Given the subject matter, I was a bit surprised not to see a mention of Cole Wehrle, who is probably the designer most famous for including the political into b

Given the subject matter, I was a bit surprised not to see a mention of Cole Wehrle, who is probably the designer most famous for including the political into boardgames at the moment. See this recent Sit Up & Shut Down review on his game John Company for a great video intro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykrqCX2_mhU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykrqCX2_mhU Or Space Biff (aka Dan Thurott, mentioned in the OP) for a written review of his game Molly House https://spacebiff.com/2023/10/17/molly-house/ https://spacebiff.com/2023/10/17/molly-house/ Amabel Holland's publishing company Hollandspiele is also an interesting case study in how much creative people can benefit from having full control. She previously published via other publishers but now self-publishes. AFAIK none of the self-published games are remotely as popular as e.g. her Iron Rails series that Capstone publishers. But she's said that she makes more in a month from Hollandspiele than she makes all year from her non-Hollandspiele titles.