Genius Games News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1 AUGUST 2019


GAME PUBLISHER GENIUS GAMES ACQUIRES ARTANA

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, August 1, 2019 - Genius Games, LLC, a publisher of Science-based tabletop games, has acquired Acton, Massachusetts-based Artana LLC. A publisher of history and technology games since 2015, Artana is known for titles such as Tesla vs. Edison, Einstein, Lovelace & Babbage, and Tomorrow.

Genius Games Acquires Artana

“Artana is a perfect strategic acquisition for us,” said Genius Founder and CEO John Coveyou. “Like Genius Games, they specialize in telling stories about the real world - in Artana’s case exploring topics in history as well as science and technology. Our Science-focused games have proven a hit in both casual gaming as well as academic and educational settings, and Artana’s varied catalog expands and enhances this appeal. The two companies are a natural fit.”

According to Marcus Muller, Co-Founder and President of Artana, Genius intends to retain the Artana brand in order to bring a wider diversity of game experiences to the market. He continues: “Over the last five years, Genius has established itself as the leading provider of STEM tabletop games. It is a focused brand that serves a specific and growing market. At the same time, while Artana offers a complimentary collection of science and technology games, we also are primarily known for games about history. By leveraging both brands for different strategic sales and marketing initiatives, we can offer compelling value propositions to a wide variety of gamers and educators.”

Post-acquisition, Mr. Coveyou remains the CEO and primary shareholder of Genius Games. Mr. Muller, and his co-founder of Artana, Dirk Knemeyer, will become minority shareholders of the expanded venture. Whereas Mr. Coveyou and his existing operations team will continue in their current capacities, Muller and Knemeyer will participate in supporting roles on a part-time basis.

“Marcus and I have admired the success of John and the rest of the Genius Games team over the years,” said Mr. Knemeyer. "They have achieved operational excellence across the breadth of areas important to a game publishing company.  We think the combination of our product mix and brand recognition in the hands of this team will be a fantastic mix."

Mr. Knemeyer, the primary game designer at Artana, will continue to contribute games to the Artana catalog and serve as a consulting creative director affecting Genius Games more broadly.  Mr. Muller will continue as a strategic advisor to Genius as well. “We both look forward to helping Genius grow and continue its success moving forward,” said Mr. Knemeyer.

The combined company will debut this week at Gen Con, the longest-running and best-attended tabletop gaming convention in North America. Headquartered in booth 1641 with a satellite in booth 2141 of the main exhibit hall, both brands are debuting new titles at the convention: In addition to their existing catalog of games, Genius Games will showcase Periodic, a new game about the periodic table of elements coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the periodic table. Artana will feature Lovelace & Babbage, a family-friendly party game about the origins of computer programming in the 19th century.

ABOUT GENIUS GAMES

Genius Games is a St. Louis based publishing company that creates tabletop games, jigsaw puzzles, and children's books on topics rooted in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) such as the periodic table of elements, the building of atoms, the biology of cells and genomics. We will now also offer the Artana brand of historical science and technology games about subjects such as Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla. We strive to create resources that are joyful to experience while passively educating our customers as part of a lifelong process of inquiry. 

ABOUT ARTANA

Founded in 2015, Artana produces quality games and accessories to customers around the world. They seek to provide fresh themes, innovative mechanics, engaging play, beautiful components, and thought-provoking experiences.  Artana, and its spiritual predecessor, Conquistador Games, are responsible for twelve successful Kickstarter projects, including the Tesla vs. Edison family of games, Einstein, Speakeasy Blues, Corrupted Kingdoms, The New Science, Tomorrow, The Best Damn Gaming Coins Ever, and Lovelace & Babbage.