A board game first dreamed up by a 10-year-old from Devon is now making its way onto the international tabletop scene. Laurie Buchanan, now 15, designed Wizerds, Warriors & Werewolves when he was just 11, and the game has since been picked up and published by Tycoon Games. After making its international debut at Gen Con in the US this summer, the game is now heading to SPIEL Essen in Germany this October. Laurie, who is from Honiton, will be demonstrating his game to visitors at SPIEL Essen, where thousands of tabletop fans are expected to gather from around the world. For the teenager, it's a remarkable step forward for an idea that started with little more than some paper, sketches and plenty of imagination.
From childhood idea to finished game
Laurie first began developing Wizerds, Warriors & Werewolves when he was 10. He filled pages with notes, drawings and ideas for how the game could work, gradually turning those early concepts into something that could actually be played. A year later, Laurie took the game to Playtest UK at Games Expo, giving other players the chance to try it and helping him refine his creation. That early testing eventually led to Laurie successfully pitching the game, with Tycoon Games taking it on and bringing the childhood project to life as a published board game. Now, four years after he first pitched his creation, Laurie is preparing to show it to an international audience. The game has already appeared at Gen Con in the United States and will now be showcased at SPIEL Essen, one of the biggest events on the tabletop gaming calendar.
A creative mind behind the game
Laurie's approach to game design is part of a wider interest in creativity. The 15-year-old is autistic and has ADHD, and describes himself as someone whose mind is constantly coming up with new ideas. Board game design is far from his only creative outlet. Laurie is also a singer-songwriter and pianist, writing and performing his own original music across a variety of styles. He shares his music on his YouTube channel, where he has continued to develop another side of his creative work alongside designing games. For Laurie, seeing Wizerds, Warriors & Werewolves become a physical game has been difficult to fully process.
“It still hasn’t quite sunk in that all my ideas I imagined years ago have become a finished game,” he said. “I can’t wait to make other people happy playing it.”
Now it's coming home
While Wizerds, Warriors & Werewolves has already travelled across the Atlantic, the game is also getting a UK release. Beacon Games in Axminster will host a launch event on Saturday, November 7, giving players the chance to learn how to play the game and meet its teenage designer. Laurie will be taking part in a signing session alongside the how-to-play event, bringing the project back to the region where his journey began. His parents have also spoken about their pride in seeing Laurie's years of work and imagination recognised by an international publisher. What started as a collection of ideas from a 10-year-old has now become a published game with an audience far beyond Honiton. With appearances at Gen Con and SPIEL Essen already under its belt, Wizerds, Warriors & Werewolves is giving its young designer a rather unusual introduction to the global tabletop industry. And with Laurie still only 15, there could be plenty more games waiting somewhere in those notebooks.
