Lone Shark Games
Lone Shark Games is a Renton, Washington-based independent game design and publishing company that creates tabletop board games, puzzle books, and digital puzzles for hobbyist consumers, with notable collaborations including MrBeast/Salesforce, Penny Arcade, and Monte Cook Games.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2006
- HeadquartersRenton, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Lone Shark Games does
Lone Shark Games is a privately-held game design and publishing company founded in 2004 (per company-published history) and headquartered in Renton, Washington. The company designs and produces tabletop games, puzzle books, and digital puzzle products, targeting puzzle enthusiasts, board game players, and graphic novel readers. Its portfolio spans strategic board games (Lords of Vegas with Americana and Con Jobs expansions, Thornwatch, The Ninth World, Apocrypha, Paul & Storm's Sausage Party), puzzle book anthologies (The Maze of Games, The Hunting of the Shark, Puzzlecraft, Mindspaces, Letters to Margaret, Dealer's Choice), and a recurring digital product line called The Puzzle Vault. Distinctive technical features include hybrid puzzle novel/comic formats with out-of-order narrative structures, marching bands crossword variants, and multimedia expressions integrating audiobook, soundtrack, and app-hosted electronic editions via the Puzzazz platform.
The company generates revenue through a mix of direct-to-consumer e-commerce (shop.lonesharkgames.com), US/Canada wholesale distribution to retailers with valid resale certificates, Kickstarter crowdfunding for new products and expansions, and digital PDF downloads. Pricing is structured as one-time purchases with no disclosed subscription tier. Customer segments split between individual hobbyist consumers (puzzle enthusiasts and board game players) and a smaller business segment of game retailers and select enterprise engagements, including a high-profile $1 million puzzle hunt designed for MrBeast and Salesforce's Super Bowl 60 campaign. Distribution is primarily North American, with international buyers required to use freight forwarding.
Lone Shark Games maintains a creator-led operating model anchored by co-founder and president Mike Selinker and co-founder James Ernest, alongside collaborators such as Thomas Snyder. The company builds its moat on two decades of accumulated puzzle IP, talent credentials in competitive puzzle construction, and a network of strategic co-development partnerships with publishers (Monte Cook Games), media properties (Penny Arcade), and individual creative talent (Wil Wheaton, Austin Wintory). The company shows no disclosed funding, no institutional ownership, and limited public financial information.
Lone Shark Games firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Lone Shark Games
- Legal name
- Lone Shark Games
- Website
- http://lonesharkgames.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2006
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Lone Shark Games is a Renton, Washington-based independent game design and publishing company that creates tabletop board games, puzzle books, and digital puzzles for hobbyist consumers, with notable collaborations including MrBeast/Salesforce, Penny Arcade, and Monte Cook Games.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Lone Shark Games industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Tabletop Games and Puzzle Design
- NAICS
- Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (45912), Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (459120)
- SIC
- Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Board Game & Puzzle Specialty Retailers (CRALALAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Strategy/Euro Board Games Retail (CRALALAC), Hobby Games & Miniatures Retail (Tabletop RPGs, Wargaming) (CRALAFAH)
Keywords
Where Lone Shark Games is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Renton
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Lone Shark Games business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Physical Game and Book Sales: Sale of board games, puzzle books, and puzzle novel products through the company's e-commerce store. Products include Lords of Vegas, Thornwatch, The Ninth World, Paul & Storm's Sausage Party, and various books.
- Digital Puzzle Products: Sale of PDF downloads including Puzzlepacks series, Crosswords of Wisdom, Killer Cryptics, The 12 Days of Cryptics, and WordWerx. Also includes .puz files and .cbz comic reader files.
- Wholesale Distribution: Wholesale program shipping to addresses within the United States and Canada. Requires valid resale permit from retailers.
- Crowdfunding Campaigns: Kickstarter campaigns for board game products and expansions, with pledge managers for fulfillment. Lords of Vegas Americana expansion and Con Jobs mini-expansion were offered through crowdfunding.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Direct consumer e-commerce |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Wholesale pricing for retailers |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Lone Shark Games product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Lone Shark Games designs, publishes, and sells tabletop board games, card games, puzzle books, and digital puzzle products directly to consumers through its own e-commerce store and to retailers via wholesale. The company also designs custom large-scale interactive puzzle experiences for enterprise clients and runs Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns for new game launches.
Product overview
Lone Shark Games is a game design and publishing company offering a portfolio of tabletop games, puzzle books, and digital puzzle products. Their core offerings include strategic board games like Lords of Vegas (with Americana and Con Jobs expansions), Apocrypha Adventure Card Game, Thornwatch (collaboration with Penny Arcade), The Ninth World (collaboration with Monte Cook Games), and Paul & Storm's Sausage Party. Their puzzle book catalog features The Maze of Games (puzzle novel with physical and digital companions including audiobook, soundtrack, and perfume), The Hunting of the Shark (400+ puzzles for their 20th anniversary), Puzzlecraft (puzzle creation guide with workbook), Mindspaces, Letters to Margaret (crossword graphic novel), and Dealer's Choice (poker handbook). Digital offerings include The Puzzle Vault with Puzzlepacks, Crosswords of Wisdom, Killer Cryptics, The 12 Days of Cryptics, and WordWerx. The company also designs custom puzzle experiences for high-profile clients like the MrBeast/Salesforce Million Dollar Puzzle Hunt.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Lords of Vegas Strategic casino empire-building board game set in 1940s Las Vegas where players develop casinos, make high-risk bets, and compete to become the ultimate Vegas mogul. Supports up to 6 players in the updated Base Set.
- Lords of Vegas: Americana Expansion Expansion featuring four new Lords of Vegas games including Lords of Atlantic City, Lords of New Orleans, Lords of Reno, and Lords of Tombstone, each with new maps, wooden pieces, and themed components.
- Lords of Vegas: Con Jobs Expansion Mini-expansion featuring convention and event cards playable with every edition of Lords of Vegas, including all Americana boards.
- Apocrypha Adventure Card Game An adventure card game where players take on the role of saints with powers to stop monsters attempting to bring about the apocalypse.
- Paul & Storm's Sausage Party A party puzzle game where players build sausages on a grill while opponents try to sabotage their efforts. Players collect matching sausages to score points.
- The Ninth World: A Skillbuilding Game for Numenera A card game for 1-5 players based on Monte Cook Games' Numenera roleplaying game. Players explore the Ninth World in competitive, cooperative, and solo modes, featuring technology tree advancement, bidding, and deck building.
- Thornwatch A hybrid board game/roleplaying game set in the Eyrewood magical forest. Players take on roles of Thornwatch spirits sworn to protect the forest, with storyboards and character decks.
- The Maze of Games A full-length puzzle novel with over 100 puzzles where pages are out of order and players must solve puzzles to make the narrative make sense. Features characters Colleen and Samuel Quaice in 1897 England.
- The Hunting of the Shark: Twenty Years of Lone Shark Puzzlehunts A 304-page full-color hard cover coffee table book celebrating Lone Shark Games' 20th anniversary, containing approximately 400 puzzles including full hunt forms, with contributions from over 100 creators.
- Puzzlecraft: How to Make Every Kind of Puzzle A book teaching how to make every kind of puzzle, with over 100 sections on creating individual puzzle types including crosswords, sudoku, escape rooms, and interactive fiction.
- Mindspaces A puzzle and essay book by Mike Selinker combining 111 marching bands crossword variants with essays on creativity and mental health, created as therapy exercises.
- Letters to Margaret A crossword-based graphic novel combining comedy, romance, and puzzling with solvable crossword puzzles. Features dual-direction reading.
- Dealer's Choice: The Complete Handbook of Saturday Night Poker A comprehensive poker handbook containing rules to 400 poker games including favorites like Omaha and Chicago, and house constructions like Demolition Man and Frankenstein.
- The Puzzle Vault Digital puzzle marketplace offering PDF downloads of various puzzle types including crosswords, trivia games, puzzlehunts, cryptic crosswords, word games, and tile crosswords.
- MrBeast/Salesforce Million Dollar Puzzle Hunt Bespoke interactive puzzle hunt designed by Lone Shark Games for MrBeast and Salesforce, airing during Super Bowl 60 with $1 million in prizes and clues scattered across videos, websites, and the real world.
Quantifiable outcome
- Super Bowl 60 campaign reached 466 million MrBeast subscribers with interactive puzzle hunt
Companies that use Lone Shark Games
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Lone Shark Games technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Lone Shark Games partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.
- MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) and SalesforceflagshipLone Shark Games designed a $1 million interactive puzzle hunt launched during Super Bowl 60 commercial. YouTube star Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) aired a 30-second commercial promoting Salesforce's AI-powered Slackbot assistant. The puzzle hunt extended across videos, websites, and the real world over several weeks with nonlinear, interconnected puzzles.
- Monte Cook GamescoreCollaboration between Monte Cook Games and Lone Shark Games for The Ninth World: A Skillbuilding Game for Numenera, a card game for 1-5 players based on Monte Cook Games' popular Numenera roleplaying game.
- PuzzazzcoreThe Maze of Games electronic book is hosted on the Puzzazz app for iOS, providing digital puzzle-solving platform integration for Lone Shark's puzzle novel products.
- Black Phoenix Alchemy LabminorCollaboration to create The Gatekeeper Perfume Oil, a scented product inspired by the character from The Maze of Games, sold as a collector's item.
- Penny Arcade (Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins)coreMike Krahulik illustrated Thornwatch in the beautiful style of Penny Arcade's The Eyrewood webcomics. Mike and Jerry have been shown playing Thornwatch in Penny Arcade office videos.
- Wil WheatonminorWil Wheaton narrated The Maze of Games Audiobook and The Theseus Guide Audiobook & Variety Hour, providing voice talent for multimedia puzzle novel expressions.
- Austin WintoryminorLegendary videogame composer created The Maze of Games Soundtrack, providing original musical composition for the puzzle novel's multimedia experience.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Lone Shark Games competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Paizo: Publisher of Pathfinder and Starfinder; Mike Selinker previously developed the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game for Paizo. Overlaps in audience, retail channels, and hybrid board/roleplaying formats like Thornwatch.
- Stonemaier Games: Independent tabletop game publisher known for Wingspan, Scythe, and Viticulture. Directly comparable as an indie board-game publisher with multi-channel distribution including DTC, Kickstarter, and hobby retail.
- Greater Than Games: Indie publisher behind Spirit Island and Sentinels of the Multiverse. Comparable in scope, target enthusiast audience, and direct community-driven marketing approach.
- Brotherwise Games: Indie tabletop publisher known for Boss Monster and Call to Adventure. Similar scale and crowdfunding-forward distribution model with focus on innovative card and board game mechanics.
- Cheapass Games: Long-running indie tabletop publisher focused on accessible, design-forward games. Similar capital-efficient indie structure with a deep back catalog spanning decades.
- Cryptozoic Entertainment: Hobby game publisher with portfolio spanning board games, card games, and collectibles. Comparable in product breadth across tabletop categories with similar retail and DTC distribution.
- Restoration Games: Indie studio reviving classic games with modern design; collaborations with notable designers. Comparable boutique publisher model emphasizing design pedigree and Kickstarter-driven launches.
- Monte Cook Games: Indie tabletop publisher behind Numenera and The Ninth World. Lone Shark collaborated with Monte Cook on The Ninth World card game, and both studios focus on innovative mechanics in similar scale operations.
Broad incumbents
- Avalon Hill: Hasbro-owned classic board game publisher. Establishes the legacy category positioning that indie designers like Lone Shark occupy within a Hasbro-dominated retail ecosystem.
- Wizards of the Coast: Dominant tabletop publisher (Magic: The Gathering, D&D). Mike Selinker has historical ties; they define the broader category Lone Shark competes in with vastly greater scale and resources.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Lone Shark Games social profiles
Digital presenceLone Shark Games financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Lone Shark Games leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Lone Shark Games funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Lone Shark Games M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Lone Shark Games
What does Lone Shark Games do?
Lone Shark Games designs, publishes, and sells tabletop board games, card games, puzzle books, and digital puzzle products directly to consumers through its own e-commerce store and to retailers via wholesale. The company also designs custom large-scale interactive puzzle experiences for enterprise clients and runs Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns for new game launches.
Is Lone Shark Games a public or private company?
Lone Shark Games is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Lone Shark Games founded?
Lone Shark Games was founded in 2006. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Lone Shark Games based?
Lone Shark Games is headquartered in Renton, United States, in the North America region.
How does Lone Shark Games make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Physical Game and Book Sales are the primary driver. The others are digital Puzzle Products, wholesale Distribution and crowdfunding Campaigns.
Who are Lone Shark Games's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Paizo, Stonemaier Games, Greater Than Games, Brotherwise Games, Cheapass Games, Cryptozoic Entertainment, Restoration Games and Monte Cook Games. Broad incumbents are Avalon Hill and Wizards of the Coast.
Does Lone Shark Games have an API?
No public API is recorded for Lone Shark Games.
What industry is Lone Shark Games in?
Lone Shark Games's product category is Tabletop Games and Puzzle Design. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRALALAA, Board Game & Puzzle Specialty Retailers, with a secondary code of CRALALAC, Strategy/Euro Board Games Retail. Its NAICS code is 45912 and its SIC code is 5945.