It's been an eventful period since our last update! We attended the GAMA Expo in Reno, have produced and started selling our first two games, ordered the prints for our next two games, partnered with a local retailer, and completed our first big order!
Earlier this spring, we had the opportunity to attend the GAMA Expo, an event that proved to be a treasure trove of knowledge for us as personally as retailers, publishers, and game makers.
Among the many speaker sessions, the ones focused on sales strategies particularly stood out, and inspired me to try selling direct to retailers. We realized that exploring the wholesale route could be the best move for us at this time.
While opting for wholesale means sacrificing some margin when selling to game stores, the potential benefits outweigh the drawbacks. By partnering with other companies and having our games available in numerous store fronts across different markets, we can significantly expand our reach and connect with a wider audience of game players.
Once we know if any particular game stands out, we may revisit it and update it to a 2.0, or start creating expansions for it. Based on first reactions I think may already have a contender. We will gain feedback from our partnerships and invest our time/effort/resources into our projects that we feel will be most successful.
Just last week, we reached a significant milestone by completing our first order with a local game retailer, Crazy Squirrel. This is the longest-running game store in our area, and certainly one of the most well known.
It's surreal to see my games on shelves!
Known for its reputation and longevity, Crazy Squirrel is one of the most well-established game stores in our area. The realization that a game we created would be showcased on their shelves is truly a surreal and gratifying experience.
Yesterday the most wild thing happened which prompted me to even write this blog.
I had just delivered the order to Crazy Squirrel that morning, and I made plans to meet with a friend to play the new LOTR Commander set at Beer for the Meeples, a bar for board gamers!
When we sat down there was an open seat and we invited one of the other patrons there that seemed to be interested in our commander decks.
Halfway through the game it somehow comes out that Kiara and I make games, and the newly met friend asked which ones we've made, since he may have purchased it.
I explained that it's extremely unlikely that he has, since I JUST delivered the games to Crazy Squirrel earlier that afternoon.
He countered by claiming to have been to Crazy Squirrel in the early afternoon as well, and to have purchased a ton of games for the boy scouts.
I could not believe the odds of a copy of the game getting sold the same day as it was delivered, and that I would run into someone that really did buy my game! Crazy.
Things coming up:
- While we wait for the next two games to be printed there's four more games we will be in the process of producing (though, not all at once).
- I reached out to Flying Leap Games to hear more about their sales process, I had listened to a speaking session one of the company founders had hosted. Before we completed our first order I had contacted over half of the local stores, to zero sales. Hopefully there is some insight so we can establish more partnerships.