Re: [piecepack] Killer App?

["Jim/Diane Doherty" <dianejim@...>]

Hi David,


>First, you would have to go about advertising the thing completely
>differently if you wanted to promote a "killer app" type of game.

Well, I'm not sure it's quite that dramatic a change, at least in my head.

It's just an additional weapon in your marketing arsenal.  You can say
something like "The piecepack is a revolutionary generic boardgame.
Play great wargames like Attack of the Clones and solitaire games like
One Man Thrag.  And many more!"




>You'd have to go one way or the other, or risk
>confusing the message.

Personally, I don't think so.  I think game designers and certain gamers
will look at the piecepack and see a revolutionary concept, while most
will see that they love Attack of the Clones and One Man Thrag.

What do you see when you look at a deck of cards?  I see Cribbage.  If
my son is holding the deck, I see Go Fish.  And so on.  Playing cards don't
have a single killer app, they have several.  It's these games that leap to
my mind, not the cleverness of the deck as a generic gaming device.

I'm not saying the piecepack needs "a" killer app to be marketed
at the exclusion of all else, only that it would benefit greatly from its
"first"
killer app to help make it famous.



>Second, I don't see why the piecepack can't be successful given the current
>formula.

It certainly can.  It's just a question of what gets the word out fastest.
It's
generally easier to market a good game than a good abstract concept.

I think if I were selling piecepacks, I'd draw attention to the best
games in each genre.  I'd go to wargame cons and run Attack of the
Clones.  I'd go to fantasy cons and run The Wand of Odin.  I'd go to
summer camps and run Hunt the Wocket for kids.  All the while
mentioning that this is only part of what the piecepack offers.

That way, the games themselves would gain notoriety, and
people would be running around saying

    "Have you played Attack of the Clones on the piecepack?
        Great game."

    "Yeah, and I think my kids would like that Wocket game they
        mentioned.  I'm going to pick one up."



>and even given the PR piecepack has received, not enough
>people have heard about it.

I believe all Greg was saying is that a truly great and well-promoted
game or two would spread the word even faster.


Cheers,

Jim Doherty
Eight Foot Llama