Nathan McNair, co-owner of board game and card game publisher Pandasaurus, has spent much of this year crunching numbers.
His company, known for titles like The Mind and Castle Combo, was charged roughly $90,000 in tariff fees so far this year. Meanwhile, a weakening U.S. dollar has made importing shipments from manufacturers in Europe and China more costly.
That's left McNair scrambling to figure out how to make up for the unexpected expenses.
“We're not a huge business. That's a lot of money for us,” McNair said. “That's money I don't have to hire people, or to spend on marketing, spend on artwork or development on new titles or reprinting existing titles.”
The end result for Pandasaurus customers? A 10% to 15% price hike across games, and fewer new games in the pipeline as the company tightens its budget. McNair said Pandasaurus typically develops four to six new games per year; in 2025, it's down to two.
