Board Forge Co. is a direct-to-consumer brand specializing in bespoke, heirloom-quality board games personalized with customers' photographs, names, and stories. Founded in 2019, the company sits at the intersection of personalized gifting, artisan craftsmanship, and the rapidly expanding tabletop gaming market.
Our flagship products — Family Legacy, Epic Quest, Memory Mosaic, and Legends of the Table — range from $89 to $349 and address a market gap for premium, personalized board games. Complementary revenue streams include branded merchandise, artisan accessories, a virtual gaming app, and partnership sales of classic games.
We are seeking strategic investment to scale production capacity, expand our Shopify-powered e-commerce operation, and accelerate customer acquisition through digital marketing and influencer partnerships.
Board Forge Co. operates as a vertically integrated, made-to-order brand. We manage the full product lifecycle — from digital design tools and photo processing through artisan manufacturing, quality control, and fulfillment. Our brand identity draws inspiration from Hermes' artisanal prestige combined with the clean, intuitive shopping experience of Chanel, creating a luxury-forward presence that resonates with discerning gift-givers and gaming enthusiasts.
Photo-based family board game with laser-etched wooden box
Gross margin: 62%Adventure game with custom hero illustrations
Gross margin: 58%Photo memory matching game in velvet-lined box
Gross margin: 68%Prestige strategy game with sculpted miniatures
Gross margin: 54%The global board games market was valued at $18.5B in 2024, growing at 13% CAGR. The personalized gifts market reached $34.1B globally, driven by consumers seeking unique, meaningful products. Board Forge Co. captures the overlap between these two expanding markets.
Revenue is diversified across four channels, each powered by Shopify's commerce infrastructure:
Our marketing strategy positions Board Forge Co. as the Hermes of tabletop gaming — premium, artisanal, and deeply personal. Every touchpoint reflects our brand values of craftsmanship, storytelling, and legacy.
Our storefront runs on Netlify with a custom TanStack Start application, connected to Shopify for commerce, inventory, and order management. The Shopify Storefront API powers checkout, while the Admin API feeds our real-time sales dashboard. Photo uploads are stored securely via Netlify Blobs, and the custom game builder uses a 4-step wizard that integrates directly with Shopify's checkout flow. This architecture provides sub-second page loads, global CDN distribution, and enterprise-grade reliability.
| Metric | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $420K | $1.1M | $2.8M |
| Gross Margin | 58% | 61% | 64% |
| Custom Game Orders | 1,200 | 3,400 | 8,500 |
| Avg. Order Value | $195 | $220 | $235 |
| Customer Acq. Cost | $42 | $35 | $28 |
| Repeat Purchase Rate | 18% | 26% | 34% |
| Net Profit Margin | 12% | 18% | 24% |
Board Forge Co. is led by a passionate team combining expertise in product design, e-commerce, artisan manufacturing, and digital marketing. Our lean structure allows rapid iteration while maintaining the premium quality our customers expect.
Our technology architecture leverages Shopify as the commerce backbone with a headless Netlify storefront for maximum performance and brand control.
View our brand guidelines or explore the storefront.