15 Ways Publishers Can Support Their Own Games

What is the best-supported tabletop game of all time?

This is an intentionally vague question I posed in yesterday’s Facebook livecast, as it’s a topic I’ve thought about as a top 10 list on our YouTube channel. I’m always fascinated to learn what people mean when they feel like a publisher has done a good job at supporting a specific game.

I heard a variety of answers, and I’ve compiled them–plus a few of my own–into the following list, including some specific examples.

1. answer questions online: Publishers and designers can answer questions about their game on public forums like BoardGameGeek for years after the release. I try to do this with the help of my coworkers, and people also mentioned Shem Phillips of Garphill Games and Fantasy Realms designer Bruno Glassco as being particularly accessible and helpful.
2. non-exclusive promos: Promos are a commonly mentioned way to support a game well after the initial release. People enter the hobby all the time, so making all promos non-exclusive/non-limited is a way to support your game for everyone, not just those who heard about during the initial launch. 8 years after the Scythe Kickstarter, we continue to make all promos for the game.
3. onboarding assists: A publisher can support a game by commissioning a variety of ways for people to get the game to the table for the first time. Dized, Watch It Played, Gaming Rules, playthroughs, and card summaries are a few examples.
4. keep the game in print: One of the best ways to support a game is to actually keep it in print! Sure, sometimes games sell faster than expected, and not every game is evergreen. But keeping the game and related products in print and available to distributors, retailers, and webstore customers is a great way to support the game.
5. supporting videos and liveplays: Some elements of supporting a game are dependent on the success of the game, but one thing a publisher can do no matter how the game is selling is to create supporting videos and other content. For example, Greater Than Games had a ongoing podcast about the lore of Sentinels of the Multiverse, and I’ve now run over 50 liveplays of Rolling Realms.
6. expansions, accessories, organizer boxes, inserts: A major way to support a game is to create new content for the game. Terraforming Mars, Marvel Legendary, and D&D all came up as examples.
7. digital versions and patches: If people enjoy playing the game locally, they might also want to play with people around the world or test their skills against the AI. Offering a digital version of the core game is another way to help people try out the game and see if it’s a good fit for them. Also, by using digital versions (and any opt-in data collection), you can analyze huge masses of data and improve the balance of the game. Marvel Snap, Tapestry, and Radlands are examples of these patches.
8. community building groups: Communities can form around games without publisher support, but I find it nice when a publisher is involved in those communities. Discord, Facebook groups, BGG guilds, and even sponsored channels like The Mill are all ways to support conversations about specific games. You can also offer a game-specific periodical newsletter if there’s enough interest. Unmatched was mentioned as a game that has a great Discord server (here is Stonemaier’s server).
9. encourage fan creations: I love seeing fans of games create and share variants, ideas, modules, and even expansions. A publisher doesn’t necessarily need to take an active role in this process, but they can make it easier by providing guidelines and special files. I recall Xia doing this with 3D printed ships, Gloomhaven has encouraged a variety of fan content, and we do this in a variety of ways at Stonemaier Games (card frames, Wingspan fan-art cards, and non-royalty third-party accessories).
10. retail support: Our 2022 demographic survey showed that 21% of people primarily buy their games from local stores, followed by another 20% as their secondary source. Supporting retailers–or, at the very least, making the game available to retailers–is a way to support a significant number of customers. To level up your retail methods, consider organized play, tournaments, and providing demo copies. People cited X-Wing and Magic as games with strong support of retail.
11. increase the potential player base: If the core game is only in English and plays from 2-4 players, you can support it in the future by adding a solo mode, a 5-player expansion, and working with localization partners to publish the game in other languages.
12. provide replacement parts: One major way I’ve found that we can support people who want to play our games a lot is to offer lifetime replacement parts for anything inside the box. We want people to play and share our games without worrying about losing a piece or about a card getting scuffed over time.
13. send the game to reviewers: I subscribe to hundreds of reviewers, and while I’m always curious to hear their perspectives on the hot new games, it’s also exciting for me to watch, listen, or read a reviewer discussing a game I already own. This is often a reminder to me of how much I enjoy the game, inspiring me to get it back to the table. It’s for this reason (among others) that I continually send our entire catalog of games (not just the latest releases) to reviewers who are willing to play and feature them.
14. expand the world: When players are invested in the specific world for a game, one of the ways to support the game is to publish other games in that world. I love what Thunderworks has done with this, and it’s a major reason why I designed Expeditions as a new game in the 1920+ universe of Scythe.
15. new editions and updating the format: While I don’t think that continually making new editions of a game is inherently a good or bad way to support the game, it does show people that you’re invested in the brand. One specific mention of Arkham Horror LCG stood out to me; alert listener Corey spoke about how recent versions of the game took consumer feedback into account for how the product is packaged, resulting in significantly less redundancy for those already invested in the LCG.

One last observation is more of a philosophy: Treat every game like its your only game. This is much easier said than done, but we can all be inspired by Dan Hallagan, who does this with Obsession (which is his only published game, to great success). This is what one viewer said about Dan:

“Obsession also deserves a shoutout as far as best supported games. There is expansion content that helps you enjoy the game in new and engaging ways (even new solo modes!). More expansion content is forthcoming. And Dan Hallagan is a true advocate for his game. You can tell he truly loves it. I had some questions about what to buy just starting so I emailed him and he was super responsive and helpful. To an exceptional degree. We actually still email occasionally as I tell him about new game sessions or how my brother ended up buying everything after a session. And he is always enthusiastic, friendly, and responsive. Dan is also very active on BGG answering questions and considering fan feedback and input. He even allowed fan creations of special Promo Tiles on one of the campaigns and is currently taking down info on fan-made variants to be included in the next printing of the rulebook. Knowing the creative mind behind the game makes me enjoy Obsession even more and his supportiveness of his game and the community instills confidence in me as I continue to support the game as a consumer and fan.”

When you think about games that are incredibly well supported by a publisher, which of these categories come to mind and how are they applied to those games?

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Also read:

• 10 Brand Extension Strategies for Tabletop Games
• 10 Ways I Market Stonemaier Games Post-Kickstarter

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