Sträckspelsfabriken is a one man show (with loads of help from friends and family) that invents, designs and self-publishes card and board games. My name is Johan and this is my greatest hobby.

Most of my games are published as print-on-demand on American website The Game Crafter. They're great, because their online shop and world wide shipping services allow me to make my games available to everyone. I don't have to sit on a box of 500 copies of a game of which most might never be sold. Self-publishing a game is a massive undertaking, and quite frankly, if it wasn't for TGC you probably wouldn't be here right now.

On this page you'll learn more about the games I've created, what's coming in the future, and the process and efforts that go into making each individual game. While I have a ton of ideas I would never publish a game that I wouldn't play myself. I take pride in releasing games that work, are balanced, bring something new to the table, and/or I feel are commercially suitable.

On the individual game pages you'll learn more about each game, find additional resources, strategy guides, high score lists, and more. All written by yours truly unless otherwise stated.

"Cash Cards" from the game Highest Bidder: Art Auction.

Timber "Cargo Tokens" from the game Trains & Cargo.

MONTHS OF LABOR

You can imagine the time, effort and money put into all of this — editing the games, writing and proof reading the details of the rule books, designing all the cards and game boxes, setting up this website, not to mention the countless hours of test playing my ideas. It takes around six months for a game to be ready and published from when I seriously start focusing on an idea.

I do all of this because I love and enjoy it, at a financial cost that's far greater than what I can ever hope to get back. But if you're here, reading this, it must mean that you have at least a slight interest in what I do. And nothing means more to any creative person — be it an artist, musician, or card game maker — than when someone shows appreciation for your work by buying it.

Keep scrolling to learn more about what I've created. If you like what you see and think you might enjoy playing it, head on over to The Game Crafter to buy yourself a copy. These are games that I love to play with friends and family, and which my friends and family love playing with each other even when I'm not around. I'm confident that you too will love them if you give them a chance, and that you'll be impressed by what I've accomplished in my spare time.

If you have questions, suggestions, concerns or just want to say hi, please reach out. I'd be happy to hear from you!

— Johan

The Game Crafter

All games produced by Sträckspelsfabriken are invented, designed and play tested by myself. The latter is of course done thoroughly with the help of others, but there's no big brand or team behind the process.

The games are printed on-demand in America by a manufacturing company called The Game Crafter, and sold via their online shop. They're pretty awesome! Great quality, good service and a lot of flexibility for game creators such as myself — a copy is printed each time someone places an order so there's no need for a storage facility, and with reasonable international shipping fees it could hardly get any better 😀 For a simple card game in a smaller box, such as Highest Bidder: Art Auction, international shipping is less than $10!

Cost-effective?

Of course, print-on-demand comes at a cost. I could print 500+ copies in China at a fraction of the cost of The Game Crafter, and sell at a greater profit. But it's an incredibly crowded market and without a publishing house backing me or a massive marketing budget odds are I would end up with a box of 490 games that would never get sold.

Each game I create I make primarily for myself. I create games that I want to play, and I thoroughly enjoy the creative process. A few friends and family members might buy a copy each, and if a single stranger buys one too that's a bonus, but bottom line is that, as much as I love and believe in my products, I don't have the interest to mass market them. And therefore, I'd rather have them available online at a slightly higher price than not available at all.

Spread the word

As a tiny game creator in a crazy crowded market, hitting it big is near impossible. That's why I work on social media and rely on word-of-mouth. I sell my games as print-on-demand in low volumes. I'd like to think my games are awesome, and I believe you will feel the same.

Please support me and what I do by purchasing my games. Follow my Instagram account and like Sträckspelsfabriken on Facebook. Use #strackspel and the individual hashtags for each game. Post photos, videos and status updates about that awesome game you just played.

This is my hobby and passion. Thank you for being part of it!

Artists, look here!

I admit it, I suck at art. I work in various apps and Photoshop to produce the artwork for my games, but I also do collaborations with artistic people online.

If you're an artist, get in touch! While I can't pay you the way larger companies can, we can produce something beautiful together – maybe even inspired by your art – and of course you'll get a supply of the game we make together.

I firmly believe that the artwork is half the appeal of any game. In the past, I have taken different approaches to solve the challenge of finding good art, including:

• Working together with artists with permission to use their existing artwork for the game. For example, I collaborated with my friend Pernilla Lindgren on the game Highest Bidder: Art Auction and Swiss artist Dominic Vonbern on Triangles Beetles.
• Using a combination of public domain art/cartoons and paid-for stock images. I did this with Trains & Cargo.
• Using free art-generating apps.
• Using my own photography, for example in Triangles Original and Triangles Oceans.
• Paying for original art designed especially for my games, for example on buyer/seller website Fiverr.com. I've done this for Tribal Hunt and Highest Bidder: Valentine's Day, among others.

Cards from Triangles Original.