I've been an entrepreneur since getting laid off back in 2010 when I started a hosting business. I'm a Father of 2 girls and sold my business last year and ran my 2nd Kickstarter game right as my 2nd daughter was born (dumb). It did way better than I expected so I took a risk and decided to make games full time while juggling being a stay at home dad. That was almost 2 years ago.

Ask me anything about making board games, being an entrepreneur, working from home, dealing with lack of sleep or anything else!

Proof I'm me: https://truepic.com/31sve4t3/

Link to my 5th game on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mikegnade/set-a-watch?ref=fokunx

Link to our website: https://www.rockmanorgames.com

THANKS FOR THE QUESTIONS!

Comments: 851 • Responses: 96  • Date: 

Candorio477 karma

I have a lot of questions. Sorry don't answer if you don't feel to.

  1. How did you manage your time with 2 kids on your own? When did you work?
  2. How much does the production of 1 Unit cost (more or less)?
  3. What is the win margin on one unit (more or less)?
  4. What kept you motivated when you reach the point where you question everything you are doing?
  5. Do you invent the games and let someone else design your ideas? Or do you do everything from scratch?
  6. Have you ever planed to aproach a company to buy your game like MB or Matel or Ravensburger etc.? or
  7. Have you produced everything on you own?

Good job I like the look of your creations...

boomgnade448 karma

  1. Wow, I pretty much grab time whenever I can. My oldest (3yo) has school 5 days a week until 3pm and I have childcare for my 1yo 4 days a week M-Thurs until about 2pm so from 9am-2pm I get as much as I can done and then fill in after they go to bed, when my wife gets home from her job etc.
  2. Depends on the game - my games have ranged from about $5-$9 per unit in general but this can go down with bigger runs and there's import taxes/landed costs as well.
  3. Again this can depend generally I would say your margin is about $5-$10 per game.
  4. I have definitely learned to step away when I'm stressed overwhelmed. The thing about doing something creative like game design is it can strike you whenever and you can't force it. Sometimes my best ideas come to me walking my kids to the park.
  5. I've invented my own games and designed them up until this point. Set a Watch (on KS) is a friend's design and my first time developing and publishing someone else's idea.
  6. No
  7. Yes I've always been indie and work with factories to produce my product.

Candorio52 karma

Wow thanks for the answers. I'm on creative side project right now. Still employed. 3 Kids and I can't see myself runing the household and beeing "creative"/at least sitting on my desk doing something if I quit. Do you clean/do laundry etc.? Or do you have a housekeeper?

boomgnade66 karma

Yes I do laundry and I cook dinner almost every night and pack my lunches. We have a housekeeper to do a thorough clean of the house come every 2 weeks.

DropShotter1 karma

Your 3 year old goes to school 5 days a week till 3pm? Im confused, pre School starts at 4 years old and it's usually till 12pm like 3 days a week....

boomgnade2 karma

She turns 4 in November and they assessed her and took her for pre-K. It goes to 3pm.

AStefan9329 karma

I could add one here. Why did you get laid off, and how did you deal with that shock initially?

boomgnade78 karma

I worked in real estate development 2006-2010. Not the best industry back then - bonuses were drying up and my firm was becoming super conservative. I voiced my frustrations leading up to it. Leading up to the actual lay off I was really really unhappy at the job so when I got a severance to just leave it was actually a relief. I felt trapped in the job and debt before it happened... i immediately followed up with a friend who was working on hosting sharepoint and we launched a company within a few months of my layoff.

aecht271 karma

do your boardgames actually turn enough of a profit, or do you still mostly rely on kickstarter for income?

boomgnade372 karma

Kickstarter is probably 70-75% of our income but it helps us actually get product into stores. Once we fulfill a kickstarter and our games get into stores we usually get a nice bump of income from these stores buying games but they get them at 50% off so our margin is worse.

aecht113 karma

do you have any sort of "5 year plan" or anything for weaning yourself off of kickstarter as a primary source of income?

boomgnade178 karma

I would wean myself off of retail stores before Kickstarter. Kickstarter lets me go direct to consumer and I have colleagues who are doing this full time and ONLY sell their games on KS.

GeneLasik103 karma

Will you be adding some add ons or even new characters as stretch goals? Maybe an ability pack

boomgnade99 karma

I assume you're talking about Set a Watch.. yeah we have a lot of good stretch goal ideas yet to unveil. Ability packs and new characters are in the works but I'm not sure they're quite ready for the limelight or this campaign but we will see.

Kiemoe100 karma

How do you advertise your Kickstarter to make sure enough people see it and it gets funded? How much time do you spend during those 30 days sharing it with new people?

seigex432 karma

How do you advertise your Kickstarter to make sure enough people see it and it gets funded?

Do an AMA on Reddit.

boomgnade177 karma

To be fair, the game was well funded before the AMA. I did schedule this during a slower time of the campaign though so it could get my proper attention. Doing it on launch day would be silly.

boomgnade189 karma

You need to bring your own crowd to Kickstarter and know your'e going to be funded on day 1. For me, this meant spending over a year pounding the pavement and going to conventions to play my game with strangers. Once you build up a mailing list and you're funded, you can start spending money on online ads with fb, reddit, boardgamegeek etc.

wlydayart72 karma

Uncle here, launching a kickstarter this week. Doing an art book with my nephews

Any hiccups that could arise that maybe Iā€™m not thinking of? Just want to make sure my bases are covered

boomgnade62 karma

Check out Jamey Steigmaier's blog on Kickstarter - he has a great checklist.

NaotsuguGuardian55 karma

Roughly how big is your current market? Solely domestic (US) or do you also go International? Why board games?

boomgnade97 karma

I don't have the data on the global board game market memorized... but obviously Kickstarter is a very big market in and of itself. I'm lucky enough to have gotten my games into some retail stores (both domestically and internationally). All my games have been in English up until this point but my current one will be translated into at least German and Italian. There are some other international language deals coming together as well.

Why Board Games? Well I've always been a huge gamer (primarily video game) and discovered board games at a PAX 5 years or so again and it sort of rekindled my love for them. I would love to make video games, but that market had the indie bubble pop a bit and this was easier for me to get into.

dillonsrule54 karma

I just went on your website. Please do not take this as disrepect, but as constructive criticism; you should really rework the website.

If I hoped on your website to Order your games, it seems like Brass Empire is the only thing I can order right now, and it was challenging to navigate to. Have you considered updating your website?

boomgnade36 karma

Yeah it's definitely on my list of to-dos. the problem is somewhat do to the preorder/shopping cart platform we use.

HuskyWolfy48 karma

Why is slap bet your best seller you think?

boomgnade7 karma

What is slap bet?

FormidableOpponent8647 karma

Hi mike, I'm a backer for your latest project, set a watch. The game looks great and has a really cool concept! As a father of 2 myself I find it hard enough to split time between my kids and gaming, and I'm only playing them not designing the stuff! How in the world do you find the time, and what suggestions could you give for those with the entrepreneurial spirit that have kids, but want to risk doing something awesome?

boomgnade55 karma

Well I don't get to play games much... I try to play a board game once a week (usually friday nights with my wife). I also make sure to go to GMG PHilly at least once a month to playtest other people's games and my own. It's not easy and I think i've been lucky to get a taste of the entrepreneurial thing before I had kids. If you're interested in becoming an Entrepreneur one of the most inspiring things to listen to is the Startup Podcast. It's amazing.

FormidableOpponent8612 karma

You know I sure love gaming, especially with my family. I think the problem for me is I work 60-80 hours weekly. Is it similar for you? I've heard design can be a real bitch!

boomgnade32 karma

The advantage of being an entrepreneur is you get to choose the 60+ hours a week that you work :)

I_was_born_in_199425 karma

Hey what does your wife do for work?

boomgnade44 karma

She used to own her own tutoring business but filled in for 2 maternity leaves at a private school and then got a full time job there as their college counselor and chemistry teacher.

JiveTurkey100017 karma

How do you go about play testing?

boomgnade44 karma

I'm lucky enough to have an amazing community here in Philadelphia. The Game Makers Guild of Philly meets twice a month to playtest games but I also do a lot internally and of course at conventions like PAX and GenCon.

JiveTurkey100014 karma

Oh no kidding? Philly based? Is the guild open to the public or just creators?

Are cons conducive to playtesting? Or is it more for exposure? Have you found OP strategies in your games that get corrected through convention plays?

GenCon? I'll see ya there! šŸ˜

boomgnade26 karma

It's open to the public! You can come and play our games any time - find us on FB.

Cons are more for exposure but GenCon has a great First Exposure playtest hall and there are other cons focused on playtesting (unpub, metatopia)

Bronnen15 karma

I'm trying to make my own game currently. What is the most important piece of advice that you wish someone had told you when you started out?

boomgnade31 karma

Don't be afraid of someone stealing your game idea, playtest with everyone and look for feedback everywhere.

Lanihu8314 karma

Have you watched Parks and Rec? Dude you're like the real life version of Ben Wyatt! Sorry not really a question, just want to get this comment out of my system. šŸ˜„

boomgnade25 karma

Yes of course I have. Love that show... my games are simpler to pickup then Cones of Dunshire though

Mordecaisensei13 karma

I see that your kickstarter is a little over 90K now, so with the money from Kickstarter and the revenue made by selling the game, do you get a huge chunk of cash come in at once and you make that work until your next game?

Also, how does taxing Kickstarter money work? I assume you can use your PC,internet, and other stuff as work based utilities you can write off, but what about the larger amount of money that comes from KS?

boomgnade16 karma

Yes, we will get a huge chunk of cash - then spend a huge portion of that on the print run before the end of the year. The rest will have to cover us until we release the game in stores a year later.

Taxes suck - you can work with an accountant to do an accrual cash method to make it better or prepay as many bills as you can before the end of the year.

Smoky-Indo13 karma

Are you Ben Wyatt?

boomgnade14 karma

Only in spirit

AlpineSeaHorse11 karma

As a board game creator do you consider yourself more of an entrepreneur or an artist or some amalgamation of the two? Without having to "choose your favorite kid", do you take more pride in the creative or business aspects?

boomgnade18 karma

I think I'm more of an Entrepreneur - I've had quite a few businesses and think that history is my "competitive advantage" when it comes to customer service, work efficiency etc. I do take more pride in the creative aspects since I've always been creative and haven't had an outlet for it before starting to do this. From a business side, I also love the full control over my products.

Church_Yo9 karma

How realistic is it to begin a career in board game design right now?

boomgnade31 karma

Being solely a designer is VERY hard. You'll get paid a royalty (4-8% of wholesale typically) on a game you sell to a publisher, but if you're doing it on the side here and there - this is definitely a good path for some and they handle paying for the art doing all the marketing etc. If you want to do it yourself, it's very hard for a whole other reason... you need the capital to pay for art and it's getting more and more competitive on KS.

skepticalspectacle12 karma

This was a question I had, actually. Do you do your own art work? Or do you need to find artists for each new game? If it's an artist each time, roughly what does it cost to get a game done? Is it a one time thing or do you give the artists some kind of participation in the profits? Thank you!

boomgnade2 karma

I pay artists out of pocket based on their rates well before the game is ever on kickstarter.

klinktastic7 karma

As a game designer on your own, you have to learn many skills: designing for efficient production, supply chain/logistics, establishing good partnerships, etc. Which skill or area of business did you not expect to be as important as it ended up being?

boomgnade8 karma

Marketing! so important and definitely not one of my strengths. I'm great at conventions meeting people and playing games, but I'm lucky enough to have a friend who used to work for an ad agency full time doing FB ads that has helped me tremendously think about marketing in new ways.

crazywizard7 karma

[deleted]

boomgnade13 karma

We post our draft rulebooks right on our KS so you can judge for yourself. We write the rulebooks in-house but always open them up to feedback/comments from our backers before print. We also have invested in a How to Play rules video from JonGetsGames for Set a Watch.

medi3val56 karma

Did you ask your wife's boyfriend if you can do this AMA?

boomgnade12 karma

Yeah he said it was fine as long as I left them alone.

CDXXnoscope6 karma

is everything just not loading on your website because of high traffic rn or does it actually look like that?

boomgnade5 karma

my guess is it's being a bit taxed at the moment, but I haven't had time to check during the AMA

epicmarc5 karma

What's your favourite board game?

boomgnade7 karma

Really tough question. My favorite I've played this year is probably Everdell, but I love Netrunner and Catan (my first Euro) blew me away back in the day.

UncoolJ4 karma

What's your favorite beer from Iron Hill?

boomgnade3 karma

Not counting seasonals, the Vienna red

Vagbloodwhitestuff4 karma

[deleted]

boomgnade6 karma

Hard to say... maybe Memento depends on my mood.

couldbutwont4 karma

How much did you have in the bank when you were laid off? How long did it take before your games took off?

boomgnade8 karma

Well I was laid off in 2010 and did not have a lot in the bank - maybe $20k. I got a severance package and unemployment and my wife had a job so that kept us afloat. I was laid off June 2010 and started my hosting business in Oct 2010. The hosting business did quite well and built monthly revenue slowly but surely.

pipesuciogomez4 karma

What are some downsides to working from home? Do you have a designated area/space in the house used solely for working?

boomgnade13 karma

My biggest ongoing problem is my wife respecting that I'm at work when I'm in my home office. I have an office built out in my garage so it is a separate space outside the house which helps a bunch, but the fact that I'm right there and she can text me to help with the kids is still a stumbling block for us sometimes.

warriorspark13 karma

How did you get your first Kickstarter campaign off the ground?

boomgnade6 karma

I did it as a side thing while running a hosting business. It started with getting into the indiemegabooth for PAX Prime back in 2014 or 2015 - I went to that con and ran demos for 3 days straight on the floor and started a mailing list. I launched a few months after and was lucky enough to fund.

Grhyll3 karma

Maybe it's answered in the campaign description, but do you do everything yourself, from game design to graphics and marketing, do you hire people to help you on some aspects?

Did you try several manufacturers, is there a big difference in cost and quality between the best and the worst?

boomgnade6 karma

I have done all of the game design for my previous projects but have always hired for graphics. While I can do some graphic design and layout myself, I usually supplement out. My time is limited so I definitely need to hire out where I can afford to.

urbanek25253 karma

What did you do for health coverage for your family when you started out?

boomgnade3 karma

Obamacare - which is pricey!

FormidableOpponent863 karma

Kickstarter seems to be a really popular launching point for tabletop games especially. Is it particularly lucrative? Or is it the ease of backing that is so attractive?

boomgnade9 karma

I think it's primarily that as a publisher you spend all this time/money to get the game into a playable state and viable product and then you need to decide how much of it you're going to print. Kickstarter makes it easy to gauge interest and helps generate the cash to pay for the print run. It mitigates this risk substantially.

A-Yugen2 karma

So how far into the process of designing a game do you decide it's in a state fit to display on kickstarter to judge its market?

Does it depend on the concept? Do you get it out there early when it's still mostly just an idea, and then try to meet the your customer's expectations, or do you wait until it's mostly a finished product?

Also do you make the kickstarter pages yourself or do you outsource that to a marketing specialist?

boomgnade3 karma

I do the kickstarter pages myself.

The game is basically done when it goes to Kickstarter.

rel_games3 karma

Honest question, and no disrespect intended, but: is there a reason you continue to crowdfund instead of reinvesting profits from previous kickstarters into your business? Or is KS purely a sales channel for you, and is essentially a 'pre-order' channel?

boomgnade4 karma

We are reinvesting profits into our business, but our profits come from Kickstarter and is our primary sales channel. We like being able to connect directly with our customers and yes it acts as a preorder channel.

trogdors_arm3 karma

Given how in-vogue niche board games are right now, how sustainable do we think profession is? It seems like the community of people who support these games gets more and more esoteric as time goes on.

boomgnade13 karma

I do think the bubble will pop and I already know some friends that didn't make it and have dropped out of the industry... my goal is to keep my company lean and mean so that we can survive any dips in the trends.

ulvain3 karma

Hi! I hope I'm not too late to the party. I was wondering about the artwork part of starting up a board game company. Who paints/draws the art? Do you work in collaboration with local artists? Do you do it yourself? If you can elaborate on that it'd be great!! Thanks!

boomgnade10 karma

We hire freelance artists for every project. We primarily find them online via artstation, conceptart.org etc.

ILoveToEatLobster2 karma

Sounds cool, how much profit do you make on average?

boomgnade6 karma

Profit margins are probably 25-30% depending on the game and shipping.

Nilstorm1342 karma

Do you think that long term careers are dying?

boomgnade1 karma

Yes unless you work for a very large company or the government.

NO_SPACE_B4_COMMA2 karma

Are you from Delaware?

boomgnade3 karma

Yes I am.

Mantisbog2 karma

Be honest, would your life be better without kids?

boomgnade4 karma

I'd be able to get more work done, but no. Luckily I waited well into my 30s to have kids so no regrets.

KnightofniDK2 karma

You're awesome man! I've been toying with the idea of creating board games myself.
1) Any advice when trying to create a game from skratch?
2) How do you even begin to find ways of manufactoring the product?

boomgnade3 karma

  1. It's hard to give advice on the creative process. If you have an idea for a game, run with it, test it and iterate on it.
  2. This is actually pretty easy - there are a ton of reputable board game manufacturers (Panda, long pack, wingo) that you can get quotes from once you know how many cards etc. your game needs.

greydrifts2 karma

I went all out on the new Maximum Apocalypse Kickstarter you just had. Can't wait until February.

If I send you the details on 3 game projects I want to start will you tell me which one sounds the coolest and light a fire under my ass to get it moving?

boomgnade2 karma

Yes send them in and I'll tell you which I like. I just got the production samples of that campaign in the mail!

brainboy222 karma

What are some of your favorite games on the market right now?

What were the games that got you into the hobby?

boomgnade2 karma

My favorite games of recent memory are: Everdell, Near and Far and Azul

Ascension is the game that got me back into the hobby and on a path to making my own games. Back in the day (middle school), I played Magic and was into Warhammer miniatures

RainbowSixThermite2 karma

Hello! I'm just starting out as a tabletop game designer, and have almost finished my first game and I just have some noobie questions!

  1. How were you able to afford an artist for your game after just being laid off?

  2. How long does it take you to make games?

  3. How much average to you make per game?

  4. Did you ever consider expanding your business and hiring people?

  5. Are you games all the same genre or do they differ tremendously?

  6. Did you ever create an expansion for a game?

boomgnade3 karma

  1. I was laid off in 2010 and then ran a successful hosting company until 2017 so I had some cash by the time my first board game rolled around.
  2. Give yourself at least 2 years
  3. Depends, I'd say the margin is $5-$10 per game.
  4. Yes, we've actually expanded and work with a lot more people now then when we started - most are just freelancers or designers.
  5. They differ.
  6. Yes I've created 2 expansions to my first 2 games, Set a Watch is our 3rd game.

Phesoj992 karma

What process do you take when designing and coming up with ideas for your games? And how can someone get involved in the industry?

boomgnade4 karma

My designs always start in Excel and then eventually take physical form.

There are tons of ways to get involved in the industry. I would tell you to start by volunteering at conventions in booths and joining groups on facebook. Network and make some connections and more and more opportunities will open up for you.

browsingonmywii2 karma

How has this effected your mental health, and the views others have of you? Were you able to make a stable income to support your family up to now?

boomgnade8 karma

I think my mental health has been a lot better since being an entrepreneur than before when I felt trapped in a job. I'm not sure how other people's views have changed of me... Yes I was very successful with my hosting business and had a good nest egg after selling it to start board games full time.

logan9022 karma

Have you watched How I Met Your Mother? (Lilly's father)

boomgnade2 karma

Only seen the pilot.

x718bk2 karma

[deleted]

boomgnade2 karma

No I hire people for the art

BraineGames2 karma

Mike! It is good to see you on here! I should have listened to your advice when I launched my Kickstarter but unfortunately I didn't and it stalled out. What is your take on Kickstarter re-launches? I am going to take things slow next time and make sure I have enough press but I also want to pick a good launch window. Do you see any difference between a successful initial Kickstarter and a successful re-launch?

P.S.- Tell Todd I said hi!

boomgnade2 karma

I think there is hardly any stigma about KS relaunches. Pick a better window, give yourself plenty of time to get the game in front of more people for demos, build that email list and you'll be fine.

fijigus1 karma

Any plans for any sort of dice tower or dice mat add on for the kickstarter? Seems like the tower theme would fit perfectly. Or a nice campfire themed mat.

boomgnade2 karma

We have a few ideas we're trying to price out but we may not have them back in time for the KS. There's always the expansion.

DonnyTheNuts1 karma

Is there a particular resource you use to get artwork made for your games or do you just use people you already know?

boomgnade2 karma

I use conceptart, artstation and other websites to post a job - you get a ton of inquiries and then start responding to the ones you like.

7thAcademyofEehg1 karma

any hope for a future campaign expansion for Set a Watch? That was what really set Tiny Epic Defenders 2E apart in my mind.

boomgnade2 karma

Yeah based on the KS trajectory, Todd and I met about expansion stuff. He's already working on it and hopes to bring some new characters/stuff to Metatopia (convention) in November.

momoster961 karma

can I be in one of your board games?

boomgnade4 karma

maybe some day

hllo-1 karma

[deleted]

boomgnade2 karma

I guess I"m lucky that I don't come across a lot of people that say those things to me... or I avoid them. I'm definitely hesitant to say "I make games" at parent's night with the kids and usually say I'm a publisher or entrepreneur instead. If they show more interest then I'll explain.

xd551 karma

What game are you most proud of and why?

boomgnade3 karma

I'm most proud of Maximum Apocalypse since it was the tipping point for me (and proof to my wife) that I had something going on here.

GibboHull1 karma

In a similar situation to what you found yourself in myself - and Im planning on taking some time out and creating an indie (video) game - which if I were to complete (pay for an artist) I would have to do through Kickstarter, although I know that Video Games don't tend to do well on the platform anymore

Just wondering if you had any good advice? Thanks!

boomgnade3 karma

If you're not willing to self-fund and pay the artist out of your pocket, you won't fund on Kickstarter. Kickstarter is becoming more and more of a preorder system and yes a lot of people have been burned by video games on there.

GibboHull1 karma

That's pretty fair - Just to clarify the artist point I meant it in more of a continuation sense, I actually added that after I wrote the question. The plan would always to be to pay for enough art for a playable demo and then go from there - with interest being gauged accordingly. If that makes sense(?)

But aye - cheers for the response. It's a shame about Kickstarters relationship with Video Games - a quick Google today brings up another one that isn't going to be finished. Sucks really.

boomgnade1 karma

There's Fig.co for video games which seems to be doing better.

Omfgnowai1 karma

I've been interested in game design since I was a child!

Few questions:

I'm sure half the battle is doing research on what to expect and saving up startup capital for initial production; but, what advice or warnings would you give to someone who wants to make that leap and design their first game?

Now that you've published someone else's game for them, will you continue to look for games to publish?

Lastly, when is it right to bring a game idea to a publisher vs. taking the game to kickstarter yourself?

Thanks for your time!

boomgnade3 karma

  1. Designing the game is the easy part - do that! It's fun and you can start playing it with more and more people making it better and better. Then you can try pitching to a publisher or self publishing - but luckily you can do a lot of design cheaply up until that decision point.
  2. I'm not actively looking but yeah stuff has naturally come into contact with me and I will be doing some more publishing of games with friends and colleagues I've met over the past few years.
  3. So when you're at a point where you've playtested the game 10x in a row without changing any rules (few minor balance number changes are ok) - then I would say the game is ready to take to a publisher. At this point, if you want to do it yourself, you need to start spending on art/graphic design.

Cyantoo1 karma

How did you do all the graphical stuff on your games (illustrations, layout, etc.) ? Did you do it yourself? Did you collaborate with anybody? If so, how did you find them ? How did you convince them to work with you on something risky?

Nowadays, do you own a company? Who works there besides you?

Thanks for this AMA !

boomgnade2 karma

I hire people for illustrations so yes all my games are collaborations. I've found all my artists online on sites like deviantart, artstation etc. Not much convincing necessary, I have taken the risk of paying artists ahead of time to get the game ready for KS.

I do own the company but do not have any employees. All of our collaborators are 1099 freelancers.

Bendderr1 karma

Do you enjoy everyday of your work, or are there some days you regret it?

boomgnade2 karma

I wouldn't say I regret it for an entire day, but there are certainly times of doubts. It's rarely about what I'm doing and more about the stress and risks involved with owning your own business.

dingar1 karma

I'm recently laid off as well, earlier this year. I'm not a dad though, so I only have myself to support.

My Question: How did you motivate yourself in those early years of unemployment before dedicating into creating publicly funded projects?

I currently start / stop projects what feels like every other day. It's infuriating and nice to see someone pursue passions regardless of circumstance.

Set a Watch looks great! Congratulations on reaching its goal.

boomgnade2 karma

When I was first laid off, I found a partner and we did a very 'safe' b2b hosting solution business with recurring monthly revenue. It wasn't until much later that I felt confident selling that business and focusing on board games.

jwalker161 karma

How did you deal with the anxiety of losing your job during the peak of the recession, especially with two young children?

boomgnade5 karma

I didn't have the 2 young children back then so that helped. My wife still had a job and our living expenses were more modest. I was lucky enough to have a severance package but yeah it was stressful

GlitterLamp1 karma

Hey there!

I just got laid off from my first ever real adult job yesterday. I'm still here working out the week, but I'm terrified about my future. I think my next steps are clear (collect employment insurance, look for new job, be careful with spending, etc.) but the daunting mental task of tackling it all is really getting me down.

Do you have any suggestions on how to keep your head after that kind of shakeup?

boomgnade5 karma

Don't feel sorry for yourself - control your expenses as best you can until you get the next job. Be open to what life puts in front of you.

LikeAThousandNinjas1 karma

What advice can you give a team of indie game developers, with no previous crowdsourcing experience, so they can successfully launch a game?

boomgnade2 karma

Go to conventions and network network network. Submit your games to BostonFIG, IMB, etc. and build that email list. When that email list is large enough (5-10x the number of backers you need to fund) then launch.

StinkFingerPete1 karma

does "bullet ball" mean anything to you?

boomgnade1 karma

It makes me think of the old game crossfire

mrdrofficer1 karma

Is this Mike Gnade? I used to work with you on Indie Game Magazine. How are you? I saw you are publishing your game on BG Spotlight. Congrats! I too am working on designs and building my prototype and confidence to go to a playtest event. Anyway, my question is ...

What's the best way to get personal time with a publisher to show your design?

boomgnade2 karma

Yes one in the same.

The best way to get in front of publishers is to attend conventions and setup meeting times or go to some of the speed dating events held at the larger conventions.

FurryPornAccount1 karma

What is your favorite board game?

boomgnade2 karma

The past year, I'd go with Everdell but of all time probably Netrunner - the mechanics and themes are right up my alley.

icechu1231 karma

Are you Lily's father?

boomgnade1 karma

Nope

stepstools_are_mybff1 karma

How do you get used to the sleep deprivation and then turn that into work time? Any advice?

boomgnade5 karma

I'm a morning person... and my wife insists I'm genetically predisposed to needing less sleep then her. I don't do well at night. I will do busy work type stuff like answering emails but nothing creative. For me, if an idea sticks with me and is still with me when I wake up that's when I try and jot it down.