City of Games April update: It’s release month!
Happy April!
I can’t believe we’ve made it to April and the fulfilment of The Isle of Cats: Don’t forget the kittens! has completed. It’s a strange feeling wrapping up a Kickstarter and I’m certainly missing it.
Yet, with everything shipped I’m really excited to be able to start focussing on what comes next full time and I’m happy to be able to spend more of my day focussing on game design for a while!
Product update
I am pleased to confirm The Isle of Cats expansions Kittens + Beasts and Boat Pack are now available in retail and you should be able to find them at your local games store.
My new game Explore & Draw has also just released and is now available worldwide!
Publisher lessons
This month in publisher lessons I discussed the following topics:
- Preparing your Kickstarter for retailers
- Wrapping up a Kickstarter
- Why you should have a quick 3-minute overview video
- Community, not customer
- How to stand out
- The 4 pillars of a great game
- 7 ways to find an artist
- Setting your Kickstarter goal
- A list of Facebook groups to join
- How to price your game
An update on Frank
I just got back from the USA and had a fabulous time! I managed to catch up with loads of friends at GAMA in Reno, enjoyed watching Penn & Teller in Vegas, and got to watch the sea lions in San Francisco. It’s nice to be back in the UK though as after so long away I was missing Yanna & Kuma far too much!
Until next time
This month I’ll be putting together all my plans for this years conventions, it’s really exciting to know I’ll be out on the show room floors again in just 2 months for UKGE! I’m also planning a number of in person design and playtesting days to finalise the last parts of Project Smoke which I couldn’t be happier about. It’s been a while since I got to do that in person so I’m very much looking forward to it!
Receive monthly updates by email
If you would like to receive monthly updates from The City of Games by email you can join the newsletter here.
Frank West
Frank West is a gamer and designer based in Bristol, UK. He published his first board game, The City of Kings, in 2018 and now works on other games and organising events in the local area. His goal? To design and publish games focusing on immersive themes, fun mechanics and beautiful components. If you have any questions or would just like a chat, feel free to get in touch at any time!
5 comments
Sarah c.
7th April 2022 at 6:41 pm
I don’t know what to say except THANK YOU for isle of cats. It is my favorite game and I can’t get enough!
Frank West
8th April 2022 at 12:52 pm
I’m so glad to hear that Sarah!
Helke
3rd May 2022 at 7:03 pm
Will you be selling Isle of Cats Kickstarter Pack 1+2 at UKGE?
I missed the Kickstarter Campaign and pre-ordered a lot Isle of Cats items, among which the 2 Kickstarter Packs, at a local store (De Spelletjes Vrienden)
But I just received the message that there was a mistake and they didn’t receive them. So I’m really disappointed and would love to be able to buy them in Birmingham!
I’m also interested in the Isle of Cats Promo tiles and everything from City of Kings.
Frank West
3rd May 2022 at 7:37 pm
Hi Helke, I’m sorry to hear there was a mistake with your local store. I can confirm there will be some copies of Kickstarter Pack 2 at UKGE but please be advised it will be a very low amount of stock and will likely sell out quickly. This is because Kickstarter Pack 2 is currently out of stock and the copies I take will be any remaining left overs from fulfillment of the Kickstarter. For the other items, there should be a good amount of them there. I look forward to meeting you at UKGE!
Helke
4th May 2022 at 5:41 am
That’s great to hear!
We have tickets for the first day, so I’ll make sure to check out your booth right away.