Board games | Finland has been experiencing a gigantic board game boom for years, and soon the long-awaited domestic game case will appear

A board player a big pack of animals is given in front. A zoo should be built for them, where species protection is taken into account.

From a German From Ark Nova has become this year’s board game hit.

“When the plans fall into place, points are scored, the game is interrupted and hopefully won, then it works”, Mikko Saari says. He is the editor-in-chief of the Lautapeliopas website, which reviews and evaluates games.

Internationally awarded many times Ark Nova has just been translated into Finnish. In general, more and more strategy-demanding games are appearing in Finnish, which game enthusiasts get excited about.

in Sweden board game sales have more than doubled in the last five years, SVT tells. More and more games, also aimed at advanced players, are now translated into Swedish.

In Finland at the time of the corona virus, of course, a similar board game craze was seen. However, a huge rise has already happened before, say board game experts. It started in the early 2000s, when, for example, Strategy games Carcassonne and Catan punched through.

“Finland was ahead of Sweden, and many games have been published here earlier. The chasing phase is now underway in Sweden”, CEO of Lautapelit.fin Toni Niittymäki says.

The Finnish company has increased its turnover from five million to more than eight million euros in a couple of years. Sales in Sweden are also included in the figures.

In addition to online shopping, the company has stores in Helsinki and Tampere. It translates and publishes games, but also produces new board games for the market. Through the Danish subsidiary, local versions of the games are distributed in Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

It’s going strongsays Mikko Saari, who has followed the industry for a long time.

He was awarded for his life’s work for board games with the Golden Dragon award at the Ropecon event in 2015. The latest book by Saari, who has written several game books Find board games appeared in 2018.

The group of players who have already gained experience in various advanced board games is growing all the time. They are not afraid of having to learn the rulebook a bit, even if they don’t identify as board game enthusiasts.

“The general public that buys games is more sophisticated than before. More demanding games go through,” says Saari.

Many people who played board games at their age are now families and want to do something other than staring at screens in their free time. They also know how to demand smart children’s and family games.

About development the rise in the level of the Games of the Year competitors is also telling, says Saari. However, he wonders about this year’s choice.

The toy industry’s interest organization Suomen Leluyhdistys chose 2022 as a family game Play like a millionairewhere there is competition in investing.

“It represents the free game design of the 1940s.”

It was chosen as the party game of the year Bezzerwizzer, where tactics are used with questions. Quiz games have retained their interest. Trivial Pursuit’s dominance has not been broken.

A bad game does not give Saari what the target group expects. In a children’s game, it is perfectly acceptable to learn how to throw dice, but a strategy game is weak if it is decided by luck alone.

One of the highlights of this year was a treasure hunting game Lost Ruins of Arnak. It was published under the Finnish name Arnak – The Lost Ruins. In an aesthetically pleasing game, you can strain your head appropriately.

Among other favorites of the year, Saari mentions the seven wonders of the world construction game 7 Wonders: Architects and Sagradawhere colored glass windows are created.

Domestic Game production is still strong in traditional games. Pori-based Tactic Games’ turnover was over 27 million euros last year. It is known for Kimble and Alias. Another important gaming house is Peliko from Raisia, whose most famous game is Star of Africa.

Sweden’s board game boom can also be seen in the wave of new game developers. Games are constantly being crowdfunded, so it’s even harder to get your own idea into production.

With crowdfunding, in principle, anyone has the opportunity to publish a game that can be manufactured in Chinese game factories.

In Finland, digital game development is strong, but Angry Birds board game success stories like this have not yet been born in Finland.

“It feels like we are somehow falling behind,” says Niittymäki.

There are few professional, independent authors. For example, the Finnish game publisher LudiCreations invests in crowdfunding.

in Denmark In Niittymmäi’s opinion, there are several good game development groups that encourage each other to succeed. In Finland, the attitude is a bit more reserved.

Some connections have emerged between digital and board games. Having worked at Supercell Touko Tahkokallion together Sampo Sikiön designed with Eclipse is Lautapelit.fin’s international success.

It will be published next year Markus Kettusen designed by All Roadswhere ancient Roman environments are built.

There will also be an expected case. A big project Agemonia will soon go through the test game rounds and go into production. The role-playing board game published by Lautapelit.fin is scheduled to be released in the fall.

Board game production budgets vary a lot. Five years in the making In Agemonia the sum rises to six figures. On Kickstarter, it collected more than 240,000 euros in crowdfunding.

Even those who have been trained game buyers are still catching on to Carcassonne and To Catan. Also Exit– escape room games are the “cornerstone of the economy of Lautapelit.fin”.

“Puskaradio is the best way to spread information about board games. The best way to learn is when someone teaches and plays with you,” says Niittymäki.

The board game world only gets new classics every five to ten years. One of these has been the lost city search game Quest for El Dorado.

“If you ask people on the street what their favorite board game is, most will answer Monopoly.“

However, the classic real estate game is no longer relevant for the game store. With all its versions, it is not even among the top 100 sellers, says Niittymäki.

Many casual players are “allergic to the rules”. That’s why in club games, the rules are so limited that not all situations are defined.

“If in the middle of the game you start fighting about how to interpret a rule, it’s not terribly gratifying.”

New games a domestic solution has been developed for adoption and rule allergy. Finnish startup company Dized has opened a subscription service in December that provides its users with interactive guides for various board games.

Skip the rule book and jump right into the fun, the service promises.