Welcome toSound of Drums!
We publish board games with historical backgrounds.
Who we are!
We are a small team of long time industry veterans. Since 2021 we are dedicated to bring a new historical boardgame experience to the table.
You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, Twitter / X, YouTube and last but certainly not least BoardGameGeek!
Our mission!
For thousands of years, the sound of the drums has inspired soldiers from all over the world into battle. From ancient Mesopotamia, India, Egypt, and even Persia. Notably, the French under Napoleon beat the “pas de charge” across the whole of Europe. Military drums have been the backbone of martial music, communication, drill, honors and military ceremonies.
We specialize in publishing strategy board games with historical backgrounds. Our emphasis is to strike a balance between a game and a simulation—too playful, and it’s a lousy simulation; too realistic, and it can turn into a dull game forever checking rule exceptions.
You are in command, not the game. We don’t pretend to simulate history. We want to give players the same historical backdrop to potentially rewrite it. The design of our games has one thing in common: decision making.
We avoid extensive use of on-board markers and a mammoth number of tables and play aids circling the battlefield. We prioritize the action on the map and keep the gamers focused on decision-making.
We provide top notch quality components with a matching material mix. Wrapped edge game boards, no play aid cards on flimsy paper, we make your wargames to last.
Our team!
Uwe Walentin – Owner, designer, rules wizard and producer
Uwe is a passionate board gamer since his earliest youth. Before founding his own company (Pro Ludo) in 1996, he worked for various French publishers (Eurogames, Jeux Descartes) for many years and learned the publishing business from the ground up. He had a great success story with Pro Ludo, which culminated in 2004 with the distribution of Ticket to Ride, the Game Of The Year in Germany. After the sale of Pro Ludo in 2008 and a 10-year creative break, during which he worked in other areas as an entrepreneur and soccer coach in Switzerland, he realized an old dream in 2021 with the founding of Sound of Drums: Designing and publishing unique strategy games. He brings all his experience from the professional “eurogame boardgame” to the ambitious visions of the Sound of Drums publishing house. He pays special attention to writing near-perfect rules, with a fresh didactic approach and breaking old editorial traditions.
Marc von Martial – Graphic designer, illustrator, art director
Marc works freelance here at Sound of Drums (and for many other boardgame publishers). His journey begins in the late 90s with the german fan page dedicated to the infamous “Close Combat” series by Atomic Games. It all started with modding the artwork of this series and illustrating custom maps for it. Soon a US based growing PC game publisher gave him a chance he could not push aside. Dropping his job as project assistant in a geological engineering company he helped bringing Matrix Games to glory during the first decade of the new century. After Matrix Games merging into Slitherine Software UK, Ltd., he waved the PC games industry good bye and dived into the world of illustrating and designing for boardgame publishers. Marc stumbled over Uwe in 2020 and since then is working on the majority of Sound of Drums growing product palette as artist and art director.
Mark Trowbridge – Developer
It began with inventing basic rules for his Airfix toy soldiers in the 1970’s, the idea of chucking marbles at his smartly laid out columns of troops on the bedroom floor was downright panic inducing. There had to be a better way. Avalon Hill then entered the chat, and so, it started. Fast forward 50 years and the love for military history and wargaming has never faded. From very early PC wargames through to RPG`s, board gaming – of course, and even Napoleonic re-enactment & living history, the passion continues. Mark is currently responsible for developing the “Battles of Napoleon” series, with another under-wrap’s series scheduled for next year. He has a great “A-Team” of play testers and historical advisors but is always looking for more enthusiastic volunteers.
Andrew James – Community Manager / Developer
Andrew has a deep passion for board games and wargames, both as a player and a developer. He has worked in the chess world for many years, collaborating with authors to create educational content. Alongside his work in chess, he volunteers as a Community Manager at Sound of Drums, supporting the growing community. He also contributes to game development, with a particular focus on proofreading and refining rulebooks to ensure clarity, consistency, and accessibility.
Marcel Torz – Marcel has been a true board game maniac ever since. He has been playing and collecting everything boardgame related he can get his hands on for decades: dungeon crawlers, deck-building games, strategy and war games. Even Tabletop Games and RPGs. His love for board games goes so far that he has turned his hobby into a (part-time) job and supports Sound of Drums in marketing and public relations.
