Board Game Biz: The Board Games Business Expert You Need...

Board Game Biz: The Board Games Business Expert You Need...

The board game industry has never been more dynamic. With record numbers of new titles launching each year, a rapidly expanding global audience, and unprecedented demand for high‑quality tabletop experiences, publishers face both extraordinary opportunities and increasing complexity. Navigating manufacturing, sourcing, compliance, logistics, and commercial strategy requires deep expertise — and that’s exactly where BoardGameBiz excels.

BoardGameBiz is a specialist Board Games business expert consultancy dedicated to helping board game creators, publishers, and brands bring their products to market efficiently, reliably, and profitably. With decades of experience in the global toy and game industry, the company provides the insight, connections, and operational support that modern publishers need to succeed.

A Trusted Partner for Board Game Creators and Publishers

BoardGameBiz was founded on a simple principle: great games deserve great execution.

Whether you’re a first‑time creator or an established publisher, the company offers a suite of services designed to remove friction, reduce risk, and accelerate your path to market.

Clients choose BoardGameBiz because they gain access to:

• Deep category expertise

• A global network of trusted manufacturers

• Strategic guidance from industry veterans• Practical support across every stage of development

• Transparent, reliable, commercially grounded advice

This combination of experience and hands‑on support has made BoardGameBiz a trusted partner for companies across Europe, North America, and Asia.

Manufacturing Expertise That Saves Time, Money, and Stress

Manufacturing is one of the most challenging aspects of board game production. Quality, cost, timelines, and compliance all hinge on choosing the right factory — and avoiding the wrong ones.

BoardGameBiz helps publishers:

• Identify the best manufacturing partners for their specific product

• Navigate pricing, materials, and production methods

• Avoid common pitfalls that lead to delays or quality issues

• Ensure compliance with international safety standards

• Manage communication and expectations with factories

With long‑standing relationships across China, India, and other key manufacturing regions, BoardGameBiz provides clients with access to vetted, reliable factories capable of producing everything from simple card games to complex multi‑component tabletop experiences.

End‑to‑End Support for Game Development and Commercial Strategy

BoardGameBiz goes far beyond manufacturing. The company supports publishers across the full lifecycle of a game, including:

• Product development and refinement

• Component optimisation and cost engineering

• Artwork and file preparation guidance

• Packaging strategy• Retail and distribution insights

• Market positioning and commercial planning

This holistic approach ensures that games are not only well‑made, but also commercially viable and strategically positioned for success.

Helping Creators Avoid Costly Mistakes

The board game industry is full of passionate creators, but passion alone doesn’t guarantee a smooth production process. Many first‑time publishers encounter challenges such as:

• Over‑specced components that inflate costs

• Underestimating freight, duties, and logistics

• Miscommunication with factories

• Unrealistic timelines

• Compliance oversights

• Poorly structured quotes or contracts

BoardGameBiz helps creators avoid these issues by providing clear, practical, experience‑driven guidance. The result is a smoother, more predictable journey from prototype to finished product.

A Global Perspective Backed by Real Industry Experience

BoardGameBiz is led by industry veteran Steve Reece, whose career spans more than 25 years in the global toy and game business. His experience includes:

• Working with major global Games companies

• Managing sourcing and manufacturing across multiple regions

• Advising hundreds of startups and established publishers

• Deep knowledge of retail, distribution, and commercial strategy

This background gives BoardGameBiz a unique ability to bridge the gap between creative ambition and commercial reality.

Why Companies Choose BoardGameBiz

BoardGameBiz has become a preferred partner for publishers because it offers:

• Proven expertise in board game manufacturing

• A global network of trusted suppliers

• Practical, commercially grounded advice

• A track record of helping companies scale

• Transparent, relationship‑driven support

• A deep understanding of both creative and operational challenges

Whether you’re launching your first game or managing a growing portfolio, BoardGameBiz provides the clarity and confidence you need to move forward.

Conclusion: The Smartest Way to Bring Better Games to Market

The board game industry is full of opportunity, but success requires more than a great idea. It demands reliable manufacturing, strategic planning, and expert execution. BoardGameBiz delivers all of this — helping creators and publishers bring high‑quality games to market with less risk, less stress, and greater commercial success.

For companies looking to elevate their production, streamline their operations, or expand their global reach, BoardGameBiz is the Board Games business expert consultancy that makes it possible.

Monopoly: What's It Like To Manage The World's Most Iconic & Most Commercially Successful Board Games Brand?

About a quarter of a century ago, one of my very capable colleagues left Hasbro Europe. At that point, I was managing Hasbro's Family Games portfolio for Europe excluding Monopoly & Cluedo (quick note for our North American brethren here, the Game you know as Clue is known as Cluedo in Europe). Until my colleague departed, I was managing classic Games like Risk, Game of Life, Mastermind, Yahtzee, Risk and many more. That portfolio was great fun, because it was very low profile, and so you could get on with things without too much interference and organisational politics.

For example, at the time the classic MB Game 'Hotel' was selling over 100,000 copies across Europe, but was not selling in the UK. Therefore it was quite important for other markets like Germany, but not registering highly on the corporate agenda. Looking at the P&L it was obvious that this Game was over specced versus the price it was being sold for. So I called together the development team and Hasbro's then Games factory in Ireland, and between us all we managed to implement some changes which had no effect on the Game but which saved a full $1 per unit in product costs. In other words, I had directly instigated a change which saved Hasbro $100k p.a. At that time they were laying off staff, so I took pleasure in saving the same as two people's salaries. That gig of managing the lower profile classic Games was awesome because you could easily & quickly do things like that and really make a difference.

When my colleague left, I jettisoned some other responsibilities I had (managing Play-Doh and being the junior on a two person team managing Hasbro's relationship with Disney in Europe) to take on management of Monopoly and Cluedo. In many ways for the kid who's favourite child hood past time was tortuously long games of Risk and Diplomacy, this was a dream job. I was the Games brand marketer who was actually into Games, which was a big thing at that time.

I can't however say that managing Monopoly and Cluedo for Europe was any fun. it was constantly mired in political issues and disagreements, because those brands were so iconic, so front of house and responsible for such a high proportion of Hasbro Europe's profit at that time. Even though it's a quarter of a century ago, I'm not going to breach confidence and share any hard numbers here, but rest assured, at that point the core version of Monopoly was infinitely more profitable than Hasbro's entire Toy business in Europe - that's a matter of stock market record so I'm happy to share that as it's already public domain.

When I took over we still needed a new headline feature version of Monopoly for the following year, and frankly the pressure was really on. Failing to deliver that version in a compelling and commercially viable format would have been catastrophic. Eventually from memory I think the smart development folks came up with a 'Wonders of the World' edition, which did OK, but my heart rate was elevated all the time until that solution was found.

One very contentious project was moving the core Monopoly Game from a rectangular box to a square box. The argument for this was that it would save c. $0.30 per unit - a lot when you think of all the copies that Game sold. But the secondary argument was that as Hasbro's market share of the Games market was so high at that point, that reducing Monopoly's footprint on shelf would open up more space for another Game listing, which would most probably be a Hasbro Game, and finally a smaller box costs less to transport. The counter argument was that it would cost sales & therefore a substantial amount of profit. The issue for the person purportedly in charge of this brand was that all these conversations circumvented the Brand Manager completely, because things got so political that Country Managers were speaking to the head honchos directly and I was occasionally being told what happened. I'm poorly equipped mentally or emotionally to deal with inaction, uncertainty and a lack of agency, so eventually this kind of issue lead to me quitting the job and going travelling round the world for a year instead...

...but there were some real highlights. For example, the team had been working on MyMonopoly.com, which was a customisable personalised version of Monopoly designed, ordered and purchased online. Back in 2001 when I came onto the project this was really cutting edge, as laughable as that seems now looking back. The team had struggled to get the game live and I was told that my remit was to launch it come what may. That's exactly the right brief to give to someone like me, because I would find a way to make things happen when given such a clear and strong remit. We did eventually launch, and the project became so high profile for a while that I was sending a weekly report directly to the CEO and Chairman at that time, Alan Hassenfeld (RIP). Sales were not strong, as we did not understand how to drive online traffic at that stage (I don't think many people did), nut that was one of the most fulfilling projects I ever worked on. One of my happiest memories of meetings back then was when Legal came up with the problem/risk of people using profanities, infringing copyright and a few other issues. So we called a meeting, and literally spent a whole hour of our working day brainstorming profanities we could exclude from the product...I really wish I still had the notes from that meeting as I learnt a few words that day I had not heard before!

Board Games Consultancy Service: What Does A Board Games Consultant Do?

Our company has been in business for around 15 years now. In that time we have conducted a full range of Board Games Consultancy services - from being a board games expert witness, helping Games companies set up international distribution, finding Board Games factories and more.

On a day to day basis, what this looks like is a mixture of video calls with Board Games companies, research on the Games market, some emails to Board Games distributors, conversations with Board Games factories (normally haggling over pricing!) and more.

Our favourite part of working in the business of non-digital Games is playtesting Games. there is nothing quite like receiving a new Game, opening the box and smelling that fresh new Game smell and then testing out the Game.

One additional feature of the work of a Board Game Consultant is thought leadership and content creation. In this day and age there is an expectation of publishing ideas and opinions on key trends and topics that are relevant to the Games industry. This can be looking at commercial and retail topics, about the Game consumer/player, or about broader trends in the world which affect the business of games.

So, that's what a Board Games Consultant does. If you want to find out more about our specific Consultancy services, just click here: https://www.boardgamebiz.com/game-business-consultancy