4 Difficulties Developing the SquareOne Console
SquareOne is a board game console — a large tablet that can read physical components to create a hybrid board game/video game experience.
When you introduce a new category of electronic entertainment to the market, getting all the pieces you need to make your vision a reality is pretty damn difficult.
Here are some of the struggles.
Manufacturing and supply
When you’re designing a new form factor electronic, with a specific purpose and function never before used on the market, components are an issue.
Board game consoles have specific requirements both for functionality and cost. You can’t exactly buy a punch of PC components, nor do you have the infrastructure to design and manufacture your own hardware.
The current shortage of electronic components makes it even harder for small startups to secure the hardware they need.
RFID and NFC
RFID and NFC technology is not yet so ubiquitous that any board game can be transformed into a hybrid experience. Hopefully that will be the case soon! For now, SquareOne constricts players to using pieces that they themselves sell. This is an area where the potential is huge, but the current library is limited.
Do I put a battery in this thing?
Players want a big screen and sexy design that can sit nicely on a coffee table without looking like an ugly prototype supercomputer. Players also want a battery for convenient play. But if you create something that can run only on battery, you probably want the battery to be decent, which increases bulk and weight, and suddenly your design isn’t so slim and portable.
Sometimes striking a balance is good. Sometimes, in the pursuit of making everyone happy, you run the risk of making no one happy.
Licensing
The potential for SquareOne comes from all corners. Thousands of board games to adapt, toys to integrate, apps to bring on board…but they all require permission from their respective owners. As a startup, you don’t have a lot of leverage to get those permissions. And without an ecosystem it’s hard to convince people to invest in your product. And without a consumer base, how do you convince people to give you license deals?
At SquareOne we’re privileged to have Asmodee on board. They have possibly the best single library of board games at their disposal of any publisher, including community favorites such as Arkham Horror LCG, Twilight Imperium, the digital adaption of Terraforming Mars, and multiple A Game of Thrones games. As the ecosystem grows, SquareOne will become a truly exceptional console!
What do you think SquareOne’s biggest issue is that they need to solve?
