Board Game Express
From tabletop idea to factory-ready spec.
Board Game Express turns your game concept into a complete design document — identity, mechanisms, game loop, and a production-ready manufacturer spec. Toggle between a Publisher pitch and a standalone Manufacturer export, from the same document.
HOLLOW HARVEST
BOARD GAME · MEDIUM · 1-4 PLAYERS
Mechanisms
Manufacturer Spec
Document Sections
The Board Game Designer's Dilemma
Your pitch has to sell the fun and spec the manufacturing — at once.
A board game document serves two masters. A publisher wants to know what it feels like to play. A manufacturer wants a component list with materials and dimensions. Most designers nail one and fumble the other — and the gap costs them the quote or the deal.
I had a beautiful pitch and no component list. When the manufacturer asked for specs, I had to start the whole document over from scratch.
Cost: the document, rebuilt
My component manifest was in the wrong format for the print shop. They sent it back and asked me to re-submit it their way.
Cost: a rejected quote request
I listed mechanisms that didn't actually work together. A publisher spotted the conflict in the first read and passed.
Cost: a pass on page one
The Difference
One document. Both audiences. No rework.
Before
A pitch with no manufacturing spec attached
Component lists in the wrong format for the shop
Mechanisms that don't actually fit together
The whole document rebuilt for each audience
Nothing you can send straight to a quote
After
Creative pitch and manufacturing spec in one
A manifest that matches print-shop formats
A clean, coherent set of core mechanisms
One document that serves player and factory
A spec ready to submit for a prototype quote
What you get
Complete Game Identity
Title, category, player count, playtime, age range, and complexity weight — plus a punchy tagline and "plays like" comps that orient a publisher the instant they open the document.
Format · Weight · CompsMechanisms & Game Loop
Up to three primary mechanisms from eighteen options — plus a custom slot for anything the list doesn't cover — and the complete turn structure: setup, action, resolution, reward, and win condition.
18 Mechanisms · Full Turn LoopProduction-Ready Manufacturer Spec
A real bill of materials with material, dimensions, and finish per component, plus board size, box & packaging, print & file specs, and safety & compliance flags — the sections a factory actually quotes from.
BOM · Box · Print · ComplianceDual Publisher & Manufacturer Views
One document, two exports. Copy or download the full pitch with the spec embedded, or the standalone manufacturer spec alone — formatted the way a factory expects to read it.
One Doc · Two ExportsMarket Positioning
One to three real comparable titles, your target audience segment, your unique selling point, and a why-now hook — the language that turns a design into a pitch.
Comps · Audience · USPBudget & Production Economics
Estimated unit cost, target MSRP, margin notes, a funding ask if you're pitching for financing, and a realistic timeline to production.
Cost · MSRP · TimelinePART OF THE GAME DEV SUITE
Board Game Express is where the pitch and the spec become one document.
Board Game Express stands on its own — describe your game concept and get a complete pitch-and-spec document back in one pass. It also pairs naturally with the rest of the Game Dev Suite: give your game's cast real depth in NPC Forge, draft a companion digital or hybrid app's design document in GDD Express, or spec a training-focused build separately in Sim Spec AI.
NPC Forge
Naming characters or factions in your theme? Build them a full character bible here.
GDD Express
Building a digital or hybrid companion app for your game? Draft its design document separately.
Sim Spec AI
Adapting your game for training or serious-game use? Spec that build separately here.
How It Works
From concept to quote-ready in four steps.
Define The Game
Name, category, players, time, age, weight, tagline, and comps.
Pick Mechanisms
Choose up to three primary mechanisms that work together — plus a custom one if you need it.
Build The Loop
Setup, win condition, and the full turn structure: action, resolution, reward, end trigger.
Generate The Spec
Every manufacturer section — components, board, box, print, compliance, production — filled at once.
The Mechanism Picker
Eighteen mechanisms. Pick up to three.
A game's mechanisms are its DNA. Board Game Express asks you to commit to a focused set — the discipline that keeps a design sharp instead of a pile of half-ideas — then builds the full turn loop around them.
Worker Placement
Deploy limited workers to claim actions before opponents can.
Deck-Building
Grow and refine a personal deck over the course of play.
Area Control
Compete for dominance over regions of the board.
Cooperative
Players win or lose together against the game itself.
Push-Your-Luck
Risk what you've earned for a shot at more.
Social Deduction
Hidden roles and the hunt to expose them.
Drafting
Pick from a shared pool, then pass the rest along.
Legacy / Campaign
Progress and consequences that carry across sessions.
+ Ten More
Tile-Laying, Engine-Building, Roll-and-Write, Trick-Taking, Auction / Bidding, Hidden Movement / Traitor, Route-Building, Set Collection, Dice Rolling, and Variable Player Powers — plus a custom slot for anything the list doesn't cover.
Built For Everyone Bringing A Game To The Table
From first prototype to publisher pitch.
Board Game Designers
Complete design documentation before the first prototype build.
Kickstarter Creators
A publisher-ready pitch and a manufacturing spec in one document.
Game Design Students
Academic submissions requiring full design documentation.
Publishers
A standardized format that covers every section they evaluate.
Board Game Express
- Complete Game Identity
- Mechanisms & Game Loop
- Production-Ready Manufacturer Spec
- Dual Publisher & Manufacturer Views
✓ No credit card required · 3-day free trial, then $23/mo · cancel anytime
New users get a free 3-day trial of every tool in the Game Dev bundle.
Your game is ready for the factory floor.
Every quote request you reformat by hand is a week you're not designing. Turn your concept into one document that sells the fun and specs the build — ready to submit.
Start your free trial →Common questions
Does it work for card games and dice games, not just board games?
Yes — Board Game Express covers nine categories: Card Game, Board Game, Dice Game, Tile-Laying Game, Party Game, Miniatures Game, Board + App Hybrid, RPG/Narrative, and Other. Pick the category in your first draft and every downstream field adapts to it.
What's the difference between the Publisher and Manufacturer views?
One document, two exports. The Publisher view is the full pitch — hook, theme, mechanisms, market position, and budget — with the manufacturer spec embedded as one section. The Manufacturer view is just the production spec on its own: bill of materials, box & packaging, print & file specs, safety & compliance, and production & logistics — formatted the way a factory expects to read it.
Can I update the document as the design changes?
Yes. Board Game Express generates a document you own and edit section by section, with autosave — each field also has its own regenerate button (3 uses per field per month) if you just want a quick refresh. To redraft the whole thing from a new concept, update the elevator pitch — your designer credit and contact info are never overwritten.