Rolling for Initiative is a weekly column by Scott Thorne, PhD, owner of Castle Perilous Games & Books in Carbondale, Illinois and instructor in marketing at Southeast Missouri State University.  This week, Thorne talks about the info needed to place an order.

I’ve been working on putting in an order for new releases from our distributors and find that their catalogs (and Websites for that matter) lack some very important information.  I can't truly blame the distributors because they rely on the manufacturer to provide information about the games (or other products listed).  However, in looking over one distributor's pre-order catalog, I find a brief blurb describing how cool the game is and, in most but not all cases, a photo.  

However, missing in almost all case is important information that people buying the game would want to know before they purchased it.  How many people can play?  What age groups can play?  How long should a game take to play?  That is important information a customer would want to have before they bought any board game off my shelves and I would really like to have the same information before deciding whether it is a good fit for my store or not.

In the case of RPG supplements, especially if it is a new company or one whose product I have not stocked previously, I want to know the answers to a number of questions.  How many pages?  Color or black and white?  Is it suitable for beginning players or more experienced ones?

Flipping through this month's (August 2011) ACD Distribution catalog, I found two publishers that provided outstanding write-ups which really helped me to make a decision on whether to bring in their games or not.

The first is Dan Verssen Games' release Modern Navel Battles--Global Warfare.  There's a short blurb reminding me it is based on the 1990's version of the game from 3W (which we sold quite a number of during the time it remained in print) and that it's a card game.  Then the entry moves into important information.  It describes the game as "fast to learn and play."  It has a full color rulebook, 220 cards and takes 2 to 6 players about an hour to complete a game.  A color photo of the packaging and the MSRP accompany the blurb.  The only thing really missing from the write-up:  suggested age ranges.  From what I remember of the original Modern Naval Battles, a ten to twelve year old could reasonably play the game but an eight year old would have problems.  Is that still the case?  The entry doesn't say.

We carry Dan Verssen Games so have a pretty good idea regarding what we will see when Modern Navel Battles arrives.  We do not carry Summoner Wars so do not know the quality we should see from Plaid Hat Games, but their entry for Dungeon Run is also very well done, giving us enough information to make a reasonable decision.  There's a short description of gameplay (no information on components though, which is a strike against it), accompanied by a picture of the package and the MSRP.  In addition, we have estimated game length (90 minutes to two hours), suitable for one to four players, ages 9 and up.  Good job.

A couple of other publishers come close to the entries provided by DVG and Plaid Hat, notably Cool Mini or Not and Fireside Games, but other publishers focus on this is how you play our game, nothing on suitability, number of players, components, etc.  If you want me to bring your game into my store, give me the information in your distributor solicitations I need to decide if it is a good fit for my market or not.  Right now, most board game publishers don't.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely  those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect th views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.