During Spel Antwerpen 2025, I had walked past a stand displaying images of cardinals several times. To be honest, it didn’t immediately catch my eye; otherwise, I wouldn’t have walked past it in the first place. Still, I noticed that there were always people at the stand, listening intently to the explanation the man was giving. So I decided to go and find out more.
That’s how I came into contact with Robby Boey, and we agreed on an in-depth interview the following day about his journey in the games world as a game designer and founder of the publishing house Pontifex Games.
Esmeralda: Hi Robby, could you tell me a bit about who you are and what you’re doing here at the games fair?
Robby: Sure, I’m Robby Boey, game designer and founder of the publishing house Pontifex Games, together with my wife Pia, who you can see standing there at the stand.
Esmeralda: Could you tell me a bit more about how the idea came about and when?
Robby: The idea to design a game started about two years ago. Yes, a little over two years ago now. We were at the museum in Leuven and saw, in the gift shop, a board game related to the Leuven museum itself. A specific piece of art was highlighted there, and they’d made a little board game about it. A small board game.
My wife Pia works at Bornem abbey in the visitor services department. She saw that little board game and said: ‘Well, we really ought to have a board game about Bornem abbey too.’ My reply at the time was: ‘OK, say no more’.
That’s what got me thinking, jotting things down and experimenting. The result of that, after 19 months, was the board game Abbates. So Abbates is entirely based on and inspired by that abbey in Bornem. That’s how it all began.
Esmeralda: You mentioned earlier that you also have your own publishing company; can you tell us a bit more about that?
Robby: We published the first board game, Abbates, in collaboration with the abbey and the municipality of Bornem, of course. So that wasn’t under our own management yet.
Then I went to a trade fair to sell the game. It went well and there was a lot of interest. People also said they found the game mechanics I’d devised really interesting.
Then I thought: well, why not try making a second game, and a third? No sooner said than done. So you’ve made a game, but then it still needs to be published.
Of course, as a game designer, you can try to ‘sell’ your game to existing publishers, if I may put it that way. Or you can start with Kickstarters or GameFounds, which all take a lot of time and energy.
We thought: no, we’re just going to do it all ourselves! We’ll simply start our own publishing house. The advantage is that we can also come up with and emphasise our own mission statement within the publishing house. That way, we don’t just have to be one of a thousand.
Esmeralda: And what is your mission statement?
Robby: Our mission statement isn’t just to make a fun and good game, but to bring history and heritage to your table. It also has to be a game with a bit more ‘substance’, in the sense that there needs to be a good story behind it. Preferably a story that has some connection to history or heritage.
This is the case with Abbates, because it’s a board game based on the abbey of Bornem, a heritage gem in Klein-Brabant. A second game I released myself afterwards is Sacra Maioritas. This also embraces heritage. All the artworks used in it are by well-known and lesser-known painters, whom we’ve all come across during our history lessons.
Esmeralda: What does make me curious, though: the artworks you mention in the history section – is this about art in the Low Countries, or is it much broader?
Robby: In Sacra Maioritas, for example, it goes much further. It features, for instance, cardinals and figures who were well-known in the Low Countries, but also some figures who are known only in Italy. Or a bishop who played quite a significant role during the Civil War in the States. So it goes much broader than just the Low Countries.
Esmeralda: I hear a lot about bishops and cardinals from Christianity. May I conclude that you and your wife are very religious?
Robby: (laughs) Not really, no. Not at all, actually. I was baptised, I had my two communions, but that’s as far as it goes. That was the norm back in my day.
Personally, I do think it’s very important that we continue to highlight that heritage – let’s call it ecclesiastical heritage. It’s something that shouldn’t be lost. And if we highlight it through a game, it just becomes fun.
We often see that a great many churches are being deconsecrated and given a new purpose. That’s fine, but I do think it’s important that we can continue to cherish that heritage. Sometimes I do raise an eyebrow at what the new purpose ends up being.
Esmeralda: What I also wonder is: after all the whistleblowers within the Catholic Church regarding sexual abuse and the attention it has received in recent years, do people bring that up with you when they see you at a fair?
Robby: Oh yes, we’ve had people who, for example, just walk past the stand and say to each other: “Oh no, those are churches, we want nothing to do with that.”
When we hear that, we definitely speak to those people. Because we want to correct that perception a bit, that it’s about art and heritage.
In our new game Extra Omnes, there will be a female cardinal. You might think: oh dear, so we’re swearing in church. Actually not, because there isn’t a single law in the Catholic canon that forbids women from becoming cardinals. In fact, someone who is a non-believer, a complete layman, can perfectly well become a cardinal. It just hasn’t happened yet, unfortunately. These are things that are actually possible, so we’ll definitely be using that in our board game.
Esmeralda: (laughs) Ah, brilliant!
Ecology and recycled fishing nets
Esmeralda: What’s your stance on the ecological aspect of publishing games?
Robby: We think it’s important to think carefully about how we can reduce our ecological footprint. So we try to be eco-friendly with our materials, of course.
Take the cards, for example: if you look closely at the cards in Sacra Maioritas, you’ll see that the edges are a slightly darker colour. This is because they’re made from 100% recycled cardboard. It’s been recycled responsibly, without the detergents often used to make the cardboard pure white.
All our board games are produced in Europe. This gives us the advantage of not having to wait anxiously to see how long that container will be held up at customs in the port, but above all, it means we are not, without realising it, contributing to child labour or degrading working conditions somewhere in the Far East.
You’ll find virtually no plastic in our games. And if any plastic is used at all, we’ve chosen to use recycled plastic in the form of recycled fishing nets.
A flying start
Esmeralda: If I understand correctly, you’re fairly new to the world of board games and yet have already grown rapidly as a publisher.
Robby: (laughs) Yes, actually, when you think about it. Because you’re interviewing me now at Spel Antwerpen. Last year was the first games fair we attended, back then we were still just showing the prototype of Abbates. At that point, Pontifex Games didn’t even exist yet.
There was no sign of the game itself either. We only had five copies of the prototype with us. For us, it was more about gauging the reaction: would it catch on? Is there any interest in it? Do people like the game mechanics?
We received nothing but good and positive feedback there. So we said to each other: OK, let’s take it further. And so here we are at our second Spel Antwerpen.
Esmeralda: Do you attend any other fairs as well?
Robby: Yes, both at home and abroad. We’ve been to Spellenspektakel in the Netherlands, among others, which is of course the biggest games fair in the Low Countries: 33,000 visitors over two days. We’ve also taken part in Zuiderspel, also in the Netherlands. A wonderful location for us, of course, as it takes place in a former abbey (laughs). So yes, it’s a match made in heaven. We’ve also been at other fairs such as Zomerspel and the Spellenfestival in Genk. We’ve already had quite a whirlwind tour of the Low Countries with our games. (laughs)
Esmeralda: Are the games you publish all in English and Dutch?
Robby: It depends a bit. The rules are always multilingual. You can always find them on our website or on BoardGameGeek in English, Dutch, French and German.
For the game Abbates, which was of course commissioned by the abbey of Bornem, it’s a bit different. That one is entirely in Dutch. In other words: the board game itself is language-independent, but we did initially publish the rules entirely in Dutch.
With Sacra Maioritas, we wanted to cast our net a bit wider from the start and produced the rules in English straight away. Given that sales are going so well—I’ll just have a quick look behind me, I don’t really have many boxes left—the next print run will probably be in Dutch. Why? We would like to participate in the Gouden Ludo (laughs), and for that, of course, you need a Dutch board game.
Esmeralda: You gave me the game Abbates for an honest review. Is there anything else you’d like to say about this game?
Robby: Yes, the board game Abbates weaves together various game mechanics. It’s a set-collection game and a puzzle game, where you have to try to position your puzzle on your own board as optimally as possible.
But there are other fun board game elements too. One of them is the scoring track; we’ve been quite innovative with that. Our scoring track isn’t actually a scoring track, but a penalty point track.
On this track, you must try not to score the highest points, but rather to get your piece as close as possible to the abbot-general piece. That way, you score no or very few penalty points.
There are also mini-games in the game: a personal board where you try to acquire bonus cards, and a task card. You can then look at the symbols on the various cards in the corridor, which also offer advantages to the player who wins the phase.
Now, these are elements you can also leave out. We made a conscious decision to include them. The game itself, with all its bells and whistles, is truly an expert-level game, but not overly difficult either. It does fall into the expert category. You can also play it with complete beginners, as you can strip away or leave out various layers of the game, allowing you to play it even with complete beginners. All this without detracting from the essence of the game.
Esmeralda: So, if I understand correctly, a lot of thought has gone into differentiation.
Robby: Exactly, because it’s also sold in the abbey’s own museum.
Families come there wanting to play it with their children. If you leave out certain layers, you can play it perfectly well with children aged 7 or 8. These beginner variants are also included and explained in the rulebook. As the children get older, you can introduce those elements and you have the full game again, with the full experience, so to speak.
Esmeralda: I noticed that you use very classic meeples in your board game. Is there a particular reason for that?
Robby: No, the classic meeple was included because meeples are well-known, familiar figures. What we have done, however, is that instead of the large meeples you see here in Abbates, when you buy the game at the fair, you receive a bag of other wooden meeples with a priest’s hat. That adds a bit of extra cachet, so to speak. It’s not a deluxe version, but you can add an extra component, which makes it look a bit more special.
Everything you see in the board game Abbates can be found in that abbey. There are no fictional elements. You play the game with hand cards; all the paintings are portraits of the abbots who lived there. The objects you collect are also all objects you’ll find there, such as the stained-glass windows and the artefacts. The books from their magnificent library too; they have 35,000 books there, dating back, if I’m not mistaken, to the 14th century. In short: everything you see there can be found in that abbey.
I find that quite special. You have that link that can really be drawn one-to-one. I’d also like to highlight one more aspect of the game mechanics, namely the white and black beans found on the playing cards and the collection cards. That too can be traced back to something still used today in abbeys and monasteries, for example when a vote needs to be taken on something. It is based on the idea that everyone is equal. That is why white and black beans are still used.
To give an example: in the abbey of Westmalle, they want to increase the price of a Trappist beer by one euro. Each monk is given a white and a black bean. Then someone goes round with a bag. You put your white bean in if you agree, or your black bean if you disagree. If you’re not interested or don’t have an opinion, you put both in. At the end of the process, once everyone has voted, the bag is emptied. The contents indicate a majority of white or black beans and determine whether the rule will be adopted or not. Incidentally, this is where the Flemish saying ‘Ik heb een boontje voor iemand’ (I’ve a soft spot for someone) comes from. Or, in English: ‘Spilling the beans’. So that element, which is typical of abbeys, has also been incorporated into the game.
Another nice thing about the abbey of Bornem is that they organise regular evening tours, during which they give a guided tour and, instead of the usual route, stop at features that you’ll also find in the board game. At the end of the evening, everyone can play the board game again on the abbey grounds themselves.
What else can we expect?
Esmeralda: Just out of interest, might there be work on contemporary art in the future?
Robby: Of course that’s possible. At the moment it’s mainly historical artworks, but it could certainly include contemporary, modern artists. I myself am a lover of modern art, especially Cobra. Our home is actually quite full of Cobra works (laughs). Now that I think about it: why not? Why not perhaps take a look in that direction with modern painters and modern artists?
Esmeralda: And is there anything new on the horizon that’s already in the pipeline?En is er al iets nieuws in het vooruitzicht dat al op de planning staat?
Robby: Yes, indeed, the next board game will be released in spring 2026: Via Peregrina. This is a solo game in a compact box, making it easy to take with you when travelling.
Ink & Inquisition will also be released in spring. This is a two-player game; we heard there was a demand for one. Ink & Inquisition is set in the 16th century, at the time when the art of printing was discovered. This made it easier for documents to reach the general public.
The Church therefore drew up a list of banned books, the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. The works of important scholars such as Copernicus were banned and included in this list. This year, 2026, marks 60 years since this list was abolished within the Church.
You take on the role of either a philosopher attempting to place as many ‘forbidden books’ as possible on the game board, or that of the inquisitor trying to remove as many books as possible from the board.
A little later, the game Extra Omnes will also be released. It too has a lovely Latin name. It will feature those female cardinals. It uses a roll-and-ride mechanism, so it will be the game for fans of this genre.
But it doesn’t stop there. In the autumn of 2026, a worker placement game will be released. I can already reveal the title: Pontifex Maximus. In this game, you take on the role of an architect building cathedrals, churches and monasteries.
But… too much pomp and splendour isn’t good, because then you’ll catch the eye of Martin Luther. We’re talking, of course, about the Reformation. This will cost you points. You’ll need to strike a careful balance between scoring points with your buildings and not drawing too much attention from the Reformation
Esmeralda: That sounds very promising! I’m really looking forward to discovering them. Thank you so much for taking the time to give an interview at this fair. Thank you!
Robby: My pleasure.
Looking back on the interview
It was lovely to have a chat with Robby and his wife Pia. Their enthusiasm was so inspiring. I was pleasantly surprised that what began as a collaboration on heritage has resulted in the creation of a Belgian publishing house with a clear mission and vision.
I was given a copy of the game Abbates to review. You can find the review of the game here.
Text: Esmeralda Wolf