You might just remember, frankerinos, our chat with rad Brisbane/Magandjin couple George Evans and David Chatman in issue 127. The game design studio founders at the helm of Bimini Board Games were in the weeds of creating their very own board game, Cultured Swines – now, we’re as pleased as pigs in blankets to announce that Cultured Swines is on its way! Don your best 1960s cocktail attire, rally your pals and get on your way to Pork Springs. We caught up with George to pick his noggin about bringing the board game to life.Tell us a bit about Cultured Swines and what the game involves. Cultured Swines is a party game for four to eight players about trying to keep up appearances. Played in pairs, you and your partner take on the role of aspiring socialites looking to make your mark at a glamorous 1960s poolside cocktail party. At this soiree, seeming cultured is far more important than actually being cultured.

It’s inspired by that very relatable feeling of trying to put your best foot forward in social settings. Maybe you’re meeting new friends, chatting to your partner’s work colleagues, or making small talk at a wedding. Someone asks an innocent question and, for a split second, you’re silently petrified of looking out of your depth. It’s a cheeky take on the “fake it ‘til you make it” philosophy – as long as you look like you know what you’re talking about (and maybe you have a partner to back up your opinions), you’ll seem very cultured and interesting. That’s the feeling Cultured Swines turns into a game. Like The Wedding Game, it’s about knowing your partner, but here, there’s a whole room of socialites watching. Together, you’ll secretly rank a series of answer options and predict how well you’ll match, hoping you’re both thinking along the same lines. Every shared opinion earns you credibility, while a surprise contradiction risks the ultimate faux pas: revealing that you and your plus one weren’t quite as in sync as everyone thought. It’s a playful test of how well you really know each other, packed with dramatic reveals, nervous anticipation and plenty of “Wait… you picked that?” moments.What does the reality of bringing an original board game to life and into the hands of players look like? It’s a strange and wonderful feeling watching something that existed only in your imagination slowly become something real that people can hold, play and share with others.

When we first started creating Cultured Swines, it began with a simple idea: what if we turned those unspoken moments of social performance into a game? The moments where you’re trying to read the room, stay in sync with your partner and convince everyone you belong. From there, it became a process of refining the gameplay, building the world of Pork Springs and obsessing over every detail, from the characters and artwork to the components players will eventually have in their hands.One of the most rewarding parts has been seeing how the game changes when it leaves our hands. Watching people laugh, debate their answers and discover something new about their friends has been the best reminder of why we created it in the first place.

A huge part of bringing Pork Springs to life has been collaborating with incredibly talented artists. Working with Australian illustrator Heidi Monsant has been an absolute joy. Her commissioned artwork helped define the personality, charm and visual language of the game, transforming Pork Springs from an idea in our heads and into a world that feels vibrant and lived in. We’ve also been fortunate to feature artwork from emerging artists across Australia and The Bahamas, whose work adds even more character and creativity to the world we’ve built.What does board game development actually involve? A core part of board game development is translating a kernel of an idea into a world. From our experience, our favourite games are more than just their mechanics – they bring together the gameplay, theme, artwork and all the small details that make players feel like they’ve stepped into an experience. For Cultured Swines, that meant ensuring every element worked together, from the social strategy of staying in sync with your partner, to the world of Pork Springs, the characters, the artwork and the physical components players interact with along the way. 

Of course, that process involves a lot of playtesting. We probably tested Cultured Swines somewhere between 500 and 1000 times with everyone from seasoned gamers to people who rarely play board games. Every session taught us something new. Sometimes it was about improving a rule or making something clearer – other times it was simply watching people play and discovering the moments that made players laugh, celebrate, or the moments they talked about long after the game ended.What are some of the obstacles that are needed to overcome before a game makes its way to audiences? Far less glamorous than the cocktail party in the game! We started trying to bring Cultured Swines to market in January 2025, and the journey has been full of unexpected twists and turns. There have been some incredible highs, from seeing people play the game for the first time, to writing and acting in our live-action trailer, to being named the number one tabletop game at PAX Aus 2025 by Qualbert. Being featured in frankie has also been one of those wonderfully surreal moments where we’ve had to stop and think, “Wait, did we really make this happen?”

There have also been plenty of more sobering moments along the way. We’ve had to become marketers, manufacturers, project managers and publishers in real time, figuring things out through plenty of trial and error. The tabletop space is incredibly competitive, with thousands of new games released every year, so creating something people love is only one part of the challenge. You also have to learn how to tell its story, build a community and find the people who will connect with it. For us, that has been one of the biggest lessons of the journey – making the game is only the beginning. You’re not just creating a product – you’re inviting people into a world you’ve spent years building.The setting of “Pork Springs sometime in the ‘60s” adds a super-fun flair to the game. In what ways have you experimented with this visual and social aesthetic? California has always held a special place in our hearts. It’s where we got engaged, and I also lived in San Francisco for a couple of years, so the glamour and optimism of 1960s Palm Springs felt like the perfect inspiration.

We were drawn to the world captured by photographers like Slim Aarons – not just because it was beautiful, but because it reflected something deeper about status, identity and the way people present themselves socially. What are you saying? Who are you trying to impress? Do you really belong, or are you just doing a convincing job of looking like you do? Those questions became the foundation of Cultured Swines.

We also wanted the game itself to feel like a beautiful object. The mid-century modern aesthetic, playful pig characters and original artworks from emerging artists in Australia and The Bahamas were all designed to create something that’s just as enjoyable to look at as it is to play.What are the next steps in the Cultured Swines journey? Our next milestone is launching on Kickstarter, and this time, we’re finally inviting everyone to the party. After spending years developing Cultured Swines behind the scenes, we’re incredibly excited to put it into players’ hands and see those moments of laughter, surprise and “How did you know I’d pick that?” unfold around tables everywhere.

More than anything, we hope people come away having discovered something new about the person sitting beside them. If the game creates a few memorable stories, introduces someone to an artist they hadn’t encountered before, or becomes the game people reach for when friends come over, we’ll feel like we’ve created something really special.

Feast your eyes on Cultured Swines’ Kickstarter this-a-way. For more rad game bits, spy this guide on hosting the perfect games night or check out this list of super-fun games to play. Plus, sign up to our newsletter to stay in the loop.