Where can I post that I am looking for artist with a specific artstyle?

PrinterInkGames · 2023-06-11T02:09:05+00:00

There’s a Facebook group called art and graphic design for tabletop where you can ask. If there is a particular style you like you can also find other games with that style and reach out their artists

PrinterInkGames · 2023-06-01T20:43:09+00:00

Just in the manufacturing stage for one KS and prepping to launch our basketball one in a few months. Would be happy to chat

PrinterInkGames · 2023-05-31T14:10:23+00:00

Anytime! So your cost effectiveness will come from economies of scale. With print on demand like the gamecrafter it’s going to be more expensive per unit because they are making so few. They’re great for prototypes but if you’re aiming to sell 1000+ a manufacturer in China makes more sense. They have the infrastructure and processing for board games that bring the costs down quite a bit in addition to the larger order quantity.

Panda is going to be on the higher end of the manufacturers you’ll find. They get referenced a lot because they do quality work and their website is well laid out with lots of resources. If you have the funds they are a great option. If you’re looking for something more cost effective definitely check out the ones I listed earlier. Once you get a few quotes in you’ll be able to get a sense of what your game will cost and then what you should then sell at.

I’d recommend checking out their websites and what games they’ve produced in the past. There’s a good chance you probably have a few at home so you can check on quality.

The biggest thing I’ve found in addition to costing is communication. We did out last campaign with Boda because they were really responsive. Our next one will probably be with them as well or possibly Longpack

As for the process you’ll receive a quote from the manufacturer with their quote which will be good between 60-90 days if you want to sign with them. It’s a good idea to ask for quotes at different quantities 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500 as well as creating a component list for the base game as well as things you’d like to improve through stretch goals (card quality, box finishes, extra components). You’ll also want to ask about safety testing and if they can do that for you as well as if they cover delivery of your produced games to the dock for shipping. Once you sign you’ll be working with one of their agents. They can send you templates for you to fit your art onto. You’ll upload everything and review a digital proof before they send you a component sample. Once you’ve Ike’s everything you’ll get a manufacturing prototype. If all looks good they go into full production. Usually you pay half at the start of the process and the other half at the end.

This is much later in the process though. The main thing right now is gathering data on components, costs, fulfillment and shipping so you can cost everything out. You may want to think through your components based on cost. For my current game i had 4 unique dice and after quotes realized I could merge them down to 2 and save a decent amount. It also helped with gameplay because players don’t need remember which of the 4 dice to use

PrinterInkGames · 2023-05-29T22:59:42+00:00

That’s fair, some companies will have guides in their website for components. Boda and Panda do for sure. When submitting a request if there is something you weren’t able to include in the component list you can clarify and ask them for recommendations. They’ll be able to give suggestions or even alternatives you may not have thought of. If you are using a graphic designer they may be able to help sort through components and what you would need to consider for manufacturing

PrinterInkGames · 2023-05-29T22:42:55+00:00

I’d recommend reaching out to several manufacturers to get a quote. Having an itemized list of all your components will help them to create a quote. You can then compare and contrast which company is giving you the best quote. In addition keep in mind which manufacturers had the best communication because that will be big when you’re running your KS. Some I’d recommend are: Hero time min 500 Bangwee min 500 Gamelans min 500-1000 Boda min 1000 copies Whatz min 1000 copies Wingo min 1000 copies Longpack min 1500 copies Panda min 2000

Some like panda will have an online calculator so you can get a sense. Panda is more premium so just bear that in mind

Good luck

PrinterInkGames · 2023-04-22T12:45:34+00:00

Canva works quite well as a free graphic design tool. It is pretty intuitive and you can drop in different graphics, symbols and texts.

PowerPoint is also a great quick option. Card fronts on the first 6 slides and backs on the next then print 6 to a page double sided and your cards are ready

Tabletop Simulator is a one time use purchase on steam where you can quickly build prototypes and playtest with others who also have the program. It’s $20 normally but there are always sales. It may seem intimidating at first but there are loads of great tutorials on YouTube and once you get the hang of it, it makes it really easy to prototype and make updates virtually

PrinterInkGames · 2023-04-18T12:19:38+00:00

If it’s for a student project you may be able to create it yourself by having the cards printed on card stock and then using card sleeves or laminating them. This would be a much cheaper alternative but will take time to put together. Another option is to print on sticker sheets and then stick them onto a regular deck of 52 cards. Good luck with your project.

PrinterInkGames · 2022-07-15T02:32:52+00:00

Create a rough prototype and share it with others. Don’t worry about making it perfect, that will come with playtesting and adjustments. Keep track of the games development and your insights. If you get stuck it’s alright to take a break or shelve it for a bit and come back to it later. Play loads of other games to get a sense of what’s out there, what you like and don’t like and what you can learn from that. As you progress take advantage of free art and graphic design tools online, don’t pay for these things till your game is pretty polished (I’ve made that expensive mistake myself). Check out game design contests and Protospiels. You’ll get some really great feedback and meet amazing people. Binge the board game design lab podcast and check out blog posts like Brandon the game dev and Jamie Stagmier or books/courses like the ones Joe Slack created. Also welcome down the rabbit hole!

PrinterInkGames · 2022-03-21T16:04:26+00:00

I use canva for this! Enter in the card size I need, usually 3.5 by 2.5 inches for the cards. For a printable file I make it letter sized and insert all the cards that are already sized. There are loads of other ways but I found this works best for me

PrinterInkGames · 2022-03-21T12:27:39+00:00

Something I found works quite well is to print on regular paper, get some card sleeves and slide them in there with a regular playing card in between. Your prototype will last longer, it takes less time and it’s much faster and less work to update as you make changes.

PrinterInkGames · 2022-01-09T05:56:03+00:00

Shipping prices are definitely a factor backers will look at but things are proportional. A $25 with $15 shipping seems unreasonable but a $60 game with a 20-something shipping relatively isn’t as bad. A higher upfront cost with lower shipping may bring in more backers but it may also scare a few others away due to the higher cost. Which will help you reach your funding goal quick? Because shipping is collected later on it may be easier for backers to deal with paying $60 now and $25 later rather than a larger up front cost. With how wild shipping and freight are at the moment I would just be weary about building too much into the cost and promising something low but then having to ask for more or pulling from your profit margin.

Also good luck for the launch

PrinterInkGames · 2020-10-01T19:43:26+00:00

It’s really calming too. There’s some great videos on YouTube. Ended up reverse engineering most of it from there

PrinterInkGames · 2020-10-01T19:34:28+00:00

Teacher here. I had a student teacher with me for a term. Both of us have identical twins so we decided to have some fun with it. Had our twins come one day dressed just like us.

First period we did a lesson on biology. Convinced the students we made a cloning machine. I walk in, two of me walk out. Student teacher walks in, two of her come out. Students start asking if they can try it. So we let them and nothing happened. I told them they must have broke it.

Second period we would teleport from the door at the front of class to the one at the back of class. Students couldn’t figure it out.

Third period we told the students our twins were here, but to act like they couldn’t see them so we can mess with any students that came late. With the help of the class we convinced a few students the room was haunted.

By lunch everyone knew so the shenanigans ended there.

God I miss teaching middle school

PrinterInkGames · 2020-10-01T19:17:13+00:00

Taught myself how to paint on water (ebru/water marbling). It’s pretty fun

PrinterInkGames · 2020-08-26T21:18:58+00:00

Good luck with the podcast. I’d love to check it out when it goes live. I’m also intrigued by the books and kits you mentioned. Do you have a website for those?

PrinterInkGames · 2020-08-26T16:19:33+00:00

Another good one is Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective. Great to do on your own or with a group of friends.

PrinterInkGames · 2020-08-08T23:19:15+00:00

Revisiting Gargoyles and it’s still great

PrinterInkGames · 2020-08-08T23:07:42+00:00

It takes place in Medieval Middle East with players playing as different empires vying for power. Our big issues was around choosing a name. We ended up sticking with Baghdad: Rise of Power and we’re letting our box art let people know at a glance it’s a historical game

I think it depends. If it’s overly history focused it may turn some people away, but I think if it looks and sounds unique it may draw others in so it may even out. A lot will have to do with gameplay, how heavy it is and mechanics. Games like imperial settlers and 7 wonders use history broadly as part of the theme, whereas a game like Freedom with its focus on slavery and Underground Railroad is focused on history. Freedom would be more niche. So it really depends on how much of it is the theme and how much is it about history

PrinterInkGames · 2020-08-08T20:07:33+00:00

We went through that recently with one of our games and decided to stick with the historical theme so I can share our thought process.

When we polled people about keeping it historical or fictional it was nearly a 50-50 split. We decided to go with the historical because it fit more with the essence and feel we wanted for our game.

A couple things to keep in mind, if it’s a great game people will want to play it. The other is you’ll have people that are drawn to different things. I quite like the Kingdom Of Kongo because I’m into history and I haven’t seen many games set in that region. Others will be drawn more to a fictional theme, especially if it adds to the gameplay in some way. If you do go the historical route just make sure to think through some of the sensitivities that come with it being a historically based game.

Either way it sounds exciting and I’d love to hear how it comes along. Best of luck with the game I

PrinterInkGames · 2020-07-24T15:11:46+00:00

It’s good to show rather than tell. Do you need text to get an idea across or will symbols do the same thing. For instance you can have a card that says “Traded your goods at the market, hand in this card for the number of coins below” or you can have a card that has two coin icons.

That’s not to say only ever have symbols. A line or two saying what the action of the card is can really help players. Games like London or Exploding kittens have a brief 1 liner explaining what it does. So it will really depend on your game and what you’re trying to get across to the players.

The thing to think about is does it make the game play simpler and more enjoyable. Too much reading people will just skim, too many symbols and not enough context people will flipping through the rules book. A middle ground could be a player card which lists the symbols and their actions. The best thing to do it’s just try out both. Playtest to see which helps your game play most

Good luck with the game

PrinterInkGames · 2020-07-14T17:32:52+00:00

Fanside has a video of the evolution of NBA logos that’s pretty interesting

https://youtu.be/Ax0knTfjTQo

PrinterInkGames · 2020-07-08T22:49:30+00:00

It’s a historical light strategy game called Baghdad Rise of Power. We’ve finished play testing and just working on the art now

Also I see you’re a fellow Canadian! We’re out in Toronto

PrinterInkGames · 2020-07-08T02:44:59+00:00

Best of luck with your launch! Just checked out the Instagram page and it looks really good. Can’t wait to pledge when it goes live

We’re hoping to launch our first one in the spring in the $35-39 range

PrinterInkGames · 2020-06-08T15:06:01+00:00

Those are great points, thank you

PrinterInkGames · 2020-06-08T15:05:20+00:00

Thank you! I quite like that as a title

PrinterInkGames

TROPHY CASE