'Everything is just too chaotic': Tabletop game publishers scramble to survive Trump's tariff hikes
Board game industry figures discuss the impact of the US's import taxes on their trade – and the steps they can take to mitigate them
Sweeping tax hikes on goods imported to the US announced by president Donald Trump have left the tabletop games industry reeling, amid concerns that the measures will cause job losses, shuttered business and unfulfilled crowdfunding campaigns.
Not only have the hikes, part of the US government’s “America First” policies, which, it states, aim to encourage business to produce domestically, reached astronomical heights – 145% in the case of China (not to mention its 125% reciprocal rate) where much of the tabletop games industry turns to for its manufacturing – but the raising and lowering of import duties on other nations has created huge uncertainty.
How bad are things? Well, here’s a sense of them: “It’s really hard to create something for the future when that future looks so grim,” said Stonemaier president Jamey Stegmaier in a blog post labelled “The Darkest Timeline” earlier this month… when the China tariffs had only reached 54%. He added the situation was “lose-lose” and that “any publisher – big or small, new or old – without cash reserves is in deep trouble, especially if they currently have games in production in China”.
In practice, that could mean fewer games, higher prices and more limited print runs. A survey of publishers by Cardboard Edison, a publisher known for its awards that showcase unpublished games, revealed that 23% – nearly a quarter – of those polled said they were less likely to make board games if the situation prevailed. About 90% of respondents would raise prices and two-thirds would produce fewer copies in light of the tariffs. Of particular note to a blog such as The Generations Games that has a focus on family board games, 19% said they would release fewer games for that market.
Of course, there’s long been concerns about the exploitation caused by globalisation and its impact on communities, wages, jobs and the planet’s environment. What is the true cost of a bargain manufactured in a sweat shop? Should consumers whose main factor in buying a product is a low price think more about just how did that first-hand $4 T-shirt get to the shop floor?
But then, the board game industry is more niche than mass-consumer fashion and when gamers aren’t necessarily looking for cheap wares but a quality, innovative product – one that provides new experiences and creativity, for which talents need to be sought from further afield – a situation such as escalating and chaotically introduced import tariffs create a perfect storm.
Play is, by its nature, bridge-building. A game’s rules, like with sport, can be universal. Tabletop gaming is an industry suited to a global vision, where an idea from Germany sparks a revolution in game design in the form of Catan; from which North American designers such as Matt Leacock and Rob Daviau can develop the scope with co-operative and legacy elements, while a company such as Panda Games, whose manufacturing base is in China, can innovate production methods for corporate giants all the way to two high-school kids with a good idea. How would that industrious pair get their vision out to the world without that network?
“I’m not quick to give up on a trusted partner who has literally manufactured over four million games for us,” adds Stegmaier in a separate blog post of Panda, which, according to him, “treats its employees well, heeds our environmental guidelines, communicates incredibly well, offers a vast variety of component options, and has consistently produced quality games for us since 2012”.
International trade is a complex issue and there are many arguments for what has contributed to America’s industrial decline. But if your nation’s manufacturing base has been gutted for decades by a system of global capitalism and deregulation neoliberalism, then it’s going to be nigh-on impossible to adjust when that all comes to a screeching halt. Produce at home? Fine, if you can build the factories, provide the manufacturing resources, and train and employ the citizens in the specialisms needed in the narrow time frame before companies go out of business as costs spiral and customers, whether globally or in the US, refuse to pay the additional tax costs. Otherwise, not so much.
‘If they had announced they were going to do this in, say, six months, we could have developed a considered response. But we have games on boats already’
So in what position does this all leave the tabletop industry, particularly as the tariffs were imposed without so much as a grace period? “Chaos,” says Justin Jacobson.
The president of Restoration Games, which features updates of games such as Fireball Island, Crossbows & Catapults and Thunder Road among its publication, adds: “No matter what you think of tariffs generally, this implementation has been haphazard and gratuitously rapid.
“If they had announced they were going to do this in, say, six months, we could have developed a considered response. But we have games on boats already. There's nothing to be done. And, of course, given how chaotic their ‘plan’ seems to be, it's a fool's errand to try to predict what the landscape will look like in, say, a year, when we plan to fulfil our next big Kickstarter.
“We're essentially left with nothing more than tighten the belt and make smart, conservative decisions. Hopefully, that's sufficient.”
Also worried about the uncertainty is Breeze Grigas, head of Zephyr Workshop, whose game AEGIS Combining Robots, after five years of development, was loaded on to a boat and launched from Shanghai at the beginning of April.
“The initial rounds of 10% and 20% tariffs were added after all our print numbers and aspects of our product were finalised, so I was just stuck with bills for many, many thousands of dollars that were not budgeted for,” says Breeze.
“And then, as our boat left port, the president announced 54%, and now apparently 104% tariffs [ed: since raised to 145%], which would absolutely bankrupt me ahead of being able to fulfil our Kickstarter. According to the law as announced, I should still be under the 20% tariffs, but if my ship had left a couple days later, my life and business would be ruined.
“It is still nerve-racking since I can't be truly sure of the import bill until I have it in-hand. Everything is just too chaotic.”
Even those who took extra steps to avoid being caught up in a US/China trade war have taken a blow and seen tariffs raised then lowered. Fireside Games, publishers of Castle Panic, moved the manufacturing of its next release to Vietnam, only to then be confronted with a 46% rate – which was then lowered to 10% shortly after.
“Pricing is incredibly difficult right now, knowing that the tariffs could also change (up or down) with little to no notice,” says Fireside Games CEO Anne-Marie De Witt. “We’re also considering delaying the printing of our second release this year until we know more about the tariff situation.”
So, how can publishers adjust to this uncertain future? There has been speculation that some may look to focus on card games rather than those that are board-based to cut production costs. Breeze says he will look to “produce smaller games”, but in the immediate future “will be holding off on printing anything new until the madness stops”. This is a point backed up by the Cardboard Edison poll, in which 56% of respondents said they expected to have to delay their current plans, and 62% said they would slow down plans for new titles should the tariffs stay in place.
For some, changing to cards is not an option, but the path forward is still strewn with difficulty. “The best US manufacturer doesn't have a tenth of the capacity or capability of the average Chinese manufacturer,” says Justin. “There is no one in the US that can make plastic figures of the type found in hobby games. I mean that literally. But even if you decide to focus purely on card games, the options and quality are significantly limited. Our most immediate form of mitigation is to try and maximize direct sales and deemphasize hobby distribution, where we get paid a smaller percentage of MSRP [manufacturer's suggested retail price]. That's easier said than done, but fortunately, this was something we were already starting to emphasize before this situation arose.
What other practical steps can publishers take? “We’re considering releasing the tariff as a separate line item, much the way sales taxes appear on a receipt,” says Anne-Marie. “That would allow us to keep the MSRP stable and simply vary the tariff as it rises and falls. That would also pass as little of the cost on to the customer as possible.
“That solution does have negative implications to our cashflow and company valuation, but it might be the most stable way through this storm, which we all hope will pass at some point.”
‘We need to share our story and lobby lawmakers in Washington about what tariffs mean for our hobby, for our business, and for our community’ – Tory Brown
It’s been noted that the US regime’s move is steeped in strong-arm competition, bullying and intimidation. In the face of such unreliability and uncertainty, how can a niche trade such as the tabletop games industry take positive steps forward?
Crowdfunding platform Gamefound announced a raft of measures and proposals to help publishers, such as the creation of an information base and different price points depending on the buyer’s location, in the wake of the tariff announcements.
And, fortunately, there are places where discussions are already taking place, with several industry groups and forums on platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Discord. “My game-making colleagues have been invaluable during this process,” says Breeze. “It's one of the most collaborative and tight-knit communities you could be in.”
And there are ways to collaborate to build a groundswell of political pressure, says Votes for Women designer Tory Brown. Tory, who as well as a games designer is a political communications strategist and activist, says: “The most powerful action publishers and designers can take is to join forces with everyone in the hobby to demand Congress reclaim its rightful power to levy and remove tariffs based on cohesive economic policy. It's imperative that we paint a clear picture of our diverse and interdependent industry that is on the brink of extinction because of one person's whims. Our livelihoods, our creative expression, and our freedom to play are at stake and so we are called to take concerted action as a single force.”
Anne-Marie says: “We’re currently in a Discord group sharing lobbying and media strategies with each other. Because of anti-trust laws in the United States, we have to avoid discussion of pricing and proprietary information, but we’ve all been mindful of that and are sharing legal strategies to cope with and address the tariffs.”
Above all, adds Tory, it’s vital “to stand together with gamers, content creators, game store owners, and everyone from people who make fancy tables to people who make fancy dice and component trays.
“Our fates are shared and so should our voice. We can all talk to the people in our lives, to any customers we've done business with, and to our peers in the industry. We need to share our story with them and lobby lawmakers in Washington about what tariffs mean for our hobby, for our business, and for our community.”
Are you a publisher, designer or artist concerned about the impact of tariffs on the tabletop games industry? Are you a player worried about the future of your hobby, or concerned about a crowdfunded game you’ve backed? What strategies do you think could help mitigate the impact of these tariffs? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
First Monday in October: Turning Supreme Court history into tabletop strategy
Transforming the US's history of rule-making into a board game? 'I couldn't get the idea out of my head,' says designer Talia Rosen
Making history: Henry Lowood on curating board gaming's past
The Stanford University professor has documented video gaming's history. Now he's turning his attention to the tabletop.
Share The Generations Games? Ah, go on…
if you made it this far, you’re probably keen on family tabletop games, and games with a strong social theme. Forwarding to a like-minded friend can make a huge difference to the future of The Generations Games and our hopes to expand our output.
Great write-up! It's kind of incredible that anything that was on a ship when the tariff's hit is also subject to them...