Funagain Games
Encyclopedia
Funagain Games is a board game
, card game and table game
retailer that generally stocks more than 5,000 different games from all over the world. It maintains a physical shop and warehouse in Ashland, Oregon
, but is best known for its online business, www.funagain.com, which has more than 200,000 customers in 100 countries.
Funagain carries a wide variety of games, but specializes in German-style board game
s and other imports. Some manufacturers say that Funagain holds the lion's share of the online board game market because it reliably stocks the newest and most popular games, as well as the older, hard-to-find titles.
Founded in 1996, the company derived its name from its original (now discontinued) practice of collecting used copies and parts of old and out of print
games from Goodwill and other donation centers. These incomplete sets were then combined into complete editions for re-sale.
With the success of The Settlers of Catan
(Die Siedler von Catan) and other German games, Funagain began stocking new games both produced in the U.S. and abroad, especially German-style board games, the leaders in the industry. Company representatives annually attend the Internationale Spieltage SPIEL
, a four-day game trade fair held in Essen, Germany each October to find imports not readily available in the U.S. Sometimes, this results in exclusive offers, such as Carcassonne
: The Discovery and Havoc: The Hundred Years War. These exclusive deals spark debate in the board-game industry.
While serious Eurogamers want the demanding games, the bulk of American game buyers look for easy-to-learn, fast-to-play games with a minimum of rules. As the New York Times reported, Funagain fills both needs because it “sells a comprehensive selection.”
As a resource to gamers, Funagain hosts objective game reviewers, including Scott Nicholson's video game reviews, Tom Vasel
's Dice Tower and Mike Siggins' U.K.-based games reviews, and lists the winners of Games magazine’s coveted Games 100
from 1980-present. Since 2008, Funagain has distributed and donated thousands of dollars worth of games to people serving in the U.S. military, as well as deserving school and community organizations.
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
, card game and table game
Table game
In casinos, the term table game is used to distinguish games such as blackjack, craps, roulette and baccarat that are played on a table and operated by one or more live dealers like a croupier or poker dealer, as opposed to a games played on a mechanical device like a video slot machine...
retailer that generally stocks more than 5,000 different games from all over the world. It maintains a physical shop and warehouse in Ashland, Oregon
Ashland, Oregon
Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States, near Interstate 5 and the California border, and located in the south end of the Rogue Valley. It was named after Ashland County, Ohio, point of origin of Abel Helman and other founders, and secondarily for Ashland, Kentucky, where other...
, but is best known for its online business, www.funagain.com, which has more than 200,000 customers in 100 countries.
Funagain carries a wide variety of games, but specializes in German-style board game
German-style board game
German-style board games, frequently referred to in gaming circles as Euro Games or Euro-style, are a broad class of tabletop games that generally have simple rules, short to medium playing times, indirect player interaction and abstract physical components...
s and other imports. Some manufacturers say that Funagain holds the lion's share of the online board game market because it reliably stocks the newest and most popular games, as well as the older, hard-to-find titles.
Founded in 1996, the company derived its name from its original (now discontinued) practice of collecting used copies and parts of old and out of print
Out of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....
games from Goodwill and other donation centers. These incomplete sets were then combined into complete editions for re-sale.
With the success of The Settlers of Catan
The Settlers of Catan
The Settlers of Catan is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber and first published in 1995 in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlag as Die Siedler von Catan. Players assume the roles of settlers, each attempting to build and develop their settlement while trading and acquiring resources...
(Die Siedler von Catan) and other German games, Funagain began stocking new games both produced in the U.S. and abroad, especially German-style board games, the leaders in the industry. Company representatives annually attend the Internationale Spieltage SPIEL
Spiel
Internationale Spieltage SPIEL, often called Essen after the city where it is held, is an annual four-day game trade fair held in October at the Messe Essen exhibition centre in Essen...
, a four-day game trade fair held in Essen, Germany each October to find imports not readily available in the U.S. Sometimes, this results in exclusive offers, such as Carcassonne
Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a fortified French town in the Aude department, of which it is the prefecture, in the former province of Languedoc.It is divided into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse. Carcassone was founded by the Visigoths in the fifth century,...
: The Discovery and Havoc: The Hundred Years War. These exclusive deals spark debate in the board-game industry.
While serious Eurogamers want the demanding games, the bulk of American game buyers look for easy-to-learn, fast-to-play games with a minimum of rules. As the New York Times reported, Funagain fills both needs because it “sells a comprehensive selection.”
As a resource to gamers, Funagain hosts objective game reviewers, including Scott Nicholson's video game reviews, Tom Vasel
Tom Vasel
Tom Vasel is a well known podcaster and reviewer of board games. Vasel co-hosts a long-running and popular gaming podcast titled The Dice Tower, and has posted over 1200 reviews on the internet database BoardGameGeek....
's Dice Tower and Mike Siggins' U.K.-based games reviews, and lists the winners of Games magazine’s coveted Games 100
GAMES 100
The Games 100 is an annual feature of Games magazine, a United States magazine devoted to games and puzzles. The Games 100 first appeared in the November/December 1980 issue as an alphabetic list of the 100 games preferred by the editors of the magazine...
from 1980-present. Since 2008, Funagain has distributed and donated thousands of dollars worth of games to people serving in the U.S. military, as well as deserving school and community organizations.