As I am looking for ways to introduce my board game inventions to the industry, I am reminded about those "award" stickers you may often see featured on the packaging of your favorite game. This often gives the game a sense of prestige, clout, and public approval. There are a variety of awards you can apply for, such as Games 100, International Gamers Awards, Mensa Mind Games, Spiel des Jahres, Board Game Geek: Golden Geek, and Major FUN awards.
One of the sites I came across today that allows you submit your request for their seal of approval online is The National Parenting Center: Seal of Approval. Every company has different guidelines, but if you have invented a game of your own, it may be worth your time to boost your appeal by trying out for one of these. If you do win, please let me know so I can congratulate you on this site! Best of luck!
Luis
www.GlobalQuestGame.com
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Taxes
Just completed my taxes the other day and I am so glad I hired a CPA that specializes in small businesses.
Even though I have not launched my board game inventions just yet, I have spent a lot of time and money on press releases, my computer, the New York Toy Fair last year, meals with potential investors, etc. Fortunately I kept all of my receipts organized in a folder with a summary page listing everything. This made it as easy as possible for my CPA to go through all of my records. He saved me a LOT of potential heartache.
One thing I did learn is that it is important to keep a written journal wherever you go (i.e. in your car) so that you can accurately log the dates, mileage, receipts, and purpose of your business-related expenses. From what I understand, this makes it easier to justify your deductions at the end of the year - in the event you are ever audited. (Make sure to consult a certified CPA for professional tax advice.)
Even though I have not launched my board game inventions just yet, I have spent a lot of time and money on press releases, my computer, the New York Toy Fair last year, meals with potential investors, etc. Fortunately I kept all of my receipts organized in a folder with a summary page listing everything. This made it as easy as possible for my CPA to go through all of my records. He saved me a LOT of potential heartache.
One thing I did learn is that it is important to keep a written journal wherever you go (i.e. in your car) so that you can accurately log the dates, mileage, receipts, and purpose of your business-related expenses. From what I understand, this makes it easier to justify your deductions at the end of the year - in the event you are ever audited. (Make sure to consult a certified CPA for professional tax advice.)
Hard Core Gamers Review
Last weekend, I finally was able to get some of the people
from my board game Meet-up group to test play both of my board games. To tell you the truth, I always get incredibly nervous when I show my creative work to anyone, whether it is my board games, writing, or film/video projects. It is just one of those quirks that I have, no matter how good or bad I might think my work is.
Having this group test play my games meant a lot to me because they are what I would call "hard-core gamers." This means that the average games you often see in retail chains such as Target and Walmart may not be exciting or challenging enough for this incredibly diverse group. The reason why I brought my games to them is because I believe getting unbiased and honest feedback from those that are very selective (and not close friends or family)is absolutely crucial if I ever expect my games to be successful.
Every single time I go to one of their Saturday evening events, I end up playing at least one or two games that I have never played and often never heard of before. The owner had to sell two tables piled with board games because he's moving and has two closets full of incredible and unusual games from all over the world. There are always plenty of home-cooked dinner prepared, junk food, and drinks for everyone (which is always a great thing) and they are such a fun spirited group of people. Since my (local) family and friends rarely play board games, this is a great outlet for me - as you might imagine.
The group of people that played my board games were between 18 and mid-20's of different backgrounds and professional walks of life (Sample size = 3). Here is their average response for the following questions:
Global Quest™ and Treasure Hold ‘Em™ Review
For each question, circle your honest opinion about the game you played.
(1 = Horrible, 10 = Fantastic)
1. Overall look of the game?
Global Quest:8
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 9.7
2. Function - How well did the game play?
Global Quest: 8.3
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 8.6
3. How easy was the game to understand?
Global Quest: 8.3
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 10
4. How unique is the game?
Global Quest: 9
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 6.3
5. Is this game a good match for your age group?
Global Quest: 9
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 9
6. How interesting is the game to make you want to play again?
Global Quest: 8
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 8.3
7. How exciting is the game? (Did it make you laugh; did you have a great time playing?)
Global Quest: 8.3
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 8.6
8. Would you buy this game if you saw it in a store or online?
Global Quest: 7
Treasure Hold ‘Em:6.3
9. How would you compare this game to other board games in stores?
Global Quest: 7.3
Treasure Hold ‘Em:6.3
10. If you saw this game on the shelf, would it catch your attention and make you stop and take a closer look?
Global Quest: 8
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 7
NOTE: If you only knew how difficult it was for me to decide to post this blog. In some areas, this is an interesting comparison and contrast to the feedback I received from teenagers during my library tours, my test play with college students, and with five different families. In other ways, I admit I was a little crushed that some of the scores were not a little higher. However, I wanted to give you an unfiltered look at how "hard-core gamers" reviewed my games and thought you might appreciate the honesty. I feel that this may be helpful for those of you that may have inventions of your own that you want to have the public evaluate.
Hope this was helpful. Enjoy and "mahalo" (thank you) for reading my blog! :)
Luis
www.GlobalQuestGame.com
from my board game Meet-up group to test play both of my board games. To tell you the truth, I always get incredibly nervous when I show my creative work to anyone, whether it is my board games, writing, or film/video projects. It is just one of those quirks that I have, no matter how good or bad I might think my work is.
Having this group test play my games meant a lot to me because they are what I would call "hard-core gamers." This means that the average games you often see in retail chains such as Target and Walmart may not be exciting or challenging enough for this incredibly diverse group. The reason why I brought my games to them is because I believe getting unbiased and honest feedback from those that are very selective (and not close friends or family)is absolutely crucial if I ever expect my games to be successful.
Every single time I go to one of their Saturday evening events, I end up playing at least one or two games that I have never played and often never heard of before. The owner had to sell two tables piled with board games because he's moving and has two closets full of incredible and unusual games from all over the world. There are always plenty of home-cooked dinner prepared, junk food, and drinks for everyone (which is always a great thing) and they are such a fun spirited group of people. Since my (local) family and friends rarely play board games, this is a great outlet for me - as you might imagine.
The group of people that played my board games were between 18 and mid-20's of different backgrounds and professional walks of life (Sample size = 3). Here is their average response for the following questions:
Global Quest™ and Treasure Hold ‘Em™ Review
For each question, circle your honest opinion about the game you played.
(1 = Horrible, 10 = Fantastic)
1. Overall look of the game?
Global Quest:8
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 9.7
2. Function - How well did the game play?
Global Quest: 8.3
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 8.6
3. How easy was the game to understand?
Global Quest: 8.3
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 10
4. How unique is the game?
Global Quest: 9
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 6.3
5. Is this game a good match for your age group?
Global Quest: 9
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 9
6. How interesting is the game to make you want to play again?
Global Quest: 8
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 8.3
7. How exciting is the game? (Did it make you laugh; did you have a great time playing?)
Global Quest: 8.3
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 8.6
8. Would you buy this game if you saw it in a store or online?
Global Quest: 7
Treasure Hold ‘Em:6.3
9. How would you compare this game to other board games in stores?
Global Quest: 7.3
Treasure Hold ‘Em:6.3
10. If you saw this game on the shelf, would it catch your attention and make you stop and take a closer look?
Global Quest: 8
Treasure Hold ‘Em: 7
NOTE: If you only knew how difficult it was for me to decide to post this blog. In some areas, this is an interesting comparison and contrast to the feedback I received from teenagers during my library tours, my test play with college students, and with five different families. In other ways, I admit I was a little crushed that some of the scores were not a little higher. However, I wanted to give you an unfiltered look at how "hard-core gamers" reviewed my games and thought you might appreciate the honesty. I feel that this may be helpful for those of you that may have inventions of your own that you want to have the public evaluate.
Hope this was helpful. Enjoy and "mahalo" (thank you) for reading my blog! :)
Luis
www.GlobalQuestGame.com
Toy & Game Brokers
Today, I sought out major board game companies to submit my board games for licensing consideration. On the Hasbro FAQ page, I found that they do not accept direct submissions and recommended going through a company that has a different submission policy than they do, perhaps contact the game industry's trade association, The Toy Industry Association, or a toy and game broker.
They explain that a toy broker introduces and helps sell the concepts/prototypes or other inventions to the broker's personal contacts at various toy and game manufacturers. Here is the web page in case anyone is interested in learning more information for your own toy or game concept. They have a link of brokers that have agreed to have their names published. Make sure to click that this information is "very" helpful, so that they will keep this content up on their site. If they ever take it off, please contact me and I will post the broker's names and contact info on my blog. Mahalo (thanks) and enjoy!
Luis
www.GlobalQuestGame.com
They explain that a toy broker introduces and helps sell the concepts/prototypes or other inventions to the broker's personal contacts at various toy and game manufacturers. Here is the web page in case anyone is interested in learning more information for your own toy or game concept. They have a link of brokers that have agreed to have their names published. Make sure to click that this information is "very" helpful, so that they will keep this content up on their site. If they ever take it off, please contact me and I will post the broker's names and contact info on my blog. Mahalo (thanks) and enjoy!
Luis
www.GlobalQuestGame.com
Friday, February 19, 2010
Enhancing My Blog Through Apture
So, today I was looking how to add live RSS feeds to my blog on GlobalQuestGame.com in order provide you various news feeds related to the board game and toy industry. Although I am still searching how to do this, I found an amazing new site that I am going to experiment with today called Apture.com. (I don't mean to be so easily distracted, ha!)
The best way I can explain Apture.com (as interpret it) is that it takes any type of content you want (i.e. YouTube videos, Twitter feeds, Wikipedia Articles, News Articles, etc.) and beautifully places it compactly on your web page. When you click on the different media icons, it keeps you on the same page instead of redirecting your readers somewhere else...which is awesome! If any of this sounds confusing or incomplete, I apologize. I'm going to demonstrate what that looks like by experiment with it for the first time using information about the legendary USA Olympic Snowboarder, Shaun White. I believe it required opening an account with Blogger, instead of downloading it directly to my website. Hope you like it.
Mahalo! (Thanks!)
The best way I can explain Apture.com (as interpret it) is that it takes any type of content you want (i.e. YouTube videos, Twitter feeds, Wikipedia Articles, News Articles, etc.) and beautifully places it compactly on your web page. When you click on the different media icons, it keeps you on the same page instead of redirecting your readers somewhere else...which is awesome! If any of this sounds confusing or incomplete, I apologize. I'm going to demonstrate what that looks like by experiment with it for the first time using information about the legendary USA Olympic Snowboarder, Shaun White. I believe it required opening an account with Blogger, instead of downloading it directly to my website. Hope you like it.
Mahalo! (Thanks!)
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