Board games have been a hobby in the Fryxelius family for several generations. When Lennart and Ingrid Fryxelius had children - more specifically 16 - the games became the family's common interest.

When they were little, Dad Lennart Fryxelius encouraged the children to invent their own board games. In time, the siblings developed various talents where some were good at drawing and designing, others on the logical structure of games. The hobby eventually became a professional business in 2011, when five of the ten brothers started the gaming company Fryxgames.

- We played a lot when we were young and designed our own games, says Jonathan Fryxelius, game designer at Fryxgames, second youngest in the siblings and father of Lennart and Ingrid's 60th grandchild.

It is in Jonathan Fryxelius 'home in Karlstad that Fryxgames has its prototype manufacture and stock for the online store, just a stone's throw away from the parents' house.

The board game interest has been in the Fryxelius family for decades. Photo: Private

"Crazy in March"

Initially, things went slow for the company and their ideas were adored by major Swedish gaming companies. But 2016 turned it around. When Jacob Fryxelius's game idea Terraforming Mars took shape, it became an instant success.

- I've always been interested in science and I'm totally crazy in March. I love to understand how things work and are structured, and so I thought I should make a game about terraforming Mars.

- I think my own personality plays a big role in that, says Jacob Fryxelius, whose name has become known in the board game world by clearly printing on the Terraforming Mars packaging.

In short, the game is about raising the oxygen level, temperature and water supply and building Mars into a hospitable planet for people to settle on. The basis of the game is different types of project cards and the player who manages to establish himself best on Mars wins.

- First we printed 10,000 games and they went like butter directly. Then we got a huge rush to push up 20,000 games and they ended immediately as well. Then we had to print 40,000 games and it also ended almost immediately. Then we have continued to print the game and now we print it twice each year, says Jonathan Fryxelius.

Small business

Terraforming Mars cannot be found in the wide bookstores and toy stores in Sweden, where simpler games that appeal to a large target group dominate. But in the board game world, it has been one of the really big games since its release.

In recent years, Terraforming Mars has won several international awards, translated into over 20 languages, turned into computer games and expanded with five acclaimed gaming expansions, the last of which, Turmoil, was funded through online crowdfunding with bravur - a common method in the board game industry.

Although the industry is small in many countries, not least in Sweden, the Fryxelius siblings think the future looks bright for Fryxgames.

- Yes, we will establish an office on Mars soon, says Jonathan Fryxelius.