Sep 4, 2026 - News

Preview Utah's newest board games — and help make them fun

Erin Alberty

Top-down view of a tabletop board game in progress: blue game board, many cards, stacks of rule cards on the right, piles of circular tokens, dice, and character cards showing Ethan, Amelia, and Max. — "Chrono Captains" by Layton's Thunder Finch Games is set up for a test play at a convention in March. Photo: Courtesy of Aaron Treglown

If you've ever wondered how creators make games fun and challenging — but not too challenging — there are lots of chances in Utah to get in on the process.

The big picture: Board games are wildly popular in Utah, which has the 6th-most game stores per capita and the 3rd-most Kickstarter campaigns per capita of any state for new tabletop games.

State of play: Board game developers around the state are always looking for players to try their games, give feedback and help make the rules and doodads more user-friendly.

How it works: Players of all ages are invited to meetings of the Board Game Designers Guild of Utah, which take place twice a month at four locations along the Wasatch Front.

Salt Lake's playtests are the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month, at Demolition Games. One is set for next Thursday.

What they're saying: "Some (game) designs are just past the 'tried it out with my family' stage, while other designs are nearing publication," per the group's website.

Zoom out: There also are board game conventions around the state, throughout the year.

Players can find many of those events — and each other — on the Utah Board Game Events Facebook group.

What's next: The SaltCON convention hosts new game demos, play sessions, sales and swap markets Friday-Sunday at the Davis Convention Center in Layton.

The bottom line: If a Pictionary-level board game craze emerges from Utah, you can say you played it first.

Add Axios on Google

Preview Utah's newest board games — and help make them fun

More Salt Lake City stories