On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 7:01 PM, Nick Lamicela <nupanick@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Just so we're clear on this, most games can be played with six staches: five > transparent and one opaque. So why not have the current 3House plan and then > an "expansion" that contains two more treehouse of the same color, plus an > extra transparent set, like pink? Not a bad idea, actually. I think the "expansion" idea is a good way to market in these modern days of Euro (and Ameri) games rolling out $20 - $50 expansions on a regular basis. The market is used to it, and so it's not as much of a sticker shock to have (say) a $30 expansion for a (say) $40 "base game." Plus, a small rules booklet in the expansion could have anywhere from a handful to dozens of new games that become possible with a 6-stash + 1 opaque collection. So 3HOUSE offers a book of (say) two dozen great games, and the expansion offers another dozen or more--what other "game systems" can offer a couple of scores of unique playing experiences for $60ish? Packaging costs make me feel, however, that 5HOUSE should be the next "boxed set," even if that set gets branded with a game (e.g. Volcano). It's a tough call, I guess--worthy of Real Market Research: Would a consumer be more likely to dip their toes in a $40 box and then buy into the expansion for $30 more? Or would they be more likely to step up to a full $60, saving themselves the cost of a-whole-nother box printing and gluing (a box they will likely toss, once they integrate 3HOUSE and the Expansion for transport/storage), and thereby also not need to buy more to play the vast majority of games on the wiki? As a follow-up: What sort of stocking levels are needed and what overstock risks are likely with the Expansion route, because not every 3HOUSE buyer will eventually get the Expansion? Pondering all those questions really makes me believe that the better route is a full five stash + pink set (e.g. 6HOUSE) and a book of two dozen games (and links to many more!). Try to get it right at $60-$65 price point, which makes it comfortably less expensive than most Big Board games (viz Fantasy Flight); and then really tout the versatility of the system on the box back, on posters, and in other marketing collateral rather than try to sell it as a "single game but, hey, you can also play these" (viz Zendo boxed set; Volcano set; Martian Chess box). I maintain that selling the sets as Treehouse is a barrier to selling more than one set--whenever I demo, I have to take pains to explain that, yes, there's a reason to buy more than one Treehouse set and, no, there's not a very good reason to buy a different spectrum set until you've gotten at least five of one spectrum (the entries for the IGDC which required only one of both Rainbow and Xeno notwithstanding). I wonder how many retailers can put in that kind of explaining time (and how many shop browsers will stand still to hear it all)? Just my 2¢--worth nearly 1.8¢ on today's market! David