About me
Stephen Buonocore is a hobby game entrepreneur, game media personality, game industry veteran, as well as a former financial services industry IT professional.
Buonocore is the retired founder, owner and President of Stronghold Games, formed in 2009 to publish quality hobby board and card games. Stronghold Games and Indie Boards & Cards merged in 2018 to form Indie Game Studios, where he continued in his role as President. Buonocore provided vision and guidance for hundreds of game titles, both developed within the company and in partnership with global publishers.
Stephen Buonocore is the host of Board Games Insider, one of the most popular hobby game audio/ video podcasts. He has appeared in interviews on television, radio, and numerous game media outlets to promote the hobby game industry.
Buonocore retired from Stronghold Games in 2020, rebranding as “The Podfather of Gaming”, and is found as such on his Youtube channel and other social media platforms. He remains a high-profile, vocal advocate for the hobby game industry, and mentors individuals from underserved groups.
Stephen Buonocore became a board game designer as well, signing a board game with Asmodee in 2023. In late 2023, Buonocore and over one dozen investors from the hobby game industry announced the creation of a new publisher, PLAY TO Z. Buonocore serves as Chairman of the Board.
Buonocore serves on the Board of Directors of the World Series of Board Gaming, a company created to run an annual board game event to crown a World Champion and award large monetary prizes. Buonocore serves on the Board of Directors for the Arizona Astrobiology Center for Development (AABCD). The Arizona Astrobiology Center, a 501(c)(3) organization, is a hub for diverse scientific endeavors, providing bold and transformative dialogue to make astrobiology discoveries relevant to the experiences of all people on Earth.
