Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

games company that creates and publishes

tabletop game Tabletop games or tabletops are games that are normally played on a table or other flat surface, such as board games, card games, dice games, miniature wargames, or tile-based games. Classification according to equipment used Tabletop ga ...

s. Best known for its ''Doctor Who'' and ''Lord of the Rings'' games, Cubicle 7 offers titles covering a range of licensed and self-developed properties.

History

Angus Abranson Angus Abranson is a game designer, publisher and poet who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Angus Abranson started playing ''AD&D'' in 1984, and by the age of 14 he was working for Leisure Games - one of the top game retailers ...

and Dave Allsop formed the role-playing game company Cubicle 7 with the aim of publishing new material for Allsop's role-playing game '' SLA Industries''. Abranson brought on his friend,

Dominic McDowall-Thomas Dominic McDowall-Thomas is a game designer and publisher who has worked primarily on role-playing games and card games. Career Dominic McDowall-Thomas is a leadership and communications consultant. McDowall-Thomas began his relationship with Cubi ...

, in January 2004 to edit the books, but later in 2004 production was halted and Allsop left Cubicle 7 for other opportunities. In late 2006, Abranson and McDowall-Thomas formed Cubicle 7 Entertainment Limited, as its partners. In 2006, Cubicle 7 purchased the British small-press publisher Heresy Games and published a new edition of their 2003 role-playing game ''

Victoriana Victoriana is a term used to refer to material culture related to the Victorian period (1837–1901). It often refers to decorative objects, but can also describe a variety of artifacts from the era including graphic design, publications, pho ...

'' in 2009. The company's first licensed game was obtained in 2006, with '' Starblazer Adventures'' published in 2008. Cubicle 7 then licensed the French game '' Qin: The Warring States'' in 2007 and also got the license to produce their 2009 '' Doctor Who Roleplaying Game''. In 2008, Cubicle 7 began partnering with small-press publishers to do the publishing and distribution for them, including Adamant Entertainment, Alephtar Games,

Arc Dream Publishing Arc Dream Publishing is a small role-playing game publishing company founded in 2002 by Pagan Publishing veteran Dennis Detwiller and editor Shane Ivey after their first roleplaying game '' Godlike: Superhero Roleplaying in a World on Fire, 19 ...

, Cakebread & Walton, Arion Games,

John Wick Presents John Wick is an American role-playing game designer best known for his creative contributions to the tabletop role playing games ''Legend of the Five Rings'' and '' 7th Sea''. He self-published ''Orkworld'' under the Wicked Press banner, and later ...

, Khepera Publishing, Monkey House Games, Postmortem Studios, Savage Mojo, and Triple Ace Games. Cubicle 7 relocated from

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to Stamullen,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 2018.

Games

Role-playing games

Cubicle 7 designs, develops and publishes the following role-playing games: * ''Doctor Who Roleplaying Game'' (role-playing game based on the TV series) *: Won an

Origins Award The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 a ...

for Best Card Game in 2013. * ''Primeval'' (role-playing game based on the TV series) * ''

The Laundry ''The Laundry'' is a tabletop role-playing game published by Cubicle 7 in 2010. The game is based on novelist Charles Stross's ''The Laundry Files'' series. Description ''The Laundry'' is a game where agents have to deal with Lovecraftian outer g ...

'' (role-playing game based on the ''Laundry Files'' series of novels) * '' Cthulhu Britannica'' (a series of supplements and adventures set in historical England, for the '' Call of Cthulhu'' role-playing game) * ''

'' (roleplay in an fantasy alternative

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

). The game published by Heresy Games in 2003, with second and third editions by Cubicle 7 in 2009 and 2013. It was reviewed by '' Black Gate'' #15 (Spring 2011) * ''World War Cthulhu'' (a fantasy

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and Cold War setting for the ''Call of Cthulhu'' RPG - it requires the ''Call of Cthulhu'' rulebook to play) * ''Rocket Age'' (a

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...

pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

space opera role-playing game, set in an alternative 20th century where Einstein, Tesla and Ray Armstrong rode the first rocket ship to Mars, entering in a new space opera era) * ''

Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play ''Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay'' or ''Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play'' (abbreviated to ''WFRP'' or ''WHFRP'') is a role-playing game set in the ''Warhammer Fantasy'' setting, published by Games Workshop or its licensees. The first edition of ''WFR ...

'' - the 4th edition of the venerable fantasy rpg * '' Soulbound: Warhammer Age of Sigmar Role-Play'' - a separate game from ''Fantasy Role-Play'' * ''Wrath & Glory - A Warhammer 40,000 role-playing game'', transferred from Ulisses Spiele. Cubicle 7 published an updated version of the core rulebook in April 2020.

''Cthulhu Britannica''

''Cthulhu Britannica'' is a series of role-playing game supplements produced by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

game company

Cubicle 7 Entertainment Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd is an Irish games company that creates and publishes tabletop games. Best known for its ''Doctor Who'' and ''Lord of the Rings'' games, Cubicle 7 offers titles covering a range of licensed and self-developed propertie ...

for use in the '' Call of Cthulhu'' role-playing game produced by

Chaosium Chaosium Inc. is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include '' Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fiction stories of H. P. Lovecraft'', RuneQuest Glorantha'', ''Pendragon ...

. The series allows for games to be set in the United Kingdom. Cubicle 7's '' Call of Cthulhu'' license resulted in the ''Cthulhu Britannica'' (2009) core book, which included five scenarios. Additional books were then released every year until 2012, including ''Shadows over Scotland''. In 2013 a Kickstarter campaign was run in order to produce a boxed set and series of supplements set in London, with the ''London Boxed Set'' set being released in the following year.

Former licenses

* ''

Adventures in Middle-earth ''Adventures in Middle-Earth'' is a tabletop role-playing game originally published by Cubicle 7 in 2016 that uses the milieu of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogy ''The Lord of the Rings''. Description ''Adventures in Middle-Earth'' is set in th ...

'' (a licensed OGL compatible

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the '' Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is ...

setting for 5th Edition) * '' The One Ring Roleplaying Game'' (the current

licensed official role-playing game) Cubicle 7 announced on 27 November 2019 that they would cease publishing ''The One Ring'' and ''Adventures in Middle-earth'' properties. Cubicle 7 had published The One Ring for eight years at that time. * ''Lone Wolf Adventure Game'' (based on

Joe Dever Joseph Robert Dever, also known as Joe Dever (12 February 1956 – 29 November 2016) was an English fantasy author and game designer. Originally a musician, Dever became the first British winner of the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' Championship ...

's '' Lone Wolf'' gamebook series) Cubicle 7 announced on 2 July 2021 that they would cease publishing the ''Lone Wolf Adventure Game'' property.

Card, dice and board Games

Cubicle 7 designs, develops and publishes the following card, dice and board games: * '' Doctor Who: The Card Game'' (based on the TV series) * ''Hobbit Tales'' (story telling card game set in

) * Dalek Dice (A Doctor Who push your luck dice rolling game)

Translations from French into English

Cubicle 7 translates and publishes the following role-playing games from the French publisher "Le Septième Cercle": * ''

Qin Qin may refer to: Dynasties and states * Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China * Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC * Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...

'' (a ''

wuxia ( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted ...

'' role-playing game, set in China during the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...

) * ''Yggdrasill'' (roleplay in the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...

) * ''Kuro'' (a horror-

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and c ...

role-playing game, set in Japan in the year 2046) * ''Keltia'' (roleplay in the

post-Roman Britain Sub-Roman Britain is the period of late antiquity in Great Britain between the end of Roman rule and the Anglo-Saxon settlement. The term was originally used to describe archaeological remains found in 5th- and 6th-century AD sites that hin ...

, during the 5th century)

Publishing partners

Cubicle 7 also works with a select group of publishing partners to bring their games to a wider market: * ''Hot War'' (Contested Ground) * ''Cold City'' (Contested Ground) * ''3:16 - Carnage Amongst the Stars'' (Box Ninja Games)

Awards

Cubicle 7 has won 12 ENnie Awards, 2 Origins Awards, Best in Show, Lucca 2012 and a Golden Geek.

Notable events

In June 2009, Cubicle 7 announced that it had joined the Rebellion Developments group of companies. In November 2011,

left Cubicle 7 to form Chronicle City. In December 2014, Cubicle 7 announced that it had left the Rebellion Developments group of companies, following a successful management buy out led by CEO Dominic McDowall. In December 2017, Dominic McDowall and Cubicle 7 announced that they would be producing a new RPG in the ''Warhammer'' universe, ''Warhammer: Age of Sigmar''. This game has been part of a personal quest of McDowall to bring back the style of play with ''Warhammer'' he had played in his youth.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.cubicle7games.com
Old official website
Publishing companies established in 2006 Role-playing game publishing companies 2006 establishments in England Publishing companies of Ireland