Gravy Train Board Game

Khaya

Hi everyone

My name is Khaya and I'm from Cape Town and have created a new board game called Gravy Train. I am not sure if this is the right forum but I am looking for advice on my game which I am struggling to get out there on the shelves. I want to take this game nationally(or even internationally) but I'm convinced that starting small is the best option for me considering I have a start-up.

My main obstacle is getting funding for capital and a great marketing plan.

I was wondering if any of you guys could give me advice.

Kind Regards,
Khaya

LexAquillia

Hi Khaya,

Welcome to the forums! I'd suggest coming to the next Cape Town meet-up (29 January 2014). I'd also be happy to chat with you if you like (I'm a lawyer who has been involved in this sort of thing before). DM me if you want to take it further :)

Also, why don't you post up your rules so we can take a look at it? or post a video of a playthough if you want feedback on the actual game.

dislekcia

Hi Khaya, welcome to the forums :)

Here are a couple of suggestions on how you might manage to turn your game into a sold thing:

1. Make sure the game is as good as it can possibly be. This means playtesting, hordes of playtesting. Come to the Cape Town community meetups (there's one next week!) demo the game there to people, get feedback from game developers, designers and boardgame enthusiasts in one place.

2. Once you know that it's fun and who it's the most fun FOR, polish the game as much as possible - figure out what it's going to look like, how it'll present itself to players, if there are any unique hooks you can use to get people interested in playing it. You should know who, as players, you want to aim the game at. Aim it with polish.

3. Once it plays good and looks good, start submitting it to boardgame publishers. I don't know much about this as a process, but there are a few locals who know more. Hopefully they can help. The other option would be to do something like a Kickstarter campaign to get the funds to do a print run of the game and get it out to people, then look for a publisher based on that. Kickstarters are tricky to manage and you'll have to sell the game to people - but if that's what your business is about, then that's something you should get good at :)

Each of these things relies on the game doing well in the previous suggestion. You really shouldn't be looking to invest large amounts of cash in a game before you know, empirically, that it's going to do well. Unfortunately our own private emotions about things we create aren't reliable, so testing the game with as many people as possible is the only way to figure that out without huge amounts of risk. You also don't have to get funding or find an investor for much of the development cycle until you're actually producing the completed game physically - art can be a cost, but it's not an insane one. I also feel Kickstarter is probably the most realistic option for production funds - local investors don't understand games and they want returns on the amounts invested that pretty much require you to be an evil, exploitative business. So unless you get really lucky, local investment is going to be difficult. International investment might be better, but you need something to make people sit up and take notice, a good Kickstarter will do that for you AND get you production funds so you don't have to rely on someone else's budget for your first printing - meaning you can take your time to set up the right deal for your game instead of taking the first option that comes your way.

Good luck! Making games is hard and the business models that work tend to be low-investment, low-salary at first, but work out if you're building something provably enjoyable. Hope to see you at the meetup next week :)

Khaya

@LexAquillia: Could you please tell me where the meet-ups are? Thanks for the advice.
@dislekcia: The game is in a stage where I think the only thing that's needed is funding, really. I've already gone the route of starting my own company as I imagine it would maximise my earnings. For now I'll try crowd funding like you suggested. Thanks for the advice!

Khaya

@LexAquillia: See rules in attachment

LexAquillia

The meetups are here: Microsoft offices, Engen building 2nd floor, Golf Park, Mowbray

Some questions on the rules, given the high potential for players being forced to restart, why make them roll a 6 to get onto the board? Doesn't this frustrate players?

What is the playtime? I mention this since you have player elimination over a number of rounds, and if each round takes to long it can also lead to an unpleasant time for the eliminated players. (Why have player elimination at all?)

Fengol

Join the Cape Town Meetup to get notified of events!

dammit

There's a number of ways to market successfully, but the first step is to have something that's great. If your game is ready for market - and has followed the aforementioned advice - then there are a number of routes to follow.

Given that you're got a low budget and you want to try crowd funding, digital marketing strategies are your best bet. There's tons of advice on the net about these, or you are welcome to chat to me at the Cape Town meetups :) I'm looking forward to seeing what you've got!

--
Edit:

Do you have a digital version of the cards to share? I'd be interested in seeing the different commands and opportunities. What inspired your game design? At quick glance it seems like a mashup of monopoly and snakes and ladders (this is not a criticism - my first boardgame was inspired by the Snap card game and checkers)

Khaya

@LexAquillia:

Some questions on the rules, given the high potential for players being forced to restart, why make them roll a 6 to get onto the board? Doesn't this frustrate players?

I think forcing a player to restart is fair enough and given the number of times we played the game, I wouldn't say we noticed a lot of frustration from the player who is out of the game. In fact, the player would be engaged and wait in anticipation for the next time they are going to play the game.

What is the playtime? I mention this since you have player elimination over a number of rounds, and if each round takes to long it can also lead to an unpleasant time for the eliminated players. (Why have player elimination at all?)

Playtime can be anything from 15-45 minutes i.e., all rounds of play. The whole point is to have one winner at the end hence the eliminations. Also remember that a round of 4 players will be relatively shorter than that of 3 and especially of 2 so time is not a major issue.

Khaya

@dammit: It never came as a thought that I should come up with that particular design; it just seemed to fit the idea. I guess that's why I identify myself (and want others to) as an entrepreneur rather than a game designer. In other words, I am not all about board games but I just felt that this one could work.

See attachment for a few illustrations for the card.

dammit

@Khaya, what do the cards do? I wasn't looking for artwork, but the actual actions they drive in the players.

Khaya

@dammit: Get Tender, Bee, Bribe. Hover over the images and you'll see the names.

dammit

[Edit]

Nevermind - Found it in the rules.

LexAquillia

I think forcing a player to restart is fair enough and given the number of times we played the game, I wouldn't say we noticed a lot of frustration from the player who is out of the game. In fact, the player would be engaged and wait in anticipation for the next time they are going to play the game.

Oh I have no doubt forcing people to restart can add a lot of fun to the game (especially since it encourages skulduggery and the like which can lead to awesome interactions and laughs), but why have a rule saying "roll 6 to start"? I'm not sure I understand the rational behind that exact rule. What dynamic does it add to the game to make it more enjoyable for the players?

Playtime can be anything from 15-45 minutes i.e., all rounds of play. The whole point is to have one winner at the end hence the eliminations. Also remember that a round of 4 players will be relatively shorter than that of 3 and especially of 2 so time is not a major issue.

That's a pretty comfortable playtime :) But back to the elimination, why elimination and not allocating points over the rounds? So first player gets 5, second get 3 and so on. All players get to keep playing and with the rest of the mechanics would make the underdogs fight really dirty in the final games to try cinch some winning point, which would could lead to some awesome moments and alliances being formed between players (which ties into the overall theme of the game). Again I'm just looking for the rational behind the decision behind player elimination and why you have chosen this over other ways of selecting a winner