Board Game Manufacturing Without The Middlemen
CostPlus pricing means you pay the actual factory cost of manufacturing your game plus a simple flat 10% fee to us.
There are no hidden markups, factory kickbacks, or layers of middlemen — you see the real pricing directly from the manufacturer.
What should games cost to make?
A CUSTOMER REVIEW FROM FARMS RACE:
“Nick helped us get a great quote for production and stay on top of the factory throughout. His long-term relationship with the factory and fluent Mandarin were instrumental to our success in manufacturing a complicated game with many components. He was able to bring in useful contacts and advise on every step of the process.”
— DANIEL DRANOVE, Co-FOUNDER OF FARMS RACE and CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY
HOW WE HELPED: Farms Race Raised over $285,000 on Kickstarter, sells at most retail stores and we saved them over 55% on their manufacturing.
how it works
email us at nick@costplus.games
140 game and card factories READY TO BID YOUR PROJECT.
THE STEPS
Send us your game’s component list or specifications. We’ll collect competitive quotes from vetted manufacturers we’ve personally worked with and visited in China.
Using our network of more than 140 game and card factories, manufacturing experience, and Chinese-language skills, we help negotiate better pricing and production terms.
You review the quotes and choose the factory. We work hard to negotiate the best possible pricing and terms for you. From there, we help coordinate samples, guide production, and answer questions along the way. Although we are there to help every step of the way, you communicate directly with the factory, giving you complete transparency and faster communication.
SIMPLE, TRANSPARENT PRICING
You pay the factory directly, so you always know exactly what your game costs to manufacture. Unlike traditional brokers, we never accept commissions, referral fees, or payments from factories and suppliers.
Our fee is simple: 10% of your manufacturing cost, excluding shipping—and you don’t pay us until your products arrive.
For far in 2026, we helped creators reduce their production costs by an average of 52%—even after including our 10% fee.
No hidden markups. No inflated factory quotes. No unnecessary middlemen. You get direct factory access, complete pricing transparency, and more money left to grow your game.
When you place future orders with the factory, we continue supporting the relationship, production process, and communication for the same 10% fee.
Our Story
When we launched our first Kickstarter game, Uncommon Questions, we did what most creators do — we searched online for board game manufacturers and reached out to the “big” companies for quotes.
The pricing shocked us.
We were quoted between $12–17 per unit with production timelines stretching past four months. For a small creator trying to build a real business, the numbers barely worked.
At the time, I had already spent years living in China and spoke fluent Chinese, so I decided to dig deeper myself.
I started attending gaming expos across the United States and Germany, meeting directly with dozens of factories and production companies. Eventually, I flew to China a few times to visit manufacturers in person and choose the right factory myself.
The result completely changed our lives.
Our manufacturing cost dropped to about $2 per game, and our first production run was completed in just 22 days.
What started as a fun side project suddenly became a real business with healthy margins and room to grow.
But the biggest surprise was discovering that many of the large “board game manufacturing companies” weren’t actually manufacturing anything at all. In many cases, they were using the exact same factories we found ourselves — while layering on massive markups in the middle.
That experience became the foundation for COSTPLUS.GAMES.
We built this company to help creators skip unnecessary middlemen, work directly with vetted factories, and keep more of the profit from the games they worked so hard to create.
To date, we’ve help creators produce 300,000 copies of their games with over 55 million components.
The advantage of CostPlus pricing is transparency — you see the real factory pricing directly, so you always know exactly where your money is going.
Because our fee is a simple flat percentage instead of hidden markups, our incentives stay aligned with yours: helping you get the best quality, fastest production, and lowest possible manufacturing cost.
WHY WE ARE DIFFERENTWHY PEOPLE USE US
Transparent Pricing
No hidden markups. You see dozens of factory quotes directly.
Lower Minimum Orders
Many factories can produce at 500 units instead of 10,000+.
Faster Manufacturing
Most productions completed in 20–45 days.
Better Margins
Reduce manufacturing costs dramatically compared to traditional brokers.
The next STEPS
STEP 1 — GET QUOTES (Usually within 72 hours)
Send us your game’s component list or spec sheet. We anonymize your project and send it to 20+ vetted factories we know and trust. Within a few days, you’ll receive competitive factory quotes directly along with our guidance on pricing, capabilities, and production timelines.
STEP 2 — SAMPLES & APPROVAL
Once you choose a factory, we move into sample production. Whether you need quick prototypes for playtesting and Kickstarter marketing or full-quality production samples, we help refine everything until it’s exactly what you want. Then you place the order directly with the factory.
STEP 3 — PRODUCTION & SHIPPING
Most games are produced in about 20–40 days. During production, we help with communication, shipping, and customs questions as needed. When production is complete, you pay the factory directly and your games ship to your door.
Simple. Transparent. Proven.Each GAME receives a CUSTOM “quote analysis” to understand the OPTIONS FOR making for your game.
READY TO GO?
SEND US AN EMAIL AND LET’S GET PRINTING.
Your Questions, Answered
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Board game manufacturing costs vary based on components, box size, materials, and order quantity. Simple card games with a box and a few hundred cards may cost under $2 per unit, while larger premium games can cost about $10-20. We help you compare multiple factory quotes to find the best balance of price and quality.
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Many factories require minimum orders between 1,000–3,000 units, though some projects can go lower depending on complexity. One advantage of working directly with factories is often gaining access to lower MOQs than larger manufacturing brokers advertise.
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Most production runs take about 20–40 days after final sample approval. Shipping time varies depending on destination and shipping method. In many cases, the entire process moves much faster than creators expect.
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Yes — many of our clients are Kickstarter creators.
In the planning phase? We can help with prototypes, production samples, manufacturing quotes, timelines, and preparing for larger production runs after funding.
We can also help with funky backer gifts! -
Yes. Because we aren’t afraid of you finding out just how much money we are making! We believe direct communication creates better transparency, faster problem solving, and better final products. We stay involved to help guide the process and assist with translation or technical questions when needed.
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We work with a network of vetted factories we’ve personally visited and built relationships with over the years. Many of these factories produce games for some of the biggest companies in the industry.
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Yes. We can help answer shipping and customs questions and connect you with freight companies we trust. Most factories also already work with shipping partners and can assist directly.
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We can help manufacture board games, card games, tabletop games, party games, RPG accessories, custom dice, punchboards, boxes, inserts, and more. If it can be printed, molded, assembled, or packaged, there’s a good chance we can help source it.
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Every project is different, but many creators are surprised by how much pricing can vary between factories and middlemen. Some clients have reduced manufacturing costs by 30–60% compared to traditional manufacturing brokers.
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A simple spreadsheet listing your game components is usually enough to get started. Include things like card counts, box size, boards, dice, punchboards, miniatures, and any special materials or finishes if known.