In this video, Sir Thecos unboxes 7 games that are available at The Game Crafter. Here are the games featured in the video:
We look forward to seeing the videos he’ll make for each individual game!
Episode 39 of Board Game Blueprint talks about the Laboratory at The Game Crafter.
The Laboratory team at The Game Crafter can make 100% custom board game components, boxes, and more. If you can dream it, we can probably make it. :)
Tariffs and The Game Crafter
TLDR;
Tariffs are bad for everyone, even US manufacturers. Contact your representatives in congress and tell them to act.
What Are Tariffs
Tariffs are taxes on goods imported into a country by an importer of record. In our industry that is usually a publisher, importing games from a manufacturer. However, in The Game Crafter’s case, we are a manufacturer in the United States, so what we import is equipment and raw materials.
Why Are Tariffs Bad?
I’ll explain why the tariffs are bad for everyone, but you don’t have to take it only from me: the CEOs of Stonemaier Games, Calliope Games, and Steve Jackson Games have all done a great job explaining why tariffs are devastating, not only to their companies, and the industry, but to the economy as a whole.
Tariffs are a tax on a supply chain. Expenses in the supply chain either erode profits or are passed along to consumers. In the case of small businesses like those in the tabletop hobby, there simply isn’t a lot of profit to be had, and thus you either have to raise prices or you go out of business.
Also, everything in a supply chain is multiplicative, which is a big word that means that an expense added early in the supply chain gets multiplied every level it passes through in the chain. A product that cost $10 to make in China gets imported to the US with a 54% tariff means that the product actually cost the importer $15.40 (plus the shipping to get it from China to the US). The importer needs to pay for marketing of that product, plus the overhead of employees and warehousing, so they charge $30 to sell it to a distributor. The distributor needs to cover its expenses so they sell it to a retailer for $50. The retailer also needs to cover their expenses so they sell it to you for $75. That extra $5.40 of tariffs turned into an extra $25 for you as a consumer.
But here’s the thing, this isn’t just a problem for people importing finished goods. It’s also a problem for anybody importing supplies, equipment, or raw materials. Let’s use an example from The Game Crafter.
We import tins from China, because we have not been able to find a US manufacturer of tins. I’m going to use round numbers like $1 for the blank tin, labor, and shipping to keep this simple:
$1 blank mint tin ($1)
+$0.54 due to tariffs ($1.54)
+$1 shipping from China ($2.54)
+$1 labor, ink, and machine maintenance ($3.54)
+3% (or $0.08) from printing rejects ($3.62)
+30% ($1.09) profit ($4.71)
+4% (or $0.15) credit card fees ($4.87)
+5% (or $0.24) from customers reporting postal damage ($5.11)
As you can see, the total with the tariffs factored in is $5.11. But if we did the same calculations taking out the tariffs in the beginning, and therefore also not getting the multipliers applied to it, comes out to $4.39. So that 54% tariff on a $1 item actually added up to $0.72 additional cost to you! And that’s only for 1 component in your game.
Finally, we’ve been talking about board games. But the reality is that the tariffs affect everything from food to cars to computers to clothing to gasoline to medical supplies. So the cost of living goes up so we have to pay higher wages, and that raises the price of the games. The cost of energy goes up, which means the cost of making the games goes up, but so does the price of shipping, and thus it costs you more to get your games. So when I say tariffs are multiplicative, I don’t just mean on the raw costs built into the materials, I mean that when the cost of life goes up, then that gets added in everywhere else too.
These Tariffs Are Especially Bad
These tariffs are worse than normal tariffs for the following reasons:
- There was no advanced warning of what the tariffs would be or who they would affect and thus it has everyone scrambling.
- They were implemented by executive order, not congress, and thus no one believes they will outlast Trump’s presidency. Thus if the desired effect to is bring manufacturing back to America, they will not do that. Most likely, companies will simply withhold investment until Trump leaves office.
- There doesn’t appear to be any explainable logical methodology applied, and thus it is creating chaos. Consumer confidence is largely based upon stability, and both investing and the economy are based upon consumer confidence.
How Tariffs Affect The Game Crafter
We are a US Company, but we exist in a global economy, and going back to individual economies not only doesn’t make sense, it is not possible.
We have roughly 30 different robots and other machines that make your games. Exactly 3 of those machines were made in the United States, the rest were imported from 9 different countries. Which means the replacement parts to maintain those machines also come from 9 different countries.
The ink for our printers comes from Japan. The card stock that makes your cards comes from Germany. The chipboard that makes your punch outs and boards comes from the Netherlands. The tins and dice come from China. We import the raw materials that make your games from dozens of different countries. We always give preference to US suppliers, and still we end up importing because most of this stuff we either cannot source in the United States, or it is inferior quality.
I had a conversation with the top chipboard manufacturer in the United States back on November 26, 2024 about switching to them. However when he asked me where we source our chipboard from now he said he could not compete on quality or price. That’s right, I can import a better quality product across an ocean for less money than buying it a few states away. And that remains true even after the tariffs have gone into effect!
Is There Any Good News?
Yes and no. Tariffs are simply not good for anybody, but there are some advantages that The Game Crafter has that will help us weather the storm better than others.
First, all our acrylic and 3d printing filament is made here in the US. So we will be able to continue making game components without tariffs, even if all of our other game component suppliers get cut off or become too expensive.
Second, we are lucky in that we just imported fresh batches of paper and tins, so we have a few months to take a wait and see approach. And though those stockpiles will run out, we are also familiar with companies that make lower quality, or higher priced, or knock off brands of those products here in the US. Though not ideal, we will begin testing all of those immediately to see if we can find acceptable replacements should the trade war make everything too expensive or unreachable.
Third, President Trump signed a different executive order that eliminates the De Minimus Loophole which created the rise of companies like Temu. This means that companies outside of the United States will have tariffs applied to them even for small things being shipped directly to end customers. While this isn’t good for those companies or the end customer, it does provide an advantage for buying from The Game Crafter, as we make everything here in the US.
Fourth, The Game Crafter was birthed during the 2008 financial crisis and has weathered a lot since then. We are a resilient and creative company. We find a way to survive and thrive through turmoil by providing best in class service to our customers and doing right by our employees.
The Impact on You
If the tariffs are not rescinded then we will be forced to raise prices. The price increases will not only be due to the raw materials increasing, but because the cost of everything increasing will mean our employees will need to make more just to survive. We don’t want to raise prices, but this kind of chaos is bad for business and it affects everyone. Hopefully the chaos will end quickly.
What You Can Do
Contact your representative and senators. Our good friend Scott Alden from Board Game Geek has created a template you can use for what to say. Do it today, and keep doing it at least once a week until the tariffs are lifted.
WiscoDice BoardGame Podcast - Episode 139: Rolling with Innovation w/ JT from The Game Crafter
In the latest episode of the WiscoDice podcast, hosts Consey and Suzanne sit down with JT Smith, the visionary behind The Game Crafter, to explore the dynamic world of game design and prototyping. JT shares insights into the innovative services offered by The Game Crafter, which has revolutionized the way board games are created and published.
The conversation also delves into JT’s experiences at Protospiel conventions, where game designers and enthusiasts gather to test and refine their prototypes in a collaborative and supportive environment. Protospiel events embody the spirit of innovation and community that drives the tabletop gaming industry forward. Tune in to hear JT’s perspectives on what makes Protospiel uniquely awesome and how it fosters creativity among game designers and testers alike.
Download episode 139 at https://wiscodice.com/podcasts/ep139_ProtospeilBoardGameDesignGamecrafterInterview.mp3
In this video, professional game designer Matthew Dunstan talks about things to consider when choosing publishers to work with.
In this article, Joe Slack explains when you should start your pre-launch campaign before crowdfunding.
Protospiel Knoxville 2025
Knoxville Protospiel 2025 starts TODAY (April 4) and runs until Sunday at 6pm. It’s a weekend of playing, testing, and offering feedback on games in various stages of completion.
The Game Crafter loves protospiel events and supporting indie board game designers. We donated a bunch of board game pieces and blank prototyping components for designers to use at the event. Have fun!
Protospiel Kansas City 2025
Protospiel Kansas City starts this Friday (April 4th) and runs until 4pm on Sunday. This is another great Protospiel event where game designers and gamers can get together to playtest the latest games.
The Game Crafter loves to support indie game designers and design events. Our CEO, JT Smith, will be bringing a smorgasbord of board game pieces and blank prototyping components to donate to designers.