Indie board games made with heart.
Informal Ferret Games is an informal line of games from game designer Gil Hova, designer of the games The Networks, Wordsy, and High Rise.
All games are print-on-demand (POD) from The Game Crafter.
My available games
Bad Medicine
Genre: Party/Storytelling
Player count: 3-8 (best with 6-8)
Length: 30 mins
A small game about big pharma. Pitch ridiculous medications that will treat the conditions caused by your previous medications. A re-release of my first self-published game.
The base game comes with 76 Drug Cards. Each set of Extra Cards adds more Drug Cards, and some add new features to the game as well.
(Also, get vaccinated. For real.)
My upcoming games
Wordsy: the Delay Timer mini-expansion (release date: Q1 2026). A better way to play with 2 or 3 players. Replace the No-Flip Card with a short timer. The Fastest Wordsmith from the previous round can still flip the main timer, but they have to wait a bit longer. Compatible with both the newer AllPlay and older Formal Ferret editions.
Rough Roads (release date: 2026). An economic strategy board game about the real-life plank road boom and bust in the mid-19th century northeastern United States. The best game about the history of road surfacing that you will ever play.
Weird Stories (release date: 2027). A one-shot, GM-less/ful, play-to-lose storytelling RPG where players tell stories similar to the films of David Lynch, novels by Haruki Murakami or Jeff VanderMeer, and the TV series Lost. These stories have many more questions than answers, and remain shrouded in mystery throughout. A re-release of my first RPG.
Hurry Up! (working title - release date: 2027). A deliver-and-pick-up game. This is not a race, but you still want to move quickly! Drop cubes on the board on your first lap on the not-a-racetrack, pick them up on your second lap. The earlier you finish, the more points your picked-up cubes will be worth. So you can go slow and try to return with all your cubes, or go fast and maybe leave a few behind.
My older games
Prolix (2010, Z-Man Games). My first published game, and the predecessor to Wordsy. Fiddly and obtuse. Don’t bother with this game. Play Wordsy, it’s a million times better. Status: Out of print, will not return.
Battle Merchants (2014, Minion Games). An economic game where players are fantasy arms merchants selling weapons to 4 perpetually-warring factions. The base game is pretty mediocre, but the POD New Kingdoms expansion made it a bit better. Status: Out of print, will not return.
Bad Medicine (2015, Formal Ferret Games). A small game about big pharma. Pitch ridiculous medications that will treat the conditions caused by your previous medications. Status: Will be re-released by Informal Ferret Games on January 15.
The Networks (2016, Formal Ferret Games). A game about running a TV network. Draft TV shows, stars, and ads, trying to gain the most viewers. My most successful game, spawning several expansions. Status: Now available from AllPlay.
Wordsy (2017, Formal Ferret Games). A word game for people who like big words. Those 2- and 3-letter Scrabble words will not help you here. The best word game ever made, but I might be a bit biased here. Status: Now available from AllPlay.
High Rise (2020, Formal Ferret Games). A citybuilding strategy game that features tense decisions and opportunity for cunning play. Use the one-way track to commit to building your skyscrapers. Looks great, plays great. The publication did not go the way I wanted it to. I’m very thankful for AllPlay for stepping in and helping me. Status: Now available from AllPlay.
Weird Stories (2021, Formal Ferret Games). My first RPG, but not released widely. It deserved better, so I’m going to give it another try. Status: Will be re-released by Informal Ferret Games in 2027.