So, you’ve thought of an idea for a board game and now you want to see it on your local game store’s shelf. It should just be a matter of getting some great art, making up some cards, finding a printer, running a kickstarter campaign, and that’s it, right? Just 4-5 months?

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A GAME, ANYWAY?

First of all, let me be clear. A great board game is a not a product, it is not an item. A great board game is art, all the way from the mechanics that the designer spends hours poring over and tweaking, to the elements on the card, to the feel of the wooden bits in your hands as you play, to the actual art on the cards. A board game is created to induce an emotional reaction within its user. What better definition of art can there be?

AND YOU CAN’T RUSH ART

Now that we have that out of the way we can talk about what it takes and how long it takes to make great art. Game Salute recently posted a piece on the time it takes for a game to go through the process of being an idea in a designer’s head to a finished product on the shelves. I will tell the same story from the perspective of the game that Cosmic Wombat Games has up on Kickstarter right now, Stones of Fate.

DESIGN

TIMEFRAME = ~3-6 MONTHS

For Stones of Fate = 6 months, Jan 2012-Jun 2012

You got your great idea. You get some paper, make up some cards, construct a prototype, and on your first playtest, your players break your game. Lather, rinse, repeat. At least that’s how it happened with Stones of Fate. The first time I ever played Stones of Fate with Luke Laurie, I broke the game. He still talks about it to this day. But this is what happens, it’s the process, it’s why designers do what they do.

Venn: A design by Jeff Cornelius

A good designer will be able to come up with a pretty good design that isn’t broken within about 6 months. This stage is a game that has been played with friends and family, usually close gaming partners. The designer has gotten about as much feedback from this group as will happen.

Stones of Fate was ready for the public in June, 2012. Luke debuted it at Polycon in San Luis Obispo, CA. It was good enough to win the Polyprize and was well received by attendees. But it still wasn’t done. I remember sitting down to play it after the Polyprize announcement and making big changes that very day. This was really its transition into phase 2:

DEVELOPMENT

TIMEFRAME = ~1-2 YEARS

For Stones of Fate = 1.25 years, Jun 2012-Sep 2013

You now have your game in front of people. How many people? Where? What do you do next? Development is that process where to get people you don’t know to play test. You will be modifying the game play and mechanics quite a bit. You could be working with a publisher during this time period or doing it yourself in preparation for self-publishing. Looking for and hiring artists is also part of development. It is basically the process of taking a good game design and fine-tuning it to get it ready for public consumption.

My preferred development process is to hit as many conventions as I can with a game. This gives me a wide variety of playtesters and feedback for the game and ensures the maximum appeal to my eventual audience. It also creates awareness and a following for the game. This cannot be emphasized enough. Your game NEEDS a following, without that it will not sell at all. Whether you are a self-publisher, first-time designer, or seasoned professional you still need a following for each game. It is even more critical to have this following if you are going to fund through Kickstarter.

One of the biggest mistakes we made with Stones of Fate was when we thought we were ready to leave the development process and go to funding/production. We were wrong as our 50% funded first Kickstarter will show you. Do not try to rush this step, it is critical for the future long-term success of your game. Take the time, build the following, listen to what they say, modify the game appropriately, and you will ensure your success. Which leads us to:

FUNDING

TIMEFRAME = ~3-6 MONTHS

For Stones of Fate = 6 months, Sep 2013-March 2014

Congratulations, your game is finally ready for Kickstarter. (For the purposes of this article, I am going to talk about the timeline for a self-published/small company published game, if you are using a large publishing company with funding sources already in place you could skip this time.) Now, all you have to do is build the Kickstarter and watch the funds roll in.

Yes, but it is a little more complicated. You will need reviews (ideally some of this was started during development). You will need a sleek, professional looking Kickstarter page. It’s always a good idea to ask for feedback from your following for your page. It keeps them engaged and can make your project better in the end. Again, don’t rush this process, make sure you get it right.

We spent 5 months building and fine-tuning the Stones of Fate Kickstarter page. We got lots of feedback and incorporated as much as we could. We continuously engaged our audience. Even during the running of the Kickstarter campaign there is much to be done. Sometimes, you will have to rush to get this done because Kickstarter really is on a timer. Actually, it is when you push that green launch button that your timer actually starts. Up to that point you have all the time in the world to make things exactly right. After that you are on a timeline because you have promised to deliver something in a set amount of time. This makes it all the more critical that you not rush the previously mentioned steps and get them perfect so when you enter that timeline, you can be successful.

PRODUCTION & DELIVERY

TIMEFRAME = ~6-8 MONTHS

For Stones of Fate = Unknown

I will be writing a follow-up to this post after completion of our Stones of Fate process. Right now we are promising delivery by September of 2014 for Stones of Fate. This would put our total gestation period from conception to delivery at 2.6 years. And that is for a light card game! This would only get longer for a heavier Euro game.

I asked some of our League members and some other designers to give the timeframes that their games were completed in. The answers are below:

• Jupiter Rescue – 1.6 years, Nov 2012 – Jun 2014
• Aloha: The Spirit of Hawaii – 2 years, Nov 2010 – Nov 2012
• What the Food?! – 1.3 years, Jun 2012 – Dec 2013
• Euphoria – 1.25 years, Aug 2012 – Dec 2013
• Tuscany – 2.1 years, Oct 2012 – Nov 2014
• Ars Victor – 3.4 years, Jan 2011 – Jun 2014
• Evil Intent – 2 years
• Scalawag! – 1.25 years

Making games is a marathon not a sprint. You have passion; you have energy and that is good. Don’t let that go to waste. But keep some stores in place for the long haul because you’re going to need it.