A little over a week ago, I launched my publisher website and announced my desire to take our first game, DEER!, to crowdfunding next year. Since then, a ton of stuff has happened, but most of that has been research, and research is decidedly not ‘sexy’ and appealing in the eyes of the consumer. However, research often times is what it takes in the background to take an idea and make it not just a reality, but a successful reality.

The reality of research is that most of us participate in it in one way or another every day.

When I decided that I wanted to turn my board game ideas into board game designs that could be played and enjoyed by people, I dove into research on the world of design: finding resources, reading blogs and books, listening to podcasts, and following and talking with other designers. This is how I found the Board Game Design Lab website and podcast, as well as the Ludology podcast (and yes, I did binge and listen to each episode of both podcasts).

As an avid consumer of board games, I’m always doing research on new potential games by browsing Board Game Geek, watching video reviews and listening to podcasts like The Dice Tower & Salt & Sass, or Board Game Blitz. I’m also a Superbacker on Kickstarter, with 125+ backed projects, and my fair share of backed projects on other platforms like Gamefound and Backerkit. I’m constantly looking for an researching the cool, new, hot games and then getting other gamer’s takes on them.

As a professional in the gaming industry, I frequently listen to the Board Game Insider podcast. I attend 8-12 conventions a year, working with different publishers and seeing the new and the trends in the industry, as well as indulging my gaming habit. I’ve been back and fourth in regards to finding a publisher to sign DEER! or publish it myself. My eventual goal was always to run my own publishing company, so it has been important to immerse myself in the industry and staying up to date on things.

So, when I made the decision to take DEER! to crowdfunding and launch my publishing company, it was no surprise to me that the first steps in that endeavor were going to be researching. Quickly I dove into Jamey Stegmaier’s blog on Kickstarter Lessons and picked up his book “A Crowdfunder’s Strategy Guide“. I’ve started listening to the Crowdfunding Nerds Podcast on their and other industry folks experiences in crowdfunding, marketing, publishing, and the industry as a whole.

I also started doing my research on what exactly it was going to take to make DEER! a reality. I knew off the bat, that I didn’t want to be another publisher with long wait times if at all possible. DEER! will be just my first game, so I want to make an impression, I want backers to get a great product, at a great price, in a fast timeline to help build confidence in my brand.

This last week, I’ve been contacting graphic designers and artists to start getting quotes on my upfront costs for getting the DEER! base game ready. I’ve reached out to Panda Game Manufacturing and plan to get quotes from some other manufacturers to compare prices and quality and see which will be the best first for the game. I’m doing research on and looking into how to do my own marketing, but also scouting out companies that have experience in marketing board game crowdfunding projects to what my options are.

I’ve reached out to friends in the industry to ask questions and get information about how they’ve run their projects in the past, and what to expect. I greatly appreciate these friends for being willing to share their wealth of knowledge. That’s a resource I’ll continue to communicate with as I go through this process as I know that people that have been there and done this before will be one of my best resources for the reality of the situation.

I am also considering going back to school and taking more classes. While I have my Bachelor’s in Leadership and Management and Business, there is always more to learn. I’m hoping to take more classes to help build my business, might even consider working towards a Master in either Business or Marketing, to help supplement my current knowledge base.

This is the update! We’re moving forward, I’m buried in research, and plans are being made. I’m still working on getting DEER! out in front of people, working through the design processes on my planned games for 2027, but also not slowing down on my large game – Rescue Dogs – which I’m anticipating for early 2028 as I’m still taking it through the design steps and it requires a bit more investment in art and graphic design.

I’ll be at PAX Unplugged next month with several copies of DEER! and other prototypes. If you’re going to be there and want see what’s coming down the pipeline, hit me up!