All the months you’ve spent refining the edges of your game are finally close to paying off 🎲.
You’ve defined and merged a unique concept with a theme that addresses the gaps you identified in the board game market. You’ve tested your game with multiple players and adjusted your game based on their feedback. You’ve honed your core mechanics, improved your game components, and crafted a rulebook that clearly outlines the features and limitations of your project.
Especially if it’s your first game being published, this achievement has the potential to reward you immensely. Seeing your board game on tables and store shelves, enjoyed by players and aficionados alike, will be a source of immense pride.
However, many creators reach this stage only to overlook a tiny yet crucial truth—designing a good game doesn’t automatically guarantee a successful launch.
Bringing a product to the market is by all means a unique discipline. The skills required to publish a board game significantly differ from those required to develop it. At LaunchBoom, we’ve learned this firsthand. After helping dozens of designers make their board games commercially available, we’ve learned the intricacies behind this process. That’s why we created this guide.
Key Takeaways
- How to protect your board game intellectual property and avoid law infringements
- Elements to include in a marketing strategy to launch a board game
- How to manufacture game units and manage shipping and warehousing
- Ways to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign
Contents
12 Steps to Successfully Launch a Board Game
In the next steps, we highlight how to get a board game launched focusing mainly on the technical aspect of the process. Therefore, we assume you’ve already created a solid prototype of your game.
If you are just at the beginning of your journey as a creator and don’t have a concrete version yet, we suggest you read our beginner guide with some ideas on how to make a board game.
1. Finalize Your Game Design
Ask yourself, is your board game ready to be published?
The first step is understanding whether your game mechanics, rules, and components fit well together. Is your gameplay running smoothly, or does it feel cumbersome? Is your board game balanced, or does a playstyle dominate over the others?
If you believe your current version still needs improvement, the only way to fix it is through additional playtesting.
Involve diverse groups to gain a better understanding of your audience and how they respond to your project. This is also where you can use specificity to encourage constructive criticism from your testers. You can do that by asking specific questions to measure different aspects of the gameplay like what your players liked or disliked the most, why they think your game is unique, whether or not they think your gameplay is fair, and how they would describe your board game to someone else.
2. Protect Your Intellectual Property
One of the risks indie creators face is navigating intellectual property laws. Typically, infringements arise from the unauthorized use of copyrighted elements (artwork, game mechanics, or themes). However, this is also valid the other way around. Without proper measures, indie creators may run the risk of having their hard work (more or less voluntarily) exploited by someone else.
Regulations may vary depending on state or country, but usually, these are the types of laws safeguarding your intellectual property tend to be mentioned most frequently:
- Copyright protects the creative expression of your board game. Artwork, rules, and themes are examples of the elements safeguarded by this regulation.
- Trademarks cover specifically brand elements like your game’s name, your logo, and other unique symbols distinguishing your board game.
- Patents include unique mechanics and innovative physical components of a board game. Unlike the previous two laws, patents require a formal application to a country’s patent office to be issued.
We always suggest creators rely on legal assistance to protect their board games. The Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and Pine Island Games Blog is a resource you can consult for more information about contract management and licensing for game designers.
3. Create a Professional Prototype
Chances are that over the past months, you’ve been periodically updating your prototype to gradually enhance its credibility and make it closely resemble the final version of your board game components.
Now that you’ve accumulated all those hours of playtesting, the purpose of your prototype will evolve.
Since your priority is to get as many people to learn about your board game before its launch, your prototype can now serve as a tool for demonstration and promotional activities.
For this reason, we recommend upgrading both materials and the overall quality of your prototype.
For instance, consider using protective sleeves for your cards. If you want to go the extra mile, use a linen finish on your cards and boards. Wood coins and laser-etched tokens will feel more prestigious when compared to their plastic counterparts. Finally, consider 3D printing to produce high-quality miniatures in SLA resin or metal filaments for a professional look.
4. Conduct Market Research
“Comparison is the thief of joy…” said Teddy Roosevelt some decades ago. To this, we might want to add: “…yet sometimes it is necessary to grow.”
At certain points in your game development journey, you may research your potential competition. These are the board games with which you will compete for the attention and consideration of your target audience.
Analyzing your competition and the board gaming industry trends can help you identify both threats and opportunities in the market. This information allows you to gather valuable data that you can use to differentiate your board game and align it with emerging opportunities in the market.
We’re not suggesting you change the core concept of your board game solely to follow trends. However, understanding what players might be interested in over the next few months or years can provide insights into minor tweaks that could make your board game more appealing in the current market landscape.
Here are some platforms you can use to track industry trends:
- Reddit (r/boardgames): A highly active community discussing new releases.
- Kickstarter: A hub for trending board game projects.
- Social Media Insights: To check what games are gaining traction due to publishers, creators, and influencers discussing and posting about them.
5. Develop a Marketing Strategy
A good marketing campaign will set solid foundations for a successful board game launch. First, understand who your target audience is. Are they families, casual gamers, or hardcore enthusiasts? What other games do they play/what are their hobbies? Tailor your content to resonate with them.
Next, think about a compelling narrative around your project. This could focus on the features of your game setting and theme. You can create a short video introducing your game as well as digital art to advertise it. Doing this will help you define your identity as a business and stick to your viewers’ top of mind if your content resonates with them. This is where you can get creative. For instance, if your board game is heavily focused around characters, you can highlight their backstories through unique art and statistics about their abilities. If your game is an RPG, you can engage your audience by sharing more about the lore behind your game. This can be done by highlighting chronicles, maps, and special events that are part of your RPG’s history.
To harness the opportunities of your marketing strategy, you should do some research on how your competitors engage your target audience on Meta. What type of post are your potential players reacting to? What are the trends set by the market leaders on the platform?
Ultimately, consider investing in partnerships with reviewers to access a wider number of people potentially interested in your board game.
6. Build an Online Presence
Once you identify the right social media for your project, create a profile and start sharing content to update your followers. To gather some insights into the trending content for board games on social media platforms, we suggest browsing tools like Hootsuite Insights or Social Blade.
Having a website with a dedicated domain can also help you build authority around your project. This can be used as a web space to share updates about the development of your board game, showcase links to your social media profiles, and include some relevant FAQs.
Consider stimulating interaction through forums (like Reddit or Quora), texting groups, and joining community events to further sponsor your social media profiles and gain more popularity among your target audience.
7. Plan a Crowdfunding Campaign
In recent years, board game projects launched on crowdfunding websites have attracted much more interest than before. As of November 2024, the Game category remains the most successfully funded on Kickstarter, with over 45,000 projects achieving their funding goals.
Successful board gaming projects have often raised six-figure sums or more. However, a more realistic goal would be setting your crowdfunding campaign on a more modest goal under $50,000.
The advantage of crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Gamefound lies in the global audience that they reach, and the community-building tools they provide to board game creators. These features, combined with marketing exposure, and pre-sales functionalities reduce financial risks while encouraging direct connection with backers.
For more tips and tricks on launching a crowdfunding campaign for your project, we advise you to read our guide on how to kickstart a board game.
8. Prepare for Manufacturing
Here’s where we get practical.
In your process of board game development, manufacturing risks take months if not years to get all your units ready. First, finding the right manufacturer is not as easy as it might sound. To facilitate the search, check community-driven resources like boardgamemanufacturers.info or MakePlayingCards.
Your price per unit will mostly be cheaper if you print a lot of copies. However, companies might reserve some deals for the first few hundred units you order.
Your chosen manufacturer will likely produce a prototype before starting to mass-produce. This is where you’ll need to discuss the quality of your components and the costs of your chosen materials.
9. Set Up Logistics and Fulfillment
The question “how to launch a new board game” may overlook some key aspects of the process that are often neglected but fundamental. We’re referring to shipping, warehousing, and fulfillment.
Board game designers may choose to ship their manufactured units directly to backers (via a direct shipping model) or store them in warehouses for future distribution. However, if you plan to ship internationally, you should expect to pay additional customs fees and shipping rates.
Tools like BackerKit or ShipMonk can be particularly helpful for indie board game creators, as they are tailored to crowdfunding campaigns and can assist in calculating shipping costs.
10. Launch Your Crowdfunding Campaign
On your way to create a dedicated landing page for your crowdfunding campaign, it can be useful to write down some of these strategies to maximize your exposure:
- Create a newsletter by capturing email sign-ups, and start sharing updates about your board game development.
- Set stretch goals for early backers pledging for limited components and extra items.
- Leverage testimonial proof by showcasing positive feedback left by playtesters and influencers.
- Host live sessions on platforms like Twitch and YouTube to run playthroughs, tutorials, and host Q&A to keep backers invested in your campaign.
Regular updates and engagement with backers will give you enough momentum to support your launch. This is why you should always stay active on your social media pages and answer feedback on the web spaces hosting discussions about your project. This demonstrates that you value the input of your community and you celebrate their interest in your board game.
11. Manage Post-Campaign Activities
Your campaign was successful and all these backers can’t wait to try your board game first hand!
What now? At this point, you should ensure your orders are correctly fulfilled.
To do so, you can rely on third-party services like ShipBob, Fulfillrite, or Quartermaster Logistics. These fulfillment services are available worldwide and typically handle packaging, labeling, and shipping, depending on the backers’ addresses.
It’s fundamental to keep your backers informed about the progress of production, shipping, and potential delays even after the campaign ends. Sure, it might be humbling to reach out to a backer apologizing for a delay, but it would be even worse to lack transparency or disappoint your players with lies about the waiting time. Delays are risks to be calculated as they may happen for several reasons (manufacturing issues, custom mistakes, etc…). To mitigate their impact, you can offer compensatory rewards like small bonuses, discounts, a thank-you note, and refund programs.
12. Expand Distribution Channels
Do you plan for your board game to conquer the world like in Risk?
Perhaps you’ve already considered expanding the distribution channels of your project to increase reach and profitability. Here are some of the ways you can achieve that:
- Retail partnerships: Approach local and independent game stores by pitching your board game, and make an effort to partner with larger publishers.
- Online sales: If your crowdfunding campaign was your only platform for showcasing your board game, consider establishing a more permanent online presence. You can do this by creating a dedicated website or using an e-commerce platform like Shopify to sell directly to customers.
- Industry conventions: Attending events where your target audience can join can help showcase your board game to potential collaborators, or publishers.
Before scaling production, remember to evaluate the ongoing demands for your board game. Check your crowdfunding data, amount of pre-orders, and publisher interest. If your project is gaining traction, it can be worth translating your board game into other languages to enter new international markets.
Case Studies of Successful Board Game Launches
One of the best ways to learn how to launch a board game is by taking inspiration from the creators who turned their favorite hobby into a profession.
As we want to fuel your creativity and show proof of effective campaigns, here are some stories showing successful indie board game releases:
Deep Regrets
The most unsettling fishing board game ever created uses sustainability as one of its unique features. On the first of July 2024, we helped Judson Cowan launch Deep Regrets on Kickstarter. This board game, which includes only eco-friendly pieces, raised £115,287 in just one day!
The strategy behind Deep Regrets consisted of a measured blend of theme originality and effective pre-launch advertising.
First, Judson invested in Meta ads to drive traffic to the landing page of his crowdfunding campaign. Then, he collected email addresses incentivizing early interest through low-price reservations. To further motivate early backers to invest in Deep Regrets, Judson offered a mini-expansion to a reduced price which now represents an item obtained in a limited edition carried by the proudest players.
By the end of the campaign, Deep Regrets had driven £637,077 in revenue from 13,950 new customers.
Gloomhaven
Isaac Childres, the creator of Gloomhaven launched it on Kickstarter in 2015. His initial funding goal was $70,000. However, the crowdfunding campaign was astonishing, exceeding all expectations with over $386,000 raised!
The success behind Gloomhaven stems from a combination of storytelling-driven mechanics and replayability, which fostered the formation of an active community over gameplay strategies and discussed narratives shared online.
Stretch goals and funding milestones were also pivotal to the campaign’s success. These features added excitement and increased perceived value from backers who fund Gloomhaven to pre-order secret new characters, unique playable scenarios, and special miniatures.
Wingspan
Unlike previous titles, Wingspan was launched in a more traditional manner by Elizabeth Hargrave through the well-established publisher Stonemaier Games.
The game debuted in 2019, quickly gaining traction due to its theme centered on bird habitats, appealing design, and unique game components (notably the bird-shaped dice tower). These factors, combined with Stonemaier Games’ established promotional channels, helped Wingspan win the prestigious Kennerspiel des Jahres award!
Today, Wingspan continues to thrive with new expansions and widespread distribution networks 🐦.
Final Thoughts
In this guide, we provided a structured approach to successfully launch your board game in the market. We emphasized the importance of preparation across multiple areas, including refining game components, safeguarding intellectual property, rigorous playtesting, effective market research, and selecting reliable manufacturers and fulfillment services. Key elements of investment also include a compelling marketing strategy, an online presence built with consistency, maintaining a newsletter to update backers, and collaborating with influencers.
This is a lot, isn’t it? These tasks (and their associated risks) can sometimes dissuade creators from launching their board games. We get that…developing a board game is already demanding, and mastering its marketing isn’t something creators are inherently expected to know.
That’s why at LaunchBoom, we’ve honed a formula to help board game designers focus on refining their projects while we take care of the rest. In 2023 alone, creators who partnered with us raised an average of $330K across 30 game launches—12 times more than the average game on Kickstarter. Now it’s your turn to get the successful launch your project deserves. Book a call.
“…This is the perfect crash course to teach you exactly what you need to know to launch…At the end of it all you not only have a well-crafted marketing strategy and Kickstarter, you also have the knowledge to do it all again.”
– Judson, creator of Deep Regrets, raising £637,077.
How to Launch a Board Game: Frequently Asked Questions
How Do You Introduce a Board Game?
Start by crafting a clear elevator pitch summarizing your theme, gameplay, and unique appeal in under a minute. Highlight what makes your game stand out, like innovative mechanics, a captivating storyline, or a unique design. Use engaging demonstrations to showcase its fun factor—set up a visually appealing prototype, including a sell sheet. Then, emphasize smooth gameplay, and encourage hands-on experiences during playtests or events.
How Do I Get a Board Game Published?
First, consider whether you want to rely on self-publishing or traditional publishing. The former offers creative and financial control but requires managing production, managing, and distribution. The latter implies partnering with publishers who handle production and marketing. This is less risky but involves sharing profits and potential compromises on your creative control.
How Do I Launch a Game?
Finalize the design of your game through extensive playtesting to ensure balance and clarity. Protect your intellectual property with trademarks, copyrights, or patents. Develop a professional prototype for presentations and promotions. Conduct market research to understand your competition and refine your marketing strategy, including a strong online presence and social media engagement. Plan your launch through crowdfunding or retail partnerships, ensuring reliable manufacturing and fulfillment.
How to Begin Making a Board Game?
You can start by brainstorming a unique concept and theme that excites you and fills a gap in the market. Define the core mechanics, player goals, and game flow. Test these ideas with a basic prototype using simple materials like paper and tokens to refine the gameplay. Study design principles through resources like The Game Crafter Blog or the Board Game Designers Forum. Join design communities or attend playtesting events to gain feedback and network with fellow creators.
