A talk at my FLGS

Last night I did a little birthday present shopping at my FLGS. It' s not really local to me, but it is near where my game club convenes, and we have a 10% discount deal with them, so I don't mind making a detour to support them. He had a few interesting observations, which may offer a different perspective from the US.

Fantasy Flight Games are selling well in his shop. Strangely enough this only goes for the English versions. Dutch translations (eg Games of Thrones) have fallen flat. This probably means that those interested in these games get them in English before they get translated. Given the broad knowledge of English in this country this is not surprising. Translating from English is only worth it when games aim at the very broad market, not just the niche boardgamers. However, translations from German and French do work.

Phalanx games, a Dutch-German cooperation that has tried to market more complicated games (of which a good part Ameritrash, eg Italia, War of the Ring, Revolution, First World War) to a European audience will not be publishing bew titles. Apparently it has not succeeded in reaching a wider audience, although several less complicated (Euro) titles have done well (Mesopotamia). I'm surprised it hasn't caught on more in the US, but the fact that some of these games were published by other companies for the US market may have something to do with that.

The Settlers family is reaching the end of the line in creativity and exposure. Although it has firmly settled as a classic next to Monopoly, Scrabble and such, expansions are facing diminishing returns. The new dice based travel version has little to offer but a few nice dice. The third big expansion (Barbarians and Traders) seems to be doing fine though. It includes rules for two players, which may also be a drawer.

Jur wrote:

Fantasy Flight Games are selling well in his shop. Strangely enough this only goes for the English versions. Dutch translations (eg Games of Thrones) have fallen flat. This probably means that those interested in these games get them in English before they get translated.

Could also be because expansions often don't get translated, from my understanding.

As far as I can tell, the expansions were not translated. But its a chicken / egg story. Would they have published expansions if they sold enough basic sets?

I can't say im surprised. Dutch versions of games annoy me without end. I often play with non-native's and even my gf is from another country so I have toget the english versions of games. Sometimes I crumble under the pressure tho. Got the dutch version of Warcraft and the expansion for bargain bin pricing.

I think the problem is that dutch versions will always be behind on releasing expansions (if they do it all). Or not publish them at all.

Also I think the Ameritrash revolution has just begun. I can remember picking up a copy of Doom up for $20, just 1,5-2 years ago. I was surprised. It was released by the dutch publisher of FFG tho. But it had all the english components including rulebook. Only had a dutch rulebook added as an extra. IMHO that should be the way dutch publishers should publish unless the product is really catering towards a younger public.

Nowadays even the most Euro store here seems to stock a shitload of FFG games. Going from 2-3 games to owning almost the entire product line. If that isn't a testament to the power Ameritrash is gaining than I dont know what is.

My best friend lived in Riga, Latvia for the last two years before moving back to the States. When he first moved there, nobody played boardgames, either euro or AmeriTrash. He tried to get some people interested, and they were like, "boardgames? that's so old-fashioned. you should be playing games on a console or computer."

Then I introduced him to a Latvian that I met online through the White Wolf site, and they started playing Prince of the City. Then my friend picked up Arkham Horror and Fury of Dracula while back for the holidays, and brought those back to Latvia, where they were a big hit. Now there are a bunch of AmeriTrash players in Riga, and they are spreading the word.

Hey Jur, thanks for the "scene report"! I think it's really kind of cool to hear what's going on out there like this, what's selling and being played. It gives us a bigger picture of what's happening in the hobby.

Jur wrote:

Phalanx games, a Dutch-German cooperation that has tried to market more complicated games (of which a good part Ameritrash, eg Italia, War of the Ring, Revolution, First World War) to a European audience will not be publishing bew titles.

Is that "new titles"? What a bummer then...

I dreamt maybe in two years they could publish one of my games

Well, this is not official, of course, this is just second hand from talk between the shop owner and the Phalanx sales man. Their website says they were reviewing their release plans (dated 11 february).They may just put things on hold and see if there are better opportunities now. But don´t count on it.

Apparently Mayfair is their AMerican partner.