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Mikko Saari: Good games sell in Finnish
Finland is a small market, very small - for example, New York has about four times as many people as Finland. Finnish language is also quite unlike any other language in Europe (except Estonian, which is even smaller market). Thus it’s no great surprise that relatively few non-mainstream board games have been published in Finnish.
However, the tide has turned. Settlers of Catan was finally released in Finnish in 2004, but it was Carcassonne, released the same year, that did the trick. Carcassonne won the game of the year award in Finland and is the point where I consider the Finnish board game revolution to start: Carcassonne sold extremely well. It had already sold well in English, but the Finnish edition, available in larger stores as well as the few specialist stores, was a big thing.
The timing is good. One thing that has contributed to the success of these new games is the existence of web forums. Almost every general web forum has a thread or two about board games and almost every forum has someone who has played and loved Carcassonne and spreads the good word.
Since then, the selection has become wider. Many publishers have German titles in their catalogue. Marektoy, always the brave one, has Kosmos (and Zoch and Drei Magier). Tactic has a deal with Queen, Lautapelit.fi is just generally alert. Lautapelit.fi brought us Ticket to Ride (and Through the Desert, Bohnanza, Doom and a bunch of Carcassonne expansions!), which won the family game of the year award in 2005. Alhambra got the adult game of the year award.
What’s even better, these new games have succeeded to beat the old classics. Reports from retailers indicate that this Christmas, the biggest sellers were the three game of the year games (Ticket to Ride, Alhambra and Geistertreppe). At some stores the games actually sold out.
What’s in store for 2006? Nothing less but quality games. Lautapelit.fi displays particular bravery: their releasing schedule includes Puerto Rico, Caylus and Samurai (there’s also rumours about World of Warcraft). Will the Finnish public be ready for these heavier games? I certainly hope so, and I know removing the language barrier helps a lot. I expect Puerto Rico to be particularly popular amongst the new board game enthusiasts.
All this means the year 2006 will be very interesting for Finnish board gamers. Can’t wait to see it!
© 2005 Mikko Saari
Posted by Mikko Saari on Dec 30, 2005 at 03:45 AM in Mikko Saari - Finland / 702
