Boda Games Manufacturing

January 28, 2022 In Boda Games, Tutorial

Boda Games Tutorials: Player Mats

Player mats: how to prepare the artwork for them? A player mat is a great component for a medium to heavy board game. Normally, each player gets their own player mat, which can be used for a number of different things. Some board games use them to keep track of player statistics or their resources. Then, other board games use them as a reference sheet for the players, showing them different moves and options they have. And other board games have a different function for it altogether. Thus, it is safe to say it is a very versatile component. That can add a lot of depth to any game. They can be made from either cardboard or from punchboard, depending on what you plan to use them for. Sounds great! But how do I make them? No worries! We've gotten plenty of questions from our customers on how to best prepare the artwork. So we have prepare this guide to explain it. This tutorial shows you how to prepare the artwork for your player mats. We will use the Boda Games Template Generator to generate a custom sized player mat template and then paste your artwork into the file to get a...

January 12, 2022 In Uncategorized

Boda Games Exhibits @ Nuremberg Spielwarenmesse 2022

The Nuremberg Spielwarenmesse officially kicks of the convention season of 2022! Although things still aren't back to normal-normal, we are super excited that the Nuremberg Spielwarenmesse is being held again this year, the first time in 2 years. The biggest B2B game related convention in all of Europe, the Nuremberg Spielwarenmesse is one show you don't want to miss. Dedicated to all types of toys, games and others things. Those of us in the board game industry will want to focus on Hall 10. For everything board and card game related. The Spielwarenmesse takes place from February 2nd until February 6th. In the lovely town of Nuremberg, a German city with a rich history. With over 3000 companies exhibiting each year, you can spend days walking around and still not having seen it all. And this year, for the very first time. Boda Games is also exhibiting! You can find us in the center of all board and card game exhibitors. At Hall 10.0, booth number F-09. What will you find at the Boda Games booth this Spielwarenmesse? We are bringing our newest sample boxes (it doubles as an actual game!). Our latest brochures, packed with more games and information than ever! Samples of...

December 20, 2021 In Uncategorized

2021 Boda Games Recap

As the end of 2021 is approaching, all of us at Boda Games look back on the past year. While it has been a tumultuous year in many aspects, we like to focus on the positive aspects. The first one being that in 2021, we were able to make a lot of board and card games for our customers. That we hope brought a lot of fun times and joy to board gamers around the world. But we did a lot more than that! So let’s look back at some of our highlights from the past year. Template Generator Without a doubt one of our proudest achievements this year, our template generator. Based on feedback from our customers, we realized that the barrier between having artwork and having it print ready was still high. So we sought to find a method to lower this barrier. And one of the things we came up with was a template generator. No longer do you have to make your own templates. When you are working on a board game or a card game, the Boda Games template generator is all you need to make sure all your files are ready for printing. Artwork Guidelines In addition to...

November 16, 2021 In Uncategorized

Promotional Standees

Standees can be a very effective way to promote your new board or card game. Often times when you are working on a new board game, all your attention goes to that. Making the game the best game it can be. Having great looking components together with stunning artwork. But once the game is finished being printed and on its way to you. It is time to start thinking about the next step of publishing a game. How am I going to sell it? And where am I going to sell it? One of the most important parts of the board game industry is conventions. There are great conventions being held all over the world all year long. In Europe we've got the Essen Spiel, the Nuremberg Spielwarenmesse, the UK Games Expo. In the United States there's Gencon, PAX Unplugged, Origins and more. These events draw tens of thousands of fellow board game lovers to them. All of them eager to find new games to buy and play. As a result, a lot of publishers set up booths at these conventions to promote their newest games. But how to make your booth visually appealing and attract the attention of the convention guests?...

September 22, 2021 In Uncategorized

Boda Games @ Essen Spiel, H1B143!

Essen Spiel: how many years have you all been going? For us here at Boda Games Manufacturing, we can't even imagine how many years we have been attending Essen Spiel. In our opinion, the best board game and card game convention in Europe. And don't just trust us, the 200.000 visitors and more that Essen Spiel attracts every year seem to agree with us! We love attending Essen Spiel to meet all our fellow board game and card game loving industry friends and fans, so we are super excited that after skipping last year, Essen Spiel is back again this year! And Boda Games will be having a booth all of our own to welcome all of you guys to come and hang out with us! Talk board games! And more importantly, discuss your next board game project and how we can help you manufacture it. What can you expect at our booth? What can you expect at the Boda Games booth this year? First of all, all your favourite Boda Games staff members! But in addition to this, we are bringing our newest sample boxes (it doubles as an actual game!). Our latest brochures, packed with more games and information than...

August 30, 2021 In Uncategorized

Boda Games European Conventions Schedule Fall Winter 2021-2022

Conventions for board games: who doesn't love them? With all the things that have been sweeping the world in 2020 and 2021. It seems like something from a galaxy far, far away. But as the world is slowly starting the recovery from the pandemic. The board game conventions are also slowly starting to begin again. And that is great news for every one of us in the board game industry! Board game fans can finally sit down again to play the latest games with fellow enthousiasts. Board game publishers can finally show what they've been working on the last year. At Boda Games we are super excited that conventions are happening again. We can't wait to see all our industry friends again and catch up on the latest games that are releasing. As such, we are happy to announce that we will be attending these conventions and bringing all the new stuff we have been working on as well. Boda Games will be attending the following conventions in Europe in the fall and winter of 2021 and 2022: Essen Spiel 2021 Convention When: October 14-17, 2021 Where: Essen, Germany If there is one convention in Europe you cannot miss, it would the Essen Spiel! Hosted at...

August 5, 2021 In Uncategorized

Fulfillrite Guest Blog Post: How to Fulfill Your Board Game Kickstarter Part 2

Fulfillment - what is it, and how do you make sure you've got the right type? Brandon Rollins from Fulfillrite wrote a guest blog post for us to help explain it. Fulfillrite works with all types of Kickstarter campaigns, including a lot of board games, to help make sure that the products arrive safely at the backers, while making things easier for the people running the campaigns. In this 2 part series, he will take us through the various steps involved when fulfilling a Kickstarter campaign. And explaining the common mistakes, pitfalls and what to watch out for when you are fulfilling your Kickstarter projects. You can find part 1 of this fulfillment guide here. How to Fulfill Your Board Game Kickstarter – A Step by Step Guide Step 3: Customs clearance Whenever you are shipping goods across the globe, you are likely to incur customs charges, as well as other taxes. These are levied when your games cross into another country’s borders, and you have to pay the fees in order for the games to go any further. The first and most important thing about customs clearance is to account for two things: Figure out how much you are going to be taxed...

July 19, 2021 In Uncategorized

Fulfillrite Guest Blog Post: How to Fulfill Your Board Game Kickstarter Part 1

Fulfillment - what is it, and how do you make sure you've got the right type? Brandon Rollins from Fulfillrite wrote a guest blog post for us to help explain it. Fulfillrite works with all types of Kickstarter campaigns, including a lot of board games, to help make sure that the products arrive safely at the backers, while making things easier for the people running the campaigns. In this 2 part series, he will take us through the various steps involved when fulfilling a Kickstarter campaign. And explaining the common mistakes, pitfalls and what to watch out for when you are fulfilling your Kickstarter projects. How to Fulfill Your Board Game Kickstarter – A Step by Step Guide Kickstarter is the go-to place for new board games. In the year 2020, amid a once-in-a-century pandemic, tabletop games raised over $230 million on the crowdfunding platform. Thousands of games are funded into existence every year. The only problem: almost every Kickstarter ships late. While Kickstarter campaigns might be especially slow to ship lately, it’s not a new problem. As far back as 2012, 84% of Kickstarters shipped at least a month late. So what’s going on here? Turns out, fulfilling a Kickstarter of any sort is...

June 28, 2021 In Boda Games, Tutorial

Create cut lines – Boda Games Tutorials

Cut lines: what do they do and how do you create them? Cut lines are one of these things that seem very simple at first, but they can cause a lot of delay when not done right. In order to make sure you don't lose a lot of time. Emailing back and forth with the graphics department, trying to understand what is wrong. This tutorial will explain to you how to prepare your cut lines the right way. First of all, what are cut lines? When a cardboard component of a board game gets made. It will need to be cut to size. This applies to both complete game board, as well as tokens. Whether they are already punched out or not. In order for us, the manufacturer, to know what part is the artwork. And what part is where it needs to be cut. For that, we need the cutting lines. These cutting lines should adhere to the minimum distances required for bleed and margin. Also check our Punchboards article for more information on bleed and margin. Common problems A problem that the Boda Games graphics & artwork department encounters a lot. Is that we will be sent a .PDF that includes...

May 30, 2021 In Boda Games, Design, Tutorial

How to curve text – Boda Games Tutorials

Curve text: what does it mean and why is it important? One of the great things about a board game, is that it is literally a blank slate. Game designers and artists take this blank slate and fill it with artwork, bringing the paper components to life. When you have a great theme and beautiful artwork, the next step is to use a font for all the text that matches with it perfectly. A lot of game designers and artists look beyond the standard font types available in programs like Adobe Illustrator to find the perfect fit for their game. Custom fonts Custom fonts can be found and purchased online, or even created by the artist himself. Using custom fonts can, however, lead to complications when preparing the files for printing. Boda Games has prepared a video tutorial showing the problem that can occur when using custom fonts. After that, we show you the solution to this problem. By curving the text before exporting the file as a .PDF file, you can avoid this problem. And ensure that your files appear the same way at our graphics department as you originally made them. Problem: font not available A common problem with preparing artwork files....