Darren Don

Board Game Designer · Kansas City, MO

Darren Don.

I design board games that help people connect: high-interaction games where every move involves someone else at the table, and you’re always looking across it wondering, “What are they thinking?”Every game has a sell sheet, a rulebook and a version you can play right in your browser.

See the games Email Darren

Games signed with

AllplayBitewing GamesSRG Universe

Titles to be announced · What’s coming

Games

Play them in your browser

All games and signed titles
Dim Sum Rush mockup on a dark rosewood teahouse table: the box, the cloth tile bag, a row of tiles, a played run, a bamboo steamer, a teapot and a cup of tea.

Dim Sum Rush

Each team shares face-up tiles the other team can’t touch, so every tile you put out is a play only your partner can make. A free-for-all mode plays at every count from 2 to 6.

For fans of Scout and Rummikub

  • 2–6 Players
  • 30–45 Min
  • Tiles or Cards
  • Partnership Climbing
  • Free-for-All Mode
See the game
Boo Who? mockup: the violet tuck box, a Ghost and a Living card standing in their stands, a candle and one player’s Boos.

Boo Who?

Your card faces the table, so everyone knows your role but you. Read the Boos piling up in front of you, then run or stay.

For fans of Scape Goat and Skull

  • 4–8 Players
  • 15 Min
  • Bluffing
  • Party
See the game
Too Many Crooks! mockup on a blueprint of the Night Bank: the box, six colored dice, a crew sheet, a stack of cash and a flashlight.

Too Many Crooks!

Crew up from the dice your rivals send over, then pay them from what you kept back. Promises are out loud, cuts are secret, and nothing is binding.

For fans of Intrigue and Batam

  • 3–6 Players
  • 20–30 Min
  • Dice
  • Negotiation
See the game
Diggers mockup on sandstone at a dig site: the tuck box, a field book, a whole Stegosaurus laid out as nine cards, the Como Bluff dig-site strip and a trowel.

Diggers

Fight over the dig sites between camps with runs and sets from a hand you can never rearrange, and poach the bones you need.

For fans of Scout and Schotten Totten

  • 2–4 Players
  • 15–20 Min
  • Shedding
  • Lane Battler
See the game
Down for the Count mockup in a wrestling ring: the box, four move cards and a championship belt, with the ropes and a corner post behind.

Down for the Count

A shedding game where you don’t want to shed. Beat the move or spend stamina to stay in; the last wrestler standing wins.

For fans of Scout and Love Letter

  • 2–5 Players
  • 15 Min
  • Shedding
  • Last One Standing
See the game
Un, Deux, Trois, Cat! mockup on a knit blanket in a sunbeam: the box, the felt toys, the deck and two cards, a ball of yarn and a bowl of kibble.

Un, Deux, Trois, Cat!

Everyone flips at once. Grab the felt toy shown in its own color before anyone else, or grab the cat when nothing is.

For fans of Ghost Blitz and Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza

  • 2–6 Players
  • 10 Min
  • Cards and Felt Toys
  • Dexterity
See the game
Darren Don smiling, holding up an empty gold picture frame around himself outdoors at dusk.

About

Hi, I’m Darren.

I’m a board game designer in Kansas City, Missouri, with games signed with Allplay, Bitewing Games and SRG Universe. Here’s what I hold every design to:

  1. 1
    Every move is about someone else.

    An offer only your partner can take, a die you send to a rival, a Boo you put on a friend. If you can play your turn without looking up, it isn’t done yet.

  2. 2
    Teach it in five minutes.

    Short rules and small boxes, with the depth showing up on the second play, so it actually gets to the table.

  3. 3
    Start from games people love.

    I take the parts of my favorite games that work best and put them together in a way nobody has played before.

Favorite games

Decrypto El Grande Ra Two Rooms and a Boom Dropolter

For publishers

Let’s meet

Play it before you ask for it

Every game plays in your browser with a tutorial and bots, so your team can try it before a prototype ships.

Built for online tables

Dim Sum Rush and Too Many Crooks! already host online tables your team can join with a five-letter code. The goal is for every game here to work the same way, so you can play a full game together from anywhere.

Prototypes on request

Ask for a prototype, a print-and-play kit or a walkthrough call, and tell me what format your review process needs.

Find me at

2026
2027

Click a show to set up a meeting there.

Looking for your next game?

Ask for a rulebook, a prototype or a print-and-play kit, or set up a time to talk through a game, on a call or at a convention.

Email Darren Contact details