Skip to Content
 

I already have the board game. I need help on how to publish it

62 replies [Last post]
ronaldespina
Offline
Joined: 06/29/2018
That's another option I heard

That's another option I heard about: the Ion award. After all you guys have said I think I should go for it.

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Wingo

ronaldespina wrote:
I've been looking for molding and it's really expensive. Where do you think I could find it at 600$ per mold?

"Wingo" costs about $600 USD per mold. I think if you send them samples of the pieces via air-mail, they can scan and produce 3D files. I think this service may cost you some money, not sure if they will charge you money or not...

But the thing is you need to be able to finance ALL the molds. ONE (1) piece costs $600 USD, so if you have 5 molds ... that $3,000 USD. Then it costs like $0.10 - $0.20 per piece depending on the complexity.

You would also choose the colors too.

Don't believe people if they say molds cost more than $600 USD each. Some people say the molds costs thousands of dollars... They are bullshiters. Don't listen to those people.

Like we all seem to agree, Kickstarter is probably no good for you. Unless you want to try to finance the production of the mold via KS. You can try, but if it's homemade ... you should try to create a chipboard quad-fold board instead of wood. Will be less expensive and offer a better chance that people BUY the game online (KS) with a more attractive price point.

Cheers!

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Not the Ion Award

ronaldespina wrote:
That's another option I heard about: the Ion award. After all you guys have said I think I should go for it.

No you need a competition that is for "Abstract Games" ... not Strategy Games or Light Euros.

Your game is an "Abstract Game".

I don't know where to find a contest for "Abstract Games". You should also look for Publishers that are looking for "Abstract Games" too...

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Try to search BGG for Abstract Winners!

Here is a BGG link for "Golden Geek Award - Winners":

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/award/8314/golden-geek-awards

You want to find out WHEN the 2018 "Golden Geek Awards" are going to take place and you should SUBMIT your game in the "Abstract Game" Category.

This would be one (1) positive step ... You might even WIN for 2018.

Do some more research on that website/using Google. If you WIN the "Abstract" Category, well then that will give you A LOT of credibility.

Cheers!

Note: Take a LOOK at this "Abstract" Game... It shows you all the competitions that it WON... These are the ones you should TARGET with your game...

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/163412/patchwork

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
I think you need to create a page in BGG

I have been researching BGG (Board Game Geek) and it would start by you submitting your game as a 2018 game... Self-Published and then you need to research when you can SUBMIT your game for the "Golden Geek Awards" for 2018...

My guess is that the results will be in February 2019. From what I have seen they operate and compute results in the next year.

So you may still be able to submit your game...

I'm looking into the matter further... I will post you the response I get from BGG... But you have some research to do too...

Jay103
Jay103's picture
Offline
Joined: 01/23/2018
The game might work on an 8x8

The game might work on an 8x8 board, but it would definitely be a bit different..

Also, you REALLY need to work on your rulebook organization. And maybe on rule simplification, but I understand you might consider those set in stone. You just have a lot of specific exceptions and stuff to track, like you can win one way, but ONLY after taking most of the other pieces.. and you can win a different way, but only after losing certain of your own pieces. Which might make the whole thing more interesting (e.g. you don't want to capture the opponent's Moon, so they can't win that way). HOWEVER, if you have things like that, the rules need to be written pretty clearly...

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Only the designer can decide how to move forwards!

Jay103 wrote:
The game might work on an 8x8 board, but it would definitely be a bit different...

Well how different is up to Ronald. The point I was trying to make is IF it can be made to work on a normal chess board, that would improve the odds of having people BUY the "pieces" and rulebook in order to play the game...

You could even have people buy it BECAUSE they can play regular Chess or Galaxi on their existing wooden game boards (used by Chess sets).

I don't know if it would be possible... But IF it was, that's another way of lowering the price for being able to play the game.

Anyway I'm trying to help out as best as possible. BGG "Golden Geek Awards" is what you want to try... Then Spiel des Jahres ... For Best Abstract Game in 2018...

pelle
pelle's picture
Offline
Joined: 08/11/2008
I do not see a lot of people

I do not see a lot of people having chess boards anymore, or a wish to buy an incomplete game to combine with some board they have.

Agree that the game looks like it has a few too many exceptions. And the theme is odd to me. Maybe it is some kind of occult astrology thing? Moving moons etc, plus a sun you push around? And the special rules for different piecesar not obviously tied to the theme.

I am not hugely into abstracts, but since I started digging into very old wargames a few years ago I have played a few pretty abatract old chess-like games. Like a game called Battle from early 20th century that I played my first move (play by email with VASSAL) yesterday. So I saw a few rethemed chess-likes. And my first impression is that this game is more complex than most, also more expensive, and with a (to me) less appealing theme. Tough sell. Maybe the strategic depth is amazing, but no one can know that without playing many times, and there are so many older games to compete with.

Jay103
Jay103's picture
Offline
Joined: 01/23/2018
pelle wrote:I do not see a

pelle wrote:
I do not see a lot of people having chess boards anymore, or a wish to buy an incomplete game to combine with some board they have.

Well, it would be trivial to source a decent-quality chess board from China, though. You'd have to have a 9x9 board like that done custom.

If that was his goal.. which I don't think it is.

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Don't you have a Chess Board?

pelle wrote:
I do not see a lot of people having chess boards anymore, or a wish to buy an incomplete game to combine with some board they have...

I am not hugely into abstracts, but since I started digging into very old wargames a few years ago I have played a few pretty abstract old chess-like games... Tough sell. Maybe the strategic depth is amazing, but no one can know that without playing many times, and there are so many older games to compete with.

Well don't families mostly have at least ONE (1) Chess Board somewhere in their home? It's a timeless classic, the White versus the Black. And like @Jason says, if you wanted to "source" a board from China, Chess Boards are probably easy to procure rather than having to make a "custom" wooden 9x9 tile board just for "Galaxi".

I have not taken a look at the "rules" because they are probably real hard to follow/read (IMHO). Just from what I have seen on Kickstarter page, the level of writing and organization is far too "unclear" for me to sit down and read.

Anyhow I think I've helped out enough. When I get news from BGG about the "Golden Geek Awards" held annually, I will follow-up with that information.

For now, I wait for a response from the Admin in question...

ronaldespina
Offline
Joined: 06/29/2018
I hope everybody can get

I hope everybody can get this.

I wanna check the Wingo mold option.

About the Rules I posted on KS: I have to challenges with that -> English is my second language. I still learning it. And it's the first time we write the rules. We are just rookie. If there is a way for any of you guys to help me with that, making them more clear, will be great!

About the board. There is a way to make it of cardboard and collapsible: "Sandwich" type.

I got a question: why my game can't be considered like a strategy game? It's an abstract game and a strategy game as well.

I checked BGG but I didn't know how to interact with anybody.

Remember my friends Im just crawling here

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Some comments

ronaldespina wrote:
I wanna check the Wingo mold option.

Ya you can explore that and get a quote maybe for 500 or 1,000 units...

ronaldespina wrote:
About the Rules I posted on KS: I have to challenges with that -> English is my second language. I still learning it. And it's the first time we write the rules. We are just rookie. If there is a way for any of you guys to help me with that, making them more clear, will be great!

I hate writing rules... So someone else should be able to help you in that department...

ronaldespina wrote:
About the board. There is a way to make it of cardboard and collapsible: "Sandwich" type.

It's called a "Quad-Fold Board"... It folds to a 9" x 9" board and about 0.25" in thickness.

ronaldespina wrote:
I got a question: why my game can't be considered like a strategy game? It's an abstract game and a strategy game as well.

Because you'll never beat the other games in that category. My guess is EVERYTHING is a popularity contest: most votes wins. IF you have a small following, you'll never win anything. UNLESS if it's in a CATEGORY like "Abstracts" where there are not too many entries...

ronaldespina wrote:
I checked BGG but I didn't know how to interact with anybody.

Don't worry I'm looking into the "Golden Geek Awards" for "Abstract Games"... I should get some more information soon.

Cheers!

ronaldespina
Offline
Joined: 06/29/2018
Thank you questccg for

Thank you questccg for everything.

Jay103
Jay103's picture
Offline
Joined: 01/23/2018
ronaldespina wrote:I hope

ronaldespina wrote:
I hope everybody can get this.

I wanna check the Wingo mold option.

About the Rules I posted on KS: I have to challenges with that -> English is my second language. I still learning it. And it's the first time we write the rules. We are just rookie. If there is a way for any of you guys to help me with that, making them more clear, will be great!


Even in Spanish, you need to have them organized cleanly in a way that lays out objectives, piece types, exceptions, winning conditions, etc. so that people can absorb them.

Quote:
I got a question: why my game can't be considered like a strategy game? It's an abstract game and a strategy game as well.

Well, almost any game involves strategy of some sort, so yeah. But in this case, "Strategy" as a board game category has a particular meaning that would include something like Ticket to Ride, and it would be silly for you to compete with games that are so utterly different.

Quote:
I checked BGG but I didn't know how to interact with anybody.

Pick a little part of it. There are forums, so maybe just browse them. I knew very little of BGG before I started submitting things to get my game up there.

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
No more Abstract Game Category

Well Ronald, it looks like the "Abstract" Game Category in BGG's Golden Geek Awards is cancelled. From the admin, he says people just were not interested in voting for that category... My suspicion is that there were not sufficient entries into that category.

That's why I was looking to find if there was still such a "competition". You would have had the ONLY good game for 2018 and would have probably won pretty easily.

I've checked around and I could not find any other "Designer" competition using "Abstract" Games.

Sorry to disappoint, but the category is rather limited... And there seems to be very few people interested in those types of game. Unless they are the staples like Chess, Checkers, Backgammon, Go, etc.

Maybe my searching capabilities are not sufficient, but I can't find any contests for "Abstract" Games... Sorry you waited so long, 5 years ago you would have had the "Golden Geek Awards", but now it doesn't seem like there are any contests for this category.

Best of luck with your game...

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Something that bothers me is...

Why is the "SUN" capturing pieces... Maybe it should be a "Black Hole" instead... That would make more "thematic" sense.

Anyway it seems like a cool game. Maybe someone else might have ideas, I'm out at the present moment.

Jay103
Jay103's picture
Offline
Joined: 01/23/2018
questccg wrote:Why is the

questccg wrote:
Why is the "SUN" capturing pieces... Maybe it should be a "Black Hole" instead... That would make more "thematic" sense.

Harder to carve a black hole out of wood.

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Black holes instead

Jay103 wrote:
Harder to carve a black hole out of wood.

It would be possible, a "disk" that goes into a "funnel" at the very top of each piece... It doesn't have to be "deep" just like "1cm" or so...

Not like it has to have a deep "gravity well" like the real thing. Just a basic representation of a "disk + funnel"...

Like a hat but inverted (so to speak)...

Note: But you have to admit that with a "Black Hole" swallowing everything, the game makes more sense... And then two "Black Holes" collide, that spells doom for everyone! LOL

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
No such luck

Ronald sorry for leaving you on a "lurch" ... But I tried to reach out to Nestor from "Nestorgames" (https://nestorgames.com) ... without any success. Other BGG members told me to reach out to him, but no success.

Sorry, I can't help any more... Perhaps you could reach out to him in SPANISH... Maybe if you guys can connect, that might be better. IDK.

Here is his link: https://boardgamegeek.com/user/nestorgames

Maybe you can try to contact him and see if he is more "forth-coming". From my e-mail he did not seem to be very "cooperative", so maybe if you speak with him in Spanish, that might be better...

Best of luck with your game (again)!

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
One last ditch effort...

I'm trying another FB Group to see if I can get "Publisher"-related information ... to see what Publishers have to say about a new "Abstract" Game like yours.

Given the results of that "question", I'll post back HERE once I get one or more responses as to the best way to proceed with Publication.

Cheers!

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Sent you a PM with an e-mail

@Ronald, check your Private Messages (PMs), I sent you a link/e-mail of someone who has more experience and is familiar with the process of publishing Abstract Games. You can start by communicating with him and ask whatever questions you like.

You say that you want to self-publish, but I don't think you understand how difficult that is to do.

Perhaps partnering with a Publisher might be a possibility. Then again there is a LOT of work to bring your game to market. There's manufacturing in China, managing and designing a professional Kickstarter, fulfillment of backer copies should you get a high volume of backers, etc.

Anyway discuss all this with the person that I have sent your their e-mail. Like I said he should be able to help you, in ways that I cannot.

Cheers!

Note: From the brief chat that I had with him, he suggested working a "theme" into your game... And his idea was "Colliding Stars"... And he thinks the name of "Galaxy Chess" is better too.

He's a cool dude... With some good ideas. I'm sure he will be able to help you find what works best to making YOUR game a reality.

ronaldespina
Offline
Joined: 06/29/2018
Thank you

Hey guys. Thank you very much for all the help and time. Questccg I will contact that guy.

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Name already taken

BTW just as a quick FYI, I did a BGG search and found "Galaxy Chess"... So you can't use that name since a game already exists with that name. This is just a brief follow-up. Too bad, that name sounded real cool...

Anyway maybe you can find a more "International" name... with Peter's help.

Cheers!

ronaldespina
Offline
Joined: 06/29/2018
Thank you

Thank you for letting me know.

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
I heard back from Peter

I just messaged Peter to see if he "spoke" with you. He says he did and that you are still interested in Self-Publishing. A fair warning, I have done BOTH: Self-Publish and Publisher.

For my Self-Publishing, I lost a lot of money because I invested in the production of the game. It's not that the game was all bad, it's just that you need to understand how BUSINESS is done in various countries. For Canada, products that come from the USA are then re-sold in Canada. I did not know this, even though the Canadian consumer spends a lot of time consuming US products and content (media).

I won't give you an exact figure, but I invested over $10k in making the product, only to have no market to sell to.

You say that you don't know how to "interact" with BGG and I'm saying that you need to learn... All games that are on the market in some way, shape or form are on BGG and we search for them there. This is just one example.

For my 2nd game, I did a mixture between BOTH: Self-Publish and Publisher.

Basically I produced an Early Access version of the game on "The Game Crafter" (TGC) and had a crowd sale. I made $800+ from that sale...

Still not finished with the sale of the game, I searched for a Publisher. I was lucky enough to find people "interested" in my design. And they took the product to the "next level"... What this means is designing and managing a very professional Kickstarter. Handling the quotes, price points and relations with the manufacturer. Make arrangements for fulfillment and shipping (including freight from China)... etc. The list is very long for what the Publisher has done to bring this game to life.

So kudos to them and my sincerest thanks for their help in making the game a reality.

Having done BOTH, my personal advice is FIND a publisher. Don't think about money and shares and stuff... Think that gamers will have a game people enjoy playing and that is recognizable by more than your family members.

But it's your game and project... So best of luck(!?) to you.

ronaldespina
Offline
Joined: 06/29/2018
Publisher

As always Thank you very much Questccg for your time and help. I still have a lot things to talk (and learn) with Peter. When I launched my campaign on KS I thought I had everything ready for succeed but quickly I understood that I was wrong. And everyday I see more and more clear that Im still just crawling. I trust in a person like you who knows very well about this. But I still have a bunch of questions that I have to answer to myself. For example Some guys tells me its better for my game to be launched on KS. Others tells me its not the right choice for the type of game. What do you think I should choose.

Another question I have is where I can find those Publishers?

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
500 or less publishers to search

ronaldespina wrote:
...For example Some guys tells me its better for my game to be launched on KS. Others tells me its not the right choice for the type of game. What do you think I should choose.

I would in your particular case choose to find a Publisher. Why? There are many reasons. Firstly they can have a Graphic Designer who will make the KS page "Stunning" with artwork, separators (for sections), make it futuristic looking (Sci-Fi/Space feel) which will make the KS much more professional.

Next they will take care of quotes and manufacturing for you. You don't have to worry about "getting the best deal". In addition they will cover freight, fulfillment and shipping to backers... That can be a win/lose situation because those costs are HIGH and expensive. If you don't PLAN correctly, you will be short of monies.

They can HELP you write your "rulebook". Giving you a template from one of their games to help you with yours. That will still probably be one of your requirements: the Publisher will want YOU to write the rulebook and "how to play" this game of yours. But they may give you a "guide" about how to do that. You can say that this is a Family game and that you would need help writing the rules for an "abstract" game.

ronaldespina wrote:
Another question I have is where I can find those Publishers?

You should START HERE:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1009/abstract-strategy#linke...

This linked items has 794 pages with 10 items EACH. So 7,940 games that are considered "Abstract Strategy".

There is a LOT to "sift" through. Almost 8,000 games. EACH game has a Publisher... It's your job to MATCH the publisher and your game with maybe some kind of "similarity" but are NOT "Self-Published"...

It's a long and difficult TASK. BUT... The good news NOW is that there are potentially 8,000 publishers. Less because some have published MULTIPLE games.

IF you "Sort" by "Year Published" and "Category" by "Abstract Strategy" ... this will give you the MOST RECENT publications. Then you search through the page and RIGHT-CLICK on any game and select "Open in new Tab".

This will open up the game and you will be able to SEE the "Publisher(s)".

It's a LONG list of games. But IF you cover 2018 and 2017... That might be a good start. That's 50 pages so 500 game entries you can check and see the publishers, get their link or Google for their Website, etc. If you don't find their website, they are probably too small and therefore move on to the next publisher...

You said you didn't know how to USE BGG... We'll I'm telling you ALL the information YOU need is on BGG. 500 game entries to check and see what publisher made the game.

I would ask Peter if he can help you with a "SELL SHEET" for the Publisher... And ask him to help "formulate" an e-mail introducing you and your game to them. That would also be good too.

Cheers!

Update: Also IGNORE entries with "The Game Crafter LLC" that is the SAME as being "Self-Published"...

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Give you ONE (1) Example

On Page #3 (out of 794), there is a game called "3 Dimensional Chess". If you open this is a NEW tab, you'll see the "Publisher" is "Enjoyable Hour Products, Inc.", click on the Publisher and you will be brought to a page with the "EHP" logo. Scroll DOWN and now you will see 10 games that they have PUBLISHED. Good stuff... 3D Chess, Backgammon III, etc.

This might be a good candidate. But there is no website?! And when I Google, I find no website either.

So we CLICK on the IMAGE (EHP). and that will bring up the LOGO and it shows that the IMAGE was "uploaded by Erniepaul"... You've found the guy to contact... Now you can use BGG e-mail to send him a question regarding "Enjoyable Hour Products, Inc."

It's not going to be always easy to find the website or a PERSON to contact. But Googling or finding the LOGO uploader, etc. Will help you find the "best possible candidate" to publish your game.

In this case: https://boardgamegeek.com/user/Erniepaul

I don't know if he will be interested. But that's where Peter's help comes in... He should HELP you design a "Sell Sheet", take a cool picture of your Game Board with all the pieces, and explain the game in a short but clear mannor...

Peter can also help with the introductory "e-mail" too. How you should present yourself and ask this guy IF he is looking to publish another Abstract game... He's pretty SMALL as a publisher ... but he's got like 10 games... So maybe you can partner with him...

I don't know... just saying. You have about 500 entries to go through and figure out "who is the person" and check if they have a website, etc.

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
And be sure to...

"Feel the guy out"... See if he's giving you a fair deal... Would he be interested in a KS or not. Maybe he knows of other Publishers who might be interested...

The point I am trying to make is DON'T find ONE (1) Publisher and make a deal... Talk with several and be honest in the e-mail, you can say that you are contacting multiple Publishers because you "seriously" want to have your game "Published".

They will understand and take that into consideration too.

But definitely get Peter to help you with the "Sell Sheet" and "Intro e-mail". You'll want to seem as PROFESSIONAL as possible in that first contact.

Best of luck(!?) with your game...

questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Give you ANOTHER example

On Page #4, there is a game called "3 Man Chess". Right-Click to open in a New Tab and view the game's page. The Publisher is called "3 Man Chess". Click on the name and we see there is a WEBSITE: http://www.3manchess.com

From the website, there is a "Contact" and an E-MAIL: king@3manchess.com

And his name is "Clif King" (the designer). He's only produced ONE (1) Game but maybe you can get into a partnership with him and work together to Publisher YOUR game...

You'll have to see how "INTERESTED" the person is. Clif might be willing to invest in making a 2nd "Chess-Like" game... It fits HIS category.

These are JUST EXAMPLES but I'm showing you how you can "mine" BGG data to find a short-list of Publishers maybe like 10 should be enough...

Cheers Ronald.

Syndicate content


forum | by Dr. Radut