I am Ivan Rajković, a software engineer from Belgrade. I grew up in central Serbia next to Jastrebac, the Fairy mountain. My school buddies and I spent our winter and summer breaks there, roaming the woods. It was glorious.

Come winter, we huddled up in warm rooms and invented our own board games.

My son Dimitrije and his buddies?

They seemed set to squander their childhood on concrete playgrounds and in front of electronic screens.

That's why my wife Aleksandra and I decided to try and recapture our childhood’s magic moments and share them with our son. Miles away from the nearest forest fairies, we came up with a board game concept.

Forest of Radgost began as an after-school project. My son drew the map, together we drafted the rules, came up with the story premise. When the two of us got stuck, mom joined to help. Then the three of us got stuck. So we sought outside help. And those people brought new people and the circle kept expanding.

In the end, it took a whole tribe of boardgamers, sculptors and painters, scholars and writers to shape this game. But to finish what we started, that tribe has to grow into a small village. A village that welcomes you among its elders, dear reader.

"And at the end of game all we were is partly made of them and all they are is partly made of us."