July 2005, the beginnings of the gaming industry in Poland. My friends from Galakta Games release „The Lord of the Rings: Confrontation” in the budding Polish market. Words cannot express how excited I am. Well, let me try – I’m so excited that I’m going nuts. I’m so excited that I’m traveling to Krakow to get a copy. I bring it home. I read the rulebook, set up the game. I’m on fire with enthusiasm like Stannis’ fleet. I explain the rules to my wife, we play, Frodo rushes into Mordor, I win, it’s wonderful.

Only one being in the world can bring a person down to earth with a single word. That being in question is the wife. She can do that. „Boring,” says Merry. One word. I put the game back into the box. I place it on the shelf. Stannis dies.

Hania lives in Krosno, which is nearly 300 km away from the headquarters of Portal Games. Hania has been working at Portal Games since 2020, and I’ve only met her in person barely twice because first COVID struck, and then we had only two more company retreats during which I had a chance to chat with her for maybe 15 minutes in total. A lot has been happening on those retreats! Of course, there are regular Zoom conferences, daily exchanges of emails and messages on Discord, but let’s be honest – in the era of remote work, the contact with the team is different from the daily chitchats during lunch breaks and playing board games together after hours.

I’d have to say that I hardly know Hania, in essence.

You probably know that I’m not a big fan of the Asmodee. It’s a board game publisher that’s larger than all the other publishers in the industry combined. Asmodee makes every one of us, independent publishers, feel like we’re sitting at a blackjack table and the odds are stacked against us. Like we don’t stand a chance.

The market value of Embracer Group, the owner of Asmodee, is 3.6 billion dollars. With such a giant, I have to face them when I go to Essen SPIEL to promote another new game or when I compete for the rights to bring a hit to the Polish market. We’re competing with Asmodee for the hearts of gamers, and Asmodee has 3.6 billion ways to win those hearts. Independent publishers have slightly fewer.

So, yeah, I’m not a big fan.

Peter in the Board Game Wargames group writes about the game „The King in the North” and explains that it draws inspiration from the game systems of „Granada” and „Sekigahara,” but it has been adapted to the realities of the Carlist Wars conflict. You probably don’t understand much of this, so let me add some more doubts – it’s worth knowing that „Granada,” in turn, uses the game rules of „Sekigahara,” but modifies them to fit the wars on the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th century.

Alright, what are we talking about? What’s going on?! What wars, what peninsula? What am I reading?!

Let me explain.

„I think you should see this,” Chevee says. I’ve been waiting for these words for over five years. I’ve waited for them since he took on the responsibility of testing prototypes. He’s had dozens of meetings, examined countless prototypes, and each time, nothing managed to meet the high standards we set for them. I haven’t seen any of those games he played with my own eyes.

Until now.

„I think you should see this.” How beautifully it sounds.