END OF YEAR round up! Game design, highlights, wishes and predictions.

[@Sc0ttJC]

Solid video and congrats on the baby boy!

[@AdaminWales]

Thanks! :)

[@alexcannon-microdot]

Congratulations Adam 🎉

[@AdaminWales]

Thanks Alex :)

[@zackhjorth487]

I am also a fan of the "thematic sequel"! That is why I keep picking up games from Thunderworks. Roll Player, Cartographers, Dawn of Ulos, Stonespine Architects, etc are all wildly different mechanically but set in the same world. Love it!

[@AdaminWales]

Yes! I hadn’t thought about that range. I have several of them too. City of Games is doing similar things with Isle of Cats and follow up games.

[@marklangley8100]

I always enjoy catching up with your latest game design thoughts and videos…great stuff! Congratulations 🎉

[@francoisgrobler6584]

Thank you for a great year of videos!

[@MallorysBoardGamesAndBaking]

Congratulations on the baby, Adam!

[@AdaminWales]

Thanks! :)

[@kroutkas5507]

As a Frenchie, I'm surprised to hear about Hachette becoming a major player (pun intended) in the UK only now when they took the French hobby market by storm since their launch a few years ago. I'd be more than surprised if your prediction isn't valid, especially with some of their studios releasing tons of bestsellers (especially Catch Up Games, of Faraway fame, with their latest games Courtisans and Castle Combo.)

[@AdaminWales]

I think Hachette have been a significant presence in the UK for a few years now - largely due to the friendly enthusiasm and engagement of their main man, Flavien Loisier :) But it's hard for any distributor to measure up to Asmodee. Nonetheless, with Hachette UK now distributing Oink Games, and recently announcing that they'll be distributing Edition Spielwiese titles, they're really diversifying. And the French publishers haven't all been widely known in the UK until recently, but they're becoming more recognisable all the time. It's been great to see the progress of Hachette.

[@Alvagtist]

Fellow Game Designer here, new to the channel - Congrats!

[@AdaminWales]

Thanks! :) Hope you find plenty to watch on the channel.

[@Alvagtist]

@@AdaminWales Thanks, in addition to running Rebel Play Studio I'm a game design profesor at the Uni, I will make sure to send my students this way!

[@bartoszopka]

I know it likely doesn't fully count, but Carcassonne the Castle has been re-released in Polish, with new art (and without "Carcassonne" license) as "Zamek" (Castle) in 2019. They also later released previously unpublished Falcon expansion.

[@AdaminWales]

Yes, I’ve seen that one. I guess I just wanted to see a few of the older Carcassonnes given a second life - maybe with some revisions to upgrade/improve. I have most of the standalone versions now - and some are better than others! :) The Castle is one of the best.

[@BoardGameBlitz]

Congrats on the baby! Hope everyone's healthy.

[@AdaminWales]

Thank you! :)

[@flavflav7792]

Thank you so much for the prediction, super appreciated :)

[@AdaminWales]

You’re doing great work! 😊

[@beccamaydraw656]

Congratulations, what amazing news!

[@AdaminWales]

Thank you! :)

[@boro-intermarium]

Great stuff. Thank you for update. Good luck!

[@AdaminWales]

Thanks Konrad! Hope all is good with you and the family! :)

[@flavflav7792]

Congrats!

[@JorenMaster]

What's the game at 9:57 called? That isn't Carcassonne the Castle, right?

[@AdaminWales]

Arkadia - an excellent (forgotten) area majority, tile-laying, stock holding game from Rudiger Dorn

[@burningflurber]

for some reason the only thing i'm hoping for in particular is a reprint of broom service. i can't imagine there's much interest though lol

[@AdaminWales]

Oh, that’s a good suggestion! I’d quite like a graphic overhaul of that one. It’s a great game, and the storybook art is nice - but it feels dated.

[@PablowingUrMind]

I really wanted old Witness cuz i liked the Tin Tin style art. The new one does not interest me too 😒

[@AdaminWales]

It’s a shame isn’t it! I think the Blake and Mortimer license probably isn’t a big draw for customers outside of France/Belgium (I may be wrong) - but even so, a similar art-style would have been great! Like Osprey did with The Lost Expedition, which uses a similar art style. I’ve also often thought about how you could make Witness work with a range of player counts. It would be a much better product if it was 3-5 players for example (2 players may be impossible). I think it would be a huge challenge for the designer, so I get why that hasn’t happened - but it does seem to hold the game back. It’s a remarkable game regardless. Just very niche!