7 - Shipping and Warehouses

A third crucial factor in determining the selling price is shipping costs. Of course, one can handle the shipping personally and save some money, but there are many pitfalls. The more successful a project becomes, the more space is needed for full pallets and packaging cartons. While shipping and packaging materials might be slightly cheaper than using a warehouse, one should not expect significant savings for the considerable effort involved. Additionally, Kickstarter backers will also face some inconveniences.

That is why, for Magical Friends and How to Summon Them, I will definitely use warehouses that handle the shipping. These can be found online under Fulfillment Centers. One important aspect of shipping is customs. My manufacturer, Longpack, even offers direct shipping to Kickstarter backers, but the shipping costs to Europe and the USA are relatively high. While one could save part of the freight costs to warehouses (I emphasize "part" since excess inventory still needs to be stored somewhere), this is not enough to compensate for the lower shipping costs from a warehouse in the USA or Europe.

How many boardgames might be in there? Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash

Moreover, customs can be quite troublesome for Kickstarter backers. If I ship my freight to Europe and the USA before distributing it to backers, I pay customs fees based on the manufacturing costs. For instance, I would be charged customs duties on €15 for manufacturing + freight. However, if I were to send the board game directly to backers in Europe or China, it might get stuck in customs, and buyers could end up paying customs fees on the €70 purchase price. Since about two-thirds of Kickstarter backers come from the USA and one-third from Europe, it makes sense to store the goods in warehouses—such as Quartermaster Logistics in the USA and Happyshops in Europe—before forwarding them to backers. If you request pricing lists, you will quickly notice that this approach results in much better shipping rates for the USA and Europe.

It is not uncommon for Kickstarter projects to partially subsidize shipping costs in certain regions. However, this must be carefully calculated. The final price should not exceed what backers are willing to pay. Customers usually resist paying more than 15% of the product price for shipping. The remaining shipping costs must be factored into the product price. Unfortunately, for customers outside of Europe or the USA, the price will be higher. However, if a Kickstarter campaign attracts a large number of customers from a specific region—such as Australia—it might be worth looking into an additional warehouse.

Shipping is a critical expense in any Kickstarter project, and miscalculations can quickly lead to financial issues. I hope this post has provided some insight into the topic! If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment—it might help others as well. You can also send me a message.

One year after the Kickstarter:
Interestingly, the ratio of USA orders to European orders in my Kickstarter turned out to be closer to 1:4—meaning significantly more European backers. Many of my buyers came from local events and conventions, which likely explains the higher number of European supporters. I believe the more backers a project gains, the more the ratio shifts. Establishing a strong presence in the USA has been challenging for me. For a future Kickstarter, I might reduce the inventory shipped to the USA, as selling off surplus stock has been difficult, leading to additional storage costs.
Another point: Sometimes, I also send packages from home. Even for these individual shipments, sending them from a warehouse within Europe is still cheaper, despite the significantly higher effort involved. I’m not sure how things would look with a shipping contract for a larger number of packages.
At the moment, customs duties in the USA are also an issue—I hope there will be better news on this soon. Until then, this remains a challenging topic in the USA.

6 - Where can I find manufacturers, and who should produce my board game?

Upon request, I'll continue with the topic of pricing in this blog post. How do I determine the production costs of the game? Through quotes from manufacturers. And where can they be found?

There are actually plenty of manufacturers that produce board games, and not all of them are easy to find. To find some, I visited the booths at Spiel 2019 with my prototype and outlined which components I needed using it as an example. While I’m sure I missed many manufacturers, I managed to establish contact with 17 companies. That’s definitely enough for a good overview. Three were from Europe (Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic), while the other 14 were from China. Of these, three never sent me a quote, leaving me with one German and 13 Chinese companies.

The first 14 quotes were overwhelming at first. So many different materials, various minimum order quantities, tiered pricing for print runs, special conditions for packaging and shipping, and sometimes even possible fulfillment services (shipping directly to Kickstarter backers—more on this in the next blog post). This led to prices that were not directly comparable at first glance. Usually, the prices are also listed individually for each component. To bring some clarity to the material chaos, it was time to pull out all the demo packages from Essen again.

Descriptions can initially be confusing.

Even though different manufacturers sometimes use different terms for certain things, the demo packages helped me get a clearer picture. Comparing the quotes also gave me an overview of which conditions are more standard in the industry and which are not. It also highlighted issues I hadn’t considered before that needed addressing with some manufacturers. With a second quote where I specified preferred materials, discussed any missing components, and standardized the print runs (e.g., 1,000/2,000/5,000 units), I was finally able to compare prices. And they vary widely—by about ±50% from the average price.

However, price alone isn’t everything. Communication with some companies was significantly better than with others. I had no board game references for some, and reviews from board game design groups and forums were a crucial factor in my decision-making. Some companies also specialize in certain components, such as miniatures, specialty dice, chips, coins, or game mats.

Deciding on one of the final five favorites was incredibly difficult. Panda has the best reputation in terms of quality and service but is very expensive and demands larger print runs. Other companies with bigger names were almost equally good in quality, offered significantly better prices, and provided excellent service. Ultimately, I chose LongPack. If something were to interfere, I could still fall back on Magicraft. Feedback on these companies is excellent, the prices are good, and communication was outstanding. However, the components needed and how comfortable one feels with a company may also play a role. The decision was truly tough and lengthy—370 emails were exchanged in total.

If you’re wondering what happened to the German company: I didn’t feel as comfortable with them. I also got the impression that they were reluctant to produce smaller print runs. The price was about 40% worse, even though some components were missing and not accounted for. Certain components made of other materials (e.g., plastic feet for standees) would still have to be ordered from China. Deluxe components for a special Kickstarter version would also have been significantly more complicated and expensive here.

Have you had experiences with board game manufacturers? I—and likely some of the readers—would love to hear your stories. Leave a comment. If you find this blog interesting, feel free to subscribe.

I hope this translation helps! Let me know if you'd like any additional support.

5 – How do you determine the price of a board game?

The common formula for pricing is:
MSRP = Landed Cost x 5

The “MSRP” stands for the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price—that’s the price you typically see in stores. “Landed Cost” refers to the cost of production, including transport to your warehouse and customs fees.

An example:
Let’s assume the pure manufacturing cost is €12 (this usually depends heavily on the size of the production run). On top of that, you need to add the cost of transporting the game from the factory to you or your warehouse. Typically, the board game arrives shrink-wrapped and on pallets. Depending on where production takes place, this can be cheaper or more expensive. Customs duties may also apply. For this example, let’s assume transport and customs add up to about €4 per game.

(I'm planning a separate blog post specifically about shipping and logistics.)

That gives us a Landed Cost of €16.
Using the formula, the MSRP would then be €80.

That sounds like a healthy profit margin—but it's not that simple.

If you sell the game directly yourself, the profit margin really is good; you’d only need to pay VAT (which depends on your country).
However, ideally, you want your board game to be available in stores—and that’s where distributors and retailers come into play.

Retailers might pay you 50–55% of the MSRP, while distributors typically pay only 40–45%.
So from a €80 MSRP, you’d get only €32–36 from a distributor (who are usually your biggest customers), or €40–44 from a retailer.
Taxes still need to be paid from that, so your profit margin shrinks fast.

Also keep in mind: the Landed Cost only includes the printing and manufacturing costs.
Expenses for illustrations, marketing, additional services, and of course your own labor as a designer aren't included here.
So, in order to fund a second print run, you first need to sell quite a few copies from the first one.

If you have any questions, feel free to message me or leave a comment.
And if you have specific experience in this area, I’d love to hear about it!

What has changed since the first Kickstarter?
After talking with publishers, a new question came up:
What print run should I base my MSRP calculation on?

It makes a big difference whether you’re producing 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000 units.
The Landed Cost—and therefore the MSRP—can vary significantly.
It’s probably best to base your calculation on the smallest feasible print run.

This approach reduces risk for a Kickstarter and still allows publishers to offer better pricing for larger volume orders.
It’s all about careful planning—if your MSRP ends up too high, the game becomes less attractive to buyers.

Shipping quantities also matter.
Only a few pallets were sent to the US, and shipping cost me about €6 per game.
To Europe, I shipped a full container, which brought the cost down to about €3.50 per game.

Game size plays a huge role too.
A pallet might hold 1,200 small card games but only about 150 copies of Magical Friends.
That needs to be factored into your calculations.

Shipping speed is another consideration.
Shipping by sea from China is the cheapest, followed by rail, while air freight is very expensive.
Speed comes at a high price.

4 - Your Jobs as a Kickstarter Creator

While Kickstarter projects can be small-scale, if you aim to launch a board game that fits the market in terms of price and quality, there’s a lot to do. You can only set a competitive retail price starting at production quantities of 1,000 pieces (in some cases, 500 pieces). Selling that many copies is no easy task.

Many of these tasks can be handled by yourself, with friends, your team, or by hiring someone. The more people you pay, however, the higher the financial risk.

Business Management: If you want to avoid losses and make a profit (even a small one), you’ll need a company. Establishing a company entails several steps. You’ll need legal advice (e.g., for copyrights, trademark laws, taxes) and have to handle bookkeeping, plan income and expenses, and assess risks. In Austria, there is good support available when starting a business.

Game Design: You’re likely handling the game design yourself. What you’ll need, however, are game testers. While friends might be sufficient at first, you’ll soon require external testers and eventually blind testers, who test the game solely using the instructions. Multiple rounds of testing and revisions are necessary, with both voluntary and paid testers available. The tighter your project timeline, the more likely you’ll need to rely on paid testers.

Illustrators and Graphic Designers: Illustrations are crucial to bringing your game to life and creating its atmosphere, as well as attracting potential customers. While simpler art styles can also be effective, the illustrations must look professional. Hiring an experienced artist is a worthwhile investment. Graphic design is equally important. While some stunning artwork may need to be adjusted for clarity, a well-designed game is essential. Illustrations and graphic design represent one of the first significant financial risks before launching your Kickstarter.

Translators and Proofreaders: Spelling errors can appear unprofessional, especially in promotional materials such as newsletters and websites. It’s equally critical to ensure the quality of the game manual. Others should review your materials, and for the final product, a professional should thoroughly examine your game.

Manufacturing and Shipping: You’ll need a manufacturer and will have to gather quotes to find the right one. Collaboration with the manufacturer is key. To transport finished games to your storage or warehouses, you’ll also require a freight company. Your Kickstarter campaign helps cover these initial production costs.

Shipping: While assembling and shipping packages yourself is possible, a successful Kickstarter will demand more space and time. Fulfillment centers can take over storage and shipping, saving you considerable effort. Though this service is pricier, it minimizes logistical challenges.

Marketing: If no one knows about your game, no one will buy it. You’ll need a website or landing page to drive interest in your newsletter. Newsletters are essential for keeping potential customers engaged over time. A well-produced video and advertising campaigns (e.g., on Facebook) are necessary for your Kickstarter launch. Collaborating with bloggers and reviewers and showcasing your game at conventions are also effective strategies. Building interactions with potential fans is vital—they can convert into Kickstarter backers. Professional help can be sought for various tasks, but advertising represents another major expense before launching your Kickstarter.

Distributors/Retail: If your Kickstarter succeeds, you’ll need to navigate the retail market. Negotiations with retailers and distributors will be necessary.

Although you can outsource some tasks, you’ll still need to familiarize yourself with each step to accurately estimate costs.

During the Kickstarter Campaign: Everything comes into play, and the workload can easily become overwhelming. This period often brings a desire for additional support, with numerous offers from others—ranging from scams to genuine assistance. Be cautious, especially with promises of quick advertising results. If you’re exploring advertising support, it may already be too late. Researching reliable help in advance is advisable.

On a positive note, you’ll meet many people who genuinely support you, particularly in the areas of retail and distribution. Prepare for a social experience!

A team is super valuable!

I will get into more details with these jobs in the following Blog Entries

What experiences have you had with these tasks? Do you work in any of these areas? I look forward to your comments!

3 - Where does one start if they want to design a game?

First, a disclaimer: What I’m describing here is based on my experience with board games and how I design them; I haven’t formally studied game design. Naturally, this post isn’t enough to cover every detail.

An idea is extremely important at the beginning, and two different approaches have worked very well for me: Top-Down and Bottom-Up.

Top-Down

This method starts with the big picture. I have an image in my mind. I know what the game should look like and what it revolves around, and I have an idea of how the atmosphere during play should feel. From there, I think about how to turn this image into a game, considering which mechanics would fit the theme. In this approach, the game is built around the theme.

Bottom-Up

This method works in the opposite way. You start with a great idea for a mechanic and figure out what theme would best suit it. The game is built around the mechanic. (A simple example: I want to have characters with unique abilities, which are auctioned off using a specific bidding mechanic. The core mechanic is fixed and serves as the foundation of the game.) There will be a dedicated blog post about the Bottom-Up approach in the future.

For “Magical Friends,” the idea came during a role-playing session. I imagined the social Bard gathering friends around him, while the Mage sat in his tower summoning and controlling helpers. During a lively Magician’s get-together, the Bard overhears a conversation and turns it into a competition. This idea led to my board game, which followed the Top-Down approach.

Next, I had to figure out the following:

• What do players do during the game? (Summon creatures—or “friends.”)

• What is the objective of the game? (To bring the friends to the party.)

These questions create a framework for the mechanics. Additional questions for this framework include:

• How long should the game last?

• What player count should it accommodate?

• Should it be cooperative or competitive?

• How complex can the game be?

• Should luck play a key role in the game?

• Where does replayability come from?

• What kind of feelings and atmosphere should emerge during gameplay?

Don't forget the intended game duration and player count.

For example, I wanted "Magical Friends" to create a gameplay experience similar to "Smallworld." Simple rules, where the fun comes from chaotic gameplay. Luck plays a minimal role, and replayability arises from the wide selection of races and abilities that are randomly combined. Based on this, I designed "Magical Friends" for a playtime of about 1 to 1.5 hours and for four players (with more players, it becomes challenging to keep the chaos under control). It’s intended to be competitive and not overly complex. Personally, I prefer games where luck only influences replayability, meaning less reliance on chance.

If I focused on the mechanics without considering these questions beforehand, it could happen that a player is drawn to a board game by its theme, but then the theme gets lost during gameplay, leading to disappointment. Creating this framework in advance is helpful for me to envision what my mechanics need to accomplish. For example, I could come up with a great mechanic that works well for four players but causes too much frustration for seven players.

Don’t forget the intended game duration and player count.

Only then do I consider the mechanics of the game. Are there perhaps different phases in the game? Do multiple mechanics interact with one another? If I come across a mechanic that allows more players to join without negatively impacting game duration or chaos, fantastic!

No matter which approach I’ve taken, I now have a clear vision of my game—a core framework composed of the theme and a primary mechanic (game loop). This framework can be explained to others in a way they can understand. Even if early prototypes have some elements that don’t work perfectly, you know the direction in which you want to proceed. There will be a separate blog post dedicated to prototypes.

What has changed since the first Kickstarter attempt on this topic:

I’ve often thought about how, with my next game, I would already consider the production of components during game design. Or, at least, I would think about special components. Game cards, dice, or chips are not particularly relevant. However, with "Magical Friends," I realized fairly early on that a distinctive feature of the game would be summoning many different creatures. What I didn’t realize was the amount of effort required to bring 50 different creatures into the game. I only gained this experience through creating prototypes and discussing them with manufacturers. As I reduced the amount of rounds played and increased the creature count, its possible to play the game with 5 players. Testing showed that 4 and 5 players are even the best player count to play.
In the Meantime also the story changed a little bit, altough its still similar, the bard has dropped and its a wizard and witch competition.

Please leave a comment if you have valuable insights to share about this point. I, and other readers, would surely appreciate it!

2 - Publisher or self-publisher?

Before asking yourself this question, a lot should have already happened concerning the board game. Why am I making a blog entry about it so soon? It's good to know what you're getting into when embarking on such a project.

I didn't even consider the question of whether to choose a publisher or self-publishing because I wanted to gain all the experiences that come with self-publishing anyway. However, as more information came to light, I had already spent a great deal of time and, in part, resources that would probably have been simply wasted with a publisher.

I must admit, I hadn't spoken personally with any publisher until a very late stage. However, I've read in many accounts that publishers often make significant changes to board games—for instance, using their own artwork even though investments had already been made for artwork out of one's own pocket. Sometimes, the entire theme of the game is changed if it makes more sense from a marketing perspective. Furthermore, publishers also determine the components, which might be of lower quality than desired (though sometimes better than expected). I read from a Reddit user that one receives between 4-8% royalties from the MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price). Of course, it also depends on whether a game has already been released and how successful or promoted it might already be.

In self-publishing, as a game designer, you don't just handle game design, playtests, prototypes, and rules but much more. You take care of setting up a company, finances, coordination, and risks needed to bring the game to market. You work with illustrators and graphic designers to give the game atmosphere and life. You gather information and establish contacts with manufacturers regarding materials, print runs, and translations (if multilingual), and organize the production, distribution, and storage needed to sell the game to customers or retailers. And if you haven't already made a name for yourself somewhere: you handle the advertising. If no one knows about a board game, no one will buy it.

As you can clearly see, the portion of work that is actually game design is just one of many steps required to get your board game into the shop around the corner.

If you only want to realize your game idea as a designer and don't want to deal with everything else, work on your prototype and create a cool pitch sheet for publishers. There's not much need to worry about artwork here. Self-publishing involves a lot of effort and learning, but it also builds something more long-term. Having a team makes the process much more pleasant. However, if it's your first project and the team isn't just made up of low-cost friends, it also increases costs. Advertising for such a project, if well-executed, can also benefit future board games.

What has happened since the first Kickstarter attempt (failed in 2021) regarding this topic: At the Spiel 2021 fair in Essen, I had meetings with publishers, including those specializing in localization. The latter primarily handle translating completed games to distribute them in other languages and different countries. Such a partner is generally very interesting both before and after a Kickstarter because it involves larger production and sales volumes.

However, my game must first be interesting to the publisher. If a game’s print run is produced through Kickstarter, the design, components, and price are fixed for the time being. If the design—for example, the cover and box size—does not align with the publisher's pricing expectations, it can be difficult to bring that publisher on board. This combination of first impression and pricing expectation of a game is, of course, also relevant for a Kickstarter, but it is of utmost priority for a publisher. Regarding this, I will definitely conduct further research and possibly make adjustments for the second Kickstarter attempt.

What has happened since the second successful Kickstarter (2022) regarding this topic: At the Spiel 2022 fair, I was promoting a miniature version of my game and managed to catch the attention of a Chinese publisher. They tested the game digitally on Tabletop Simulator and were so impressed that they wanted to localize my game into Chinese. In this process, I spent a lot of time gathering information. The German Game Designers Guild was somewhat helpful, primarily in legal aspects concerning the contract. However, they could provide little information about royalties. Typically, authors receive about 5-8% of the retailer's price (around 50% of the MSRP). After that, it became significantly harder to gather information. I eventually discovered that, as a publisher, as mentioned earlier, it's also 5-8%, but based on the MSRP—meaning double what an author receives. After all, a lot of work has already been done in advance. I then received 7%, and the Chinese publisher handled the translation and distribution entirely in China.

Have you had experiences with game publishers? Would you go with a publisher or self-publishing again? What have you learned from the experience? Are there still any open questions?

1 - From the board game idea to the crowdfunding project

I'm delighted that you've found your way here! What can you expect on my blog? I designed my board game “Magical Friends and How To Summon Them” myself and self-published it via crowdfunding. I would like to share these experiences with you here.

From time to time, I will write entries about my experiences with board game design, but above all about my experiences on the way to self-publishing the game. Why is there only a small section on design? Because self-publishing is just one of many tasks that need to be mastered. More on this topic in the next article.

There is a lot of excellent information on the Internet about designing and publishing board games, a majority of it is in English. Probably the most important piece of information is Jamey Stegmaier's blog on Stonemaier Games. Jamey enriches the scene not only with great board games, but also with this great blog. You can also find an incredibly helpful and friendly community in the Facebook group Board Game Design Lab Community.

I hope I can also support the German-speaking and european scene with this blog. The experience is also quite different depening on certain circumstances. It makes a big difference whether you read such experiences from someone who are selfpublishing in the USA or in Europe. Whether it's experience from the first, second or perhaps through several crowdfunding campaigns. Whether you are working alone or in a group. How big the game is and whether you're working with a publisher, and probably not all entries will appear in the best possible order.

I started the blog quite early on and a lot of time has passed since then. Depending on when you start thinking about a topic, you've already had a lot of experience with it. Some information would have been great early on, some topics are only relevant in specific times. I will come back to older blog entries and add the views of a later point in time. I may also be able to bring in guest comments from other designers from time to time.

The blog is originally written in German language and automatically translated. If you would like a better translation quality or an additional language, please write to me. Maybe I can think something up.
Did a post help you? What would you like to know? What was your experience with a topic? Feel free to write a comment so that others can benefit from your questions or experiences.

An early prototype, year 2020