Business idea production of board games monopoly profitability. Business idea: release of board games

This is difficult to logically explain, but in our era of the total dominance of electronic technology, traditional board games cause a real stir among gamers of all countries, peoples and ages.

Outdated entertainment in an updated interpretation is a very profitable investment. This, of course, is not about chess and checkers, which have remained the same for a couple of thousand years, but about games like Monopoly and variations on this theme. The volume of sales in the table games market in 2012 amounted to 3.4 billion US dollars. Agree - impressive! And if we consider that the market growth rate is 17%, then this business idea becomes more than promising. Of course, only two countries, the USA and Germany, consume 60% of the total market volume, but even the share that falls on the CIS countries is quite attractive for development. Thus, according to market players, last year board games were sold in Russia for over $70 million, and in Ukraine for $15 million.

The domestic “tabletop” business, as the common people call board games, is still very young, because remember the store shelves ten years ago: simple and uninteresting “walkers”, like twins similar to one another, or very expensive imported games, which, in addition to their extremely high prices were repelled by the lack of translation into Russian of at least the rules, not to mention the game elements.

Today, there are successful game manufacturers in the country that produce products either on the basis of their own developments or under license from Western manufacturing companies. But still, there is no need to talk about the saturation of the market today.

Production process

The business for the production of "desktop" consists of several stages:

1. The first and most important stage is the development of the board game idea. At the very beginning of this stage, you should focus on the potential audience of the game, its expectations and preferences. In order to think over the concept more competently, it is necessary to answer the question: for the player of what gender and age the game will be intended. The answer should be extremely accurate, for example: for a boy of 12 years old, for a girl of 8 years old, etc. (so far without a “scatter” for several years ago and forward). One of the most responsible processes of creating a game is thinking over the storyline, the features of the gameplay, the purpose and degree of entertainment of the game.

At the same stage, it is necessary to test the game on the basis of its “draft” (pilot) version. To get started, you can try the game on friends and acquaintances, and then give it to a circle of unfamiliar faces (for example, if the game is for preschoolers, then to kindergarten) and follow the gameplay, comments, difficulties that players encountered in the process, etc. .d. Any unsatisfactory observations should immediately be put into practice - to eradicate problematic and controversial areas of the game, replacing them with more "digestible" elements.

Despite the responsibility of this stage, it is one of the easiest, because the most interesting. So, for example, the Russian manufacturing company Bonko Games debuted on the market in 2012 with the product "Election race, or who could become president." From the name it is clear that the idea of ​​the game came to its creators on the eve of the start of the presidential election campaign. Tatyana Bondarenko, the owner of Bonko Games, admits that the process of creating the concept was very exciting: various “crusts” made it possible to solve many problems in the game, cars with flashing lights, instead of the usual plastic chips, made the process more realistic, brighter and more interesting, trips to constituencies and lobbying for laws contributed to the maximum immersion in the gaming atmosphere ...

2. The second stage is the approval and consolidation of the external design of all elements of the game: the field, cards, chips, packaging, etc.

As soon as final design approval is complete, a cost estimate is prepared to launch the game into production. It should be borne in mind that the smaller the circulation, the more expensive each set of the board game is. The optimal circulation for one type of game in our reality is 5-6 thousand copies. But if you are a beginner and are planning to launch your very first game into production, then don’t risk so much, start with 2-2.5 thousand copies, as the already mentioned company Bonko Games did. Such a print run (2,000) cost Tatyana Bondarenko 22,000 US dollars.

Now it's time to choose a contractor who will print the game. Here the situation is ambiguous. On the one hand, the domestic market is saturated with printing houses and publishing houses of various profiles and scales. On the other hand, among this multitude, only a few are professionals in their field, which means that the release of a batch of games in our country is associated with a number of risks: from incorrect scoring or cutting, to elementary mismatch of colors. A foreign contractor in 99% of cases will undoubtedly please you with the result, and even make it cheaper. For example, a game case with a velvet-lined interior made in China will cost about $1.25. In Russia, a case without such a finish will cost more than $2 a piece. Agree, the difference is noticeable. But the whole difficulty of choosing a contractor lies in the fact that when placing an order with a domestic contractor, you will always have it “at hand”, you will be able to constantly monitor intermediate results, visit in order to make amendments and adjustments, etc., and in the same China run over. In addition, when ordering a circulation from a domestic contractor, the entrepreneur will not face the problem of delivery from the other side, as well as the nuances of customs legislation.

A similar situation is observed with those elements of the game that are not produced in a typographical way - dice, chips, etc. The simpler they are, the lower the cost of one copy will be. So, for example, Bonko Games could well complete their games with the usual plastic pyramids instead of tokens, which would cost 3 cents for each copy. Cars with flashing lights as chips added 12 cents to the cost of each copy. It would seem - a trifle, but when multiplying such a "trifle" by the circulation, exciting amounts are obtained.

Numbers

So, how much will the release of one board game cost in total? Below are examples that can serve as a guide for budgeting for the implementation of this business idea:

To reiterate for clarity: Bonko Games spent $22,000 to produce a 2,000-copy run;

The Ukrainian company Arial spent $50,000 to develop and release its first five board games, with a total circulation of 19,000 copies;

The leader of the Russian board game market, World of Fantasy, invested $30,000 in its first game, Berserk, which later became a bestseller. Of this amount, a third went to registration of intellectual property rights, the rest - to design, payment for the work of artists and production itself.

In general, the cost of a circulation depends on a complex set of factors, but the gradation of prices for games from all the above manufacturers in retail sales is in the range of $2.7-$15 per copy.

3. Sales and promotion - the third stage.

As a rule, first of all, board games are offered to small stores (general stores, toy stores and bookstores), further development of sales depends on the target audience of the game. Market participants claim that the first 10 boxes will be bought exclusively for criticism. Indeed, practice shows that the first copies are purchased by desktop fans or “fans” engaged by competitors. The purpose of the acquisition is to write a “review” of the game as soon as possible (preferably first). Market players are advised not to pay attention to such notes, real and objective reviews will appear 2-3 weeks after the start of sales. This is where you should carefully monitor all the problems reported by the players, as well as notify the gaming community about their elimination. So you will bring the game set to perfection, and at the same time create a good reputation for yourself.

In order for production to be stable, it is necessary to establish a network that would include at least 200 points.

Working with large supermarket chains is harder, especially with foreign ones. For example, an "entrance ticket" to METRO Cash & Carry costs 40,000 euros, and this is the standard price for cooperation with famous Western chains. But at the same time, you are guaranteed regular sales and payments in full. Domestic supermarket chains will conclude an agreement for reasonable money, but such cooperation can be compared to "Russian roulette" - you never know whether the terms of the agreement will be fulfilled. So, for example, Ilfat Ilyasov, the founder of Arial, says that the crisis had a very strong impact on his company, although it did not fall into the sphere of the most vulnerable industries. The fact is that at a certain stage in the development of the crisis, a number of supermarket chains simply refused to pay the company the proceeds for the goods sold in their supermarkets.

Wherever you decide to implement your game, you will need a presentation of your product. And in addition to “look how cool she is,” it (the presentation) should contain answers to the following questions:
- why is this game better than others in its category?
Why will it sell well?
- what will consumers like about it?
- Why do people go to the store for this game?

Promotion in gaming clubs

When the creators of Berserk thought about promoting their product, they came up with a brilliant idea: one of the founders agreed with the gaming club to hold a Berserk tournament. Reviews about the tournament itself, and, of course, about the game instantly scattered throughout the global Internet, which created a real stir around the game. So use all your communication skills and look for new ways: clubs, themed places, coffee shops and much more are at your service. You will certainly be met halfway, because the benefit is mutual: the institution will receive an additional influx of customers and additional profit.

Online store

Profitability

In order to highlight the profitability figures as substantively as possible, let's look at how the price of board games is formed:

- Sale in the supermarket. The usual supply condition for chains is a markup of 45% -50%. Those. if the cost of a game ranges from $18.75-$21.85, the wholesale price will be about $31.25 per copy, and on the supermarket shelves it will cost about $62.5.

- Sale through an online store. Bonko Games' Election Race or Who Could Be President hit stores in February last year and sold for $50, while the wholesale price of one copy was $24.

Conclusion: the margin of the publishing company is on average 66-11%.

The average sales speed of one game (released to the market for the first time) is 2-3 thousand boxes per year.

The profitability of market leaders is 300% -350%. Of course, a novice entrepreneur is far from such results, but in general, the payback potential of such a business idea is very high.

And remember: back in 1934, a major publisher refused to buy an idea from an American unemployed Charles Darrow. This idea was the last chance to earn extra money for him, and the poor fellow took the risk of implementing it on his own. The idea was a board game, which was coined the name "Monopoly" ... You know what happened next: a global hit, tens of millions of copies sold around the world, an incredible number of variations and interpretations.

So everything is ahead of you and everything will work out for you!

It may seem surprising, but the board game business is a very promising line of work in the entertainment industry. The fashion to spend time with the classic "Monopoly" or more modern "Munchkin" captivated children and adults. Such a pastime allows you to combine leisure with the development of analytical thinking and creativity. Selling off-the-shelf board games and producing your own board games can be a source of steady income, provided the organizer approaches it wisely.

The creation of board games is a very creative and at the same time analytical process. Every classic game has its own creation story. For example, classic "Monopoly" invented by one man Charles Darrow in the USA during the Great Depression. He personally made and sold 5,000 pieces of kits for a new entertainment whose goal is to create his own business empire and the survival of other players from the market.

Another legendary game with a more intricate plot and more probabilities is Dungeons & Dragons or Dragon Dungeons. It was created in the 1970s by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The authors were inspired by another board game, adding fantastic creatures and magic to it. A younger, but no less famous detective story with quests and fights with monsters "Arkham Horror" created by Richard Launis, based on the worlds from the stories of the mystical Howard Lovecraft.

Board games are interesting for adults and children, they develop analytical thinking and creativity

It follows from these examples that story development can be inspired by reality, fiction, and even another game. The author creates a virtual world with his own laws, sets the rules and invites others to dive into it. Of course, this is a creative process, but it can still be distinguished characteristic steps:

• development of the plot and rules;
• creation of a material base (cards, maps, diagrams, cubes, tokens);
• testing;
• revision;
• mass circulation.

Game development as a business

It is safe to say that the production of board games is not for everyone. But if you feel the potential to carry out such a complex of works, proceed with confidence - there will be connoisseurs and demand. When developing a script and a set of cards, do not count on instant enrichment. The creators did not become very rich people in a short time, even if their work met with a mass response (as was the case with Monopoly).

Creating a complex game will take several months or even several years. The author needs not only to come up with a plot, but also to work out the maximum number of possible scenarios so that the action does not come to a standstill. One creative thought is not enough. It is necessary to predict in what ways events can develop, how players can act, how the plot ends, whether there is a winner, etc.

What can be the source of board game development:

1. Existing board game. For example, the classic “Monopoly” is transferred to new countries, cities, even to a new reality, or the rules are completely reversed (“Antimonopoly”). This option is attractive because the most difficult part of the work has already been done by the creators, and the developer only needs to change the design, surroundings and material base.
2. Popular books and films. Simple "rpg" and quests in the worlds of known universes will resonate with their fans.
3. Imitation of phenomena and situations from real life. Quests for survival in extreme conditions, solving practical problems can perform both an educational and entertaining function.

If you plan to make money, it is better to create a board game on a computer by contacting an artist or designer. With it, you can create beautiful cards, tokens and other inventory. The author's memorable design will become a component of success, because it will give players aesthetic pleasure.

Game development at home

It's pretty hard to make money this way. It is possible that you will be interested in how to create a board game at home for personal use, without commercial plans. The rules are pretty much the same: come up with a plot, prepare inventory and try to play. The easiest way to draw at home is the classic "rpg": the player rolls the die and makes moves according to the number that has fallen. At each stop, he must perform some action: buy something, sell something, defeat someone.

Such quests can be informative and educational for children. For example, at each stop, the child learns a new fact or tries a new action. The plot is limited only by the imagination of the creators. You can make a card, tokens together with the children - this will bring no less joy than the process itself.

The production of board games includes not only the development of the script, but also the colorful printing of cards, tokens, booklets

Board games store opening

Consider drafting a sample business plan for a board game store. This is another faster and more reliable way to make money on this hobby. It can take years to create your own game, and tens of thousands of rubles to develop and print the material base. It will be much faster to make a profit by selling other people's works.

It is more profitable to open an online store. The demand for this category of goods is not so high as to cover the monthly rent of even a small room.

This is a special product, interesting to a very limited number of buyers. Stimulating demand through advertising will only marginally succeed.

From this point of view, investing 15-20 thousand rubles in an online store at a time is safer than renting a store for a month for the same money. You can maintain the site yourself, and store boxes with games for sale at home. This approach is perfect for the first months of work. Selling via the Internet does not limit the number of buyers to residents of one city, but brings the entrepreneur immediately to the all-Russian level of trade.

Costs for opening an online store:

• website creation - from 15 thousand rubles;
• purchase of several categories of goods in several copies - from 30 thousand rubles.
• professional photo shoot for the assortment - 5 thousand rubles;
• promotion of the site and accounts in social networks - at the request of the entrepreneur.

An alternative to selling board games is opening a club for players

Another option to make money without independent development and sales is to create your own club. This is an institution where people come to play their favorite natsol quests with like-minded people or get acquainted with new leisure options. The demand for such a format of recreation also cannot be called massive, so the business is very risky.

Club opening costs:

• rent of premises - from 20 thousand rubles per month;
• repair, interior design, furniture - from 10 thousand rubles;
• purchase of games - from 15 thousand rubles;
• advertising - at the request of the entrepreneur.

It is desirable to combine this type of work with a traditional and online store: the total revenue will be greater. However, the costs will increase to 200-300 thousand rubles. The business is not highly profitable, so a good result will be to recoup the investment in 1.5–2 years of work.

Conclusion

The creation and sale of board games is a specific business with a small target audience. Buyers are not limited to families with children. Many adults are open to this format of leisure. But there are not so many of them to make this branch of business profitable. Get started with an online store and resell popular games, because it will take at least a year to develop your own game.

Sales of board games in Russia increased by 3 billion rubles in 2017. When the market is covered by a supply of 25-30%, this option of activity allows you to make good money. Business payback can be achieved within 3-6 months. You can write games yourself, enter into contracts with authors, adapt Western analogues. There is an option to purchase a franchise. When investing from 300 thousand rubles. you can count on profitability up to 200%. "Hobby World" and "Igroved" are vivid examples of the organization of a similar business in Russia, which managed to reach multimillion-dollar turnover and conquer the Western market.

Is Board Games a Profitable Niche for Business?

In recent years, board games have been actively gaining popularity in Russia. In 2016 alone, the turnover of this market amounted to 10 billion rubles. How is this possible in the age of information technology, saturated with mobile applications and computer programs for gamers?

The most commonly cited reasons for the active spread of desktop entertainment are:

• the desire of people to take a break from gadgets that have become an integral part of modern life;
• the possibility of live communication with loved ones in the circle of family or friends.

Reference! To date, more than 50 thousand varieties of board games have been created and distributed in the world.
Source: RBC

In Russia 10 years ago, only children's games with chips and dice from the Soviet past, checkers, chess, loto, dominoes and several world bestsellers - Monopoly, Carcassonne and Scrabble could be found on the market.

The situation began to change from 2010-2011, when the first companies appeared that began to produce Western models under a franchise and develop their own versions of this kind of fun.

Currently, only 25-30% of the board games market is covered, which means you can make good money on this. It is important to take into account the features of this segment of the Russian economy:

1. Competition between sellers is active in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In other regions of Russia, it is felt weakly.
2. Games are most often an unplanned purchase. Therefore, it is important to know how much the inhabitants of a particular region are willing to spend on goods outside the list. In Moscow it is 1,000 rubles, in St. Petersburg - 700 rubles, in small towns - 300-500 rubles.
3. In large cities, such entertainment is sold more efficiently in specialized board game stores, and in medium and small cities - in the departments of toys, leisure goods, and gifts.
4. The minimum circulation of one game is 500-600 pieces. - in a smaller quantity to produce such a product is unprofitable.

Interesting fact! The segment is characterized by the phenomenon of "chain advertising": out of 10 players who have completed several rounds in "Scrabble", "Uno" or other board game, 2-3 people will purchase a separate copy for themselves.
Source: Vedomosti

Business model: board games as a way to earn money

Why can the idea of ​​producing and selling board games be considered a profitable business option in Russia?

• Firstly, according to statistics, even in the crisis years of 2014-2016, sales of computer entertainment fell by $150 million, and the board game market continued to grow.
• Secondly, with independent development and sale to a publisher, profitability can reach 200-300%.
• Thirdly, you don’t have to wonder where to find start-up capital - you can start with 5-10 thousand rubles.
• Fourth, it is important to understand that games with simple rules are most in demand.

Reference! Games of average complexity for children and teenagers in the price segment of 100-500 rubles are in higher demand on the Russian market. Expensive and complex board games for adults (500-3,000 rubles) are less popular.
Source: RBC

Business organization options

There are several options for organizing a business based on board games:

1. Buying a franchise. A method for beginners that allows you to quickly find your customers and achieve payback in a few months.
2. Independent development of games and their sale while maintaining authorship to a specialized publishing house. Initially, the author sends a prototype of the game to the publisher. If the latter is interested, a contract is concluded. The publisher bears all the costs of making and selling the game and assigns the proceeds, paying the author 3-10% of each released box.
3. Independent development, production and sales of desktop entertainment. Such a risky and bold idea can be diversified in the future by printing on the prototypes of third-party authors.

Note! You can open a retail outlet by registering an IP. It is also worth considering the possibility of using the simplified taxation system (STS).

Product feature - first steps in business

Before starting a business based on board games, it is important to work out a number of important nuances in detail:

• The target audience. It is important to understand who the product is intended for: boys aged 15 or youth 25.
• Subject. Any board game has a different theme - knights, wars, dinosaurs, movies, etc. It depends on which shelf in the store it will fall on.

Important point! Topic and target audience should be in strict accordance with each other. Any buyer, considering the game, will always ask himself the question: “Is it for me?” and “Why should I buy it?”.

Before you start selling your game or franchise product, it's important to take a "cognitive resilience" test. To do this, you need to gather one or more groups of 6-8 people and, at the end of the game, answer the following questions:

1. Are the rules of the game clear?
2. Is the plot interesting?
3. Are there any shortcomings and errors?

If the test results turn out to be disappointing, then it makes no sense to build a business based on the selected game option.

Important point! Technical matters matter. It is necessary to control the quality of printing images, the presence of constituent elements in packs (chips, card cubes, etc.). A box with a board game should be elegant, neat, stable and have a bright and memorable design.

Technical side

The purchase of equipment for printing, laminating, packaging games requires enormous costs. That is why you can use the services of third-party organizations.

Source: Habrahabr website

How to organize sales?

When opening a board game store, you can choose one of 3 options:

• Combined outlet. Along with the main product, toys, goods for recreation, hobbies, and leisure are sold here.
• Leisure club with point of sale. In this case, the fee is charged for the game in the game. In addition, players can buy table entertainment at home, place bets, get a prize, buy a hamburger and cola, etc.
• Online store. The most reliable option that reduces the risk of investment. You can start selling with running games, and then expand the range.

Advice! The first batches of games can also be sold on the basis of agreements with the departments of toys and leisure goods in large supermarkets.

Advertising is the engine of sales

An important role in sales is played by advertising, which is based on word of mouth and social networks. Flyers (POS materials) are best distributed in shopping and entertainment areas. Advertising of partners, which consists in the exchange of Lithuanians with shops of toys and goods for recreation, also works effectively. A less effective option is advertising on a billboard, transport, and online ads.

The main segment of buyers - young people aged 25-35 years. In this regard, advertising near cafes, educational institutions, fitness clubs seems to be effective.

Staff matters

The sales assistant of a table of a specific product must meet a number of requirements:

• to know in detail not only the composition of the boxes and the prescribed rules of the game, but also to understand it from the position of the player;
• understand what can be advised to the buyer, based on his age and interests;
• be able to interest in the game, explain its essence and order.

How much can you earn selling board games?

If the author transfers the game to the publisher and expects to receive royalties, then his costs will be about 5-10 thousand rubles. to create a game prototype. Typically, royalties are paid on the number of copies published, not on the number of copies sold. If the minimum lot is 500 pieces, then you can count on revenue of 25 thousand rubles, because:

• the average cost of a game is 1,000 rubles;
• the average percentage of royalties is 5% of the cost.

In this case, payback can be achieved in the first month of operation. With other options for organizing a business, the situation is different.

Table 3. Business financial plan (independent business, franchise). Source: Vedomosti

Cost item	franchise business	Independent business
Rental and renovation of premises
Purchase of commercial equipment
Business registration
Franchise fee
Franchise royalties
Staff salary
The cost of purchasing or printing the first batch of goods
Create your own website

* - Independent business does not require payment of royalties and a lump-sum fee
** - The franchisor can provide the buyer with advertising materials and place ads on the website and in social networks; he also partly bears the cost of design and printing of products.

Reference! According to statistics, an average of 50-100 game sets can be sold per month. The average revenue in this case will be 50-100 thousand rubles. In this scenario, you can count on payback within 3-6 months.

Successfully applying advanced printing technologies, our company offers production of board games in rigid boxes, which can be successfully used as a non-traditional advertising medium or a memorable gift to colleagues, business partners, friends.

If you are running an advertising campaign or want to give your colleagues an unusual and interesting gift - we we will make a board game for you, which reflects all aspects of your project or campaign activity. Custom made board game is a new way to promote products or a brand, as well as a creative souvenir for employees or partners.

For example, economic strategy- a game that has already become a tradition, which everyone has heard of, and perhaps was fond of. A board game that makes it possible to learn how to rationally use the starting capital and come to the finish line as a winner. The playing field consists of assets, businesses, events.

Through such a custom-made game, convenient to advertise real estate, banks, cars, various events, holidays. You can choose any theme of the game and subordinate it to your goals.

When ordering a board game as a gift, at your request, you can place corporate images not only on the playing field itself, but also on cards and other elements. With the production of board games from our company, everything is doable!

When ordering a board game, special attention must be paid to the design of the box. We can place on it your company logo, as well as apply a profile image that will certainly attract attention and be remembered for a long time.

Board game to order is able to convey in a visual form the scope of the project for partners, the features of a new product or brand for the consumer, and can also demonstrate the uniqueness of the company for colleagues who will receive all the necessary information in a relaxed atmosphere of pleasant pastime.

Making your game is easy! We will help!

Our company has been operating in the table games market for over 10 years and offers:

• production of board games in-house
• release of the game
• various options for configuration and cost
• flexible terms
• help with layouts
• discount for regular customers

How is the production of board games to order. How to order board games with your logo?

1. You send us a request.
2. We report the cost and production time.
3. Layouts are being prepared according to our technical requirements.
4. After the layouts are agreed on both sides, we issue an invoice.
5. After paying the bill, we launch the game into production.
6. You get a custom made game with your logo.

When ordering from 30,000 rubles, delivery within Moscow is free.

We have a small board game factory here.

It is located in Podolsk, just in the direction where it is only an hour by car from Moscow. In the deaf, deaf industrial area at the Singer plant, where sewing machines used to be produced for the whole country, now there are many small firms that make quadcopters, cosmetics, or picture frames. The whole territory is dismantled by private companies. There is our Magellan.

We've been here for two and a half years. We started in 2009 with orders from China. Then they printed the first edition of Mafia in Russia, and then slowly reinvested the profits in the project, bought equipment, and trained people. A couple of weeks ago, another line of machine tools came to us, which again will change everything dramatically. From hundreds of boxes a month five years ago, we have grown to ship tens of thousands a month. Therefore, to celebrate, I want to show you how our production works.

We must start with the fact that when we talk about production in Russia, one should take into account the special surroundings of the place. Last month European partners came to visit us to watch the line. When they saw this piece of the industrial zone on the way to our workshops, they decided that we were taking them to wet them. And really tense.

Well, the second shock for them was that no one walks around the production in anti-dust suits, and glossy white robots do not buzz in the corners. I will immediately warn you that not everything is automated yet. In Russia, even in our sphere, much is done by hand. The labor of an assembler is corny cheaper than the introduction of an automatic machine. And the assembler is usually smarter. But to the point. This is how the portal for unloading trucks looks like: the car can drive right into the door where the elevator is located.

From there, an elevator goes straight to the shop.

Detail path
Games in this world are assembled from components. For example, in a simple 7v9 game, there are only five types of components: rules, box, cards, lodgement, and control card. And it's all made of paper. But in the big Jackal, for example, there is also a field, chips, coins - there is plastic, and wood, and paper, and special processing of the box. And in the “Wizard of the Emerald City” there is a large cube with rounded edges, which in the first game was generally done like this: a tree to China - from China to Ukraine balls, cubes with rounded edges are made from balls - burning them in the Moscow region, assembling in Podolsk .

Here is the cube:

Now, of course, everything is easier with him, from other cities - only Volgograd.

The general cycle is:
1. First you need to make everything inside the box and put it in the warehouse. When everything intersects at one point of reality at once, there will be a game. We make paper and cardboard. This, fortunately, now allows you to control the color from run to run. First, paper or cardboard arrives at the warehouse, printing is done on it, all this is cut and processed, laminated, laminated, and so on. In general, it turns into a ready-made map or ready-made rules. Wood and plastic - partly from us, partly from third-party partners. We order bakelite (artificial stone, for example, on the Hive chips), but someday we will do it ourselves. We pour metal from partners. All development is ours.
2. There is no game without a box. Moreover, the joy of the recipient and the sale depends on the box. It is made by us, the box is assembled from a sheet of cardboard.
3. Then comes the assembly of this whole thing - you need to take a certain number of components and put them in strictly defined boxes.
4. Then - heat shrink: many games are wrapped in a sealed film.
5. Quality control. A specially trained villain comes and opens up to 10% of the boxes of circulation, looks at all the jambs and counts the components. If at least one jamb is opened, the entire batch is opened and re-processed.
6. Then the games are packed into boxes and sent to adulthood.
Let's start with the assembly warehouse. In packages and boxes come components produced elsewhere. Here is one of the rows:

The assembly warehouse is the intersection of several production lines. Not everything can be done in Russia - for example, the same hourglass. Accordingly, these components are ordered from the supplier and placed in the warehouse. Then they are checked for quality (this is not always possible at the time of acceptance) and put back into the warehouse, but in a different section.

These hourglasses, they come in such blisters. The main problems are with condensation when the watch is driven in the cold after a warm warehouse of a transport company, for example. If condensation is detected, the entire batch is returned to the supplier or transport company - wet sand sticks together in lumps and the watch becomes unusable.

Many typographical things are much cheaper and faster to do yourself. As the head of production says, "It's twice as cheap, which is twice as much."

But let's go to the warehouse. Here are the rules for the game "Boom" (the book is thick, because there are several pages of rules - and many, many stories about the characters from the game, it is educational):

Cubes arrive like this:

Uncut sheets of cards:

Individual cards:

We make boxes ourselves. Considering that, being empty, they resemble air in density, it is very unprofitable to store them, therefore all large boxes are produced according to the JIT - just in time method. But they still dry, so there is another warehouse for them. Third. Small ones can be stored for a long time. Here, for example, intermediate storage of finished products:

At the same time, an unassembled box (or a frame for it without a seal) is a flat pancake.

Each box has a marking - what's inside, how much.

Here are the finished components that are supplied to us. These are the "lollipops" of batteries for "Space Truckers":

Plastic markers. Please note that they are already in bags in the right quantity and are marked with an individual label of the collector.

A number of components cannot be stored just like that. For example, cards and fields need to be put in a pack and be sure to pack in a film - otherwise they will get kirdyk quite quickly in the warehouse. These are unassembled fields of "Truckers", in a stretch film for safety in a warehouse.

Now let's look at the path of the box. To begin with, a stack of sheets comes into this part of the line. It is heavy, so it appears in the workshop immediately from the freight elevator, for example, from this one:

Quite thin compared to the box paper that is already sealed:

The cutter is able to pick up a stack and cut according to the program.

At the exit from it and after cutting down, the following sheets are obtained:

Please note that they are printed immediately with color swatches and labels for humans and robots:

These sheets are cut in a complex shape in another device that can cut not only like a guillotine, but also according to an arbitrarily inserted matrix - and very accurately.

Here is the fitting sheet loaded into this device:

And this is what the forms that are inserted into this thing might look like.

If you look closely, you can see that these same shapes perfectly cut not only boxes, but also individual cardboard chips. Remember the matrices of chips that you need to squeeze out before the start of the first game? That's where they come from.

Here are the uncut sheets:

Now we have thin paper sheets that exactly repeat the geometry of the future box in the development. But you need the box itself. It is made from laminated cardboard by a method that has not changed for the last 50 years, I guess. We cut the sheets of cardboard into the necessary pieces (we have already gone through this - the cutter with the robot copes with a bang) and drag them into the machine:

The machine consists of two shafts, between which cardboard is rolled. A layer of glue is placed on top of the cardboard, paper with a linen texture is placed on top of the glue. After that, you need to walk on this thing with your hands, otherwise there will be bubbles. And here is the texture:

If the object is voluminous (and boxes are usually voluminous), only the already cut sheet with the seal will be driven through the machine, which is then carefully placed on the assembled box. It turns out here is such a composition of drying lids:

And here is a new line that now does this automatically. We still use both options - both with hands and with a robot, because the volumes are quite large:

See the box frame on the back? Any form can be inserted into this place. By the way, the machine is made in the country of the Rising Sun.

Many manufacturers do not really bother with the outer surface of the bottom of the box - like, no one sees it, well, to hell with it, let's glue it with ordinary cardboard, it's easier and cheaper. We are ready to spend a little more time in exchange for a useful thing that increases the return of the game home:

Then the box dries in the storage of drying boxes, and then, after a thorough inspection for proper drying, they are sent to the warehouse, and then to the assembly shop. Right next to it are the components that will also be needed for assembly.

Cards are cut like this. Each knife weighs hoo, about a kilogram:

And here is our second long-term storage warehouse. Here, our European friends were especially wary of the excursion, anticipating the climax:

Now we go to the assembly shop. It starts with long tables:

And heaps of component sources:

They are so naturally manually laid out in packs. For example, if you need to collect a deck of cards for the game, everything will be done by hand on a huge table:

This work is done mainly by women, because men do not have enough patience for monotonous long actions. No, the guys also work and assemble, but they like to carry the round one and roll the square one more. Because it's captivating.

And these are the assembly diagrams:

The requirements for employees are as follows: hands - clean, in the teeth - a sanitary book. When the assembly ends, everything is shoved, for example, into the game box. Pay attention to these circles:

This is the individual mark of the picker of a specific part of the game (for example, putting exactly 15 chips in a bag). If the retailer later finds out that someone put in 14 chips, then we can investigate and find the person who put it through quality control. He will take the client a new box. Also, the assembler's number is on a special red card inside the big boxes.

The final assembly - heat shrinkage (wrapping in a film). The box is fed on a tape into a special oven. The worker makes a movement with his hand and covers it with a film.

Then he slams the oven shut (the edge of the lid cuts off the film, the box is in a bag like the one that happens at the entrance to large grocery stores). Further - pshshshshshsh - the film is heated in the oven and tightly covers the box. The process is uneven, so about every twentieth time a marriage is formed - either a bubble or a gap in the film. In this case, the worker tears off the film and repeats the procedure.

At one time, when I "bathed" a game about submarines, I managed to make sure that the heat shrink withstood about 20 throws from a swing with dives half a meter deep.

The final photo, but specifically here I had to remove the heat shrink - it glared. But I did all the test dives with it - and not a drop got inside.

Then the finished box is cooled, passes quality control and goes to the warehouse, where it is immediately packed into a large box (12-18 games each) with such good rigidity. Any box is not suitable - you need it specifically for these games, even a gap of 1 millimeter between the boxes will create the possibility of deformation during transportation. We've seen our goods being unloaded on the railroad a couple of times, so since then we've become paranoid about "what if they put a container of lead blanks on top of our box."

A separate topic is the coloring of the figurines. In general, no one in our country knows how to work with paint. Even those who have been making games for decades paint in such a way that you want to cry. A correctly painted figurine should not have obvious bubbles, smudges or other defects, retain its shape (that is, the layer should be uniform), not have smudges, be evenly colored and not leave a mark on the table after it has been passed over it like chalk with strong pressure. In general, only the Germans did all this together and immediately a year ago. Now we can too. Chips now delight us without ceasing:

These are the masterpieces that our coloring machine produces.

Here is the office. He is needed here purely for work, wholesalers and employees who take corporate orders are sitting in the center of Moscow.

On the wall is an exhibition of achievements, samples of especially cool components are also stored there.

And here is Tikhon, head of our Magellan production. He is ashamed as hell for not being able to show bright sparkling robots, but at the same time he is insanely proud that he was able to really build it all from scratch and make sure that our games in terms of technological quality are ahead of everything they do in country.

The head of the Europeans was shocked and said that we have “Africa of the nineteenth century” here, and he is very surprised how it turns out to do so cool. Yes, we do not have space, but we did everything ourselves from scratch in 5 years. And it's very warm.