So Shem has posted a mockup of The Anarchy layout on Boardgamegeek which is rather exciting.
Also, Arkus have announced that they’ll be unveiling the game I’ve been working on with them at Wellycon this year.
Last month, I was invited back onto the Boardgame BBQ podcast, and had a fantastic chat with the team. If you’re keen, you can listen to it below.
Yes, yes. Another very delayed post. As always, my lack of updates wasn’t due to the inactivity on the game design front. Quite the opposite in fact. Since my previous post, The Anarchy has gone through a ton of changes and improvements. The pre-production copy of the game turned up last week just before our design retreat in Ohakune. Once again, Sam Phillips has done an outstanding job.
The Game Artisans of New Zealand have been growing. This year we were 26 strong at our retreat. An amazing weekend with some great people and some really clever designs. Can’t wait to see them on the shelves.
But Anarchy wasn’t the only game I’ve been working on over the last year. Arkus games approached me at the end of 2022 with an IP they thought I could do something with. I believe orginally Paul and Nicola (the directors) were thinking of a roll-and-write but the design has become something completely different, which has been a refreshing change. They announced my involvement at the beginning of this year.
I can’t say a huge amount at the moment, other than working with Wayne Barlowe has been fantastic. His art and world-building are incredible. I’m having a lot of fun.
Check out his portfolio here. https://waynebarlowe.com/
I’ll promise to jump back on when I can share more details of both projects!
Apologies, I have been lax in keeping up with this blog. This is mainly for two reasons; firstly, I don’t think I’ve anything that earth-shattering to share, and secondly, board game design takes an exceedingly long time to produce anything worthwhile.
However, I haven’t been resting on my laurels. Over the past year, I designed the follow-up to Hadrian’s Wall which Garphill Games will be publishing come the end of the year, which is all very exciting.
‘The Anarchy’ (working title) being playtested at a design retreat earlier this year.
Also, another local publisher has asked me to work on a design within an IP they manage. This has been a unique experience, creating in a space where the theme hasn’t been spawned from my own head. Hopefully, more news on that in the coming months.
And I’m going to GenCon again this year! Can’t wait.
I’ll endeavor to add more stuff here when it becomes relevant and available.
So Hadrian’s Wall has finally landed on people’s game tables over the last month or two and it’s been received well, which has been awesome to see. It’s the fruition of a lot of hard work, not only by me, but also by Shem and Sam.
I was interviewed by Jim at What Board Games a couple of weeks back. It was a good time to reflect on the journey so far…
I picked up my first copy of Hadrian’s Wall from Shem a couple of days ago. It’s become a reality! Couldn’t be more happy. Sam’s done an amazing job on the artwork, it’s all come out really well. I’ll be following Shem’s lead over the coming months regarding the marketing so I’ll be posting more as it becomes available. Exciting times!
So the last year has been taken up with designing a roll and write. I’ve got plenty of pictures to post but good news/bad news, I can’t at the moment as the game is being published by a third party. Once I get clearance nearer the release date, I’ll add some details. However, it’s exciting stuff! The link to the bgg page is below. It’s pretty sparse at the the moment, but more information will be added in the near future.
So the last 6 months I’ve been working on a few different games. One that I’ve been having a lot of fun with is a new roll and write. I’m happy to say that I’ve signed up with Garphill Games this week to get it published. I can’t say too much about it at the moment but as details get released, I’ll be sure to post here.
So the last few months have been productive. Now free of the shackles of a kickstarter campaign, I’ve now managed to get back to designing, which has been awesome. The Colour of Light has really taken shape. It’s nearing a finished game, and I’m in the final phase of tweaking, which can actually take a while!
I’ve had a few more ideas for other games too. I’ve been getting into ‘Roll and Writes’ recently and one particular design has lent itself to that idea, so I’ve been following up on that. Again it’s taking shape, the layout of the sheets have been one of the major components of getting the game right.
There are a couple of more I’m keen to work on but time is always at a premium so it’s just a case of prioritising.
I’m off to a design retreat for NZ games designers in October so the plan is to get as many prototypes in a working state before then. Really looking forward to it.
And I’ll try to be a bit more regular with the updates going forward.
So after licking my wounds are the campaign, I’ve spent the last few months looking at other avenues to get Mech Force published. I’ve reached out to a number of publishing companies. Some have replied, one even playtested, and although the feedback was good, they’re unfortunately not going to move forward with it. But I’m undeterred. There’s a few more companies I’m contacting, so keep your fingers crossed.
I’ve also got The Road Crew with another publisher. Hopefully I should get some feedback soon…
Unfortunately the Kickstarter campaign was not a success. I captured my thoughts and reflections below.
'Do you want to be a designer or a publisher? Because they are two entirely different things.' This was the question posed to me by a publisher at last year's Gencon. Although I thought I understood the question at the time, it really didn't hit home until the beginning of March this year, as I was staring at a net gain of 0 pledges on day 3 of my Kickstarter campaign...
Consider this a gift to you and a cathartic exercise for me. Hopefully you won't make the same mistakes as I did.
A bit of background, I've been messing around with games all my life, but I've been seriously designing for the last 3 years. I can't tell you when I decided to Kickstart 'Mech Force', but it has been my focus and goal for the last year to get it to launch.
By the end of last year, the game was complete, the final art had been finished, and loads of playtesting had been carried out. (including a trip to the US, and into the First Exposure Playtest Hall at Gencon) So I began to prepare for launch in March. (Roughly five months away at that point.)
I'm going to cover what I think I did wrong, and what I would do differently next time. And please note, what follows shouldn't be new information to most of you. I've read it multiple times on a number of different forums and blogs, including this one. However, it all seemed a little abstract until I started going through it myself...
1 - The game is way too big.
Certainly for a first timer. The amount of money I was asking for was far beyond any other kickstarter released on the same day (more on that later).
Mech Force has a lot of dice, which weighs a box down, and one of the main problems with making a weighty game, beyond the manufacturing cost, is the shipping cost.
I wasn't aware until very late in the day that there are 3 parts to shipping; The manufacturer to the ports, the ports to the fulfillment centres, and the fulfillment centres to the backers. (There were multiple fulfillment centres as I was planning to ship worldwide.) Those costs have to be rolled into the shipping cost or the unit pledge if I had a hope of at least coming out even. So having a weighty game, effectively pushes the cost up 3 times. Which, as I said, is a tall ask for a first timer.
I estimated that I could shift 500 units. Bearing in mind, that most manufacturers make a minimum order of 1500, so those 'extra' unit costs need to be soaked up in the unit pledge, again making the game more expensive.
2 - I didn't have a 'Community'
Developing a community around a game is hard. Honestly, to make an impact, I think you need to be face-to-face with people. They need to see the game in the flesh, and see the designer too to develop a relationship. That requires going to conventions and hobby stores etc.
Developing a community requires selling a product, and it feels far removed from designing. Being somewhat shy, this aspect has been difficult, I won't lie.
Another aspect of this is living in New Zealand. Our big cons get around 1000 people over 2 days, so building a community here is tricky.
3 - Incorrect Marketing
I spent money on Facebook ads, but I can't really say they helped. 350,000 hits do not equate to likes. Likes do not equate to page hits, and page hits do not equate to pledges.
Facebook groups, although useful in getting the word out regarding games, can get lost in the noise of all the other games. Plus, there are a lot more gamers out there who learn about new games in completely different ways to Facebook. (websites, blogs, podcasts, videos etc.)
I managed to get 2 previews for the KS page from respected review sites. One of them was released nearly a week before. The reviewer did mention that next time, it would be better to release the video at the start of the campaign so interested viewers had something to see, otherwise it would fade from memory quickly. However, without sorting out problem 2, (see above) I don't think it would have made a huge difference.
One video I had to write one off due to the quality. Although I didn't pay for that one, shipping, time and one of my prototypes was chewed up in the process.
It's not that the number of videos on the Kickstarter page give the campaign credence, it's the audiences that those review sites bring. Good ones (generally) cost money and they have a queue so I should have started the 'contact' process out a lot sooner.
Also, there were around 30 games released on the same day, and an 'event' game released the following day. That's a lot of games vying for attention. I should have possibly checked the release schedule and chosen a different date. However, this industry of ours isn't getting any smaller so every week brings new goodies.
4 - Trying to do everything by myself
If this process has taught me one thing, is that I cannot do everything. I have limitations and I may have to face the fact I am not a publisher. Indeed, in the last 5 months, although I've learned a lot, I haven't done any design work at all, and that's been one of my biggest concerns.
So coming back full circle; am I a designer, or am I a publisher? Probably the former.
Board games are an art form, and like all art, they're best shared. However, the process of sharing beyond workshops and gaming groups may be a task for someone else.
However, that doesn't mean I've given up on Mech Force. It's a great game. There may be other means of getting it to tables, and that's what I'm working on now. And I'm sure that will bring its own set of challenges...
If designing was a place, currently it would be a desert, tumbleweeds blowing across the empty landscape. I spoke to a publisher at GenCon last year who said to me, ‘Do you want to be a Designer or a Publisher? Because they are two different things.’
He wasn’t wrong. Although the publishing process of Mech Force has been creative in it’s own way, there’s been little opportunity to get my other designs to the table, which is a shame as I’ve got a fountain of ideas pouring out of my head.
So yep, there’s part of me that’s looking forward to getting to the other side of the campaign so I can get back to cutting and sticking again.
Invariably, the busier I get, the less I tend to update this blog. And the last few months have been no exception. It’s been a long road to get to this point, but I’m finally going live with Mech Force on March 5th.
Publishing has been a completely different experience to designing. I’ve has to learn a lot more of the Adobe suite for one thing. Making a Kickstarter video has been rewarding but taken a while, as has the Kickstarter page itself. Again, Shem has been an absolute legend. It’s been amazing to have a mate who’s a KS ‘veteran’ close by to bounce questions and concerns off of.
So 3 weeks to go, and fingers crossed. Everything seems to be moving along okay. I have a few outstanding things to take care off, namely review sites and confirming pricing for the logistics, but it’s happening. It’s really happening…
Wow, I said to myself a year ago, I would try to update my blog once a week. How slack I’ve been. It’s not due to laziness. On the contrary, the total opposite. Focus has been elsewhere…
I’ve been in contact with Longpack a lot. We’ve been back and forth, trying to get the unit cost down. Another piece of invaluable advice from Shem was to stage the campaign. Going with a minimum viable product and then build up to the ‘perfect’ game, so that’s what I’ve done. Start with cutting down on some of the pieces. Go with cardboard tokens instead of wooden. Printed dice instead of engraved etc.
I think I’ve got a reasonable handle on the amount I’ll be charging per box, as well as the stretch goals I need to put in place.
Panda have still yet to get back to me…
For my own piece of mind, I’ve gone to another couple of companies to get a comparison cost. Hopefully they should be getting back to me within the next week.
What’s next?
1 - there’s some final pieces of art to come from Eddie: The new Kaiju set, the card backing for the personal goals and the new skill card pictures. That (he said) should be it on the artwork front.
2 - Review of the rulebook. It’s taken about 6 weeks to get a version which I’m happy with. A friend from across the pond, Ben, reviewed it without ever playing the game which was so helpful. The game has been part of me for over 2 years now, so perspective can be a problem. He gave me 11 pages of notes! Legend.
3 - I need playtesting of the blind variety to play the game when I’m not in the room. This will be a true test of how good the rulebook is. I have a mate who’s putting his hand up for that. (Thanks Sam) I’ll be looking for some more random strangers too before…
4 - I need reviews of some kind which is going to be a little more difficult. I’ve ordered some more parts to make a couple more prototypes to be able to send round. Back to printing and sticking.
5 - Marketing. Now there’s a black hole…
So, if I look behind me, I’ve traveled further than what’s in front of me, but the journey is not over by a long shot.
Onward!
So it’s begun. I’ve started to contact the manufacturers to get an idea of unit cost. Longpack have been pretty good so far; 3 emails today. Panda have yet to get in contact but it was a Chinese holiday last week so that’s to be expected. It’s going to be interesting. Frankly, I’m a little worried about the cost of the dice, but we’ll have to see what they come back with. Fingers crossed, it’s not too pricey….
I received the written feedback from the First Exposure test hall this week. All pretty positive, which is awesome!.
The travel was worth it, even the arduous task of geting through LA airport. Gencon was awesome. 4 days of gaming, some really good playtesting of Mech Force and meeting some lovely people.
Feedback of Mech Force was positive. Some more tweaks to come (which I'll discuss in another post).
Well it's been a long time coming but I'm now ready to depart the fair shores on New Zealand and make the 30 hour trip to Indianapolis. Prototypes are finished (as they'll ever be) and in the suitcase.
See you on the other side!
Gencon is just around the corner and I've been spending the last month furiously getting the 'final' print files together. Eddie's finished off all the artwork and it's looking awesome.
The bespoke dice have turned up from Board Game Maker and they look the part.
Furiously trying to get a near final print of the game for Wellycon at the weekend. Eddie's finished all of the mod parts and they look amazing!
Seems crazy, but after nearly 2 years and hundreds of hours, I still feel a bit of a fraud calling myself a games designer. However, if I hope to get any of my prototypes on the shelf in a game shop, I need to start talking the talk.
Big step is getting business cards printed...
