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.

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.”

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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Almost a year of uncertainty over the future of board game publisher Greater than Games has been partially resolved, with Flat River Group selling the brand name, and the rights for the Sentinels of the Multiverse titles, to Handelabra Games.

Video game developer Handelabra has a long history with the comics-themed cooperative card game, having spent more than a decade creating digital versions of the title and its expansions – as well as for Greater than Games’ best known release, Spirit Island.

Spirit Island is not part of Handelabra’s deal, however, which the company said only covers the Sentinels of the Multiverse games, the Sentinel Tactics range, the Sentinel Comics RPG, Sentinels miniatures and the cooperative deck-builder Galactic Strike Force.

Flat River laid off the vast majority of staff and suspended new projects at Spirit Island publisher Greater than Games in April last year, blaming “ongoing economic pressures resulting from the international tariff crisis”.

The distribution and e-commerce specialist was bought six years ago by private equity investor Guardian Capital Partners, which provided capital for a string of tabletop industry acquisitions.

They included an expansion into board game publishing in 2021 with the buyout of Greater than Games, which it followed a year later with deals for Canadian publisher Synapses Games and hobby game distributor Luma Imports.

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.

A statement from Handelabra president and CEO Jaye Handel said the company had made the GtG and Sentinels deal to protect its ability to make digital games in that IP, adding that it was “not interested in becoming a tabletop publisher”.

But the statement added, “But lucky for us, we know a lot of good people who are good at exactly that type of business…”

That is believed to refer to Greater than Games trio Christopher Badell, Paul Bender and Adam Rebottaro, who founded the company in 2011 and were the last remaining employees following Flat River’s downsizing of GtG last year.

Handelabra CEO Handel told BoardGameWire he was unable to share further details, but said that his company was “very excited about the future of Sentinel Comics on digital and analog tabletops and beyond”.

He added, “Handelabra Games’ and Flat River Group’s relationship with regards to Spirit Island has not changed.”

The company’s recent statement from Handel indicated it would be able to provide more information about Greater than Games’ future by April 28, which is National Super Hero Day in the US.

It said, “For your ongoing support and excitement, we remain eternally grateful. We just ask for a little more patience over the coming weeks as we have lots to share, and we can’t wait to embark on the next phase of this journey with you!”

Flat River did not respond to BoardGameWire’s request for comment on the future of Spirit Island or other former Greater than Games-published titles.

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