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Producing a game in the UK

2 replies [Last post]
Anonymous

Hi
I have a basic prototype of a Match Fishing board game, which I would like to produce myself in limited quantities, not yet decided.
I also design websites and would sell the game online, on a dedicated website, with advertising through the many angling magazines associated with the sport.
I have played the game many times with my family (non-anglers) and all love it, so I feel it would appeal to the many anglers in the UK as well as non anglers too.
The game components are (basically)....
GAME BOX (approx 10" x 8")
6 x PLAYING BOARDS (approx 10" x 8") Representing each players "swim" or "peg" in a match.
180 x PLAYING (FISH) CARDS (5 species x 36 of each) 3" x 2" each
6 x HOOKBAIT CARDS 2" X 2" each
3 x DICE (0-5, A-F, 1-6)
PAD OF MATCH RESULT SHEETS
6 x PENCILS
PRINTED INSTRUCTIONS
What I would like to know is where I can get these components produced in the UK??
Does anyone have any ideas or contacts please??
Cheers
Geoff

Anonymous
Producing a game in the UK

Hi and welcome to the forum!

It sounds like you have a well developed idea for a game, but before you begin looking for a publisher, there are a lot of other questions that you should address to ensure that you truly are ready.

First, spend some time browsing the many past posts regarding getting your game produced, the pitfalls to avoid and the questions to ask yourself. The search engine can help you find the information you're looking for.

Before you do anything, be sure to get your game thoroughly blind playtested, that is playtested by groups of people who don't know you and who will learn and play the game while you're not there. This will quickly tell you how ready your game is for the general market. This will also help you find potential holes in the rules (stalemate situations, ambiguous rules, etc.) that you may not even know were there. It's great to get family and friends involved, but they are not nearly as objective as blind playtesters will be. Don't spend a single penny on production until this has been done to exhaustion--it will pay multiple dividends in the end.

It sounds like you are looking at this from a self publishing point of view, which is great, but also greatly complicates your role in bringing this game to life. There have been many posts and threads on this site regarding the many aspects of self-publishing. Are you prepared and or capable of handling the multiple business apects of self-publishing?

Lastly, be sure you have good channels of distribution ready. Looking over your component list and assuming you are looking for an MSRP somewhere in the neighborhood of $20-30US, you will probably need a high volume of games to get a half-way decent price per game (186 cards will be costly to produce along with 6 player mats and other assorted parts).

There have been multiple threads reagarding cost to produce vs. wholesale vs. MSRP that can give you better indications about where your number should be. Since you are looking at selling it directly to the public yourself, you will have a lot of leeway with the numbers (rule of thumb, a game should cost 10-12.5% of its MSRP to produce). This will probably mean print runs in the multiple thousands of games.

I don't have a lot of practical experience selling games online, but I've heard that you can expect to be holding onto most of your stock for quite a long time (expect sales of only a few games per month).

Have you considered looking up distributors to sell your game? There are quite a few publishers who are members on this forum that have had a good degree of success doing so and I imagine you can too if you're determined. That would increase the number of games you can move (though you will still be sitting on a few thousand games for as long as it takes to sell them).

None of this is meant to be discouraging, but so many people have asked the same questions with the same good intentions and not known what to expect. I hope this gives you a good foundation for making your business plans.

Best of luck to you!

Anonymous
Re: Producing a game in the UK

lincolns wrote:
I have played the game many times with my family (non-anglers) and all love it, so I feel it would appeal to the many anglers in the UK as well as non anglers too.

Not to poop in your fishing boat, but you might want to try playing the game with more people. I don't know how up front and confrontational your family might be. But there are reasons they might like the game and others will not. The enjoyment of playing the game might come from the fact that you made it. Or maybe they don't like it and just try to encourage you. There are a lot of different options. As of right now I am looking into publishing a game, and I am finding that thre are many things you need to look out for. I just don't want to see somebody drop buckets of money into something that is bound to be a disaster. So do lots of research, and be sure the game design is both entertaining and as streamlined as it can possibly get.

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