We love board games and we love them from all corners of the earth. The market is continuously flooded with thousands of great games each year. It is a tough competition for small publishers and designers to receive the attention their games deserve. We came to make a difference and support those that need someone to accompany them professionally in marketing and promotion. Over the years we became a publisher for the German-speaking market ourselves.

The chosen name – Board Games Circus – reflects the colorful and lively world of playfulness, the magic, the enthusiasm and sparkle when entering the other world.

Yes, we are publishing games that we have developed ourselves or licensed under our own brand. We are also a collective of international brands cooperating on many levels, e. g. translation and localization for third parties.

Board Game Circus maintains BGC Distribution, distributing our full range of products to retailers. On wholesale level we have joined the distribution cooperative Spiel Direkt e. G. for Germany/Austria and with Carletto for Switzerland. We are also closely cooperating with Pegasus Games. In addition to our own games, Board Game Circus exclusively distributes carefully selected third party titles from companies we have a strong relationship with.

No. We don’t run a brick and mortar store and we don’t compete with the FLGS in our distribution network. Our main objective is to support designers and publishers in preparing their games for a wider market. Our services are implemented before products go on sale. However, we distribute games to retailers and we are selling games during conventions and other board game related events.

Let’s have a quick look at the ingredients that make a great translation/localization: The requirements are good skills of the source language, profound knowledge of the target language and its specific peculiarities like the idiom, humor and writing standards. Other than that you need to know the global common terminology of board games and have insights in all different kinds of mechanisms and gaming routines. Finally, it needs time to thoughtfully localize, translate and proof-read the work.

The fan usually is a gamer, which is good, and has one prior interest: translating the game or rule book for himself, his gaming group or the gaming community. He is doing it in his spare time and mostly as a one man army.

Board Game Circus has the aspiration to localize your game or rule book according to industry standards for the whole target group ranging from non-players to occasional gamers and board game geeks alike. These translations are on par with the quality required for games sold retail in thousands by the big publishers. Actually these big publishers rely on us for their translations, see Translation & Localization. Instead of translating 1:1, we respect all the needs in phrasing and speech to guarantee fluid learning and understanding of the game rules. We don’t squeeze work in our spare time, we are dedicated to the job and focus on the process without distraction. Quality control includes copy editing and proof-reading by native-speakers according to the four-eye principle. As a team we also have the ability to manage multiple projects and tight deadlines without sacrificing quality.

A BGC localization is an important part of the product to give your customers, gamers and reviewers alike a game and rules in hands, that plays out of the box and doesn’t challenge them with ambiguous and uncertain wording. This ensures your’re not running the risk of receiving press feedback based on a negative first impression of the game. If you choose BGC you choose quality.

Chances are that we may help you with additional services that aren’t listed on our website. The team of Board Game Circus has a great expertise in a variety of activities and great working experience as well as an active community and partnership network. Contact us with individual requests and we’ll see into it.

We love cooperating and fostering partnerships. Whether you are a designer or publishing company, a promoter or journalist, a creative or business insider, feel free to contact us and give us an idea of what kind of cooperation you are thinking of.

You are awesome, because just like us you love board games and never hesitate to spend your time playing them or showing others how to play. Join the Media Partner Network to stay in touch and be among the first people receiving our prototypes, promos and news.

Thanks for supporting us with your purchase. Please head over to the Customer Service to send us your inquiry.