Purple Pawn checked over 8,400 companies who make money from analog, tabletop games from across the globe to see if they were still operating. We conducted our annual survey of over 7,700 operating companies to see how they performed in 2012 and received 212 responses. You can download the 17 page report for free here [PDF].

Summary

Over the course of a year, around 4.7% of the companies in our DB closed. Single-game game companies closed at twice the frequency than that of other companies.

We received 212 responses from 22 countries and 29 US states. 2012 apparently was much like 2011 and 2010. Of those companies that didn’t close, the overwhelming majority are doing fine or even better than last year – only 15% report doing worse than last year.

Among the responding retailers, the top performing game lines from last year – Magic: The Gathering, Catan properties, Dominion games, Ticket to Ride games, and Warhammer properties – were the top again this year. Dominion did not score quite as well as Catan did this year; last year they were neck and neck. Pathfinder products outperformed Dungeons and Dragons products by 2 to 1, just as they did last year. Cardfight: Vanguard was the best new performer.

To participate in future surveys, send your name, company name, website address, and email address to shadejon@gmail.com .

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[Source: Awesome Dice Blog]

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Crowdfunding has become a major trend in the tabletop games industry. It’s allowed both startup and established game-makers to produce products that otherwise they could not have. And it’s given consumers a forum for voicing their opinions and voting with their dollars before resources are committed to manufacturing.

Discovering what projects are out there, however, has become an increasingly difficult process as the numbers have increased. Many of you, I know, looked forward to our weekly Kickstarter roundup, and some expressed disappointment when it recently lapsed. To be honest, maintaining it takes a lot of work. But we love the games!

So now we’re proud to announce the relaunch of our comprehensive list of all Kickstarter and Indiegogo game projects. We’re going to keep it on its own page (see up top where it says “Kickstarter“), to make it easier to access at any time. Check it out. I think you’ll like all the added features. You can now search the table, as well as sort by project name, dollars raised, percent funded, or closing date. You can even export the data or download a spreadsheet with more information.

If you like it, tell your friends.

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Like an episode of Storage Wars, the game collection of Dave Arneson, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, was recently salvaged from an abandoned storage locker and is now being put up for auction. I’m flabbergasted!

According to an announcement by The Collector’s Trove, an online auction service for game designers, here’s what happened… The Collector’s Trove had spoken to Mr. Arneson prior to his death about selling his collection. Before the deal could be finalized, however, Mr. Arneson revealed that he would be leaving his collection to his heirs. Unfortunately, they seem to have been unwilling or unable to care for it. The collection was placed in a storage facility and when the rent was not paid, it was put up for auction, as is the practice in such businesses. (Keep in mind that the collection includes not only Mr. Arneson’s games, but also his game design notes and documents from his days in the industry.) The company that won the bid contacted The Dragon’s Trove, an online retailer with a history of dealing in collectible RPGs. The Dragon’s Trove then contacted The Collector’s Trove. The two agreed to partner and, after evaluating the materials, made an offer. The offer was accepted and 114 boxes with 10,000+ individual items were loaded in to a van to be driven from Minnesota to Nebraska.

Now The Collector’s Trove and The Dragon’s Trove are working together to

…preserve the intellectual property of the collection while trying to carry out Dave’s wishes to have a portion of its value go to his heirs. Through a combined effort of scanning, documentation, and auctions it is hoped that we may achieve both goals. In the process Dave’s fans and collectors alike will have the opportunity to support this effort and have a chance to own a piece of gaming history. Likewise, the gaming community may yet get a chance to see Dave’s unpublished game designs come to fruition.

The first eBay auctions of selected materials are scheduled to launch Sunday evening, May 6th. These will feature rare wargames, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Blackmoor, and Empire of the Petal Throne. Some of the items are autographed.

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Calling it the Community Wizard, Fantasy Flight Games has launched a new online tool that allows gamers to record their collection, connect with other gamers, find retailers, and register for events. Officially still in the beta testing phase, the tool is currently accessible by all registered users on FFG’s website. Unfortunately, Community Wizard is limited to FFG games. Nevertheless, I’m impressed with how easy it is to use, how focused it is on getting players in to more games, and how much support it offers to retailers and games clubs.

When searching for opportunities, Community Wizard users can specify the games that they’re interested in playing, as well as choose between finding other players, retailer-hosted events, conventions, or game clubs. Players can also propose events to take place at these locations, while the organizations themselves can use Community Wizard to schedule and publicize events, and even take reservations.

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From Dark Sword Miniatures’ Visions in Fantasy line.

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For the mech combat enthusiast on a budget, Fat Dragon Games offers Lost Reich. The game uses paper miniatures and features a background story of escaped Nazis returning from an Antarctic fortress with new technology.

The base set includes eight different mech designs, as well as 3D terrain, status cubes, and equipment cards (all print-and-play, so for $10 they can be assembled as many times as desired). One additional unit, the Skorpion Ausf. II mech, is available as an expansion product.

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Purple Pawn checked over 8,500 companies  who make money from analog, tabletop games from across the globe to see if they were still operating. We conducted our annual survey of over 6,900 operating companies and received 391 responses. You can download the 18 page report for free here [PDF].

Summary

Over the course of a year, around 7.5% of the companies in our db closed. Single-game game companies, brick-and-mortar retailers, and miniature manufacturers closed at a higher frequency than other companies. Sometimes new retailers open in the same locations as ones that closed.

We received 391 responses from 35 countries and 39 US states. 2011 apparently was much like 2010. Of those companies that didn’t close, the overwhelming majority are doing fine or even better than last year – only 13% report doing worse than last year.

Among the responding retailers, the top performing game lines from last year – MtG, Catan, Dominion, and Warhammer – were the top again this year (and in the same order). Pathfinder products outperformed D&D products by 2 to 1 (last year they were about even).

To participate in future surveys, send your name, company name, website address, and email address to admin@purplepawn.com .

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The biggest surprise for me at Toy Fair was a preview of Samurai Battles from Russian publisher Zvezda. Samurai Battles is a board and miniatures war game scheduled to ship in May with two alternative rule sets. One is based on Art of Tactic, Zvezda’s own miniatures wargaming system, which it had previously applied to the WWII era. The other is a Commands & Colors system being developed by Richard Borg.

Zvezda asked me not to publish pictures (sorry about that but the show rules are explicit—no pictures without permission), however I can tell you that I liked what I saw. Individual sculpts were very nice, with dynamic poses. Not all figures in the same unit shared the same pose, making it look more like a traditional miniature war game than the previous Commands & Colors based boardgames. All the figures in a unit sit on a base. That is, they can stand separately but then have a space to sit on a larger base together. Those bases have some terrain features and are more naturally shaped than a square or hexagon. Also, some foot units, at least, appeared to have more than the C&C standard four figures.

According to Richard Borg, to whom Purple Pawn reached out after Toy Fair for comment, what makes Samurai Battles unique for a Commands & Colors game is that it is actually two games in one. Richard had to design the game within the constraints of the miniatures and terrain hexes that already existed.

I’ve published games for a very large number of publishers. It is one of the things I enjoy most about my job. Each company is a little different, with a different emphasis or requirements. These wrinkles add to the uniqueness of each company.

Samurai Battles uses the accumulation of honor to influence the game. Similar to BattleLore, with its system for lore, spending honor allows the use of certain cards to influence game play. In addition, whenever a unit loses figures or must retreat, it loses honor as well. If a player doesn’t have enough honor when forced to retreat, the consequences are dire and can spread to surrounding units.

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…and I’m OK.

(Forgive me, but a geek just can’t resist.)

New modern mini from Reaper.

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