Billing itself as a “crazy race through Belgium and its breweries”, a truly Belgian board game has raised over €72,000, almost 5 times more than asked for in a crowdfunding, which ends today at 7 p.m.
The Belgian Beers Race reached its €15,000 goal within seven hours on Kickstarter and since then the money has kept pouring in as enthusiasts put in more to unlock more features of the game and get a first copy. It features brewers from across the country.
BYR Games, which is behind the Belgian Beers Race, knew the market and gamified the crowdfunding. As more pledge money was put in, they raised the cash to fund progressively more elaborate forms of the game.
People can contribute as little as €1. The ultimate is the so-called “Connaisseur Pack”, of which only 20 were made available for €240 and features the board game and an actual tour of six Belgian brewers using public transport. Those sold out fast since crowdfunding started on 27 August.
BYR, a start-up, is run by Michaël Boutriaux, Cédric Gheenens and Stéphane Hemberg.
“The amount we are currently collecting will soon allow us to start the production of 5000 copies and thus guarantee the game’s release in the store and ensure its life after the campaign,” they said in an update. “This also means giving life to BYR Games outside of Kickstarter and allowing us to work on the release of a second game (hopefully in 2021). As you may know, we have a Roll & Write version of TBBR which is well advanced. And also a game preliminarily called ‘The Festival’ that we have started to develop during containment.
“It is important for us to express our gratitude to you for making our hopes grow. Far from enriching us economically, you are involved in giving a greater meaning to the human adventure we are living. On the way to the next SG and a beautiful end to the campaign!”
Boutriaux, the original creator of the game, says they originally received proposals to publish the game but rejected them as none guaranteed them respect for the original spirit of the game or the promotion of authentic breweries, among other concerns.
So they decided to crowdfund and publish it themselves. With cash haul, the money they can fund 5,000 copies of the game.
“Self-publishing is therefore the best way to ensure production that is faithful to our values, our expectations and a fair selling price,” they say.
