How to create and sell a board game

Real information about the situation in the domestic market of board games first-hand, a description of the process of creating a game, a census of the rake and a monetization scheme.

To: the authors of board games, developers of computer and mobile games who want to port them to the desktop format, for those who are interested in how retail works from within. And those who asked for details in the past topic about Starcraft .
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Briefly:
- The situation on the market and the assessment of its capacity
- Why is it important to work with a major player right away?
- Developer Rakes
- Calculation of monetization and setting the price of the product
- Outsourcing to China and other wonderful countries
- Edition of the game abroad
- What you need to do to a large retail chain love your product

Market situation

The Russian gaming market is quite interesting: we once had a culture of board games, there were chess or checkers in every house. For comparison: in Germany, for example, dozens of games can be at home. Not everyone knows that there are board games other than Monopoly and chess.

At the moment, the market situation is as follows:

• Only about 20-30% of the market is covered, that is, in the coming years, sales will grow.
• At the same time - a fairly high level of competition between individual players. For example, in Moscow and St. Petersburg now, in fact, there is a price war. Of course for buyers it is profitable.
• Games are in many stores from Children's World to bookstores, and the price difference can reach 50%. In non-specialized stores, games are sold very and very slowly: this is partly due to the fact that they do not appear there to customers, and partly by the offer that is not very profitable for the end customer.
• Real sales show only network players. For example, before we developed the network, it was difficult to imagine that the majority of non-specialized stores had a really small conversion in the segment.

Model “the more, the more”

A very important factor is the number of games that you sell for the subsequent increase in sales. Each game sold is an advertisement for all familiarized players, which means one or two more sales. A person takes the box home, plays with friends - and they quickly come to the store for an already familiar thing.

This means that if you want to publish a board game, you immediately need to work with one of the major players who are able to ensure maximum sales by the number of boxes .

Printing batches of up to 500 pieces (for an average game) is usually unprofitable: the price of the copy becomes too high. At the same time, not every network can sell the game in such numbers within a reasonable time.

Suppose you have released an average game at an average price that will not be in great demand: this is either a game of four, or a good niche game for an amateur. According to statistics, it will go with us at a speed of about 2-3 thousand boxes per year, and 90 percent of this number will be sold not by our partners such as the Union and other networks, but specialized shops where the game can be shown and told about it. And where it will not compete, say, with a trip to a cafe, a book or a new shirt.

Another interesting feature of the market is the over-prediction of games at the time of publication. Our practice shows that sales even hit games in the forecasts (in the negotiations) are significantly overestimated.

Positioning game

First you need to focus on the audience of your game. You need to answer two questions: for what age and sex is the game (and up to a year, for example, for boys 12 years old) and to which genre it belongs. The first is important for the formation of a sales case from the seller (to whom specifically and why to sell your game), the second is for understanding in which rack it will be put in the store. If the rack will be difficult to determine, your game will put in the warehouse.

In terms of price, it is important whether the game falls into the category of “ spontaneous purchase ” or not. For Moscow, a spontaneous purchase is all below 1000 rubles. For St. Petersburg - this is about 700 rubles and below. For, say, Nizhny Novgorod, only the cheapest games of the store, costing from 300 to 500 rubles, fall into this category. If your game does not go as a spontaneous purchase, it should be VERY and VERY good for it to come to the store.

What rake can you step on

1. High cognitive resilience or, more simply, incomprehensible rules. This is a drawback only if the game is designed for people "from the street": for example, a strategy with complex rules can be explained using several important differences: you don’t need to show everything at once. The average number of games that will be played in your game is about 6-8. Then it will be replaced by another one or simply put on the shelf. Count on the normal level of players.
2. Be sure to conduct tests . First, on friends and acquaintances, then give the game to an unknown company and look, and then collect a focus group for 30 people. If the tests are not very successful - change the game: it hurts, but you have to.
3. Put the risks on the publisher . That he should be responsible for the quality of the boxes, the correct number of components in them and so on. Self-publishing is difficult and expensive. True, to convince the publisher to get involved in the project is not easy.
4. Compare your box with the boxes of other games : won't it be confused? Make sure the game is shrinkable (in film): otherwise the boxes will be perceived as open. Do not sell the game in the road package (bag), make a separate box: the product should look like a gift. When designing a box, make sure that it stands flat on the edge of the shelf and does not swing, otherwise it will quickly move to the worst places of the display.
5. Can a man from the street, looking at your box, answer the questions: “Is this game for me? What is she talking about? Why should I choose her? ”

How is the price

The usual conditions for the supply of games in large networks - discount 45-50% of the retail price. This means that if your game is worth 2000 rubles, then its wholesale price is about 1000 rubles, and the cost price is somewhere around 600-700.

What do you personally get

1. A fixed amount for the sale of rights to the game. Usually it is the cost of a fraction of the calculated runs for two years.
2. Purchase of a license for a year with the right of renewal: usually it is the cost of a fraction of the circulation for the year
3. The percentage of each print at the time of printing. As a rule, this is 10% of the wholesale price when the publisher is provided with a full prototype (with design) or about 3-5% per idea with the described rules and mechanics. The main thing to keep in mind is that “bare” ideas are not needed by anyone: without a prototype, they are of no interest to anyone in principle.

For example, the author Munchkina gets about a dollar per box. This is a lot, considering its circulation, but this is very little, considering the circulation of your new game.

Our partners - the publisher "Magellan" - offer 10% of royalties from the wholesale price of the circulation, despite the fact that the game passes the tests and meets the quality criteria. There are many criteria, but the main one is that the game should be something new and very interesting in its category. Deductions are made on the fact of the release of the circulation, but not of sales: that is, even if the entire game after leaving the shop once devours the Colorado potato beetle, you still get the money.

Manufacturer selection

As a rule, each manufacturer works with one “its own” or several partner networks. Of course, the more important the product is for the network, the better it will be to move in it: accordingly, choosing a manufacturer, you choose the network. If your game is published by Magellan, you receive priority conditions from us (and our network is the first among specialized stores in terms of retail sales in the Russian Federation).

The second question for choosing a manufacturer is the quality of printing. Just look at the line of games of a particular publisher and answer the question: do you like everything in the performance of games? Take a look at the box, check if there were any problems with the layout and so on. Incorrect design of the box or a weak design is a significant disadvantage in sales.

Printing in Finland and order in China

Domestic printing houses almost never can provide the required level of quality. The problems are very different: from irregular cutting or creasing to the classic "floating" color. Part of domestic magazines, for example, solves a problem simply: printed in Finland or in other countries.

In addition, we almost never make figures, kounters and serious playing fields. In practice, this means three possible editions:

• Order "turnkey" in China. This is a good option if you know how to formulate the exact terms of reference and know how to go through customs. With runs less than 3000 (for the game of the average price category), there is simply no point in bothering. We need a person "on the other side", able to control the quality. This is the path of the big players.
• Order parts of components in China. A similar situation, but already easier in terms of delivery. At some attempt you will find the right suppliers.
• Production in the Russian Federation , but with strict quality control. When signing the contract, carefully designate the acceptance criteria and very carefully check the entire print run from beginning to end (yes, top, bottom and middle of the stack). The main problems are the technical impossibility of producing something, problems with deadlines, expensive small circulations.

Interestingly, domestic boxes can have very large gaps between the case and the lid: if you have small chips, you need to either put them in bags or on cradles, or think about alternative ways of making boxes.

Going global or localized

Localization of a foreign game with us is always a profitable step, since the popularity of the product has already been proven in another country. Another thing is that high-quality localization requires a fairly serious effort, comparable to the cost of producing a new game. Localization is usually carried out under license in a manner similar to the scheme described above in the section on royalties.

If you want to independently publish your game in the West, then keep in mind that the situation is somewhat tougher than it seems to the authors. The idea of ​​the game (rules + prototype without design) costs from 300 to 1000 dollars maximum. The prototype with design is two to three times more expensive. Buying a finished game is complicated by the need to prove its popularity: as a result, in all cases, the publisher gets all the cream in case of success, but you don’t. The only exception is if your goal is to play for the promotion of a name, not for profit. The author rarely makes a profit from the first game.

How to put in a large network. Negotiations and features.

The presentation of the game is not carried out according to the principle “look at how cool it is,” but it should answer the following questions:

• How is the game better than other games of the category;
• Why it will sell well;
• Than she will like the end customer;
• In what specific category will it lie;
• Why people will go to the store for this game (and which ones).

The network wants to make a profit from the game and, more importantly, to make the game appealing to customers who always associate the positive feelings of purchase with the store itself.

The second thing interesting to the network is how the game will be explained. Usually there are 25 seconds for this: if there is something sophisticated, then it is better to think in advance about the mini-presentation. For example, I propose to explain the game "Overboard", "Kukhandel" or "Lock for All Seasons" for 25 seconds each. Slowly and calmly so that the client understood.

After setting the game on the network, you need to provide demo samples (open boxes) at each point, as well as train all vendors to play your game. So you greatly increase the chances of sales.

v 1.0b

The first week of sales is shopping for criticism. The first 10 boxes will be purchased solely in order to be the first to write a critical review (moreover, there will be three times more reviews than the fact of the purchased boxes), so just do not pay attention. Real reviews will go in a week or two, they are already responding to their full potential.

If there is a problem in the game, you should immediately tell everyone what it is, how to determine whether it is in a particular edition, withdraw the circulation and explain how to replace the game with those to whom they have already been sold.

Todo:

1. Come up with an idea
2. Determine precise positioning (price, segment, detuning from competitors)
3. Make a prototype "on napkins"
4. Test it with friends
5. Choose a publisher
6. Show a prototype without art to the publisher and at the same meeting - to the representatives of the partner network
7. Clarify positioning, solve the issue of game design
8. Sign an agreement regulating the management of rights and deductions with circulation
9. Pass the final tests on a large number of different players (in particular, on the balance)
10. Show game sellers network and survive the first week of criticism

If you have any questions or you already want to offer a game for publication and sales - write to me in a personal or info@mosigra.ru (there like this: “Hello, I am the author of the game, I would like to meet with your management, here is my phone”).

Here in the review you can see some niche games.