Being different

[MatrixGamer]

At Origins my wife sold more marionettes than I sold books. Grumble, grumble...hey wait. Look around. There are no other marionettes here, but there are a lot of game books. Competition.

We all want to have the originality of our rules make us shine forth. But sadly that usually isn't enough - if there is too much competition. When D+D did it's thing 30 years ago - it was unique. A box with a few books in it. Cool! Traveller copied the format and was succesful. Larger boxed RPGs followed. The TSR made the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide - oooh hardback books...and many games followed the format. In the 90's WoTC hit with Magic - oooh cards...and MANY games followed the format.

On to the point. Sad though it may be Indie RPGs need to be as original in packaging as they are in rules. The package has to have an "oooh aaah" factor (which PDF, POD and spiral bound punk books don't) at least for me.

Are we using the new technologies to their best effect? I make books using 100 year old technology but they are of a different sixe than most other hardback books. Guide of Blades is using lamination (an approach I'm going to try out). Cheap ass games use those corrogated cardboard boxes. Microtactics once used CD cases. What other ideas on packaging can you think of.

What are the costs?
Does it take long to make do it?
How durable is it, when used to play or when sitting on a store shelf?
How much wow factor is there?

Brainstorm on production rather than just relying on Lulu. Every packaging breakthrough before this was based on original thinking rather than outsourcing the design work.

Chris Engle
Hamster Press

Oh - the shameless Matrix Game plug - I'm going to try out making folio game that will be similar to a GM screen, that will have a map, characters and all the rules on one foldy outie laminated sheet. That will increase by product list by 40 products with existing books. Cool huh?

[Larry L.]

Doesn't the standard of book-format RPGs vs boxed sets have something to do with VAT rates?

[Vaxalon]

I know one thing.

If I get a nifty idea like that, I'm sure as hell not telling any of YOU lot. 

[Andrew Morris]

What other ideas on packaging can you think of.

I'm a bit dubious that the type of packaging is more important than the quality. Anyway, how about tubes, transparent boxes, or bags? Other than that, I got nothing.

[Vaxalon]

Form over function, Andrew... it's been like that since at least the seventies. 

It's the secret to marketing... because in marketing, once the customer has bought the product, your interest in him goes down by a factor of fifty.

[Andrew Morris]

No, no...I'm not putting forward some "screw the packaging aspect" viewpoint. I'm well aware of the power of a pretty package, but I'm saying that well-done packaging is more effective than novelty packaging done badly.

[Travis Brown]

As a long time retailer gone publisher I understand entirely that Presentation is 9 /10 of the law. People make a purchase in most cases based on the perceived value, which is much of the dilemma people have with buying PDF formatted games.

We released the CrossRoads of Eternity RPG at Origins (we were with Indie Press Revolution, Burning Wheel and Key 20) and got really good response by the cover alone. Our book is a soft cover 8.5" x 11" with a SUPER glossy cover and a very slick looking cover shrink wrapped (because it contains a loosely inserted large full color map). People who don't even care about role playing games stopped to look at the cover and the portfolio of art.

I do agree as well that effective delivery of a unusual package type is more important than gimmicks. Die cut box lids, foiled inlays, clam shell bubble packages are all fine and good as long as you set it up in the right way. One book represented by IPR (title of which i can't recall) is produced at just over paper back size which is amazing since not many game books are produced that way. Burning wheel does the same thing and has a nice little wrap which ties the two books needed together to give it a stylized look, and it's great. It all comes down to aesthetics, what will appeal to the customer. It comes down to this.... ask yourself, ask fellow Role players, what kind of look do you prefer in an RPG book? There are literally hundreds of different titles which are all soft over with nice art and glossy, but what makes you stop and look at one over the other?

I think it comes down to salesmanship, Passion and the methods you want to distribute through.

Package types in general though we toyed around with

- 8.5" X 11" soft cover book or hardcover
- CD-ROM which has all resources in DOC, PDF and JPG/GIF format for easy access.
- Boxed set with a source book, campaign guide, dice, miniatures and map (about a $8.50 per unit cost in initial researching)
- Smaller format soft or hard cover books
- Spiral or Comb bound books (easy access of information during play)
- Clam shell book (I actually saw this one once. Someone had packaged an RPG manual along with some proprietary dice and a miniature.

So possibilities are limitless

[Jake Richmond]

I really liked the little sleeve thing that held the two Burning wheel books together. That was cool. I love packaging. I'm always impressed by a well designed package or presentation. Weird sizes are always good. Dark Horse comics started reprinting the classic Lone Wolf and Cub comics in super small editions (like 6x4) a few years ago, with super clean white bindings. Those were cool. Rackham (the french miniatures company) puts out an exceptional looking magazine called Cry Havoc. Walk into a japanese toy store (or an american one I guess) and you'll see a ton of cool ideas. The PSP comes in a pretty cool (but really simple) package. DVD box sets are looking pretty cool too. That might be a cool way to go, a book in a fold out DVD style case.

-Jake

[Vaxalon]

Here's an idea I could never use:

Publish a book designed to be used online, in a format that would fit in a CD holder slot.

[MatrixGamer]

Interesting ideas all.

I should clarify - if a game is not good regardless of packaging then packaging does not matter. Drek is drek - no need to spend time on it. I assume though that all our games are GREAT!

As to boxes versus books, is the VAT you refer to "Value added tax?" I know I've run across that in the UK but not here in Indiana.

The thing I'm most intrigued by in packaging now is that it be eye catching but also that it be repeatable and affordable. A lot of that boils down to what capabilities you have available to you. Being an in house producer I'm limited by what machines I have available (presses, laminator, folding machines, etc.) I can do the folio game because I have the machines to do them. The same limit applies to any company you out source to. What I suspect is that there are some real cool packaging ideas out there in some decidedly non-game part of the economy. The compilation DVD packages are a great example. I love how when I get out my Buffy the Vampire Slayer season box that it "unrolls" open. This is a cool idea.

This may come back to where you get your inspiration from. Frequently I start with a question. "How can I run a game that stores and manipulates information in a game using words rather than numbers?" (The original Matrix Game question.) Or I may look at the materials and wonder what I can do with it's properties. I may look at materials in relationship to a machine I already have, find a new way to use the machine. Don't be afraid to innovate.

I read once that Folks in East Anglia (that's in the UK) people used medieval farming tools until around 1850 (when steam tractors came in). They put the tools in the shed. A hundred years later the tools were still around and were all in use. They were translated into gardening implements. A small steps to be sure but a significate one because at least some of the tools were not used at all how they were originally used. The analogy would be us looking at a person 100 years from now using a computer as a lawn ornament.

Chris Engle
Hamster Press