Preparing for a quotation

Preparing for a quotation

It’s taken a great deal of effort and energy. But after many months of writing ideas in a notebook. Printing out pages and pages to make sample versions of your board game idea. Asking all your family and friends to playtest your game. Adjusting game mechanisms, adding new elements. Getting artwork done for all the different components. The time has finally come: your game is ready. All the effort, all the nights have paid off and you have a great looking, fun game. After the design and develop stage of your board game is over, what’s next?

 

The production stage

The next logical step is that you want your game to be printed. No more print and play versions, you want the real deal. Generally, there are two ways to proceed from here on out. You can start pitching your game to publishers. If you are successful and they like your game, they will take on the responsibility of getting it manufactured and published. But the other way is to publish it yourself, therefore becoming a publisher yourself! If you decide to go down the self-publishing path, what is the next logical step? To get a quotation for the manufacturing costs. So how to best prepare for that. To make sure that it goes smoothly, that everyone involved is on the same page and understands your needs. And that you don’t lose a lot of valuable time emailing back and forth getting revision after revision on your quotation. After all, you want your game out in the world. On the tables of gamers everywhere.

At Boda Games, we receive new inquiries and requests for quotations every day. And believe us when we tell you, this step of the process is not as easy as it seems. In their enthusiasm people forget very important information. Such as the amount of cards. Or the size of the box. Essential things to make sure we prepare a quotation exactly according to how your game looks.

 

Component list

The first step is to prepare a list of all the components in your game. In this list, each unique component in the game is listed separately. For each component, you then write down the following information:

ITEM:

– Component type (e.g. cards, dice, punch-out tokens, telescoping box)

SIZE:

-the exact dimensions of the component (width, height, depth)

MATERIAL:

-The type of material for the component (e.g. paper, plastic, wood)

– The specifications for that type of material (e.g. for cards 300GSM whitecore, 300GSM blackcore, 350GSM whitecore)

COLOR:

– The color of the component, or in case of paper components what kind of printing is required ( e.g. 4C, 1C, 0C)

QUANTITY:

– The quantity required for each component (e.g. 54 cards, 12 dice, 4 player boards)

PRINTING:

– What type of finish you want on the component ( e.g. for paper components matte, glossy, linen)

– Any special effects you want applied (embossed, foil)

NOTES, COMMENTS:

– Any special notes or comments

By filling in this information, you can greatly reduce the amount of back and forth e-mails required for Boda Games to fully understand your game and prepare a quotation for you.

 

Multiple versions of a game

We fully understand that not everything in your game has been finalized yet. Maybe you are still trying to decide between wooden markers or punchout tokens. Or you have a price point in mind for your game, and you are trying to decide between the different options for a component. Maybe you are still finalizing the design or trying to decide the quantity of a component. In that case, simply make the list multiple times according to each potential scenario. For example: 

• Scenario A has 1 box, 54 cards, 10 dice
• Scenario B has 1 box, 54 cards, 20 punchout tokens, 5 dice

or

• Scenario C has 1 box, 108 cards, 1 game board, 20 punchout tokens and 5 dice

Then we will prepare a quotation for each possible configuration of your board game. That way, you can compare the costs and weigh the benefits. Allowing you to make a well informed decision, both from a game design point of view as well as a financial point of view.

 

I’m running a Kickstarter and I’ve got tons of cool stretch goals in mind

If you are planning to run a Kickstarter campaign, then a few things will be different. Nowadays, most Kickstarter campaigns for board games have stretch goals. These stretch goals can be extra components added to the game. The upgrade to different materials or finishes on the printed components. Boda Games can get you a quotation for the base game as well as each of the individual stretch goals. That way, you can puzzle together different configurations and decide your funding goals for each stretch goal. Also, don’t forget to ask us about our special Kickstarter services!

 

How many games am I printing

Due to the way board game printing works, the prices per game go down when the quantity goes up. As a result, a lot of the time people aim to print as many games as possible in one print run. If you’re not sure how games you will need, it is best to get a quotation at different possible quantities that you are considering. Boda Games recommends getting 1 level above and 1 level below the target quantity that you have in mind. 

Once you’ve prepared everything, the only step left is to contact us and we will take it from there.