Crafting Digital Board Games: 2024 Development Cost Insights

Have you played a board game recently? Have you been able to climb the ladder in snakes and ladders? Did a snake get it? Has your family been emotionally destroyed by Monopoly?

If your answer to any of these questions is ‘yes, ’then you may be entitled to an upgrade; a DIGITAL upgrade, that is.

Insights into Digital Board Game Development Cost

Let’s back it up. A digital board game?

Yes!

Digital board games emulate the gameplay of physical tabletop games, including board games, card games, and role-playing games.

Some famous titles include Ticket to Ride, Splendor, Magic: The Gathering Arena, and Flash Point: Fire Rescue.

This is great because they help you overcome common problems like 

●  Finding a time and place that suits everyone 

●  Gathering enough people in that one place 

●  Players backing out at the last minute 

●  Just having friends who like board games.

All from the comfort of your home, and theirs!

And if you’re both a player and a developer, you deserve to understand and optimize the digital board game development cost. This is a key aspect of working at a game development studio.

When you begin developing your digital board game, so players can enjoy it across the globe, there are several varied costs involved. It can be tricky to balance these costs and the desirable level of quality. 

In this blog piece, we take a look at how digital board game development costs are changing with time, what factors influence it the most, and how you can reduce these development costs without compromising on the gameplay.

Let’s dive right in!

Related post: Budgeting Your Indie Game: Development Cost Insights

Trends in Digital Board Game Development Costs

Broadly speaking, budgeting digital board game development needs these considerations: 

●  The complexity of the game 

●  The number of components 

●  The level of artwork and technology used

Now, let’s get down to the numbers.

Between 2020 and 2025, the board game industry is forecasted to grow in value by $5.17 billion. Moreover, for 2023, the market size was valued at $13.06 billion.

Asmodee, Hasbro, Ravensburger, and Mattel are the key players here.

The digital board game design cost covers the designers, artists, developers, and more.

The average cost for digital board game development floats between $10,000 to $50,000 for a basic digital board game. The addition of advanced features can raise it up to $40,000 to $60,000 or even more.

Some more factors that need to be considered are the size of the development team, graphics design costs, game art style and music licensing fees, and marketing efforts.

Let’s talk about them.

Key Factors Influencing Development Costs

These are some of the important components that determine the cost of digital board game development:

1. Game design

This is a crucial step in the board game design process. Depending on if you hire a professional or invest time to learn to do it on your own, this could cost you between $1000 to $10,000.

It is best to always keep the principles of game design in mind like brainstorming ideas, creating rules and mechanics, etc.

Related post: How Does GDD Power Up the Game Production?

2. Artwork and graphic design

The game’s visuals are critical to delivering an engaging experience. Depending on the number and complexity of the art pieces you commission, this can cost you between $2,000 to $20,000. The art can be illustrations, graphic design, and layout.

3. Prototyping

Game prototyping is needed to validate and refine the game ideas. Depending on the nature of the prototype, it can cost you between $500 to $5,000.

4. Playtesting

It is important to gather feedback from a diverse group of testers. With expenses like travel costs and compensation, playtesting can cost between $500 to $3,000.

5. Marketing

Effective game marketing is crucial to any endeavor. The digital board game cost can vary between $2,000 to $10,000. This could be in creating a website, promotional materials, attending gaming conventions, and advertising through various channels.

Strategies to Manage and Optimize Development Costs

There are always some things you can do to reduce the costs:

1. Effective Planning: Define the project’s scope and requirements clearly to avoid any confusion that could lead to increased costs.

2. In-House or Outsourcing: Depending on your priorities, you can do the work in-house or outsource it. Generally, outsourcing can be cheaper.

3. Tech Team Make-up: Through an Offshore Development Center (ODC), you can access a large talent pool of digital board game developers at a much lower cost.

4. Adopt Agile Development: Agile methodologies enable you to conduct rapid iterations which can be cost-saving when developing board games. It is also good for encouraging teamwork, communication, and adaptability.

5. Select the Appropriate Tech Stack: The right technology can make a huge difference in the costs. This can be things like choosing open-source software.

6. Prioritize Cost Optimization Initiatives: Focus on effective management of areas like vendor management, asset optimization, project prioritization, and workforce optimization. This is excellent for cost optimization through avenues like consolidation, reduction, or elimination.

Also read: Game Design Psychology: Understanding User Behaviour

Conclusion

In this article, we see that there is a promising future for digital board game makers. With the knowledge of the key factors and strategies for cost optimization in tow, you can jump right into the process.

And if you need any help, you can always book a consultation with us. We would be happy to help!