publisher expectations and backer willingness to pay represents a fundamental challenge in crowdfunding economics. These three incidents—the Take cancellation, the Mythic Games liquidation, and the Terra Mystica pricing controversy—collectively paint a picture of a board game crowdfunding ecosystem that is facing significant challenges. The model that has enabled thousands of games to be published that might never have seen the light of day through traditional channels is also showing its vulnerabilities. Backers are becoming more cautious, publishers are facing increased scrutiny, and the industry is grappling with questions about sustainability and accountability. The board game community has always been built on trust—trust between publishers and backers, trust that campaigns will deliver, trust that pricing is fair, and trust that creative partnerships will endure. The events of December 2025 have tested that trust in fundamental ways, forcing the community to confront difficult questions about the future of crowdfunding and what protections should exist for all parties involved. As the industry moves forward, it will need to address these systemic issues while maintaining the innovation and accessibility that crowdfunding has brought to board gaming. Whether through better financial transparency, improved fulfillment logistics, more realistic pricing strategies, or stronger legal protections for backers, the community must find ways to strengthen the crowdfunding model while preserving its core benefits.