How the Company Behind D&D Magic and Avalon Hill Innovate
Chris Cocks
But company president Chris Cocks tells Glixel that to stay that way  they need to shake loose from some of the trepidation that comes with such successes and continue to chase risky ventures  push changes despite the reluctance of long-time fans and invest in new ideas. With nearly two years at the company  Cocks seems to be already having an impact.
So  Cocks  went about figuring out a new approach for the company as a whole   he  landed on something  he  describes to Glixel as the Castles and Boats approach. “The castles are the big brands with large fan bases  high expectations  lots of history and lore. We spend a lot of resources on those ”  he  says. “The boat is more of a test. It’s very fast  very flexible. If a boat doesn’t succeed  that’s OK; you can launch a new one. D&D and Magic are both castles for us.” And a game like the upcoming Transformers title is a boat. “With the Transformers trading card game  we can be nimble ” he says.
The game hasn’t been formally announced yet  but  Cocks  says it’s a title aimed both at young teens and the collector and toy audience. It will come out in September or October. “We think Transformers are cool and the game has interesting  unique mechanics ” he says. “All cards are two-sided  over-sized and feel bigger  weightier in your hand.”  Cocks  says the game has a relatively light learning curve  but a lot of depth. “It should take one or two times to understand how to play ” he says.
While Dungeons & Dragons’ history traces back to the ‘70s  Avalon Hill’s history of miniature wargames  role-playing and tabletop titles started hitting in the ‘50s. The library of the Baltimore  Maryland company includes a dizzying array of titles that touch on everything from Robin Hood and Shakespeare to WWI and WWII to Dune  Starship Troopers and Dr. Ruth. After Hasbro purchased the company in 1998  the toy creator added many of its strategy games to the label  including Axis and Allies  Risk and Stratego. Not surprisingly   Cocks  sees a lot of value in the company. “I think there is a big place at the table for them ”  he  says. “Board games sales have been increasing 25 percent a year and are projected to continue to grow at that rate.”
Wizards approach to Avalon Hill is  in many ways  the most evident sign of how it likes to sort through both a long-lived history and create new properties. In figuring out what to do next from Avalon Hill’s library   Cocks  says they look for the Zeitgeist. “What are players asking for ”  he  says. “We watch social media. We survey our players.” That also ties in nicely with the company’s approach to hiring. “The most important  if not fundamental  thing we do to have a holistic approach is to hire fans of the games ”  he  says. “We want people who are passionate and feel ownership. What that tends to do is create authentic experiences.”
Along with that comes a bit of tough love when it comes to the company’s and brands biggest fans   he  adds. “We call it 'kicking in the door of the clubhouse '”  he  says. “One thing about gamers and the gaming community is that a lot of people want to go in and play and be a part of the community. But they also want to be the last one in  because they want to feel special. We think the community feels more special the bigger it gets. You see that in how we address D&D stories and rulesets  making them as open-ended as possible. You see that in what we’re doing in Magic with Magic open house that we do in 6 000 stores around the world. And you see that with what we’re doing with games like Arena. There’s a huge developer focus to help people learn the game  to feel like the champion.”
But [TGT] tells Glixel that to stay that way  they need to shake loose from some of the trepidation that comes with such successes and continue to chase risky ventures  push changes despite the reluctance of long-time fans and invest in new ideas. With nearly two years at the company  [TGT] seems to be already having an impact.
So  [TGT]went about figuring out a new approach for the company as a whole   [TGT]  landed on something  [TGT]  describes to Glixel as the Castles and Boats approach. “The castles are the big brands with large fan bases  high expectations  lots of history and lore. We spend a lot of resources on those ”  he  says. “The boat is more of a test. It’s very fast  very flexible. If a boat doesn’t succeed  that’s OK; you can launch a new one. D&D and Magic are both castles for us.” And a game like the upcoming Transformers title is a boat. “With the Transformers trading card game  we can be nimble ” he says.
The game hasn’t been formally announced yet  but  [TGT]says [TGT] a title aimed both at young teens and the collector and toy audience. It will come out in September or October. “We think Transformers are cool and the game has interesting  unique mechanics ” he says. “All cards are two-sided  over-sized and feel bigger  weightier in your hand.”  [TGT]says the game has a relatively light learning curve  but a lot of depth. “It should take one or two times to understand how to play ” he says.
While Dungeons & Dragons’ history traces back to the ‘70s  Avalon Hill’s history of miniature wargames  role-playing and tabletop titles started hitting in the ‘50s. The library of the Baltimore  Maryland company includes a dizzying array of titles that touch on everything from Robin Hood and Shakespeare to WWI and WWII to Dune  Starship Troopers and Dr. Ruth. After Hasbro purchased the company in 1998  the toy creator added many of its strategy games to the label  including Axis and Allies  Risk and Stratego. Not surprisingly   Cocks  sees a lot of value in the company. “I think there is a big place at the table for them ”  he  says. “Board games sales have been increasing 25 percent a year and are projected to continue to grow at that rate.”
Wizards approach to Avalon Hill is  in many ways  the most evident sign of how it likes to sort through both a long-lived history and create new properties. In figuring out what to do next from Avalon Hill’s library   Cocks  says they look for the Zeitgeist. “What are players asking for ”  he  says. “We watch social media. We survey our players.” That also ties in nicely with the company’s approach to hiring. “The most important  if not fundamental  thing we do to have a holistic approach is to hire fans of the games ”  he  says. “We want people who are passionate and feel ownership. What that tends to do is create authentic experiences.”
Along with that comes a bit of tough love when it comes to the company’s and brands biggest fans   he  adds. “We call it 'kicking in the door of the clubhouse '”  he  says. “One thing about gamers and the gaming community is that a lot of people want to go in and play and be a part of the community. But they also want to be the last one in  because they want to feel special. We think the community feels more special the bigger it gets. You see that in how we address D&D stories and rulesets  making them as open-ended as possible. You see that in what we’re doing in Magic with Magic open house that we do in 6 000 stores around the world. And you see that with what we’re doing with games like Arena. There’s a huge developer focus to help people learn the game  to feel like the champion.”