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Published — 12. Mai 2026 https://boardgamewire.com/

Greater than Games back in hands of founders Christopher Badell, Paul Bender, has multiple games in development

Greater than Games is officially back in the hands of two of its founders, a year after former owner Flat River Group laid off the vast majority of the board game publisher’s staff and suspended new projects amid US tariff uncertainty.

Paul Bender and Christopher Badell, who launched the business in 2011 alongside Adam Rebottaro, said they have reacquired the brand and the rights for the Sentinels of the Multiverse titles alongside their other original IP such as the Sentinel Comics RPG.

The deal comes just under a month after Flat River Group sold the Greater than Games brand name and the Sentinels range to digital developer Handelabra Games, which had spent more than a decade creating digital versions of the Sentinels of the Multiverse and its expansions – as well as for Greater than Games’ best known release, Spirit Island.

That acquisition was done “with the shared goal of returning both to the hands of people who know them best”, according to the company overview page on Greater than Games’ new website.

Spirit Island was not part of Handelabra’s deal, however, and is also not part of the revived Greater than Games line-up, company CEO Bender confirmed on a May 12 YouTube livestream celebrating the publisher’s return.

Two new titles have been announced by the company slated for a summer release, in the form of Badell-designed party game Digital Detox and social deduction title Crime Scene Tamperer, from Homestar Runner creators Mike and Matt Chapman.

Greater than Games co-founder Christopher Badell || Photo credit: Greater than Games

Badell, GtG’s chief creative officer, added on the livestream that the publisher is “in the development process on a high-single-digit number of games right now”, while creative director Matthew Kroll added that the company has two “heavy hobby games in the pipeline” – one co-operative, one competitive.

Bender added on the livestream that Bottom of the Ninth designer Darrell Louder had recovered the rights to the game, which had previously been published by Dice Hate Me and GtG, “and would like us to publish it again, so we’re excited to do that”.

The relaunched company’s five-strong team comprises Greater than Games veterans SaRae Henderson as art director and chief operating officer Katie Nale, in addition to Badell, Bender and Kroll.

GtG’s third co-founder Adam Rebottaro, the original artist and co-creator of Sentinel Comics, has also rejoined as a “creative collaborator”, the publisher added, “helping to shape the next generation of Sentinel Comics releases alongside Badell”.

That will see the pair working together on new content in the Sentinels range, beginning with reprints of all existing definitive edition products for Sentinels of the Multiverse and then moving on to a new expansion, which is expected to come to crowdfunding in 2027.

Badell said in a press release announcing the GtG revival, “A year ago, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to come back to this. Sentinel Comics has been the defining creative work of my life – fifteen years of stories, characters, and worlds I love – and watching it become uncertain was genuinely painful.

“So when I say this feels like coming home, I mean it. I’m back in the Multiverse. We all are. And we’re just getting started.”

Greater than Games co-founder Paul Bender || Photo credit: Greater than Games

Bender added, “Greater Than Games has always been about more than just publishing games — it’s about building experiences and communities.

“Over the years, the brand has grown and evolved, but its heart has always been with the people who create and play these games. Being able to steward that again is both a responsibility and a privilege.

“We’re excited to reconnect with our community and continue building something special.”

Greater than Games is also set to return to Gen Con this year, the publisher added, underscoring its rejuvenation as a business with a booth in the Entrepreneurs Avenue segment of Hall G – an area dedicated to companies making their debut at the event.

Flat River Group, a distribution and e-commerce specialist, had bought Greater than Games in 2021 after picking up private equity investment from Guardian Capital Partners a year earlier.

It followed that expansion into board game publishing with further deals for Canadian publisher Synapses Games and hobby game distributor Luma Imports in 2022.

Flat River sold Synapses Games to ACD Distribution last summer, at the same time as industry veterans Jules Vautour, Colin Young and Danni Loe left Flat River to revive Luma as part of ACD.

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Co-op titles Fate of the Fellowship, Vantage dominate 20th Golden Geek Awards, Hot Streak scores pair of wins

Co-op designs The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship and Vantage put in a powerful showing in this year’s Golden Geek Awards, winning five categories between them and scoring another five runner-up successes.

Pandemic creator Matt Leacock’s spin-off creation The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship took home the awards for medium game of the year, best thematic game and best co-op at the 20th annual Golden Geeks, which are selected and voted on by BoardGameGeek users from games released in the prior year.

Co-op open-world exploration game Vantage, designed by Scythe and Viticulture creator Jamey Stegmaier, won the innovative game prize and best solo game awards, while Jon Perry’s chaotic mascot racer Hot Streak triumphed in the best party game and light game of the year categories.

Jamey Stegmaier’s design Vantage, from Stonemaier Games

The much sought after heavy game of the year title went to Galactic Cruise, while The Old King’s Crown secured the artwork and presentation award, Toy Battle took best 2-player game and Star Wars: Battle of Hoth best wargame.

Fate of the Fellowship’s flurry of wins and runner-up nods continues a powerful run in the Golden Geeks for games based on JRR Tolkien’s seminal novels, with Bryan Bornmueller’s The Fellowship of the Ring – Trick-Taking Game and Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala’s Duel for Middle-earth both having secured wins in last year’s contest.

All of those Lord of the Rings titles were published by studios at board game giant Asmodee – which last October announced it had been named manager of the hugely lucrative Middle-earth licence for tabletop games and accessories.

Questions naturally abounded within the industry about what that would mean for other publishers hoping to create The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings-based titles – but Luke Peterschmidt, the tabletop veteran tasked with running the Middle-earth operation at Asmodee, sat down with BoardGameWire at Spiel Essen last year to outline his vision for the IP, what they want from publishers in terms of pitches, and how they hope to prove naysayers of the deal wrong.

Components from Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship, designed by Matt Leacock

No game based on The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings had won a Golden Geek prior to last year’s awards, despite multiple nominations for Journeys in Middle-Earth in 2019, Battle of the Five Armies in 2014 and The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game in 2012.

Fate of the Fellowship winning the co-op award marked the second year running that a Lord of the Rings game has triumphed in the category, after Bryan Bornmueller’s The Fellowship of the Ring – Trick-Taking Game took home the prize in 2025.

Despite the high-profile successes of two co-operative titles in this year’s Golden Geeks, the results were less positive for co-op fantasy adventuring game Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread – which failed to convert any of its six nominations into wins or runner-up placings.

Sci-fi and space-themed games were notably everywhere again across this year’s awards, continuing a trend from 2025 which ended in multiple wins for Arcs and SETI.

In addition to win for Star Wars: Battle of Hoth and Galactic Cruise, SETI’s expansion Space Agencies won expansion of the year award in this year’s Golden Geeks, while there were two runner-up places for Star Trek: Captain’s Chair, and runner-up nods for Moon Colony Bloodbath and Dune: Imperium – Bloodlines.

Elsewhere in this year’s awards, Dungeons of the Oak Dell won best print and play game, Board Game Hot Takes secured best podcast and Ark Nova took home the best digital app prize.

Speaking about Vantage’s multiple wins and nominations, designer Jamey Stegmaier – who spent about eight years designing and playtesting the title – told BoardGameWire, “I’m just happy for the opportunity to bring a little joy to people through our games, and I’m honored that my labor of love, Vantage, was able to do that for the people who selected it for the Golden Geek Awards.”

Fate of the Fellowship creator Matt Leacock said, “Designing The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship was such a rewarding experience for me. I’m so pleased that players are continuing to enjoy it and using it to write their own stories with each other.

“So many things came together with this product: the creative direction, development, illustration, paper engineering, graphic design, sculpting, and marketing. I want to extend my congratulations to the entire team that brought it to life.”

The 20th Annual Golden Geek Awards results in full:

2-Player Game
Winner: Toy Battle
Runner-up: Tag Team
Runner-up: Star Trek: Captain’s Chair

Artwork & Presentation
Winner: The Old King’s Crown
Runner-up: Galactic Cruise
Runner-up: The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship

Cooperative Game
Winner: The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship
Runner-up: Vantage
Runner-up: Eternal Decks

Expansion
Winner: SETI: Space Agencies
Runner-up: Lost Ruins of Arnak: Twisted Paths
Runner-up: Dune: Imperium – Bloodlines

Innovative
Winner: Vantage
Runner-up: Moon Colony Bloodbath
Runner-up: Hot Streak

Light GOTY
Winner: Hot Streak
Runner-up: Magical Athlete
Runner-up: Toy Battle

Medium GOTY
Winner: The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship
Runner-up: Moon Colony Bloodbath
Runner-up: Vantage

Heavy GOTY
Winner: Galactic Cruise
Runner-up: Speakeasy
Runner-up: Luthier

Party Game
Winner: Hot Streak
Runner-up: Magical Athlete
Runner-up: Take Time

Print & Play
Winner: Dungeons of the Oak Dell
Runner-up: Rise of the Oak Dell
Runner-up: 52 Duels

Solo Game
Winner: Vantage
Runner-up: The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship
Runner-up: Star Trek: Captain’s Chair

Thematic Game
Winner: The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship
Runner-up: Galactic Cruise
Runner-up: Vantage

Wargame
Winner: Star Wars: Battle of Hoth
Runner-up: Toy Battle
Runner-up: Cross Bronx Expressway

Best Podcast
Winner: Board Game Hot Takes
Runner-up: Space-Biff! Space-Cast!
Runner-up: Five Games for Doomsday

Best Board Game App
Winner: Ark Nova
Runner-up: Cascadia Digital
Runner-up: MicroMacro: Downtown Detective

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