One of the things we like to do here at the Malted Meeple is give some extra attention to our favorite board game publishers and designers. In our monthly Publisher’s Spotlight we provide a bit of background on the publisher, discuss a few of their games, and may even announce a visit to The Meeple by some of the publisher’s representatives!
This month we shine our Publisher’s Spotlight on our friends from Alderac Entertainment Group! Their mission statement: We Make Fun! That they do!
Alderac Entertainment Group, or AEG for short, was formed in 1992 by John “Jolly” Blackburn in Ontario, California. Blackburn, also famous for his comic Knights of the Dinner Table, named his company after his D&D world – Alderac. In 1995, Blackburn left the company in the hands of John Zinser and David Seay. AEG prides itself on being in touch with the gaming community at large, and the people of AEG are very approachable and personable. They are gamers just like us!
AEG got its start with the former hobby gaming publication Shadis (another name found in Blackburn’s D&D campaign). Published from 1993 to 1998, Shadis won the Origins Award for Best Professional Gaming Magazine in 1994, 1995 and 1996. By 2009, AEG had entered the world of board game publishing as a force to be reckoned with – releasing ten new board games in that first year alone. Since then, they have won an additional five Origins Awards. The company’s former flagship game, Legend of the Five Rings, once boasted a collectible card game, a miniatures game, and a Role-Playing Game. In the years that they have been publishing games AEG has built quite a library of titles, including several Malted Meeple favorites such as Love Letter, Smash Up, Mystic Vale, and the newly released Fantahzee – our September Game of the Month!
There are several new and exciting games on the horizon for AEG, on which they have been kind enough to give us the inside scoop! They recently announced the first expansion for their newest hit card-crafting game Mystic Vale, entitled: Vale of Magic. Also announced is the next in the line of card-crafting games, Edge of Darkness. AEG also made news at Gen Con 2016 with the announcement that the highly anticipated third edition of Thunderstone will be available on Kickstarter in the near future.
AEG was generous enough to send us several of their new games, including some that haven’t even been released yet! The Meeple library now proudly includes: Mystic Vale, Love Letter: Premium Edition, Guildhall: Box of Holding, and Fantahzee!
So the next time you visit the Malted Meeple ask your game master to recommend their favorite AEG game.
AEG: We Make Fun!
Karington Hess is a lifelong gamer whose passions for hospitality and all things game-related led him to Ravenwood Castle, where he served as an Innkeeper before joining The Malted Meeple. When not pouring beers, crafting milkshakes, or teaching boardgames, Karington can be found behind the DM’s screen, weaving intricate stories for his fellow gamers.