Games Play UK - My Game

Heya Grabbit44!

Well, I know little of games play UK myself, but if I were to judge them entirely from their website, (being a webdesigner myself) I would say that they are a scrappy company that does half measures, tries to use a lot of gloss but even the gloss seems to be stuck in the past somehow.

I am grieved to be the bearer of bad news, but in all honesty I believe that any money you paid them is essentially lost. I know of no games that they have on their list. In coming to this forum and asking people to look at your game (and in honesty; you didn't even provide a link, I had to find it on my own!) you may well have had more people look at your game than ever before!

The actual game though I am still in the dark about? Tell us about the rules succinctly and simply:

Is it "pick a bird card, then grab the corresponding coloured egg" ?

Because that sounds like a very simple game that may do well as a tie-in with a different franchise (eg your cartoon network thing) but I am not sure it is "deep" enough, even for a kids game for the hobby game or the mature game market.

Have you played many modern or hobby games before? If I say "Settlers of catan", "Stoneage", "Aquire", "Magic the Gathering" - do any of these resonate with you? Please understand that I am not trying to cause offence at all, I am trying to find out where you are in respect to modern games and then help you from there.

To Sum:

1. I am sorry to say that money invested into them will be, (from what I can see) at the best - very hard to get back

2. Tell us more about your game design and where you see it fits in the boardgame industry, and how you got to that conclusion

Hope I've helped man,

sam

I think your game sounds really good - simple mechanics, a touch of mystery, no round play down time and a mad scramble.

The Games UK site struck me as being far less than impressive. The site itself was clunky with far to much information and very slow loading due to poor optomisation (I stressed my own system to get an idea of how it would load on slower computers).

The wait until it loads game list display was a very poor idea. Your game was the last in the list and I would have given up long before I got to it under normal conditions. Oh, and how much does the game cost or is it available trade only?

The descriptions of all the games where very brief, giving me very little incentive to buy - I'm not going to buy a game unless I know what the general gameplay is about and what mechanics are involved. Your previous description told me all of that in a short space and it made the game sound much more appealing.

More troubling is the huge game list they have. Can they really give maximum promotion to all those games?

Personally, I think your game would make a very good family filler - high interaction, little strategic depth making it suitable for all ages, and quick to play. Given the right promotion and distribution it could sell reasonably well. I couldnt really get a fix on the quality of the components and artwork - the singular picture was small and there wasnt a zoom option.

I would have probably packaged it differently to catch the eye - wooden eggs, quality cards, a box shaped like an egg out of molded recycled newspaper pulp (more environmentally friendly than thermoformed plastic, smooth finish nowadays and choice of colours). In two sections - with the base holding the 6 eggs surrounding the card deck etc). And I would do away with the game board since it seems to do little in respect to the game - while requiring a bigger box.

If having your game with Game UK isnt costing you anything I would leave it with them while you recharge your batteries - and if sales happen then great. If sales are very low I would look towards a re-theme and re-release with another publisher - depending upon the licensing contract you signed with games UK.

Hi Grabbit44,

I can't see where Games Play UK has much, if any, stake in the games it promotes so it doesn't surprise me that they have so many games available (eventually, one of them may hit!). The representation for your game that they provide to a publisher or distributor could be valuable, but it's very difficult to say how much representation your game is getting. I almost felt like a publisher shopping their website for a game I could license and publish...

If I can ask, how tight is your contract with them? Does it expire? Can you back out at will?

Depending on the terms of the contract, you may be able to continue searching for a publisher on your own, or self publish; on the other hand, a tight contract may prevent you from doing anything that advertises the game.

Your game does look viable - keep pushing for attention!