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8 Board Game Business Success Stories [2023]

8 Board Game Business Success Stories [2023]
Start A Board Game Business

Creating your own board game can be fun, challenging, and rewarding. Games are an integral part of our culture and are played by people from all walks of life.

You can create a board game from scratch with basic programming knowledge or several hours of practice. Board games are easy to manufacture, can be made from home, and can become top-rated and profitable businesses.

Here are some real life success stories of starting a board game business:

1. The Board Game Design Lab ($120K/year)

Gabe Barrett (from Acworth) started The Board Game Design Lab over 6 years ago.

Revenue
$10K / month
Team
1 founders / 1 employees

Case Study

What’s up my friends. My name is Gabe Barrett, and I’m the creator of the Board Game Design Lab, a podcast and community that helps you design great games people love.

Including all the revenue generated by sponsorships, ads, books, and games, I average around $10,000 per month in revenue. And while that number pales in comparison to some of the awe-inspiring incomes you see on this site, I think it’s important to realize that you can make a full-time living in even the tiniest of niches if you really lean into your target audience and provide them with what they want and find helpful. My community only consists of around 8,000 people currently, but that’s more than enough to generate enough income to support my family of 5.

how-i-started-a-10k-month-podcast-and-community-for-board-game-creators

2. Good Look Gamer ($24K/year)

Dennis Michels (from Brielle, South Holland, The Netherlands) started Good Look Gamer over 5 years ago.

Revenue
$2K / month
Team
1 founders / 1 employees
Location
Brielle, South Holland, The Netherlands

Case Study

Hello, my name is Dennis Michels, I run Good Look Gamer, a webstore for modern board and card games. Our products vary greatly, as new games are released daily. We take a lot of pre-orders for upcoming games, sometimes months before they are released.

Our turnaround currently is around $1600 per month, and we’re still growing.

on-launching-an-online-store-while-recovering-from-an-illness-at-home

Learn more about starting a board game business:

Where to start?

-> How to start a board game business?
-> How much does it cost to start a board game business?
-> Pros and cons of a board game business

Need inspiration?

-> Examples of established board game business
-> Marketing ideas for a board game business
-> Board game business slogans
-> Board game business names

Other resources

-> Board game business tips
-> Blog post ideas for a board game business
-> Board game business manufacturers
-> Board game business hashtags
-> Board game business calculator

4. Bingo Card Creator ($18K/year)

Beth Kovalcik (from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, USA) started Bingo Card Creator about 8 years ago.

Revenue
$1.5K / month
Team
1 founders / 0 employees
Location
Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, USA

Case Study

My name is Beth K., a busy mother of 5 and owner of BingoCardCreator.com. This SAAS (software as a service) online business provides a custom software solution for the creation of custom bingo cards. Most of our customers (about 60%) are educators while the other 40% is comprised of clients using our service for their business or for personal purposes.

how-i-bought-a-1-5k-month-side-business-that-sells-custom-bingo-creations

5. Stonemaier Games ($20.7M/year)

Jamey Stegmaier (from St. Louis, MO, USA) started Stonemaier Games over 10 years ago.

Revenue
$1.73M / month
Team
2 founders / 4 employees

Case Study

Hi! I’m Jamey Stegmaier, and I run Stonemaier Games, a tabletop game company based in St. Louis. We publish strategy games like Wingspan, Scythe, and Viticulture.

Stonemaier Games started with a Kickstarter campaign in 2012 that raised $65,980, and in 2020 our annual revenue eclipsed $18 million. Our latest game, Red Rising, is shown here (photo credit: Tim Chuon).

how-i-started-a-40m-revenue-business-creating-tabletop-games

6. Facade Games ($360K/year)

Travis Hancock (from Columbus, Ohio, USA) started Facade Games about 8 years ago.

Revenue
$30K / month
Team
2 founders / 2 employees
Location
Columbus, Ohio, USA

Case Study

My name is Travis Hancock and I’m the founder of Facade Games. We have published 3 board games, each disguised in book boxes.

Our games have raised over $1 million on Kickstarter, and we’ve sold about 80,000 copies of our games around the world. I work full time from home with my wife Holly. We love inventing and publishing games!

how-i-built-a-successful-business-out-of-my-passion-for-board-games

7. Hill Gaming Company ($24K/year)

Casey Hill (from Camarillo, California, USA) started Hill Gaming Company over 7 years ago.

Revenue
$2K / month
Team
2 founders / 0 employees
Location
Camarillo, California, USA

Case Study

My name is Casey Hill and I run Hill Gaming Company, a tabletop/board game company focused on producing highly interactive and beautifully illustrated games. Throughout my childhood I was always encouraged to be entrepreneurial.

Although it can vary month to month, we typically do about $2,000/month in sales. Although we run direct marketing to grow sales, we are also blessed by strong organic referrals from our supportive fans!

how-we-designed-and-created-a-strategy-card-game

Pat Walls,  Founder of Starter Story
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