Spin Master has singed a 3 year licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Consumer Products for DC comics properties. The agreement covers games, puzzles, action toys, remote control and robotic vehicles, and water toys beginning in spring 2020.

PlayMonster (5 Second Rule, Yeti in My Spaghetti) is partnering with Audax Private Equity to finance additional expansion through “organic growth and add-on acquisitions.”

Goliath continues to grow, acquiring U.K. based Vivid Toy Group and moving in to the Italian market through a partnership with distributor MacDue. With the acquisition of Vivid, Goliath plans to launch 20 new games in the U.K. market next year.

Drumond Park has signed on with Tomy UK as exclusive distributor for all the former’s games in the U.K. and Ireland.

NSKN Games (Dice Settlers, Teotihuacan) and Board & Dice Games (Beet Empire, Dice Brewing) are merging. The combined company will continue operations under the Board & Dice name.

With the passing of designer Greg Stafford and earlier Stewart Wieck, of the games’ latest publisher, Nocturnal Media, the RPGs King Arthur Pendragon and Prince Valliant have been transferred again to Chaosium.

After a couple of messy PR situations involving insensitive or extremist material in game books, Paradox Interactive is stepping back from the publishing business but not abandoning the World of Darkness altogether. Instead, Paradox is moving to a licensing model and integrating White Wolf’s operations in to the parent company. Modiphius Entertainment, which was already handling distribution, is taking over development and publication for Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition. This will include production of various supplements (such as The Fall of London Chronicle and Players Guide), as well as oversight of other licensees (Onyx Path Publishing, Elderwood Academy, Dogmight Games, and others).

Impressions Game Distribution Services is being acquired by Flat River Group. The latter is a toy and game distribution company with business in e-commerce and crowdfunding fulfillment. Impressions founder Aldo Ghiozzi will continue with the combined company.

Scientific Games and Hasbro have extended their license agreement through 2025. The agreement covers the use of Hasbro properties, including Monopoly, Battleship, Clue, Yahtzee, and others for lotteries, slot machines, online gaming, and now also table games.

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Five new games from Goliath but one is not like the others…

The Oregon Trail Game: Journey to Willamette Valley ($40, available now exclusively at Target) is the third of Goliath/Pressman’s titles based on the classic computer game. This one has players laying out trail tiles, hunting, trading supplies, selling goods, and moving their wagons across the board. Along the way, they must endure various calamities and, of course, always keep their families fed. The winner is the player who reaches Willamette Valley with the most money. Family members who die en-route drain a player’s resources. The earlier in the journey, the more it costs to bury them.

50 Shades of Shit ($20, due this fall) is an expansion for the company’s Shit Happens party game and is focused on sexual situations.

Tossed Salad ($15, now) is a word-guessing party game of double entendres. In the first round, those giving the hints can say anything. In the second round, they can use at most three words. And in the third round, they can use only Charades-like motions.

Friend or Faux ($20, now) is more a get-to-know-you activity that involves asking revealing questions. In rounds four and five, the questions get more adult.

Sip It ($20, fall) is a card-based drinking game. Some of the cards are truth-or-dare like; others have action challenges.

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Gamers near Plano, Texas have an opportunity to practice their crafting skills with Goliath Games. The company is looking for a part-time Prototype Maker.

The U.S. Chess Federation is searching for an experienced Director of Development. A new position with the organization, the Director of Development’s role will be to “create and implement a comprehensive development plan for short- and long-term revenue growth in support of the US Chess mission.”

WizKids is looking for an experienced Product Manager in Hillside, New Jersey to develop long term plans, develop packaging, and interface with operations on the company’s unpainted miniatures line.

Ludo Fact needs Machine Operators and Assemblers for board game manufacturing in Lafayette, Indiana.

For production of miniatures, Privateer Press needs a Metal Caster in Bellevue, Washington.

Topps has multiple openings at its locations in New York City and Scranton, Pennsylvania, among them a New Product Development Associate with drawing and modeling skills and a Brand Manager for non-sports entertainment properties.

Hasbro’s 100+ openings include:

• Games Brand Writer to write copy for games packaging and to “produce accessible, friendly, and accurate rules.”
• Product Design Manager for the kids gaming category, which includes Jenga, Simon, Bop It, Connect 4, and Twister.
• At Wizards of the Coast, Manager of Global Brand Marketing for Dungeons & Dragons.
• Also at WOTC, Technical Product Manager to focus on the company’s product development process.

TCGplayer has numerous openings in Syracuse, New York and Atlanta, Georgia. Lots for Software Engineers and Product Engineers. Also for finance and data analytics and shipping. Two individual positions are worth highlighting, though. There’s one for a Digital Marketing Manager to be responsible for online marketing campaigns. And the company is looking for a General Manager of Seller Services, who will be a member of the executive leadership team and responsible for the company’s line of business supplying software tools to retailers.

ACD Distribution has several warehouse opportunities in Middleton, Wisconsin and Fresno, California. Also sales positions in Wisconsin.

Alliance Game Distributors is looking to hire a Sales Specialist in Roseville, Minnesota, specifically to work with Asmodee North America. The company also has openings for a Sales Trainee and an Administrative Assistant at its home offices in Maryland.

Asmodee North America, itself, is recruiting for a Trade Marketing Manager to support the sales team with PR, media relations, trade shows, and merchandising.

Games Workshop has many openings for retail work at various locations worldwide, also for a variety positions at headquarters in Nottingham, UK, including:

• Middle Earth Product Manager to coordinate production, promotion, and consistency with the source material.
• ‘Eavy Metal Painter for Forge World products including Horus Heresy and Middle Earth miniatures.
• Managing Editor for White Dwarf magazine.
• Games Developer for Warhammer Age of Sigmar products.
• Games Developer for Warhammer 40,000 products.
• Armies and Battlefields Painter for products to be showcased in Codexes, Battletomes, and other publications.
• Games Developer for specialist brands, such as Blood Bowl and Necromunda.
• Model Designer for specialist brands. Experience preferred but the position may be offered at a trainee level.
• Concept Artist to be part of the Citadel Miniatures conceptualiser team.

Gamerati in DuPont, Washington is looking to hire a full-time Social Content Creator/Community Manager for the company’s services to game publishers.

Board game-related freelance jobs posted on Upwork include:

• Design and production for an employee-training game ($3,000 fixed price).
• Rulebook-writing for a historical board game.
• Production of an animated instructional video for an adult card game.
• Social media management for an upcoming Kickstarter project: Facebook and Twitter.
• Graphic design for a game’s box, cards, and tokens.

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Retailing giant Target has an opening for a Merchandise Planner of Games and Trading Cards at its headquarters in Minneapolis. For Target, the position of Merchandise Planner serves as the interface between Merchandising and Supply Chain, is responsible for strategic thinking about sales, and involves a lot of detailed data analysis. But also…

In the Games and Trading Cards role, you will partner with the largest vendors in the Toy industry such as Hasbro and Mattel to drive sales on iconic board game brands and large franchises such as Pokémon. You’ll also have the opportunity to be entrepreneurial and help launch games from indie game designers from Kickstarter and other sources for new ideas.

Publisher All Things Equal needs a Marketing and Office Manager at its offices in Miami Beach. Responsibilities will include a mix of drafting marketing material and administrative functions. Some experience with Adobe Creative Suite applications would be helpful, as would being a fan of The Big Lebowski, for which the company is developing two new games in the coming year.

At Wizards of the Coast in Renton, Washington, two openings of note include Design Manager in R&D and Senior Content Designer. The former is a game development position for Magic: The Gathering that involves leading a team of designers. The latter involves building digital services and interactive content for Magic, D&D, and Avalon Hill games.

Don’t have the professional experience to qualify for one of these positions but still a fan of Magic? WOTC has launched the Great Designer Search 3 contest with essay questions, a multiple-choice test, and a series of game design challenges. The winner will be invited to a 6 month Magic: The Gathering design internship.

Goliath Games is recruiting for a Global Quality Assurance Manager and a Graphics Designer, both to be located in Plano, Texas. Applicants for the Global Quality Assurance Manager position should have at least 5 years of quality control experience, be familiar in detail with safety testing regulations, social compliance audits, and certifications, and be willing to travel 75 percent or more. Applicants for the Graphics Designer position should also have 5 or more years experience and be able to help with packaging, instruction manuals, game boards, display graphics, POP, and other assignments.

Games for Change is looking for a Communications Intern. The position is unpaid, can be in Boston or New York, starts in February, runs a minimum of 10 weeks, and will take 20-30 hours per week.

National Defense University, part of the U.S. Department of Defense, has an opening for a Wargaming Assistant in Washington, D.C. The role includes supporting the development and execution of national security exercises.

The UK’s Defense Science and Technology Laboratory has similar openings, one for a Tactical/Operational Wargamer and two for Wargame Designer & Analyst. The announcement of the former position lists “experience of developing scenarios and vignettes” as a qualification. The announcement of the latter lists “hobby wargaming”. For both, knowledge of military history and excellent quantitative analytical skills are required.

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Goliath today announced its acquisition of JAX Ltd. The latter company, best known for its Sequence board game, will continue to operate under its own name out of offices in Plymouth, Minnesota. Members of the Levine family, former owners, are staying with the company.

Goliath, which is headquartered in the Netherlands and operates in 75 countries, is probably best known in the United States for its silly action games such as Doggie Doo, Gooey Looey, and Pop the Pig. Goliath also acquired the family-owned Pressman back in 2014.

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Goliath Games is recruiting experienced artists with 5 or more years of experience to fill the position of Graphic Designer at the company’s office in Plano, Texas.

Spin Master is in search of a Social Media Producer and an Integrated Marketing Specialist for the company’s Toronto office. For Social Media Producer, what the company wants is someone who’s constantly plugged in to social media and loves to play with toys. Marketing experience and creativity required. The job of Integrated Marketing Specialist will be to develop influencer campaigns, events, and programs. At the company’s Los Angeles office, Spin Master is looking for a Senior Brand Manager to lead product development and marketing for entertainment-based brands, including Star Wars, How to Train Your Dragon, and Pirates of the Caribbean. For this position, an MBA and 4-6 years of consumer product brand management experience is preferred.

Modiphius Entertainment is expanding its miniatures business and needs both freelance 3D sculptors and figure painters. The company is also looking for an Art Director, which could be freelance or full-time, in London or remote.

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While part of the Goliath family now, Pressman is still being maintained as a separate brand. And it’s products are distinct enough that I thought they deserved their own report.

In terms of new products, Pressman has a license for Shopkins games. Out already is Shopkins Pop ‘N’ Race, with Shopkins Supermarket Scramble ($20) following soon. The former is a version of Trouble, the latter a simple spin-and-move game of collecting characters from each section of the grocery store.

Other than that, Pressman is bringing back some out of print titles.

Lucky Ducks (fall, $24), formerly a Milton Bradley title, is a cute matching memory game with a little added challenge. The plastic ducks, on the bottom of which the various shapes are printed, are constantly in motion, circling around the board.

Wheel of Fortune ($20) returns for a fourth edition in the fall with 90 puzzles included.

And for the game’s 50th anniversary, there will be Tri-ominos Junior (summer, $15). What makes it kid-friendly is the inclusion of some wild-card pieces and the addition of colors corresponding to the matching numbers.

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Goliath’s products are always good for a few laughs and leading in that role this year was Who Tooted? (fall, $24). A game about farting—complete with whoopee cushion buzzers and electronic sound effects—you know it’ll be a hit with the 6-12 year old set.

Really more of an aid in performing magic tricks, there’s also Magic Mindreader (fall, $20). It’s an interactive plastic skull that can do such things as guess the card a person picked or lead participants through simple number tricks.

Sands Alive! (fall, $15) is a game played in a mini sandbox. Players draw cards that allow them to build certain structures in an effort to connect one side of the box with the opposite side.

In Fool the Frog (fall, $24) one player wears a mask of frog eyes that open and close at random intervals, while the other players pass back-and-forth a fly. The frog player, then, tries to guess who’s holding the fly.

Slap (fall, $24) is a trick trivia game with a special device to figure out who gave the first answer. It’s trick trivia because questions are designed to confuse players (for example, “What does a cow drink?”). And the device works because the players have to write their answers on the end of its spring-loaded arms, and then when they let go, the arms slap down on top of each other in to the center.

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Goliath Games is acquiring Pressman Toy. In an interview with Chicago Toy & Game, Adi Golad of Goliath said:

One of Goliath’s main goals is to create global brands and now we share several great brands with Pressman… By combining our companies we can now invest more in both expanded products and promotion than ever before.

The move comes just 2 months after Goliath’s investment in another family-owned company, Crown & Andrews of Australia.

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Goliath Games recently released several new kids’ games:

Dino Meal — This hungry Dino has an eggstraordinary appetite. Roll the die to choose which stolen dinosaur egg to rescue first. Then carefully reach in and take out the egg, but watch out. You never know when this intimidating Dino might leap out at you for his next Dino Meal. Win the game by getting the eggs before the Dino gets you.

Barbecue Party — It’s Barbecue Party, the game that decides who will be grill master or dinner disaster! Choose your card to see what you get to put on the grill for dinner, but watch out! This temperamental grill may jump, causing all the food to fall off. The winner is the first player to get 3 items off the grill before the food takes a spill.

Pop the Pig — Pop the Pig has “popped” into the hearts of children around the world. After all, what child can resist an adorable pig who hungrily chomps so many hamburgers his belly pops? Everyone takes turns rolling the die to see how many chomps the pig will take. Push down the pig’s head to eat the burger. With every pump, the pig’s stomach will get bigger, bigger and bigger. But don’t feed him too much, because if he pops … you lose!

They’ve also just released an update to Skit!, an Android/iOS app that lets kids create animated shorts, memes, remixes, etc… with all sorts of great characters and backdrops. The new update includes characters from The LEGO Movie and backgrounds such as CloudCookoo Land, Wild West, Bob’s Kabob Truck, and more. You can snag Skit! from the iTunes App Store, Google Play, or Amazon.

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