What Floodgate Games does

Floodgate Games is a privately held tabletop board game publisher founded in 2012 by Ben Harkins and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company designs, publishes, and distributes physical board games targeting families and casual gamers, tabletop hobbyists, couples, and party/social groups. Its core catalog spans puzzle games (Sagrada, Kites, Squirrel Away), cooperative titles (Décorum, Kites), 2-player strategy titles from the acquired 20-minute Series (Blitzkrieg!, Caesar!, Dogfight!), and the relationship simulator Fog of Love. Production emphasizes premium tactile components — glass favor tokens, metal and enamel score markers, and full-color dice bags — typically exclusive to deluxe editions sold directly via the company's Shopify storefront.

The business model is unit-pricing of physical games across price points from $5 promo packs to $74.95 premium SKUs, with revenue generated one-time at sale rather than through subscription or licensing. Distribution is hybrid: direct-to-consumer e-commerce at floodgate.games (offering exclusives and accessories), retail distribution through game stores and board game cafés globally, and online resellers. The company markets through a multi-channel mix including organic social (Facebook, Instagram, X, Discord), content marketing via Designer Diaries blog posts, email newsletter, earned media from outlets such as Wirecutter/NYT, Dice Tower, and Shut Up & Sit Down, and convention presence at Gen Con, Essen Spiel, UK Games Expo, PAX Unplugged, GAMA Expo, and Con of the North. The customer base is decentralized across thousands of individual hobby consumers with no enterprise anchor accounts; Sagrada remains the flagship title with over 500k copies sold since 2017 and a Top 50 Family Game ranking on BoardGameGeek.

Floodgate Games has grown its catalog through both organic launches and IP acquisitions, including the 2021 acquisition of the Fog of Love line from Hush Hush Projects and the 2024 acquisition of the 20-minute Series from PSC Games. Recent product cadence is active across 2023-2026, with deluxe editions and accessory SKUs layered onto core titles to extend revenue per franchise. The company operates with 1-10 employees under sole founder ownership, with no disclosed venture capital, parent company, or public financial reporting.

Name

Floodgate Games

Legal name

Floodgate Games, LLC

Website

https://floodgate.games

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Floodgate Games is a Minneapolis-based tabletop board game publisher founded in 2012, designing premium physical games across puzzle, cooperative, and strategy genres. It sells core titles ($20-$75) via direct e-commerce and global retail, serving families, hobby gamers, and couples.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tabletop Board Games

NAICS

Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (45912)

SIC

Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945)

akta.pro primary industry

Physical Game Distribution & Retail (Boxed Games, Wholesale, Merchandising) (MPAFABAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Family/Party Board Games Retail (CRALALAB), Wargames & Historical Board Games Retail (CRALALAD)

Keywords

• Tabletop board games
• Board game publisher
• Cooperative games
• Family board games
• Hobby games

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Revenue model

1. Board Game Sales: One-time product revenue from selling board games directly to consumers through their e-commerce store and through distribution to game retailers. Core games range from $19.95 to $55.00 with various price points.
2. Game Expansions: Expansion packs and add-ons for existing games (e.g., Sagrada: Panorama, Sagrada: Passion, Sagrada: Life, Sagrada: Glory, Fog of Love expansions, Décorum: Movin' Out) providing additional revenue from established customer base.
3. Accessories and Merchandise: Accessories including dice trays, spare dice, promo packs, and acrylic token upgrades sold at premium prices.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Floodgate Games is a tabletop board game publisher that designs, produces, and sells physical board games across multiple genres including dice-drafting puzzles, cooperative games, two-player strategy games, party games, and relationship simulators. The company sells its products directly to consumers through its own e-commerce storefront at floodgate.games and through retail distribution to game stores, board game cafés, and online retailers worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sagrada (Remastered) Flagship 1-4 player dice-drafting and stained-glass-window puzzle game (30-45 min, ages 10+), where players draft dice and place them on a player board following color-matching and adjacency constraints while pursuing private and public objective cards. A modern classic that consistently ranks in the Top 50 Family Games on BoardGameGeek.
• Squirrel Away Family board game for players of various ages where players use sleight-of-hand mechanics to stash away acorns while competing to build the biggest pile of nuts, with deluxe components (wooden Scoundrel tokens) available in the premium edition.
• Landmarks Fast-paced word association party game in which players connect words to landmarks on the game board through shouted wordplay, rewarding quick thinking.
• Kites Real-time cooperative card game for 2-6 players in which participants play kite cards to keep sand timers running, balancing urgency and coordination.
• Everything Ever Alphabet-spanning party game with 469 category cards in which players name items from A-to-Z categories and swap cards to dodge penalties, driven by a social judge mechanic.
• Caesar! Fast-paced 2-player area-control strategy game set in the Roman Empire, designed to be completed in around 20 minutes with legions battling for territory control.
• Blitzkrieg! World War II tug-of-war strategy game playable in around 20 minutes, spanning multiple theaters and supporting solo play via the Nippon expansion.
• Dogfight! World War I aerial combat game in which players draw tokens from bags to plan maneuvers, featuring 4 advanced scenarios with 9 unique planes and a solo mode.
• Décorum Cooperative 2-4 player decorating board game with hidden objectives across 30 scenarios, where players share goals but cannot directly communicate their objectives, creating puzzle dynamics through hidden information.
• Sagrada: Glory Expansion for Sagrada adding Strife Dice, Pioneer Objectives, and the Flourish module, providing additional puzzle content for the base game.
• Fog of Love Two-player romantic comedy relationship simulator board game in which couples navigate branching narratives and relationship scenarios, making choices that affect their character's personality, story, and ultimate compatibility.
• Vivid Memories Token-drafting strategy game in which players build connections to recall and reconstruct childhood memories through puzzle-like associations.
• Sagrada Accessories (Dice Tray, Spare Dice, Promo Packs) Accessories for the Sagrada line, including dice trays, spare dice, and limited-edition promotional packs (standard and foil editions), sold as add-ons for existing game owners.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 500,000 copies of Sagrada sold since 2017
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• PSC GamescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2024Floodgate Games acquired the 20-minute Series from PSC Games, including Blitzkrieg!, Caesar!, Dogfight!, and unreleased titles. These games were developed originally by PSC Games and are now published and distributed by Floodgate Games.
• Hush Hush ProjectscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Floodgate Games acquired the Fog of Love line from Hush Hush Projects, originally published to critical acclaim. Floodgate Games now publishes Fog of Love and its expansions including It Will Never Last, Paranormal Romance, Trouble with The In-Laws, and Love on Lockdown.
• Double Exposure (Envoy Program)minorOthersFloodgate Games works with Double Exposure through their Envoy program to manage game library requests and play-to-win donations, facilitating community engagement and product sampling.
• Gen ConcoreOthersAnnual participation in Gen Con, the largest tabletop gaming convention in North America, with booth presence and promotional activities including the VIG (Very Important Gamer) giveaway program.
• Essen SpielcoreOthersAnnual presence at Spiel in Essen, Germany - the world's largest board game trade fair, providing access to European and international markets.
• UK Games ExpominorOthersParticipation in UK Games Expo for UK market presence and European customer engagement.
• GAMA ExpominorOthersAnnual B2B trade show attendance for retailer relationships and industry networking, where the company conducts business development and shows upcoming products.
• Con of the NorthminorOthersLocal convention in Minneapolis, MN - described as 'home turf' - for regional community engagement and direct customer interaction.
• PAX UnpluggedminorOthersAnnual attendance at PAX Unplugged in Philadelphia for tabletop gaming community engagement.
• Michael OJ (Magician)minorOthersHired close-up magician to perform at the Floodgate Games booth during Gen Con 2025 to promote Squirrel Away, creating an engaging experiential marketing event.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FloodgateGames
• Facebookfacebook.com/FloodgateGames
• Instagraminstagram.com/FloodgateGames
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/floodgate-games

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Floodgate Games