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PODCAST

Board Game Business Podcast

Richard New, Brian Henk, Jeremy Commandeur

On The Board Game Business Podcast, we discuss the business side of the tabletop gaming industry. We don"t review games or tell you which ones we like, but instead focus on how to price, distribute, design, develop, and market your game. Richard New hosts and sits alongside Jeremy Commandeur, a game designer, and Brian Henk, a game designer and publisher with Overworld Games.

All Episodes

37:17

Going Full Time as a Game Developer with John Brieger...

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2021/06/13

John Brieger talks about some of the biggest mistakes he's made during the development process so we can all learn from them. References: Brieger Creative - https://www.briegercreative.com/ John Brieger on Twitter - https://twitter.com/DasBrieger

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34:56

Going Full Time as a Game Developer with John Brieger...

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2021/04/26

Learn why your game needs development help with professional developer, John Brieger. References: Brieger Creative - https://www.briegercreative.com/ John Brieger on Twitter - https://twitter.com/DasBrieger

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23:04

Top 5 Rough Edges on a Kickstarter Game - Ep. 90

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2021/01/02

We discuss the top 5 most common rough edges on a Kickstarter game so you can avoid them on yours! Dustin Schwartz Rules Editing: https://twitter.com/dustinbschwartz The Game Crafter Sanity Test: https://help.thegamecrafter.com/article/145-sanity-tests

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27:49

Top 5 Places to Find Prototype Art - Ep. 89

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2020/10/04

In this episode, we re-visit our list of top places to find art for your prototype. Links: The Noun Project: http://www.thenounproject.com Nasa: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/index.html National Gallery of Art: https://www.nga.gov/collection/collection-search.html Public Domain Smithsonian: https://www.si.edu/search/ Public Domain  New York Public Libraries: https://digitalcollections.nypl.org https://www.nypl.org/research/collections/digital-collections/public-domain Pixabay:

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26:08

Top 5 Predicted Impacts of COVID-19 on the Board Game...

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2020/05/11

Jeremy and Brian discuss how we think the board game industry will be impacted by COVID-19. This was recorded in early April of 2020. Resources: Good Cop Bad Cop Online - https://gcbc.arantius.com/ Tabletopia - https://tabletopia.com/ Tabletop Simulator - https://www.tabletopsimulator.com/ Board Game Arena - BoardGameArena.com Roll20 - https://roll20.net/ BoardSpace - boardspace.net

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24:50

Top 5 Time Savers for Game Designers - Ep. 87

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2019/09/22

In this episode, we are going to cover a bunch of tips for you game designers to SAVE YOU TIME. Resources Mentioned Google Drive - https://docs.google.com Dropbox - https://www.dropbox.com Card Creatr - https://cardcreatr.sffc.xyz/ Component.Studio - https://component.studio/ Paperize - https://beta.editor.paperize.io/#/ Multideck - https://semicolon.com/multideck/multideck.html Pages - https://www.apple.com/pages/ The Game Crafter Art Store - https://www.thegamecrafter.com/design-assets

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24:17

Top 5 Tips for Advertising Your Board Game - Ep. 86

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2019/07/20

We give you our top 5 tips for advertising your board game and how to learn which sources are best for you and your game. This is a little more focused on ads for a Kickstarter campaign, but is applicable to any type of advertising for a board game. References: Bitly Link Shortener - https://bitly.com/ Google Link Shortener - https://goo.gl/ Google Analytics - https://analytics.google.com/ Facebook Ads - https://www.facebook.com/business/ads

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32:17

Mailbag on US Manufacturing, Recovering from...

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2019/06/29

Today we dig into the Patreon mailbag and answer these questions: How do you recover from being punched in the gut? What is a unique enough selling point for a game? What are some component cost considerations to take when manufacturing your game? Should I fulfill my Kickstarter campaign myself? Is it possible to manufacture games in the US? Thanks to Mark Edwards for editing this!

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32:31

Top 5 Biggest Changes in the Board Game Industry in...

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2019/06/08

How has the board game industry changed in the last 5 years? Brian co-founded Overworld Games about 6 years before this was recorded so it's also a view of how things have changed between when he started publishing games and now. Here is the top 5 list: 5) More games in big box retailers 4) It's easier to make games 3) Kickstarter explosion 2) Growth of games at conventions 1) Distribution is harder

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23:24

Top 5 Ways to Deal with Scope Creep - Ep. 83

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2019/05/25

Patron Andrew van Ingen suggested this episode on how to deal with scope creep. Here's the list we go through! 5. If some people don’t hate it, you are doing it wrong. 4. Don't let experiments linger. 3. Determine the scale, audience (learning time), price point and play time of your game. 2. Have an "always pruning" mindset. Always be thinking about the parts that aren't SUPER DUPER fun. 1. Understands that hobby gamers (and many designers) will ALWAYS ask for more.

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28:40

Top 5 Ways to Build a Crowd for Your Game - Ep. 82

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2019/04/19

When you're trying to build up a crowd for your game before Kickstarter or to build your resume for selling your game to a publisher, there are a lot of places to put your time and money, but some are better than others. 5. Create a Facebook page or group 4. Build/support your local gaming community 3. Use other's crowds by getting your game to reviewers and other influencers 2. Send infrequent newsletters 1. Create a landing page and funnel people to it through flyers, ads, social media, and

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29:17

Top 5 Tips for Managing Your Day Job and Hobby Board...

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2019/03/30

Jeremy and Brian give some tips for how you can better manage your day job and hobby board game business. Resources: Multideck - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/multideck/id1193399487?mt=12 Compononent.Studio - https://component.studio/ Paperize - https://beta.editor.paperize.io/#/ Asana - https://app.asana.com/ Trello - https://trello.com/en Jira - https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira Noun Project - https://thenounproject.com/ Card Creatr - https://cardcreatr.sffc.xyz/ Edited by: Mark

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22:16

Top 5 Things That Are Probably Wrong with Your Game...

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2019/03/17

Jeremy and Brian cover the top 5 things that are most commonly wrong with a pitch a game designer gives to a publisher. If you're a designer, you'll probably find something in here that you can use to improve your next pitch.

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19:28

Signs It Is Time to Give up on a Design - Ep. 79

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2019/02/26

When you've been working on a design for a while and you're not sure if there's enough there to keep going with it, we have some signs that it might be time to give up on it. If you want a spoiler, the signs are: 5) No market opportunity 4) Design colleagues don't ask about the status or encourage you to keep working on it 3) Too long to play/too long to explain the rules 2) Not fun enough (playtesters don't ask to play again) 1) No hook or the hook is not good enough

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18:52

Reasons to Theme Your Prototype - Ep. 78

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2019/02/11

We go over the top 5 reasons to theme your prototype and some discussion around them. If you want to have them spoiled, here are some of our notes on each one: 5) Theme makes it easier to learn your game. It drives cohesion, direction, and rules comprehension. 4) Some publishers really care about theme (like Brian) so you'll get more opportunities if your game has one. You'll get in the door. Theme sells better than math. Games are an experience, and theme tells your story. 3) A themed games is more

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19:48

Getting Your Prototype Played at Smaller Conventions...

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2019/01/21

Top 5 Tips for Getting Your Prototype Played at Small Conventions 5) Teach games and then ask if they want to try your own game afterwards. (know your audience and be respectful of time) 4) Setup in open gaming and grab drive bys and/or have good signage. 3) Setup an event with local designers there through meetup/facebook so you can all play each other games. (then anyone who is interested can go out to lunch/dinner afterwards) 2) Setup official events and offer prizes/bribes. (make sure you have

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19:33

Going to Conventions Without Going to Conventions -...

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2019/01/05

Today Brian interviews Erik Dahlman of Albino Dragon about the convention services he offers where his team will demo your game at his booth at various conventions throughout the year. You can get the exposure that conventions offer without the million headaches of actually doing it. To get more information from Erik about working with him, email CONVENTIONS@ALBINODRAGON.COM.

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29:27

Funding Goal, Stretch Goals, and Updates - Ep. 75

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2018/12/15

In this one, we cover different methods for setting your Kickstarter funding goal, your stretch goals, how many updates to send during the campaign, and we talk about Richard's holy grail Star Trek cat game.

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48:41

Rules for Writing Rules - Ep. 74

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2018/11/17

Learn all about Jeremy's "7 Rules for Writing Rules" and what Richard and Brian think about them. We actually disagree on this on more than most episodes! Jeremy's 7 Rules for Writing Rules Force yourself to write your rules right away and have them ready for your first playtest with real people. Start strong. Tell a story as you give the theme. Use software to maintain your rules and keep them always up-to-date. Add notes to add diagrams later. Put a component list at the end of the rules use a

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25:53

Designing Around Analysis Paralysis - Ep. 73

Board Game Business Podcast ·

2018/10/09

Today we discuss designing around analysis paralysis: Is it a bad thing? Limiting your decision space Add more options/decisions as you go Allowing players to "mess up" the next player's carefully laid plans Companion app Reference cards to make decisions easier Usability in graphic design or component selection Simultaneous play Hidden actions Keep players engaged Walls of text Put longer decisions at the end of a players so other players can take their turns while the other player is

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