Hey Reader!

Heather Newton here.

​The MILLRAT Pack now unlocking stretch goals!​

Congratulations to Nick Federico and Adam Khoury, whose MILLRAT Pack! is live on Kickstarter until August 13. It's fully funded with 1 stretch goal already unlocked and 2 more to go!

The pack's creators are designers rooted in the local board game community in Boston. They organize and run playtest events and teach game design to families. The art featured in the pack is from a local artist and friend from MassArt, Abby Ouellette.

MILLRAT Pack! is a pack of 4 unique games, each covering a different genre and connected through theme and simplicity. With this compact 4 box set, game night is packed and ready to go!

Let's take a quick look at each game..

Someone's Y

Deduction - Word Game - Semi-Cooprative

In Someone's Y, everyone's a vowel. One of you is Y and trying to blend in. Give one word clues that include your letter, but don't let Y guess which vowel you are!

Scrapbook

Party Game - Cooperative - Unique

In Scrapbook, the 1000s of photos stored in your phone finally come in handy! Open photos on your smartphone screen and arrange them on the table to help the guesser figure out which scrapbook card you've recreated.

Footfalls

Strategy - Racing - Puzzle

In Footfalls, you are rats racing to get first dibs on an abandoned picnic. Use special abilities to wisely to outmaneuver your rivals across a rickety footbridge!

Bad Eggs

Push-Your-Luck - Competitive - Take That

In Bad Eggs, you'll decide how far to whisk it! Predict dice rolls to claim better orders than your opponents and draw egg tokens to fill them. But be careful not to bust--one bad egg will spoil the dish.

Playtesting is a key ingredient 🥣

Three of the four games in MILLRAT Pack! were tested at Protospiel Online (the fourth being a game that cannot be played virtually).

The feedback given during those online events greatly shaped the games into what they are today. Even outside of playtesting, chatting with other community members helped guide the project in the right direction and answer all those first time publisher questions.

MILLRAT Studio is also a sponsor of Protospiel Online and helps spread the word of how this event can significantly help a developing game.

Want to support the PO community?

Our Community Newsletter team is looking for a couple of new writers. Find out more information and contact us here.

📣Announcements Announcements Annooouuuncements!

​Protospiel Online badge registration for our Aug 21-23, 2026 weekend will open soon! Sign up for badge announcements here or watch the announcements in our Discord community to be the first to know!

The Homegrown Games Market has opened up designer submissions for two more events this Fall:

• Austin — Oct 10, 2026, 12–6 PM at the Brewtorium
• Dallas — Nov 18–22, 2026 (TBA) at BGG.Con

If you're interested in producing a small print run of your game and selling at one or both indie market events, applications are open now through August 1st.

The People of Play 2026 Young Inventors Challenge is open for submissions through Oct 25th, 2026. Have a young designer in your life? Help them submit their game! Applicants must be from ages 6-18.

The BGG Community Contests Hub has 3 contests with submissions open:

• ​July / August 2026 24 Hour - DRAW - submit by Aug 30, 2026
• ​2026 Solitaire - submit by Sep 1, 2026
• ​2026 Wargame - submit by Oct 1, 2026

~Heather

P.S. If you have something you'd like to see featured in our Community Newsletter, you have 3 options -- either submit an official feature request, reply to this message, or, if you're a current attendee or alumni, post in the #🙌share-your-wins channel in the Protospiel Online Discord server to let us know the details. We'd love to celebrate you!