As we enter the new year it’s time to reflect upon one of the most important questions to us here at Moddable.Games

Should board games be open source?

It’s a slightly uncomfortable question as board games are traditionally built on tightly protected intellectual property. Rules are copyrighted. Artwork is owned. Trademarks are guarded – and for good reason. Publishing is risky. The margins are thin. Creative labour deserves protection, but herein lies the paradox as the best of games are those that players mod anyway. They rebalance factions. They create essential expansions and rewrite rulebooks for extra clarity. They’ve built their own digital implementations, and almost always, they improve the system.

The question isn’t whether games evolve. It’s whether the industry should acknowledge it.

So what does ‘open-source’ even mean for tabletop games?

In software, open source means that the underlying code is accessible. Anyone can inspect it, modify it, fork it and in-turn contribute back to the original project. In board games, we believe the equivalent would be:

• Access to master source files needed for adding or editing functionality within games
• Community owned artwork providing multiple themes for games
• Digital sandboxes for launching online versions of games
• Access to transparent manufacturing partners globally

Not a free-for-all. Structured openness. The distinction matters and is often missed.

Designers worry about dilution. Publishers worry about lost revenue and artists worry about unlicensed use. However, open-source models in other industries haven’t eliminated value; they’ve shifted it. Companies built on open ecosystems often monetise in other ways. The asset isn’t just the rulebook. It’s the ecosystem. Historically, publishing meant control.

The next generation of players have grown up with modded video games, in a remix culture using collaborative platforms. They expect to participate. The publishers who thrive over the next decade may not be the ones who defend their walls most aggressively, but could be the ones who build new gates in the right places.

Although open systems have also been known to fragment communities, closed systems often lead to stagnation. The right balance will be determined by those who build the most enduring ecosystems rather than self-contained hits behind closed walls. Board games are at their heart shared systems. The question is not whether players will shape them. It’s whether we acknowledge that they already do.

Engage with our community and become a participatory partner in the world of board game creation and development.