8 nerds launch a $12M card game biz

[cashflow3000]

Check out this article about Cards Against Humanity, worth a look.

"At $25 per copy, the original game has likely generated at least $12 million in revenue since 2011 (the company won’t give sales figures). Industry experts estimate the game costs less than $10 to make, sell and distribute....The Chicago-based company behind Cards hasn’t spent a dime on marketing and has no full-time employees."

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[workingtitle]

I've actually played this game once and it's really fun! Sort of like a very dark and hilarious Apples to Apples. They appealed to the market and satisfied the need for entertainment. Good on them.

 

[Darius]

The Chicago-based company behind Cards hasn’t spent a dime on marketing and has no full-time employees."

#Winning

 

[TheBlackLion]

I had heard about these guys when they reached their first $2MM. I'm very happy for them, they seem to be doing things in a fastlane fashion, probably without knowing it.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Genester]

Great share man, I live in Chicago and this is the first time I've heard about them. Wish them the best of luck and hope their friendships last lol.

 

[ROBugatti]

This game is hilarious and fun. I've actually had a few ideas for card games, and I think it's worth exploring as an option.

 

[DeletedUser2]

played it.
FUN,
Dark

I felt like I should take a shower afterwards
or go to a confessional

Z

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DennisD]

I've been following these guys since their original print+play version on BoardGameGeek.
Check out this podcast interview with them: http://www.thegamewhisperer.com/201...er-to-amazon-best-seller-with-max-temkin.html

They're making more and more $ each day using only amazon. Because it's an inherently social game (you can't play it without inviting friends over) the concept spreads offline virally.

Board/card/trivia/word games and RPGs are makin a huge resurgence and are becoming more profitable every year.

 

[ROBugatti]

Check out https://www.thegamecrafter.com/. You can design your own game, upload the graphics, etc. and make it print on demand. Kinda like Kindle for card games. I am working on doing this for a card game I created years ago to play with my son. I already have the rules created and had the graphics outsourced; just need to create the cards and upload.

I want to do something similar - but not - to CAH and see if it sells. Do some online marketing and promotion and if it gets good feedback, then think about doing it on a larger scale.

 

[DennisD]

Check out https://www.thegamecrafter.com/. You can design your own game, upload the graphics, etc. and make it print on demand. Kinda like Kindle for card games. I am working on doing this for a card game I created years ago to play with my son. I already have the rules created and had the graphics outsourced; just need to create the cards and upload.

I want to do something similar - but not - to CAH and see if it sells. Do some online marketing and promotion and if it gets good feedback, then think about doing it on a larger scale.

If you're going to do that, consider releasing a print and play version via boardgamegeek first. There's a ton that goes into game design, and it's a free way of getting feedback on if your game sucks or not.

I have a monster battle card game I drew up on index cards and I've been playtesting/modifying it here at home. When I feel like it's a game that doesn't suck, I'm commissioning my girlfriend (who works as a freelance artist) to create some artwork for it, we'll release a print+play on BGG, and then use gamecrafter to get 40 or so made. From there, we'll be sending it out for review to boardgame bloggers and launching our kickstarter alongside that.

From there, it's a mass production run straight to FBA and some amazon growth hacking via reviews and such from our kickstarter backers.
I really have too much on my plate right now and I don't want to split my focus, so I realistically expect that to happen for another 2 years or so.

@ROBugatti do you have a concept already?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[SteveO]

You learn a lot about the people you hang out with playing this game... in a perverted sense.

 

[ROBugatti]

@DennisDuty thanks for the BGG tip! That game concept is pretty solid, and I would just have to create the cards and rules and see what happens. It probably wouldn't catch on right away since it's geared for a younger audience and so I'm not sure how that would test at BGG.

I do have one other game that is right now just in the conceptual phase, trying to figure out a way to make it playable without being too complicated. Like you, I don't expect that one to get out of Phase 1 until next year easily. My first game I could probably get into production by summer, though.

 

[DennisD]

@DennisDuty thanks for the BGG tip! That game concept is pretty solid, and I would just have to create the cards and rules and see what happens. It probably wouldn't catch on right away since it's geared for a younger audience and so I'm not sure how that would test at BGG.

I do have one other game that is right now just in the conceptual phase, trying to figure out a way to make it playable without being too complicated. Like you, I don't expect that one to get out of Phase 1 until next year easily. My first game I could probably get into production by summer, though.

Lots of BGG users have families that will playtest, might as well give it a try.

Another strategy worth a shot might be chaperoning/hosting a local library board game group for your target age group. You can see how they interact with other games, and get them to playtest your game at some point.

The research I've done suggests that a board game on it's own, distributed in local hobby shops nationwide, don't net that much cash. You'd be looking at a passive $600/month or so. You should listen to the podcast I linked to earlier. There's almost 200 episodes and it focuses on kickstarter, with a bias towards the tabletop space. Good good stuff.

Msg me when you make progress i'd like to see what you do with it.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[ROBugatti]

I'll definitely check out the podcast. Great for driving to and from work.

I know that my current game (the kids one) would not really be a Fastlane type of business. It's really just because I played it for years with my son and we had a lot of fun, so thought I'd test it out on The Game Crafter (and BGG) more for fun. Plus I think the experience of putting a game together is always good and can only make me a better game maker.

I think that there can/should/will be a service that could be a Fastlane business that has to do with card games, but I'm not sure what it would be. Guess I'll put on my thinking cap. Maybe it will turn out to not exist at all. Worth exploring I guess. I'm definitely interested in doing something along these lines.

 

[DennisD]

I'll definitely check out the podcast. Great for driving to and from work.

lol, next episode or two will have a podcast intro that I produced for them! Keep your ears open!

And I agree with you. This market is growing. I think there's a whole legion of boardgame/cardgame/trivia intelligent fans out there that aren't being served properly.

As for fastlane opportunities when it comes to card/board games, I think it has to do with integration.
Pokemon and Yugioh were certainly fastlane.. but they had a show/cardgame/videogame approach.
Tackling multiple markets and letting fans from one expand the other is the best way to do it.

 

[SGBoise]

I first saw the game on beer and board games on youtube. Looks like a lot of fun to play.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.