Manifesto

Three Pillars of Focus

1. Strong Product
2. Effective Distribution
3. Memorable Marketing

In this order of priority. Why?

1. Our games are the bedrock of our enterprise. We are like Disney. Our games, our IP - that is what makes or breaks us. With a great distribution network and great marketing, a lousy product could sell decently, but it will not be sustainable. After the first wave of people play the game, they won’t want to play it again, or tell anyone else about it, and the sales will fall flat. Conversely, a strong product with mediocre distribution and marketing could grow organically to a high level, by pure word-of-mouth, the innate fun factor and the replayability of the product. A strong product drives sustainable success.
2. Distribution > Marketing. Even if we run the best marketing campaigns, have the top influencers peddle our products, it won’t mean anything if we can’t convert those clicks into sales. The product has to be readily available in those countries and markets before we push the marketing in those regions, otherwise, it will just be wasted marketing dollars. Of course, there is the strategy of creating a buzz amongst the crowd first, and compelling distributors to come onboard, but we need to be smart about doing that.

Strong Product

• Fail Fast, Playtest Publicly
• The highest ROI in game development comes from public playtesting. It is paramount that we test in public as early and as frequently as possible. Achieve faster and more targeted iteration cycles than our competitors.
• Let our target audience (Casual Gamers) playtest the game, even when it is really raw. Especially when it is raw. Of course we will do our due diligence to (best-effort) ensure the game is balanced, smooth, etc. But this is an MVP, not a finalized product.
• Playtest at public game meetups with higher percentage of Casual Gamers (e.g. Mind Cafe meetups, Geek Out Stress Out, LaiPlayLeow meetups)
• You would think this would be the industry standard, but it cannot be further from the truth. I’ve met over 60+ game designers, and only 3 of them test in public. Reasons: (1) afraid of others stealing their idea, (2) do not value the public’s opinions, instead only valuing ‘professional’ feedback from other game designers, (3) their game is not intended for a mass market audience, (4) fear of failure and rejection in public.
• And so, 90-95% of game designers create their games in silo, or with just their own internal team, only showing it to the public once the game is basically ready to go (artwork already done, components finalized, rulebook already complete). They still call it ‘playtesting’, but clearly the game development ROI is extremely low at this point, with all its sunk costs.
• We will have the humility and grit to test our games in public, through publicly-hosted game meetups, as well as our own hosted game nights through Genie Game Gatherings

• AI-Augmented Design: AI significantly speeds up, sharpens the quality of, and reduces our design costs.
• AI for game design ideation and research (e.g. input the mechanics we already have, and have it generate 5 more ideas for mechanics that suit the game’s theme)
• AI for artwork (e.g. Midjourney). This is currently a hotly debated topic amongst game developers. We anticipate that AI art will only get better, more widely accepted, and eventually the industry standard. Only Prestige, deluxe-ified games aimed at Hobby Gamers will have authentic human art.
• AI for copywriting (e.g. flavour text on cards, rulebook structure and clarity)
• AI for answering players’ FAQ. (e.g. players upload our rulebooks into NotebookLM, and clarify game rules with it)

2. Effective Distribution

• Prioritize Mass Market Retail Channels over Hobby ones.
• Manufacturing, Distribution and Retail operations are outsourced. We will cultivate deep, trust-based partnerships with manufacturers, distributors, and other industry partners, ensuring seamless operations and mutual growth. Go above and beyond to deliver excellent service and correspondence with them. Giving them what they need to succeed. Compel them to do repeated business with us, for future games.
• Focus on industry partners with strong presence in Mass Market Channels (Physical stores like Toys R Us, Walmart, John Lewis, as well as Online E-commerce platforms like Amazon, Shopee, Lazada). In our first market/territory, Singapore, the clear choice for distributor is Mind Cafe.
• While we can and likely will do some direct-to-consumer sales, either through our website, or at events, this will only constitute 5-10% of total sales, and is therefore not our priority. Our bandwidth and capacity should be directed towards Product Development and Marketing.
• Prioritize B2B industry events over B2C ones.
• The objective with these events is to secure distribution in international markets. The B2C ones have low ROI because (1) they are attended by Hobby Gamers, not Casuals; and (2) we will be just one booth amongst many other exhibitors in the same space, competing for attention from the public. Comparatively, if we secure even one distribution deal at a B2B event, it would more than cover our costs of attending the event already.
• Take the initiative to pre-book meetings with key publishers and distributors before going for these events, so that we are not wasting time.

3. Memorable Marketing

• Influencer Marketing: Collaborate with loads of micro-influencers. Let the crowd, the people, be your loudhailer. Flood the socialsphere, and capture the mindspace of your target audience. Make people feel like we are everywhere and anywhere we want to be. This was done to great success with Rats to Riches BETA back in 2018, which is how the game secured its first publisher deal.
• Community: We proactively go out of our way to develop a strong, personal, lasting relationship with our players and customers, forming a strong community and fan base. Games are emotional products. Part of that emotional mix comes from the feelings they have around the brand and its people.
• Grow 1000 True Fans, and keep them close to heart.
• Genie Game Gatherings serve the dual-purpose of connecting with our community of fans, and also playtesting.
• Bring them together through events.
• Epic, Exclusive Events: Run Genie Games-exclusive events that serve 3 purposes:
1. Showcase our games and vibrant community. By bringing a huge crowd together in one place to play our games, and taking lots of content for it, we will show the world the strength of our brand, our products, and our community of fans and followers.
1. Typically, game publishers do not host their own events. Instead, they book a booth at game conventions, competing against hundreds of other publishers for the attention of the crowd. It is generally cheaper and easier to do this, vis a vis hosting your own events. But the sheer impact of having an entire venue booked out just for one company cannot be underestimated.
2. Foster player connections and reinforce our brand identity. These events are the best opportunity for like-minded players who love our games to meet each other, fostering connections and strengthening the web of relationships of this company. Think of Nike Run clubs, or Tupperware Moms.
3. Demonstrate our commitment to creating extraordinary experiences. Demonstrate and showcase the fact that we are, at our heart, an experience design company. We create memorable experiences. The best way to do that is through events. For those who are unable or choose not to come to the events, make them feel FOMO as f*ck.
1. Games are, at their core, emotional experiences.
• Branding and Content: consistently put out content that conveys the essence of our company: “Make Magic”. Magic looks like:
• the smiles on our players’ faces as they connect with one another through our games
• the flow state they enter when they experience the ease and smoothness of our games
• the ‘light bulb moments’ when players cook up schemes and strategies in their heads, and the satisfaction when they successfully pull it off
• the joy of meeting like minded individuals at our events or gatherings
• the joy of sharing our games with friends, family and even strangers, letting them make magic too