Hey everyone — Frank DiCola here, creator and current publisher of Mr. Game! I’m about to get on a plane to head to San Antonio, TX for PAX South and I wanted to jot down a few ideas that were buzzing around in my head.

If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering two things:

• How many Donald Trump references will there be in this blog post?
• What is the plan for Mr. Game! in 2017?

The answer to the first one is easy: 1. One reference, and that’s all. I promise!

The answer to the second one is a bit more complicated, and serves as the subject for this blog post.

 

 

Mr. Game! is Already Great, Right?

There are two ways to look at Mr. Game! – optimistically and pessimistically. On the bright side, a completely unknown group of college kids came together in 2013 and created a board game. Through the magic of Kickstarter, we raised over $17,000 in 2015 and manufactured copies of Mr. Game! that could be shared with the world.

That’s pretty awesome… but it isn’t unique. Part of growing up is realizing that although you’re a unique snowflake, it’s also the dead of winter in the middle of a blizzard. You are constantly surrounded by other unique snowflakes, and from far away they all look pretty much the same. There are a ton of board games funded through Kickstarter, and they are just a subset of the approximately 800 tabletop games and expansions that are released every month.

The pessimistic view of Mr. Game! is that our Kickstarter didn’t cover all the expenses related to publishing a game. Because of this, a lot of my own personal money has gone into promoting the game… so much that even if all of the games sold, I wouldn’t make my money back. (Forget about even making a profit!) Running low on money means that I can only go to certain conventions, and I can’t do as many Internet ads. It’s a downward spiral.

Mr. Game! may have started out great, but its less-than-stellar sales record doesn’t make it an appealing target for publishers. Combined with the fact that there is still inventory from the initial Kickstarter run to sell off, the game is in serious need of a great-again strategy.

 

Two Possible Expansion Packs

 

If you’ve spoken to me in the past few months, or if you’ve been paying attention on social media, you are probably aware that I am designing an expansion pack to Mr. Game!

Two, actually. Since the summer of 2016, I’ve been spinning my wheels about adding a bundle of cards to the game. Tentatively titled “Mr. Trolling!” and “Mr. Strategy!”, these expansions would simply be tiny foil packages of 25 – 40 cards each, designed to be shuffled into the main deck of the base game.

Is your game too chaotic, and players feel like they can’t make any decisions? Add in “Mr. Strategy!”, which has plenty of Badges that you can use to plan your great escape.

Is your game too dull? Figured out all the best interpretations for every rule? Add in “Mr. Trolling!”, which has ridiculous cards and effects that will leave even the best Mr. Games at a loss for words.

That’s the plan, anyway. Two expansions at once is probably a stupid idea, but I just had too many good ideas for cards. If you’ve got a good idea for a card, you should stop reading and submit it to the website, already! If I’m going to consider it for an expansion, I’ll add a prototype version to the official Facebook album.

 

Bringing A Crowd To Kickstarter

Before I do any kind of expansion to Mr. Game!, it’s important to first check off a few boxes. I have no interest in running a Kickstarter campaign that just barely scrapes by at the end. That won’t make a profit, and it won’t help the future of the game. It will just create another hole that I need to spend a year digging myself out of.

There’s a good expression when it comes to crowdfunding: You bring your own crowd to Kickstarter. That means that the 30 days of a campaign are not meant to grow your audience, but rather you should mobilize an existing group towards a specific end. Since that’s the case, I intend to hit the following social goals before I even consider launching a second Kickstarter for Mr. Game! See the image below:

Pre-Kickstarter Social Media Goals

1. 1000 ‘Likes’ on the official Facebook Page
2. 200 individual ratings on Board Game Geek, overall average rating of 7.5
3. 100 Subscribers to the Game Revenant YouTube channel
4. 50 Reviews on Steam, overall average Positive rating

Now you might be saying to yourself at this moment “Frank, don’t bother measuring numbers like this on social media – they mean nothing!” I agree, and that’s why the numbers are intentionally pretty high. Achieving these goals would represent a huge departure from the audience Mr. Game! has currently, even if some people end up being ‘duds’ who do not engage on social media. A larger audience means a bigger network of friends and family who will support the game, back the Kickstarter, and ensure the expansion “sells through” at a fast pace.

This is the way to make Mr. Game! great again, but I can’t do it alone! In fact, I can’t do it at all. In order to make these expansions happen, I need people in the community to take a few minutes out of their day and do me a serious favor.

The Facebook Page is the main social media hub of Mr. Game!, so if you haven’t invited your friends and family to Like it yet, do it! Play the game with them first. Show them this blog post. Then ask them to Like it and follow along. (You should Like it too!) Small businesses can’t succeed in a vacuum – it’s essential to have a dedicated fan base!

Board Game Geek is a very strange website, but immensely popular. Navigating it is a pain, but if you review the game on that site you’ll strike a serious blow against the Board Game Establishment. (Well, not really… but if you like to think of it that way then I won’t stop you.) Please make a BGG account, give the game a positive review, and tell people about your experience with the game.

The YouTube Channel is a bit of a new venture and could use a boost. It’s going to be the main hub for every game I create from now on. Gotta start somewhere!

Steam is currently hosting Tabletop Simulator and the Mr. Game! Downloadable Content bundle, but sales could be better. Solid reviews from people who own the game would really help out! Tell people about your experiences with both the digital and physical versions, perhaps highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each.

 

 

Contact Me Directly

I think that’s enough navel-gazing for one blog post. But there is one more thing – if you have an idea for how I should promote Mr. Game! and my business, reach out! Message me on Facebook. Tweet me @Yoshgunn, the official Mr. Game! account @WhoIsMrGame, and my studio @GameRevenant. Email me using contact@GameRevenant.com if you feel it’s something best discussed in private.

I’m very new at this and I’m taking any and all suggestions into consideration. So, if you’ve ever thought to yourself…

• Why wasn’t Mr. Game! at [insert show name here]?
• There should be a video about [topic] on the YouTube channel…
• Frank should post about [topic] instead of [other topic]!
• Mr. Game! should be available at [insert store name here], why isn’t it?

That means you should contact me directly and tell me that! I won’t criticize your ideas or call you stupid. In fact, my reaction will probably be “oh man, why didn’t I think of that a year ago!?” and I will be forever grateful for the advice. As my friend Jack Kelly wrote about earlier this week in his blog about adversity, constructive criticism is the key to success.

So get out there, tell the world about Mr. Game!, and let’s get ready to (maybe) do a Kickstarter for this thing at some undisclosed point in the future! Wooo!

 

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I’m going to need your help if we’re going to make a successful Mr. Game! Expansion Pack Kickstarter happen. Let me know if you have any questions or feedback! The game’s official website is WhoIsMrGame.com, where you can purchase a copy for yourself.

Frank DiCola is the founder of Game Revenant and the creator of Mr. Game!