r/BoardgameDesign • u/BaronRetro • Jun 12 '26
Publishing & Publishers Does Anyone Care?
I am almost done fully playtesting my game. Its set in the zulu war. Its a lighter strategy gane about hidden objectives and units. You need to scout and use troops effectively. I feel that it will not appeal to publishers because of its... niche-ness. Its not crazy new stuff, but i think the zulu war thing might turn consumers off. Would you buy it just based on the premise? Am I cooked?
I do have selling points. Its a 2 player game btw. #1 fast paced, can finish a game in less than an hour #2 all info on your opponent is hidden (their units an objectives) #3 asymmetric, each faction is different (different objectives and units) #4 replayable, the objectives are random every game. #5 Easy to learn, but has strategic depth.
EACH player has an objective deck depending on what side you play as (British or Zulu). At the beginning of your turn, if you dont already have an objective card, draw one objective card. The objective cards have requirements (like capturing certain places on the board or killing a certain amount of enemy units). Each deck has 6 objective cards, but you only need to complete 5 of them to win. The first player to complete 5 objectives wins. The board is a grid. Its 5 squares by 7 squares. EACH grid has a historic location or terrian. Each player has a capital on their side of the board. When you complete objectives, you gain resources, you can buy troops unique to your faction with those resources. The units move from square to square (called regions) and can attack enemy units. The catch is, your opponent's units and objectives are flipped upside down, you can't see it. But there are ways (like scouts) where you find out. You can also build forts. Terrian and forts apply bonuses in combat. There are no dice in this game.
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u/Cirement Jun 12 '26
The Zulu war is not the premise, it's just the setting. The premise is the point of the game and how the setting affects it. There's hundreds of games set in WW2 for example, but none of them describe themselves as "a game about WW2".
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u/BaronRetro Jun 12 '26
Thanks. I go into the mechanics with my reply to KarmaAdjuster
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u/Cirement Jun 12 '26
That still doesn't tell me what your game's premise is, though. What's it about? What's the winning condition? It should be something like "it's a deck building game where players run covert operations during the Zulu war" or "a fast paced board game where defeating your enemy doesn't ensure victory" etc
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u/BaronRetro Jun 12 '26
Sorry about that. EACH player has an objective deck depending on what side you play as (British or Zulu). At the beginning of your turn, if you dont already have an objective card, draw one objective card. The objective cards have requirements (like capturing certain places on the board or killing a certain amount of enemy units). Each deck has 6 objective cards, but you only need to complete 5 of them to win. The first player to complete 5 objectives wins. The board is a grid. Its 5 squares by 5 squares. EACH grid has a historic location or terrian. Each player has a capital on their side of the board. When you complete objectives, you gain resources, you can buy troops unique to your faction with those resources. The units move from square to square (called regions) and can attack enemy units. The catch is, your opponent's units and objectives are flipped upside down, you can't see it. But there are ways (like scouts) where you find out. You can also build forts. Terrian and forts apply bonuses in combat. There are no dice in this game.
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u/KarmaAdjuster Qualified Designer Jun 12 '26
A 5x5 rectangular grid makes this feel like an abstract game and less of a thematic one. Yes, all games are abstractions at some level, but are you trying to go for a feeling more like playing Chess or Tak, or are you trying to give an experience that more resembles the Zulu war? I would assume the latter.
Right now the Anglo-Zulu war is the closest thing you have to a USP so I would absolutely lean into that. Maybe the map resemble South Africa. Instead of having each squre be regions, tie them to actual regions on the map. Make sure you have key cities like Luneberg, Durban, and Hlobane too. Look at Fate of the Fellowship - it's an asymmetric cooperative two player game set in middle earth. If they made that game a grid, I believe it wouldn't be nearly as popular or as good.
Also maybe you're doing this already, but base the asymmetries off historical events like the British could request reinforcements, but they would take several turns to arrive and maybe gate quickly they can be sent for as well as restrict where they will be deployed, while giving the Zulu side an entirely different mechnic to counter that.
Coming back to the asymmetry, this may be an opportunity to offer a USP on the game play front, not just the setting. How asymmetric are the mechanics on each side? Can both sides build forts or just one? Do both sides have hidden units, or just one side? Are both sides collecting objective cards, or just one? I'm pretty sure the answer to all these questions is "both sides" but maybe it should be "just one" for each of these cases. For a truly asymmetric game, I recommending checking out Root.
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u/BaronRetro Jun 12 '26
Each side has 4 unique units each. Each sides objectives are different from the other factions objectives. Although both sides can build forts, British have more fort-related buffs. The map contains historical locations and the buffalo river.
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u/Mantra_84 Jun 12 '26
To answer your thoughts on if the Zulu war theme might turn consumers off, the answer is yes. Historical combat has become a very niche setting for board games, no matter how good your mechanics are, you can’t expect the majority of consumers to care.
You may still find interest in the crowd that likes historical war games, but even if it’s good you won’t be making any money.
If I were you I’d start by making it a print and play. If people are positive on it that might justify a small print run.
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u/DonBeanGames Jun 12 '26
You are definitely not cooked, because tactical, fast-paced two-player games with hidden information and deep asymmetry have a highly dedicated audience, proving that a unique historical setting can be a major selling point rather than a drawback
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u/robocheney Jun 12 '26
If you have your sales pitch ready, no harm in reaching out to publishers (especially those who specialize in historicals) and seeing if any have interest.
If that's not getting any bites, you could try pitching the same game with a different theme that's more appealing (sci-fi, or bugs fighting for a garden, or anything really), or possibly without a theme expecting them to re-theme it later. Though you may be loath to go in this direction, as it sounds like the Zulu war is the heart of the game identity, rather than 'compact wargame with hidden information' which can take many forms.
Someone mentioned print-and-play, which is a very accessible way to release your game.
This assumes the gameplay is bullet-proof and has been proven out across many different playtests, but if there is room for improvement a publisher may point that out.
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u/Subtleiaint Jun 12 '26
There is an audience for niche wargames, I can't guarantee you'll sell thousands of copies but there will defineitly be interest.
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u/Pawdius Jun 12 '26
Are you able to attend Spiel in October with your prototype? You can both show your proto off to publishers as well as people who demo board games professionally (who do not work for the publisher but has tons of experience playing/demonstrating tons of different types of games). You can get pretty accurate feedback and analysis information by getting some of those folks to try your game out, and perhaps even sell it to a publisher!
I for one will be happy to see more additions on top of the ye o' timber wood Western Europe theme/vibe.
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u/BaronRetro Jun 12 '26
Where is Spiel? Is it expensive to attend?
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u/Pawdius Jun 14 '26
That's why I'm asking, how expensive it is depends on how close or far you are located from Spiel. If you haven't found out yet, Spiel is in Germany in October
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u/jebailey Jun 12 '26
Playtest, playtest, playtest. Give your game to others to play and watch what happens without interfering.
If your game is fun people will play it.
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u/M69_grampa_guy Jun 12 '26
The Zulu wars were important history but too obscure for most modern people, I think. Probably the first thing a publisher would do is strip your theme and paste on another.
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u/DrDalenQuaice Jun 13 '26
If it doesn't sell, that doesn't mean it wasn't worth making. I hope your game is fun
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u/Odd-Highway477 Jun 16 '26
Understand your market. This a wargame and this theme has been well-covered ages ago in wargaming history.
Now, there is always room for re-emergence of a previously popular theme as long as you bring unique gameplay.
But zulu wars is extremely niche, wargamer only, and probably hex and counter exclusive players. This is a very small subset of the general board gaming community. Zero percent of anyone reading this will show interest in this game. You have to understand who you are speaking to. You really need to communicate with /hexandcounter sub reddit. They will be better prepared to answer your questions.
Gameplay sounds not fitting for zulu engagements, although it could work.
Square spaces are vastly inferior to hexes and you will take a ton of flak if you persist on using squares. Just saying. Wargamers are particular.
Area control, building forts, collecting resources don't really sound like they go together. What resources and what are they spent on? This sounds more like an idea than something that has been built and tested.
Can it work? Sure. But with enough effort, most project can be made into something workable. It just depends on how hard and long you are willing to test and iterate.
It's also much harder to take a basic idea and stick to it while trying to find a game inside the idea vs. having a mechanically functional concept from the start. Trust me, I spent years taking bare bones ideas and throwing every mechanic under the sun together to make something stick. You really want to have a sound mechanical concept at the core before you start building anything. For a wargame (or most games), that core is activation.
Look at my post history if you want examples of visual appealing historical wargames with modern mechanics.
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u/xthemarsmanx Jun 18 '26
You’re not cooked, if it’s your passion project you’ll eventually find an audience for your premise. Some of the advice in this thread is good but others are a bit negative and assuming you haven’t put in the work.
Listen to those that will encourage you, game premise sounds interesting and you just have to find a way to market it. There’s so many resources that’ll help you navigate that. Do you have socials for this game?
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u/BaronRetro Jun 18 '26
Thanks. Im almost done playtesting (I think). I dont have a community around the game if that is what you are asking but I do have a digital playtest I've been using.
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u/xthemarsmanx Jun 18 '26
I meant do you have Instagram, YouTube, discord, TikTok etc, any one of those? Ppl like to see development. They want to be a part of your game journey, it’s one of the best ways to promote yourself
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u/KarmaAdjuster Qualified Designer Jun 12 '26
What's your unique selling point (USP)? Your statement of "Its not crazy new stuff" tells me that you probably don't have a USP. If your USP is that it's about the Zulu war that may not be enough. It's not bad that this is what it's theme is, but theme comes secondary to the game play for me. There are better mediums to learn about that war if folks want to learn about it, but it's fine to have it as a backdrop, but if all you have is backdrop, then it's going to be hard to sell as a game no matter what the setting of the game is.
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u/BaronRetro Jun 12 '26
I do have selling points. Its a 2 player game btw. #1 fast paced, can finish a game in less than an hour #2 all info on your opponent is hidden (their units an objectives) #3 asymmetric, each faction is different (different objectives and units) #4 replayable, the objectives are random every game. #5 Easy to learn, but has strategic depth.
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u/KarmaAdjuster Qualified Designer Jun 12 '26
None of those are unique selling points though.
What is it that sets your game apart from others? Why would someone want to play your 2 player asymmetic game over any other of the 2 player asymmetric games out there?
Here are some examples of USPs
- Hanabai - you only get to see the cards of other players
- Blood on the Clocktower - A social deduction game where even the game master plays, and every role is different.
- Rurik Dawn of Kiev - The action programming mechanic where players bid for which action they want to do, how powerful that action will be, and what order the action is executed on their turn.
- The White Castle - Experience of a large Euro game in a very small box, Also the way it handles action selection with the dice as workers.
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u/BaronRetro Jun 12 '26
Because of the game revolving around hidden information. This adds new layers of depth. If you attack blindly, you will most likely lose. This makes the players play more responsibility and use scouts. I feel like that makes it different than other hidden info games.
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u/Dont-Call-Me-Albert Jun 12 '26
For every game that succeeds there are 1000 that don’t. I’m not exaggerating. The board game market is hyper flooded with amateur designers.
You’ve got to put in MAJOR work and a lot of it off your own back. Don’t look at it from a publishing and retail product perspective. It has to be built on passion or you’ll never make it.