Hello guys and girls, Today I’m going to talk about the colors of board game figures and what you should be aware of when choosing these for your own games. In my opinion choosing the right colors for your board game pieces is very important because they represent a big part of the board game experience. I'll try to take you through some of the factors that may affect your choice of colors for your components. Some of this may also rely on component details, shape and material - but I'll have to take that up in another post. 1) Realistic look? If you're going for a realistic look it's important to use colors that lie close to the real colors of the objects the board game pieces are portraying. A fine example of this are Axis & Allies and Memoir '44 that are using earth-like colors. They've struck a fine line between realism and “what's possible”, as we all know it would be impossible to play the game if all troops/pieces were wearing green camouflage, which of course would be preferred on most real battlefields ;-) 2) How many pieces and how easy are they to spot on the board? One other thing you also have to take into account is how many different colors you’re looking for. Yea, it may sound a bit odd when there’s so many colors to choose from, but you've to remember that some colors may also be heavily represented on the board itself which means it may not be wise to use them on figures as well. Remember The smaller the components get the harder it is to differentiate dark colors. 3) Patterns? So what about patterns on the components? This could be an option if you want colorblind people to have a fair chance playing your board game. This could also be a "easy" way to differentiate the components from one another and from other games in general.... Remember This would probably have to be done with stickers or an extra layer of paint in post production etc. - I haven't heard of any cost effecient ways of creating color patterns in molds. 4) Indie production? When doing indie board game production - there's usually one problem - money/funding! Therefore you might want to stick to the genuine colors like black, white, red, blue etc. which is produces “en mass” by most suppliers. Just remember that colors affect gameplay and therefore changing them might give you or solve problems - when people try to understanding your game. You can try to search the web for color studies and see what colors that match each other etc... There's only one way to go about colors - try them on for size! Until next time - Happy gaming :)
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As a business man or woman it's important to have your contact information available at all time. A business card is "of course" the answer - also for board game developers :) In this post I'll try to go through some business card examples for inspiration. Hopefully you'll never have to miss a business opportunity because people forgot about you. And don't stop here.... remember there are lots of blogs, pictures and inspiration to gather on the net about design of business card. Classic Business Cards Most of us can probably agree that the classic business card is a bit doll and doesn't really depict your creative skills. Never the less you need to have a business card that you can hand people leaving no questions how to get in contact with you and a classic version is easy and cheap to produce. Remember There's really no need to order 300 business cards from your printer just because you get a better price per unit. Think about the environment and where are you going to hand out 300 cards anyway? And what if you change contact informations next week? Create or order 50-70 cards at a time - then you'll spend them and your money wisely :) The classic with a twist Using common materials (like cardboard) and sizes (approximately: 8 x 5 cm) is a good base. You could then give it a theme that matches your work and attitude towards it. At the right you see the 3 business cards we used in the computer game company I worked in before I went for board game development. As you can see we portrayed our professional qualifications through a character card usually seen in a roleplaying game. The cards were created by my friend and former colleague August Hansen (prof: Illustrator) - www.geniusmalignus.com Different business cards For lack of better word - I'll call these cards different - because unique is such a buzzword with little meaning. These business cards doesn't really have to be cards as long as they have the relevant information and is easy to store away. No matter your creativity or brand - if your card isn't handy the reciever might just throw it away! Can you fulfill the two requirements - then "knock yourself out" There's really no limit for what's possible when it comes to creating different business cards. On the picture you can see I decided to use poker chips containing only 4 key informations - and these chips are very easy to put away in your wallet and so on. This "business card" is primarily connected to my first board game (Startups) and most people can recognize a poker chip. I hope this gave you some inspiration :) Until next time - Happy gaming! One of the key elements when producing your own board games is to have stable, good and honest suppliers. When you can't afford 1 big supplier creating 2000 finished board games ready for the stores, you'll have to devide your production into a more complex pipeline. There's no question this is the most expensive way creating board games in the long run, but while you're starting up and making your way to the board game stores - this may be the only way around it - if you don't have 20-30.000 dollars to start up on. Finding the right suppliers Finding suppliers who can and will handle small orders from you in the beginning is key to a good start on your board game production. You probably want to devide your board game production into a few categories like: - Print (cards, board, box print, rules, labels etc.) - Plastic / Wood pieces (figures, dice, tokens) - Misc (zip plastic bags, rubber bands) - Foam / holder (the foam, plastic or cardboard holder that keeps every in place in the box) - Game box (depends upon your needs but likely you'll have to find a company specialized in box making) Remember While you're producing a low quantity of games you can buy some things straight from local store, like zip plastic bags, rubber bands etc. which most suppliers only sell in thousands. It can be very time consuming task to find suppliers for each of your board game item but there's really no way around this one. But one thing you can do to shorten the time spend on each candidate - is to be very open and precise about what you need for your board game: - How many can you order of each item - How much can you pay at a time - What can you supply to them in terms of sketches, models, prototypes etc. - What do you exactly expects and in what quality And make sure to have plenty of documentation (measures, pictures, descriptions etc.) - the more you can tell the easier it is for a potential supplier to estimate if that is something they can do for you. Remember If a supplier says he or she can't deliver - don't be affraid to ask who of their competitors might be able to help you... most of the time people want to help and will give you some new leads to chase. Cooperation When you have found your suppliers - it's all about cooperation. You should always help them as much as possible through the proces. - Don't make them call or email you without answering - Paid their bills on time or better yet - before time! And do yourself a favor and spend some time on keeping your suppliers happy with a good and contructive dialog. Let them know how thankful you are for their work. Show them your final results when your board game is ready for sale :) Backup Even though it might seem unnessesary and a bit unfaithful towards your current suppliers - it's always good to formulate a backup plan including other suppliers. As long as you're a small customer in their eyes you'll sometimes have to wait until they have a free spot for you... or if one of their main clients need their complete attention for 2-3 weeks. In those cases it nice if you can go to another supplier - specially if it's the only missing part of your game. There's no fun in waiting one more month for 500 playing cards. That's all for now - hope you can use it :) and happy gaming! Finally - after so many hours developing, testing and producing - my first board game is out and ready to be ordered! You can order the game here My first board game "Startups" is a good school book example of game development. Startups wasn't the first game I developed or the first I had a final design on, nor was it the first I beta tested or tried to find investors for. But it was the first game that matched my economical limits and production capabilities with satisfying beta tests and my goals for a board game with a significant strategic perspective. The production of Startups has given me many new lessons learned that I'll be sharing with you in near future. Now it's all about getting the message out - Startups is a great game and a lot of fun! You can order it here on my website and feel free to help me spread the word of a new indie board game production... Happy gaming :) Hey guys, Now I want to talk a little about development while being on the move... As many propably already know - It's not easy to finance a living by creating board games which is why many people would stick to their jobs until their games prove worthy of a huge profit... or just keep board game development on a part/free-time scale. For me this is the very situation! Therefore I have to make the most of my sparetime... being able to develop on my board games while I'm on the go is essential for me to keep progress high. Here are a few pointers... 1) Notebook and pen This may seem sooo basically that it hurts your feelings - but it has to be said. If you're going on a train, bus or whatever... have it with you and start drawing, writing etc.. :) These days most people can afford a notebook (as in Laptop) but this may be a bit clumsy to carry around when you just want a few notes here and there and it doesn't really allow you the same "from the top of your mind" drawing.. which mean you may loose some of the creative inputs. And remember to place them on your night table before you go to bed. 2) Smartphone It sure makes your life easier when you have smartphone on you. It's very obviously why you should buy one of these as soon as you can afford it. - Take pictures of stores, board game and what have you. - Writing notes - Surfing for board game reviews - Present your new designs to your friends The list goes on... which is why the smartphone becomes a very essential part of your board game research when you're "in the field"! 3) Dropbox / Online Documents I would also recommend you to get a dropbox and/or some online document service. There are many way to approach this of course. You can set up your own servers, buy a regular web hotel somewhere or create a google account or the likes. The important thing is that you have some place online where you can put ideas/pictures/notes when you create them or by any means need them while you're on the go. These are the words for now - happy gaming until I see you here again :) Today I'm going to talk about the sizes of board game boxes. You might think that the box size doesn't matter as long as the pieces can fit inside. But if you don't have a buttomless wallet of money it does matter a great deal. Let me go through the different aspects that's affected by your choice of box size. 1) Where will your board game be placed in the stores? (a.k.a. "how many games of yours will be sold") Getting the right spot on the shelves in a store can mean the difference between "being sold out" or "being overlooked". You can compare it to Google Search results - it's all about being at the best spots where the most eyes look. The example on the left is average store in Denmark. The frame indicate where you want your board game to stand. This was confirmed by the sales data I got from the store concerning some of the games (propably because I know the owners). As you can also see on the picture - if your board game is too big or too difficult to handle it'll be place somewhere where it doesn't bother the setup (the floor or some high shelve where nobody can reach). Measures I measured some of the shelves in this store (they are standard equipment in most stores) and their average shelve height is about 28-30 cm. Which means that if you want to get a shelve spot your box shouldn't exceed 26-27 cm standing up. 2) Packaging / Postage - How much does it cost to wrap and send? Make sure that you take this into consideration so you avoid having to pay 3 or 4 dollars more for a package/delivery than you have to just because the box you choose is 1 cm too wide on one side. Remember that for every dollar you spend on a single game you have to charge between 2 or 3 dollars more for the game in the end. More expensive games are harder to sell. 3) Choosing standard boxes We all want to create unique products and therefore it might be tempting to also create an unique box. But in small numbers this is at least ten times as costly as going with a standard box size. For my first game - this meant I had to resize my board from 50 x 50 cm to 48 x 48 cm so it could fit into a 24 x 24 cm box. Not a big deal and in the beginning this is easy money to save. Other lessons learn Remember that the lid of the box has to enclose the entire box! If the lid is not deep enough the result is that the box will tilt over if place in a upright position... and you don't want to irritate your customers nor the shop keepers out there ;) If you like me have a game with content almost 2 kg heavy - you need a strong box - test it and test it again, it must not fail! Until next time - Happy gaming :) Hi everyone, On this blog - I'll share my experiences concerning playing and developing board games... The subjects will range from questions about board sizes and turn sequences to hands on experience with investor relations and entrepreneurship - everything related to board game development and production. I'll keep the blog updated on a regular basis, comment on as many posts as possible and reflect on both old and future blogs. Everything that may help you develop your own board game and get introduced to new board games as well. Feel free to comment on the blog and tell me about your experiences with board games or if you have any feedback - let me know. No matter the reason - you're always welcome to follow the blog and hopefully you'll get some free lessons learned and new inspiration :) Best regards Emil Larsen |
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