What kind of money can be made if you are lucky enough to have a game make it to the store shelf? I know that, of course, the sky is the limit and also that not many games make it, but I would be curious to learn how many pennies on the dollar the inventor makes and who else takes slices of the pie and in what amounts. Input anyone?
What kind of money is made inventing a board game?
Sat, 07/16/2005 - 02:24
Sat, 07/16/2005 - 11:01
#1
What kind of money is made inventing a board game?
Depends on the size of the print run. A typical print run for a small, hobby publisher is around 3000 - 5000 copies. A fair percentage is 5% of wholesale price, which is around 40% of retail price. So, if your game sells for $50 in the store, you'll get one buck per copy sold.
Really, if you're thinking about getting rich quick, board game design isn't the way to go :)
Tue, 07/19/2005 - 11:26
#3
What kind of money is made inventing a board game?
There are very few full-time freelance game designers. Most have day jobs.
Some lucky people are in-house designers for companies. This is either because they work for a big company (in which they don't have full creative control over their games), or they founded the company themselves (in which they probably have a day job, as most small game companies pay just enough to make the next game). There are exceptions to all of these, but they are few.
The general gist is: I don't want to say that you can't make a living designing board games, but it's incredibly difficult. It's a hobby for most of us.
Tue, 07/19/2005 - 14:16
#5
What kind of money is made inventing a board game?
SiskNY wrote:
And considering the cost of this hobby, you're required to take a vow of poverty before becoming a game designer.
Are you? I've always taken the view that it was a cheap hobby. All you have to do is to sit around and think about how to change things, and when you do, print off another copy, get some friends round, and play it.
Tue, 07/19/2005 - 15:30
#6
What kind of money is made inventing a board game?
So far, I think I spent around 200$ and gained about 75$.
Tue, 07/19/2005 - 20:30
#7
What kind of money is made inventing a board game?
Pending on the company, anywhere from 2% to 6% of wholesale. It's really hard to get alot as a inventor unless the game sky rockets with big sales and than the small % can add up. Bigger % if you put out your own game but alot harder to get the units moved. Not that you can't make good money as a inventor, but hopfully the thrill of creating a game is the main goal ( at least thats mine). as always good luck to all who sits at thier office (kitchen, dining, or card table) and helps the world play.
Tue, 07/19/2005 - 21:15
#8
Re: What kind of money is made inventing a board game?
aarron wrote:
What kind of money can be made if you are lucky enough to have a game make it to the store shelf? I know that, of course, the sky is the limit and also that not many games make it, but I would be curious to learn how many pennies on the dollar the inventor makes and who else takes slices of the pie and in what amounts. Input anyone?
I can only speak for myself, but to this point if I were considering game design a business, I'd get out - I'm running a fairly substantial loss. (Latest loss - $40 for a bunch of wood cubes.) As a hobby, it dovetails quite nicely with my hobby of playing games...
The percentages I've seen suggested here are consistent with my experiences.
Joe
Wed, 07/20/2005 - 11:27
#9
What kind of money is made inventing a board game?
Quote:
Pending on the company, anywhere from 2% to 6% of wholesale
Hen! , that's the only thing you get! In the book industry freelancing authors get 10%. This book is submited to an edition company who correct error, makes the layout and do some artwork. So you would probably gain more if you are an author who works for the edition company.
I tought it was almost the same in the game industry.
Wed, 07/20/2005 - 11:31
#10
What kind of money is made inventing a board game?
Of course, this also depends on whether you manage to spend other people's money (get the game licensed and created by Hasbro, etc.) or spend your own (pay a manufacturer to make your game). In the case of the former, the probability of getting licensed as a newbie is darn low and if you are lucky enough, 1-2% per sale is in the ballpark. If you self-manufacture (which may be your only option given that licensing is hard), you can have a much higher margin. Of course, you then risk losing all the money you invested into it too.
I'm self manufacturing my game (~5000 units) and hoping to make back about 20% on the investment. At the least, I'm hoping to just not lose money. Hopefully, if all goes well I'll be able to do a larger print run next time to get a better cost per unit and have a sales history that will make it easier to land a couple larger retail outlets. Or I'll have some sales history that will make it easier to license and get a decent royalty.
Otherwise, I'm prepared to chalk it up to a good learning experience and be happy that I have all the gifts I'll ever need for holidays, birthdays, etc. for the next several years. :-)
Bill
Mon, 08/08/2005 - 17:06
#13
What kind of money is made inventing a board game?
I was the opposite: a strange kid who lived in a maze :)
hr puff
Sun, 09/11/2005 - 07:30
#14
What kind of money is made inventing a board game?
What's with us and mazes?
I drew them when I was younger too...
I would draw them, and then when I was done, my mother would put them away in a folder. So now I still have that folder of mazes, each one dated on the back.
It's interesting to look at now and then. I must of had an obsession with spaghetti, because 90% of them are a 3-D mass of tubes. They start at the bottom with a sidewalk and some steps. Then there are ladders that lead into the tubes. Strange masses of floating tubes fill the page, curving and overlaping, branching into knots, held up by... imagination?
The goal? Some faceless steps leading out on the other side of the page, practicaly identical to how you started. I guess it was all about the journey.
I think the most complicated one had folding corners. The idea was that you could fold or unfold the corners at any time, and there was an alternate section of maze on the other side. So, you could follow your path, then fold the corner and immediatly reverse your direction and the maze will have changed at that spot. So, by hopping back and forth, you could access parts of the maze that you wouldn't be able to get into otherwise. And this was necessary to solve it.
Yeah, I was a strange kid.
Ok, sorry about the thread hi-jack. You just got me thinking back.
Back on topic. I've been making games all through my childhood and I know I'll never stop. It's a hobby first. The creation is the important part for me.
I've never tried to sell a game before, but I think I want to try. So I've begun researching. BGDF is part of this. If I make money at designing games, that would be a nice bonus! But if I never make a dime, (or even take a loss) that will be ok in the end.
And, I suspect that many others here feel the same way.
So far I've made -$14.27 in designing my first board game.
Of course, I'm distributing it for free as well. . . .
Ben