In a March 2026 newsletter, Matt Leacock states that Flickering Stars — a game he co-designed with Josh Cappel that was demoed at Gen Con 2024 by publisher Friendly Skeleton — has been cancelled "due to the publisher's financial troubles". Says Leacock:
Friendly Skeleton assures co-designer Josh Cappel and myself that they will be working to get refunds to everyone who pre-ordered the game.
Josh and I will be looking for a new partner to publish the game in the coming months. This game is a favorite in our household and I'd love for you all to get a chance to try it somehow. If you're a game publisher (or know of one) looking for a fully-developed, toyetic, joy-generator, please get in touch!
Side note: I love to say and hear the word "toyetic". The fluidity of its vowel sounds between the tacky "tuh"s and ahead of the final click is refreshingly pleasing.
Side note x2: I'm amused that Leacock has to use my front cover image of Forbidden Legacy in his newsletter since Gamewright hasn't yet released an official image of its own. Why am I marketing that game better than its publisher?!
At GAMA Expo 2026, designer John Coveyou of Genius Games told me that his next design will focus on immunology. This will be Coveyou's first published design since 2022's Cellulose: A Plant Cell Biology Game and continues his company's focus on games based on biology, chemistry, and other scientific fields.
In other Genius Games happenings, in July 2025 Coveyou took control of U.S. publisher Elf Creek Games, which had been floundering for a couple of years, with unfulfilled crowdfunding projects for a second edition of Santa's Workshop, The Paradox Initiative, and other games.
In case you weren't aware, Coveyou's primary job is running Simple Financials, a bookkeeping, accounting, and tax firm that he founded. Someone who knew the situation at Elf Creek and who had worked with Coveyou suggested that he look at taking over the company given Coveyou's experience with business acquisitions. Coveyou examined El Creek's financials and found lots of trouble points, but figured he could turn the company around.
At GAMA Expo 2026, Coveyou told me that thanks to his company's efforts, Elf Creek achieved profitability in 2025 after three years of losses — although it still has a deficit overall — and the company has now fulfilled Santa's Workshop to U.S. backers of that June 2024 crowdfunding campaign, with worldwide fulfillment scheduled to be complete by June 2026. It's also paid outstanding designer royalties for 2025, while making continued payments toward older royalties owed. After that, according to a Genius Games press release, the company is prioritizing:
- Small quantity batch-based fulfillment of Atlantis Rising: Monstrosities
- Production of The Paradox Initiative
- Finalization and production of Merchants of the Dark Road: Secret Villages
- Reprints of base games: Honey Buzz, Atlantis Rising, Merchants of the Dark Road, and Santa’s Workshop
This approach is designed to rebuild momentum, increase visibility, and bring meaningful traffic and attention back to Elf Creek Games, while continuing to strengthen the operational foundation of the company.
A new non-Magic: The Gathering game from MTG head designer Mark Rosewater will be presented during MagicCon: Las Vegas, an event taking place May 1-3, 2026, with the game being "available exclusively via Secret Lair", which is Wizards of the Coast's online retail site for direct sales of tiny, yet incredibly expensive Magic sets.
Mosaic Studio is a new game publisher founded by Thomas Provoost, co-founder of Repos Production and PlayPunk, and Thomas Vermeir, who worked as an external consultant with Repos for fifteen years before taking charge in 2020 after asmodee purchased the company.
What will Mosaic publish? That's unclear as the publisher's introductory statement focuses more on its intent than anything else. Here's an excerpt:
[T]he games that truly matter are driven by close collaboration between designers and publishers.
To achieve this objective, our studio will be structured around key figures: the Game Makers.
Like stage or film directors, our Game Makers support and challenge designers just as a director guides actors. They work on pacing, duration, and narrative tension alongside the designers. They shape the visual identity and refine the components, just as a director chooses sets and music, ensuring that each game is perfectly aligned with its packaging, its price, and its overall game experience.
Mosaic Studio says its first two Game Makers are Matthieu Verdier, co-designer of In the Footsteps of Darwin and developer of many titles for Sorry We Are French, and Aurélie Raphael, a project manager with LOKI and Panoplie. Verdier will work on family, hobby, and expert games, and Raphael will work on the product lines and children's games. In an email, the two Thomases told me, "The goal is for them to choose games that resonate with them and to work hand in hand with the creators to develop the most polished game they feel proud of."
Ants' designers Renato Ciervo and Andrea Robbiani have signed...something with Mosaic Studio, which also met with designers during the FIJ game fair in late February 2026.
