The 2010-2011 fiscal year ended for us on August 31, and it could have been a better year, but considering we sold out our inventory of two games (Zombie Attack and Deer Hunter 2050) by the middle of the year, it was respectable. With the closing of so many book stores that carry board games, our retail opportunities have been diminishing, but we countered that by increasing our sales in the UK and Canada. The Climbers did poorly with the educational catalog market, and one catalog house ended up returning two of the 45 cases they’d originally ordered last summer.
Small opportunities for new financing have been popping up, and we are working to position ourselves for them.
Robot Hamsters in Space
Assorti
Samsara
And I’ve been taking the sales lull as a good time to do more product development and testing. I’ve continually upgraded and honed the prototype for Robot Hamsters in Space, and we may be able to design and produce plastic hamster pawns for them soon. I just tested Assorti again yesterday, and it went over pretty well; players liked the relatively short rounds (about 10 minutes usually), and how often simple decisions were required (about which cards to keep and which cards to discard to one of several stacks). I have played Samsara with a variety of different groups, and I’ve decided I just need to start watching, because I’m getting too good at it for new players. I hope to bring out Master Spy and Star Hopper for more testing again soon as well.
Mark Salzwedel