This week’s article is a guest post from the Malted Meeple’s Head Game Master – and former Ravenwood Innkeeper – Karington Hess. Karington shares with us one of the monthly features from the Meeple’s blog, the Publisher’s Spotlight, in which the Meeple gives some extra attention to some our favorite board game publishers and designers. This month’s spotlight shines on Cryptozoic Entertainment, who in addition to being a great publisher is one of our sponsors for Hoop & Stick 2017!

This month we are proud to shine our Publisher’s Spotlight on our friends from Cryptozoic Entertainment! The company, founded in 2010 by Cory Jones, Scott Gaeta, John Nee, and John Sepenuk, specializes in producing original and licensed board and card games.  Many of these games feature fan-favorite franchises, including: the DC Comics Deck-Building Game, The Walking Dead Board Game, and Ghostbusters: The Board Game. Cryptozoic Entertainment focuses on producing fun and amazing products along with epic events that bring their gaming fans together.

The Cryptozoic business philosophy and core principle are described in their mission statement, “Fans First”. This simple promise guides each endeavor undertaken by Cryptozoic Entertainment and shapes the final products that their fans will truly love and appreciate. In fact, they truly went the extra mile when designing and testing their new line of Rick and Morty Games. They took the time to make sure that the creator of Rick and Morty, Justin Roiland, had a chance to play them just to make sure to get his input.

The name “Cryptozoic” came from co-founder Corey Jones. He had spent a few weeks looking at names for the company and nothing was working out. It seemed like everything was either in use by some other company or not cool enough. He stumbled upon “Cryptozoic” as he was making a seemingly endless list of possible names. When the word processing program he was using recognized the word, he knew he had found a name. In his own words, “I thought, ‘hot damn if spell check knows this word, it’s good enough for me!’” The name “Cryptozoic” also has connections to monsters and the unknown, which suits the company perfectly as they spend a fair amount of time inventing and making up monsters.

Our friends at Cryptozoic were kind enough to send us a care package full of their favorite games for you to enjoy! One of these games is: Poker Assault, a game designed to introduce modern gaming concepts to those only familiar with the Classics. The unique drafting game, Mad Science Foundation invites players to see what it is like to be one of the “misunderstood geniuses” by utilizing the four building blocks of mad science: Lasers, Dark Matter, Cryptomium, and Sharks! The Attack on Titan Deck-Building Game was also included, offering players the chance to work together to battle Titans and defend the rest of humanity! We love Spyfall here at the Malted Meeple, so it should come as no surprise that we are super excited to add Spyfall 2 to our ever-growing library!

Finally we are super excited for their latest game featuring one of the most beloved animated series of all time. Batman: The Animated Series Almost Got ’Im Card Game. In Almost Got ‘Im the infamous faces from Batman’s rogues gallery have gathered to play a not-so-friendly game of poker. As they do so, the villains swap stories about their run-ins with the caped crusader, and the time they ‘Almost Got ‘Im’. But Gotham’s Dark Knight has infiltrated the poker game and is trying to subdue the villains before they catch on to him!

On your next visit to the Meeple, be sure to ask your Game Master to recommend their favorite title from our friends at Cryptozoic Entertainment, where the Fans are First!

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.

Jim Reed

Jim Reed is a lifelong gamer who started with the original red box Dungeons & Dragons. After spending 20 years in the corporate world, he decided it was high time that work be fun and struck out on his own. Jim now owns and operates Ravenwood Castle, and spends his days ensuring his guests have as much fun as he does.