CMON

CMON Limited, formerly known as CoolMiniOrNot, is a Hong Kong-based publisher and producer of miniature games, board games, and related tabletop entertainment products. The company developed from CoolMiniOrNot.com, an online community where users uploaded photographs of painted miniature figures and rated one another’s work. The site’s name was inspired by the format of Hot or Not-style voting services, but its audience was centered on miniature painting, hobby modeling, and tabletop gaming. Over time, the business expanded beyond community publishing into the design, financing, production, and distribution of tabletop games. Its catalogue has included cooperative board games, competitive miniature games, dungeon-crawling adventures, science-fiction combat titles, and settings based on licensed or original intellectual property. Super Dungeon Explore, released in 2011, and Zombicide, released in 2012, were among the early titles that established the company as a significant publisher in the modern hobby-games market. Zombicide in particular became an important product family, combining detailed plastic miniatures with cooperative survival gameplay and supporting repeated expansions and new settings. CMON has used direct-to-consumer crowdfunding as a major development and marketing mechanism. Its Kickstarter campaigns attracted substantial attention from tabletop consumers and helped the company validate demand for miniature-heavy games before or alongside conventional retail distribution. According to the cited reference material, campaigns conducted through Kickstarter raised an aggregate total of approximately US$108.6 million. In 2024, CMON shifted its crowdsourcing activity exclusively to Gamefound, reflecting the increasing importance of specialist crowdfunding platforms within the tabletop industry. The company’s product portfolio has received recognition from hobby-game reviewers and media outlets. Xenoshyft, Rum & Bones, and Blood Rage were all included in The Dice Tower’s 2015 top-ten games list, illustrating the breadth of CMON’s catalogue across science fiction, pirate-themed adventure, and Norse-inspired conflict. The company also published Ethnos in 2017, extending its presence into a more conventional strategy-board-game format that placed less emphasis on large miniature collections. CMON’s activities have not been limited to game publishing. It acquired Tabletopgamingnews.com in 2011 and has operated the tabletop-gaming news site as part of its broader presence in the hobby community. It has also published the English-language edition of Ravage magazine and organized the Crystal Brush miniature-painting competition. Crystal Brush combines expert judging with online voting and has offered cash prizes for leading entries, reinforcing the company’s connection to miniature painting and hobby craftsmanship. CMON became a publicly traded company on the GEM board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 2, 2016. Its business model spans intellectual-property development, tabletop game publishing, miniature production, crowdfunding, media activity, and community engagement. The CoolMiniOrNot name remains associated with the company’s original online miniature-painting community, while CMON is the principal corporate and publishing identity used for its broader games business.

CMON Limited originated from CoolMiniOrNot, an online community devoted to photographs of painted miniature figures. The service allowed hobbyists to submit images of their work and have them rated by other users. This community orientation gave the business an early identity rooted in miniature painting, model craftsmanship, and the social side of tabletop gaming rather than in conventional mass-market toys. The company subsequently moved into tabletop publishing and miniature production. Super Dungeon Explore, released in 2011, was one of its early notable games. In the same year, CMON acquired Tabletopgamingnews.com, adding a tabletop media property to its portfolio. The following year it published Zombicide, a cooperative miniature board game centered on survival against hordes of zombies. Zombicide became one of the company’s most visible product families and demonstrated the commercial potential of combining detailed miniatures, scenario-based play, and expansion-driven product development. Crowdfunding became a central part of CMON’s operating model. The company used Kickstarter to raise funds, build communities around forthcoming games, and reach international hobby consumers directly. Its campaigns occupied multiple positions among the most-funded tabletop-game projects, and the cited reference material attributes more than US$108 million in cumulative Kickstarter funding to the company. This model supported games with relatively high component and miniature costs while also creating an audience before retail release. CMON’s catalogue expanded across genres during the middle of the 2010s. Xenoshyft explored science-fiction combat, Rum & Bones used a pirate-adventure setting, and Blood Rage presented conflict inspired by Norse mythology. All three were recognized by The Dice Tower among its top ten games of 2015. The company also published Ethnos in 2017, a strategy title that represented a different product profile from its large campaign-driven miniature games. In addition to publishing games, CMON continued to support the wider tabletop hobby. It published the English-language edition of Ravage magazine and organized the Crystal Brush miniature-painting competition. Crystal Brush used a combination of guest-judge scores and online voting, with cash awards for the leading overall entries. These activities connected the corporate business to the painting culture from which the original CoolMiniOrNot community had emerged. A major corporate milestone came on December 2, 2016, when CMON Limited began public trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s GEM board. The listing formalized the company’s status as a public games business while it continued to operate internationally in the hobby-games market. In 2024, CMON moved its crowdsourcing platform exclusively to Gamefound, marking a change in the digital infrastructure used to launch and finance new tabletop projects. Across its development, the company has combined community participation, miniature manufacturing, crowdfunding, publishing, and direct engagement with hobby consumers.

1. 2024Crowdsourcing moves exclusively to Gamefound

   CMON transfers its crowdsourcing activity exclusively to Gamefound after years of using Kickstarter.

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2. 2017Ethnos is published

   CMON releases Ethnos, a strategy board game that expands the range of formats represented in its catalogue.

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3. 2016Public listing in Hong Kong

   CMON Limited begins trading on the GEM board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 2.

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4. 2015Three CMON titles appear on The Dice Tower's top-ten list

   Xenoshyft, Rum & Bones, and Blood Rage are included among The Dice Tower's top ten games of 2015.

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5. 2012Zombicide is published

   CMON publishes Zombicide, a cooperative miniature board game that becomes one of its best-known product families.

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6. 2011Super Dungeon Explore is published

   CMON publishes Super Dungeon Explore, one of the early notable miniature-focused games in its catalogue.

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7. 2011Tabletopgamingnews.com is acquired

   CMON acquires Tabletopgamingnews.com and adds a tabletop-gaming media property to its activities.

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A hobby-focused tabletop publisher distinguished by highly produced miniature games, substantial crowdfunding campaigns, original game worlds, and close ties to miniature-painting and tabletop-gaming communities.

• ZombicideCooperative miniature board game2012

  A cooperative survival game in which players control survivors confronting zombie threats across scenario-based missions. The line is known for detailed plastic miniatures, modular content, and a broad expansion structure. Zombicide became one of CMON’s signature properties and exemplifies the company’s combination of crowdfunding, miniature production, and campaign-driven tabletop publishing.

• Super Dungeon ExploreFantasy miniature game2011

  A fantasy adventure game built around miniature figures, dungeon exploration, and a stylized presentation. It was among CMON’s early notable published games and helped establish the company’s presence in the miniature-games segment before the later growth of its large crowdfunding campaigns.

• Blood RageStrategy board game

  A competitive strategy game using a Norse-inspired setting and miniature figures. Blood Rage formed part of CMON’s prominent mid-2010s catalogue and was recognized by The Dice Tower among its top ten games of 2015.

• XenoshyftScience-fiction deck-building game

  A science-fiction tabletop title associated with alien-threat and military-survival themes. Xenoshyft illustrates CMON’s expansion beyond fantasy and zombie settings and was included in The Dice Tower’s 2015 top-ten games.

• Rum & BonesPirate-themed miniature game

  A pirate-adventure miniature game that combines character figures, team-based conflict, and a maritime fantasy setting. It was one of three CMON games named in The Dice Tower’s 2015 top-ten selection.

• EthnosStrategy board game2017

  A strategy board game published by CMON in 2017. Its inclusion in the catalogue demonstrates the company’s interest in products that rely more on strategic card and area-control systems than on the large miniature collections associated with some of its major crowdfunding lines.

• 2024Gamefound crowdsourcing transition

  International

  CMON shifted its crowdsourcing activity exclusively to Gamefound, a specialist platform for tabletop projects.

  Outcome. The transition made Gamefound the company’s exclusive crowdsourcing platform according to the cited reference.

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• Kickstarter tabletop-game campaigns

  International

  CMON used Kickstarter extensively to finance, promote, and distribute miniature-heavy board games and related products. The campaigns built direct communities around forthcoming releases and generated a reported cumulative total of approximately US$108.6 million.

  Outcome. Kickstarter became a major part of CMON’s product-development and customer-acquisition model before the company later moved its crowdsourcing activity to Gamefound.

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• 2024Exclusive move to GamefoundStrategy

  CMON had relied on Kickstarter for a substantial number of tabletop crowdfunding campaigns and accumulated significant campaign funding there.

  What changed. The company moved its crowdsourcing activity exclusively to Gamefound.

  Aftermath. Gamefound became CMON’s designated crowdsourcing platform for new projects.

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• 2016Public-market listingOther

  After developing from an online miniature-painting community into a tabletop publisher, CMON formalized its corporate presence through a Hong Kong listing.

  What changed. CMON Limited began trading on the GEM board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 2, 2016.

  Aftermath. The listing established CMON as a publicly traded tabletop-games company.

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• 2024CMON moves crowdsourcing exclusively to Gamefound

  CMON moved its crowdsourcing activity exclusively from Kickstarter to the Gamefound platform.

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• 2024CMON shifts crowdsourcing exclusively to Gamefound

  The company moved its crowdsourcing activity exclusively to Gamefound, ending the previously described use of Kickstarter as its primary crowdfunding platform.

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• 2017CMON publishes Ethnos

  The company released Ethnos, a strategy board game that broadened its catalogue beyond its best-known miniature-heavy titles.

  Product launch
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• 2016CMON begins trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange GEM board

  CMON Limited became a publicly traded company on the GEM board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 2, 2016.

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• 2016CMON begins public trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange GEM board

  CMON Limited began trading publicly on the GEM board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 2, marking its transition into a listed tabletop-games publisher.

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• 2011CMON acquires Tabletopgamingnews.com

  CMON acquired the tabletop-games news site Tabletopgamingnews.com and continued operating it as part of its broader involvement in hobby-gaming media.

  M&A
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1. CMON Limited
2. CoolMiniOrNot official website