T. CairesNov 20, 2022

I've been adding more merch to my store today! For someone that's supposed to be running a game company, I sure seem to just be selling merch 😅​ But! Here's a thread about that.

I launched my own studio a week before I signed as the head of US Sales for a pretty big publisher. The timing was done specifically for legal reason re:contracts, and everyone involved is happy with the deal. But I work a 50-60 hour work week job in games and then my hobby is.. running my own game studio.

Show threadT. CairesNov 20, 2022

For my own studio, Cabin Games, I have a game signed that's in development (actually we're moving to the refinement stage and art, so yay!). I gave myself a small starting fund to pay for this game's everything short of printing, as well as my studio's branding work, website & legal fees.

While we work on getting this first game done, which will be a year start to finish, I need something that I can sell to "keep the lights on" with the website and business license fees. Enter Merch.

Show threadT. CairesNov 20, 2022

Because my brand artist @Nosoulnoproblem is freaking amazing, he worked with me to make sure my branding was generically sellable.

I wanted my studio brand to be an almost lifestyle brand, because for me gaming is a lifestyle. Ben picked that up and ran with it.

He developed a logo and branding that is super easy to customize quickly for a variety of things. So now I have spooky and winter themed shirts, a super perfect tagline for sweats, and an amazing line of stuff people just wanna wear.

Show threadginevraNov 20, 2022
@theonetar @Nosoulnoproblem
I have been wanting to ask: I stumbled into the 'cos(z)y games' sector of twitch/youtube (I was trying to find Black creators).
Were you consciously inspired to 'cosy games' into a boardgaming context or is it a zeitgeist/multiple people feeling the same way at the same time thing??
Show threadT. Caires
@ginevra @Nosoulnoproblem i didn't know that was a thing, no! Oh interesting. I came up with the idea while we were in a merch meeting and i was thinking about the hoodie design. I just kept saying i wanted something cozy to wear, haha. So then we game up with that. Googled the saying and didn't find anything so tm'd it
Nov 20, 2022 at 4:02amWeb
Show threadginevraNov 20, 2022
@theonetar @Nosoulnoproblem This was who I was thinking of most: https://www.twitch.tv/cozy__games and this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI3gbrdIqwc but if you have a search on youtube, there's a whole movement aesthetically & culturally(?) (intertwined with Nintendo switch??)
Cozy__Games - Twitch

Hi I'm Kennedy, and I love playing relaxing, cozy games!

Twitch
Show threadT. CairesNov 20, 2022
@ginevra @Nosoulnoproblem oooh, switch stuff! Yeah, that makes sense...
Show threadT. CairesNov 20, 2022
@ginevra @Nosoulnoproblem it probably didn't come up cause i searched "play cozy" and "cabin games", and "play cozy cabin games" 🤔
Show threadNosoulnoproblemNov 20, 2022
@theonetar @ginevra I can confirm that I know of the "Cozy game vibes" specifically with the switch. (Stardew valley is one that comes up a lot) However, I never considered or connected those things when developing the brand's aesthetic. Everything was created solely on the feeling of inside a Cabin.