2023 Stakeholders Report

~ Editorial Team

A few months ago I came across this wonderful article by Jamey Stegmaier of Stonemaier games. In short, it’s an article written for the stakeholders of his game company, to share how the year went and what the health of his games, fanbase, and company are.

I was inspired to do the same for Paper Dice Games. PDG is a hobby business for me, so the focus will be a bit different for this article when compared to Jamey’s. I think this article will help the fans of my games understand how many games are out there being played, but also perhaps inspire other designers on their path through game design.

What are Stakeholders

Stakeholders are defined as anyone who has a stake in the success of PDG. This includes people who play my games, watch or read content, are a part of the mailing list, are customers, followers, and fans. It also includes everyone we partner with, from artists to other designers. 

What is the Stakeholders Report

This article is like a report that focuses on the hobby-business side of PDG, as well as outlining the overall health and reach of PDG games and content. However, the numbers and information shared in this article are far from the main goals of Paper Dice Games.

When considering the main goals I have for designing games, there are two guiding principles I use:

  • Spread fun
  • Help others 

You can read more about these goals in my blog post here.

Having said that, I do like the idea of sharing some of the sales numbers and outreach around my games. If you are interested, this will hopefully give you a more behind-the-scenes look at Paper Dice Games.

2023 by the Numbers

In his article, Jamey shares revenue numbers for his company. I considered doing so for mine – however, because PDG is a hobby business, I decided not to do so this year. It’s something I may do in the future.

I do want to share my revenue percentages below. This outlines where most of my revenue is coming from for PDG. 

Revenue Streams – 4

Independent Contractors and Collaborators – 1

  • Lunar Wire – Unicorn Party digital collaboration for Snacky Forest

New Games – 1

New Expansions – 2

Summary

I mentioned this in a previous post, but 2023 was light on the design and development side for me. Even so, I’m excited by the progress I made this year, and I am already tackling some of my goals for 2024. One area I am focusing on improving in, is contractors and collaborators. I really want to expand the teammates I work with on my games, and I’m hoping I can do that in a big way in 2024.

Lifetime Game Sales

The section below takes a bigger picture look at the health of the games I’ve created since 2018.

I’ve released at least 14 games so far, depending on what counts as a game release. Many are free. For each game I’ve released, I’ve included the total sales or downloads from the game’s release through the end of 2023. 

I don’t track sales/downloads for my Dungeon Builder pamphlet, Deduction Name Game, Dwarf Mine: Winter Workshop, or my Century: Spice Road Project Hail Mary hack. I also do track downloads for a few of my playtest releases, but I’m not sure I want to share those numbers at this time.

Overall, my game sales and downloads have far exceeded my expectations. I’m about 25 games away from being able to celebrate 1000 total sales, and my free games and expansions (including my playtest versions) have easily surpassed 3000 downloads.

I share this because, in my experience, anytime I embark on a creative venture, I ask myself the same questions.

“Is this good?” “Will people enjoy this?”

Sales and downloads are positive feedback that help answer those questions. Seeing the big picture like this helps me keep improving, and keep designing.

Outreach Metrics

I firmly believe that a rising tide in the tabletop game industry lifts all boats. There really isn’t competition in my design business – just opportunities for collaboration. The more people play tabletop games and enjoy them, the higher chance they’ll find my games.

Here are some of the outreach metrics I track to see how I’m doing in sharing my games.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with how things went. Outreach seemed to go up this year, except for my blog. This was expected though, given there were fewer releases this year than last. I’m especially excited for my Youtube channel, as I’ve gotten great feedback and suggestions on how I do videos, and have had some wonderful conversations with the community.

I do want to note that I am no longer engaging on traditional social media sites. Previously I was putting time and effort into the three largest social media sites to have a presence there. However, I decided I no longer wanted to support these sites. The long-term goals of the big social media sites differ greatly from my long term goals, and I felt it was time to step away. I believe my accounts are still out there, but I’ll by trying to remove them in 2024.

Highlights of 2023

I wrote a detailed blog post titled 2023 Year in Review that covered most of this in detail – but here are the highlights.

I was able to release Gridhack! Gridhack is a game that has been mostly sitting around since 2020. I’ve been working hard on updating it (since there are some problems), and I’m hoping to have more news on it in 2024.

I also released two free Dwarf Mine expansions. It makes me so happy that people love to play Dwarf Mine! So when I have time I want to give them new ways to play.

Finally, I restarted my Youtube Channel and Mailing List. If you’ve made it this far in the article and haven’t subscribed to both, I think you should – you’ll like what I share and create!

Looking ahead to 2024

I don’t like to share specific plans about the future anymore, because I’ve found that game design has many surprises. For example, last year I was certain I’d be releasing a game that I held a big playtest for in 2022, but…there was a problem in how the game combat worked. So the game needs more design concept time.

However, I can speak in general terms about what I hope to accomplish this year.

First, I’d like to release a full game for sale. I love Dwarf Mine, but I would like to get another game out there for fans to enjoy.

Second, Distress Calls for Space RPGs has seen mild success. I have found it recommended both on discord and reddit, which is great! I’d like to work on a similar project, but for a different setting.

Finally, I want to do another Dwarf Mine expansion. I have what I think is a pretty cool idea, that’s quite different than the other expansions. If you subscribe to my mailing list I’m sure you’ll hear more about it soon.

I think that’s it! Here is one final reminder to join us in the mailing list! Thanks so much for reading, being a stakeholder for Paper Dice Games, and being a fan of games!

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