Small Editions

I don't know why it is that ideas, in the space on minutes (even seconds), can inflate themselves up to enormously large sizes so that suddenly, your 2 player monster game is a now a thousand dollar project involving artists, marketers and graphic designers.

I think it's good to be humble about ideas and work with what you have. Peter Morrison, the designer of a board game called Viktory, produced 25 hand produced copies of the original game, and then used the profits from that to bring out Viktory II in a much more professionally produced manner, which also sold out. Reading the particulars is very interesting, because he tells it like it is. But the obvious thing with his game was that he started small, doing what he could himself before he started producing.

A while back, I came up with a nice idea for a small card game based on trumps called 'Oh, yeah?'. Not being and artist or anything, I was a little hesitant first to do my own artwork, even as a mock up, but heres how it came out:


When the cards had been finished they all looked something like this:


There were a number of good things to learn from this process, and even though I'm a Graphic Designer with rather 'high ideals' (nothing arrogant, I just try to constantly think of high quality results to keep my professional attitude up), I found myself a bit proud of these mockups.

The sketched illustrations and handwritted text have their own charm. The things I don't like about the card are that I coloured them in photoshop: I should have done that by hand as well. Doug Malewicki, produced a game called 'Michelles Monster game' for his daughters birthday one year, and his own hand drawn monsters (complete with original names) are awsome! Check it out here.

I've often talked with my design peers about hand written stuff; and we all agree that it's loveable. It can be appreciated in it's own way. Personally, I'd be happier to purchase a hand produced copy of something than a manufactured one. It has so much more emotional attachment that way, and I'll feel less like throwing it away. You'll probably all agree with me when I say that the best board games you all have, are the most beat up, wrecked, pieces missing and replaced, patched with sticky tape ones in the cupboard.

It's not just because they're popular. They become more like 'your' board games with the more individual characteristics they take on. Back in Australia, my families copy of Monolopy is awsome because half of the money in it was lost, and then merged with an even older copy (from my mum's generation), so for example, we now have two $50 bill types all mixed up. The two types of money make makes it special in it's own way. Suddenly it's not a game by Parker Brothers, it's ours.

To get back to what I'm talking about, I think that hand produced games are the way to go. Sure it means we can produce thousands, but for the love of logic: NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT US. Start small! I'd even say: Stay Small! And make really really good handcrafted games. Imagine a box opened with hand drawn character cards, handwritten information, hand carved pieces...

I'm in the ZONE.