Best in Play brings together publishers, intellectual property, designers, creative talent, executives, and market-ready products to create opportunities that otherwise might never meet.
Best in Play sits between the major constituencies of tabletop. We represent, source, develop, match, negotiate, advise, and step into leadership roles when partners need experienced help moving an opportunity forward.
Best in Play brings together experienced creators, developers, strategists, and industry partners with a shared focus on games that work creatively, commercially, and at the table.
Director of Play
Daryl Andrews is best known as the co-designer of the award-winning tabletop game Sagrada. His career also includes work with major entertainment and consumer properties, including Batman, The Oregon Trail, and Marvel, as well as numerous original and licensed tabletop projects through 90+ different publishers.
Director of Fun
Scott Brady is the inventor of Hues and Cues, a successful color-communication game that has sold millions of copies. He is also the original founder and organizer of tabletop publisher Play to Z. Before focusing on the games industry, Brady served as general manager and owner of a Los Angeles-based secure specialty printing company with approximately 100 employees, giving him significant experience in business leadership, production, operations, and organizational management.
Strategic Contributor
David Gordon is an award-winning board game designer. He co-designed Finspan, LEGO Monkey Palace, Clash Royale: The Grand Arena, Floristry, Pinched!, Crafting The Cosmos, Scurry Up!, and other games that have collectively sold nearly one million copies worldwide. He is also the co-founder of UP Games, which partnered with Asmodee for the worldwide release of Floristry and launched as Game of the Month at Barnes & Noble.
Controller of Fun(ds)
Nicole Brady brings deep experience across tabletop media, events, marketing, and industry leadership. She serves as Media & Events Director and President of the GAMA Board of Directors, is a committee member for the American Tabletop Awards, and is a founding investor with Play to Z. Her past influencer and ambassador work includes projects with Disney, Nintendo, Netflix, Domino's, Dr Pepper Snapple, K'NEX, Chick-fil-A, HP, Dell, and McDonald's.
Strategic Contributor
David Du is the founder and CEO of Eastar Game Manufacturing, a leading global board game production company that specializes in transforming creative game ideas into high-quality, market-ready products.
Strategic Contributor
Erik Dahlman is the founder of Albino Dragon, a tabletop company specializing in licensed playing cards and board games. He has produced licensed products under agreements with Sony, Warner Bros., Hasbro, and other major entertainment studios. He also brings more than 25 years as a software engineering leader, giving Best in Play depth in digital product development and interactive play experiences alongside traditional tabletop.
Best in Play can support one opportunity, represent an ongoing relationship, or function as an experienced extension of your team.
Represent rights holders in tabletop, identify strong publishing partners, shape opportunities, and help negotiate commercially sound licensing relationships.
Find IP for existing games, source new product opportunities, and bring publishers packaged concepts with the right relationships already moving.
Represent individual games or broader catalogs, pitch strategically, develop opportunities, and match strong game systems with appropriate intellectual property.
Connect experienced tabletop artists and graphic designers with publishers and projects while managing representation, introductions, and commercial terms.
Original concepts, licensed adaptations, prototyping, rules, playtesting, refinement, product strategy, and pitch-ready materials.
Provide publishers with an external pipeline for submissions, designer relationships, opportunity evaluation, development conversations, and acquisitions support.
Step into senior games, product, licensing, or business leadership roles when a company needs experienced coverage, transition support, or focused execution.
Senior-level guidance on product portfolios, licensing, organizational structure, development pipelines, acquisitions, partnerships, and market strategy.
Confidentially connect exceptional tabletop leaders with listed and unlisted opportunities, with no fee to candidates and employer-paid placement fees.
We are not here to sell one game. We are here to build the right game for the right market.
Our team spans game design, publishing, licensing, manufacturing, retail, business development, creative services, and company leadership. That lets us see opportunities from multiple sides and connect the people, products, and relationships needed to move them forward.
Our work is focused on tabletop, with relationships and operating experience across the category.
We look for the right commercial fit, not simply the next available transaction.
Engage us for representation, development, sourcing, consulting, or embedded leadership.
The value of Best in Play is not just the individual services. It is what happens when one relationship unlocks another.
We can identify brands that fit proven systems, then help build the relationship around the opportunity.
A strong game does not need to begin with a license to become exactly what an IP holder needs.
We help rights holders identify publishers whose capabilities, channels, and product instincts match the property.
When the missing piece is a designer, artist, consultant, or executive, our network can become part of the solution.
Best in Play can represent an opportunity, source the missing piece, develop the product, advise the team, or temporarily become part of it.
New concepts, pitch-ready prototypes, rules refinement, product tuning, and development help for existing titles.
Games that create new ways for fans to engage with beloved characters, worlds, stories, and brands.
Promotional products, campaign-driven concepts, experiential play, and strategic extensions beyond traditional merchandise.
Whether the starting point is an IP, a game, a hiring need, or a strategic challenge, we begin by defining the gap and finding the best way to close it.
Clarify the business need, opportunity, audience, constraints, timing, and desired outcome.
Determine the missing relationship, capability, product, talent, or strategic path.
Bring together the right people, properties, companies, concepts, or resources.
Develop, negotiate, advise, manage, or execute the work needed to advance the opportunity.
Help the relationship or initiative reach a clear decision, agreement, launch path, or next stage.
Tell us what you are trying to accomplish. There is a good chance we know where to start.