A Board Game Publisher’s Guide to TikTok
I have a modest TikTok with about 1,500 followers. While most of my videos get ~300-400 views, occasionally one will break out with a few thousand, and I have one viral 1.9 million view video.
TikTok is an excellent place for publishers – especially indie publishers – to connect with gamers and build community.
Here’s my guide to the platform.
Special thanks to Jude at Heart of the Deernicorn, Kervin at For Why Games and Alice at FamBam Games (who are more successful than me on TikTok) for sanity checking this article and providing their insights.
Understanding TikTok and the Algorithm
TikTok is a social media video platform. Users upload short videos, and an algorithm shows those videos to other platform users who have shown interest in similar content.
Many social media platforms, like Instagram or Facebook, focus on showing content within a user’s existing network. That is, on Facebook I’ll see my friends’ posts, but won’t see a lot of non-friend content unless it is paid advertising or my friends interacted with it.
TikTok on the other hand is focused on discoverability, and can show content broadly outside of your immediate network. It is a great place to grow an audience.
I think of tabletop tiktok as having multiple audiences (influencers, established fans, new fans / people new to tabletop, and other board game publishers + designers). I notice that some accounts lean more into creating content for one audience. – Jude Heart of the Deernicorn
TikTok’s algorithm isn’t a static thing – but across implementations a few key traits hold.
TikTok will initially show your video to a small sample of people. The size of, and who is in that sample will be driven by your audience, the tags you use, whether you stitched or dueted content, and the sound.
Based on interaction – views to completion, comments, and likes – the algorithm will either let your video fizzle out… or promote it more broadly.
That is, while having a high follower count improves visibility – it is the content that is most important. You can go to very popular creators’ pages and see a vast range of performance on their videos. And even a tiny account like mine can hit a nerve with a 1.9m view video.
This also means, that if you are creating marketing content, it has to be engaging, and you cannot rely on having built an audience with other non-related content.
A Cautionary Tale on Targeting
During the Nut Hunt Kickstarter campaign, a TikToker with just shy of one million followers, reached out to me for cross promotion and to ask for advice on growing their own, struggling Kickstarter campaign.
She has a popular kids targeted TikTok with videos on topics like making fake edible used Q-tips out of marshmallow and peanut butter, or lipstick out of Crayola crayons.
Her Kickstarter was for an educational card game which ultimately funded with the help of about 100 backers.
A few things seem to have gone wrong.
Her product videos performed meaningfully worse than her general content.
While her channel is targeted at children, her educational game is more exciting for parents. She didn’t do a good enough job selling her audience that they needed it, so that they would go out and bug their parents to buy it.
Community Building
In my opinion the greatest strength of the board game side of TikTok is the community, and the ability as creators to build community.
While videos on TikTok get shown outside of your immediate community, they first get shown to other users who have shown interest in either your content, or content like yours. What this means is that there is a community on TikTok of board game designers, and board game content creators.
And, the app can be a very personal space.
It feels more personal than a lot of other social media. Videos are short, often personable, and relatively low stakes.
I’ve created not just a community through the platform, but legitimate friendships through interacting in comment sections, with video replies, and ultimately transitioned some of those friendships off of the platform.
We have a healthy board game TikTok Discord server, where we talk design and play games virtually.
And, I and other creators have leveraged the app for good effect in getting to play our games. For instance, with Nut Hunt, I hosted a series of games challenging other content creators. It was a fun way to get the community involved, and had encouraged a healthy amount of banter.
It is one of the best most personal platforms for getting to know your community.
A Note on Content
A lot of people think of TikTok as a bizarre world of face zooming and viral dances. And while some content creators do well with that kind of content, for the most part it is a diverse space, where your personal algorithm will segment you down to content that you enjoy.
My feed has a lot of board game content, comedians, and food.
A broad range of kinds of content can do well on TikTok. And, the more personal content is often what will drive a more powerful resonance with your audience.
This is Kervin (@forwhygames)
His content is exclusively conversational. It has low production value. But he is personable, and his content resonates…. it feels like you’re talking to a friend.
This is Alex (@might.i.suggest.a.game)
He has a relatively new, and fast growing channel. His content is well produced, and is a mix of viral sounds, sketches, and board game review content.
Both are successful. And, it’s important to find what works for you and fits your personality as a creator.
But, to get you started – in a classic case of do as I say… - here are some best practices:
Good lighting goes a long way
Making on trend videos will get you more views
Board game review content tends to have broader reach than design and publishing content
You need a hook in the first couple of seconds
Content should be either educational, or entertaining (or both)
Success Stories
FamBam Games - Alice & Jessica (@fambamgames)
A large portion of sisters Alice & Jessica’s Fam Bam content is lip-synching over viral (and not so viral sounds). But they make it relatable, and on brand.
They have 3.3k followers, and while most of their videos net a couple hundred views, they have a couple that have broken out into the 100s of thousands or even a couple million view range.
Most of our viral videos include something about popular games (such as Catan, Monopoly), controversial board game topics (such as Card Against Humanity being not as enjoyable - because people will create discussions and leave comments on the video - leading to higher engagement), and common game night issues (such as having to read a rulebook or finding people to play together etc)! - Alice
This approach translated to success with their Not So Neighborly Kickstarter which raised $115k from 2,529 backers.
I believe the vast majority of their marketing was organic and mostly through TikTok. Their campaign also demonstrated an atypical funding curve with growth in daily funding through the back half of their campaign.
Heart of the Deernicorn – Jude (@deernicorn)
Jude runs the Deernicorn TikTok account with a mix of direct personal conversations, behind the scenes workshop tours, and voiceovers about their products.
I’ve been pursuing a more sales focused strategy lately of just showing off and talking about our games, and yes we’ve done REALLY well with sales . We consistently sell out of games that we feature on TikTok and have reached a huge new audience of customers that are predominantly young women, which is really different from the usual tabletop demographic. - Jude
What is really striking about the account is their masterful use of sound and music. It creates an emotional resonance, and is perfectly coupled with their welcoming product shots, and Jude’s personal touch.
What’s your favorite content on TikTok?
