Black Box Games was founded in 2010 by Nick Street and Martin Vaux.
The two teachers, having met through mutual friends, soon realised that they had both been designing games as a hobby in isolation for years and that maybe, just maybe, two heads were better than one.

After months of dusting off prototypes stashed away in attics or stacked at the back of dusty cupboards, showing one another new games and old, discussing our ideas, favourite genres, themes and intentions, they tried to narrow down the scope of their focus.

Lords of War bubbled to the top as the first priority project.

The game, originally inspired by table-top war gaming, had been a rough idea for almost 10 years. The prototype had sat quietly, unplayed, waiting for its moment in the sun.

Nick and Martin spent months re-engineering the game from the ground up, attending game shows and surveying players, taking their prototype decks to gaming groups and running tester sessions, using feedback to improve and refine the mechanics and shaping their concepts of what gamers really wanted.

After meeting with publishers, speaking to other start-up games companies and securing some investment, Nick and Martin embarked on the processes of bringing the game to market themselves.

This involved securing award-winning artist and graphic designer Steve Cox to breath life into the Lords of War characters and game mechanics.

From January 2012 Steve has been working to help consumers to see and interact with the ideas Nick and Martin had been carrying around in their heads for years.

In December 2012, the first physical product from Black Box Games was released to the public in the form of Lords of War: Orcs versus Dwarves, an expandable, customisable card game.

It went on to win Best Strategic Card Game at the UK Games Expo 2013, during which members of the public took part in testing sessions for the first Lords of War partner product.

Lords of War: Elves versus Lizardmen, an independent yet complementary game, playable with Lords of War: Orcs versus Dwarves, then hit retailers across the UK, US, Asia and Europe throughout 2013.

At the end of 2013, Black Box Games then launched a Kickstarter Campaign and successfully funded both the third game in the series, Lords of War: Templars versus Undead, and the Lords of War: Weather and Terrain Expansion Pack.

With the first foreign language translations of the game taking place during 2014, notably into German by Heidelberger Spielverlag, Lords of War grew to be available in over 20 countries worldwide that year, with the games being sold in over 500 stores including high street retailers like Waterstone's Books, Toys 'R Us and Forbidden Planet.

More importantly, FLGS game stores, schools and gaming clubs across the UK, Germany and beyond began hosting events for the Lords of War League - a tournament play system through which players have been winning exclusive cards and other exciting Lords of War products.

At the end of 2014, Nick and Martin launched a second Kickstarter campaign for the first double-deck Lords of War expansion, Lords of War: Orcs versus Dwarves - The Magic and Monsters Expansion. Funding in half the 28 day, the Kickstarter was delivered in 6 weeks and the expansion will hit stores in March 2015.

Next, Nick and Martin are readying new games and the expansion packs for Lords of War: Elves versus Lizardmen and Lords of War: Templars versus Undead for release in 2015.

Moving forward, there will be more Lords of War core packs released, with complimentary expansions to follow, all of which will expand the Lords of War universe and ensure that the game remains forever fair, forever innovating and forever a product made by gamers for gamers.

All we need now is fans. Fans to buy the games, to support us, to guide us, to spread the word and play our games.