Welcome to Clay Bird Games—a small, family-created company dedicated to creating hobby board games that bring people together.

I'm Cooper, the founder of Clay Bird Games and designer of CRED! While it's just me at the helm (with invaluable help from my brother-in-law, Kevin, and friend Jonathan), this whole journey started with family—and it's still very much about it.

I've been a board game enthusiast my entire life. Family stories still circulate about toddler-me inventing wild, logic-free games with ever changing rules to play with everyone. As I grew up, game nights became a cornerstone of how I connected with friends and loved ones—hosting elaborate sessions and diving deep into this great hobby. Designing my own game was always a quiet bucket-list dream, but publishing one? That wasn't even on the radar... until life took an unexpected turn.

In 2023, our first son, Clay, was born—a joyful milestone amid a chaotic year. Just weeks before my paternity leave was supposed to kick in, I was let go from my corporate job in Austin due to another round of cuts. Suddenly, the future was wide open. During those early, sleep-deprived days at home, I started chatting with my father-in-law, Randy, about board games and why we love them so much. He had never been much of a board game fan, but has always been very intentional about trying to learn more about the hobby my wife and I have grown to love so much. One day, he half-jokingly suggested I create a custom game the whole family could enjoy during holidays—something themed around his world of commercial real estate development. He pictured a custom monopoly board of sorts - I had other ideas.

What emerged was CRED—a mid-weight Euro-style game of strategy, creativity, and real-world development decisions. Between baby duties, I spent weeks researching, prototyping, and iterating with Randy's insights on the ins and outs of the industry. Our first playtest? An epic (okay, exhausting) 8 hours with my wife and her parents. I braced for them to swear off gaming forever.

Instead, Randy was hooked. He dove in—suggesting tweaks, shortening turns, refining mechanics—and has played now more times (and iterations) than I can count. It's become a genuine way for us to bond over this hobby which I never thought would happen. That spark, born from a simple family conversation, showed me I might have something worth sharing.

After positive feedback from friends, strangers, and playtesters alike, I decided to take the leap: fulfill that lifelong goal of publishing a game of my own design. With the never-ending support of my wife, Annie, we decided to launch our own publishing company to bring CRED to life. Honoring our son (nicknamed "Clay Bird" since baby days), I launched Clay Bird Games in November 2025 from Aurora, Colorado.

Our mission is straightforward: create and publish engaging hobby board games with real-world themes, innovative-yet-accessible mechanics, and strategic depth that welcomes both hardcore gamers and newcomers. We want tables filled with fun, creativity, tough decisions, and laughter—no matter who's playing.

Our first game, CRED, is in the final stages of development. We're aiming to bring it to the tabletop community via a crowdfunding launch in 2027. It's a tycoon-style experience that captures the thrill (and tough choices) of commercial real estate development—perfect for fans of tycoon experiences, smart strategy, and meaningful player interaction.

Whether you're a seasoned hobbyist, a tycoon-game lover, or someone who enjoys supporting indie designers and passionate entrepreneurs, we hope you'll join us. This is about more than games—it's about the connections they create.

Follow our journey, cheer on CRED's progress, and let's build something great together.

Thanks for stopping by!