Locally Crafted Games Fair Post-Event Report

The Locally Crafted Games Fair (LCG Fair) held at Miniature Market on July 13 has come and gone. We got to spend a lot of time with some other great creators, demo games, and sell games. So, how did it go? Here's the highlights!

Who Was at the LCG Fair

There were a total of 6 vendors at the LCG Fair, including us. 7, if you include the special table that The Game Crafter had (more on that in a minute).

We were set inside the game-play area of the Miniature Market Superstore in St. Louis, MO. This place is really big compared to a lot of other game stores in the area, and can hold a lot of people. In addition, Miniature Market has lots of sales and great prices on games which draws a lot of people from around the region to its site.

​So, essentially, we were in the biggest play area of the biggest local game store in the area. Not too shabby of a start.

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A Look at the Booths

At the LCG Fair, AnSR Games had 4 tables and a small display set-up.

• We had a friend and super-fan Alyssa demoing our new game Promise Reborn (and its expansions).
• Nick, a friend who we helped make his game Master of the Realms, was there at one of our tables showing off his great game and making his first sales. That was awesome to see.
• Henry (Hal), our son, was treating folks to his new game Drop Racer Battles, his first game Drop Racers, and his limited print-run game, Birthday Fairy Wish Race.
• At the 4th table, Steph (the S in AnSR Games) was running the money side of things playing cashier. 
• Meanwhile Aaron (the A in AnSR Games) was demoing Pyramids of Mars and all the other small print-runs we brought to the Fair.
• At a 5th table, we set up a Game Crafter component table with coupons and random bits. We encouraged people to take some bits and make their own games. Then, they could use the coupon to order their first copy to test out and enjoy with friends. This table was unmanned, but all the vendors were hyping it up and telling folks to go there and make more games.

In addition to our booths, there were 5 other vendors selling and demoing their games to the public. In all, it was a great event turnout. See the gallery below for a look at not only our tables, but everyone else's!

Sales at the LCG Fair

We can't speak for everyone, but we had a great day of game sales. We ordered about $1,700 worth of games to sell. We ended up selling around $1,300, which made a net loss of near $400. Those are round numbers. While a loss in profits, there were some really good intangibles that happened.

The Highlights of the LCG Fair

While the money-side might not have been a total win, we did have a few other things that happened.

• 2 young game designers completed the cycle of game making: Design, Create, Publish, and Sell. It was great to see them experience the full cycle... and enjoy it.
• A game store owner (Jamie Mathy of Red Raccoon Games) came by, and he now has some of Promise Reborn sitting in his store as we speak. Really cool to say that our game is in a store! (Thank you, Jamie.)
• We sold more copies of Pyramids of Mars than I thought possible in a day. It is such an under-loved game, it was great to see copies go home with some folks.
• Our best sellers were our new games (which we were demoing): Promise Reborn and Drop Racer Battles.
• Square as our store app worked great. We were even able to add a product I forgot on the fly, and take sales on it.
• We had a small army of people setting up and tearing down our set-up (tablecloths, product, signs, GameCrafter bits, etc.) That was awesome.
• Lots of people took some great Game Crafter bits to make their own game. I am looking forward to seeing them at the next Locally Crafted Games Fair.

Lessons Learned

So, what could we have done better? A few things. In fact, after analyzing data, we figured out a few things that were a little forehead-slapping "well, duh" items, and a few we did not see right away.

• We made more sales and more money the later in the day. In fact, the last 2 hours were some of our best. So, we will be starting later and going later for the next one.
• What we demoed to people, we sold. Next time, we concentrate on demoing games that we believe people will enjoy at the venue.
• Our set-up had a cashier table. Each demo table had all the products at their individual table. That was a mistake. We should have had all the products right next to the cashier table. Demo here, buy there. That's what we are doing next time.
• We did not sell out of any games this time, so we did not get a chance to use our Digital Contingency Plan. We are hoping to have to use it next time.
• While our set-up and take-down time was great (under 1 hour for 5 tables and a free-standing area), we can make it more streamlined by making sure things are packed together that are going to be presented together.
• We did not have business cards. We had a lot of people as us for business cards. This was short-sighted. We are making playing cards with a nano-game and our game company info on them.

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What's Next? October.

So, what's next? Well, we are already looking at October to do another Locally Crafted Games Fair. We're hoping we get on one October 19, 2019. Most of the vendors and designers are on board. The game store is on board. And... we'll have an expansion or two to demo by then.

If you made it to the first LCG Fair, thank you. If you did not... plan on late October to join us and see some great games.