The municipality of Heuchelheim is located between Wetzlar and Gießen. This is interesting for board game enthusiasts because one of the largest small publishers comes from there. Skellig Games was founded in 2017 and has grown steadily since then. Initially without a game, the publisher has developed into one of the not-so-secret insider tips alongside the really big publishers. We spoke to founder Uwe Bursik about the publisher.
Anyone who wants to earn a living with board games faces a difficult task. Only a fraction of the board game industry can live off of working as a game designer. As a board game publisher, the chance of being able to make a living seems greater. That is what Uwe Bursik thought and founded the publishing house Skellig Games in 2017. The fact that he has a good hand with games is shown by the fact that 32 titles by Skellig Games are in the top 2.000 on BGG and three of them in the top 100 (including The Hall of the Mountain King, Arborea, The Great Fair, Darwin's Journey, Earth, Die Wolfe).
A publisher without a game?
The publishing house was founded. The name was quickly found. It is based on a now uninhabited Irish island and a song about this island by the Canadian singer Loreena McKennitt. The name of the island, Skellig Michael, became the publishing house name Skellig Games.
But the most important thing for a board game publisher was still missing: a game. This came in the form of ConcertoThe game was created by Uwe himself, but like many other ideas, it was not yet in its final state when the publishing house was founded. The decision was made to go with this game because it offered something special (memorable aspect) and the production costs were within a reasonable range.
In keeping with the publisher’s mentality, 2019 saw the launch of ambrosia, the next game from Skellig Games, about busy bees. It is the second and so far last game that Uwe has developed himself. At least the topic of bees should be addressed later by Skellig Games with honey buzz and Extensions to take up this topic again.
In the same year as Ambrosia Then came the first game by an external author. Mice to meet you is a small card and dice game by author Daniel Bernsen. The game was discovered at the Ratingen Games Days. Since it was convincing and financially viable without too much risk, it was then published by Skellig Games.
Mouse Becomes Mars
An edible red celestial body had a major influence on the further development of the publisher and paved the way for games with significantly more extensive features.
The partnership with Eagle Gryphon Games began with a request to Vital Lacerda about a possible German localization of The gallerist. This initiated the contact with EGG. With The gallerist It didn't work but with Escape plan and On March Two other Lacerda titles immediately found their way to Skellig Games.
This partnership continues to this day and has Kickstarter zu Speakeasy reached another high point. The Lacerda games also offer a certain financial "security" because they are simply very popular and are still in high demand several years after their release.
The next big catch has at least something to do with fishing. island of cats as well as the Extensions and also the spinoff Go to the raft were published by Skellig Games. Here too, the first contact with The City of Games did not work out. Talks with another publisher had actually already begun, but when these were unsuccessful, Skellig Games stepped in and secured the rights for the localization.
Even though they had taken on a bit too much with the project, the game's huge success should make up for the risk they took.
Two important German “institutions”
What always gets a publisher noticed is the name Rosenberg. In the same year as island of cats also a game by one of the most successful board game authors. This is again a tile-laying game, which in this case is a further development of Nova Luna Unlike Nova Luna is Sagani However, it is not a race to get rid of your own discs, but a points-based game.
In addition to “Rosenberg”, there is something else from Germany that is attracting worldwide attention in the board game world: The “Game of the Year”.
Here, too, Skellig Games 2022 was able to secure a nomination. The deduction game Cryptid was nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres (Connoisseur Game of the Year). Even though the award went to Living Forest This brought the young publishing house a great deal more attention.
Last year, Skellig Games were able to land the next big coup for fans of expert games. As Quality Beast, who had previously taken over the German editions of several Mindclash titles, wanted to focus more on purely editorial work, Skellig Games became the partner for "everything else". Anachrony and its Extensions, Astra, Septima and void fall to Germany and also the latest Kickstarter Revenant will be localized by Skellig Games.
This year there was again a nomination for Skellig Games at the Kennerspiel des Jahres for The Guild of Traveling MerchantsAlso this year, there was GAME in Essen with Loot the official game of the fair. Over the seven years since 2017, A like Age of Steam or Arborea to Z like dwarf village Over 100 titles (base games and expansions) have been published by Skellig Games.
The North, the Trees and the Yokai
Skellig Games will continue to offer a diverse mix of games in the future. From family games to connoisseur games to expert games and everything in between.
It has now worked quite well to make contacts using the name "Skellig Games". When selecting new localization projects, the expected success is very important, as Skellig Games is still a "small" publisher, especially in terms of print run size, and licensed games are generally more expensive. In addition to any hype surrounding the original edition of the game, the cover and the general appearance of the game are also of great importance when making the selection.
Crowdfunding offers the necessary security for your own projects. This makes it easier to estimate how large the print run needs to be. Crowdfunding has only just become a game for experts norsemen successfully completed.
The next crowdfunding campaign is already looming. Shortly after you've gotten rid of your Christmas trees, you can "click" the next tree on Kickstarter. Click a Tree is the new game by Uwe Rosenberg, which can be classified in the family/lower connoisseur game range.
Besides Click a Tree There will also be two or three other larger games available through crowdfunding. Other titles, especially smaller ones, will also come directly onto the market.
Four new localizations are already on the way. These include the expansion to Earth, which the title Diversity carries the 2-person game meow, the German edition of Vital Lacerdas CO2 – Second Chance and the subway planner game terms.
For this purpose, An Age Contrived, Piep! (English: Perch), Floe, Sierra Nevada – Hiking on the John Muir Trail and very fresh Daitoshi Further top-class innovations have been announced for 2025.
