As Seen on the Forums

Today’s article is a little different than my normal fare. I wanted to talk a little about recent posts I’ve seen around the design & publishing forums on Facebook & Reddit.

What Makes a Game Addictive?

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about player motivating factors (psychographics). Some players live for crunchy strategy, some prefer immersion, some hate take-that mechanisms, and some absolutely love backstabbing their friends.

There are plenty of ways for a game not to work – clunky or incongruent gameplay, too many non-decisions, finicky rules, etc.

But defining what makes a game great is a lot harder. After all, the same element that makes a game great for one player, will make it unplayable for another.

That said, I think that all the greatest and most addicting games share one common trait: they don’t overstay their welcome.

They have a common refrain of if I had one more round I would… This is their biggest strength. They don’t overstay their welcome, and that is why we go back time and time again.

Is This a Scam?

We all get messages like this from time to time. After talking with more established publishers, my gut is that they usually are not scams.

The global market is hard to navigate. Language, and time zones, and customs, but mostly language get in the way. There are many smaller manufacturers in China, and in fact most newer publishers have a misunderstanding of how the manufacturing ecosystem actually works (I know I did).

These messages are most often, most likely, good faith efforts by smaller manufacturers to make connections and build their books.

But, that doesn’t mean that they are a good manufacturer for you to work with. One of the biggest risks for an indie publisher is sub-standard manufacturing leaving a bad taste with your consumers. Beyond that, ease of communication is vital.

If you have the bandwidth to perform due diligence on cold queries, you may be able to find high-quality and well-priced manufacturers. But, performing that due diligence is difficult.

My strategy for finding manufacture was to use this list: Board Game Manufacturers. I RFQ’d a solid number of well-regarded shops, and reference checked our top quotes.

We are using Meijia for manufacture for Nut Hunt. They are well priced, communicative, and have an excellent reputation and well-regarded client list.

Can You Build an Audience on Design Forums?

I have repeatedly heard advice that designers should share their process and art on design forums as a form of marketing.

I think the advice is misguided.

Board game design forums are not your target audience.

I encourage all designers to hang out on the forums, to share their art and their process. But the strength of design forums is not as a marketing tool. The strength of the forums is that they are a place for us to learn, to find community, to support each other and to make connections.

Sure, you might sell a couple of games to friends you met on the forums – but it will and should be an extremely small portion of your overall audience.

What common advice do you see on design or publishing forums that isn’t a good fit for you or your process?