Box or Book?

[Stregheria]

The Stregoneria RPG will be being released public playtesting has finished on an internet forum site and I'm torn between 2 possibilities: a boxed set or a softback book.

Making the game into a boxed set will cost about £200 more than releasing it as a softback book and it also means that the price of the game will have to be correspondingly higher.

What do people think? Particularly those that might be able to give me some real sales data on these 2 formats. Does one appeal more than the other? I like the idea of going a bit retro. I've always loved boxed sets.

[Mathew E. Reuther]

Do you have a functional reason to have a box?

Are there things which cannot be included in your game which make for an incentive to have the ability to box them?

As an example from a current boxed product, the WFRP3e box (which runs $100) includes custom dice, cards, standups, etc. None of these items can be purchased from a hobby store, and thus are packaged with the RPG itself.

D&D has just released the red box in order to tap in to the desire people have to play the red box. This is the RED BOX effect . . . I doubt any indie RPG will be able to invoke anything close to the feeling people get when they see that box with that artwork  . . .

[Stregheria]

No, there is no practical reason why the game has to be boxed other than perhaps including a full clour A3 poster map folded in it. I was just thinking what might appeal most to consumers. All-in-one books have been de rigeur for many years now but I've always liked boxed sets. I was just curious as to whether a less common format might give the game some quirky appeal and old school flavour.

[Jason Pitre]

I have only liked boxed sets because they came with a lot of content.  The practical concern is once the shrink wrap is done, you kinda need to keep boxed sets flat on the shelf and that takes up more real-estate.

[Chris_Chinn]

I was just thinking what might appeal most to consumers.

I think you mentioned you were only printing 100 copies?  Is that right?  I think at that low of a print run, what "most consumers" want is kinda moot, provided you're not doing anything unwieldy or bizarre.

If you are planning on selling in any kind of brick and mortar store, you need to consider how much space the box will take, and realize, in many cases, boxes are a hassle (bigger, more fragile than a straight book, etc.)

Likewise, consider how you'd need to ship and pack a box vs. a book and what that would mean for you sending out direct sales or shipping to a store.

One thing that has been proven over and over from a lot of publishers at this site is this: packaging and "market trends" are secondary to a good product.

Chris

[Stregheria]

A box it is then!

[Stregheria]

Oops! I meant to say a book it is then.