Hello again world :)

My day started out with a lot of writing.. writing about my newest game "Startups". While I was writing it suddenly hit me - "Is this really the best name for my game?"

To be honest I wasn't quite sure - though I've been going over this brainstorm so many times. In the end I came to the conclusion (again)... that Startups is a good name because it relates to the theme and mechanics of the game - but it's not without drawbacks.

So with this in mind I started this post - enjoy :)
 

A project's name
Every project has to start out with a name... a working title so to speak.
But you have to keep in mind - that it's a bit too easy to let your project's name convert into the name of your board game. This may happen if you run out of time and haven't really paid any attention to the fact that you're missing a name.

The importance of a name
Then.. as your project starts coming towards a conclusion the concerns about the "real" name comes back - "What am I going to call this board game?"

I think this is important - far too important to be concluded over a single brainstorm or the initial idea that triggered the game creation itself.
You have to find the right name for several reasons:

• You probably need a website with that specific name
• It will have to stick once it goes into production... no turning back there.
• Is it easy to pronounce?
• Does it work in text?
• Will it explain the game?
  

An example is my own game - Startups... it's easy to pronounce and you don't have to translate it... but as you can check for yourself the domain names are already taken. This wasn't a big problem for me because I wasn't going to sell the board game myself (see previous article about webshops).

But I ran into a different problem with my board game's name Startups - Which was the English grammar rules...
I don't pretend to know much about grammar I just hope that I spell correctly from time to time ;) But even I could see the problem with writing "Startups is" instead of "Startups are"... it sounds and looks wrong and will be a thorn in my eye until I launch my new game :D
 

Brainstorming - Name inspiration
When it comes to finding inspiration... going to www.boardgamegeek.com is always a lot of help - also when looking for names :)
Try looking for computer games with the same theme / game play as your board game. Just to get you started.

I usually start a good name brainstorm with dissecting my game... going through the mechanics, player situations and game pieces to see if I can find a good phrase or name.

• What would the players call themselves in my game? (ex. Conquers, Saviors or Bezzerwizzer)
• Does the game allow players to be trapped - provoking feelings? (ex. Prisoners, Escaping)
• Is there a strong theme or is the game set in a specific time period? (ex. Ancient China, Space Travel)
• Is the game about strategy, action, knowledge or money?
  

From here on - it's up to you.... what's catchy, what can you wrap around your tongue?

Looking forward to see your crazy suggestions out there in the stores - Happy gaming! :)

First thoughts on webshops
As you probably know if you've been trying to start a business before or have talked to any entrepreneurs over the last couple of years.. it's really easy and cheap to start a webshop.
But that being said... I would never recommend you to start your own webshop because you want to sell one board game.

It's REALLY hard work to get your webshop to actually sell anything! You need to use hundreds of hours SEO-ing your webshop, setting up Ad-words, social marketing stuff, maintaining the webshop itself.... yea, I could continue on in this fashion.
 
My experience tells me to find a webshop that's already running smoothly - and get them to sell my board game. In that way I can focus on what's important and fun for me - creating new board games :)
 

Find a webshop
It's extremely easy to find relevant webshops for your board game - well, they want to be found and Google is your friend ;)

Many webshops are managed by only a couple of people which makes it much easier to get directly in touch with the person deciding what things they want to sell - in contrary to many stores where it can be days before you reach a person in charge (not to mention franchise which can be even worse).

Remember
Another benefit with webshops are that they usually don't need the same percentage of a sale as a regular store. The simple fact that they don't have an expensive rent / shop window makes a difference. In general it's easier to get a beneficial deal for both sides.
 

Webshops selling your board game
One of the key issues here (no matter who's going to sell you game) is that you need to be able to sell the game yourself. If you can't sell it - how are they supposed to be able to sell it?

It's all about presentation - also on the web :)
Pictures, short and easy to read text, product thoroughly described.
There are many other subjects regarding the webshop itself about security, payment and so on.. but that's for the webshop owners to decide. 

Help them - and learn...
Always check up on their sales, visits etc. and be curious about it - you might learn some nifty things in the process.
Help them out as much as possible!

• Supply them with pictures and text (plenty of it)
  
• Information them about when you expect delivery
• How are you going to deal with complaints and broken items.
• Blog about the webshop, write about it on forums and Facebook.
• Make a "test" purchase and see if the purchase experience can be improved.

Remember
To celebrate the first sale... and the second... and third... and...! :)

If you want to see my board game in a webshop: Startups - IGCwebshop
Happy gaming out there! :)

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.

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 :)