Situated on the floor above a coffee shop in Denver's popular Larimer Square historic block, The Last Gameboard's offices are what one might expect from an early-stage gaming startup.
Bookshelves overflowing with boardgames line one wall. Employees in T-shirts sporting the company's name are busy in their offices, which surrounds a common space with a large conference table and wall-to-wall whiteboards. On the table is the startup's latest version of its gaming platform — a 17-by-17-inch interactive device that allows players to use physical objects for digital gameplay.
The Last Gameboard started sending the console to beta testers this summer. It's expected to finish its beta distribution in the fall, with about 1,000 units sent to people who signed up through Kickstarter.
Shail Mehta, the startup's co-founder and CEO, said the devices would be made available for sale to the public early next year. So far, more than 12,000 people have reserved them, she said. The gameboards will retail for $799, and a $199 deposit is required for reservations.
"We're actually shipping out beta units right now, and we're gonna have a full production run at the end of this year," Mehta said.
Across the hall from the startup's main office space is a lab comprising several long tables, at which engineers build the consoles. All of the units being sent to beta testers are built and shipped from the Denver office.
The startup sources its components from overseas and contracts technicians to build batches of the consoles when all the parts are available. When all of the components are on hand, it takes about 20 minutes to build a gameboard, Mehta said.
During its beta run, The Last Gameboard is looking for feedback from testers about the overall experience and the 25 games that are loaded onto it. The company is confident in its technology, which can identify and track game pieces that are placed on the board.
"We know that the hardware is stable. There are small tweaks we're making to the final production run, but nothing that's going to be visible to a consumer," Mehta said. "So it's about how the games are working and the experience of the gameboard. That's what we're evolving and building on, and that's what we want feedback on."
In addition to sending the consoles out to beta testers, the startup is introducing the device to gamers through a partnership with GameStop (NYSE: GME). The companies signed an agreement for The Last Gameboard to demonstrate its console at GameStop stores in 10 cities this summer.
The demonstrations started in May at four GameStop stores in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, metropolitan area. The GameStop location in Denver's Glendale neighborhood hosted an event for The Last Gameboard on Aug. 20, during which about 50 people went to try the device.
"This is a way for people to experience games, try the game board and explore different types of content," Mehta said.
Mehta founded The Last Gameboard in 2019 with her husband, Tim Schukar, and Rob Wyatt, the co-creator of Microsoft's Xbox gaming console.
She loved playing board games, particularly Dungeons & Dragons, a fantasy tabletop role-playing game that's been popular among gaming enthusiasts since its debut in the 1970s. Mehta got the idea for an interactive, digital gameboard in 2016 and began asking professors at several universities about how she could make it possible.
Mehta studied political science in college, and she worked in finance prior to founding The Last Gameboard.
"I always call myself an 'accidental inventor' because I didn't start by thinking, 'I want to create this patented technology,'" Mehta said. "I just wondered how we could build a product that brings people together and eases gameplay, and in that there was deep tech."
To get Wyatt on board, Mehta and Schukar showed up at his Boulder office with a six-pack of beer and talked to him about their idea, Mehta said.
"It was all these little things that led to the creation of the gameboard, like meeting Rob, creating a bunch of prototypes, filing a patent and doing a Kickstarter," Mehta said.
When Mehta began the Kickstarter campaign, she had a goal of $100,000 in mind. She hit that goal in the first 20 hours. In total, nearly 700 backers supported the idea with $185,000.
The Last Gameboard has since garnered $7 million in venture funding, Mehta said. In May of 2021, the company closed a $4 million seed round that included investments from TheVentureCity, as well as SOSV, Riot Games, Conscience VC, Corner3 VC and others.
The company has built its team to 24 employees, including 11 in Colorado.
Mehta said her overall goal is for players to build connections with each other while using the startup's technology. The device allows users to play with other people in the same room, or with anyone else who has a gameboard.
"We're in a position where we can build things that can give people meaningful connections through technology," Mehta said.
