Floodgate Games unveils Mind Sweeper, a cooperative broom-clue party game

Floodgate Games put a tiny broom at the center of Mind Sweeper, a cooperative word-guessing game by Charlie McCarron with art by Michael Mateyko. The reveal, which landed on July 6, frames the game as more than a joke prop: one player quietly sweeps tokens to steer teammates toward a secret word, and every card carries six linked words to choose from.

That physical action does the design heavy lifting. Floodgate says the game is built around “ten cards, one team, and one broom,” and the setup makes the clue-giver’s intent visible without adding rules baggage. Players pick a card, narrow in on one of the six words, and try to get the group to guess correctly within one minute. After 10 cards, the side with the most right answers wins. Floodgate lists Mind Sweeper for 2 to 10 players, ages 8 and up, with a play time of about 20 minutes, which places it squarely in the fast social lane rather than the logic-puzzle end of the word-game shelf.

The broom also gives the game a strong demo footprint. Gen Con’s 2026 event listing puts a Mind Sweeper session on Thursday, July 30, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM EDT in ICC Hall C at Floodgate Games HQ, with Vincent Salzillo running the table. That listing says the demo supports 2 to 18 players and requires no prior experience, a clear sign that the publisher sees the system as easy to teach in a convention hall. A separate retailer listing says Floodgate plans a limited Gen Con premiere of Mind Sweeper and a Deep Clean Expansion before the Q4 2026 retail release, with the game listed at $29.95.

Floodgate’s timing fits its wider convention rhythm. The publisher’s events page already names Con of the North, GAMA Expo, UK Games Expo, Essen Spiel, Gen Con, and PAX Unplugged as regular stops, and Mind Sweeper looks tailored for that circuit: a small-box title with one prop, one timer, and a clean read from across the table. Floodgate paired the announcement with Sagrada: Panorama, a $29.95 expansion for 2 to 6 players ages 10 and up, with a 30 to 45 minute runtime and three mix-and-match modules, including material for 5 and 6 players, personal Lightboards, and new objective types.

McCarron’s own credits reinforce the fit. He describes himself as a board game designer, developer, art director, and illustrator, and says he now serves as Game Design Manager for Office Dog and Z-Man Games at Asmodee. His published lineup includes Four Humours, Skyrockets, Lunar Skyline, Guesswork, Alphabet Stoop, Hedge Mage: Blizzard Wizard, Surplus of Sloths, and The Troubadeck. In Mind Sweeper, the tiny broom looks less like decoration than interface design, giving the game a single memorable action that teaches fast, reads cleanly, and gives the table something worth watching.