We design and build board games from scratch, on commission, for people in Leeds and the surrounding area who want a game that does not exist anywhere else.
Nestinsightanswers was set up in 2017 by a small group of hobby game designers who had spent years running a games night out of a spare room off Meanwood Road. The original idea was modest: make one custom set for a friend's fortieth birthday, complete with hand-painted tiles and rules built around in-jokes only six people would understand. That single commission led to another, then a third from a local business wanting a game for a staff away-day, and within two years the spare room had become a proper workshop.
Nine years on, the company has grown into a team of 16 people covering design, illustration, woodwork, printing and rules-testing. Over that time we have taken on 2302 completed jobs for 1584 clients, and 398 of them have come back for a second or third game. We still work out of Leeds, still cut most of our own components, and still start every project the same way: with a conversation about what the game is actually for.
Our aim is straightforward. We want each client to end up with a physical object that reflects something specific to them: a family history, a company milestone, a shared hobby, a place. We are not trying to compete with mass-produced games on shelf price or print run size. A custom board is, by definition, a small batch product, and we price and plan for that from the outset rather than pretending otherwise.
Looking ahead, we are not chasing rapid growth. Fourteen services already cover most of what clients ask for, from concept sketches to finished, boxed sets, and we would rather refine that range than stretch thin by adding unrelated work. Board games take time to get right; rushing the process tends to show up later, in a rulebook that does not quite work or a board that warps after a few sessions.
We currently serve three districts around Leeds, and most of our repeat clients come from that same local base. Working in a defined area keeps delivery times predictable and lets us visit in person for larger commissions, such as games commissioned for community centres or workplace common rooms, where seeing the space first makes a real difference to the final design.
The workshop is small enough that clients usually deal with the same few people from first call to final delivery. Here is a short introduction to four of them.
Works out the core mechanics of a new game and turns the client's brief into a first playable layout.
Handles artwork for boards, cards and packaging, matching the visual style to whatever the client's idea calls for.
Cuts and finishes boards, tokens and boxes, choosing materials based on how much handling the pieces need to survive.
Writes the final rulebook and organises the outside playtest sessions before a game is signed off for production.
If you have an occasion, a group of people, or an idea that a standard board game will not cover, tell us about it.
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