John Poniske Historical Boardgame Designer

I grew up in a family that loved games. Our game closet filled me with wonder. I spent more time playing boardgames with my friends than I did playing sports. It expanded my knowledge of the world and gave me a better understanding of competition and compromise.

Life interrupted my love of games, but it was reinvigorated my final year in the Marine Corps. A good friend, and ultimately a great designer in his own right, reintroduced me to the hobby. It has been more than a hobby ever since.

As a kid, I used to play around with the rules for Stratego and the Milton Bradley American Heritage games. As an adult I got more serious. My passion has always been niche history – those interesting historical incidents that had an outsized influence on us but are nonetheless often overlooked.

In the early 1990s, I began actively designing games on such subjects. My first designs had to do with the Civil War (I have an enduring passion for the American Civil War) None of those early designs ever saw print.

I continued designing and began attending AvalonCon in Pennsylvania where I began making contacts.

I had my breakthrough

In 2010 I had my breakthrough – four in fact. Worthington Games accepted HEARTS AND MINDS. GMT accepted LEAPING LEMMINGS. MMP accepted King PHILIP’S WAR and LINCOLN’S WAR. Lincoln’s War remains my favorite design (you will say that the ACW is hardly an overlooked topic – yes, but my approach was political and that was unique) .

Since that time I have had over 25 designs accepted by twelve different companies. I have even experimented with children’s games (HUGS) and Family Games (LEAPING LEMMINGS).

As any serious designer will tell you, the world provides a steady stream of new ideas. With that in mind, I have over 50 unclaimed designs on my shelf. Currently, I am dedicated to my ambitious writing project, THE SNAKEBIT SERIES.

I will continue to nurse designs already in the hands of publishers but will probably not begin any new historical designs until the Series has been completed. I project that to be sometime in 2028. If any of the games I list below strike your fancy, contact the publisher to see if the title might still available. Most are. Just remember this –

Life is a game … Play fair!

John Poniske Published Boardgames

• King Philip’s War, Multi-Man Publishing, 2010
• Leaping Lemmings (W/Rick Young), GMT Games, 2010
• Hearts and Minds, Worthington Games, 1st Edition-2010
• HUGS, Victory Point Games, 2012
• Lincoln’s War, Multi-Man Publishing, 2013
• Ball’s Bluff, Legion Wargames, 2015
• LZ Albany, Decision Games, 2016
• Amigos & Insurrectos, Battles Magazine, 2016
• Hearts and Minds, Worthington Games, 2nd Edition-2017
• Belmont, Legion Wargames, 2017
• Revolution Road, Compass Games, 2017
• Blood on the Ohio, Compass Games, 2018
• Maori Wars, Legion Wargames, 2018
• Fall of Siam, Compass Games, 2019
• Devil Dogs: Belleau Wood (W/John Poniske Jr.), Worthington Games, 2019
• Hearts and Minds, Compass Games, 3rd Edition-2019
• Bleeding Kansas, Decision Games, 2019
• Banana Wars, Strategy & Tactics, 2020
• La Vendee, Against the Odds, 2021
• Plains Indian Wars, GMT Games, 2022

Due to be Published Boardgames

• Flanks of Gettysburg, Compass Games
• Wolfe Tone’s Rising, Compass Games
• Pontiac’s War, Compass Games
• Berlin Airlift, Legion Wargames
• Fire On the Mountain, Legion Wargames
• Black Eagles, Clash of Arms Publishing
• Mountain Men, Columbia Games

The Snakebit Series

This is a fictional account of the American Civil War and its aftermath, as told by and through the Maryland Garrett family, their friends and enemies. It is not a single, continuing story arc.

As it meanders across the country, North, South, East and West, it becomes more a collection of interrelated short stories that reveal engaging historical and cultural details to titillate the reader and make the conflict and the era come to life. The series covers 1859 to 1877, from the period leading up to the contentious election of Abraham Lincoln through the troubled Grant Administration.

Ultimately  Snakebit exposes the reader to the origin of our current, seemingly irreconcilable, societal divide. Warning: authentic period dialogue includes many racial epithets. I do not condone nor encourage their use and I apologize for any offense they may cause the reader. Sadly, bias and bigotry were and still are an integral part of American culture.

Snakebit Series Novels

• 1 Prelude to War 1859-60
• 2 Fire-Eaters 1860-61
• 3 Graybacks & Greenbacks 1861
• 4 The Crack Widens 1862
• 5 Cattywampus 1862
• 6 Lincoln’s Hirelings 1863
• 7 Sundering Slavery 1863-64
• 8 Political Quadrille 1864
• 9 Triumph & Tragedy 1865
• 10 Reconstruction Begins 1865
• 11 Civil War to Civil Rights 1866
• 12 Amending the Nation 1867-68
• 13 Disenfranchisement 1870
• 14 Curbing the Klan 1871
• 15 The Old Guard 1872-73
• 16 Red River War 1874-75
• 17 Election Frenzy 1876
• 18 Deconstruction 1877