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Other People's Games

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Chip
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Joined: 12/31/1969

(I wasn't sure where to post this)

I'm working on a new version/derivative of our first game, Coopetition. It's a more basic, travel friendly, stick it in your purse or pocket version.

(I need to digress a moment here and explain the underlying premise of the original game and what it got me thinking about.)

Coopetition is a party game whereby teams not only compete in variety of activities (drawing, acting, trivia, etc.), but must also cooperate in order to advance in the game. The concept came from early game theory writings and was used extensively beginning in the early 90's to describe businesses (such as Microsoft and Intel) that were both competing on some level in their industry as well as cooperating to grow markets, etc.

In some sense all of us here on the BGDF are in a state of Coopetition. We're helping one another develop ideas and grow the gaming industry, but we are on some level competing with one another to create the best games. We pick each other up, tear down ideas, and push one another to do better.

With that in mind I began thinking about whether I could incorporate something tangible into the game - either through packaging or marketing - that would show Coopetition in action. It occurred to me last week what this might be and I wanted to get some feedback.

This new version of the game Coopetition will have a set of game cards - perhaps 40 or 60 (each will be only 2" x 3" printed in black and white) - and some other components. After I've put the actual game elements on each card, there will be a space of approximately 2" x 1" left over in which I'm thinking I'll put product info for other people's games. There'd likely be a logo along with a web address and perhaps the category in which this game falls (i.e. family, party, abstract strategy, etc.).

Doing this seems as though it epitomizes the underlying premise of the game itself. It's providing an element of promotional cooperation in what would otherwise typically be a strictly competitive realm.

Any thoughts? Is this totally crazy?

Chip

jwarrend
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Joined: 08/03/2008
Other People's Games

It's a cute idea for an artistic statement, but my fear is that for 90% of the game players, the statement will go right over their heads (and if you have to explain the statement you're making, it cheapens it somewhat). To most players, it will look as though you've sold advertising space on your game cards, and I have to tell you, even though I get the statement you're trying to make, AND could stand to benefit from the ad as a fellow designer, it would still drive me nuts. Our society is absolutely saturated with advertising, and a game that had ads in an unavoidable place (as opposed to a loose flyer that could be thrown out) is just abusing the customer, who has paid you to play your game, and probably didn't intend or desire to be bombarded with commercials when he bought the game.

There may be other ways to implement the idea; including flyers for other games, or something. But putting ads on the cards would be a guaranteed no-sale for me. Of course, unfortunately, it's somewhat unlikely I'll buy your game anyway (not much of a party game player), so you shouldn't make decisions based on my opinions...

Cute idea, though.

Incidentally, I make all my prototype cards 2"x3", and I was interested to read that your game cards would have those dimensions. If 54 and 108 are the "magic deck sizes" for 2.5" x 3.5" cards, what are the magic numbers for 2"x3"? Will most printers do cards with those dimensions? Thanks for any info...

-Jeff

Chip
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Other People's Games

The adverse "advertising" angle was the discussion my wife and I had when I first brought it up with her. And I would totally agree that placement of other logos might look like advertising even though this isn't the intention. And of course this would totally defeat the purpose and have an adverse effect on the game.

In addition to the regular game cards though, I hope to pair down the directions enough so that they'd fit on one of these 3"x2" cards as well (vs. having a separate sheet). And if I pursue this "other people's games" thing, I think I'd also include a note "About this Special Edition" on another one of these small cards. Games, DVD's, CD's, books, etc. often have special notes or acknowledgements about the item in question. Such notes point out the origins of an idea or something that's unique about the book or game and typically makes the owner of such book/game/cd/etc think they're holding something special.

I'm confident too that anyone that buys the game would read the "About this Special Edition" card and thus wouldn't view the logos as advertising. The trick would be to effectively explain/highlight the inclusion of other people's logos. (In addition to testing the normal game mechanics, I'll probably test this concept too and see what people say.)

Quote:
Incidentally, I make all my prototype cards 2"x3", and I was interested to read that your game cards would have those dimensions. If 54 and 108 are the "magic deck sizes" for 2.5" x 3.5" cards, what are the magic numbers for 2"x3"? Will most printers do cards with those dimensions? Thanks for any info...

Our latest game Stumblebum has 169 2"x3" cards. This number derives from the fact that the sheet of paper on which the cards were printed is 28"x40" (a set of 13x13 cards). This paper size I think is pretty standard. If I go with 40 cards (+ 1 for directions and 1 for the "Special" note) for the new game, I'll get 4 sets from one sheet. If I go with 60, I'll get 3 sets from a sheet.

Chip

Chip
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Other People's Games

So I'm getting closer to finishing the On the Go edition of Coopetition. It will likely be out this Fall/early Winter. My plan is to move ahead with including info about other games on the individual game cards for On the Go. In addition to the game directions, there will be a card with a special note about the inclusion of the logo's for other games. It will likely read something like this:

"A Special Note About Coopetition – On the Go Edition

The game Coopetition is all about cooperation and competition. Players not only compete, but must also cooperate throughout the game.

(There will be something else in here too. I just don't know what it is yet.)

In the spirit of cooperation mixed with competition, I decided to include in this game information about other games. On each game card for Coopetition On the Go you’ll find a logo for another game. Each of these games has been independently produced and may or may not be readily available at your local store. For this reason in addition to the game logo, I’ve included information to help you find the game online. The information about these games has been included in Coopetition On the Go for no other reason than I thought you might enjoy learning about other games and playing them. Have fun."

I still need to test this a bit with playtest groups. I'm pretty certain people will understand the concept though and not see it as "advertising." In fact I think they'll think it's kind of cool.

The game will have about 35 to 40 game cards. Each will have a small space for a logo and website info for other games. If anyone is interested in getting some additional exposure for their own game, let me know. In the coming months, I'll be looking to fill the cards with info on other people's quality games.

Keep in mind:
a. The game needs to be family friendly. This doesn't mean that it needs to be geared toward or played by kids. But it shouldn't have inappropriate themes, or include excessive violence or sex, etc.
b. The game needs to be available for purchase in the U.S.
c. There needs to be some sort of logo that I can put on the game card.
d. There should also be a web address I can put on the card as well.
e. You need to be willing to give me the right to use your logo in my game.
f. It doesn't matter if it's a card game, board game, abstract strategy, party games, whatever.
g. If you have more than one game, great.
h. There's no cost involved. I get to choose what's included though.

If you'd like me to consider your game for inclusion, just send me a quick note. Either include some info about your game or include website info. And if anyone has additional thoughts on this cross-promotional idea/concept I'd love to hear them. Thanks.

Chip

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