Cole Wehrle
@colewehrle.bsky.social
Game designer focusing on strategy games with strong emergent narratives. Half of Wehrlegig Games. Creative director at Leder Games. Voracious reader of just about anything I can get my hands on.
Pinned
Cole Wehrle
@colewehrle.bsky.social
· Oct 21
John Company & Molly House Reprint
Two of the most evocative historical board games are back for a new print run.
www.kickstarter.com
We are now live! If you want to grab a copy of the new printings, now's your best chance.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/col...
This is also a bit of a strange campaign for us. To be honest, I don't even think I've ever been as nervous about a launch. I suppose that needs some explaining 🧵
www.kickstarter.com/projects/col...
This is also a bit of a strange campaign for us. To be honest, I don't even think I've ever been as nervous about a launch. I suppose that needs some explaining 🧵
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
Thanks to starting a new job last year I learned and played far fewer new games than I would have liked, which has made this list a little weirder than usual. Still, tradition must be upheld so here is my Top 7 New (to me) Games of 2025: www.stuartellisgorman.com/blog/2025-in...
2025 in Review – Top 7 Games — Stuart Ellis-Gorman
Normally I start these posts with a rundown on my year in gaming and life, but not much happened in 2025 so there’s not much to report, especially compared to 2024 when I moved to a new continent and ...
www.stuartellisgorman.com
January 5, 2026 at 2:44 AM
Thanks to starting a new job last year I learned and played far fewer new games than I would have liked, which has made this list a little weirder than usual. Still, tradition must be upheld so here is my Top 7 New (to me) Games of 2025: www.stuartellisgorman.com/blog/2025-in...
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
Top 50 Games Played of All Time - 2026 Edition (#50-41) #boardgames @gmtgames.bsky.social @dailymagicgames.bsky.social @garphillgames.bsky.social @wehrlegig.games @colewehrle.bsky.social @leder.games @stonemaiergames.com @miasmacorp.bsky.social
Top 50 Games Played of All Time – 2026 Edition (#50-41)
Two years goes by so fast. Hell, even a month goes by so fast, as I remember looking forward to all of the holiday fun and time off in December, and now it's January and where did the time go? However, it has been two years since I did a Top 50 Games Played of All Time list, and it's that time again!
dudetakeyourturn.ca
January 3, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Top 50 Games Played of All Time - 2026 Edition (#50-41) #boardgames @gmtgames.bsky.social @dailymagicgames.bsky.social @garphillgames.bsky.social @wehrlegig.games @colewehrle.bsky.social @leder.games @stonemaiergames.com @miasmacorp.bsky.social
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
Happy new year! Today on PAPER LABYRINTHS, we talk with board game designer Non-Breaking Space @nbsp1618.bsky.social about expressive design, play artifacts, and challenging players to think about what "victory conditions" mean. Out now where-ever you get podcasts!
sites.libsyn.com/568595/site/...
sites.libsyn.com/568595/site/...
January 1, 2026 at 1:52 PM
Happy new year! Today on PAPER LABYRINTHS, we talk with board game designer Non-Breaking Space @nbsp1618.bsky.social about expressive design, play artifacts, and challenging players to think about what "victory conditions" mean. Out now where-ever you get podcasts!
sites.libsyn.com/568595/site/...
sites.libsyn.com/568595/site/...
Hell yes; I cannot wait to check this out. And hey, If you aren't following Jo, you should fix that now.
In 2026, I'm releasing my next game: WENDYBUXXX.
Play as song characters brought to life by singer Wendy Miasma and forced to compete as lifestyle influencers to promote her new necrocurrency*, WENDYBUXXX. Gain the most followers by setting and following trends, while balancing controversy.
Play as song characters brought to life by singer Wendy Miasma and forced to compete as lifestyle influencers to promote her new necrocurrency*, WENDYBUXXX. Gain the most followers by setting and following trends, while balancing controversy.
December 31, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Hell yes; I cannot wait to check this out. And hey, If you aren't following Jo, you should fix that now.
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
This review I posted today is probably my favorite vid I’ve done in ages, exploring the world of indie small print run games through Imps, a game by Nick Brachmann. #boardgames
youtu.be/fd-JvOoB_ME
youtu.be/fd-JvOoB_ME
Imps is the coolest game you can’t buy - TCbH Review & Giveaway
YouTube video by The Cardboard Herald
youtu.be
December 30, 2025 at 4:35 PM
This review I posted today is probably my favorite vid I’ve done in ages, exploring the world of indie small print run games through Imps, a game by Nick Brachmann. #boardgames
youtu.be/fd-JvOoB_ME
youtu.be/fd-JvOoB_ME
It was just too lovely outside to pass up a post-snowstorm run. Things were a little slippery and slow, but the views made up for it and I found myself thinking about that Neil Hilborn poem about Minnesota winters.
December 29, 2025 at 10:08 PM
It was just too lovely outside to pass up a post-snowstorm run. Things were a little slippery and slow, but the views made up for it and I found myself thinking about that Neil Hilborn poem about Minnesota winters.
I'm honored to see Molly House in such company! Congrats to @miasmacorp.bsky.social for their debut Best Week appearance and to all of the other ways fantastic games on the list.
Today is the fifth day of Best Week! Did you know that 2025 contained an unusually high number of games about human relationships? An unusually high number of *good* games about human relationships? Now you do! Read about them here: spacebiff.com/2025/12/29/b...
Best Week 2025! The D.T.R.!
Do people still D.T.R.? When I was a youngling, the acronym stood for Define The Relationship, that belly-clenching moment when two people would sit across from one another, lock eyes, and hold a s…
spacebiff.com
December 29, 2025 at 4:15 PM
I'm honored to see Molly House in such company! Congrats to @miasmacorp.bsky.social for their debut Best Week appearance and to all of the other ways fantastic games on the list.
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
This is a long overdue first read made possible by a lovely Christmas gift and a mercifully quiet afternoon. With Oath nearly wrapped up and a few new projects on the horizon, it feels like a perfect book for the moment.
December 25, 2025 at 8:50 PM
This is a long overdue first read made possible by a lovely Christmas gift and a mercifully quiet afternoon. With Oath nearly wrapped up and a few new projects on the horizon, it feels like a perfect book for the moment.
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
Indeed. The purchaseable *product* we call the TTRPG begins in the 1970s with Western Gunfight, Chainmail, and D&D.
Yet role-playing "parlor games," simulations, and similar are centuries old and draw from a well that resembles all the positive stuff about D&D.
Parlor games were feminized...
Yet role-playing "parlor games," simulations, and similar are centuries old and draw from a well that resembles all the positive stuff about D&D.
Parlor games were feminized...
December 23, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Indeed. The purchaseable *product* we call the TTRPG begins in the 1970s with Western Gunfight, Chainmail, and D&D.
Yet role-playing "parlor games," simulations, and similar are centuries old and draw from a well that resembles all the positive stuff about D&D.
Parlor games were feminized...
Yet role-playing "parlor games," simulations, and similar are centuries old and draw from a well that resembles all the positive stuff about D&D.
Parlor games were feminized...
This was a totally unexpected delight. Check out this wonderful conversation about one of the finest games ever designed.
fuck yeah, it’s up: the first deep-dive episode of our yearlong All Systems Brough series, on the trippy, seminal, inside-the-mainframe puzzlebox that is 868-HACK. a lively convo featuring @shawndoublea.bsky.social @colewehrle.bsky.social and @drewwehrle.bsky.social secretlives.games/all-systems-...
The Secret Lives of Games: All Systems Brough - 868-HACK
We're joined by Shawn Alexander Allen (Beatdown City Survivors), Cole Wehrle (Root), and Drew Wehrle (Pax Pamir) to discuss the first title in our year-long exploration of the work of Michael Brough: ...
secretlives.games
December 19, 2025 at 3:45 PM
This was a totally unexpected delight. Check out this wonderful conversation about one of the finest games ever designed.
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
The Romp Arcs Tournament Semifinals Game 2 is live!! I'll be on commentary all day!
Come join me: www.twitch.tv/scptmatt
Come join me: www.twitch.tv/scptmatt
scptmatt - Twitch
Arcs Tournament Semifinals Game 2
www.twitch.tv
December 13, 2025 at 1:33 PM
The Romp Arcs Tournament Semifinals Game 2 is live!! I'll be on commentary all day!
Come join me: www.twitch.tv/scptmatt
Come join me: www.twitch.tv/scptmatt
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
The furnace broke. It's very cold, so we're having a sale on an appropriately chilly game!
December 8, 2025 at 7:59 PM
The furnace broke. It's very cold, so we're having a sale on an appropriately chilly game!
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
Really surreal to see Molly House included in both The Guardian's 30 best board games to play this Christmas and NPR's 50 best board games of 2025! What a year.
@wehrlegig.games @colewehrle.bsky.social
@wehrlegig.games @colewehrle.bsky.social
December 6, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Really surreal to see Molly House included in both The Guardian's 30 best board games to play this Christmas and NPR's 50 best board games of 2025! What a year.
@wehrlegig.games @colewehrle.bsky.social
@wehrlegig.games @colewehrle.bsky.social
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
Queen of Spies is live! Go back my first game with @djackthompson.bsky.social to make it to print. We are so proud! @saltandpeppergames.bsky.social gamefound.com/en/projects/...
Queen of Spies by SaltandPepper - Gamefound
Queen of Spies is a solo, story-driven board game of espionage and daring missions set in occupied Belgium during the First World War.
gamefound.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Queen of Spies is live! Go back my first game with @djackthompson.bsky.social to make it to print. We are so proud! @saltandpeppergames.bsky.social gamefound.com/en/projects/...
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
December 2, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
right, it's done. I've turned off all paid tiers on our website (bar the $10,000 a month Immortal one) & every feature, review & interview on there is now free to read (at least until I kill the site)
that's over 150 articles covering everything from Warhammer to Wanderhome, Paranoia to Pendragon
that's over 150 articles covering everything from Warhammer to Wanderhome, Paranoia to Pendragon
Wyrd Science
The magazine for people who should roll better
wyrd.science
December 2, 2025 at 10:33 AM
right, it's done. I've turned off all paid tiers on our website (bar the $10,000 a month Immortal one) & every feature, review & interview on there is now free to read (at least until I kill the site)
that's over 150 articles covering everything from Warhammer to Wanderhome, Paranoia to Pendragon
that's over 150 articles covering everything from Warhammer to Wanderhome, Paranoia to Pendragon
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
Check out this nice design diary for Queen of Spies, posted by my design partner @beyondsolitaire.bsky.social
@saltandpeppergames.bsky.social
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36203...
@saltandpeppergames.bsky.social
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36203...
Designer Diary: The Emergence of the Queen of Spies | Queen of Spies
Queen of Spies began as a burst of frenzied Facebook messages between David and me. I received a copy of Helen Fry’s Women in Intelligence for Christmas and got so excited about what I read that I imm...
boardgamegeek.com
November 30, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Check out this nice design diary for Queen of Spies, posted by my design partner @beyondsolitaire.bsky.social
@saltandpeppergames.bsky.social
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36203...
@saltandpeppergames.bsky.social
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36203...
Heck yes! Amabel is talking about one of my favorite subjects in tabletop production (and, to be honest, even design): boxes and what they say.
Let's talk about board game boxes and their role in selling a game, framing and contextualizing the experience, and creating meaning.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgfV...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgfV...
Boxes: Selling, Framing, Meaning
YouTube video by Hollandspiele
www.youtube.com
November 29, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Heck yes! Amabel is talking about one of my favorite subjects in tabletop production (and, to be honest, even design): boxes and what they say.
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
Getting stuck causes players to explore the world.
Dying causes players to think about what they're doing.
An "impossible" situation causes players to learn how the game works and eventually achieve the impossible.
We need to be able to design *some* games around these fundamental ideas.
Dying causes players to think about what they're doing.
An "impossible" situation causes players to learn how the game works and eventually achieve the impossible.
We need to be able to design *some* games around these fundamental ideas.
November 28, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Getting stuck causes players to explore the world.
Dying causes players to think about what they're doing.
An "impossible" situation causes players to learn how the game works and eventually achieve the impossible.
We need to be able to design *some* games around these fundamental ideas.
Dying causes players to think about what they're doing.
An "impossible" situation causes players to learn how the game works and eventually achieve the impossible.
We need to be able to design *some* games around these fundamental ideas.
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
I don't know how to introduce this one. After three titles about opium peddling, I figured the rest of SDHistCon would be breezy by comparison. I was wrong. The next day, I experienced one of the toughest board games I've ever played. Perhaps *the* toughest. spacebiff.com/2025/11/24/u...
Unnameable
After the first day of SDHistCon, where I played three games about opium peddling, I figured the second would be easier on my stomach. I could not have been more wrong. It has no name. Its designer…
spacebiff.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:01 PM
I don't know how to introduce this one. After three titles about opium peddling, I figured the rest of SDHistCon would be breezy by comparison. I was wrong. The next day, I experienced one of the toughest board games I've ever played. Perhaps *the* toughest. spacebiff.com/2025/11/24/u...
I won't be at Pax Unplugged this year, but, if you make it out to the Indie Night Market, be sure to check out staff developer Nick Brachman's new game, Imps. You can learn more about it here. boardgamegeek.com/thread/36141...
Imps Design Diary - The Whole Enchilada | Imps
Early Days
First of all I want to say thank you to anybody reading this. Games have been a passion of mine my entire life, and that passion has only been able to sustain because of others. Whether it’...
boardgamegeek.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:54 PM
I won't be at Pax Unplugged this year, but, if you make it out to the Indie Night Market, be sure to check out staff developer Nick Brachman's new game, Imps. You can learn more about it here. boardgamegeek.com/thread/36141...
Reposted by Cole Wehrle
This week on the podcast, @colewehrle.bsky.social joins me to discuss his picks for the Rule of Three.
open.spotify.com/episode/7tEl...
open.spotify.com/episode/7tEl...
Cole Wehrle's Rule of Three
open.spotify.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:44 AM
This week on the podcast, @colewehrle.bsky.social joins me to discuss his picks for the Rule of Three.
open.spotify.com/episode/7tEl...
open.spotify.com/episode/7tEl...
Drew and I have been overwhelmed by the support for the reprint campaign. If you've been looking for a copy of John Company or Molly House, this is your best chance to get a copy and the way that most directly supports us and our further efforts.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/col...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/col...
November 14, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Drew and I have been overwhelmed by the support for the reprint campaign. If you've been looking for a copy of John Company or Molly House, this is your best chance to get a copy and the way that most directly supports us and our further efforts.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/col...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/col...
I'm going all early 19th century this year with Prelude to Leipzig and Persuasion. If you want to check out some of the most compelling designs out there, do yourself a favor and check out the Hollandspiele catalog!
November 14, 2025 at 12:54 PM
I'm going all early 19th century this year with Prelude to Leipzig and Persuasion. If you want to check out some of the most compelling designs out there, do yourself a favor and check out the Hollandspiele catalog!