Updates on Corker’s progress, from playtesting and design tweaks to production plans and upcoming milestones.
We officially placed the manufacturing order for Corker this week. Boxes, boards, and cards are moving into production with our manufacturing partner now. Purchase orders were drafted. Contracts were signed. Money exchanged hands. This is the second big milestone to bring Corker, the lobster fishing board game based in Maine, to life. This is possible […]
Corker Production Update: Large Scale Printing Underway Read Post »
The lobster boats and buoys in Corker are not generic pieces and we’re proud of that. Here’s how we decided how to produce the highest quality, detailed game pieces. To start, let’s get this out of the way. “Is lobster boat one word or two?” Given the fact that we are producing a lobster board
Why We’re Making Corker’s Lobster Boats and Buoys Ourselves Read Post »
Some milestones in game development are obvious. The first prototype. The first time someone outside the studio plays it and understands it. The first time the board game box art comes together and you see it as a real thing. And then there are the quieter ones. Getting Corker’s official UPC barcode was one of
What Goes on the Back of a Board Game Box (And Why the Barcode Is More Than a Graphic) Read Post »
If you’re searching for a strategy game with real bones to it, there’s a simple test: do people who actually know the subject take it seriously? Corker just passed that test. The Island Institute, the publication read by Maine fishermen, marine scientists, and people invested in working waterfronts, just featured the game in their “Working
Corker Just Got Covered by the People Who Actually Know Maine Fishing Read Post »
If you’ve spent any time on the Maine coast, you’ve heard the word. Nor’easter. It comes up in conversation the way “traffic” comes up in cities: as a fact of life, a thing that happens, a force you plan around but can never fully prepare for. For people on shore it means cancelled plans and
What Is a Nor’easter and Why Do Maine Lobstermen Dread Them? Read Post »
Corker is a strategy lobster board game set on Penobscot Bay, on the coast of Maine. Each player captains a lobsterboat, setting traps, hauling gear, and timing their runs to port to sell at the best possible price. The goal is simple: earn more money than anyone else at the table by the end of
Every April, two very different groups of people stare at the same problem. One is sitting at a kitchen table with a pile of receipts, trying to decide whether to file now or wait a few more days. The other is checking the dock price before leaving the harbor, deciding whether today is even worth
How Maine Lobster Prices Are Determined (And Why It Makes for a Great Board Game) Read Post »
Strategy board games get compared to a lot of things. Chess. War. Business. But we’d argue the closest real-world parallel to sitting down at a good strategy game isn’t any of those. It’s standing on the stern of a lobsterboat at first light, running the numbers on whether today is worth the fuel. We’re building
A lively two-day public playtest at Vinalhaven Community Brewery brought together players of all ages, including working lobstermen, for laughter, competition, and valuable feedback that will help shape Corker’s next steps.
Over the past several weeks, Corker has evolved in ways we didn’t fully expect. Playtesting hasn’t just fine-tuned the rules, it has sharpened the tension, clarified the strategy, and helped us find the balance between preparation and unpredictability that defines life on Penobscot Bay. Here’s a look at what we’ve learned and how the game is getting stronger because of it.
