Making and Marketing Your Game

Part 5: Paper Training

by Steve Peek

There are a couple of reasons the box top and game board were finished first. They make a statement about the theme of the game and set a standard or guide for the art to follow. They also take the longest to reach completion as they not only have to be printed but also must be fabricated into boxes and boards. So naturally the next item is the box bottom, since half a box won't do any good at all.

The most important thing about box bottom art is what it says and how it says it. Its sole reason for existing is to get people to read it, and then make them want to buy the game. A good way to get a handle on this is to go back to the stores and read every box back with a front which gets your attention. While in the store this time, you'll notice many games are displayed so only one of their side panels is visible, hence the importance of including a line or two of type on these surfaces. Take great care in writing the copy for the box back. If the box top is really good and does its job of getting people to pick up the box, you're halfway there-the hardest halfand it would be a shame if the box back did not fulfill its obligation.

Since the box top art is finished, have the artist determine the image area for the press it is to run on. If it's not too large and is being printed in process colors, it won't cost too much to have a box back printed at the same time, on the same sheet of paper. if this can be done, you'll not only save money for a one color (black type) box back, but for a little extra you can add some color to the back of the box as well. Remember, color does help to sell regardless of where it is. if the box wrap art image area is too large to allow the back to run at the same time, it's best to stick with a one color box back printed on a cheaper grade of paper. it won't look as nice, but the main thing about the back is what it says. Sure, looks help, but when there's a limited budget, this is a good place to save.

While you're trying box back copy on friends and co-workers, the artist can be doing the layouts and paste-up for the game's other components, assuming, of course, that by now the game has been thoroughly playtested, the component mix is correct, and the rules are so clear even a Supreme Court justice couldn't misinterpret them. In order to save money and possible embarrassment, there are a few things the artist should have worked out in advance. In case he didn't, I'll go over them.

Likely the game is going to make use of one or more decks of cards, game money, play stock certificates, etc. These items, can become extravagantly expensive if not handled properly Avoid being charged for any more hand labor than is absolutely necessary. What this means is when a customer opens your box he is not going to find the money, cards, or whatever neatly sorted, stacked, and rubber banded in nice little trays. What he will find is a clean-looking sheet of money which has been carefully perforated for him to tear and sort, a large folded sheet of cards which have been die-cut and nicked on the edges to hold them in place until the customer punches them out and gathers them into decks.

"What," you scream, "happened to quality? is it being thrown out the window?"

Hardly. Many major game companies have gone to this technique. If you did your homework, you will have discovered this. True, some quality is being traded for economy but this is your first time out of the chute, and even if a ton of money is available, you need to keep the cost of a game to a level where it can be given a competitive yet profitable retail price. Besides, the real quality of a game is how it plays. How it looks is the perceived quality. People buy the game on perceived quality (the box top and bottom again), but they enjoy it, and more importantly, recommend it to friends by how it plays. When I was a kid we didn't have a lot of money. Toys were pretty damned scarce, at least store bought ones. But I soon discovered I could use my cheap, opaque marbles to beat the bejeebers out of the kids who had fancy, expensive cat's eye-crystal-super-deluxe-killer marbles. Point made.

Basically' what is being done is saving the cost of hundreds, possibly thousands of man hours for people to punch out, gather, and collate these items. And it really isn't all bad. It gives the consumer a feeling of newness to punch out his own parts and something to do for ten minutes while the rules are read.

Back to tolerance. When the art is being done and the money or cards are being pasted to their respective master sheets, make sure there is a tolerance of at least one-eighth inch between the print image areas of each piece. it's cheaper to plan on these tolerance borders being white. An overlay to create a consistent color around the individual pieces can be prepared, but it will cost more because of bleeding.

The term bleeding in graphics talk simply means that a color is extended beyond the normal image area, so when the sheet is trimmed, the color runs all the way to the edge. jobs which bleed take more paper than the same job which doesn't bleed, more ink (which isn't cheap by the way), and are a little more costly to strip and print. In short, it'll cost more money so don't do it for components, though it may be done for your gameboard label.

The art for rules is virtually all typesetting and paste-up work. Absolutely no reason to get fancy here. if the rule book runs to more than four pages, it will probably have to be saddle stitched, stapled on the fold like a thin magazine. It doesn't cost too much and is necessary if the rule book is more than four pages.

The only two things to watch for in the rules are to make sure there are plenty of easy-tofollow illustrated examples if needed, and to proofread them till you need glasses. A couple of bad type errors (called typos ) or a dropped line in a set of rules take an otherwise great game and make it only good for lining the cat's box.

A word about typos. They are like unused coat hangers in a closet; they breed at night. I've seen six people proofread a set of rules, get them back after corrections, proofread them again, get them back after more corrections, and proofread them a third time only to find new typos in the last set of corrections. Nobody likes them; they cost time and money, but they always happen. Don't be upset when they're found -be glad. When proofing something for the third or fourth time, there's a tendency not to really see the type. Force yourself to check it one word at a time. There is no substitute. It is never safe to assume any correction has been made without inflicting another mistake. It's difficult, boring, and thankless. The artist is going to snarl everytime you find a new one, but it must be done and be done right. Even then, one or two may get through and you'll suffer the unique experience of looking at the printed item for the first time, all finished and clean, and your eyes will mysteriously go right to a typo in a line you'd read twenty times. I don't understand how or why this happens, I only know it does, and I'm resolved to the fact my tombstone will have a typo.

It's impossible to describe every component a game might have - it depends on the game. But most printed components fall into one of the categories described. For a special piece such as a wheel with a spinner, or a slide rule type affair, make a working prototype and take it to the artist on the first trip. If he doesn't know who can make it locally, take it to some printers and ask them. If you still can't get an answer, alter the component to something which can be made locally. As a rule of thumb, if a game requires a custom-made piece, have it made locally where close watch can be kept on its progress. if standard pieces are to be used, it's fairly safe obtaining them from what you consider to be the best source, regardless of location.

So far, we've only been discussing artwork which means we've limited the discussion to printed materials for the game. The next step is items which aren't printed but must be manufactured in a different manner.

Steve Peek is president of Yaquinto Publications, Dallas, Texas. He has designed, developed or produced over 100 games.

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