Dan Cassar
Game Designer • Dream Cult Game Studio
Game Designer • Dream Cult Game Studio

The best game is the one that you think about when you should be thinking about something else. The one that you can't let go, because it has become more than a pastime. It's a fascination. It's a reality that you conjure into being by sitting at a table with your friends. Once you step into that magic circle, the turn of a card can decide the fate of someone you love. It can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. It can be death, rebirth, anything at all. For the player, it's an entire world to explore.

The designer gets to play a different game. They get to create those players' reality. In a way, they get to play God.

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Convention Schedule

Mischief is a brand new hand management game from Dream Cult Game Studio, my new publishing imprint. It's in preview right now on Kickstarter and we will be ready to launch soon! Be among the first to play the game at Origins by signing up for one of the demo sessions below, sign up for updates on my mailing list, and follow the project on Kickstarter to be notified when it launches later this year!

Arboretum was first published in 2015 and in honor of the game's 10th anniversary, I'll be hosting a fun tournament at the Origins Game Fair! No experience is necessary as rules will be taught and players will be grouped by experience level for 3-4 rounds of Swiss-style play, with the best-performing players advancing to a 4-table semifinal round, the winners of which will compete at the final table for the overall championship prize!

All semifinalists will receive a copy of the game signed by me, the designer, and the overall winner will receive one of my original prototypes!

Hope to see you there!

Full Demo and Event Schedule for Origins Game Fair

Date Time Signup Link for Event
Thursday, June 19th, 2025 9:00 am Mischief EVENT FULL
Thursday, June 19th, 2025 10:00 am Mischief
Thursday, June 19th, 2025 11:00 am Mischief
Thursday, June 19th, 2025 2:00 pm Mischief
Thursday, June 19th, 2025 3:00 pm Mischief
Thursday, June 19th, 2025 4:00 pm Mischief
Friday, June 20th, 2025 10:00 am Mischief EVENT FULL
Friday, June 20th, 2025 11:00 am Mischief
Friday, June 20th, 2025 12:00 am Mischief
Friday, June 20th, 2025 3:00 pm Mischief
Friday, June 20th, 2025 4:00 pm Mischief
Friday, June 20th, 2025 5:00 pm Mischief
Saturday, June 21st, 2025 9:00 am Arboretum 10th Anniversary Tournament
Saturday, June 21st, 2025 1:00 pm Mischief EVENT FULL
Saturday, June 21st, 2025 2:00 pm Mischief
Saturday, June 21st, 2025 3:00 pm Mischief
Saturday, June 21st, 2025 4:00 pm Mischief
Saturday, June 21st, 2025 5:00 pm Mischief

Full Demo and Event Schedule for GenCon Indy

Date Time Signup Link for Event
Thursday, July 31, 20253:00 PMMischief
Thursday, July 31, 20255:00 PMMischief
Friday, August 1, 202511:00 AMMischief
Friday, August 1, 20253:00 PMMischief
Friday, August 1, 20255:00 PMMischief
Friday, August 1, 20257:00 PMMischief
Satuday, August 2, 202511:00 AMMischief
Satuday, August 2, 20253:00 PMMischief EVENT FULL
Satuday, August 2, 20255:00 PMMischief
Satuday, August 2, 20257:00 PMMischief

The king and queen of the dark and light faerie courts are getting married, and you, the players, are the faerie nobility, and have a unique opportunity to win favor with the new regime. As the party descends into chaos, play the Ogres, Elves, Centaurs and Selkies against one another, encouraging pranks and strategic friendships so that you have friends in the right places to ensure your place atop the political hierarchy.

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Previously Published Work

Golden Geek Nominee: Best Card Game 2016
Golden Geek Nominee: Best Card Game 2016

Arboretum

Z-Man Games (2015)
Renegade Game Studios (2018)

Watch your garden of colorful flowering trees grow organically in all directions in this strategic experience for 2-4 players.

Golden Geek Nominee: Best Card Game 2016

The Blood of an Englishman

Renegade Game Studios (2016)

“Fee! Fie! Fo! Fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!” the Giant booms and Jack scurries in this exciting, asymmetric, strategy card game for 2 players.

Cavemen: The Quest
for Fire

Rio Grande Games (2012)

2-5 players draft cards to hunt dinosaurs, invent new technologies, and expand their tribe while avoiding starvation and being eaten! Be the first to invent fire and usher in a new age of humanity!