Marketing

[griffinppatterson]

Yesterday, I submitted Dungeon Dice to Beasts of War's On the Table show. I mentioned that there was a kickstarter that is cancelled and plans to restart in mid-April. Hopefully they're interested and get it into their April issue. As for other marketing ideas, I noticed that Wizkids (Quarriors) is coming out with a Lord of the Rings Dice Game in the next couple of months. You might be able to mooch of this bandwagon and get people excited about other dice games. Besides that, look out for cheap Ad space on gamers blogs or websites.

[Lignum]

Whoa. I'm glad you put this up. I was literally just thinking of something and came here to post about it but wasn't sure where I would :P

When I made a pledge for a promo pack on Dice Tower's season 9 kickstarter, i shamelessly mentioned Dungeon Dice. Tom said that he hadn't gotten it yet but he was looking forward to it. I'm hoping he enjoys it and gives it a great review. Unfortunately the timing might be off. Unless he knows about the delay and will help out by waiting until the kickstarter is rebooted in April, then I'm worried that a review might get the game attention at the wrong time and lose it by the time we're ready for it.

[Sam Coates]

We plan on coordinating a Dice Tower review with the relaunch.  No worries.

[Lignum]

Some folks just think of everything don't they?

[aril.teigseth]

There is a sizeable board game convention in Norway called Midwinter this Feb. I´m trying to set up test play and rules explanation by my friend Takras who will attend. I bet he will make a review on his vlog aswell, check out takras.net/bmt (yeah sorry it¨s Norwegian, but some of the videos are plain hilarious, he makes an effort!)

[binarysunrise]

I personally think this idea to cancel out the KS and give out the game for free via PnP was a brilliant marketing move.

After putting together 20 of the dice (x6 stickers each), suddenly the high cost of the game isn't an obstacle.

People will pay anything not to put this together! :)

...onto dice #30.

[Sam Coates]

Scanning for sarcasm...

[griffinppatterson]

Huh? Whut?

[casu.gianluca]

What I think he Meant, Sam, is that if you give people a starting set of PnP dice to create  and let them enter the game, then it will be just a matter of getting a constant stream of new dice out regularly and people will start buying the dice directly.

Let's make it like this

1. Basic PnP game given for free on the new Kickstarter
2. Lands of azkaban ( whatever), first expansion, mini set of six PnP free dice and complete set of dice to buy
3. Harbour of Gnorg (whatever)  second expansion, mini set of six PnP free dice and complete set of dice to buy

And so it goes on. You lure them with some free dice and then sell the complete set. If you buy a commercial model on miniexpansion of, dunno, let's say 30 dice, and give away a fifth for free it is quiet interesting.

[griffinppatterson]

I think the PnP is good on a basic level, but I don't think anyone should be able to pnp the expansions or KS exclusives or whatever.

[casu.gianluca]

Neither do I, that's why I suggested a little snack of six dice to rise the appetite and then sell the complete set as a single block.

[Sam Coates]

I think members of this group will be able to PnP the expansions.  That way it's contained, but it could still help get the word out (and it gives you something your buddies don't have).

[matias.korman]

I think it is ok to release stuff. first of all you show that you are more into sharing the game than actually making money, which people love.

Also, making a pnp copy implies a lot of time and a significant amount of money. Think how much you need to pay for 40ishd dice+stickers+ time cutting them. Now think of how much time it takes you to earn 70$....I don't know which is less ;)

[Sam Coates]

(On the $70 note) I am currently working on reducing the cost significantly.  I'm thinking of running another dice project (dice tend to be profitable on KS) with the sole purpose of putting the profit into Dungeon Dice. 

 

[kc2dpt]

Maybe you can have the dice carved out of aluminum. ;)

[Sam Coates]

That's the plan.  Except we'll be offering the Cthulhu die, instead of just pips.

[matias.korman]

Hmm...another kickstarteR? more games or something different? can we get more info?

[Sam Coates]

Yes, but nothing is determined yet. 

[Lignum]

Hmm. Well all I can say is I love dice. More dice is more gooder. Unique types of dice I'm always into. Or those of different materials and qualities (like that one Kickstarter that I missed out on where the guy was making dice from lava rock from Mt. Vesuvius).

Games built around dice is always definitely fun too. Or perhaps dice that have various uses. Ho hum. Basically I'm saying I'm up for whatever :P

[griffinppatterson]

I was just poking around on Dice Tower to see what was new and stumbled across this link http://www.dicetowernetwork.com/

They're a bunch of podcasts that might be good to get in touch with for an interview (or a review if you want to send out more prototypes). I have no idea how many viewers they have, but thought it might be worth mentioning.

[Michael R.]

Personally I'm a huge SUSD (Shut Up and Sit Down) fan and would love to see them do a review.

[potluckgames]

Accidentally sent this as a personal message:

 

I've contacted a few (including SUSD), and am awaiting response.  I'm hoping there might be some spill over from a Dice Tower review as well.

[potluckgames]

Anyone interested in writing something for Reddit?

[matias.korman]

I do not have a Reddit account, but I can write a review if you want. Then either I simply create an account and post it, or mail it to someone with an account to post.

Would that help?

[casu.gianluca]

Tom Vasel's preview of the Game is up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MoKHvi4HgM

Go, get him some views, share  and comment :)

[potluckgames]

I think I'm taking a real hit on the total cost issue.  If there weren't so much concern, we would GET 60,000.  But I it's going to hurt if people are worried.

[binarysunrise]

I don't know how this works, but there occasionally is cross-kickstarter promotions. Which can prove quite effective - for example, Kingdom Death recently plugged the game Myth, and Myth raised like a million dollars. Ok...that was an extreme example.

I was just looking at the youtube comments, and saw that a bunch fell into the "it's too expensive" or "I've got Dungeon Roll" or "Dungeon Roll did this for far cheaper" categories. If Dungeon Roll promoted it on their KS site - he's great with explaining #s and costs, and could show how different Dungeon Dice is from Dungeon Roll - you might get a few more backers.  But I don't know the etiquette about initiating this.

Maybe if there were backers of Dungeon Roll, they could message him to make sure he is aware of the game? Or you, as creator of the game, could chat it up with another creator (maybe under the guise of "I also have a dice game and I'm looking for some friendly advice about how to explain the costs of custom injected die molds to potential backers..." and hope he takes a shine to your game?)

[casu.gianluca]

I'm not sure about Dungeon Roll being a similar game. I read the rules and I did not see much of a similarity.

One thing I have to admit though. The box shaped like a Zelda treasure chest is badass.

[griffinppatterson]

The thing about cross promotions is that both campaigns have to benefit from it. If dungeon roll was running now, I'm sure that they'd be up for it. It is a great way to easily swing a few extra backers, but dungeon roll wouldn't willy nilly advertise dungeon dice if they're not getting anything out of it, despite how nice the guy is. Usually cross promotional games have cross promotional stretch goals. Things like Pixel Lincoln being featured in Boss Monster and King Croak being a boss in Pixel Lincoln. I don't think that we're at the stage yet to add more dice stretch goals, but if we get to it, you could find a project you like and think of a nice way to add a custom die and they can add a promo item from dungeon dice. That way, when backers come from one project to another, the stretch goal is met.

[binarysunrise]

True, Dungeon Roll is quite a different thing, but for those not in the "know" and work on assumptions, you could see them thinking (Why do I need another dice game involving dungeons and monsters?). That's where I was trying to figure out a way to market this game as something significantly different from Dungeon Roll (especially because you have to show why they need a 2nd game, and why they should spend more than 3x what they just spent on Dungeon Roll).

But back to the cross promotions - yes, it would work best for current KS programs - so keep your eyes out for anything related, and then try to figure out what sort of arrangement could be made between your two programs. Not sure if that would have worked with Dungeon Roll when it was active, as these two games seemed to be in competition for the same audience (either people would go with DR because it was super cheap, or would go with DD because it is a more fleshed out, strategy-oriented game). However, cross-promotions do work with ended programs (as Kingdom Death did with Myth). So don't count out Dungeon Roll just because it had ended. Updates still reach all the prior supporters.