 | Familiar Games was founded in 2017 by Joseph Butler and Marlene Koncewicz to bring elegant and thematically rich board games to the market. Our journey began when Joseph discovered his love for game design while studying Music Therapy at Prescott College. After graduating in 2011, Joseph began designing games with the simple goal of creating the kind of games that he wanted to play. Joseph wanted his games to be intuitive enough to teach while being deep enough to immerse players in fantastic worlds. He also wanted his games to be endlessly expandable, so they could be built upon to craft the kinds of elaborate worlds that he had experienced while playing role-playing games as a kid. Lastly, he wanted to make games that would be meaningful and beautiful for the players. These lofty, open-ended goals led him to create Mageling. To bring Mageling's setting to life, Joseph began collaborating with his brother Charles. Joseph would write the lore for the cards, while Charles would create the illustrations. By the end of there process, Mageling had well over a hundred pieces of art and a book of lore detailing a world that had been transformed by ever advancing forms magic. To bring Mageling to the marketplace, Joseph teamed up with his wife Marlene Koncewicz, who brought her prior experience in shipping, sales, and creative design. Together Marlene and Joseph created Familiar Games. Today our team has expanded with new artists and creative professionals working together to create Rise of the Ancient Ones, Magelingâs first expansion and our most ambitious project to date. |
