The PlayWise Store has just expanded with new products, and I'd like to take this opportunity to share a few thoughts on board game design, production, and distribution.

I often write about how deeply frustrating I find the consumer society we live in—one that I myself am dependent on. As a buyer, yes, but also as someone who has been creating products for nearly ten years now. And no matter how I look at it, the golden age of board games is unfolding hand in hand with the overconsumption of board games.

Since it so happened that this is what I’m good at—designing games—and I do need to make a living, I’ve been continuously publishing games or working as a developer on commission. I calculated that around 75,000 copies of board games have been produced this way, out of which about 50,000 have been sold so far. That doesn’t necessarily mean my games reached that many people, but whichever way I look at it, tens of thousands are sitting in storage, and a large portion of those purchased may never have been played, or ended up gathering dust after two or three sessions. Of course, I also like to believe that there are tens of thousands being played often and joyfully.

I don’t think this is necessarily the right path—making more and more games just to cater to the "I always want something new" mindset. Ideally, only those games would be published that are meant to be lasting contributions. Or at the very least, we should aim for that.

Another issue is that we manufacture in large volumes—because the more we produce, the cheaper it becomes per unit. And then we hope we can sell them. A few years ago, I had the idea that it would be better if every game only stayed with someone for as long as they were actually playing it.

So, I launched a board game rental service in Hungary, featuring titles I had designed myself. An illustrator created the artwork, but we only made five copies of each game, and we didn’t even preeoduce boxes. These could be rented for six weeks at around three euros.

I managed over 150 rentals, but for only a little more than twenty people. I received plenty of praise and had strong social media engagement, but people still preferred to buy. Owning is more appealing. I did get a few regular renters, and those who took the time to explore the service were satisfied—but I wasn’t able to shift things enough for this to replace mass production, even just within my own practice.

As an experiment, it was a valuable experience, and I haven’t given up on the idea entirely.

Internationally, my rental idea is obviously unfeasible—but the games I created and tested are mostly simple card games, which can thrive in a more sustainable format as print and play games. So now, we’re releasing three titles here on PlayWise.

In this format, only as many copies exist as people choose to print and play, which is something I find very meaningful. Smaller runs, perhaps more direct connections, maybe even a sense of community—these are some of the dreams behind publishing games in a print and play format.

You can check out the games here, and if you’d like to read more about what I see in the deeper potential of print and play, you’ll find more reflections here, along with reviews of other games.

But we didn’t just add classic print and play games to the site—we also put together a coloring book that features a selection of games from genres you already know from PlayWise. The twist? The coloring pages were created by the same amazing illustrator behind our print and play games. So instead of AI-generated images, you’ll find authentic, hand-drawn artwork made just for you.

We hope you enjoy playing—and coloring! And please write to us, whether you loved it or not—every bit of feedback is a joy to receive.