What Learning Board Games Teaches Us About Informing Customers
image is not property of Riley James Copy
So this 4th of July weekend in Spokane was great: got to go to the lake, hang out with friends, and my brother paid a visit.
And while we enjoyed hanging out in the backyard in the morning and evening walks, the afternoon is HOOOOOOOOT.
Which means it was a perfect excuse to barricade ourselves inside for a few hours, crank up the A/C, and play a board game :)
And I had the pleasure of FINALLY learning how to play ROOT.
If you aren’t in the know, root is an area control board game that is loosely based on cold war geo-political conflicts. If that sounds a bit over your head, don’t worry: they replaced modern armies and continents with cartoon woodland creatures and a charming forest.
Well… correction… I didn’t really learn how to play ROOT… I learned how to play the The Eyrie Dynasties; an aggressive bird faction that wants to reclaim their rightful, ancestral place as the leaders of the forest. There are 9 other factions in the game, so I guess I haven’t really learned the game.
image is not property of Riley James Copy
But the first time you learn a game is almost always the hardest.
And ROOT was no different. There are not only animal factions but also animal clearings, which confused me to no end. And then I kept trying to make it an economy game, so the way you “craft” and use cards spun me in circles.
But eventually my wife and I got the hang of it, and we started to play.
And like most board games, at first I was excited! Like beginning any game for the first time, I had these basic strategies I wanted to test out, and was able to imagine all the fun I was going to have playing it.
But after only two rounds, I was falling behind.
I was stuck on like 3 clearings with limited options while the other players were doing waaaaay more on their turn and were starting to execute their more advanced strategies.
I protested to the instructor (my brother), who explained some more, and I kept quiet for another round.
But then my wife drew three cards, while my hand had dwindled down to zero, and I expressed my confusion again.
My brother stood up…
Walked around the table…
Stooped down…
Looked at my board…
And…
“Yeah, every turn you get another card”
I had been playing it wrong for like 5 rounds.
And because of that, it was a frustrating experience that did not match my expectations…I had a vision of fun that was promised but wasn’t being met.
Read that sentence again… because that is EVERYTHING when it comes to marketing:
You get their attention
You make a promise that you will deliver something good that they care about
They sign up and/or purchase
You fulfill that promise
They eventually purchase again
image is not property of Riley James Copy
It really is as simple as that.
Which is why communication is ESSENTIAL.
When you are marketing your tabletop games, or creating a board game marketing strategy, you need to make sure everything you are saying and trying to say it is crystal clear from the customer’s perspective.
And if it is remotely fuzzy from your perspective, then it is probably incomprehensibly confusing from the customers.
Because every instance you confuse them, you provide an opportunity for them to abandon you because A) it is too hard to figure out, or B) they are frustrated and feel lied to.
And given how many different companies are trying to get the attention of your customer each day (ie hundreds), you do NOT want to give them a reason to turn away.
