{"id":31727,"date":"2024-05-09T06:33:08","date_gmt":"2024-05-09T06:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/herotime1.com\/?p=31727"},"modified":"2025-10-06T08:28:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T08:28:21","slug":"how-to-choose-a-board-game-manufacturer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/herotime1.com\/academy\/manufacturing\/how-to-choose-a-board-game-manufacturer\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Choose a Board Game Manufacturer"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
Finding a manufacturer for your board game or card game can feel daunting, especially if it\u2019s your first time creating a game. You\u2019re spending a significant amount with a company located halfway around the world. Add language barriers, cultural differences and plenty of jargon into the process and it\u2019s easy to feel stressed and unsure of what to do.<\/p>\n
The good news is that choosing a manufacturer isn\u2019t as difficult as it seems once you\u2019re aware of how the game manufacturing industry actually works, as well as the factors that separate a great manufacturer from one that doesn\u2019t belong on your list.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The purpose of this guide is to take you from a nervous first-time creator into someone with a strong understanding of:<\/p>\n
How to find board game manufacturers.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Key questions to ask when comparing manufacturers.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
What the process of working with a board game manufacturer is like.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In other words, we want you to have all of the knowledge you need to make sure your game is manufactured successfully, without any of the common issues that often affect first-time game creators.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The vast majority of board game manufacturers are located in China. For example, we\u2019re based in Yiwu, approximately 300 km from Shanghai. Yiwu is the world’s largest wholesale market for small commodities and a major world center for toy production.<\/p>\n
China offers numerous advantages for board game manufacturing, which is why it\u2019s the location of most of the world\u2019s top game manufacturing companies.<\/p>\n
The first of these advantages is pricing. Factory costs such as rent and building space are more competitive in China than in the EU or USA. Furthermore, the machines that we and many other manufacturers use to manufacture board games are made here in China.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This means that the costs associated with operating a factory are simply lower in China than in other countries, resulting in more competitive pricing for you as a board game creator.<\/p>\n
While labor is less expensive in China than in the EU or US, lower labor costs aren\u2019t the primary reason board game manufacturers are mostly in China. In fact, many countries with much lower labor costs than China aren\u2019t competitive for board game manufacturing. Why?<\/p>\n
The\u00a0first\u00a0reason is simple: China has an incredible supply chain for board games. Just about every type of component you can imagine for board games is made here, making it easy to pick and choose the perfect parts for your game without importing from other countries.<\/p>\n
In fact, because of this incredible supply chain for game parts, many Western manufacturers of board games and card games outsource most of their production to China anyway, then add a profit margin to the price they quote you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The second reason is that labor costs don’t play a very significant role in the cost of making a board game, meaning a country with lower labor costs than China but a low quality supply chain will actually end up being more expensive. Most of the processes involves in board game manufacturing are automated (unless you are making very heavy, detailed games with lots of miniatures). For example, a printing or coating machine can process between 10,000 and 7,000 sheets per hour. Other machines, such a gluing machines, can easily process 1,000 sheets per hour.<\/p>\n
The end result is that cost-efficiency is much more about access to machinery, materials and infrastructure than cheap labor. (By the way, you will want to make sure any factory you work with, in China or elsewhere, has a BSCI certificate to verify that their staff are treated fairly and adequately compensated — something we’ve discussed more further down the page).<\/p>\n
China also has other advantages, such as economies of scale and excellent shipping services that make it easy to deliver your game to your fulfillment providers (or directly to your backers).<\/p>\n
In other words, it\u2019s not just cost — you\u2019ll find the most effective manufacturers in China because it\u2019s the only location that offers these advantages.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve expanded on this more in our\u00a0About Us<\/a>\u00a0page if you\u2019re interested in learning more about the business side of manufacturing games. But for now, just be aware that 90+% of the board game and card game manufacturers you\u2019ll find when searching will be located in China.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you\u2019re manufacturing for the first time and don\u2019t know where to begin, a good approach is to find four to five manufacturers that meet your criteria and add them to a shortlist.<\/p>\n You can find board game manufacturers by Googling \u201cboard game manufacturers China\u201d and \u201cboard game manufacturers,\u201d or by asking in communities like Reddit\u2019s\u00a0Tabletop Game Design<\/a>\u00a0subreddit.<\/p>\n BoardGameGeek also has an\u00a0alphabetical list<\/a>\u00a0of board game manufacturers that you can use to quickly build a shortlist of potential manufacturers for your game.\u00a0<\/p>\n Once you have a shortlist of potential manufacturers, you can start screening them and narrow your choices down to the companies that best match your needs.<\/p>\n Whenever possible, try to look up reviews and feedback on manufacturers from the tabletop game design community. You\u2019re almost sure to find at least someone who\u2019s worked with the manufacturers on your shortlist who can provide their feedback on the experience.<\/p>\n Good places to look for reviews and feedback on game manufacturers include:<\/p>\n Reddit and BoardGameGeek, especially communities that focus on game design and manufacturing.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Board Game Design Lab Community\u00a0Facebook group<\/a>. Search for \u201cmanufacturer\u201d and you\u2019ll find previous discussions where people share their feedback.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n The dirty little secret of the board game manufacturing industry is that not all manufacturers are actually manufacturers. Many companies that offer board game manufacturing services partner with third-party factories, meaning they will take your order and act as a middleman passing it to a manufacturer that will make your game on their behalf.\u00a0We refer to these companies as trading companies rather than manufacturers.<\/p>\n We strongly advise against working with a company that outsources production of your game to another factory for several reasons.<\/p>\n First,\u00a0these companies are inherently unreliable partners. Because they don’t actually manufacture themselves, they can become less stable as you scale your board game business. They depend on third parties to actually manufacture your game, and these third parties have their own work orders and challenges. This means that you’re more at risk of delays and other setbacks that can have a significant cost on your ability to get your game into players’ hands.<\/p>\n Second, there\u2019s a strong correlation between companies that outsource manufacturing to other factories and poor quality. These companies rarely produce the best, meaning you end up with higher costs per unit and mediocre quality.\u00a0<\/p>\n Expanding on this point, when it comes to pricing, some trading companies will be able to offer lower pricing than direct manufacturers. How is this possible? Mostly, it’s because they don’t perform any quality control themselves, and simply shop your game to other manufacturers. Since they don’t need to account for any QC issues, you may get cheap pricing, as well as a lot of risks related to your game’s materials, printing quality and other factors.<\/p>\n Third, by adding an additional person in the communications, there\u2019s a much higher risk of your game\u2019s details getting lost in translation. This means you might not get the exact materials you wanted for your game, or your finished game might have design or quality issues caused by a communication error between your agent and the factory that makes your game.<\/p>\n Because of this, the #1 question you should ask any manufacturer is whether they use their own factory or outsource production to a third party manufacturer.\u00a0If they’re a trading company, make sure you weigh up the risks of working with them and the impact these risks could have on you game and business.<\/p>\n Another topic to bring up with potential manufacturers is games they\u2019ve made. This gives you a quick idea of whether a game manufacturer is well established, and also gives you a good list of existing games you can use to assess the manufacturer\u2019s average quality.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re interested in a manufacturer, consider ordering copies of games similar to yours they\u2019ve manufactured for other clients. Look at factors like the printing quality, how solid the components feel, and just the general durability of the game boards and other items.\u00a0<\/p>\n You can also ask manufacturers for a sample pack, which will give you an idea of what they can produce and the typical quality level you can expect from them.\u00a0<\/p>\n Whenever you\u2019re manufacturing anything (this advice doesn\u2019t just apply to board games), you\u2019ll want to check that your selected manufacturer complies with international standards for quality control, safety and responsible sourcing and ethical business practices.<\/p>\n The easiest, most effective way to do this is to look for certification from respected international industry groups and standardization organizations.<\/p>\n Look for the following certificates:<\/p>\n ISO 9001<\/p>\n<\/li>\n FSC<\/p>\n<\/li>\n BSCI<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n These demonstrate that a factory has good quality practices, uses sustainable materials when possible, and achieves high levels of social responsibility for workers.<\/p>\n You’ll also want to verify that the manufacturer got these certificates for products related to card games or board games, not just for managing an office. Ask your sales rep to provide a copy of any relevant certificates and check that they actually correlate with the name of the factory, not a third party.<\/p>\n You can view our industry certificates on our\u00a0board game manufacturing<\/a>\u00a0page. Not all factories will list these publicly, so make sure to ask your sales rep about certification when you compare manufacturers from your shortlist.\u00a0<\/p>\n All factories have a minimum order quantity. This is because it takes time and resources to set up the manufacturing equipment to make your game. These costs are fixed, meaning there\u2019s a minimum amount of copies you\u2019ll need to print for your game to be a viable project.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you\u2019re planning on doing a small production run of 1,000 units or less, make sure you ask the manufacturers on your shortlist about their MOQ. Pricing for your game will generally be higher per unit for a small production run, and some manufacturers may not be willing or able to do a small-volume production run.\u00a0<\/p>\n For very low volume manufacturing, you will need to use a\u00a0print on demand (POD) manufacturer<\/a>.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll want to receive samples of your game before going into production. Receiving samples allows you to identify potential issues in your game before you commit to a full production run, then address these issues ahead of time.<\/p>\n Every game manufacturer should allow you to receive pre-production samples of your game, but the process and pricing will likely differ between manufacturers. Make sure you ask your shortlisted game manufacturers to explain how their prototyping and sample process works, as well as what the associated costs are (if the manufacturer doesn\u2019t provide free pre-production samples).\u00a0<\/p>\nChoose 4-5 Manufacturers and Add Them to Your Shortlist<\/h2>\n
Check Reviews and Ask the Community for Feedback<\/h2>\n
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Key Questions to Ask When Comparing Manufacturers<\/h2>\n
Do they own their own factory?<\/h3>\n
What games have they made?<\/h3>\n
Do they have ISO, FSC, BSCI and other industry certificates?<\/h3>\n
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What\u2019s the minimum order quantity (MOQ)?<\/h3>\n
What\u2019s the prototype\/sample process and pricing?<\/h3>\n