Lost Cities and Deep-Space Crews: A Q&A With Tom Wetzel from Thames & Kosmos

When I think back to the games that really brought me into this hobby 18 years ago, many of them were games from the Kosmos 2-player line. They were inexpensive, interesting, and full of agonizing choices. And Lost Cities still stands as one of the best games to get your spouse playing games; it’s an elegant masterpiece. Today we’re joined by Tom Wetzel, Marketing Coordinator for Thames & Kosmos, who will talk about the past, present, and future of this veteran gaming company.

Thanks for joining us and answering these questions, Tom. 

Tell us a bit about the history of Thames & Kosmos.
Thames & Kosmos was founded in 2001 by a science museum director and her son, who saw the great need and demand for better education materials — resources for parents and their children that are more engaging, more effective, more relevant, and more fun. Since then, Thames & Kosmos has published more than 250 unique science kits. 

In 2015, Thames & Kosmos expanded upon its goal to inspire comprehensive, hands-on learning experiences by introducing a curated selection of German-style board games from world renowned authors and designers. Thames & Kosmos is now a distributor of leading board game titles, which includes the bestselling EXIT: The Game line, The Crew, Lost Cities, and many others. 

How do you differentiate yourselves in a very crowded board game world? 

We work with world-renowned game designers and outstanding editors to ensure every release is something our fans will enjoy. On top of that, we use high-quality materials for beautiful board games, pieces, cards, etc., that make us stand out from our competition. Furthermore, all of our board games have a strong play value that can be used over multiple sessions, resulting in hours of enjoyable gameplay.

The Crew is your highest-rated game, and the winner of the Kennerspiel des Jahres. Did its success surprise you, or did you know you had something special there? 

Our team worked very hard on The Crew, and during the process, we had a good feeling that the game was going to be a success. The game involves completing 50 different missions as you travel across the solar system, only succeeding if you work together as a team. To master the challenges and achieve your mission, communication will be essential, but in space, things can be more challenging than expected. We had such a great time creating and playing The Crew, and we hoped consumers would have the same experience. Although a lot of prominent reviewers predicted The Crew as the winner, it was still a surprise to win the Kennerspiel des Jahres. 

What are your future plans for that franchise? 

We are excited to announce the follow up to The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, with The Crew: Mission Deep Sea. There are some similarities between the two games, both have the same trick-taking core and, as you might suspect with the underwater theme, both have limited communication. Mission Deep Sea is a stand alone game, so you don’t need to have played The Quest for Planet Nine to play Mission Deep Sea, but if you like The Quest for Planet Nine, you’ll definitely want to check out this new game — it’s not just more missions.  

Your EXIT: The Game line is also popular. Why do you think those have struck a chord with people? 

EXIT: The Game brings the excitement of escape rooms to your home and can be played by yourself or with others. We believe EXIT: The Game struck a chord with people because each game is a creative, fun, and immersive experience. In addition to this, we continue to add to the line, giving players a new adventure with each title they play.

There are a few companies doing “escape room” types of games. What makes the EXIT: The Game different from those? 

Each game in our EXIT: The Game line is a unique and unforgettable experience. One thing that differentiates us is how immersive EXIT: The Games are. One reason they are so immersive is that the components are manipulated, cut, torn, and drawn on. Destroying the components of a game feels risky but also thrilling. But don’t worry, another reason EXIT: The Game is so immersive is the unique way the players get clues. Each riddle has a series of clue cards, so you will never get stuck (even if you destroy the wrong component). Because the clues are on cards, you can control how many hints you take, and you don’t have to look at an app! Although you can learn how to play EXIT: The Game on the KOSMOS Helper App, it is important to us that these games are screen-free; no app is required. The last reason we think EXIT: The Game is different is the variety of games we offer. For example, this year, we will be releasing EXIT: The Deserted Lighthouse and EXIT: The Sacred Temple, both come with jigsaw puzzles that are incorporated into the games. I think adding jigsaw puzzles into the games was a stroke of genius. Not only is it a great way to add unique riddles to the games, but it also opens up the age range to participate — if you can do a jigsaw puzzle, you can play. 

Your line of 2-player games have been popular and successful--and created some of our favorite 2-player games ever! Are there any plans to reprint some of the older, out-of-print titles such as Jambo and Starship Catan? 

Thank you! We love feedback from fans, because it helps us determine our release schedules, keep the ideas for reprints coming! Anything is possible, but we cannot confirm or deny at this time. 

What’s on the horizon for Thames & Kosmos? 

It's important to us that we have a strong assortment of board game releases every year, particularly games that can be enjoyed by the whole family. 2021 is an exciting year for our board game lineup because we have some great games scheduled.

This year we want to bring families together with several cooperative games. We are releasing The Adventures of Robin Hood, which is a strong story-driven game. The Crew: Mission Deep Sea, a follow-up to last year's Kennerspiel des Jahres winner. And Andor: The Family Fantasy Game is a simple cooperative game that kids can play, but the whole family will enjoy.

 We are adding two new categories to our catalog: roll-n-write and social deduction. The roll-n-write game is Lost Cities: Roll & Write, which takes the classic card game's elegant concepts and turns it into a thrilling dice game. The social deduction game is Fangs, which is a re-theming of Shadow Hunters with streamlined components to make it accessible and affordable. 

By popular demand, we are bringing over three new Ubongo titles: Ubongo 3D, Ubongo Junior, and Ubongo: Brain Game To Go (a compact travel version). 

Of course, we are releasing new titles in our famous story and riddle series, The Adventure Games: The Grand Hotel Abaddon, which takes place in a haunted hotel (allegedly), and five new EXIT: The Games, two with jigsaw puzzles.

And last but not least, a game that has already made it onto a lot of Best of Lists, Anno 1800. Anno 1800 is based on a popular computer game by the same name, but you don't need to know the computer game to fall in love with this elegant city-building game by Martin Wallace.  

Lightning Round, where we ask some rapid-fire quick questions! 

--Pineapple on pizza: yes or no? Indifferent ;)

--Favorite 2-player KOSMOS game?Lost Cities! -and super excited for Lost Cities: Roll & Write.

--Dream vacation? Hawaii

Thanks, again, for joining us! 

We’re big fans of what Thames & Kosmos is doing. You can check out our review of The Crew here. And a couple of Exit: The Game offerings here. And if you haven’t played Targi yet, we think it’s one of the best 2-player games out there.

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!