Making Games 101

By Shari Spiro

Making Custom Tabletop Games

The first phone calls or email

Many game designers who call Ad Magic are making a card, board, or some kind of unique tabletop game for the first time.  They usually start the conversation with something self deprecating like – this will probably sound stupid or – I have no idea what I’m doing – this is my first game ”

…..and I have to say right here – there really are NO stupid questions.  When I started moving huge amounts of freight – you should see the stupid questions I asked.  When I first learned about making plastic cards – I pointed to the giant laminators and asked – What are those?   Any time we learn something new there are questions, and the key to finding the right printer – or publisher – or distributor to work with – is finding a person who is willing to answer your questions, and actually seems to enjoy doing it.

Working with custom game suppliers

The honest truth of the matter is that a person cannot hit it off with everyone.  It is better to do business with people you hit it off with – even if it is a big job and you think you want it.   There are a lot of combinations of people that work – and there are a lot that do not.  Sometimes it is just not the right time – and later on a better time to work with someone simply comes along.  Sometimes we need people to respond faster and it turns out that they are too slow.  I like instant answers if possible.  I love it when people get back to me.  I understand being human though and forgetting things, but still – I love a quick responder- so most of the people I deal with – both clients and my own factories – my staff included – are people with a sense of urgency and a passion for their role in making games.

Number of cards/sheet  &  optimizing a game

A lot of people ask me – what is the best number of cards to run?  On our sheets – for a regular poker sized card – we run 56 up on the big presses and 18 up on the little presses.   All of our quotes assume full color printing. Printing in one color rarely alters the price very much.  I like to tell people to design their games with the number of cards that will work and make them as beautifully designed as you want. Skimping on color – unless that is your look – won’t save much money in the scheme of things.

Made in the USA

Ad Magic has partnered with one of the best press teams in the US to bring you American made playing cards, boxes and NOW we will even have transparent playing cards in low runs within a month or so.  We use high end French authentic playing card stock – with a real black core and on this press – there is none of that cheap art paper stuff. We can run the finest decks in lots of 18 deck custom decks with coated full color boxes.  There are actually a ton of other small game parts we can also print – and we are always getting new dies and equipment to improve the service.  We just love being able to do this stuff here – and our facility is within driving distance of our building in New Jersey.  I am into machines – printing and finishing machines – and I am excited about some of the new ones we are getting to make things easier – faster – and even better quality.  We can also run some cheaper stuff for those times when you just need a prototype or 3 or 6 and don’t want to hand cut them.

Card materials – what is 300 gsm anyway?

So simply put – this whole 300 gsm thing is a little bit bullshit if you ask me.  300 gsm can be really flimsy or it can be really firm feeling.  It can have great snap or none to speak of.  It has NOTHING to do with the gsm and EVERYTHING to do with the method of coating a plant uses.  I have 280 gsm tarot cards that we did for DISHONORED TAROT decks for Bethesda – and they look and feel incredible.  In NO WAY are they less of a card than the normal 300 gsm cards we make in poker size (2.5 x 3.5 inches) – in no way are they inferior – thinner or flimsy.  The finish is really top notch – and in my opinion people should simply get samples and choose the stock they like rather than going from some emailed description of what they are going to get paper wise.  Ask for samples.  We send them at no charge, except out of the country, as that gets really expensive.

Some Complicated Board games are made in China-  (so don’t forget to plan your Kickstarter around Chinese New Year)

We make a lot of board games too – and they take longer to make – as does ANY game with a lot of components.  Components get sourced – there is not one place where we can get plastic – custom molded or carved pieces – custom tins- custom cases – cards -tuck boxes – game boards – timers – etc.  As a client you can get them from one place – you can get them from us.   But we have to arrange to have our plant receive these items from the plants that specialize in those things.  Our printing plant specializes in boxes – game boards – cards – printed paper and printed cardboard and chipboard pieces.  Custom dice come from the custom dice plant – custom wooden pieces come from the wood plant etc.  They get shipped into our plant and combined and wrapped with the game at that location.  Sometimes we send things out to be combined.  That is part of what my staff and I decide.  We figure out the manufacturing logistics and then we coordinate it all and ship it all to the final destination our clients require.  Clients need to understand that complicated games with lots of moving parts cannot be completed in 21 days (from proof to delivery) like playing card decks can.  Each game has its own timeline.  When you are kickstarting – you need to TELL your supporters that these things will take time but they will be WORTH the wait!!  We are still working on A TERRIBLE TIME – a game that was basically interrupted by Chinese New Year.   The crayons are taking a longer time than the entire rest of the game. So we sent the rest of the game for the guys to take pics of – and updated their kick starter supporters and we are making one really cool game – but it is not taking 21 days to do it.  Just saying – patience is really important.  Most games did not get designed in a month – so I don’t think people should expect them to be made in one.

All about shipping

Some of the things we include in our pricing are: shipping – labeling for Amazon and other fulfillment houses – palletizing to their specifications and making delivery appointments.  All customs documents and services are handled by Ad Magic.  At least there are no duties on playing cards and games imported in to the US for the most part.  When you place your order – we can get really specific about what ship we can try to book the delivery on – what port – whether part of it will be flown in etc.  The most important thing is to get the timing from us and then to plan together what it is you need to accomplish by preparing a delivery timetable together.

Education and Support

I have a lot of ideas for educating clients – and I hope to be posting some more educational videos on different subjects.  The more you know as a client – the better we can work together to get you exactly what you want.  I am busy and the plant is busy – so sometimes it takes time to get quotes back – or one may get lost in the awesome sauce.  Just follow up – it will get quoted – and everything will move along pretty quickly once you are sure of what you want and when the timing is right for you.

We are very serious about wanting to help to support game designers who are serious about selling their own games and are not afraid to work at it.  We are bringing a number of game designers to PAX this year to demo their games. –  All of these 10 games are either games we have printed – are planning to print – or are designing and demoing.  Below is a picture of What the Food -a game by Peter Vaughan  (That is really Peter in the photo too – holding his game)  Peter will be flying out from California to demo his game with us at PAX.

Games we are producing – going to produce – or demoing

This page says games we have produced – but some are still in process. Check them out – their twitter – kick starter page and websites are all listed where available.

If you have a game idea – email us and start the process – or call. I hope that this blog post helps to make the process a little more familiar to you right off the bat.  Stay tuned for the follow up blog – how NOT to ask a printer for a quotation.

Tagged as: custom board game manufacturer, custom board games, kickstarter games, making custom games