Making Monsters, the debut board game from Sky Lion Games, has been named the 2026 Barnes & Noble Family Game of the Year. Making Monsters is designed for two to four players, ages 10 and up, and it’s available now at Barnes & Noble for $59.
In Making Monsters, players take on the role of mad scientists as they compete to create the most outlandish (and highest-scoring) monster squad. Using a rotating marketplace (literally, like a Lazy Susan!), and hidden order tokens, players draw from their bag of parts tokens to create their perfectly wacky monsters — without going bust and ruining their creations.
The Push Your Luck bag-drawing reminds me of The Quacks of Quedlinburg (now known as Quacks), another great family game.
The 72 monster cards feature cartoonishly fun artwork and punny names. The illustrations by Brett Bean, whose credits include Disney and DreamWorks. Game design is by Jonathan Gilmour-Long (Dinosaur Island) and David Gordon (Finspan).
Making Monsters is the first board game release by Sky Lion Games. Sky Lion Games was founded by Joe Welsh, whose cancer diagnosis shifted the former diplomat and tech entrepreneur to family game nights and game design.
“During my recovery, playing games with my family gave us time to laugh, be creative, and just enjoy being together,” said Walsh. “That’s what I wanted to share with other families through Making Monsters. I’ve always had a passion for strategy and playing games with my daughters and nieces, so it was only right they helped us build it along the way and make it a game the entire family could enjoy. After all this hard work, seeing Barnes & Noble name it Family Game of the Year feels especially meaningful.”
Making Monsters successfully raised nearly $100,000 on Kickstarter in 2025. The board game has a recommended age of 10+, supports up to four players, and takes about 45 minutes to play.
