Elzra is an award winning tabletop game manufacturer and publisher based in Ontario, Canada. It is known for producing the Catacombs line of fantasy tabletop games.

History

Our team began designing our first product, Catacombs™, in early 2008. After extensive design, development and play testing, it was published under the Sands of Time Games imprint in March 2010 and sold out within six weeks. As the first fantasy, dexterity “dungeon crawl” tabletop game, it won the BoardGameGeek.com award for most innovative game of 2010 and won the Dice Tower best innovative game award for 2010.

The second edition of Catacombs was released in 2011 and sold out at wholesale in a single day. Two expansions Cavern of Soloth™ and Dark Passageways were released in 2011. Catacombs had the distinction of being chosen as Geek Dad’s game of the year for 2011. A third expansion in support of the second edition, Horde of Vermin™, was released in 2012.

In April 2014, Elzra™ ran a successful Kickstarter campaign for Catacombs Third Edition featuring more content, updated rules, new mechanics and illustrations by then unknown game illustrator Kwanchai Moriya. The campaign updated the Cavern of Soloth expansion to the new artwork style and introduced a new Kickstarter exclusive expansion Crypt of Shaurath™. When the base Catacombs Third Edition game was released to retail in 2015, it sold out at wholesale within days. Catacombs Third Edition received the Dice Tower Seal of Excellence and the “Reference Pear” award from Shut Up & Sit Down. Schwerkraft-Verlag released a German language edition of the game.

In January 2016, the company announced the Kickstarter campaign for their next title in the expanding world of Catacombs: Catacombs & Castles™. This campaign successfully finished at the end of June 2016 and was fulfilled in 2017. The second printings of Catacombs Third Edition and the Cavern of Soloth expansion were produced during this time as were two additional expansions: Siege Defender™ and Keystones & Keeps™. Due to popular demand, Kickstarter content from the first campaign were printed in the form of three Resurrection Packs. Catacombs & Castles received the Dice Tower Seal of Excellence and was selected as one of three “critical hits” by the Cardboard Herald for 2017. The game demonstrated strong retail sales and is sold out pending a reprint. Again, Schwerkraft-Verlag released a German language edition of the Catacombs & Castles game.

Also in 2017, a new expansion for both Catacombs Third Edition and Catacombs & Castles was released called Wyverns of Wylemuir™which enabled players to ride dragons (wyverns) in both games. This expansion was well appreciated by fans of the Catacombs series and also received a Dice Tower Seal of Excellence.

In July 2017, the company launched the Kickstarter campaign for Catacombs Conquest™, a fast card game with dexterity mechanics. The game serves as an introduction to Elzra’s Dexterity Game System which is used in all of its dexterity based titles. The campaign was successfully funded and fulfilled in April 2018. A companion neoprene playmat (or Deximat™ as the company calls them) Lenore’s Cave was released to retail in July 2018.

The second printing of Catacombs Third Edition sold out at retail in 2018. By this time, the Catacombs line of games has grown to encompass a global audience with players from North America, Europe, the Middle East, South America and Asia. The third printing of Catacombs Third Edition sold out in 2020.

Catacombs Cubes™ from game Canadian designer Ken Valles and illustrated by Denis Martynets was released in 2020 and received a Dice Tower Recommended award. Again, Schwerkraft-Verlag released a German language edition.

Justin Trudeau, Canada’s Prime Minister, named Catacombs his recommended gift for Christmas 2020.

The second edition of Catacombs & Castles™launched on Kickstarter on March 9th, 2021 and was successfully funded. The new Catacombs 3E Black Box expansion was introduced at the same time. The cover artwork for the Black Box is an homage to the artwork from the original version of Catacombs first edition, published over 10 years ago.

Our new non-dexterity game, Monster Pit™, designed by Nick Seddon was launched on March 8th, 2022 and was successfully funded on Kickstarter.

The following releases are planned in 2023: Catacombs 3E, Catacombs & Castles 2E, Wyverns of Wylemuir 2E, Black Box, Red Box, and Catacombs Conquest Event Horizon.

In 2024, the company launched the Kickstarter campaign for Catacombs: Fortress of Nazemoor which successfully funded in early August of that year.

Conventions

The company attends / exhibits at the following conventions: GAMA, Dice Tower East, Gen Con, Spiel, SHUX, BGG Con, and PAX Unplugged

Elzra is a member studio of the Indie Game Alliance (IGA) and is the only studio to win their IGA Gold Award. Elzra is a member of GAMA.

Distribution

Elzra’s product line is carried by the following distributors:

  • ACD Distribution (USA)
  • Aetherworks (Australia)
  • Games Quest (UK)
  • Universal Distribution (Canada)
  • Front Depot (Germany)

Mailing address:
Elzra Corp
272-1063 King St W
Hamilton, Ontario
Canada
L8S 4S3