Welcome to Waterbear Workshop. If you clicked on this link, it’s because you love board games. So do we! In fact, we love board games SO MUCH that we think the world needs more of them. We also think that more people should be made aware of the amazing board games already in circulation.

Waterbear Workshop is, first and foremost, a board game design company that wants to bring our ideas and stories to life for your enjoyment. However, we’re also a couple of board game nerds who want to leverage this forum for game reviews and tips, design best practices, general flights of fancy, and the occasional existential crisis.

So, what turned our passion for weekly game nights into a creative community building endeavor?

This story had many beginnings…

• In 2021, we started our boardgame journey with a rogue-light strategy game dubbed “Slinkball” by our then five-year-old son.

• In 2022, Dungeon Dynasties brought us our first playtesters and the board game design equivalent of “killing your darlings” to pave the way for improvement.

• Waterbear (originally Wombat) Workshop was dreamt up, founded, cognitively birthed, or whatever you want to call it in 2023.

• And now we’re writing this, our first post as a board game design company, in 2024.

But our beginning can’t be reduced to milestones on a calendar any more than it can ignore them. These moments, while meaningful raw evidence of our commitment, have nothing on the industrious creativity that drives people to make art you can play. That, of course, and the jaded, self-indulgent fearlessness required to embrace a career path about which people shamelessly ask “you mean like Monopoly?” and “wait – you can get paid for that?”

To the former, we say “no – not like Monopoly.”

To the latter, we say “god, we hope so.”

A Board Game Design Company That Loves The Journey as much as the Destination.

And that’s what makes Waterbear Workshop so much more than just a board game design company. We want to make games that people love to play. But we don’t just want to share the games with people. We want to share the experience of getting excited about an idea and seeing it through testing, design, manufacturing, and onward to your next game night.

Create – We make everything from co-op strategy to kid-focused educational games. We are still figuring out what we love best. Our ultimate goal is to generate awareness for our games as we look to publish them with popular local game publishers across the country. If we are showcasing a game that interests you, stay tuned and we’ll let you know where you can find it.

Share – As we go through ideation, creation, playtesting, frustration, and ultimately tears, we want to bring you along for the ride. Learn about what goes into game making, best practices for making your own games, reviews on popular games that dissect what makes them work, and more. Follow us here or on social media to stay informed (and hopefully amused).

Play – Find out how to playtest with us or how to get play testers for your own projects. Embrace new titles, both with national appeal and coming from local independent designers. Take joy in a hobby at the intersection of creativity, playfulness, and community.

What now?

Now we stay in touch! Follow us on social media and subscribe to our blog.

Let’s make some games.