That’s right boys and girls. I’m thinking of developing a paper toy board game. I have a draft of the game mechanics already and a couple of blank templates for the units. I even have a logo.
Logo studies...
I think I prefer the one with the “o” that has a white gradient.
How about you, what do you think?
I’m all set to go ahead and officially start the project. Very eager too. However I do have some issues that I need to work out first. I’d like to share them with the community to see what you guys think. Hopefully you find time to comment on them and share with me your thoughts on the matter.
The game I’m thinking of has these features:
- Downloadable and printable paper toys, each toy represents a unit in a squad with special abilities
- Squad based, each player needs to have a customized squad in order to play
- Customizable, each player can have different combinations of units in his squad
- Expandable, new units with new abilities will be released and introduced every so often
- Collectible, each unit is collectible, some only available for download for certain periods of time (kinda pointless tough since people can share the files with each other LOL)
- Tactical, dont you just love turn-based tactical games? I do.
- Monetizable, this has to be sustainable, earn some cash to fund more improvements for the game
Actually, to get a better idea of what I have in mind, just think of Magic the gathering, Warhammer, and Mage Knight, then add the paper toy aspect. That should do it.
Developing a project like this can be very tedious, I know this since my day job actually involves game development (online browser, Facebook apps, Flash game portals, some iPhone). I’ve gone through all the areas of the business – programming, art and animation, business development, marketing, game design, operations, management, etc,.. It is a fact – this is real work.
In case you dont believe me, let me illustrate it for you:
The game developer has to:
- Design the game
- Playtest the game
- Polish the game (rinse and repeat till you get it right)
The 3 items above is a wtask on it’s own, which doesn’t even include:
- Design new characters and new game mechanics (since the game is expandable)
- Design paper toy templates
- Design the art (rinse and repeat again for every expansion or upgrade)
- Playtest again (YES again) to maintain balance and good game play
- Launch the new expansion
Now, take all of the above and add:
- Deal with player complaints and suggestions (very helpful and is a must)
- Fatigue and multitasking – balance your time with family, work, and play – and dont forget SLEEP.
- Funding, there has to be some way to pay for print costs, utilities, and pizza while working on the game, right?
I’m basically going to spend weeks (more like months) to develop a “product” and have people try it out for a couple of weeks and eventually watch it disappear in the ocean of online obscurity. If I want to make this project fly, I have to put more effort into it continuously. Launching the game and making it available for everyone to play is one thing and just the first step. Maintaining it with new content and upgrades to improve the game is a whole other story.
My question to everyone out there, to gamers and paper toy enthusiasts alike, is this:
Is a paper toy board game, the kind that I am referring to, monetizable or is it a waste of time?
(Pause for effect… LOL)
At the moment, I see a number of options:
- SPONSORSHIP - Give the game away for free and hope people enjoy it enough to subscribe to your blog and get you lots of hits on your site so that eventually, more like hopefully, a sponsor (Canon, Epson, HP?) comes and funds the further development of the product in exchange, they get their brand images in the game. (NOT BAD)
- CHARGE FOR IT – For every download, ask for monetary contributions/donations (maybe $USD 1 – 5 a pop?) from each player. (THIS WOULD BE COOL)
- PRE ORDERS / SUBSCRIPTION – Set an amount, and ask the community to “$upport” it in exchange for special, rare goodies not availble to those who didnt support the project at the start. Once you reach the target amount, the game will be released to the “supporters” first and maybe to the rest of the community a month or two after. The goodies can be delivered or can be downloaded. For subscriptions, interested players pay in advance, and they get the product, or in this case, the download link, in the mail (THIS WOULD BE COOL TOO, I THINK)
- PUBLISHER – Find a publisher to produce and distribute the game with you. Sell paper toy squad booklets or something. Proceeds will fund further project improvements (AND PIZZA). This is assuming you go with the traditional route and sell the game packs / booklets in bookstores and hobby shops, but going online downloadable brings you back to the same question, how do you monetize the project enough to recoup cost?
- ALL OF THE ABOVE – Nuff said. (IT COULD WORK. WHY NOT, RIGHT?)
I’m sure you’ve seen other versions of the options I’ve listed above. All of which have their pros and cons. I know that I dont know everything and that there are a bunch of other options out there. Feel free to point them out to me, I’d appreciate it a lot. Also, what do you think of the game concept, the monetization options I’ve outlined, or the project in general? It would be great if you can share your thoughts with me and to everyone reading this post.
I look forward to reading your comments.
Cheers!
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for the first, the Logo:
Im friend of the simplestyle and prefere the logo without gradient.
Its just more suiting to the rest, and looks the best and the strongest to me.
Game:
The thing is, if you start giving it for a download, people share, that´s the whole thing about, networking.
So the only way is giving it for free and hope on donations… you need a huge amount of people doing this, otherwise it wont work ( realisticaly speaking)
I would like to see limited editions, sended out as prints, or combinations of character which are not available for download, lets say, there are special characters, which you could add to your game, which makes it just better, or makes you stronger, or whatever your Game does.
Realistical speaking, the easier the game, the more fun it is. (…that counts for me)
If youre not started as a young age with warhammer or stuff like that, you probably never do (like me)
So you have a really limited target group for your game for the start+ why should people play that game, if they already have warhammer!?
just give you an example what i mean (its flash, its ugly, its simple, but hella fun!)
http://70.84.248.90/~fetchga/Games-D5-140406/eskiv1.swf
something easy like that in a boardgame, what you (in the best case) can play with 2-20 people would totaly rock it.
Well im exited to see what youre coming up with.
You doin all by yourself?
greets from hamburg
[Reply]
James Ronald Lo Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 7:21 pm
Hi Slurg,
Many thanks for your feedback.
With regard to the logo, looks like no one likes the first one (white gradient). So far logo 2 with the flat colors and the last logo are going head to head.
As for the game. Great idea. I’ve been conversing with some friends through email, chat, and in person about monetization options. There are similarities in your suggestions. I came up with this base strategy:
Give the basic game for free, sell enhancements for a fee.
Not bad I think. Facebook does it in their game applications, why not in paper toys too, right? Try it first, buy it if you like it.
Going with free downloadables gives the project feet to run with, it gets mileage. And for the people who actually enjoy the game, they have the option to enhance their experience by investing in it. Not bad I think.
Yes, your suggestion to have limited editions and prints are great ideas. It would really help to enhance the value of the project.
As for the game mechanics. Simple is always key.
Check back from time to time to see how this project of mine develops. I’ll release a first draft of the mechanics and probably some paper toys to play the game with. Something for people to try out. =)
Yes, so far I plan to this myself, but I can always change my mind LOL. I love the creative process and I want to go through it every step of the way, with or without help. I would appreciate it if people can play test the game, just to help me polish the mechanics.
Cheers for now!
[Reply]
wow that game is ridiculously funnnnn. lol
[Reply]
rondo10 Reply:
February 27th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Glad you like it.
Check back soon to try it out.
[Reply]
>Simple is always key.
I don’t think you should go for “always” rules. It should depends on the current situation.
Make the game too simple and you run the risk of making the game too mediocre
[Reply]
Hi Anomalous,
True, but if you make the game too complex, you run the risk of people giving up reading and not even trying it out. If the end goal is to have a lot of people play the game, then I’d go with simple.
Easy to learn and easy to try results in more games played. Example – bejeweled, tetris, and hidden object games use very simple mechanics, but people keep on playing them. Chess or checkers, are games with very simple moves, yet they’ve stood the test of time.
The trick is making the game playable and re-playable. Complex or simple, the game should be fun first. Sometimes, complexity can bog you down with details.
I guess it all boils down to your target market. Mine, in this case, is casual. I guess I can reserve the more complex mechanics when I target the serious gamers.
Just my thoughts.
Your comment was very much appreciated.
Check back from time to time. I should be able to release the first PaperMon prototype soon. I’d love to hear your feedback on it.
Cheers!
[Reply]
anomalous_underdog Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 11:35 am
I wasn’t saying make it complex, just not too simple. People will get bored with it quickly if its too simple too.
[Reply]
rondo10 Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Hi Anomalous,
Yes, I agree, if you make the game too simple or too complex , you’ll definitely run the risk of people not playing the game. We’re actually talking about the same thing.
My point – design the game to be simple to understand and play, but challenging enough to get people playing over and over. I definitely dont want the game to be too simple that it becomes mediocre, or too complex that noone will even bother to read beyond the first paragraph of the instructions.
Thanks again for your comments.
[Reply]
anomalous_underdog Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Chess isn’t simple btw, there are very complex strategies involving that game
[Reply]
rondo10 Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Hi Anomalous,
Just to clarify, I did not say chess is simple. I said that the moves were simple (L shaped moves, straight vertical and horizontal moves, diagonals – simple). Regardless of that fact, as you said, the game involves a lot of complex strategies.
It’s something that I would like to emulate in the games that I want to develop. Simple to learn to begin with, but fun and challenging as well.
Thanks again for your comments.
[Reply]