How to Publish Games with a Grassroots Approach | Joe Bragg
Nov 29, 2023
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Exploring grassroots game publishing with Joe Bragg, focusing on community building, small-batch printing, and the challenges of traditional publishing. Discusses self-publishing, preorder strategies, and innovative game launch approaches. Dive into the world of board game design and discover the benefits of taking a grassroots approach.
Embracing small batch publishing allows creators to have control over projects, manage art direction, and learn from mistakes.
Utilizing platforms like the Game Crafter enables creative adjustments to components, leading to dynamic design processes.
Focus on community building and open communication fosters player engagement, ensuring successful launches and encouraging growth.
Deep dives
Small Batch Publishing Approach
The episode delves into the concept of small batch publishing as an alternative to traditional methods like crowdfunding or pitching to publishers. The focus is on running a preorder campaign through personal domains in limited quantities, like 100 or 200 copies, to build a grassroots community. This approach allows creators to have more control over their projects, manage aspects like art direction, while learning and growing from small-scale mistakes.
Manufacturing and Creativity
The discussion highlights the manufacturing process using platforms like the Game Crafter for small batch games. The guest shares how high quality and user-friendly tools enabled creative adjustments to components due to initial high manufacturing costs. This necessity-driven creativity led to altering game mechanics, layout, and even considering future expansions, all contributing to a dynamic and engaging design process.
Preorder Strategy and Community Building
The guest's strategy involved a preorder approach to gauge interest and fund initial print runs, emphasizing transparency in the process. By generating buzz through word of mouth and social media, around 70 copies were preordered, facilitating subsequent larger print runs. The focus on community building, fostering player engagement, and open communication contributed to a successful launch and positive reception, encouraging further exploration and growth in the board game design space.
Control and Mitigation in Game Design
One key insight from the podcast is the importance of understanding and controlling different aspects of game design, particularly in crowdfunding campaigns. The speaker emphasizes the significance of recognizing one's strengths, weaknesses, likes, and dislikes in the creative process. They highlight the challenges faced in areas like artwork production, where delays can occur unexpectedly, leading to backers waiting for products. By acknowledging these issues early, creators can mitigate delays and communicate effectively with their backers, ensuring a smoother campaign experience.
Small Batch Publishing Advantages
Another critical point discussed revolves around the advantages of small batch publishing for board games. The podcast delves into the reduced stress levels associated with smaller print runs, enabling designers to pursue excellence while having lower expectations from customers. The flexibility of small batches allows for quicker adjustments and updates based on feedback, akin to video game patching. This approach grants designers the opportunity to learn and grow continuously, enhancing their skills and product quality over time without the pressure of large-scale productions.
In this episode, Joe Bragg, founder of the indie publishing company Meek Heroes Gaming, discusses the grassroots approach he’s taking to building his publishing company. We chat about why this approach makes sense for a lot of people, the pros and cons of not using crowdfunding, how to build a community from the ground up, and a whole lot more.
I also dive into the slightly different approach my own publishing company is planning to take in 2024, so hopefully this episode gives you lots to think about if you’re interested in publishing games.
