Make Your Board Game Excellent AND Unique?
Image is not property of Riley James Copy
Lessons from a “Magical” Santa Cruz Bunny
Over the past few year, I’ve met with a lot of board game, TTRPG, and TCG creators.
And 9/10 times, they all have the same thing in common:
They focus on being EXCELLENT and forget to be DISTINCT.
Now, I don’t want to exaggerate just to make a point…
In one sense, what is the point of standing out if you stand out for the wrong reasons? No one wants to be noticed for their warts.
And while that is true, there is another, more uncomfortable truth that many tabletop game creators and developers either do not know or ignore altogether.
Something that guarantees a ship will sink before it begins its maiden voyage:
Being excellent is not enough… you NEED to be unique.
Bottom line: if you are not unique, then you blend into the crowd. And if you blend in, then no one will notice you.
Let me give an example…
The Most Standout Thing I Have Ever Seen in My Life
During the summers of 2010-2012, I was a camp counselor. When I was a kid, I thought my wacky, earnest, fun counselors were the coolest people on the planet.
Any real celebrity or athlete could have walked into camp, and I would still think that “Fiyah”, “Lunchbox”, and “Big Dog” (those were their camp names) were cooler.
As a camp counselor, the only “day” off is from Saturday 11:00 am - Sunday 12:00 pm. It was a precious amount of time to have fun and hangout without campers around, so we usually went into town and made the most of it.
And that town was Santa Cruz, CA.
Image is not property of Riley James Copy
To this day, it remains one of my favorite small “cities”.
Dense coastal redwoods 15 minutes from the the birthplace of continental surfing.
An abandoned cement ship down the beach from a bustling board walk.
Where hippies and tech bros, families and life-long bachelors, Buddhists and Christians are all in large numbers and yet immersed and coexist in harmony.
It’s wonderfully weird.
Well, one weekend, some other counselors and I are walking down “main street” (Pacific Avenue). We had just enjoyed a delicious slice from Pizza My Heart and an ice cream sandwich from Pacific Cookie Co. The street was full of random performers, tourists, and locals enjoying the weekend.
We were heading back to the car when suddenly a friend yelled, “That dude has a rabbit on his head!”
I turn…
I scan…
I see…
A MAN WITH A FREAKIN’ RABBIT ON HIS HEAD.
We race over as fast as we can, and immediately ask: “Hey man, what’s going on?”
Does he respond?
No.
Well… sort of.
He doesn’t respond to our question.
And he doesn’t respond like a normal person.
He starts SINGING.
In a melodic, almost medieval ballad tune, he sings:
“What’s that rabbit doing on my heeeeeeead…”
We stand silently in wonder, confusion, and awe… desperate to know what he will say next.
As he finishes the line, he sets down his guitar case and opens it up.
“He’s gonna hop down onto his beeeeed…”
AND ON CUE THE RABBIT JUMPS OFF HIS HEAD AND INTO THE GUITAR CASE.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet the man, the myth, the legend: Lonnie.
Naturally, we clapped and cheered in utter delight.
Without a doubt, it was the most interesting thing we saw in the streets of Santa Cruz all summer, and an unforgettable story.
Why?
Because he was distinct:
He stood out.
So we noticed.
And gave him our attention.
I tell this story because it is faster and more interesting than asking you to watch this hour-long lecture on the importance of standing out by David Trott (watch here).
There are decades of proof and foolproof psychology behind this concept. And while he applies it to advertising, it also applies to the product itself. Your marketing needs to both A) stand out and B) demonstrate why your game stands out.
Yes, this means some people will consciously reject you, maybe even 50%. But that is WAY BETTER than over 90% of people unconsciously rejecting you simply because they never notice you!
The reason this a “NEED” is because of the nature of the competition in your industry and market.
To say the tabletop games market is competitive would be an understatement. For example, it is estimated that over 5000 tabletop games were created in 2022 alone (source).
And while you may have an excellent game people would enjoy, there are HUNDREDS of other games that promise the same thing. All made by devoted creators who have played hundreds, if not thousands, of games, know game design, and are determined to make this passion project work.
And while the industry can expand, at any given moment, there are only so many tabletop game players, each with a limited budget and limited amount of time to play.
Being excellent is not distinct enough, you need to provide some unique value.
This is why, in a previous blog post, I explained the importance of a “Unique Value Proposition”. You cannot begin any marketing without it, because all of your marketing is about communicating it.
At the end of the day, whatever you offer, your target audience needs to perceive it as 1:1. You need to not only be excellent, but also give your customers a reason to choose you right now and not someone else.
Now that I have established the importance of being unique, in future blog posts I will discuss how you find make yourselves unique in the eyes of the customer.
