The board game industry has grown considerably over the last few years with countless individuals trying to make a game. Crowdfunding has provided creators with the necessary tools to be able to fund their own ideas and turn their dreams into realities, it’s a great time to be a creative! The problem however is how do you stand out, what will make people notice you, and support your game.
Making a board game is pretty easy, you can grab some paper, a pen, and some scissors, and within a few hours you can have something that’s playable. It is one of the reasons I love designing board games as it is such an accessible process. Designing games however is only part of the process, as a publisher it is our job to take a game to the next level.
When I first started designing games it seemed impossible to find an artist, I had no experience and didn’t know where to look. These days I have a list of handy websites that have served me well over the years and would like to share them with you.
Setting your Kickstarter goal should be one of the easiest parts of the process. You should just be able to work out how much it is going to cost you to make and ship the game, add a cushion in case something goes wrong, and then use that number… Right? How I wish it was that easy!
Facebook is full of countless communities and when it comes to publishing there is no shortage of useful groups to join. Here are my top recommendations!
Pricing a product can be tricky and without the right experience you may end up selling your game at a price that just doesn’t work. It is made harder by the fact there is no correct approach and different people will tell you different things based on their own situation. Today I’m going back to the beginning, I’m not going to talk about how I would price my next game, but rather how I would, and how I did price my first game.
Failure is a word that none of us want to hear, especially when we’ve dedicated a big part of our life to trying to create something. Over the last 20 years there have been many times where I have failed, but you probably don’t know about them because you didn’t find me until I was lucky enough to be successful.
There are many things that define a business and lots of important decisions to make, such as picking a manufacturer or deciding on an approach to translation. I believe one of the most important decisions, which often gets overlooked, is what voice you are going to use.
Over the years I have consumed thousands of hours of videos focussed on board games. Many of these videos are reviews, how to plays, previews, and other similar content focussed on whether you should buy a game and helping you play it. These videos are great for gamers, but today I want to share with you a several videos that I believe are great for publishers. Don’t get me wrong, for the most part these videos are still designed for gamers, but as a publisher I’ve learned a great deal from them.
When it comes to crowdfunding, I am a firm believer that a campaign should have two reward levels, with a third only in rare cases. Typically, this would be the base content (the game) and a deluxe or upgraded version.
