The publisher’s next game from Wingspan, Scythe and Vituculture is inspired by Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Jamey Stegmaier, co-founder of Stonemaier Games, has left an indelible mark on board gaming since entering the space in 2011. Not only has he designed and published incredible strategy games, such as Scythe And Viticulturebut he also helped produce and publish Elizabeth Hargrave’s genre-defining nature-themed board game Wingspan and its sequel. On Wednesday he announced a secret project, the result of seven long years of work. It is called Benefitand it may be one of the most exciting tabletop projects planned for 2025.
Stegmaier describes Benefit as an open world, cooperative, science fiction themed roguelike adventure game inspired by modern video games. In a recent one live streamhe noted that the primary inspiration was the iconic Zelda: Breath of the Wildbut he also pulls themes and mechanics from such disparate titles as Elden Ring, A short walkAnd The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Players take on the role of explorers heading to an unknown planet outside the solar system. A glitch results in an emergency landing, scattering one to six players across the entire map. There are a total of 100 landing sites that, together with 800 additional location cards, form the unique, coherent surface of the unnamed planet. Maps are organized so that players can freely traverse the entire planet, moving vertically and horizontally across the surface in the style of The 7th continent.
The trick is that you cannot show what you see to the other players at the table. Each player only has his own perspective – his own perspective benefit period – and must communicate what lies ahead to the other players.
To be successful, players must tell as much as they can about the strange new world before them. Due to the roguelike nature of the game – where your character, their skills, possessions and other abilities are wiped out if you don’t survive the experience – the only true measure of progress is your own personal experience of the mysterious planet itself.
“The only thing that survives from one match Benefit to the next one,” Stegmaier said, “is your information, your knowledge of this planet and how you could apply that to future games.”
The way the game limits communication, combined with a huge number of cards in the box — more than 1,700 in all, Stegmaier said — should make every journey unique.
“Even if you’re playing the same character and happen to crash land in the same location as before, you can just go east instead of west,” Stegmaier said. “You can go north instead of south. You can communicate with that location in a different way than before. So there’s a lot of replayability that I baked into this game.”
“It is not a campaign game,” Stegmaier emphasized. “You play until you win, or until you fail. (…) And then you start again.”
While the design is largely complete, as is most of the game’s art, Stegmaier said Benefit is currently in a blind playtest phase. That means prototypes are put through a gauntlet of players who have no idea what to expect when they open the box. Next comes the graphic design and finishing of the materials in the box – especially the manual that will help get new players on board. He will share more information, including pricing and final release date, in the coming months.
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