Sunday, March 21, 2010

Languages for Game Rules?

I'm trying to figure out whether to include rules in different languages in the manufactured form of my game. Many games currently in stores include rules in Spanish - it seems like that might be worth doing, since it's a relatively small cost to add a sheet of paper. German might be another possibility, if I hope to break into that market. I can get by in German, but I don't speak any Spanish, so that would be a challenge. I'm sure I could find somebody to help, though.

So, I'm pondering the following options:
  1. English only! America, hell yeah! :-)
  2. English only in the box, but include Spanish and German on the website with a link in the English rules
  3. English and Spanish in the box for U.S. retail, German on the website
  4. All three in the box
Seems like #4 is overkill. #1 is xenophobic, and might hurt sales. #2 is pretty easy. #3 involves an additional cost, maybe $0.20 a game, without knowing if the market will reward that investment. Probably #2 is the way to go - most customers will have a web connection, and I can even indicate the availability of the rules translations on the outside of the box if there's room. I could even do French, I suppose, if I'm trying to pick up Canadians and the Gallic market. The game is simple enough that the translations wouldn't be hard.

Any thoughts?

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