I edit board game rule books. Trump's tariffs are killing thousands of creative jobs like mine

San Francisco Chronicle​

06-05-2025

I have what many people consider to be an unusual part-time job: I edit rule books, cards and other materials for board games.
Yes, you can make a living doing that work. And, yes, it often leaves people dumbfounded when I tell them what I do.
At least it did until last month, when President Donald Trump's triple-digit tariffs on imports from China left me with a lot less work.
Before going any further, let me clarify that I'm not talking about the classic games like 'Monopoly' that you grew up playing as a child, although those still sell by the truckload. Contemporary board games tend to be far more elaborate, with more involved decision-making, better and more varied components and higher-level artistry. For example, the big-box game 'Gloomhaven' by California-based Cephalofair Games uses more than 2,000 cards, tokens and figurines.
Most board games are manufactured by Chinese companies that specialize in producing these components. They're willing to make games in smaller quantities than their U.S. counterparts, and they're adept with more materials. And, yes, they charge less than manufacturers in other countries, thanks to lower labor costs but also highly efficient methods developed over decades.
You could argue that Americans ought to be handling those printing and crafting duties. But efficient, small-business-friendly factories overseas have enabled more American game designers, publishers, graphic designers, illustrators and editors like me to bring their ideas to the market. The result has been an explosion in the number of games produced globally. Last year, roughly 5,000 new games were released, which is 2½ times as many as there were 20 years ago.
For thousands of entrepreneurs, designers, illustrators, retailers and reviewers in California and across the country, it's a livelihood. And it's now in jeopardy.
A handful of board game publishers and retailers have gone belly up in recent weeks, citing Trump's tariffs as the main cause or the last straw. Others have slammed the brakes on distributing games to the U.S. and are figuratively holding their breath that the trade war ends before the games they have in production go to market.
It's a scary time in the industry dominated by small, independent businesspeople. Price Johnson, chief operating officer of Cephalofair Games, said his eight-person firm works with hundreds of artists, graphic designers, play testers, proofreaders and other contractors, and 'those are all jobs that are going to be put on hold or not available for the next year.'
Cephalofair started manufacturing a second edition of 'Gloomhaven' in China in December, with 70% of the units destined for U.S. buyers, Johnson said. Those games will now sit in storage overseas because 'I can't do business now in the U.S.; it's just not feasible.'
Like many publishers, Cephalofair raises money for its titles through crowdfunding sites, essentially selling the games before they are manufactured. Understandably, it's not willing to ask people who paid up to $200 for the new edition of 'Gloomhaven' to pony up more cash to cover the 145% increase in production costs.
The message from the Trump administration, Johnson said, is that his company should plan for layoffs. 'That's what the White House is telling me, 'We don't want you employing people.' '
Minnesota-based publisher Chip Theory Games told customers last month that 'while it's possible to theoretically produce games (outside China), the cost is anywhere from 5 to 10 times more expensive depending on the game, and the ability to scale it into mass production is nearly nonexistent.'
Gene Billingsley, founder of GMT Games of Hanford (Kings County), recently said in a newsletter that tariffs are raising the cost of the games it's now printing in China from $500,000 to $1.2 million.
'That's $700,000+ extra for … basically nothing,' he wrote. 'Unless we make some big operational changes quickly, (we) will eat up all of our cash reserves and leave us with no funds to pay our employees and other expenses.'
It's a big industry, and publishers are trying different approaches to the tariffs. Some are trying to shift production to other countries like Vietnam, Germany and Poland, where tariffs are lower than China's. But with the president's capricious approach to import taxes, there's no telling which trading partners will be hammered next.
The production slowdown has already cratered the demand for services like mine. And unless the tariffs are slashed soon, shelves will be bare for the holiday season, making for a bleak Christmas for game buyers and retailers, Alex Kessler, founder and chief executive of Kess, a Los Angeles-based toy and game company, told me. That's because of the long lead time required to manufacture and import these goods, as well as the supply-chain crunch that will inevitably come when the tariffs are lifted.
One company, Stonemaier Games, isn't waiting — like California and 12 other states, it's trying to repeal the tariffs through the courts, arguing that Trump unlawfully contorted the federal statute that grants the president additional powers during national emergencies.
In the meantime, it plans to ask U.S. customers to pick up some of the tariff costs on its newest title, 'Vantage.' It's a game about landing in a strange place and trying to find your way forward with limited help and lots of risk.
How appropriate.