08-09-2017, 05:46 AM
Pricing is tricky. If you charge too much, only the die-hards will play, or the newbies will drop out as soon as their position in a game takes a wrong turn. If you make it free, people might not take the game seriously, or they'll "ghost" out of the game when their attention wanes, never having invested much into it.
I remember one game that went for the "boutique pricing" model, including $20 just to get the rulebook. High barrier to entry, but apparently the game has raving fans.
I quite like what they do over at Alamaze and Galac-tac (hi davin) -- monthly subscription. It allows players to invest in the game and neatly trims away that incentive to drop a failing position. I can see a much larger market for this model.
One thing to be aware of -- boardgamers pay $60 on up for new games. Often up into the triple-digits. And in many cases they play the game a couple of times at best. My neighbor bought Twilight Imperium and I believe we have played it 3 times to-date. If 4 board-gamers are willing to pay $20 each for a game they'll play 4 times -- that's $5 per session per player. And that's on a game people like and want to play again. But we pay it because it's worth it.
PBM games just need to frame things better. Charging people an escalating turn fee was always a hard-sell. You need to combine a good pitch ("a unique game experience that many find breathtaking") with a good pricing model (monthly subscriptions) and some sort of on-boarding pathway for new players -- maybe they get the first month free, or they get mentored through one game free with a veteran player who'll show them the ropes and cultivate them as new subscribers.
I remember one game that went for the "boutique pricing" model, including $20 just to get the rulebook. High barrier to entry, but apparently the game has raving fans.
I quite like what they do over at Alamaze and Galac-tac (hi davin) -- monthly subscription. It allows players to invest in the game and neatly trims away that incentive to drop a failing position. I can see a much larger market for this model.
One thing to be aware of -- boardgamers pay $60 on up for new games. Often up into the triple-digits. And in many cases they play the game a couple of times at best. My neighbor bought Twilight Imperium and I believe we have played it 3 times to-date. If 4 board-gamers are willing to pay $20 each for a game they'll play 4 times -- that's $5 per session per player. And that's on a game people like and want to play again. But we pay it because it's worth it.
PBM games just need to frame things better. Charging people an escalating turn fee was always a hard-sell. You need to combine a good pitch ("a unique game experience that many find breathtaking") with a good pricing model (monthly subscriptions) and some sort of on-boarding pathway for new players -- maybe they get the first month free, or they get mentored through one game free with a veteran player who'll show them the ropes and cultivate them as new subscribers.