The Unseen Battle

What It Really Takes to Launch a Board Game Publishing Company

When people hear you’re making board games, they picture dice, cards, beautifully illustrated boards, and laughter around a table. They imagine creativity, fun, art, and the joy of game night.

But behind that charming façade lies a very different reality a world of administrative headaches, legal obligations, financial pressure, and constant uncertainty.

This is the true story of what it means to be a board game publisher. And most of it has nothing to do with designing games.

I wish it did…

The Work No One Talks About

Before a game even reaches the prototype stage, there’s a mountain of unseen, unglamorous work that has to be done:

Contracts & Legal Work: You need NDAs, licensing contracts with illustrators, agreements with manufacturers, and IP protection. Just registering a company can cost around €80, while registering a trademark through the EUIPO can easily exceed €1,000. If you’re not knee-deep in paperwork, you’re probably not properly protected.
Finding & Hiring Talent: How do you find the right illustrator or graphic designer who understands your vision and fits your budget? Then come the negotiations, quote requests, revisions, and the compromises between the ideal and what you can afford.
Writing Briefs & Managing Quotes: Every artist and manufacturer needs detailed, accurate briefs. One wrong measurement in a file can trigger a chain reaction of errors, resubmissions, delays, and extra costs. It’s tedious but essential.

The Business Plan: Your First Game Is a Company

Before you ever apply for funding or approach an investor, you need a professional business plan because this isn’t just a game. It’s a company. And no one will give you serious money unless you can prove you know what you’re doing.

Here’s what your business plan needs to cover:

Executive Summary: Who are you? What is your company about? What are you creating?
Market Research: Who is your target audience? What games already exist in this niche? What makes yours different?
Product Plan: Detailed description of your game, how it’s developed, its theme, unique selling points, and production plan.
Marketing Strategy: How will you build a community, grow an audience, run ads, produce videos, and fund your campaign?
Revenue Model: What are your projected sales? Wholesale vs. direct sales? Kickstarter goals vs. post-campaign distribution?
Cost Breakdown: Manufacturing, shipping, marketing, taxes, logistics, everything from first sketch to final delivery.
Timeline: When will development finish? When will you manufacture? When will customers get their games?
Team & Partners: Who are your collaborators, designers, artists, manufacturers, fulfillment partners?
Risk Analysis: What could go wrong and what’s your backup plan?
Financial Projections: A full 12 to 24 month forecast of expenses, revenue, cash flow, and funding needs up to 3 years.

Writing this isn’t a creative task. It’s a business exercise and one that takes weeks (if not months) to do well. But if you’re seeking grants, loans, or angel investors, it’s non-negotiable.

The Search for Money: Funding the Dream

People often assume that Kickstarter is where the funding starts. In reality, it’s more like the halfway point. To run a serious campaign, you need serious money before you ever launch.

Here’s a rough breakdown for a medium-sized game:

€10,000–€20,000 for illustration: Depending on the scope and number of illustrations. (read more here)
€10,000+ for marketing: Facebook ads, Google Ads, promo videos, influencers, PR, and community building.
Prototypes, conventions, testing, logistics: Prototypes for reviewers, travel, logistics, and booths (some conventions charge over €700 just for the space).

That brings the pre-campaign total to around €30,000 just to reach the starting line.

So where does that money come from?

Angel investors (if you can find one willing to back a niche, high-risk creative project)
Government grants or startup support programs
Bank loans (which often require personal guarantees and expose your own assets)
Or your own savings, risking everything to pursue your dream

And don’t forget Kickstarter is not guaranteed, and at this point not even started 🙂

Even if your campaign succeeds, you’ll still need another €15,000–€25,000 just for manufacturing the game at minimum scale (typically 1,000+ units with decent quality components).

Let’s hope your campaign raises enough because if it doesn’t, your game may never see the shelves.

(Note: These costs vary depending on the number and complexity of components, but this is a realistic range for a mid-sized game.)

Risk, Protection, and Paranoia

Once you’ve committed financially, the real stress begins.

What if the campaign fails?
What if an artist disappears mid-project?
What if your manufacturer delays production for months or delivers defective units?
How do you protect your intellectual property from knock-offs?
How do you protect yourself from ending up €30,000 in debt if the company collapses?

These aren’t abstract fears. These are daily concerns for every indie publisher trying to survive.

That’s why smart publishers structure themselves legally with liability separation between personal and company assets and protect their IP early with copyrights, trademarks, and contracts.

Who Do You Trust?

The people you choose to work with can make or break your project.

Which manufacturer will deliver on time, on spec, and on budget?
Which fulfillment partner won’t hit you with surprise fees or ruin your timeline?
Who do you trust with your vision, your files, and your deadlines?

You soon discover that most of your energy goes not into game design but into project management, team coordination, negotiation, and firefighting.

The Truth Behind the Curtain

The labor of board game publishing is invisible. It’s not glamorous. It’s not creative. It’s often lonely, stressful, and exhausting.

There’s a reason so many brilliant designers never publish a game. It’s not a lack of ideas it’s the crushing weight of building a business around those ideas.

Being a publisher means embracing the harshest parts of entrepreneurship:

Doing work you don’t enjoy
Solving problems no one else sees
Risking your savings, your time, and your peace of mind
Making decisions in the dark with no safety net

And yet for those who persist, learn fast, and build slow it can lead to something real. Something lasting. Something beautiful.

But let’s stop pretending it’s all fun and creativity. The reality is far tougher and far more human.

A Note to Players

The next time you open a board game box, remember: you’re not just holding a game. You’re holding months of paperwork, years of risk, and countless unpaid hours poured into making that box a reality.

Support independent publishers. Thank the designers. Because behind every game on your shelf is a story of sweat, sacrifice, and stubborn belief.