Skip to Content
 

Hi from Morocco!

8 replies [Last post]
Wed, 12/04/2019 - 05:06
Kamil A
Offline
Joined: 10/30/2019

Hi everyone!

Im Kamil, a 26 year old guy from Morocco who just got into board games and immediately got the game design bug. My aim is to design, develop, and publish a game and sell it in Morocco. I have several unfinished designs that i hope to pursue too, in the future. My aim is to make tabletop games a mainstream way to entertain oneself here. I'm also hoping to get some financial reward from this as there's no competition here but Im convinced there's a latent need for board games. To manufacture here in Morocco i decided to limit myself to card games for now.

I am looking to make friends here (something i lack)9. I also want to learn from better designers i.e. everyone here! I have a blog on BGG called The Clueless Designer if you want to follow my progress on various games (i tend to jump from one game to another!).

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Top
Wed, 12/04/2019 - 09:43
#1
let-off studios
let-off studios's picture
Offline
Joined: 02/07/2011
Hello...

...and welcome to BGDF, Kamil! :)

There are many folks here who have gone the self-publishing route and shared their experiences. Hopefully you can learn a lot from them about the process and the challenges you can expect to encounter along the way.

Best of success to you in your venture. :)

Top
Wed, 12/04/2019 - 13:18
#2
Kamil A
Offline
Joined: 10/30/2019
thanks!

thanks for the warm welcome and for wishing me success! :) i'll try to learn as much as I can from people here

Top
Wed, 12/04/2019 - 14:39
#3
Jay103
Jay103's picture
Offline
Joined: 01/23/2018
Welcome! Self-publishing

Welcome!

Self-publishing sucks :)

If you think there's a market need for board games, maybe look into importing and reselling existing, successful games?

Top
Wed, 12/04/2019 - 14:52
#4
Kamil A
Offline
Joined: 10/30/2019
thanks jay

Thanks!

I'm currently on the lookout for a collaborator who can help with the business side of it among other things:) I hope I choose the right person!

There is a market need but I think people will be more prone to buying a game with a local theme like moroccan cuisine or music. Moreover, the first language here is Moroccan arabic and games will be a lot more popular if they're in that language rather than french or english. French games could sell but only to richer people, and I prefer to target all kinds of people.
Designing and publishing your own game is also a lot more thrilling and fulfilling than reselling other games! :D

Thanks for the advice :)

Top
Wed, 12/04/2019 - 15:06
#5
Jay103
Jay103's picture
Offline
Joined: 01/23/2018
Ah, I see. That would

Ah, I see. That would certainly be tough, because it doesn't look like Arabic of any sort is among the list of typical translations for games. I just did a spot check of Scythe and nope.

Top
Wed, 12/04/2019 - 15:47
#6
Kamil A
Offline
Joined: 10/30/2019
Yep, not enough translation

Yep, not enough translation to Arabic.
But thanks for giving your advice!

Top
Wed, 12/04/2019 - 18:02
#7
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Translation can be VERY profitable

Kamil A wrote:
Yep, not enough translation to Arabic.

I live in Quebec (Canada) where the majority language is French. There used to be a "studio" called Philosophia and (I believe) most of their business came from "translation" of Evergreen games into French. They were so successful at this that eventually they got bought out by Asmodee France...

So while it is your "intention" to build demand (in Morocco), I would really think about your market strategy. Sure maybe doing one of your own games could be exciting and cool for you, but TRANSLATION would be a BIG market for people in Arabic countries of the Middle East too! You could be a sort of pioneer in the business (like Philosophia in Quebec).

It's NOT an "easy" business... But it can be VERY "rewarding" in terms of market share and getting the games to as many Arabic speaking individuals.

Anyway I wish you the best of success... You never know what you might be able to do and how far spread in influence it could be!

Cheers.

Top
Thu, 12/05/2019 - 03:17
#8
Kamil A
Offline
Joined: 10/30/2019
Thanks for the idea!

Thanks for the idea. It’s true that translating board games into Arabic would be the best way to popularize board games in North Africa, and the Middle East especially. I will definitely keep in mind this idea of translating board games.

My Arabic is unfortunately not good enough to translate games (Moroccan Arabic is pretty different, forgot to mention that). I also don’t know what I can offer if I collaborate with a translator. With board game design at least I can try to design to the best of my ability and make simple, family games (card games for the moment) with a local theme (like Moroccan food, Moroccan music etc…) that I think will appeal to the mass market. I’ve tried to design a few games and there are a couple that I think are not too bad, but they still need to be playtested some more and developed.

Again, thanks for the idea, it’s one I will definitely keep thinking about it. Best wishes to you too!

Top
Syndicate content


forum | by Dr. Radut