In this episode of Frequently asked Questions, Valerie Quade speaks with international board game designers, craftsmen and manufacturers. “It was the first time we produced games near our full capacity, due to the unexpectedly large amount of orders and the short lead time”, says Ma Yukun, Vice President of the Nanjian Games Global Sales Department. For his company, Covid-19 was a huge boost: “All the staff were working 24/7  for a month. Even the sales team helped with packaging! By the time all the products were packed on pallets and shipped out, the team felt like we won the Olympics. We achieved far beyond our expectations.” With Ma, Valerie spoke about the company situation in Singapore, manufacturing in China and the expectations about SPIEL’21.

Martin Takaishi is a game designer. He works at Free League, a Swedish publisher and game creator dedicated to speculative fiction in various forms. “I think we’re going in for a rough ride”, he says. “The shipping situation won’t solve itself for quite a while.” Even though Free League mostly produces in Europe, it’s still critically effected by the lack of paper and other supplies.

Dakota Irish started as an Etsy shop in 2017 and since developed to a full time company. Luke Mcintosh, owner and chief craftsman talked with Valerie about the new challenges for small manufacturers. “We weren’t sure if we would have enough stock for christmas last year”, he explained. It’s all ups and downs. Fortunately his business is online anyways. On the others side, shipping costs exploded, while no ships from Asia were available. And Brexit? Well the journey from Ireland was pretty long…

Editing and moderation: Valerie Quade

Picture Dakota Irish: https://weareirish.ie/entertainment/dice-luke-mcintosh-dakota-irish/

Music:
Supersquelch by Brian Holtz Music
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/8413-supersquelch
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Save Me by Claus Appel
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/8383-save-me
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license