Cosmic Terror Board Game makes Millions

Want to know the secret to making millions selling something so niche its almost a niche to the Nth power?

Let us examine a product entitled Cthulhu Wars (CW).  A board game.

Please note, I am not associated with Petersen Games, which produces this product. I am not getting a penny for this post.  I am doing this because I believe it highlights that by applying certain core principles, the most unlikely product can be transformed into a goldmine. 

Including Cthulhu Wars.

What is a Cthulhu? Let us save that for now…

Know this first:

Petersen Games has raised over $2 Million Dollars for developing this game through two Kickstarter (KS) Campaigns. The second KS ended this week for expansions on the core game.

 The creator of the game, Sandy Petersen, in his first KS campaign, was seeking $40K to fund an initial run of the CW game. He was gob smacked that it raised $1.4 million dollars! He did a second KS for expansion sets of even more bizarre niche items. This time he set the goal for $75K… hoping it would actually net $600K. He was wrong. He surpassed that and made $1.01 million dollars. A spin-off/associated KS campaign by an artist involved with Cthulhu Wars also nabbed $100K+ for a coloured art book and a few figurines.

…and people are still sending money in after all these campaigns to get on board with this board game.

 Millions of dollars!

Sure, its not like an X-BOX PlayStation etc. release …. but this is a family run business releasing a board game. It is not a multinational giant corporation!

Millions!

Now let us look at how niche this is: 

1) It is a BOARD GAME. Yes. Not a fancy videogame or simulation-ultra-tech doodad or amazo app. It is a game with a board, playing pieces, dice, and cards.

 2) It is an EXPENSIVE board game. The basic retail price for the base game is $200 USD. If you were lucky enough to get it through KS, it would be $150. If you pledged $700+ as one of the reward tiers as part of a bundle, the core game would still be $100!

3) The subject matter is based on a very SPECIALIZED area of horror literature, the Cthulhu Mythos.   Cthulhu and its ilk are vast alien cosmic entities dreamed up (or nightmared up) by a writer named Howard Philips Lovecraft. HPL wrote his stories back in the 1920s and 30s… but that like his entities, his stories seem to never die…

• Click here for learning more about HPL
• Click here for learning more about the Cthulhu Mythos

If you wish to look at the campaigns:

• Click here to look at KS 1
• Click here to look at KS 2

So why on Earth (or off earth???) did these campaigns work so well?

In my opinion, the project exemplified the use of classic business principles for a SERVICE based approach!

Cthulhu Wars is a product… and it was a product based on serving a large community that exists with specific interests. A large market with money. 

The process of developing Cthulhu Wars appears to have been the perfect blend of being artistic (creator driven) and artisanal (the art being influenced by the people who would fund it).

To go deeper:

1) The creator, Sandy Petersen, is a well known game designer who has decades of experience in delivering high quality games. He is also known to go above and beyond that there are extra goodies for those who support the games. Mr. Petersen also makes sure everything produced has a value-add and a purpose for a game or for collecting.  He also is passionate about the Cthulhu mythos, having created the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game decades ago.  He also helped develop DOOM, QUAKE... well, rather than go on:

Sandy Petersen's Bio

Mr. Petersen in the framework of Aristotelian Persuasion / Trust factors:

Ethos / Credibility –            <CHECK> for gamers and Cthulhu Mythos fans

Pathos / Passionate -            <CHECK> for gamers and Cthulhu Mythos fans

Logos / Business Savvy –     <CHECK> for gamers and Cthulhu Mythos fans

A major factor to his success, I also believe, is that he is highly engaged and responsive to his customers. He is PRESENT in the trenches.

2) Innovation Over the Top. Who spends $700 on a single board game? Who spends $200?? Not many. Very audacious…. Yet what great venture is not?   There is a certain intangible pride (or infamy) of owning a game that in the end might cost you $1000…. Yet why do people buy or collect anything that may not have basic human needs use?  

3) Value and Value-Add! The game spares no expense. From highly crafted playing pieces to the superb art in the rulebook, everything is top notch.  Some buyers have stated they are buying this game not to play but to collect the figurines. Walk into a comic book store and see not just comic books but other collectable figures going for amazingly high prices.  The Cthulhu Wars products are designed to be part of a functional game and they can stand up as art pieces / collectables. You can easily sell off the special extras on eBay and recoup or make more than what you originally bought components for. People are already getting ready to haunt the auction sites for unique collectables from the first KS they missed… ready to pay hundreds of dollars.

4) The Cthulhu Mythos is Everywhere. This might appear niche until you look at how this area of horror/SF developed.   Before the internet, the writer H P Lovecraft corresponded a great deal with fellow writers. It was social media old school style and he was a master. If he lived today he’d have 30K+ followers on LINKEDIN and 500K+ on Twitter…. It was because of this connecting that HPL’s writing circle friends took up “the game” of expanding and creating more elements to the mythos. This has been going on since that time and continues still to this day as new writers keep playing! In fact, you will find Cthulhu elements in Star Trek, Doctor Who, and much more. Even in shows like True Detective! The King in Yellow and Carcosa were originally created by a writer named Robert W. Chambers and are now considered linked to the Cthulhu Mythos. Yes, True Detective featured cosmic horror elements… including the version of the Yellow Sign as the “Time is a Flat Circle.”

The game of insert, expand and spot the Cthulhu mythos in multimedia is alive and well in the 21st century.

5) Crowd Sourcing with Social Media.   Crowd sourcing alone likely would not have accounted for the millions. A key element to me is that Sandy Petersen is as happy to correspond with supporters as HPL did with his writing circle back in his day. The crowd sourcing was tied into social media to help the word spread. Even on the Kickstarter comments section alone, a huge community grew. It was like attending the yearly line-ups for film festivals and getting to know the regulars.

LAST POINT KICKER: Did I mention the game itself is actually FUN to play? It has been given rave reviews across the internet.   The only downside that was noted is the price might be high for some.   However, it appears by the success of the KS campaigns, the intended market segment seemed not to mind.

 So, in addition to the sterling service and detailed development process being linked interactively with the end users… the product itself as a game is critically acclaimed to be a great game.  

You might ask the why people would pledge over $2M for such a campaign of the esoteric instead of giving to a world hunger project.

I think its not because people are self-serving... I believe it is because the same principles that made CW a success need to be in place to give any campaign a fighting chance.

A cause alone is no longer enough for most people. I believe in the 21st century people have become more sophisticated. Pledgers, donors and backers want to know the people running a campaign are reliable, passionate, and well established. The pledgers, donors and backers want to know if they will be heard and their input of ideas are acknowledged in some way. Also, to know what is being given is being spent wisely and has value to the end recipients.

 Sadly, I’ve seen to many charity or good-cause campaigns just milk money from donors and with very little results produced.  I need to know I’ve done my own due diligence on the people in charge, that the campaign is in good hands, and there is a well thought out plan.

 So if you want to run a campaign for a humanitarian cause, I humbly suggest to make sure you have all that in place.  If you are not great at these elements of business, then find others to do it for you and that you can support. Promote people you trust, can execute a plan, and get results. You’ll help the cause you wish to support much better that way. 

So, my take away lesson from reflecting on the Cthulhu Wars story is this:

No matter if a campaign is for a good cause, charity, nonprofit activity, or pure profit… service will always be as (if not more) important as the product. It really helps if the product is great too! For those embarking on getting people to back their ideas…. Consider building a solid reputation, forming ongoing relationships with your supporters, and getting a track record of delivering your deliverables.  It takes great effort but with such foundations the most unlikely idea can be transformed into a real goldmine for all involved. 

Ask Cthulhu. He’s green. The colour of money.

 The Poster: Dr. Bruce Ballon is an Associate Professor of Public Health and Psychiatry for the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine and Adjunct Professor for the University of Ontario Institute of Technology’s Faculty of Health Sciences. As Director of Education for SIM-one (the Simulation Network of Ontario), Dr. Ballon has promoted advancing the uptake and innovation of simulation across healthcare. He is the lead developer and lead of the Advanced Clinical and Educational Services (ACES) for Problem Gambling, Gaming and Internet Addiction at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Dr. Ballon is also a Senior Education Consultant for enhancing experiential techniques for training and simulation at Baycrest for healthy aging and brain health. Dr. Ballon has been a consultant and advisor to a variety of media-related activities including television, plays, novels and film productions to help create accurate portrayals of psychiatric and addiction elements. Dr. Ballon also works with industries involved in interactive technology and games for understanding its impact on people’s lives. He is also an illusionist who has presented at Stratford and other illustrious venues across the globe, using magic and mentalism to educate on issues regarding mental health and addiction.