I agree that the main pain point is teaching new users how to use the deck. I wrote such detailed documentation because this project is very niche, and I thought board game geeks would love all this knowledge. However, after completing it, I realized it’s overwhelming for a quick “Getting Started” guide. To address this, I’ve been thinking about creating a video tutorial on how to use the deck and writing a separate simplified manual, something more accessible for casual users.
My next challenge is that I’m not making any profit from the deck right now. I’d need to lower production costs, invest in branding/marketing, and figure out distribution. Basically, find a publisher or handle it myself (probably through crowdfunding). I feel like I’ve got a validated MVP because real people are buying it, and with some improvements, it could reach a broader audience. Any thoughts or advice on this?
I feel like you need to pre-populate some of the tiles with popular games. How you do this without running afoul of copyright is up to you. Maybe you use synonyms (good/evil/devil instead of liberal/fascist/hitler), have a variety of werewolf/mafia characters, etc.
Then this can be marketed as "20+ games in 1" in airport giftshops, the idea being that you expand the market well beyond board game enthusiasts and prototypers to casual gamers.
If this were a product from someplace that doesn't respect copyright at all, each card would likely just be a grid of miniaturized original cards from various games and some mapping/instruction cards, and maybe a crappy smartphone app.