By now, you guys have seen my "I got a plan, Stan!" comment in our Line thread. Some of it was discussed last Sunday with Josh. I intend to elaborate here and answer any questions.
What the plan is: A road map and checklist that will expand and amplify our perceived value beyond just the possible future revenue of a game we want to publish.
Why the need for a plan like this: Publishers of board games invest hundreds of thousands of dollars between marketing, manufacturing, and distribution on a single game title alone, so obviously they don't willy-nilly take just any board game on as an investment project. They want as close to a "sure thing" as possible and as much of the "hard" work done for them before even considering a new game and whether or not it fits in with their existing product line and company mission. So our plan, in a nutshell, is to not only do that work for Kred, but to establish that we are in a position to offer services that help aspiring game creators, as well as small to mid-sized publishers, with "road to publish" services.
What the plan is not: It is not any specific commitment, long-term or otherwise. This plan does not require much more effort or work than we are already doing for Kred. The fact that we offer services does not mean we get any takers. If we do, we'll price accordingly when the time comes. For now, that is not the point.
What is the point? Imagine yourself as a game publisher. You're always on the lookout for that next big title that will translate to a decent profit and add further value to your product line. You're running a booth at a board game event and suddenly you are cold-approached by some guys with a game that looks interesting and possibly might fit with what you're looking for. Maybe they seem to have crossed their t's and dotted their i's, brought a nice prototype, a sell-sheet, etc., and even present well — but you don't know anything about these guys. You're probably thinking you don't have time to look into their game in detail.
Then one of them hands you a business card and says they offer development phase services for creators of tabletop games.
Instantly, what does this tell you? I won't make a list here, but suffice to say it answers a lot of questions about these four guys. At the very least, you know they've invested a lot — time, work, and money — in their game development already, they've done their homework, and most likely know the position a publisher is in. These guys are not here to waste your time. You just may give their game a deeper look when you get home.
What's happening here? At the very least, networking. Exchanging business cards can lead to further contact down the road for other projects, referrals to other publishers, and even a source in the business that can be contacted for inquiries. In the best case scenario, a relationship with a publisher and possibly an exchange of services. Regardless of publishing our game, publishers we build relationships with can send us a bit of business when someone prematurely pitches a raw, underdeveloped game to them and is in need of some of our services.
What else are we doing at the Osaka event? Whether or not we get Kred looked at by any publishers, let's emphasize that we play games — a lot of games (we can prove it by showing our stat-app page) — and invite them to contact us if they need playtesting of any games they might have in development. This we'll offer free of charge.
Our webpage for our services should speak volumes about who we are and what we do. Josh and I have said we are willing to put our mugs on the site in the developer profile page. Hopefully you guys are as well.
https://montoyahome.com/tfdstudios/index.html
(The website is merely a placeholder with a general scaffold. No need to nitpick on words and design just yet — there's lots to be done here!)
In order to get Kred on the proverbial map, we're going to need to make our presence known through social media, participate in several tabletop game communities, and make a good name for ourselves. Branding is important, and filling a niche with "development phase" services under the TFD name makes our quest to publish Kred more achievable by establishing credibility, growing our audience, and creating value long before the game reaches the market.