wericmartin.com
Dominant Species Find a New Life
On Friday, July 31, allplay was one of several publishers participating in a "Mega Announcement Showcase" event in which they revealed upcoming games, with the dominant (wink wink) news from this publisher being a new edition of Chad Jensen's 2010 game Dominant Species as part of a new "Masterworks" game line that focuses on heavyweight Eurogames.
Artist Ian O'Toole will be a key partner in the art, graphic design, curation, and
development of this project.
Allplay also announced two other new game lines, with the "Epics" focusing on large-scale adventure games. The debut title in this line will be Tailor Reiner's Sail Legacy, which was crowdfunded in July 2025 and which a May 2026 crowdfunding update described as "a larger game than any we've done before".
The second "Epics" title will be Crash Landed, which Allplay describes as "an ambitious new game [that] tasks players with surviving on a strange planet". This title will be released in 2027.
The third new Allplay game line is "Creations", which will feature "games for fandoms, sometimes working with IP partners". The debut title in this line will be John D. Clair and Robert Hovakimyan's **_Have a Magical Day_** , which "taps into the amusement park crowd, with players riding the best rides, meeting characters, and eating unique food".
Art by Eric Hibbeler
In regard to these game lines, Joe Wiggins, COO of Allplay, says:
> We've always made games with constraints — on principle. We're proud of what we've been able to make with these constraints. The consistent box sizes, accessible price points, and simpler rulesets are great for families and gamers who want strategy without rules overhead.
> Those core products aren't going away, but now that we're eight years into publishing games, we're ready to show what else we can do.
Games will continue to appear in the three box sizes that constitute "core" Allplay designs, including **_Through the Mountains_** , a sequel to Reiner Knizia's Through the Desert, which Allplay released in a new edition in 2024.
Art by Hien Le and Damien Mammoliti
_Through the Mountains_ will be featured in a crowdfunding campaign in October 2026, with _Dominant Species_ , _Crash Landed_ , and Have a Magical Day scheduled for crowdfunding in 2027.
Front covers of __Sail Legacy__ and __Through the Desert__ , which are not actually the same size
****Like this kind of coverage?****
Get Board Game Beat’s free posts by email — original reporting, designer interviews, and industry news, with no tracking, no ads, and no spam.
Sign up!
