Mandela F-G (@MandelaFG) header
Mandela F-G (@MandelaFG) profile picture

Mandela F-G

@MandelaFG

Designs board games. Published: Glasgow (Lookout Spiele), Overstocked (Play for Keeps), The Shakespeare Game (Laurence King) Upcoming: Sankoré (Osprey) He/Him

 Blue Sky - MandelaFG
boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/123300/mandela-fernandez-grandon
Joined January 2020
  • Tweets534
  • Following106
  • Followers279
Just posted on BGG about the diversity of characters in the game Glasgow. I think representation is important and this shows how, with a wee bit of research, we could achieve it while retaining historical accuracy. boardgamegeek.com/thread/247…
Image from Mandela F-G (@MandelaFG)
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Really appreciate this wee pouch in backpack straps for smuggling prototypes.
Image from Mandela F-G (@MandelaFG)
Image from Mandela F-G (@MandelaFG)
Image from Mandela F-G (@MandelaFG)
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Oooh! Hire Me, a co-design with @MandelaFG has been named as one of the @WatchItPlayed Picks of the Month! In Hire Me, you'll have to convince the other players of your suitability for a variety of quirky jobs as they try to work out your job title.  youtu.be/pZRigNsdLNU?feature…
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Ooh. Looks like the cover to my next game with @flopiano has been released. Wonderful art from @ianotooletweets. This one is coming from @OspreyGames in 2025.
Vibrant board game box cover showing silhouette of male and female Inca along with a llama looking across lake Titicaca to the sun rising in a dark sky. Title 'Ayar' is clear on the lake.

ALT Vibrant board game box cover showing silhouette of male and female Inca along with a llama looking across lake Titicaca to the sun rising in a dark sky. Title 'Ayar' is clear on the lake.

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I just got copies of my new game with @MandelaFG. The Jane Austen Game from @LaurenceKingPub is a deck-builder where you play one of Austen's heroines. You go to balls and decide whether to meet suitors or become a woman of independent mind. It's truly beautiful. Out very soon!
Image from Ellie Dix (The Dark Imp) (@EllieDixTweets)
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Clans of Caledonia by @JumaAljoujou being enjoyed at Loch Maree.
Image from Mandela F-G (@MandelaFG)
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This is my new game with @MandelaFG. The mechanics and components have been entirely driven by theme. But our first prototype is entirely mechanical. I explained the theme to playtesters but omitted it from components to save time. First playtest was good, so should now add theme
Image from Ellie Dix (The Dark Imp) (@EllieDixTweets)
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Very interesting video on game design as optimising a search. Although focusing on video games, I think everything is relevant for board games too. youtube.com/watch?v=o5K0uqhx…
This Problem Changes Your Perspective On Game Dev

This Problem Changes Your Perspective On Game Dev

A new approach for thinking about game development and my very best...

youtube.com
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Tomorrow night at 8.30 pm GMT, 3.30 pm EST, we will be live with designers @flopiano and @MandelaFG for a teach and play of Sankore 🇲🇱 It's not as scary as it looks like, and the history behind it is fascinating 🤓 JOIN US ! youtube.com/live/LRfS1x5RC9k…
Image from Frédéric Serval (@fredserval)
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Was a fun time. Met many friendly and interesting people. Saw some cool and weird things. Got to hang out with Ellie, and even snuck in a couple of pitches too.
Ellie Dix (The Dark Imp) (@EllieDixTweets) profile pictureEllie Dix (The Dark Imp)@EllieDixTweets3 Feb 2024
Had a great couple of days at the Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg. I pitched to 12 different publishers (& met more to pitch to later). Enjoyed the Hall parties, hanging out with @MandelaFG, catching up with friends and dinner with the lovely people at Buffalo.
Image from Ellie Dix (The Dark Imp) (@EllieDixTweets)
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Was great to talk to Fred about Sankoré and incorporating its history into our game. Should be should be doing a teach and play with him soon too.
Frédéric Serval (@fredserval) profile pictureFrédéric Serval@fredserval1 Feb 2024
It was a pleasure to sit down and chat with @flopiano and @MandelaFG to talk about the history behind their latest design, Sankore from @OspreyGames. Enjoy! youtu.be/VDTzg_ltftI
Image from Frédéric Serval (@fredserval)
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First glimpse of The Jane Austen game, mine and @MandelaFG's latest game with @LaurenceKingPub at Nuremberg
Image from Ellie Dix (The Dark Imp) (@EllieDixTweets)
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For anyone curious to know a bit more about our game Sankoré and the process behind its creation, the design diary is now up on BGG (link in comments).
Image from Mandela F-G (@MandelaFG)
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boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/1…
Design Diary: Sankoré: The Pride of Mansa Musa

Design Diary: Sankoré: The Pride of Mansa Musa

boardgamegeek.com
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☀️ SANKORÉ: THE PRIDE OF MANSA MUSA Wondering how all the beautiful components of our eurogame Sankoré fit in the box? Look no further than this soothing box-packing video... And get your hands on a copy yourself in less than 2 weeks!! 👀👀 18 JANUARY UK // 16 JANUARY US
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☀️Sankoré is out January! Here's co-designer @MandelaFG on why it's unique: "The game is richly thematic and steeped in positive player interaction. Changes to the board state create an ‘emergent ecosystem’ in which the relative power and value of actions changes play-to-play…"
An image showing the box of the board game Sankoré stood behind a fully set-up gameboard. A sticker reads "OUT JANUARY 2024".

ALT An image showing the box of the board game Sankoré stood behind a fully set-up gameboard. A sticker reads "OUT JANUARY 2024".

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🔥🔥 Out January, Sankoré is a eurogame about the University of Sankoré in 14th-century Timbuktu, designed by @flopiano & @mandelafg, with art by @ianotooletweets… While it's the spiritual successor to Merv, Sankoré is a standalone game with unique, brand-new mechanics!
An image of the board game boxes for Sankoré: The Pride of Mansa Musa and Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road side by side. Both have cover art from Ian O'Toole, in the same style, depicting a person and a camel silhouetted against the majestic background of the university of Sankoré and the city of Merv respectively.

ALT An image of the board game boxes for Sankoré: The Pride of Mansa Musa and Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road side by side. Both have cover art from Ian O'Toole, in the same style, depicting a person and a camel silhouetted against the majestic background of the university of Sankoré and the city of Merv respectively.

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Working on another game with @MandelaFG. It started out as a memory game, but the cognitive load was too much, so now we have groovy tracking tokens. – at Bovingdon, England
Image from Ellie Dix (The Dark Imp) (@EllieDixTweets)
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Ooooh look! @MandelaFG and I have a new game out! Hire Me is a party game in which the active player is being interviewed for a job. However, none of the interviewers knows what role they're interviewing for - and they have to try to work it out. amazon.co.uk/Hire-Me-Intervi…
Image from Ellie Dix (The Dark Imp) (@EllieDixTweets)
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Big news! Today Hasbro has announced the winners of their #WomenInnovatorsOfPlay challenge... And guess who's on the list? 😁 linkedin.com/posts/hasbro_ha… – at Bovingdon, England
Hasbro Announces Winners of the Hasbro Women Innovators of Play Challenge | Hasbro | Hasbro | 14...

Hasbro Announces Winners of the Hasbro Women Innovators of Play Challenge | Hasbro | Hasbro | 14...

We're thrilled to announce the winners of Hasbro’s #WomenInnovatorsofPlay Challenge!   After an overwhelming response to our search for the next woman-led mass market toy or game, we can officially...

linkedin.com
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It was so good to see our upcoming eurogame Sankoré hit the table at SPIEL Essen in all its glory 😍😍 And thank you again to the designers, @flopiano and @MandelaFG, for coming by to give some incredible demos!! 📌 OUT JANUARY 2024 👉 PRE-ORDER NOW: bit.ly/3slXjQK
A photo of the designers of our upcoming eurogame Sankoré, Fabio Lopiano and Mandela Fernández-Grandon, running a demo of the game at SPIEL Essen 2023. The table is covered with a main board split into four areas, four player boards and a shared supply of wooden and cardboard tokens. Behind is a banner showing the game's cover art of the majestic skyline of 14th-century Timbuktu.

ALT A photo of the designers of our upcoming eurogame Sankoré, Fabio Lopiano and Mandela Fernández-Grandon, running a demo of the game at SPIEL Essen 2023. The table is covered with a main board split into four areas, four player boards and a shared supply of wooden and cardboard tokens. Behind is a banner showing the game's cover art of the majestic skyline of 14th-century Timbuktu.

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