How to make a million dollars by developing one board game

It may seem surprising, but the board game business is a very promising area of ​​work in the entertainment industry. The fashion for spending time playing the classic “Monopoly” or the more modern “Munchkin” has captivated children and adults. This pastime allows you to combine leisure with the development of analytical thinking and creativity. Selling ready-made board games and producing your own board games can become a source of stable profit, provided that the organizer approaches it wisely.

How board games are invented

Creating board games is a very creative and at the same time analytical process. Every classic game has its own creation story. For example, the classic Monopoly was invented by one man, Charles Darrow, in the United States during the Great Depression. He personally produced and sold 5 thousand copies of sets for a new entertainment, the goal of which is to create his own business empire and the survival of other players from the market.

Another legendary game with a more complex plot and more possibilities is Dungeons & Dragons or Dungeons of Dragons. It was created in the 1970s by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The authors were inspired by another board game, adding fantastic creatures and magic to it. A younger, but no less famous detective story with quests and fights with monsters, “Arkham Horror,” was created by Richard Launis, basing the plot on worlds from the stories of the mystical Howard Lovecraft.

Board games are interesting for adults and children; they develop analytical thinking and creativity

From these examples it follows that plot development can be inspired by reality, fiction, or even another game. The author creates a virtual world with its own laws, sets the rules and invites others to immerse themselves there. Of course, this is a creative process, but it is still possible to distinguish characteristic stages:

• development of plot and rules;
• creation of material resources (cards, maps, diagrams, cubes, tokens);
• testing;
• revision;
• mass circulation.

Game development as a business

It's safe to say that not everyone can make board games. But if you feel the potential to complete such a complex of works, proceed with confidence - there will be connoisseurs and demand. When developing a scenario and a set of cards, do not count on instant enrichment. The creators did not become very rich people in a short time, even if their work met with a massive response (as was the case with Monopoly).

Creating a complex game will take several months or even several years. The author needs to not only come up with a plot, but also work through the maximum number of possible scenarios so that the action does not reach a dead end. Creative thought alone is not enough. It is necessary to predict in what ways events may develop, what the players may do, how the plot ends, whether there is a winner, etc.

What could be the source of board game development:

1. Existing board game. For example, the classic “Monopoly” is transferred to new countries, cities, even to a new reality, or the rules are completely changed to the opposite (“Antimonopoly”). This option is attractive because the most difficult part of the work has already been done by the creators, and the developer only has to change the design, surroundings and material base.
2. Popular books and films. Simple adventure games and quests in the worlds of famous universes will resonate with their fans.
3. Imitation of phenomena and situations from real life. Survival quests in extreme conditions and solving practical problems can serve both educational and entertainment functions.

If you plan to make money, it is better to create a board game on a computer by contacting an artist or designer. With its help you can create beautiful cards, tokens and other equipment. The author's memorable design will be a component of success, because it will give players aesthetic pleasure.

Game development at home

It's quite difficult to make money this way. You may well be interested in how to create a board game at home for personal use, without commercial plans. The rules are about the same: come up with a plot, prepare your equipment and try to play. The easiest way to draw classic “adventure” games at home: the player rolls the dice and makes moves based on the number that appears. At each stop, he must perform some action: buy something, sell something, defeat someone.

Such quests can be educational and educational for children. For example, at each stop the child learns a new fact or tries a new action. The plot is limited only by the imagination of the creators. You can make a map and tokens together with your children - it will bring no less joy than the process itself.

The production of board games includes not only the development of the script, but also the colorful printing of cards, tokens, and booklets

Business on the table: how to make a billion on games

Now the company is registered under the Cyprus offshore Hobbyworld Limited, among the co-owners are Mikhail Akulov, Ivan Popov and other shareholders (Akulov and Popov do not disclose their names). Publishing employees own small options.

Hobby World in numbers

more than 1 million games in 2015

From 290 rub. up to 9 thousand rubles. The price for Hobby World games varies, the average bill for one box is 900–1300 rubles.

More than 1 billion rubles. amounted to Hobby World's revenue in 2020

4% from each box sold

$10–15 thousand to develop a board game

The profitability of the most successful games reaches 100 %

About 7 billion rubles. amounted to the volume of the Russian board games market in 2020

More than 50 thousand titles of board games have been released worldwide

Source: Company data, Discovery Research Group

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To the west

Hobby World works in three directions: buys licenses of Western games and adapts them for the Russian market; buys, develops and releases original games by Russian authors; sells licenses for the release of Russian games abroad.

Akulov began developing the first direction back in 2002, when he bought a license for the game Die Siedler von Catan from the German publishing house Franckh-Kosmos Verlags and began releasing it on the Russian market under the name “Colonizers.” “It was a breakthrough for the industry: strangers came to the exhibition, met one of the leading companies in the gaming industry and received the right not only to buy boxes translated abroad, but a license to release this game in Russia themselves,” recalls Akulov.

According to Akulov, Western companies were reluctant to give licenses to the Russian market: it was more profitable for them to produce everything in one place and sell ready-made boxes. Akulov and Popov, despite difficulties with quality, found local production more profitable: it allowed them to reduce the selling price by 25–50%. In addition, selling boxes is not so profitable for the seller, says founder Dmitry Kibkalo. If we are talking about a foreign brand, the percentage of royalties in favor of its owner reaches 8–10%, and their total amount can exceed hundreds of thousands of dollars, says Akulov.

The criteria for selecting games are simple. “The game should be unique - not a mixture of existing engines, but a one-of-a-kind mechanism. And Mikhail and I should like it,” says Ivan Popov. At the same time, the game must be wrapped in a beautiful shell and be adapted to the market. “For example, the very famous game Carcassonne was originally conceived as a game about a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but now it is more of a puzzle about assembling a castle, which sells millions of copies around the world,” he gives an example. But, despite experience and numerous tests, the game may fail. “For example, one of the games that is in the top 3 American sales, King of Tokyo, sells very poorly in Russia,” Akulov gives an example. “And the game “Load and Drive,” on the contrary, has been withdrawn from sales all over the world, but it sells well here and in Brazil.”

The search for authors in Hobby World is carried out by the production department, which then begins to finalize the games. If a Western game can be adapted and released in a month, then in the case of original games, the finalization process sometimes takes more than a year. The authors receive royalties of 4% from each box sold. When signing an agreement, the publishing house pays them an advance in the amount of royalties for half the minimum circulation (about 2-3 thousand copies), and then the authors receive a percentage of sales every six months. Only professional authors, whose several games are published in thousands of copies, are able to fully support themselves through royalties - for most developers, this is a hobby that brings additional income. According to Akulov, the game is completely right,” he says.

There is also a third way - selling Russian licenses to the West. So far, Hobby World has about ten games that are actively sold in Western markets, including “A Find for a Spy,” “The Viceroy,” and World of Tanks: Rush licensed by Wargaming. In 2020, the company released about 150 thousand copies of its games in Western markets (in Russia - 1 million), in 2020 it expects to sell more than 300 thousand. In Russia, Hobby World supplies most of its partners with games at a 35-40% discount from retail prices, then in the case of Western wholesale companies, the discount on the game can reach up to 60%.

Photo: Vladislav Shatilo / RBC

Production

When purchasing a license for Western games, Akulov and Popov produce most of the components in Russia, except for plastic ones, which are usually purchased in the West. “The production of plastic is quite expensive, and it is more profitable to use it when Western companies collect global circulation in all territories. These are individual figures, and the production of each of them separately will be quite expensive,” says Akulov.

Hobby World had its first elements of its own production back in 2010: contractors did not provide the required quality of work, recalls Akulov. “At first we left the assembly of elements to ourselves, then we started doing more on our own. We print the entire million games ourselves, only ordering individual elements from contractors,” says Akulov. Over time, they began to produce more and more on their own, and now the company organizes a full production cycle of board games, not counting the production of cardboard and printing pictures, at a factory in Tver.

From the idea of ​​a game to the moment when a box with a finished board game appears on a store shelf can take from several months to a year, and the cost of developing one game can cost $10-15 thousand, says Akulov. At the same time, the profitability of successful games can reach up to 100%, he says. For some games, profitability can reach 300%, says Mosigra founder Dmitry Kibkalo. “If we take the direct cost of paperwork, including royalties to the author, then it is 26% of the price on the shelf. But you need to understand that the product has been produced - then it needs to be stored, delivered, distributed, etc. The store has an average markup of 100%, and a huge part of it is lost on logistics. The final cost of the product is much higher,” explains Kibkalo.

Besides Hobby World, only two Russian board game publishers - Mosigra and Zvezda - maintain a full cycle of game production, including post-printing, card cutting, etc., says Kibkalo. “This is a specific type of production that must be loaded. The business is quite seasonal, and if there is no load outside the season, smaller publishers cannot afford it,” he says. According to him, Mosigra retailed games worth 525 million rubles in 2020. According to Mikhail Akulov, Hobby World's turnover in 2015 amounted to 1 billion rubles, including foreign sales (he does not disclose profits).

Spreading

At first, Akulov and his partners sold their products through bookstores and small specialized board game stores and did not want to build their own chain. “We developed as a publishing house and initially worked with small specialized stores that sold board games, because such stores develop the market the most,” recalls Akulov. As a result, Hobby World shareholders entered into a partnership agreement with the Hobby Games chain (Lavka Miracles LLC), which has 12 of its own stores (six in Moscow, two in St. Petersburg, the rest in Russian regions, as well as in Kyiv and Minsk) and eight franchised The network is engaged in retail sales of the publisher's games, and also serves other retail projects, for example, a merchandise store for Wargaming and the HobbyWorld.ru website. According to SPARK, Hobby Games is 99.9% owned by Hobbyworld Limited.

“Initially, Hobby World was the only publisher we collaborated with, but we almost immediately expanded to three or four more overseas publishers. Now more than 20 brands supply us with goods,” Andrey Kuleshov, deputy director of Hobby Games, told RBC. At the same time, the share of Hobby World products in sales of the Hobby Games network is about 40%, says Kuleshov.

According to Kuleshov, Hobby Games purchases goods from the publisher Hobby World at a 35–50% discount (the discount varies for different types of games) and sells them at the price recommended by the publisher. All Hobby Games stores, both owned and franchised, operate at the same prices. In addition to board games, they sell accessories for them, comics, and fantasy literature related to the universes in which the games are developed. According to Kuleshov, one store brings in an average of 1 million rubles. revenue per month, and about 50 purchases are made per day with an average bill of about 600 rubles. About 60% of sales are made online, however, most people come to pick up games themselves to have time to play them before purchasing, Kuleshov says. According to SPARK, the revenue of Lavka Miracles LLC in 2014 amounted to 76.5 million rubles, and net profit - 1.5 million rubles.

Currently, about 20% of all Russian Hobby World products are sold through the Hobby Games network. The rest is sent to customers directly, to bookstores in Moscow, as well as to other chains, including Metro, Media Markt, O'Key, Respublika, Seven spans, Games of Growth, Correct toys IQ Toy etc. When working with small stores, Hobby World tries to meet halfway and ship small quantities of goods for a minimum amount of 15 thousand rubles, says Mikhail Akulov. “We create individual orders for stores. If a store wants two Munchkins, one Carcassonne and three Considerations, we place an order,” he says. According to Andrey Kuleshov, this is a valuable quality when working with a publishing house: “If we take too many games, then we will be limited in quantity, and the next game may appear on our shelves later than competitors in other stores. In addition, it is impossible to predict which of the purchased games will become a hit and which will lie on the shelves for a long time.”

In 2011, Hobby World launched a franchising program for stores wishing to operate under the Hobby Games brand, and opened the first franchise store in Kaliningrad. To expand the network, the company’s founders will not charge franchisees a lump-sum fee or royalty until the end of 2020 and expect to open two more of their own and 15 franchise stores during this time.

Future

According to Discovery Research Group, the size of the board games market in Russia in 2020 amounted to about 7.5 billion rubles. - almost 30% more than in 2014. The crisis had almost no effect on the demand for board games, largely because although their cost is comparable to going to a cafe or cinema, they can be played many times, Mikhail Akulov is sure. Prices for games from Hobby World range from 290 rubles. up to 9 thousand rubles. per box. True, sales of games in the upper price category still dropped by almost 50%. “Games with a lot of plastic components have become more difficult to sell because they are produced in the West and their price has risen accordingly. It has become more difficult for the consumer to spend 9 thousand rubles. to a board game, despite the fact that it is replayable many times,” says Akulov.

According to Akulov, the Russian market for board games could potentially reach up to $100 million after the crisis. “This is the potential that can be sold in Russia, and we want to occupy this entire market,” he is convinced.

Opening a board game store

Let's consider drawing up a sample business plan for a board game store. This is another faster and more reliable way to make money from this hobby. It can take years to create your own game, and tens of thousands of rubles to develop and print the material base. Making a profit by selling other people's works will be much faster.

It is more profitable to open an online store. The demand for this category of product is not so high as to cover the monthly rent of even a small space.

These are special products that are of interest to a very limited number of buyers. It will only be possible to stimulate demand through advertising to a small extent.

From this point of view, investing 15–20 thousand rubles at a time in an online store is safer than renting a retail outlet for a month for the same money. You can maintain the site yourself, and store boxes of games for sale at home. This approach is perfect for the first months of work. Selling via the Internet does not limit the number of buyers to residents of one city, but immediately brings the entrepreneur to the all-Russian level of trade.

Costs of opening an online store:

• website creation - from 15 thousand rubles;
• purchase of several categories of goods in several copies - from 30 thousand rubles.
• professional photo shoot for assortment - 5 thousand rubles;
• promotion of the website and accounts on social networks - at the request of the entrepreneur.

An alternative to selling board games is opening a club for players

How to make money producing and selling board games

And there are thousands, even tens of thousands of lesser-known, but no less exciting board games that help you have fun and interesting time, both in a large company and in a narrow circle. In the West, there was even a wave of revival of this type of leisure, accompanied by the massive creation of fan clubs and movements to support and popularize board games. We have also recently seen a growing trend of interest in this type of entertainment. An additional impetus was given by the government decision to close casinos and deprive poker of the status of a sports game.

The main advantage of board games is their accessibility, compactness and relatively low prices (about 0.5-1.5 thousand rubles for one game). A colorful design, in the development of which recognized professionals participate, gives board games a special flavor and makes them attract the attention of not only children, but also adults. A desire appears to become the owner of such a tempting thing, and your hand involuntarily reaches for your wallet...

And here the enterprising businessman immediately has a question: “Why not turn someone’s desire into your own source of income?” Indeed, the business of selling board games is a profitable business and, as experience shows, quickly pays off.

The most important thing is to arouse the interest of a potential buyer in a particular game. There are several paths that will ultimately lead to the main goal - purchasing the product you are interested in. The least risky and cheapest way to start is by creating an online store. Make a website where you post a selected assortment of board games in a colorful and accessible form. No need to chase quantity. To start, select games that have stood the test of time and popular new products, the ratings of which are easy to track on the Internet. 30-40 positions are enough for the first time. Take care to provide a detailed description of the game with high-quality photographs of the contents (playing field, chips, cards, etc.). Focus on the nuances: age category, time and place of the game, number of players. The fewer questions a potential client has, the greater the likelihood of purchasing the product. Timely announcement of new products, website advertising and a well-thought-out system of discounts (for example, free shipping or a savings system) will increase the number of buyers. For the efficiency of trade turnover, it is desirable that there be at least 2-3 copies of the products presented on the site in stock. Over time, product rotation is optimized. The most popular product will be determined, which is worth purchasing in larger quantities, and the unclaimed one, which should be discarded.

But an online store may not be enough to successfully promote your business. It's one thing to see a game, but quite another to play it. And it doesn’t matter how old you are - 3 or 73. Marketers have verified that a person who has played the game and enjoyed it becomes a buyer 1.4 times more often than a person who has become familiar with the game theoretically. Therefore, places are needed to experience the games live and even to conduct regular gaming battles. Renting sites in shopping centers, cinemas and other crowded places will help solve this problem. And in a cafe you can book a number of tables for a certain day, for example, with the agreed upon condition of a minimum order for each visitor in a reasonable amount. There are many ways to gather a “quorum” for such a meeting. These are advertisements on Internet resources and in the local press, calls to friends and acquaintances, distribution of business cards and invitations. The result of the meeting may be a prize in the form of a game set, certain bonuses upon purchase, etc. A well-spent leisure time, “recorded” with a photo report on the website, will become the subject of conversation among friends of acquaintances and acquaintances of friends. Perhaps the most effective advertising enters the “battle” - “word of mouth”, which will bring new clients to the next meeting.

Now let’s estimate the starting capital. Registration of an individual entrepreneur will cost 2-3 thousand rubles, website development - 10-15 thousand, advertising and business cards - from 3 thousand, the initial batch of games - from 30 to 50 thousand. Total 50-70 thousand rubles. Not so much. With a skillful policy, you can recoup the costs in 3-4 months. The range of margins on games can vary from 30 to 200% depending on demand. After studying the assortment and prices of competitors, try to meet the lower markup on the product at the first stage.

Live communication, the opportunity to spend time among near and dear people – this is what we so lack in the modern world. And believe me, board games have not yet said their last word. The demand for them will definitely grow - marketing specialists are sure of this.

Prepared by the editors: “Business GiD” © www.bisgid.ru

Club "RichClub" Novosibirsk

25.04.2010 12:18

The RichClub club was created with the goal of giving everyone the opportunity to develop their financial thinking by playing Cash Flow. We welcome new people who care about their future and who do not want to stop there.

Board games club

Another option to make money without independent development and sales is to create your own club. This is an establishment where people come to play their favorite natsol quests with like-minded people or get acquainted with new leisure options. The demand for this type of vacation cannot be called massive either, so the business is very risky.

Costs for opening a club:

• rental premises - from 20 thousand rubles per month;
• repairs, interior design, furniture - from 10 thousand rubles;
• purchase of games - from 15 thousand rubles;
• advertising - at the request of the entrepreneur.

It is advisable to combine this type of work with a traditional and online store: the total revenue will be greater. However, the costs will increase to 200–300 thousand rubles. The business is not highly profitable, so a good result would be to recoup the investment in 1.5–2 years of operation.

Creation and production of board games at home

RichClub is a great opportunity to make new mutually beneficial acquaintances, share thoughts and just have a good and useful time.

Quotes by Robert Kiyosaki

23.07.2009 08:02

A selection of quotes and thoughts by Robert Kiyosaki for those who have read his books, as well as for those who want to read, but cannot find free time. Repeat and be successful.

Club of board intellectual games Unicorn (Moscow)

12.02.2009 08:25

Replenishment of the board game clubs section. The Moscow Unicorn Club invites everyone to play popular board games every day and completely free of charge.

Business games club in Minsk

29.01.2009 10:02

Minsk club of fans of business games and financial simulators Cashflow.by - “ Cash Flow ” is the most dynamically developing Cashflow organization in Belarus. Participants in the organization of business seminars, training and education in state educational institutions.

Every Saturday and Sunday, educational games are held using business simulators: “Cash Flow”, “Pyramid of Success”, “Key to Wealth”, “Financial Carousel”, etc.

First All-Russian Conference: “Increasing financial literacy of the population in Russia: challenges and prospects”

17.11.2008 11:14

The conference will take place on December 9, 2008 in Moscow. The main goal of the conference is to develop dialogue between the state, financial institutions, the media and civil society on issues of education of the population in the field of personal finance, familiarization with Russian and international experience in improving financial literacy, as well as the development of a joint strategy for the activities of all interested parties.

Screen adaptation of the board game "Monopoly".

12.11.2008 16:32

Ridley Scott has been officially confirmed as the director of the film adaptation of the famous board game, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

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Popular board games and books

Business model: board games as a way to earn money

Why can the idea of ​​producing and selling board games be considered a profitable business option in Russia?

• Firstly, according to statistics, even during the crisis years of 2014-2016, sales of computer entertainment fell by $150 million, while the board game market continued to grow.
• Secondly, when independently developed and sold to a publisher, the profitability can reach 200-300%.
• Thirdly, you don’t have to wonder where to find start-up capital - you can start with 5-10 thousand rubles.
• Fourthly, it is important to understand that games with simple rules are in greatest demand.

Figure 2. Elias is a game with simple rules for an unlimited number of players. Source: Unicorn website

Reference! Games of medium complexity for children and teenagers in the price segment of 100-500 rubles are in higher demand on the Russian market. Expensive and complex board games for adults (500-3,000 rubles) are less popular. Source: RBC

Business organization options

There are several options for organizing a business based on board games:

1. Buying a franchise. A way for beginners to quickly find their clients and achieve payback in a few months.
2. Independent development of games and their sale while maintaining authorship to a specialized publishing house. Initially, the author sends a prototype of the game to the publisher. If the latter is interested, an agreement is concluded. The publication bears all the costs of producing and selling the game and appropriates the proceeds, paying the author 3-10% from each box released.
3. Independent development, production and sale of tabletop entertainment. Such a risky and bold idea can be further diversified by printing based on prototypes from third-party authors.

Note! You can open a retail outlet by registering an individual entrepreneur. It is also worth considering the possibilities of using the simplified taxation system (STS).

How much can you earn?

You can earn a lot. Let's look at the example of the brand new game Resident Evil 7. At the time of writing, this game is new and a bestseller.

We wrote to one of the publishers to find out their price list. We found RE7 in the price list; it is sold wholesale for 1040 rubles. We go to plati.ru and look at one of the sellers. He sold as many as 557 copies of the game for 1240 rubles.

It turns out the following, 1240-1040 = 200 rubles for one copy of the game, 557 * 200 = 111,400 rubles net profit, not taking into account various commissions and taxes. And if you imagine that dozens of popular games are released every year that people buy, then we can earn a tidy sum from this.

Production and sale of board games

There have always been plenty of paradoxes in our lives. Despite the rapid development of computer technology, board games remain popular today. This is also evidenced by statistics: the annual growth of the market for these goods averages 17%. For entrepreneurs in Europe and the USA, the question of what kind of small business to open, ideas for it are also always relevant. Those who bet on the production and sale of such goods have already won today. In the CIS, this market is just developing.

Experts estimate that last year $70 million worth of board games were sold in Russia, and $15 million worth of them in Ukraine. Of the total global sales, 60% of entertainment goods come from the USA and Germany. Just a few years ago, on the shelves of domestic stores you could find either simple and boring walkers, or expensive imported desktop sets that were not translated into Russian and therefore were not popular.

Today the situation has changed, and companies have appeared on the Russian market that produce board games based on their own developments or under license from foreign partners. Despite this, there is no competition between manufacturers of this product, and the market is far from being saturated with this product.