Since I announced the sad news that I'm going to have to go back into IT to pay the bills (Reiver Games hasn't reached that point yet, and doesn't look like it will any time soon), I've had lots of contact from gamers, friends and customers wishing me well and even offering support/help.
This got me thinking. If there's people out there who are interested in helping what could they do that would actually help Reiver Games get off the ground? The obvious answer is to buy one of my games, either from a local or web retailer (which will probably be cheaper for you and encourage them to buy more stock from their distributor) or take advantage of free shipping and a bundle deal when buying from my website. However, money is tight in the current economic climate, and many of the people offering support already own my games, so here are a few more ideas I came up with:
Already got my games and want to help?
- Play them with friends you think might like them
- Take them to conventions/games nights and get them to the table
- Offer to demo them in a local shop
- Get one as a Christmas/birthday present for a friend or family member you think would like it
- Write a review or a session report of one of my games on BoardGameGeek
Don't yet have any of my games?
- Ask a friend to bring a copy to games night/a convention
- Ask your local store to carry my games
- Read the rules to It's Alive!, Carpe Astra or Sumeria on my website - anything take your fancy?
- Recommend one of my games to a friend who you think might like it
Once again, thanks to everyone who has supported Reiver Games over the last three and a half years, and for your recent messages of support - they help!
If you've got any more ideas please let me know in the comments.
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8 comments:
I've just caught up on this, Jack, and I'm sorry to hear that you're having to scale back your dream. I'll continue to look forward to what Reiver Games has to offer, and hope that your career move turns out to be a very positive experience.
Oo - and any chance of an iPhone/iPod Touch implementation of any of your games?
Hiya Melissa,
Thanks for your support - it means a lot :)
I'm working on an online version of Sumeria at the moment to get me back into making software again. Not sure what's involved in iPhone/iPad development, but maybe I could port to that in the future.
Cheers,
Jack
I'm always a fan of the affiliate system.
Yehuda
Hiya Yehuda,
Do you mean like the Amazon affiliate system, where if someone buys something from Amazon after following a link from your site you get paid a small cut?
Cheers,
Jack
Yes. Or FunAgain.
Jack, your games are popular enough, easy enough to learn, and historical enough to find markets outside the hobby game shop market. There is some mass-market potential and some educational-market potential, I see. I had to work other jobs for my first 3 years publishing games, and it looks like I may finally be able to retire from the other jobs and work full time on games later this year. The pivotal points seemed to be hiring a sales manager last fall who could help me replace my sales force. They are freelance, so they represent other toy and game manufacturers, but they have accounts with some major mass retailers, and my sales have been doubling each month since December. I have been much more aggressive in contacting distributors and specialty stores and web retailers in the past year, and I have had to redesign packaging and adjust prices to hit different markets. For example, only the die-hard geeks ordered The Climbers when it was $50, and it flew out the doors at $30. My tile-laying game, 4th Corner, was retailing at $15, and there is a huge market here for games under $10, so on the next print run, we've got a version for $9.95 and a fancier version we'll release for $17.95 or so. My forthcoming Samsara game has to have a cheaper version for the general market, but I'm releasing it first in the fancier version for the hobby market. The more games I release, the more opportunities I have for people to find and enjoy a Strategic Space game, the more likely they are to try the others.
Hiya Mark,
You make several good points. Unfortunately, to get the games down to the price I've managed I had to make thousands at a time, so it's too late to cut the prices (which would also destory any margin I make on the sales).
Good luck with your continued endeavours.
Cheers,
Jack
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