It takes courage to turn an idea into reality, and then a tremendous amount of time and effort to turn that reality into something functional, something great. Gábor Incze, a designer based in Gyergyószentmiklós/Gheorgheni, spent six years of his life turning his idea into an awesome board game that will shortly become available to users worldwide. TacTiki – which means tactic in Greek – has simple rules and offers a unique, dynamic game that has enchanted players worldwide, as the Kickstarter campaign has reached its goal in just a couple of days, with funding currently at 630 percent.
TacTiki’s road to success wasn’t easy, though. The first Kickstarter campaign Incze and his former partner Botond Imre launched didn’t make it because of their lack of experience in the international market. However, the positive feedback from TacTiki players pushed Gábor forward, even though he remained alone (again) because his partner decided to step aside and focus on his own projects. So, he continued to send samples to publishing houses and took the opportunity to take TacTiki to the Essen Spiel 2019, a popular annual event organized in Germany.
“I participated in the four-day fair with the help of the Mind Fitness Games team from Székelyudvarhely, hoping to introduce myself and possibly build relationships.
I took two prototypes, put them on the square-meter table and waited eagerly. People played TacTiki almost continuously, and some came back several times to play. It was a huge experience for me as a game designer.
Although I hadn’t reached my main goal of finding a publishing company, the positive feedback received pushed me forward,” Incze tells TransylvaniaNOW.
A contract finally arrived shortly after his return from Germany. Building on the feedback he received from regular players, Incze continued to market his game through a variety of channels, including active groups on Facebook. That helped him ink a licensing contract with Drawlab, an experienced board game publisher based in Athens, and relaunch TacTiki on Kickstarter, but this time in a professional manner.
“I never thought I’d see more than 1,500 backers in the first wave of funding,” Incze tells TransylvaniaNOW. “And this is just the first wave; the second wave will arrive when TacTiki reaches its backers and is available on store shelves, and people from all around the world start playing it,” he says.
In the first round, TacTiki is only available for pre-order through Kickstarter. The campaign runs until November 5 and has so far reached USD 82,301, which is 630 percent of its original USD 13,033 goal. When TacTiki is shipped out in May 2021, players based in the European Union, U.S., Canada and Japan will be able to try it in stores.
Title image: TacTiki, the game designed by Gábor Incze.
