Podcast Archives - Board Game Design Lab · Gabe Barrett

Game Design Trends for 2025 with Jamey Stegmaier

·45 min·4 clips

Jamey Stegmaier explains how solo games became a huge hit, with backers doubling his expectations.

Gabe frames the conversation as a reset. The show usually digs into one specific topic, but this one pulls back and talks about game design in a wider way. It gets useful once Gabe starts talking about recognition at the table: those small moments when players own more than one game, catch a familiar connection, and feel sharp for noticing. That is not just branding. It gives loyal players something real to latch onto. From there, Gabe moves into game lines. He points to Jamie's Span games and his own Hunted line as examples of publishers creating spaces that other designers might want to work inside. The upside is easy to see. A designer can look at a line, spot what still belongs there, and shape a pitch around that home. The catch is just as real. If someone builds a Hunted game and Gabe passes, the game may not fit anywhere else. Jamie answers without forcing the point. He separates a new Span game from expansions and says he is happy with three games in that line right now. There is still room to play with birds, dragons, and fish before adding another main title just to keep the line alive. That feels like the practical publishing lesson: more of a good thing only makes sense when the next project earns the work. The ending stays loose, with Vantage, Pokemon Span, Robomon Span, and the same warm designer chat the episode opened with.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Podcast Archives - Board Game Design Lab