The launch of Gloomhaven, the campaign-based board game, marked a significant turning point for the tabletop industry in 2017. This high-concept product, almost 18 pounds in weight, captivated players with its modular tiles, plastic miniatures, and secret envelopes, offering a shared experience over 100 varied gameplay sessions. Its success redefined consumer expectations for tabletop games, and it was all the creation of Isaac Childres from Lafayette, Indiana.
Now, Gloomhaven: Second Edition is stuck overseas due to new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese imports, hiking from 145% to a staggering 245% as of Wednesday. This has doubled the tax burden for Cephalofair Games, the game’s publisher, making the costs unaffordable for the company.
“These tariffs are a nightmare scenario for the US board game industry,” commented Isaac Childres in an email to Polygon. He warned that such economic conditions make importing board games to the US unfeasible, potentially leading to worse repercussions than COVID for retailers and distributors.
Cephalofair’s COO, Price Johnson, explained to CNN how the company can’t navigate the new costs, pivoting them towards altering their US operations entirely. With 60,000 Gloomhaven units ready for shipment, manufacturing costs of $20 each now surge by $49 due to tariffs, pushing the total import cost to $4.14 million from an anticipated $1.2 million.
Although Gloomhaven gathered over $5 million on Backerkit in 2023, its funds also cover two other product lines still in pre-production. Unfortunately, these tariffs threaten Cephalofair’s survival.
Johnson shared with Polygon his communication struggles with Congressman Kevin Kiley, criticizing the lack of in-person meetings and the broad industry impact of these tariffs, forecasting potential retail bankruptcies and empty shelves nationwide.
He highlighted the broader issue, noting how other small publishers are also halting shipments, which might cause widespread retail closures.
Amidst ongoing pre-production for accompanying Gloomhaven products, Childres remains hopeful for a resolution before shipping commences. He stresses the inconsistency of the tariffs and the lack of US infrastructure for board game manufacturing.
Childres is particularly frustrated by selectively granted tariff exceptions favoring giant enterprises like Apple over small businesses reliant on imports, questioning whether the trade war targets China or undermines US businesses.
