Is there a market for board games anymore ?

Question

My grandmother and i invented a board game and we'd really like to get it out into the market, but if there is no market for board games then we might not as well. Do you think there is still a sizable market in board games ?

Answer 1

Yes, board games are still marketable. Hundreds of thousands of board games are still sold every year. There are still numerous publishers of board games out there, however very few are open to submissions from unknown designers so you are probably going to be limited to self-publishing your idea.

The best place to get advice on this subject is amongst a community of like-minded people. There is such a community of board game designers located at the Board Game Designers Forum located here:

http://www.bgdf.com/tiki/tiki-custom_hom...

Go register (it's free) and then jump into the conversation. Subjects such as intellectual property rights, design ideas, marketing, copyrights and patents, and other game design topics are regularly hashed out. It is a friendly place full of well informed people and you will definitely get better answers than what you will find here.

Answer 2

I believe that there will always be a market for board games. I sort of relate it to books, even though they can put them in the computer formats, there will always be those who like the feel of the "real thing" in their hands. Board games are sort of the same way. There are still families in this world who actually sit down and play board games together on a regular basis. There are also those who collect board games.

I agree with what's already been said, not to re-release or re-do a board game or a board game clone that has already been done. You may be best trying to produce the games yourself in small quantities, and try selling them through an E-bay store, Amazon Seller, or some other type of format that will allow you to see if there is an interest in the game. I think the board game industry is pretty dominated by the big companies, and that they have hashed and re-hashed their games so many times that new games, with entirely new concepts and themes would be a welcome, refreshing addition to the board game industry.

Answer 3

Several things:
1. Is your boardgame any good at all, or are you rehashing what is out there with a new theme? If you did another Monopoly clone, the answer is no. Did you manage to playtest your game sufficiently to see that it is enjoyable and works well. I mean, PLEASE don't do a game involving rolling dice and moving a piece along a single track.
2. There is always a market for boardgames, if you know how to market it correctly, and people happen to like the theme and so on.
3. Don't expect anyone to pick up your game and give you a cut. You may have to invest your own money and produce it yourself.

There is a market, but your market is smaller than other areas. Odds are you aren't going to get rich.

I personally would suggest you check out a site like boardgamegeek.com and get a pulse on what is in verses what isn't.

Answer 4

If you have a game that has the potential to gain a following and doesn't require a large investment to manufacture, I believe you can be successful by marketing through the web and by word-of-mouth. As an example...

We are hooked on a board game that recently came on the market called "Syzygy". It resembles Scrabble, but is simpler, faster, and much more fun. The physical game consists of letter squares and no board. Everyone works on building a crossword puzzle independently, so there is no waiting around for another player to complete a play. It is not dependent on having a huge vocabulary or knowledge of obscure words. We've played in groups with children, elderly, dyslexics, and non-native English speakers and everyone was able to compete.

We were introduced to the game by a friend who had heard about it from their friend. We have since purchased the game on-line to give to several folks as gifts and several of them have done the same. So we are probably responsible for several dozen sales.

A visit to their web site: www.playsyzygy.com, will show you how successful homegrown marketing can be. I suspect that if you contact the lovely woman who invented Syzygy, she'd be happy to advise you.

Answer 5

Yes there is. I own close to 500 and I still buy 50 or so a year.

Answer 6

All of these answers are excellent so far...they took a lot of words right out of my mouth.

Good luck with your game!

Answer 7

I would think so...I recently got into Settlers of Catan (check it out if you've never played it!)

Im sure you can do a lot of online research about your question. Best of luck!