Deckbuilding Games and the PLC

 

An overheard comment about the introduction of yet another deck building game to the market set me to thinking about the number of deckbuilding games, the product life cycle and what the PLC means for this particular segment of the market.

The product life cycle consists of four stages:  introduction, growth, maturity and decline.  All products go through all four of these stages, some at a faster rate than others (roughly 50,000 new products come onto the market every year, only about 10% of them stay in production for more than five years).

The introductory stage of the PLC is always the most exciting part of a product’s life.  The manufacturer has this cool new idea for a great new product(Dominion) or an interesting take on an already existing one (Ascension).  The manufacturer has (hopefully) playtested it extensively, made mockups or prototypes, lined up a production option, either in-house or outsourced and lined up financing, again either through theirself or, quite commonly today, through an exterior source such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo. The manufacturer is also all over Twitter, Facebook, TheyTube and any other media source  to which they can get access, talking about this cool new product and trying to get others to do the same.   During this stage, while their sales increases hit double or triple percentages, their expenses far exceed their revenues.  In short, they are losing money on the product until they hit the breakeven point, at which their revenues cover their expenses. 

Now, they move into the growth stage of the product life cycle.  During this stage their promotional efforts slack off as others have, hopefully, picked up on the buzz their original efforts generated for their products.  This means less expenditure on promotion, allowing they to divert more of the gross profits to cover fixed costs.  If they allocated revenues well, they start making a net profit during this stage.  As their product gets wider notice in the market though, sales start to slacken from the triple or high double digit growth they posted after the launch.  They should still see growth in the low double digits though.

The characteristic of the growth stage that makes me think the deckbuilding category is exiting the growth stage and entering the maturity stage of the PLC is that, towards the end of the growth stage, competition products start to enter the market.  Competitors see how well this product has done satisfying consumers and want a piece of the action, so they enter the market with similar products, planning to capture a share.  Currently, I count a minimum of ten deckbuilding games on the market, with more on the way.  Nothing says more clearly that the market for deckbuilding games has matured than the number of companies announcing their entry into the market.

What happens during this stage?  Profits for early entrants into the market continue to increase as their expenses likewise continue to drop.  However, sales increases drop to single digits and start to decline towards the end of the cycle, as the product moves from maturity to decline.  One sure sign that the market has moved from maturity to the decline stage of the PLC is competitors pulling the plug on their products and announced product launches never making it to market. 

During the decline stage, sales drop, either slightly or precipitously and they must decide whether the continued sales justify allocating resources to keep the product available or to harvest the product, cease production and direct those resources to another area.  Deckbuilding games are still far from this stage but it will come, likely sooner than expected.

Deckbuilding Games and the Product Life Cycle

 

An overheard comment about the introduction of yet another deck building game to the market set me to thinking about the number of deckbuilding games, the product life cycle and what the PLC means for this particular segment of the market.

The product life cycle consists of four stages:  introduction, growth, maturity and decline.  All products go through all four of these stages, some at a faster rate than others (roughly 50,000 new products come onto the market every year, only about 10% of them stay in production for more than five years).

The introductory stage of the PLC is always the most exciting part of a product’s life.  The manufacturer has this cool new idea for a great new product(Dominion) or an interesting take on an already existing one (Ascension).  The manufacturer has (hopefully) playtested it extensively, made mockups or prototypes, lined up a production option, either in-house or outsourced and lined up financing, again either through theirself or, quite commonly today, through an exterior source such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo. The manufacturer is also all over Twitter, Facebook, TheyTube and any other media source  to which they can get access, talking about this cool new product and trying to get others to do the same.   During this stage, while their sales increases hit double or triple percentages, their expenses far exceed their revenues.  In short, they are losing money on the product until they hit the breakeven point, at which their revenues cover their expenses. 

Now, they move into the growth stage of the product life cycle.  During this stage their promotional efforts slack off as others have, hopefully, picked up on the buzz their original efforts generated for their products.  This means less expenditure on promotion, allowing they to divert more of the gross profits to cover fixed costs.  If they allocated revenues well, they start making a net profit during this stage.  As their product gets wider notice in the market though, sales start to slacken from the triple or high double digit growth they posted after the launch.  They should still see growth in the low double digits though.

The characteristic of the growth stage that makes me think the deckbuilding category is exiting the growth stage and entering the maturity stage of the PLC is that, towards the end of the growth stage, competition products start to enter the market.  Competitors see how well this product has done satisfying consumers and want a piece of the action, so they enter the market with similar products, planning to capture a share.  Currently, I count a minimum of ten deckbuilding games on the market, with more on the way.  Nothing says more clearly that the market for deckbuilding games has matured than the number of companies announcing their entry into the market.

What happens during this stage?  Profits for early entrants into the market continue to increase as their expenses likewise continue to drop.  However, sales increases drop to single digits and start to decline towards the end of the cycle, as the product moves from maturity to decline.  One sure sign that the market has moved from maturity to the decline stage of the PLC is competitors pulling the plug on their products and announced product launches never making it to market. 

Legendary 10th Anniversary Set

Coming Mid August:

UPR90292 Legendary: Marvel: 10th Anniversary

$49.99 SRP Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the global theatrical phenomenon known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this limited edition addition to the Legendary® family of deck-building card games features star-studded, action-packed, iconic imagery pulled directly from Marvel’s phase one collection of movies. In this game, you are leading fan favorite Marvel Super Heroes like Captain American, Iron Man, and Thor to trounce Super Villains! This limited edition release is 100% compatible with all previous Legendary Marvel releases, theatrical or comics based, for countless combinations of seamless scenarios. Contents: 393 Playable Cards Color Rule Book Rubber Play mat

Legendary Deck Building Game Expansion

Coming in October

UPR82599

Legendary: Guardians of the Galaxy Small Box Expansion

$19.99 SRP

Over the course of the game, recruit increasingly powerful Hero cards to add to your deck, building a stronger and stronger deck of the ultimate Marvel superhero combinations.

Players can create their own powerful combos on the fly, combining their heroes’ awesome abilities to take down nasty Marvel Masterminds like the Kree Supreme Intelligence!

Contains:

100 Total New Playable Card Set

1 page color rule sheet

Flooping the Pig

The Adventure Time Card Game hit the shelves nationwide on Friday and, at least at our stock, sold out by mid-afternoon. We received our full order but I heard tales of stores getting allocated significantly. We did not order too heavily on it because, as is typical unfortunately, none of our customers asked about the game until the Tuesday before release.  After the first flurry of interest, sales in the Adventure Time comic had dropped to almost zero and, while the Adventure Time trade paperbacks sold, they didn’t turn at Walking Dead levels, but closer to that of Empowered, decent sales but nothing out of the ordinary.  Ergo, our pre-orders reflected the comparative lack of interest our customer base had shown in all things Adventure Time.  I figured six of each deck would last us for quite some time.  Boy, was I wrong.

So, we sent our order off to alliance and posted on Facebook and Twitter that the decks had released and would hit the shelves Friday.  Wham.  Within 2 hours we had a dozen posts asking about it and half a dozen or more calls.  On Friday, as mentioned above, our entire stock had sold out by mid-afternoon with one customer driving over an hour to pick up a copy. Happily for him, he called in advance and we set one back for him. Those who did not wound up out of luck until our restock comes in.

Imagine how we could have sold this given better communication and tools.  Maybe we received  emails mentioning it but none by themselves to make the product stand out.  Why not a promotional poster sent out weeks ahead of the release date?  Maybe a sign-up sheet sent as a PDF? Though I am not a huge fan of Games Workshop’s promotional strategies, they do send out sign up forms for what they consider major new releases. As long as I am dreaming, how about a demo copy of the game sent out a week or two or even three before the release to gauge interest? Having this sort of information helps drive pre-orders.  Pre-orders help the store, help the distributor, help the publisher, heck, they even help the customer by giving us an indication of how much interest there is in the product.  More interest means more pre-orders which means must less likelihood of an out of stock which means the customer is more likely to find the game on the store shelf.

Last year, Cryptozoic discussed some really impressive plans they had for promoting their product lines, with launch events for new releases and game days to continue to generate interest in their catalog titles, something Fantasy Flight Games already does to great effect for their LCG lines.  However, aside from making demo copies of their games available through Alliance Distribution at reduced cost and a long delayed game day promotion for the DC Heroes Deck Building Game, the cards for which just showed up a week or so ago, we haven’t seen anything in store. 

Cryptozoic has some great licenses, and some great games using those licenses.  Here’s hoping they get the promotional campaigns up and running to match those licenses as I really want to floop the pig with their games for a long time to come.

LOTR Deckbuilding Game

You knew it was coming:

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Deck-building Game

(SRP-$40) 6/Case  Orders Due: 8-1-12 Release Date: 4^th Quarter 2012
Preorder Pricing: $21 each; 6+ $20.50, 18+ $18.25 each

 

Game Contents

• 200+ Game Cards

• 7 Oversized Hero Cards

• 1 Rulebook

Game Summary

In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Deck-building Game, you take on the role of Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn, or one of their brave and heroic allies in the struggle against the forces of the Dark Lord Sauron! While you begin armed only with basic combat maneuvers, you will add new, more powerful cards to your deck as you go, with the goal of defeating the deadly forces that serve Sauron as you make your way towards Mount Doom. In the end, the player who has accumulated the most Victory Points from the cards in his or her deck wins the game.

Each player takes on the role of an iconic hero from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, including Aragorn, Frodo, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Samwise, and Boromir. Each hero comes with a special power unique to that character and usable only by that player.

Each player starts with his or her own basic ten-card deck and draws a hand of five cards each turn. Power is the currency you will use to buy new, stronger cards to add to your deck. The goal of a deck-building game is to craft your personal deck into a well-oiled machine. There are five different types of cards that can be acquired: Enemies, Allies, Artifacts, Maneuvers, and Locations.

To bolster their existing deck of cards, players use Power to acquire cards from “The Path,” a large, central stack of cards that supplies a five-card line-up from which players make their purchases. Each player will always have five face-up cards to choose from each turn, so every turn there are new options and surprises.

When a player has amassed enough Power, he or she may defeat more powerful enemies from the “Archenemy” deck. “Archenemy” cards are represented by the notable enemies from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, including Saruman, and the Balrog, among others. When an “Archenemy” is defeated, a new one appears and makes an Attack against each player in the game! Players can defend themselves with Defense cards like Boromir’s Shield, Mithril Armor, “You Shall Not Pass!” and several others.

The objective for each player is to acquire the most “Victory Points” at the end of the game. Nearly every card acquired during the game has a Victory Point value, with the “Archenemy” cards providing the most Victory Points. In the end, the player who has accumulated the most Victory Points from the cards in his or her deck wins the game.

Key Selling Points

•           Play as Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn, Samwise, Legolas, Gimli, or Boromir. The Fellowship is prepared to begin its journey!

•           Each Hero of the Fellowship has a unique special ability that will open up different strategies to the player.

•           Card combos, strategy, and fun abound in this game where every card features amazing fan-favorite scenes from The Lord of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Ring.

•           Everything you need to play the game comes in one box!

•           Number of Players: 2–5

•           For Ages: 15 and up

•           Playing Time: 30–45 minutes

New Deckbuilding Game

Coming in April!

CTZ01297

WoW: Clash of Champions

Coming some time next April.

$ 45.00 SRP

A new deck building game, centered around one of the most popular online worlds – World of Warcraft: Clash of Champions. Players take on the role of their favorite World of Warcraft Heroes: Thrall, Jaina, King Varian, Garrosh, Sylvanas, and King Magn. Each Hero has special abilities that only they can use in combat. As Heroes level, these special abilities shuffle into their decks. Face off against up to 126 Monster Cards and 9 Epic Bosses. For each victory against an Epic Boss, Heroes level up! Defeat monsters, gather loot, bring down bosses, and stand victorious. World of Warcraft: Clash of Champions allows for incredible replayability with 425 Game Cards. No two games will play the same!

New Domnion Expansion

Hinterlands, the newest expansion for Dominion, should hit the shelves next month.

Deckbuilding Wargame

Expect in Late September/Early October

TRG4003

A Few Acres of Snow

$55.00 SRP

2 Player Game

Ages 12+

60+ Minutes

‘A Few Acres of Snow’ is a two player game about the struggle between Britain and France for control of North America, fought during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

A war fought at the edge of two mighty empires. For over one hundred and fifty years Britain and France were locked in a struggle for domination of North America. Thousands of miles from their homes, settlers and soldiers were faced with impenetrable forests, unpredictable American tribes, and formidable distances. Despite these obstacles they were able to engage in bitter warfare, with the British ultimately taking the prize of Quebec. A Few Acres of Snow is a two-player game that allows you to recreate this contest. You can change the course of history by your decisions.

A Few Acres of Snow takes an innovative approach to the subject, using cards to represent locations and manpower. As the game progresses you add to your selection of cards, increasing the range of actions available to you. There are many strategies to be explored. How quickly should you build up your forces, do you employ Native Americans, what energy should be expended on your economy?

A Few Acres of Snow ™ contains:

• mapboard

• 110 Cards

• 15 Gold Coin

• 15 Silver Coin 

• 2 Player Aid Cards

• 73 wood pieces

• Rules Book

Resident Evil Expansion

Coming in September for the Resident Evil Deck Building Game.

Deckbuilding Games

Being that deckbuilding games are the current IT thing in the gaming field (and probably going to get ground into the dirt ALA collectable card games in the mid 90s), here's alist of current and coming games in the genre:

AEG 5012	Thunderstone	$44.99
	For ages the vile Doom Knights have sought to gather the remaining Thunderstones to fulfill a prophecy of corruption over the lands. Now the first Thunderstone has been discovered in the Dungeons of Grimhold and the Doom Knights have sent their minions to claim the relic. The Villagers of Barrowsdale gather brave souls to face the dungeon and keep the Thunderstone out of the hands of the Doom Knights. Thunderstone is a new and exciting fantasy deck-building game from Alderac Entertainment Group. Fight the evils of the dungeon to prove your worth. Gain powerful weaponry and level into new and mighty hero classes. Claim the best cards and survive to take the Thunderstone.
AEG 5013	Thunderstone Wrath o/t Elements Exp	$34.99
	Thunderstone returns with all-new monsters, heroes, equipment, and now... traps!
AEG 5014	Thunderstone Doomgate Legion Exp	$34.99
	The second expansion to Thunderstone, Doomgate Legion introduces the Cult of the Doomgate, who have guarded the Stone of Avarice for centuries. This cult, along with a sect of evil druids and other all-new monsters await your heroes as they race to secure the third Thunderstone!
AEG 5015	Thunderstone Dragonspire	$44.99
	Deep in the heart of Thornwood Forest lies the Stone of Blight, one of the Thunderstones desperately needed for the salvation of the world. With the forces of Doom ravaging the lands, time is growing short. When brought together, the Stones have enough power to cast him out of the world - but every stone must be captured if the heroes hope to succeed! This expansion to Thunderstone introduces new monsters such as the Raiders and Siege Engines which bring the battle to you! These monsters can destroy cards in the village, kill heroes not yet hired, and even hurt you on turns when you are avoiding the dungeon!
AEG 5016	Thunderstone Thornwood Siege	$34.99
	Deep in the heart of Thornwood Forest lies the Stone of Blight, one of the Thunderstones desperately needed for the salvation of the world. With the forces of Doom ravaging the lands, time is growing short. When brought together, the Stones have enough power to cast him out of the world - but every stone must be captured if the heroes hope to succeed! This expansion to Thunderstone introduces new monsters such as the Raiders and Siege Engines which bring the battle to you! These monsters can destroy cards in the village, kill heroes not yet hired, and even hurt you on turns when you are avoiding the dungeon!
AEG 5301	Nightfall	$39.99
	When darkness falls, terror rises! The creatures of nightmare - vampires, werewolves, and ghouls - have begun to appear throughout the world, and they show no sign of hesitation in claiming the dark world as their own! Nightfall is a fast and furious deck-building game of supernatural horror from the makers of Legend of the Five Rings.
AEG 5302	Nightfall Martial Law	$39.99	NYA
	Darkness envelopes the world - chaos reigns! Humanity fights back in the only way they know how: with forceful control. But how does one control creatures whose existence defies all logic? Nightfall: Martial Law is a stand-alone expansion to the competitive deck-building game Nightfall. Martial Law features a complete new set of cards with special new powers, and unleashes all-new vampires, werewolves, hunters, and ghouls. Martial Law also introduces the new feeding mechanic: feed your chained orders to give them greater effects!
BAI 23801-D	Resident Evil Deck Building Game(8)	$239.92
BAI 23801-S	Resident Evil Deck Building Game	$29.99
	In Resident Evil, a deadly virus has caused the dead to rise and infect any living thing they encounter! Fleeing to a mysterious mansion, you must gather any materials you can find to protect yourself and fight for your survival against a legion of infected beings! How will you survive the zombie outbreak? In the Resident Evil Deck Building Game, players choose one of their favorite Resident Evil characters such as Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Albert Wesker, then build their arsenal with Weapons, Ammunition, Action, or Item cards to customize their deck and improve their ability in defeating Òthe InfectedÓ! Featuring three different game modes [Story, Mercenary, and Versus], the Resident Evil Deck Building Game comes complete with 250 cards and a game manual.
BAI 23802-D	Resident Evil DBG Alliance (8)	$239.92
BAI 23802-S	Resident Evil DBG Alliance	$29.99
	In Resident Evil, a deadly virus has caused the dead to rise and infect any living thing they encounter! Fleeing to a mysterious mansion, you must gather any materials you can find to protect yourself and fight for survival against a legion of infected beings! A stand-alone expansion for the Resident Evil Deck-Building Game, Alliance introduces new characters such as Hunk, Carlos Oliveira, Steve Burnside, Josh Stone, and Billy Coen, as well as new weapons, actions, and infected, and an exciting, new "Partner" Mode of play where you take on the Mansion with not just one character - but two!
BAI 23803-D	Resident Evil DBG Outbreak (8)	$239.92	NYA
BAI 23803-S	Resident Evil DBG Outbreak	$29.99	NYA
	Playable with both the Resident Evil Deck-Building Core Game and Resident Evil: Alliance, this 150-card expansion introduces the new "Outbreak" Mode that puts the players in danger of turning into the Infected themselves. New characters such as Kevin, Ryman, David King, and Mark Wilkins will help you while you're alive. However, life doesn't end as an Infected, as you can rise from the dead and attack your fellow players as new Infected Characters and Infection Cards!
CZE 01221-D	Penny Arcade Deckbuilding Game D(6)	$269.94	NYA
CZE 01221-S	Penny Arcade Deckbuilding Game	$44.99	NYA
	Welcome to the world of Penny Arcade, the top web comic for all things gaming! YouÕve followed the way of the warrior, the story of the Cardboard Tube Samurai. You, too, wept with Charles over the lack of Halo on the Macintosh. Now rally your favorite Penny Arcade characters together to build your perfect deck like Gabe, Tycho, and Cardboard Tube Samurai and battle your friends in mass melee fun!
GGD JPG001	Tanto Cuore	$29.25 Net
	In this anime-inspired, deck-building card game based on the maid-themed sim games and anime series made popular in Japan, players take on the roles of "masters of the house", employing cute maids to serve them while filling out their house. Earn Victory Points by employing a variety of maids and "Love" cards that allow for different strategies, and tap into their special powers to gain bonuses or affect your opponents in negative ways.
GGS 001	Ascension: Chronicle o/t Godslayer	$39.99
	Developed by Magic Pro Tour Champions Justin Gary, Rob Dougherty, and Brian Kibler, and featuring stunning art by industry visionary Eric Sabee, Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer is a fast-playing, deck-building game boasting multiple factions, demons, heroes, and constructs from different planes in a battle to determine who will ascend to godhood.
GGS 002	Ascension Return o/t Fallen Exp	$29.99	NYA
	Playable as a 2-player, stand-alone game, or combined with Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer for an expanded game with up to six players, Return of the Fallen introduces 65 all-new cards for the Center Deck, providing players with the ability to face the God Samael in a final battle to determine the fate of Vigil. Featuring brand-new cards for every faction and strategy and frightening new Monsters, Return of the Fallen also introduces a new Fate mechanic that can change the game with a single flip of a card!
IMP PTG20003	Heroes of Graxia	$34.99
	Buy the best weapons, armor, auras, spells, armies, henchmen, and mercenaries to dominate the world of Graxia... and your opponents! Heroes of Graxia comes complete with 240 cards, six guardian plastic figures, and a storage box tray to keep your cards organized.
MDG 4297	Eaten by Zombies	$24.95	NYA
	Oh, the Humanity! The subburbs are overrun with zombies - ravenous undead with just one thing on their mindless minds: to feast on the few survivors left in town... namely, you! Eaten By Zombies! takes you into a dark world of eventual death. Every turn you must strive to survive, venturing out from your safehouse to scavenge for Swag. But not so fast, the undead have other plans for your brains! Work cooperatively, or against the other survivors to be the last one standing... just don't get eaten by zombies!
RGG 370	Dominion	$44.95
	You are a monarch, like your parents before you, a ruler of a small kingdom of rivers and evergreens. Unlike your parents, however, you have hopes and dreams! You want a bigger and more pleasant kingdom, with more rivers and a wider variety of trees. You want a Dominion! In all directions lie fiefs, freeholds, and feodums. All are small bits of land, controlled by petty lords and verging on anarchy. You will bring civilization to these people, uniting them under your banner! To do this you will hire minions, construct buildings, spruce up your castle, and fill the coffers of your treasury, all the while preventing competing monarchs from infringing on your rightful domain!
RGG 390	Dominion Intrigue Exp	$44.95
	Dominion: Intrigue adds 25 new Kingdom cards and a complete set of Treasure and Victory cards to the Dominion meta-game, and introduces rules for expanding the game for up to eight players.
RGG 404	Dominion Seaside Exp	$44.95
	All you ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by (and someone who knows how to steer ships using stars). You finally got some of those rivers you'd wanted, and they led to the sea. These are dangerous, pirate-infested waters, and you cautiously send rat-infested ships across them, to establish lucrative trade at far-off, merchant-infested ports. When you finally reach those ports you will conquer them, and from there you will look for more rivers. One day, all the rivers will be yours! This second expansion adds 26 new Kingdom cards to Dominion.
RGG 418	Dominion Alchemy Exp	$29.95
	There are strange things going on in your basement laboratories. They're looking for a way to turn lead into gold, or at least into something better than lead. his expansion adds new Kingdom cards to the Dominion board game, and requires a copy of Dominion or Dominion: Intrigue to play.
RGG 422	Dominion Prosperity Exp	$44.95
	Ah, money. There's nothing like the sound of coins clinking in your hands. Life has been good to you. Just ten years ago, you were tilling your own fields in a simple straw hat. Today, your kingdom stretches from sea to sea, and your straw hat is the largest the world has ever known. You also have the world's smallest dog, and a life-size statue of yourself made out of baklava. Sure, money can't buy happiness, but it can buy envy, anger, and also this kind of blank feeling. You still have problems - troublesome neighbors that must be conquered. But this time, you'll conquer them in style! The Prosperity expansion adds 25 new Kingdom cards to Dominion, plus two new Basic cards that let players keep building up past Gold and Province, and treasures with abilities, cards that interact with treasures, and powerful expensive cards.
RGG 446	Dominion Cornucopia Exp	$29.95
	Autumn! It seemed like the summer would never end, but the fortune teller was right. It's over, and the time of harvest and celebration has arrived! The peasants have spent a hard week scything hay in the fields, but tonight the festivities begin, starting with a sumptuous banquet of roast hay. Then, the annual nose-stealing competition. Then you have two jesters, one who always lies, one who always tells the truth, both hilariously. This celebration will truly have something for everyone! The Cornucopia Expansion adds 13 new Kingdom cards - plus five unique cards - to Dominion.