Since I started working on High Noon Heist, I wanted to minimise the impact it would have on the environment. The creation of my first game has been a steep learning curve, so I thought that I would share methods that I have implemented for my first game as well as what I might try and do in the future.
Local Production and Fulfilment
Having the game manufactured locally in the UK means the freight distance is significantly reduced. The manufacturer that I plan on using is based only 50 miles from the fulfilment centre for worldwide orders, and 170 miles from where I will fulfil the UK orders myself.
This local production has a great number of advantages, not all related to the environment:
Reduction in emissions involved in freight from the supplier, to the fulfilment centre and then to the customer (it is likely my backers will be mainly UK based)
Easier communication with both suppliers
Much quicker delivery to all backers as freight is so short
Environmentally Friendly Supplier
Ivory Graphics, my chosen manufacturer, has made several amazing steps to become more environmentally friendly, including the following:
FSC® certified, meaning materials come from sustainable source
Recycling of over 70% of factory waste
Eco-friendly varnish for cards
Live tracking of the energy generated by their sites large solar panel system
Use of paper banding to secure card decks, instead of cellophane wrap
I know many other games manufacturers are starting to implement actions like this, including Fabryka Kart in Poland, who I have also been discussing manufacture with.
Reducing Game Size
Using a local UK manufacturer does come with some drawbacks, mainly the scope of what is possible in terms of components. Whilst this meant that I had to remove wooden chips and the cloth bags it did come with a number of other benefits and didn't effect the core gameplay.
Significant reduction in game size, meaning more games game fit on a pallet for freight and shipping
Shipping costs are much lower, a saving seen by backers
All components are now recyclable and plastic free
Extremely portable, making it a great travel game
What else could I do?
While I'm really happy with the steps I've made for this game, I believe there are further steps that can be taken, some of which I'm still investigating:
Using environmentally friendly shipping packaging, both for the orders I fulfil and the ones done by my chosen fulfilment company.
Localised fulfilment involved sending batches of games to each region, to be fulfilled from there rather than all from one place. This is really driven by demand, and wouldn't be suitable for High Noon Heist.
Localised manufacture would mean making the games in several locations, and then having them shipped from there. This would mean I no longer have to ship games from the UK to the USA for example, as the games would be made there locally. I believe this is a step too far for my first game, as it will require a large demand from multiple regions, however something to keep in mind for the future.
If my future if my games increase in complexity or have more components, this will introduce more challenges I will have to overcome, but for now I am happy with my plan for High Noon Heist.
Have a missed anything here? Let me know, I'm always keen to learn what else I can be doing my my small box games.