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Feedback and Next Steps

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Sun, 01/08/2012 - 22:18
Gideonbob
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Hello Designers.

So, some of you might have read previous posts of mine about Wind Power, https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/wind-power. I did the design, got the art done, got it up on TGC and now... I am stuck. I am aware of future possibilities like Kickstarter or maybe finding a publisher, but from what I've read it seems like you need some amount of success to do those things successfully. Need money to make money sort of situation, and I'm feeling broke.

Has anyone had success generating buzz on BGG or TGC? Getting the first couple folks to try out a game? My friends and family have obliged, but I am running out of ideas fast to get past that into the first adopters world.

For those of you who have seen my posts or even visited the Gamecrafter or BGG page, I would very much appreciate feedback on elements that failed to get your attention. Does the game seem uninteresting? Are my descriptions uninteresting? I have thus far only heard good things about the art, which i thought was key to generating that buzz, but thus far, very little.

Oh, and I did send a copy to the Dice Tower to hopefully (fingers-crossed) get a review or a mention. But if anyone has suggestions for other reviewers to send a copy to, I am all ears.

Thanks guys!
-Gideon

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Mon, 01/09/2012 - 08:19
#1
JaffetC
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you might want to send one to

you might want to send one to Board to Death... they are pretty good with their reviews.

besides that, to tell you the truth, its hard man... just keep at it and dont give up. IF you are proud of your game then keep at it...

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Mon, 01/09/2012 - 11:30
#2
Cogentesque
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Hiya gideon! Right, so now

Hiya gideon!

Right, so now you have made your game, you cease to be a game designer. Now you are a marketing agent! Booya! lol

My IRL job is a marketing coordinator so I can speak with a little authority on the matter.

So now you need your new direction. Before it was "Make a game called winpower" you've done that. Now you need a new direction. It will more than likely be:

"Get Kickstarter funding to sell a load of games"
"Go after a publishing house and hand the game over to them"
"Sell a load of copies of the game on your own"

you need to know what you want to do - what your goal is.

From reading your post I assume it is "sell some copies". If this is the case, you need to make people aware of your game, where they can buy it and what good value it is.

In it's simplest form:
1. I have made a game
2. You can buy it on gamecrafter
3. It's really fun and cheap

in a more complicated form
1. BGG Ads, send out review copies to all the big guys (Drakkenstrike, Dice tower etc), go to cons and demo your product - take about 100 copies to try and sell on the day, make posts around bgg alerting people who would like your game to its presence (family players, light games fans etc), perhaps get some kind of tie-in with the actual eco-wind industry and try and get someone to endorse it, ask your friends and families to help you sell the game, try and get a reseller on board "I will pay you $X for every unit you sell"

2.Gamecrafter is where it can be found now. What does that mean about your game? Does it mean its a good game, high quality components, from a trusted studio? Give indy a chance? Should you try and set up an amazon reseller account (which apprantly is actually quite easy to do) as much more of the boardgame purchase market is there? should you sell it at cons, should you sell it at local game meet ups? should you try and get your flgs to buy copies to sell on (this would need to be at approx 50% RRP discount)

3. Send it out for boardgame awards, artisans of canada, local prizes, internationl prizes, mensa select, bgg golden geek nominee. Add more stuff to the game to make it better value? Release expansions? Get it endorsed by big names "Well Vassal said it's good, so it must be good!" get it highly rated on bgg and boardgameinfo and amazon 5 stars etc etc etc.

etc.

etc.

haha! Well that was the "scarriest" I could make it. Long and the short of it: You need a goal. Write that goal down, stick it up and work towards it. A nice starting point would be

"I want to sell 10 copies of my game and get it rated 5 times on BGG"

Then work towards that. How would you sell 10 copies? Well start with family and friends and local game groups perhaps? Perhaps ask some guys here or on bgg if they would like to buy it? Invite them to the game perhaps? And getting it rated 5 times - take it to local meet ups, ask people to play it and rate it on bgg/boardgame info.

Then once you have done that, new goal. Then once you have done that goal - new goal still!

remember the goal ALSO can include "Get Wind Power taken up by a publishing company" in which case their is a whole set of other things you need to do but all of them, are quite possible - you just need the resources and the work. Resources are here, the internet, and bgg and the work is you :)

Bloody best of luck man!

hope ive helped

sam

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Mon, 01/09/2012 - 11:31
#3
Cogentesque
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Also there is the Kickstarter

Also there is the Kickstarter route btw, this is essentially "Become your own publisher" and from what I understand is essentially the hardest choice to do ^^ hehe!

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Mon, 01/09/2012 - 21:26
#4
Gideonbob
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Good ideas

Thanks guys. Sam, that was extensive and very helpful.

Some of those ideas have been flitting in my mind (like looking into actual wind power companies to sponsor the game), but it's tough to tell what's a pipe dream, what's a waste of time, and what's a solid idea. Good to see I'm not crazy or alone with some of those ideas, and even better to see some new ones.

I didn't know about Board to Death, and a lot of the other groups you guys mentioned. I guess it is mostly gumption at this point.

My other big conundrum is printing. The idea of bringing 100 copies to a con would be great if i could afford to print 100 copies at TGC prices. Alas, that is currently impossible. Yet switching to a different printer means printing at least 1000, and that's even more money, though much less per deck. I've tried to read a lot about this issue, and it seems one without resolution. Or, without one that requires 4-5 thousand dollars.

Any other ideas are greatly appreciated! On the game or the business.
-Gideon

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