Board Game Heaven - The New Millennium Challenge

West Coast / East Coast Game Box

We all knew it was coming. So after months of designing an East Coast game board, I've decided to add a West Coast board to Millennium, which in my opinion was not only necessary, but inevitable.

After all, who wants to play only half a game? As cool as the East Coast board is, adding a game board that starts in San Francisco, CA, makes it much more complete and satisfying to play. Especially if the board is set in another era (1800's and 1900's).

The East Coast board is about 95% done and the new board is about 50% done, so I have quite a bit of work before finishing up this game.

I can release the East coast version this month (November) as I had planned all along but I rather not rush into anything. I want too take my time and finish this entire game as I know it will work best so that means two 18" x 18" boards side-by-side, which makes the game board a full 18" x 36" inches of awesome game play.

"It's quite a contrast of events..."

I'm still debating on splitting these games in half and selling separate boards. As it stands now, I plan on offering the East Coast board by itself and offering the West Coast/East Coast board game separately. This way gamers have two options at different price points.

While the main theme to the East Coast board is survival, the theme of the West Coast board is historical exploration, namely, the Wild West and Wyatt Earp, and moving on into the 20th Century and the Disco era of the 70's and beyond. I think it will be lots of fun, which eventually leads up to a time-warp transporting you into the year 2158 and into the East Coast. It's quite a contrast of events that I think works really nice and builds up to a full, well-rounded game.

Who knows? Only time will tell how it all plays out, but it feels like I'm on the right track. I'm also refining the four characters with multiple roles and ideally I would like to include a set of custom dice that allows special moves for each player. Both are good mechanisms that add depth to the game. Although, including custom dice all depends on how much it will add to the final price. Margins with The Game Crafter are already low enough so we'll see.

West Coast Wild West Card

Lots to think about and even more to do but I know it'll be worth it because it's going to make a much better game overall.

"I'm going full throttle

with Millennium..."

I do have four other games in various stages of completion, but I'm only one guy with limited time so right now I'm going full throttle with Millennium while I have good momentum on my side so I can finish it and move onto to other things on the design and production side as Millennium hits the market and I tweak that end of it.

It's nothing short of a full time endeavor, but that's what I do. For years I've had all these ideas and finally I'm putting them out there and giving board games a shot for whatever it's worth. Everything I've learned about design and marketing over the years has led me to this and it feels like the right time to try something different.

As it turns out, or maybe it just feels that way, everyone is getting in on the board game bandwagon these days. So competition is fierce but the market knows what it wants and champions what it likes the most so that's really the challenge; to figure out what's popular and put a new spin on it because let's face it, most of it has all been done before.

West Coast Card

"One person's favorite game

might be another's nightmare."

So while Post Apocalyptic games are not new, my spin and flavor is, so all I can hope for is that gamers identify and embrace it with fair reviews. That's always the hard part because like anything else, games are subjective. One person's favorite game might be another's nightmare.

That being said, if you design games you would like to see but can't really find out there, maybe that adds something to the gaming world. You never know until you put it out there and that takes a good investment mostly in time.

And as we all know, time is precious and in short supply, especially the older you get so you have to make the most of every day.

I think that by the spring of 2018 I'll be ready to release both editions of Millennium after several (hopefully favorable) reviews. 

Successfully marketing a game is really an uphill battle unless it has a viral element that key influencers can relate and latch on to. Big companies rely on bestselling books to base their games on and that always helps because they have a built-in audience to work with. And that makes marketing almost effortless.

East Coast Illness Card

If you don't have the luxury of basing your games on bestselling books or video games, stick with universal concepts that are already familiar to gamers and try presenting your games in the most unique way possible. Everything counts in gaming, even great and consistent artwork is a plus because there are plenty of collectors who appreciate that kind of stuff.

Okay, that's for another post. Meanwhile I've got to get back to work on my games. It's a bit overwhelming with so much to do but I take it one day at a time and keep on going until there's nothing left to do.

And then of course, there's always something else to do until it all bottoms out and then you move on.

For my next post I'm going to finally post my easy Photoshop tips for making product boxes like the one above. It's not perfect yet, but it's getting there.

Till next time, keep on gaming!

Your move.

Game Box Design - How to Give Your Game Box Sex Appeal

Current Millennium Game Box Design

When it comes to your game box cover, think of it as a house with great curb appeal. When you pass by that house, it catches your eye and stands out from the rest. Your box cover is no different. It needs shelf appeal or sex appeal, whatever you want to call it, the cover of your box has to knock 'em dead at first sight.

Each game, of course is different and I can only talk about how I went about designing the Millennium box cover. But here are the basics you need to know about any design.

Audience demographics are key in determining what potential buyers specifically look for in a product or a board game, what kind of books they read, movies they watch, etc.

Keep in mind that there are always variables, however, you are looking to highlight the main concept of your story so when prospects are shopping for new games and if they have not heard of yours yet, the story that your box cover tells, speaks to them on a deeper level.

"I'll admit up front, I designed Millennium, especially the box cover to appeal to women."

I'll admit up front, I designed the Millennium game, especially the box cover to appeal to women. My reasoning for this is simple. Most board games are bought and played by men but women love to play board games too (numbers increasing) and by featuring a woman as the game's protagonist, it gives the game another angle from a female POV that young Millennial women can identify with.

When it comes to board games, that is rare and hopefully my gamble will pay off by appealing to women who know they matter. Millennium is not the first game to focus on women, of course. But it is one of the few that feature a woman as a fierce fighter and survivor. Women, after all, do not enjoy being objectified. Pandemic features a woman on its cover and has attracted many new buyers this way and so have other games.

That's not to say that males will not identify with this game, but instead, both men and women can relate to Millennium on another level. Besides, once you start the game, it is evident that men play a large role in the game as well.

I think that's the best of both worlds, plus it makes playing Millennium with both genders more interesting and certainly more engaging.

"Sure she's hot, (said the male chauvinist in me) but more importantly, she's in control and she is powerful."

Okay. we need a woman on the cover. Not just any woman, but a woman with an Uzi sub-machine gun. Wow, she's in charge! Sure she's hot, (said the male chauvinist in me) but more importantly, she's in control and she is powerful.

Millennuim's Andrea Poster (Artwork from DeviantArt)

These are characteristics that appeal to modern women and let's not forget this story is set in the year 2158. If history is any indication of female power and influence, it is safe to assume that women have certainly come out of the dark ages and into positions of power and self reliance.

One look at the Millennium cover and it spells, future along with all its uncertainties. What will Earth be like 140 years from now? Its government? Its military? It's religious beliefs?
Society at large?

If you don't feature a woman on your game box, make sure to feature and focus on your protagonist, or the star of the game. It doesn't have to be large, (but can be) but it must be the center of attention. Include all the important elements (2 or 3) that tell an exciting story at first sight.

Don't clutter the front of the box with too many details. That's what the back of the box is for. Think of the front cover (top of box) as an advertisement with a primary focus on the star of the game. Keep it simple and use powerful images that enhance your story. Stick to theme and concept.

Right now this Millennium game box could change altogether, meaning I might try a close-up of Andrea in an action position with the bright cityscape in the background.

Anything goes and it's a matter of experimentation at this point. For this box, I opted to focus on the landscape and the futuristic world with Andrea as a secondary focus. I want to immerse gamers into this unknown world right away. But if I can find artwork of Andrea in action, I'll post the alternate box to compare. (More about DeviantArt later.)

To briefly summarize this cover, I was aiming for something hopeful. I wanted to say or to convey that Earth's future will be bright despite so many societal upheavals, wars, and racial tensions that (man)kind has wrought upon us throughout the generations.

Despite the evil misdeeds and all the destruction that comes with it, humans, both men and women have managed to survive and hope to thrive into this new Millennium. Now, and beyond the ages.

Amen to that.

First Prototype of Millennium Game Box

Here's a shot of the first prototype box. Notice the printing is a bit off and the word Millennium and the ribbon have to come down about half an inch. ( I think this was a mistake on the printing end. My specs seem ok).

It's not a good photo without flash and lost its contrast here. The actual box is printed a bit too dark but otherwise shows great contrast and sharp. The colors are quite good and vibrant.

I'm working on tweaking this entire box design for another try at a better prototype soon.

So far, I'm very pleased with the results from The Game Crafter. I'll post a full review of this first prototype next time. Overall I'm very happy with how the whole game looks at this point. Stay tuned for that article because if you make games of any kind on The Game Crafter, you're going to want to hear this.

If you're working on a new game and would like it featured here, please send me your photos and a brief article about how you went about your design and I'll post it here.

Next Time on Board Game Nerd Alert:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Next Post, I want to show how easily I go about designing a 3-D looking box like the one above on Photoshop and all the cool tips and tricks to make it look like the real thing.