Calliope Games is run by game industry veterans with previous connections to WizKids (HeroClix) and Wells Expeditions (Arcane Legions). But more importantly, Calliope Games is focusing on family titles that rather than ask the adults to step down the kids’ level, try to raise the kids to an adult level. In other words, the games are meant to be fun and easy-to-learn, but with a definite element of strategy.

Tsuro is a game that’s been available before under a different imprint. In it, players place tiles and build paths to keep their pieces on the board but force the pieces of other players off.

Calliope’s new game is Got ‘Em!, where the players build walls trying to trap their opponents’ pawns. It can be played on the colorful side of the board with a set of cards for a version with a little more luck, or on the reverse non-colored side for a game of more strict abstract strategy.

Upcoming games from Calliope include Ugh and Double Double Dominoes. Ugh is a card game about the life of cave men—where they live and what pets they keep. It’s simple enough for pretty young children but does involve a push-your-luck element in collecting sets. Double Double Dominoes is best described as a combination of dominoes and Scrabble. That is, a typical game of dominoes is played on top of a Scrabble-like board that gives bonuses for plays on certain spaces.