Who is Live Oak?

Live Oak Games was founded by Patrick Matthews in 2002 with the goal of creating high quality games that people can enjoy over and over again.

Board games, card games - live games?

We don't currently make computer games, but good old-fashioned "live" games, games that bring people together around a dinner table
...or in a living room
...or in front of the TV
...or maybe even outdoors under the shade of a big old live oak tree.

What is Live Oak Games doing now?

In 2012, Live Oak changed its focus from producing games to licensing them. Our first licensed game is Distraction, published by ThinkFun.

We're also available to create custom games, or to help you playtest, improve, polish or even write the rules for a game you're working on.

What kind of games does Live Oak Games make?

Always a tough question! When we design a game, we focus on the experience of the players. For example, SiegeStones and Distraction both are "brain" games, that get players thinking. The experience of them, however, couldn't be more different. Where SiegeStones is quite and contemplative, Distraction gets downright raucous.

How can I purchase the games?

All of the games are in distribution and available from your favorite retailer. If you can't find them, just poke around online. They're all on Amazon, for example.

Why "Live Oak"?

First of all "Live Oak" is a kind of tree. It's not just what you'd call an oak tree that happened to be alive. Well, I guess you could, but that would be odd.

Live Oaks grow to be quite large and have strong hanging branches that provide shade and are great to climb in.

When we were looking for a name, we wanted to pick something with a little character, something with some personal meaning to it. Living in Central Florida, Live Oaks are everywhere - they really define the landscape.

I guess it was only natural that we'd arrive at the name Live Oak Games. Besides, the other ideas we came up with (Homely Dog Games, Albino Toad Enterprises, etc.) just didn't fly.

For those history buffs out there, Old Ironsides was made, in part, out of Live Oak (because the wood is so dense).

Finally, the acronym for Live Oak Games is LOG, and how cool is that?