TableStar Games purchased

The end was near for TableStar Games in January when owner Anthony Thompson decided that it was time to pull the plug on any additional funding for the company. The staff was let go, the office closed and the word got out that the company was shutting down. At the same time the brand new Euro game Wealth of Nations hit the sales channels and started to appear at both conventions and in your friendly local games stores. What was going on?

It turns out that one person was not willing to let it go. Long time employee, and Art Director, Peter Hansell kept the company going. His opinion was that “there was too much effort invested in the company and we on the verge finally breaking through with Wealth of Nations.” With this resolve to hang on TableStar Games went to GAMA Trade Show, KublaCon, Origins and GenCon on a shoestring budget.

The response to Wealth of Nations has been fantastic. The company sold over 2,000 units in the first two months and it has been going strong ever since. This was all the proof necessary for Peter to keep the company alive. Over the summer an agreement was hammered out and Mr. Thompson prepared to say goodbye to the second game company that he founded.

On October 1, 2008 the deal was complete and Peter Hansell got ownership of the company that he had worked for almost five years. “Working at TableStar was like a dream job and seeing it fall apart devastated all the staff.” He went on to say “the company is going to have a much smaller and more targeted approach to everything including development, production, sales and marketing.”

Looking forward to 2009 TableStar currently has half a dozen projects on the table including an expansion to Wealth of Nations, the release of Swatches on the iPhone, more support for HeroCard and additional games that are still under wraps. With five years of perspective Peter says that “we are going to support a more diverse line of games. There will be a mix of Euro games, casual games and family games.”