6 Truths about the Board Game Industry

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0:00 - 1. There is a culture of extreme consumerism and FOMO (fear of missing out) in the board game community
6:13 - 2. Designers kinda need to go to cons to meet and build relationships with publishers
8:44 - 3. Things move very slowly in this industry
10:38 - 4. Signing a contract does NOT guarantee that your game will be made
11:36 - 5. Your game’s success relies heavily on the marketing efforts from the publisher
12:58 - 6. Even if a designer gets multiple games published, they will most likely still need a day job

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[PamWallsGameDesign]

Today’s video is brought to you by my wonky glasses that have clearly been stepped on a few times 🤓

[jay.bendixen]

Really great video that’s covers so many important points. As a designer that also has a few games signed, I think you have hit the nail on the head on all your guidance. Thanks for your insight to your self reflection on your own personal journey with the consumerism side of the hobby - I can absolutely relate to the ‘buying more games to play more with my partner’.

[raymyers]

Number 1....swing it! YEESSSS! I get exactly what you are saying. However, I think that almost every gamer needs to 'realize' the why for themselves. For me...I got really sick and tired of shipping games OUT. I had no problem getting rid of games but the process of finding a buyer, getting it sold, packaging it up and taking it to the post office got REALLY old. I've done this enough that I kind of recognize the type of games that I would buy and then get rid of. The other thing I did was look at the frequency of how often I got to play and divide that into the number of games I have currently. Have 300 games and playing once per week: it would still take me almost SIX YEARS to play all my games once. That really opened my eyes to the 'time' aspect of this hobby.

[laartwork]

Because we are a niche in a niche we need collectors "extreme consumerism" to keep it alive until there is mass acceptance of board games.

[Greg_M]

Thank you for your candid sharing of your experiences with board game publishers. I come from the video game publishing side of the world, as a designer for 20 yrs and have worked in-house with several publishers. Everything you say fits that realm equally if not more. At the end of the day most game designers don't know what's really going on behind the scenes at a publishing house. The more details you get into the contract the better off you will be. And as you say, the advance on royalties is critical to protecting yourself from the downside if they don't deliver to your satisfaction. Publishers are famous for saying 'we can't do that' during negotiations, when in fact they could but they're trying to see how far they can take you down that rabbit hole of 'no'. Thanks again for sharing your insights.

[fleazapp]

I hear ya sister! I am a big supporter of everyone who talks about consumerism.
I also understood that people, including me, who buy a lot of games are just buying a feeling that will never fullfill. When I buy a game I imagine playing it and having a great time etc, but the reality is, everyone I know have the same thought and if I manage to play my game once in 12 months I'm lucky. Other feeling I was buying was comnected with FOMO and discounts. I was so opsessed with buying games for the best possible price, just for the sake of hunting, and being excited that I found a good deal. Again, no playing.

And part of the blame also goes to publishers. Too many products are released each year. Because of this games are becoming more and more recycled (gameplay, core idea) with adding more complexity or more expensive production to market it easier among casual players.

All this brought me to a point in which I don't want to buy anything, as I don't see a point in having anything that I don't plan to play weekly or monthly.

[marcosseven]

Great video.
I’m designing a game, that is a passion project and I want to self publish it and enjoy all the process.
I just love to be occupied with something that brings me so much fulfilment.
Learning graphic design. Learning mechanics, learning balance. Oh my! I love this.
So much so that I find myself bored with the idea of just hanging out with friends for the sake of it, lol .
Anyway. Have a nice one and stay awesome all the way!

[levimote]

Great video!
That rush from punching cardboard is still a powerful thing for me, lol
My goal now is to keep my collection to 100

[boardgamedesignsa]

Thanks for the share! It's good that you are keeping in real with us who watch as I think some designers have these massive ideas of how things will play out and realizing the truth!
Saying that, who doesn't like to dream big... your game advertised over the huge NYC billboards for the world to see! Those brand ambassadors from CK or Dior posing with your game in hand on a massive lit screen... YES PLEASE!😁

[padmewan]

On the last few points, designers need to understand that the physical board game market is a fraction, revenue and profit wise, of the digital market. There are absolutely full time jobs over on the other side where margins are simply different

[AdamBuckingham]

Thanks for this video. I have firsthand experience with all of your points. It's good for new designers to come in with eyes open.

[ProfBoggs]

I've never thought about board games as a form of conspicuous consumption.

I really appreciate how you spell out the division of labor in the industry from the eyes of a designer. In many ways, this sounds like book publishing!

Does GAMA still run conventions? Or even exist?

[origenward]

Though I don't doubt that there is some extreme consumerism going on, I do sympathize with the want to snag good deals when the opportunity arises regarding one's personal wishlists they may have been stewing on for some time. Game cons happen to be great places to do that from what I've seen, including used sales.

Buying in bulk, in some instances, can be thought of as a hedge against having to pay raised prices, on the secondary market, for games that have been out of print, or are just generally more expensive.

Also, I don't want to presume that in any instance there might 'not' be someone who just happened to save up for this "day" whereas otherwise they don't make many purchases, if any.

Again, I dont doubt that there is extremism out there and perhaps it can be unhealthy but if it makes them happy then maybe it isnt unhealthy. Also as a designer myself, and with my appreciation for this industry to continue to grow, I can't help but wonder if it's better to just live and let live.

...my opinion

[terryH]

thanks for your candid insight 😊 best of luck to your projects

[ericimagines]

As a self-publisher / experience designer, it's awesome to focus on enjoying events with others, building community and creating indie games using tried and true principles. It's gonna be interesting to see how the big game publishers do over the coming years. Publishing is changing. (I.E - Books) Thanks for this video, many great points Pam!

[bradandrews]

Yes FOMO is an issue and concern but keep in mind that you won't keep getting paid to design games if people don't buy them.

I am purging my very large collection now since I am finally past the collecting bug, at least to a point. I will probably do another couple purges later on but that will also mean I buy many fewer (if any) games and the need for designing things to sell me may go away!

[tommykerbow]

Congrats on the video and the shoutout from Jamie Stegmaier!

[CBs_Bill_from_Montana]

I’d really like to talk to someone about board game design that has true experience like you do.

I have a couple of friends that are about to make bad decisions designing a game but they won’t listen to reason. They are so new to it that they just don’t understand.

I keep telling them to just give it at least a 1, 000 hours before releasing it but they don’t listen. They could make money but can’t see the whole picture.

Any suggestions?

Edit: I just saw you can take an appointment. I’ll go that route! Thank you!!

Re Edit: this is literally the best video I’ve ever seen on board game design. No fluff, no commercials, no music, just facts. I love YouTube!!

[axfanben]

Love your perspective on these topics. Thanks for the tips!

[patatedestenebres]

Hi Pam! It's funny, I also went through this process a few years ago, even trying to reduce the number of games in my home to 50! Ultimately, it's more than enough, and doing reviews, publishers send me a lot of games, which allows me to run this collection.