About us, our mission, history and our partners

Who are we?
The Game Master is a Dutch publisher of board- and card games based near Rotterdam in The Netherlands.

Our Mission
To create innovative and high quality board- and cardgames, giving players a chance to enjoy their fantasies, experiment without risk, feel good about themselves and to learn more about themselves and others.

How did it start?
In the early winter of 2004, Hans van Tol created his first game about the development of a Citadel in the Middle Ages. His first creation, De Ontembare Stad, won the Dutch Game Award. After this The Game Master has built a strong market position in the family plus market. Some of our international titles are Skyline (2005), Rotterdam (2007), Opera (2009), Fortuna (2011), Rhodes (2016), The Colossus (2018) and Mainports (2020).
Each game has its own specific innovative dynamics.

Our plans
In 2021 we have released the title Ballen met Stieren (Balls for Bulls) and in September we plan to release our brand new international board game King of the Valley. More info on the later can be found on this page.

Each game is a statement
Publisher The Game Master also feels the need to make a statement with creating new innovative games, but also our themes are not standard. We introduce some of our own games in a reverse order, because we belief innovation is a continuous process in which the new games get better and better.

Mainports (may 2020): the third game in the Ports of Europe series, which allows you to cross Europe and as a true magnate you can collect up to 1 million euro's. A lot of things going on this pure economical game. Very interesting are the several technological advance cards, which help you to increase your progress and make each deal more profitable. Choose and adapt your strategy to outrank your competitors.
Storymaker: this game is a family coop game for 2-10 players of 8 years and up; this game is good for the fantasy of kids and adults; the party variant of the game makes sure adults will enjoy themselves most certainly; several expansions are already waiting to be published after the introduction of this game.
Rhodes: this interactive game in an exotic atmosphere is a light expert with a easy and fun game flow; push the ships into the harbor and influence the market prices of all the goods; The Game Master just loves the Greek islands and wants to share this excitement with all players of 10 years and up;
Stier zoekt Bier: in the fun card game Bull wants Beer 3-5 players have their own pub. They attract the thirsty bulls in the alley by tapping beer. By serving their new customers their favorite beer they score VPs;
Countdown (2013): a cooperative game with a 100% modular game set up with multiple levels and modes;
Matchpoint (2012): a smart & fun game designed for the new (younger) generation of players;
Fortuna (2011): this time a game not about money and power, but about happiness!
Opera: a classic game with beautiful art work;
Happy Cows series: making fun of the many 'boring' Reality TV programs;
Rotterdam - Ports of Europe : a unique harbor game with a dynamic game system with moving ships;
Skyline of the World: one of the first 3D board games, many 3D games since than;
De Ontembare Stad or The Citadel: one of the first round game boards, many followed this example.

Check out our other international titles; several games include English, German and French rules

Our international partners
The people we work with are part of our presentation internationally. We would like to introduce to your our international partners (in alfabetic order):

Argentum Verlag (Köln, Germany)
Czech Games Edition (Kladno, Czech Republic)
Eggert Spiele (Hamburg, Germany)
Ghenos Games (Milan, Italy)
Hutter Trade (Gunzburg, Germany)
Intrafin Games (Zaventem, Belgium)
Ludonova (Cordoba, Spain)
PD Verlag (Heidenau, Germany)
Pegasus Verlag (Friedberg, Germany)
University Games (Maastricht, The Netherlands)
Zoch Verlag (Munchen, Germany)

If you would like to work with us on a future project with one of our games or you are interested in distributing one or more of our current games, please contact us by sending us an e-mail or call us at 0031 6 525 93 221.