Melancholia By Lars von Trier - An Epic End of Days Classic Film

 

SPOILER ALERT *** ENDING TO MOVIE

This is The End

Don't you love it when the end of the world is so . . . spectacular?

I can't praise this film enough. It's an absolute classic masterpiece in every way. From the enigmatic musical score (Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde) to its devastating ending sequence, Melancholia is . . . well, divine. 

And let's just say that sad endings have their place in cinematic history.

The point of von Trier's film is that this doomsday scenario is what he feels about the future of the earth and who's to say that it's not accurate? It's anyone's guess, I suppose but let's keep in mind that fiction, great fiction is always rooted in a grain of truth.

Yes, in this case, that means biblical truth, for those inclined to believe in the KJV Bible, that is. And yes, there are many Catholics who do believe, as there are many agnostics on the fence about such matters. But the facts remain clear for all to witness and research in the King James Version of the bible, since 1611. 

Dispute these facts at your own peril or to your satisfaction. Either way, von Trier's artistic interpretation of the apocalypse as depicted in the book of Revelation, is personal and quite effective.

Asylum Earth -The Covenant

In walks Asylum Earth with a similar ending except that our beloved earth is smitten, or showered with blessings from heaven and it is not obliterated. Instead, the earth survives a revival of sorts as our galaxy performs its last dance with a little help from Saturn and our planet renews its vows with the cosmos . . . sparkling in its wake.

Of course, I'm not comparing my board game to von Trier's cinematic masterpiece. The main distinction is that the outcome of the game (or novel) is a positive one. This for me is rare because most, if not all my stories end in a Melancholia way. I'd already mentioned in a previous post that I chose to go in a different direction only because of the gloomy atmosphere (global warming) the earth already faces.

Overkill, literally will not work.

And so, to be clear, the title, Asylum Earth-The Covenant is a nod to one of God's previous covenants with humankind, which is to never destroy the earth with a flood again; thereby using a rainbow as a sign.

So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

For what it's worth, I think the novel and board game are timely messages with plots and themes which are quite apropos to the times. As far as I'm concerned, a little hope goes a long way these days so no regrets about the work I've already done and no plans to change it.

Your Takeaway

That's one thing about stories; they should conform to the times so that they fit in the grand scheme of things about to befall us either as individuals or as a species. There's no advantage to writing against the grain to prove or make a point to stroke your ego as a contrarian. It is far better to tell the people what they subconsciously want to hear because there is infinite wisdom in that consensus.

And so with that, I'll quit while I'm ahead; at least in my own mind. 

Tell me in the comments what you thought of the film, Melancholia and what your favorite doomsday movie is.

Remember to subscribe to the Asylum Earth Newsletter for updates about the upcoming game and novel: Asylum Earth - The Covenant. Also, you can get important updates and discounts for the game by clicking on the game box.

Riddle: Who's part human, part Cyborg, and carries a gun?

Find out in my next post.

The Apocalypse is Upon Us [Behold, The World After 11/3/2020]

I present to you, The Danish National Symphony Orchestra with their score of Taxi Driver (A Night Piece). 

Enjoy the dichotomy of its peaceful sound and its daring riffs. 

Behold, people. The flashpoint that ignites the apocalypse is soon upon us. 

Stay calm and stay safe.

Enjoy the music.

Peace out.

New Post-Apocalyptic Board Games, Movies & Books

 

Here's an unfinished preview of a promotional video for Millennium. I still have quite a bit to add to it, mainly game-play snippets and an upbeat score to finish. I want to keep it under 2 minutes if possible. 

This video is primarily a short introduction so players get a feel and tone of the game so following these instructions, I'll feature players demonstrating several moves for starting the game.

New Post Apocalyptic Board Games [BGG, BoardgameGeek - Earth Reborn]

Okay folks, while you're patiently and anxiously waiting for Millennium's big debut in 2020, check out this Top 10 list on BGG, a.k.a. BoardGameGeek by Robert Carroll.

Check out This Cool Top Ten List!

Millennium Boardgame's New Box Design . . . Here's the Lesson

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3. Anybody out there? Not yet. I get it. I haven't posted here in a while so any momentum I had going with SEO a few months ago has gone back to zero.

Good news is that after several mishaps and unforeseen delays, I'm finally printing the second prototype box for the new Millennium board game, so here it is in all it's glory, for whatever this is worth, just for kicks and giggles. I've decided to give this cover a bit of sepia-tone instead of full black and white. I think it works and most likely this will be the box cover that goes into production.

This time around I'm happy to say this current version of the game is playable on all levels from start to finish so I'll be play-testing the heck out of it and fine-tuning anything that needs tweaking. The new launch date is September 11, 2020 so I hope I can stick to that and meet that deadline this time around.

Blah, blah, blah. nobody cares. In fact, all the pretty packaging doesn't mean a thing unless the game is totally playable and engages gamers on a deep level. Superficial game concepts will never cut it so you need something meaningful beyond all the great artwork.

Sure, you need amazing artwork as click-bait, so to speak. But once gamers get a hold of your game and play it out in real life and in real time, you'll need a stronger hook to keep them engaged and interested until the game ends.

And in case you're wondering, the box cover must tell a story. Most games don't because they leave most of the game imagery to the player's imagination and that's a good thing but a better idea is to tell a story with your cover art so you can not only attract potential buyers but also engage them with a storyline at first glance.

Your marketing needs to be worked into

 your stories so you can

use stories to market your books. 

In this case, I've featured an Android, Andrea, holding a gun (central protagonist) front and center with her dog Apollo beside her, smack dab in the middle of traffic--a scene set in the 1930's. Yes there's a story in there somewhere and it's deep, wide, and long. How long? Well, that's the real hook. There's an entire novel (300 pages featured on the front of the box) about Andrea and this fascinating cast of characters.

I'm about half way done writing the novel, which in fact will also be released as 3 separate short stories that tie in all the game activity with scenes from where the apocalypse first struck in Austin, Texas.

Here's a behind the scenes preview: 

Around the middle of book 2 (Epic Apocalypse) Andrea and Maria are stuck with their stolen Tesla pickup, now running low on power in Jacksonville, Florida after fleeing from Austin weeks ago. So they're deep into their adventurous trip north to New York City along with everything that happened since, which is documented in book 1 (Edge of The Apocalypse).

I'm slowly but surely working my way into book 3 (Beyond The Apocalypse). This is where things take an unexpected turn (again) and the girls are blind-sided with another life-altering dilemma. You gotta love it folks! I'm having a blast putting this down and can't wait to finish it and present it to fans of apocalyptic stories. This is the core audience, by-the-way, but I'm weaving in a bunch of sub-plots that have mass appeal.

I know, I'm a long way from promoting this new series but it helps to be inspired along the way. Otherwise, what's the point in living at all? Your marketing needs to be worked into your stories so you can use stories to market your books. That's something to keep in mind as you write. In fact, movie trailers are designed around specific throw-away scenes so think about that while you're writing your next book because it works both ways.

Millennium is alive and well!

Okay, I didn't plan to write such a long, short post but you get the idea. Millennium is alive and well and coming to a store online soon enough so it's an exciting time all around. I really look forward to playing this game in person with several different players to see how they respond to it overall.

I have a feeling they're going to love it and get hooked. And that's the beginning recipe for going viral. Everything must click so that everyone engages and gets excited at the same time and for the same reasons. That's how things are shared and word-of-mouth turns into a flashpoint that fires up the masses and therefore boosts sales in the long-run. Those initial sales also help potential positive reviews, which in turn starts conversations and begins to convert curious shoppers. There's a lesson in here somewhere but I digress.

Check out the game and if you're a curious reviewer, let me know and I'll send you a free game box in exchange for an honest review on Youtube or your game blog.

Your comments or feedback are welcome!

See the Millennium Game on the Developer Website

Board Game Evolution - The Making of Millennium

Millennium lives on!

Yes, it's been a while since I posted an update on any of my board games since the holidays tend to sidetrack me, but here's an image you haven't seen for the new Millennium box.

As much as I like this design, I'm not sure I'll actually use it because it seems a bit unusual compared to so many other boxes in this genre. Maybe a bit too serious in tone when the ultimate goal is to use a fun image, but you never know, I just might go with it.

You'll notice on the upper left it says, "A Cooperative Game." I think this category and the overall theme fits better as a co-op game where players unite and try to reach a specific goal and survive as a team. That means that most of the rules and cards will go through another revamp.

As much as that hurts, I just can't ignore an improvement like this. It's just part of the game, if you will. The thing is that when you start a game you don't always see the big picture and sometimes you get caught-up in all the details that you don't want to miss.

The fact is that a doomsday theme lends itself naturally to this mechanism so why fight it. I'll have to roll with this punch in the gut but the game will be better for it. Besides, nobody really cares how much I suffer during the design process. It's all about the game and the (fun) experience it delivers. Period. Cry me a river.

Proposed Box Design

The board has also gone through major changes. It's now a six-fold board 18" x 27" so I can use the entire U.S. map from coast-to-coast.

This is an unfinished board (below) but you get the idea how the rest will turn out based on this graphic. I still have quite a bit to add to it; mostly destination points and locations as you see on the east coast. I'm trying not to clutter it too much.

Unfinished Board

Right now, as it stands, players start on the east coast, at the Red Cross Headquarters in Washington, D.C. and disperse from there to one of three bomb shelters as a final destination. When all players reach a bomb shelter, they win the game. But getting to each shelter won't be easy and that's what makes this game a challenge.

..."even in its simplicity there is

always plenty of built-in chaos."

That's the general idea but I'm still working out all the obstacles and cards needed to make that all happen in a fun and interesting way. That's the hard part but I think I can pull it off. Hey, anyone can design a game. The trick is to design a great game without annoying mechanisms that slow down the game or don't make any sense thematically.

I'm working all that out as I go along because it's easier for me to see the work in Photoshop than on a notepad. Although, I've already filled two notebooks and counting.

Millennium has really taken a sharp turn for the better but it has a long way to go. It seems to grow by the day but I realize I must stick to the theme and keep it simple because even in its simplicity there is always plenty of built-in chaos.

Having stepped away from the board for several months gave me a chance to see something I had missed before. Namely, that I needed to design and build this game as a co-op game because that's the nature of a doomsday scenario. At first, I had thought that making a strategic and competitive game might be a good idea, but organically, a cooperative game is really the best way to go so why fight it.

I think cooperative games like Pandemic are quite popular and have global appeal so that's the new direction and a better choice for Millennium.

..."that's the new direction and

a better choice for Millennium."

I've also been working on an interesting backstory or backdrop that ties-in the End of Days scenario with the asteroid Bennu and it's near collision with Earth every so often. That's one of Andrea's (main character) biggest fears.

And so it goes, folks. There's so much to do and so little time to accomplish our goals but we must press on and keep moving forward at all costs.

I preach this to my kids as often as I can. Life is all about the glory. You must endure the blood, sweat, and tears. Nobody cares about all that.

People only care about the glory and so that's your main focus; the final outcome. And it better be good.

I hope the new year brings you closer to your goals, my friends.

There's simply no time to look back.

Amen!

The Secret To Branding Your Board Games

Okay, let's keep this simple and to the point.

Branding is Positioning. Period.

Positioning is how consumers perceive and relate to your product or service.

BAYER aspirin is known as, The good for your heart medicine.
TYLENOL is known as, The strongest and safest pain medicine.
TIDE is known as, The most effective stain remover.

Each of these products is known for something they do specifically. Getting specific is the secret to strong branding because narrowing your market is far more effective than trying to be all things to all people. (Write that down.)

Book publishers have mastered the art of branding and the use of trade names with imprints. Imprints are segments of a publishing company that focus on a particular consumer demographic.

For example, Viking is an imprint of Penguin Group. Viking's brand focuses on consumer demographics for those who prefer good non-fiction such as biographies, historical, and contemporary stories.

Great! So how do you apply branding to board games?

If you plan on being a board game publisher, you must develop a mission statement of sorts for your games. For example, in my case (since I cannot speak for other publishers) when I started planning for Starship Games, I was focused on branding futuristic games or board games with space themes.

My reasoning behind this was that I wanted to put a positive spin on the future of Earth. I think most of us are cynical by nature and pessimistic by habit, so I wanted to turn that around and market games that focus on good and positive things as opposed to just war and destruction for the sake of sensationalizing events on a battlefield.

In fact my first space themed game was Warpd! This is a time-travel game with a positive twist. While this game is still in the development stages, I believe it will be more popular than Millennium, my second space or future-themed game.

While I love the Starship Brand (which happens to be the name of my graphic design business) I thought it was not specific enough and the word STAR reminds consumers of Star Wars, which is totally way too fictional and far-fetched for my taste so I changed it to Terra Nova Board Games.

What I like about Terra Nova, which literally means New Earth (Latin) is its inherent positive message. So there it is. You can't get more positive and more hopeful than a new Earth.

Of course, during the Apocalypse there is widespread destruction. That's the nature of the End of Days theme but the outcome, the end game (if you will) is the re-building of Earth into something new and better than before.

Let's keep in mind that the Apocalypse or Revelation (revealing a mystery) is historically Biblical. Obviously this is a heavy topic and should not be toyed with in my opinion. My goal then is to present these events as accurately as possible without going into detail. Why? because the details are too frightening and off-putting.

New logo (unfinished)

These are games, after all, so I must keep them historically relevant but relevant on the light and bright side.

Millennium is all about surviving a nuclear war. The details about nuclear war or how we got to that point are not relevant to this story. They are a part of the story (background information) that is left off screen because in this case, less is more.

Notice the tag line for this new logo. The dawn of a new age in gaming.

The purpose of your tag line is to sum up the mission of your brand. In this case, the tagline plays off the image, the dawn of, or something new in gaming.

If your branding does its job, it should convey to consumers that you have something different and something new to add to the gaming industry. Otherwise why would consumers bother looking into your games if they don't offer something they have not seen before.

So branding with the name Terra Nova, now serves a more specific purpose. It's all about a New Earth. That's the end game and Millennium is a good place, a good name to start with because we are not far from the start of the new Millennium (2000). Seventeen years into the 21st Century.

As you can see, your branding must encompass a wide spectrum of ideas but it must focus on a small segment of the population so it is distinctive enough to stand out, seem meaningful, and get noticed for the right reasons.

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

I would love to write about your branding experiences here so if you have any questions about branding your games or other products, send me an email and I'll write a post about your branding idea and how to fine tune it for maximum effect.

Essential Elements When Designing The Back of Your Game Box

The back or bottom of your game box should feature key elements of your game but more importantly it should include a hook that will entice potential customers to buy.

In my case I've included in the Millennium game 4 custom artworks featuring 3 female action heroes from the Playing Cards. Since most gamers are male, you can't go wrong including several "hotties" if for no other reason than just to confirm that guys are pigs.

That's the lead image and lead offer, or the hook that pervs like me, you know, males prefer. It's simply an offer we cannot refuse. Imagine grown men going gaga over manga style artwork. Ridiculous but true.

Okay, enough of that. You get the idea. After all it's not like any women are reading this blog post. But it did cross my mind to include a black female hero for a change. And in fact they all are an important part of the game's ending. Especially Andrea, the half Cyborg, platinum-haired heartthrob.

All these chicks kick ass and look good doing it. What would an Apocalypse be without them?

Okay, back to the box. Here's the back of Ticket To Ride, which happens to be a popular game with global reach. It's a good strategic game and I see the romanticism in it and the nostalgia it evokes. This is the Europe version of the game.

As you can see the back of this box is also very busy with graphics and text. There's just no getting around that. There's so much to say and so little room to fit all of it. Here they've maximize every square millimeter of space.

The back doesn't have to look as pretty as the front of the box but it must pack all the important details about the game or at least a general overview of the story plus plenty of graphics.

The Ticket To Ride box displays the game board and most of its bits and cards. This is something I'm still considering for my box. It's almost a no brainer to include the board but I don't think it's as sexy as female super heroes.

If Millennium gets any traction I'll make room for the board because it is an interesting board. But for now I'm counting on the custom artwork to attract some attention and hopefully work as a flashpoint for sales.

You never know but changes can easily be made with on-demand digital production so it's not a big deal to replace or reconfigure the artwork, which essentially translates into a soft sales pitch.

Always focus on your story and the hero's goal. It's all about that every time. Otherwise you're just playing with little trinkets like clueless children.

That's one reason I like the Apocalypse theme because even children can relate to it without freaking out over it. Let's face it, these days kids grow up hearing and experiencing some of the scariest news we 've ever heard or seen. So for them a game like Millennium is not such a stretch or something out of touch with reality. In fact it's more of a learning experience than anything else.

I know my two boys (11 and 13) get it. They might know more about the End of Days than I do. Which is why they are very important consultants for the game and why Millennium is such an engaging and fun game.

And yes, I've tinkered with the box cover once again. No worries, it only gets better. I'll post the new box cover in a few days. I've been really busy finishing up the board and some playing cards and a bunch of tokens too.

I don't think this work ever ends but I am on schedule to order the prototype in July and improve it from there until November when I go all out with marketing just in time for Christmas.

I also decided to forego Kickstarter. It's just not for me or this project. I'm pretty much developing and funding this project on a shoestring budget with mostly free artwork and while I would like to take Millennium to another level, that will take more time.

Right now I'm just testing the waters by myself to see if the game gets any traction through blogs and limited advertising on social media. If it does, I'll certainly consider tooling up with more customized artwork and game pieces.

As it stands right now, I think that for the retail price of about $39, Millennium is a great deal and a really good quality game at that price-point.

Play on, folks.

Freedom - From the Millennium Board Game. Love the hair and boots!

Andrea from the Millennium Board Game. Meow!

Penelope - Very hot!

Get Your Board Game On With MILLENNIUM - Trains After The Apocalypse?

Jumbo Story Cards

Who has seen trains run after an apocalyptic event? Not sure but who cares because anything is possible after all.

I've designed 3 new Jumbo Story Cards, which help move the story narrative along at a nice pace.

In this scenario, players come across a partially disabled Amtrak Train, which turns out can still run because a small portion of the electrical grid is still intermittently functioning. (Go figure)

I'm working on re-designing all the cards so they match these so it'll be a while before I can say the main deck is finished. So far I've added a total of 6 Jumbo Cards and I hope to finish the Bridge Deck with 54 cards soon.

The reason for the trains is simple enough. Guys especially love trains and there's always a certain romanticism and a sense of freedom that goes along with trains so they're a natural fit for this game.

My goal is to design a game unlike anything or at least unlike most mainstream games on the market today.

For me board games are much more than games for the sake of gaming and cheap thrills. As a writer, I like to incorporate stories into my games with a through-line that has meaning above any conceit the game concept has to offer.

Let's face it, without a meaningful story behind these games, there's not much left except going through the motions of getting somewhere without any purpose whatsoever. That doesn't make sense to me.

I want players to feel this game and to experience it at a higher level than they're accustomed to and the best way to achieve that is to get players emotionally involved in this amazing journey from a decimated land in New Orleans to a more hopeful place up north in New York City where they were more prepared for an event such as this.

Despite the common belief that Doomsday Preppers only hail from the midwest, New York's subway system turned out to be a haven in troubled times.

Why Use Jumbo Cards?

Hey, when it comes to images, bigger is always better, especially when it conveys a sense of winning and accomplishment for players. Sure it's the Apocalypse and that's a very down and out event. However, contrasting and overcoming these dangerous and evil happenings is exactly what makes this game so hopeful, so positive and triumphant in the midst of such turmoil. Each player must struggle to survive during the most dire circumstances imaginable and that's what it's all about.

Imagine if you could learn to survive such an apocalyptic event. It's epic to say the least. But that's why the game begins with learning survival skills before you begin your journey northeast.

Back Image for Jumbo Cards

Final Destination Card

I think for the most part I've got this whole game figured out. At least from a wide angle POV it's all clear to me. It's the details that slow me down and take time to develop. Although I know exactly what I want to accomplish, there are always obstacles that keep me from getting there.

It's almost always about keeping costs down and finding a way to manufacture this game at the lowest possible price without sacrificing the quality of play. Easier said than done but since this is a prototype and basically a test edition, for now I have to find ways to deliver a full version experience on a smaller scale.

Some gamers put out a cards only version to test their concept. It's a good idea but for me I don't think card games are the same thing and are a different market altogether so I decided to include the board and that's really where things get complicated.

But hey, nothing is ever that easy. You just have to take a deep breath and dive in. Hopefully you'll figure it all out and make the numbers work.

Nothing is ever guaranteed in life but we can't let fear and uncertainty lead the way. I've said it before: This is not rocket science, but hell, it sure feels that way.

ONWARD!

I'm at the point of no return.
This game is on schedule to be released for this Christmas season (2017)

Follow the Millennium Story here:

New Millennium Game Box

Millennium Board Game - Build it Up. What's in it for You?

Unfinished Millennium Game Board

Several weeks ago I conducted an Art Test on The Game Crafter website and wound up with some pretty good scores, despite a few valid criticisms, which I've taken care of.

One of the complaints was that the game board was too chaotic and too dark. You can see the new and improved (unfinished) board here on the left and judge for yourself. It's basically the same board but much brighter.

It's a fairly simple design but I did brighten the colors a bit and tweaked the grid artwork to emphasize it. Other than that, this is the almost final board I'll print and play test the following weeks and months.

Who's to say how this game will be received but my main focus is to make the game a challenge by allowing strategic decisions with every move.

Every time you roll the dice or pick a card and land on a grid you have the option to keep your position or to venture into the unknown and select a Wild Card that might place you in a better location on the grid. Although, wildcard dangers can be daunting if you encounter a bear or a hungry croc instead, for example. That will set you back several spaces on the grid and cost you about 500 points.

The coordinates are straight forward and work like any coordinates grid system you learned in junior high school so it should be familiar to all players.

New Millennium Box Concept

This board also works with 4 main Quadrants which are similar to levels that get you closer to New York City where larger groups of people have survived the nuclear blast. The object of the game is to escape Ground Zero in New Orleans and hike to the East Coast where your pregnant wife, Mary and a small group of Preppers has managed to survive, at least for the time being.

Of course, there are plenty of obstacles along the way, including errant Cyborgs (the year is 2158 after all) hungry wolves, bears, and bands of marauders, just to mention a few.

I'm also thinking about including a hospital in the New York portion of the board with Game Crafter's Custom Medium Punch-outs for future games to make the experience more visual and more interactive. This 3D device works well towards the end of the game.

Medium Punchout

What's in it For You?

As a game enthusiast there's plenty of uncertainty and there are a lot of decisions for you to make along your long journey to the east coast. Leaving the Bayou is no easy task, as many of the main roads are blocked and reduced to swamps now infested with hungry crocs along the Mississippi River, which you must navigate to get out safely.

Millennium Card Deck

So as far as production there's lots to do after 6 months of steady and almost full time work. That's scary when you think about it but if it all works in the end there are plenty of accomplishments to appreciate after so much work. Especially if sales are good, which of course is the ultimate goal after personal satisfaction.

When a game fails I believe it's because of a weak concept. Let's remember that your concept is the foundation of your game. If you have a weak or fuzzy concept, anything you build upon that will not stand.

Millennium's concept (The Apocalypse) is rock solid because we have proof of concept after so many years of similar movies, books, and board games built on this same idea. So while the core concept is not original, the game's themes and motifs must be fresh and stand apart. A strong concept is never enough. You must also incorporate a strong central theme to go with it and sprinkle in a bit of this and that to play up the emotion of the game and then you stand a good chance at succeeding if your marketing is in place. Meaning exposing or presenting your product to the right audience at the right time.

Cry me a River - Okay

These days you have to think of viral emotional elements that can catapult your game from mediocre to extraordinary. Nothing less will do. Nobody cares how many midnight hours you burned getting there or how much blood, sweat and tears you poured into your game. Cry me a river, ok. Does this game excite me and give me a feeling of belonging to its world and the culture you've built around it?

Does this game challenge me and make me think in ways I haven't considered before. Does it move me? Because sometimes entertainment is not enough. That's my two cents and my take on board games, for what it's worth. I'm a big believer in innovating and not following the crowd so that also comes with plenty of risk by itself but as they say, no risk, no reward. Very true.

Many times successful businesses are built on layers of failures along the way, which are also known as learning curves. It's just the way things are. As long as you know the fundamentals of sales and marketing and you are mindful of integrating those principles in all your products, you should be in fairly good shape.

Everything counts, though. Your artwork must be also be intriguing and fresh if you can get it there. There is much to consider at every turn and each element builds and depends on the other if you want your game to be successful.

All Green Lights

At this stage of the game I think I've got everything under control so far. I'm about half way there because completing the game as far as production is only half the equation. Marketing, publicity and sales are something else altogether and it helps to be well-versed in each of these disciplines and the subset of disciplines each encompasses. Branding is a big part of marketing, for instance, and something you must be mindful of at the outset. This is all about positioning in the marketplace.

So all the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle must fit in order for things to work and run smoothly. All green lights, as I like to say. Everything must be in place and on time. If not, we then have to see where things broke down in the chain of sales events. What was the weak link that broke the chain? Figure that out and you'll have a second chance to try again and improve your sales next time around.

The good thing about marketing board games is that it doesn't take a lot of money to get started. If you're a designer, you should be able to bootstrap a marketing plan to launch your game in no time because artwork is probably the most expensive part of getting a product together into production runs that are affordable.

Folks, let's face it. It's a long and winding road and usually it's littered with small failures that lead up to a successful product in the long run but you must remember to build your game on a strong foundational concept or global view that players can relate to.

Everything else is just curtains and window treatments.

Play on.

Millennium - The Board Game - A Dystopian Story Wrapped Around a Game

Millennium Box Concept

I'm almost finished with another game, (check out the ToughLove! game on the right column and its Trailer below.) although before I commit to ordering Millennium, I decided to test the artwork first. I know that's something I should've done sooner but I'll have to admit I wasn't aware of this feature on The Game Crafter website until I started to order it and I saw the Testing Button under the Management Column.

There's so much to learn about that website and it's easy to miss everything they have to offer. I have clicked on the Contests and Crowd Sale buttons to see what those links are all about too.

After several weeks I've gotten familiar with most of  The Game Crafter website and all it's offerings. So far I'm impressed with their site, although I've been stuck in several areas, which I have figured out by watching some videos. For a while I couldn't figure out how to manage the Decks section for designing the cards.

They do have an extensive selection of different cards to choose from. Everything from standard Poker decks to Tarot cards and beyond. The tricky part is figuring out how to order different Backs and Face combinations. But after watching their video several times, I was able to finally get the combination of Face and Backs the way I wanted them for the same deck.

It's fairly easy once you get the hang of it if you click on the Deck and Card pull-down menus to make your selections. I'll leave it at that for now. Maybe later I can expand on that if anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to help explain how it works. Although, I'm still not sure about the Random Cards so if anyone can explain that to me I'd be very grateful.

"Okay, so the learning curve is not all that steep but there are still some challenges."

Okay, so the learning curve is not all that steep but there are still some challenges. And I'll talk about those some other time. Overall, the site is fantastic and my only question is the profit margins, which seem low. I know we can set the margins however we want but one must keep in mind the retail price consumers are willing to pay for a particular game and factor that into the final price.

Standard markup being 50%, I can't charge $60 for a game (if my cost is $30) just to meet that markup. A more realistic price point is $35. That's about a $5 profit for each game or about a 15% markup at the $35 price point. Not exactly a killing but let's remember that prototypes for $35 are also unheard of in this industry.

So the bottom line is that even a 15% markup is still a fair deal, all things considered, and that margins will go up a bit depending on the sales quantities and discounts that come with it. If anything it's a great place to test game concepts, which I suppose is one of The Game Crafter's primary objectives.

"Just ask movie producers of films such as

The Road, Elysium, and The Book of Eli."

Okay, so on with the new Millennium Game concept. I'll post the Art Testing results here next time when I get that going and all done. I'm happy with the artwork so far but I'm open to anything and willing to change it if people don't strongly respond to it or identify with it on an emotional level.

Right now the art is standard Dystopian fare, if you will. At least in my mind. If you recall Cormac McCarthy's book and movie, The Road, that's somewhat the inspiration for Millennium.

Scene from the movie, The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I mean Dystopian themes are nothing new, of course, but they are trendy because of the times we live in. So in that sense it's a no-brainer. My main challenge is to put my own spin on it and my own sensibilities that evoke all those human emotions that tap into this kind of scenario for so many of us.

If you're wondering where any of the fun is in a game like this. Just ask movie producers of films such as The Road, Elysium, The Book of Eli, or any number of related stories, which have all been very successful at the box office.

"After all, you can only deliver so much fun with death and disaster."

Of course, we can't equate movies and board games on the same level, but the interest in similar themes is quite obvious and apparent. So what's good for the movies, hopefully is good for board games. However, that does remain to be seen or proven. That's why I'm here. If anyone is willing to take a chance on anything at all. I'm the first to raise my hand if it feels right.

That being said. There's always a tinge of doubt in just about anything we endeavor to accomplish or at least there should be. It's not negative thinking, it's just a healthy observation that nothing in this world is guaranteed, except that we're all going to die some day.

Bottom of Box

Great. That brings me back to my Dystopian game and whether it will succeed or flop entirely. Who's to say? In my view, the main theme, End of Days, and all the other themes laced within this story, this board game, are relevant, trendy, and sales-worthy.

The real trick is to design the game so it is challenging and full of surprises. That's what makes it "fun" so-to-speak. At least that's the idea. After all, you can only deliver so much fun with death and disaster.

Okay, hopefully the masses will feel the same way and order Millennium in droves. That is the idea. That is the objective. Otherwise to design a game that makes people think and takes them to a place they're probably uncomfortable with and open them up to a deeper meaning or understanding about the world around us.

But let's not kid ourselves. Sales and marketing is difficult and expensive at best. If we're clever enough and lucky enough to get our product in front of the right audience at the right time, maybe we can make a sale or two. Yes 1% to 5% is not much unless you're dealing with numbers in the millions. Let's also realize that many other factors are at play at any given time during the marketing life of a product.

"It must mean something important to buyers--something almost personal."

People have to really like your product for it to generate valuable word-of-mouth mentions and reviews alike. The word provocative comes to mind. And so, one can only hope to design and market the next Monopoly, Scrabble or Scythe game. The game and its concept alone is just not enough to catapult it into the sales stratosphere.

A new game must tap into a player's consciousness and provoke their emotions on a higher level. A game for the sake of gaming and entertainment alone cannot produce massive sales numbers without having a wow factor that transcends the object of the game itself.

Aside from the game's themes, a sales-worthy game must reach into the hearts, minds, and souls of prospective buyers. (yes, I just said that) It must mean something important to buyers--something almost personal.

Right. Enough of that. Here's a link for Millennium where you can get a better feel for the concept and all the artwork that goes with it. (A work in progress.) Here you'll find most of the Action Shots and a short game summary plus you can download a PDF copy of the Game Play Rules.

That's another thing. I don't believe in complex games and rules. The simpler, the better. I think most gamers feel that way so that's nothing new but my point is that gamers shouldn't expect a long drawn out novel or even a short story version of Millennium to permeate the game in any way.

If anything, I can equate the concept, its execution that is, to a short poem of sorts. Although, I have to say--that's something still up in the air because I think a short story about Millennium in the rule book is probably a good thing.  It certainly appeals to me because I've written several novels but I don't know how gamers feel about it.

Again, that's easy enough to find out in the upcoming play testing of the game where I might include a very short survey to find out just that and several other things I think are important to the design of this game.

Your comments are welcome.

Next time I'm going to post another game I'm about half way finished with. It's a time-travel theme and unlike Millennium, Warpd! is actually funny.

Until then ... Game on!

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