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Channel: James Mathe – Entrepreneur, Designer, Publisher
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Myth Busters – Board Game Designers episode

  I get asked the same questions a lot and I see post after post resurface on forums about some common topics. So I thought I’d get on the pedestal again and preach. In many case the answer is...

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Kicking & Screaming

  This guide was created to help people avoid the pitfalls of, and run of, a successful campaign for a card or board game through Kickstarter. Kickstarter is like a mall, the worlds biggest, they...

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Courting a Game Publisher – DO’s and DON’Ts

  Courting a Game Publisher – DO’s and DON’Ts Believe it or not, there is an etiquette when submitting your game to Publishers. Publishers receive many submissions and just like submitting a resume...

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Myth Busters – Kickstarter Referrer Page?

  Myth Busters – Kickstarter Referrer Page? REFERRALS I am in a unique position of having run many Kickstarter campaigns myself and knowing personally two other prolific publishers that use...

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The Enlightened Path to Virtual Popularity

The Enlightened Path to Virtual Popularity I’ve seen many great looking games or great ideas just languish on Kickstarter and they really did a good job with their campaign page. So what went wrong?...

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Please Don’t Pee in the Sandbox!

Don’t Pee in the Sandbox… I have worn many hats in my days, from retailer to publisher, from designer to project manager, from e-book distributor to Kickstarter fulfillment, from trainee to...

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Indie No Go

IndieGoGo.com versus Kickstarter.com There are many crowd funding sites including several new ones specializing in games. I know them all to just be a lot of hot air and expect them to go under in a...

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O Reviewer, Reviewer wherefore art thou!

  I run a Facebook group with over 1000 designers and run several prototype events throughout the year at http://www.Protospiel-Milwaukee.org , http://www.UnPub.net , and major conventions like GenCon...

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Game Design for Dummies

So, last weekend I drove to Ann Arbor, MI with Matt Loomis and Dustin Oakley where we attended Protospiel.org. We helped a lot of designers with their games. On the way home we complained a bit about...

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Trimming the Fat: Board Game on a Diet

A common problem in board game production is how can you control product production costs. One of the most critical things you can do to have a successful reboot of a failed Kickstarer is to bring the...

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Board games by the numbers: what it costs to Kickstart, produce, and ship a...

(REPOSTED FROM PENNY ARCADE)   Minion Games has just launched a new Kickstarter campaign for their upcoming board game Hegemonic. That’s not very newsworthy. What is impressive is the fact that this is...

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Kickstarter Conversations – Hegemonic Interview

(REPOSTED FROM KICKSTARTER CONVERSATIONS)   Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  This time I am joined by James Mathe of Minion Games who has brought us a new board game for Kickstarter...

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Some Useful Kickstarter Links

Kickstarter Best Practices group on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/138469072961355/ Card & Board Game Designers Guild https://www.facebook.com/groups/320445024722916 Crowdfunding Google+...

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Exclusive Deals Suck!

So in 2012 hobby game stores saw a lot of growth in the board game realm. MTG is also up.  We saw a new show hosted by Wil Wheaton bring some people into our hobby world. Things should be going… Read...

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10,000 Feet to Publishing a Board Game

  So you want to start a board game company? I could go into a page of details of each of these bullet points below (and maybe I will in the future), but for now I wanted to just take… Read more ›

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In The Face of Reality

  There comes a time when you realize your Kickstarter campaign isn’t going to make it… realizing that point and dealing with it is what this article is about. I have studied and talk to many campaigns...

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Facebook Pages & Groups

  There are other places to get help on the internet like the BGG design forums or the BGDF, but I’ve found this year that Facebook has served me well. I personally run 3 or 4 groups/pages but there...

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Now what the hell am I to do?

So your Kickstarter is over and it was successful… now what? DO IMMEDIATELY Hopefully right before your campaign ended you remembered to update the story page with your home page URL and last minute...

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Hitchhiker’s guide to Game Manufacturers

I’ve personally used half a dozen Manufacturers over the last few years making our dozen or so games. I will share my personal thoughts / opinions below on these companies. But I have also contacted...

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Hitchhiker’s guide to Game Distributors

  My post about Manufacturers was very well received and I got a request to do one about distributors. I do get asked from time to time to provide this info anyway, so I might as well make a page… Read...

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Alien – First Contract

  First let’s get this right out in the open… No one is going to “buy” your game or pay you a lump sum of money for what you’ve done so far. If you wish your game to see the… Read more ›

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Post Mortem – I’m not dead yet!

  This post is going to be part documentary, part educational, part advice, and part apology to our Kickstarter backers. Minion Games was utterly unprepared to fulfill the logistics and customer...

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To CCG or not to CCG? That is the question.

  Every month or so I run across another miss-guided designer making a CCG (Collectible Card Game or Trading Card Game). So again, I’m writing a blog so I don’t have to repeat myself all the time....

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Dead Men Tell No Tales

  Well I’m not dead yet, so I have a tale to tell… We recently completed our 14th Kickstarter campaign for Dead Men Tell No Tales (DMTNT) and we did some things differently this time. Our campaign was...

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Dammit Jim, I’m a Publisher, Not a Lawyer

The topic of law, contract, liability, and protection comes up over and over. So I’m writing this blog to point people to when they ask in the future. If this is you: “Wow, I’ve got a great idea! I...

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Games Designers Play

  When I’m explaining a new game to someone, many times I find myself saying things like: “It’s simultaneous role selection that you can share, like Race for the Galaxy” or “This part of the game is...

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PnP Pingpong: A lesson in freebies?

  Recently we created a couple surveys (see data below) to help us understand the value of a print and play version of our games with regard to how people back and purchase our games. But first let’s...

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So you want to be a tabletop game designer…

  While many of my blogs go into the details of how to do things right once you have a clue or you already have a start on your game, they fail to answer a common question I’m asked: “Where… Read more ›

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The Art of the RFQ

This blog is my attempt to help shed some light on all the options (typical thicknesses and paper grades, pantone, etc.) and terms (GSM, Grey-core, 4/4c, etc.) you’ll need to know to talk the business...

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Survey Says… KS Usage

Kickstarter has made several great improvements to their systems over the last year. From being able to ask for a shipping amount to a specific country, to providing more useful survey options, to a...

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Publishing & Kickstarter Checklist

I have half a dozen Kickstarters to work on this year and I need to keep things on track and straight in my head… so I have this checklist worksheet for tracking all my project milestones. If I need...

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SITE INDEX

— READ THIS FIRST — GAME DESIGN Getting Started – Prototype – Tips & Tricks – Forums & Blogs – Pod/Vid Casts & Video – Resources & Books Basic Design Tips Misconceptions Pitching to...

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Success or Failure – Timing is Everything

“Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently.” – Henry Ford I recently had the chance to churn through some data of recently Tabletop Game Kickstarter Campaigns thanks to Roger Hicks...

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Hitchhiker’s guide to Video Talent

I’m found myself asking for a videographer, audio, and voice over talent again. I also see others ask these questions from time to time. I wasn’t really wanting to take on this task of assembling a...

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So you want to be a Game Store owner? PART 1

I own 3 game stores in the Milwaukee (Game Universe) area and with some help from my previous General Manager of the past 5 years: Matthew Vercant who opened up a new store this year in New York called...

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So you want to be a Game Store owner? PART 2

HOW TO DO IT? Timeline – Create a timeline to open. Use it to setup deliveries, promotions, advertising, website & social media pages, events, etc.  Start to get the word out and build buzz before...

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So you want to be a Game Store owner? PART 3

HOW TO SHOUT IT OUT? Advertising – Yes, you need to do it. Budget a particular amount and spend it every month (1-3% of your Gross is reasonable). When business is slow, that’s the MOST important time...

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How to get into Distribution?

I have not written on this specific topic before because I use a consolidator which in turn gets me into distribution. They charge extra, but the warehousing, shipping, accounting, and regular contacts...

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Don’t Panic! Know you’re ready to launch.

Recently a friend of mine said he had the pre-launch jitters and while confident with the product, was unsure if he did everything he could to make sure the launch was a success. Given that the first 2...

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Exclusive Interview With Minion Games Owner James Mathe

(Copied from the Arcive.org entry as this page on CrowdFundingRoadmap.com is dead now): We recently had the privilege of interviewing James Mathe, one of Kickstarter’s most successful crowdfunders. He...

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Interview with a Vampire

Ok, so I’m not a Vampire and I’m not as good looking as Brad Pitt… But apparently some people felt it worth their while to interview me over the last few years – and hey, I needed a catchy title. This…...

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Story of The 3 Little Pledge Managers

  A pledge manager (PM) is a type of shopping cart and survey website that will help you manage your backer’s rewards after your crowdfunding campaign has completed. Not only will it help you deal with...

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Hitchhiker’s Guide to Business Consultants

People are regularly wanting to hire me to do consulting work for them… But, I’m semi-retired now and don’t really enjoy that kind of work. When told that, most ask who I’d recommend to help them out....

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How to BGG

BGG (BoardGameGeek.com) may be intimidating for new designers and publishers, but the parts you actually NEED to use are pretty straightforward once you learn where to look and how they work....

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Success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure

While the title of this article has a double meaning, we’re going to discuss actual game fulfillment logistics here. I know you’re super excited by this sexy topic… so let’s just get into it. SHIPPING...

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By the Numbers

In our Facebook groups, we get asked a lot of the same questions over and over and I thought much of this is scattered throughout my blog, it can be hard to find. Thus, here is a short blog about… Read...

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