Spotlight on GeauxPub at SoBo: PLAYGROUND EMPIRES

We are only six weeks away from Southern Board Game Fest 2026! This year’s convention is coming up March 20-22, 2026 in beautiful downtown Lafayette, Louisiana. I’ll be spotlighting some of the cool things you can do at the festival, and this time, I want to shine the light on one of the games at our GeauxPub section (what we call our unpublished, play testing area). 

Lafayette, Louisiana’s very own designer, Sterling Birdwell, designed an area control game with a cool theme that you need to check out: PLAYGROUND EMPIRES. From the publisher:

PLAYGROUND EMPIRES is a game of pint-sized heroics & conquest coming to crowdfunding soon from our friends at Hutchu Games. Players choose a faction of students on the playground, looking to make their play for the top of the social ladder. Players stake claims over the most popular playscape equipment and then leverage that popularity to sway more kids to the faction’s cause.  Each faction has their own unique skills. Use those skills (and the occasional barrage of dodgeballs) to send rivals packing!

PLAYGROUND EMPIRES has whimsical art, so you get the similar feels of your favorite area control game but with a playful theme. I’ve been eyeing this one since Sterling first started bringing it ’round to SoBo a few years back, and was happy to see it as the first ever game directly signed at Southern Board Game Fest’s GeauxPub section. 

I’ve already got my spot lined up for Saturday, March 21 at 1:00p and there are a couple spots left. Come join me at the table on Saturday so we can check out PLAYGROUND EMPIRES together and give some feedback before the crowdfunding launch. 

Or check out any of the other games in the GeauxPub section. We have some good ones! Once you have your badge for SoBo, signing up for the tickets in the GeauxPub section is free! 

https://tabletop.events/conventions/sobo-2026

Until next time….or until SoBo….laissez les bon temps rouler!

— BJ from Board Game Gumbo