FAQ
1. Who are you people, anyway?
2. What happened to Tom?
3. Are you a Dutch or German company?
4. Why can't I find your games on store shelves?
5. Where's my order?
6. What's that smell?
7. Do you accept submissions?
8. Can I play your games online?
Who are you people, anyway?
Hollandspiele was founded by Mary Holland and Amabel Holland to publish interesting and unusual "wargames and weirdgames". Hollandspiele is our full-time job, and that's every bit as much fun as it sounds.
What happened to Tom?
It turns out Tom was a girl named Amabel this whole time! Hey, she didn't know either, so don't worry about it. :-)
Amabel's not going to change the credits on her previous games - that sounds like a lot of work! - but will be credited as Amabel Holland going forward.
Are you a Dutch or German company?
Nope, we are based in the United States, in the Detroit area. Hollandspiele is derived from the last name Holland, and also because we thought it would be funny if the name made it sound like we were a company from Europe. That's probably a gag that has diminishing returns, but that's never stopped us before.
Why can't I find your games on store shelves?
We publish games in the most expensive and least efficient way possible - print on demand. That means that when someone orders a game, we tell our printer to make it and send it to them. This greatly reduces our financial risk and allows us to publish weird games with impunity. This also cuts us out of any kind of traditional distribution network.
If you're in Europe, Second Chance Games in the United Kingdom is the exclusive source of Hollandspiele titles. We do not deal with any other retailers in Europe and the UK, and we no longer ship games to customers in Europe and the UK ourselves.
If you're anywhere else in the world, including the United States, you can get the games right here, from our online store. Note however that shipping outside the United States can be quite expensive, and you'll be subject to the usual customs and taxes that are collected in your country.
We do offer print-and-play versions of all our titles, exclusively through Wargame Vault. We don't make very much money there to be honest - it's the boxed games that let us do this full-time - but we still pay the same royalty to our designers regardless of the format.
Where's my order?
When you order one of our products, we send the order over to our manufacturer, Blue Panther. Your game(s) will typically be printed and assembled within two to three weeks. It could also be as short as a couple of days; it's all going to depend on the volume of orders at that time. Please be patient, and if you have any questions or concerns, please email Mary at hollandspiele at gmail dot com.
What's that smell?
Our counters are manufactured with a UV printing process. This process result in an odor which is not toxic but can be noticeable. Usually this odor is slight but sometimes it does not dry completely or becomes concentrated during shipping. We are working to refine the process with the goal of eliminating the odor as much as possible.
Leaving the game bits out to air - particularly in sunlight - for a day or two will usually cause it to dissipate. You can also place dryer sheets in the box with the components to reduce the smell.
Do you accept submissions?
Sorta? Not really?
Honestly, folks, right now we've got a whole lot of games in our pipeline - some of which have been there for two-plus years - and we're just not looking to add to that anytime soon. We may make exceptions, but that's what they'll be - exceptions; nine times out of ten, we're just gonna reiterate the above and wish you luck elsewhere.
That one time out of ten exception is going to be a game with a point of view, something idiosyncratic or innovative, something personal - something that only you could design.
That doesn't necessarily mean that every bold new vision is going to be a good fit for Hollandspiele. Most of our games aren't terribly components-intensive and have fairly streamlined rules - so we're probably not a great fit for your bits-heavy economics simulation or your hyper-detailed monster wargame. Our games can also be quite weird at times - so we're not going to want to look at vanilla traditional hex-and-counter games.
Please note that we're not interested in:
- Euro-style games.
- Games about sports.
- State of Siege style solitaire games.
- Historical games that pretend they are apolitical.
- Sell sheets. Do not send us sell sheets. We hate them. We will not look at them. They tell us nothing about you and nothing about your game. Do not send us sell sheets. If you send us a sell sheet, we won't look at your game.
- Tabletop Simulator mods. We get into this in slightly greater detail in the next part of this FAQ, but please understand that we will not look at a TTS mod. If you send us a TTS mod, we won't look at your game.
Now, beyond the question of, is my game a good fit for Hollandspiele?, there is also the question of is Hollandspiele a good fit for my game?
We are a small company without traditional distribution that most people have never heard of. Our marketing is largely done by word-of-mouth by a small but passionate (and growing) customer base. We're not going to get anywhere near the same number of sales as larger companies nor are we going to have euro-style production values. For a lot of games and designers, Hollandspiele might not be the best choice.
The upside of course is that we're more likely to be interested in a game that other publishers find to be unmarketable; we're able to take creative risks. We are also respectful of the designer's vision and intellectual property. We never purchase a game from a designer outright, but license the game for a three year period. Designers are paid a per-copy royalty of at least $3 on a quarterly basis.
Can I play your games online?
We are generally pretty chill about our games being available via VASSAL, Board Game Arena, Rally the Troops, and most virtual tabletops. The one exception is Tabletop Simulator, and that's based purely on their unethical behavior and their stance towards LGBTQ+ people. I'm not sure why people are surprised that a company co-owned by a queer trans woman, that has published games by a number of queer trans people, has a problem with TTS. To reiterate: we do not allow TTS mods of our games.