Very Special Games grew from a Kickstarter campaign to a $10 million business with the help of Multichannel Fulfillment (MCF)

The challenge

Handling large-scale order fulfillment with only a two-person team

Board games are experiencing a surge in popularity across the globe, with the industry reaching about $14.36 billion in 2024 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 10.58%.

Many board game inventors get their big break on Kickstarter, a global crowdfunding website, with an 80% success rate on the platform in 2024. That’s exactly how co-founders Josh Roberts and Evan Katz launched their business, Very Special Games, in 2019.

Roberts and Katz had the idea for their first game, Charty Party, while working together at a consulting firm. They enjoyed the concept of creating fun, thoughtful games that let players express their own sense of humor, and so they decided to try out Kickstarter.

Users on Kickstarter pledge money to support and help fund a product—essentially preordering it. Once the project is 100% funded, the creators go into production and deliver the product to the backers. For Roberts and Katz, that funding milestone came quickly and unexpectedly after the success of their Facebook ads.

The two-person operation worked with manufacturers in China to produce the games, and a freight forwarder transported them to the US. Once imported to the US, the inventory was dispersed across warehouses. Handling logistics operations for a new and growing business was challenging, though, and the team soon realized they needed support from a third-party logistics (3PL) provider to help them manage their inventory and fulfill orders. The company was looking for a 3PL that would offer:

• Fast order fulfillment: To deliver orders quickly and on time for their Kickstarter customers, Very Special Games needed to engage a 3PL with an expansive network and extensive logistics expertise and resources.
• Scalable operations: Very Special Games went from zero orders to a large volume of orders in a short amount of time. To keep up with that growth, the company needed a 3PL with the flexibility to manage order spikes and the expertise and operational know-how to get it done efficiently.
• Competitive fulfillment costs: As a new, crowd-funded business, Very Special Games aimed to be cost-effective with every aspect of their operations, including order fulfillment. Having an affordable 3PL provider was crucial to their success.
• Support for any channel: After the initial success of their Kickstarter campaign, the team was exploring other online sales channels where they could sell their products. They sought out a 3PL that could streamline fulfillment across a multichannel strategy.

“We were thrilled to launch our business, but we urgently needed support with our operations,” explained Roberts. “Supplying games to all of our backers was a huge undertaking for a team of two, so we were really prioritizing providers that had the expertise to manage our fulfillment. With the right support from a 3PL, we could pursue our dream of being a dominant player in the party game landscape.”

The solution

Automated order fulfillment using a consolidated inventory pool

The integration works seamlessly and was exceptionally easy to set up. We only had to install the app and input our developer keys. Now, we’re able to match our Shopify and Amazon SKUs and set MCF as our fulfillment provider for Shopify.

Evan Katz Co-founder

In 2019, Very Special Games engaged Amazon’s supply chain, using its Multichannel Fulfillment (MCF) service that offers fast, reliable ecommerce fulfillment for orders placed beyond Amazon channels. MCF is a part of Amazon’s broader 3PL, Amazon Supply Chain Services, an end-to-end logistics solution for businesses of all types and sizes looking to increase efficiency and scale with confidence.

As of 2026, Very Special Games has launched 10 games, including its most popular—Ransom Notes—with more on the way. MCF was an excellent fit for Very Special Games’ fulfillment needs, enabling the game retailer to leverage:

• A single inventory pool: Due to its fast-growing popularity, Very Special Games expanded its business and started selling its products on Amazon.com, its own direct-to-consumer (DTC) website using Shopify, and in small brick-and-mortar retail stores, in addition to supplying wholesale orders. With Amazon, they only need to manage a single pool of inventory that can be used to fulfill orders across all those channels, allowing for better inventory control and reducing stockouts.
• Simple, cost-effective pricing: To use MCF, Very Special Games only pays for one fee fulfillment (inclusive of pick, pack, and ship) and one fee for storage, while enjoying up to 50% discounts on multi-unit orders.
• A world-class fulfillment network: With MCF, the retailer gained access to Amazon’s world-class logistics network—which has over 2,000 facilities (including more than 200 fulfillment centers) as well as over 100,000 trailers, aircraft, and intermodal containers with more than 1.5 million associates and partners—to help fuel the growth of their business around the globe and across various sales channels.
• Top-notch delivery performance: With 96% average on-time delivery¹ and 99.98% undamaged package delivery rate², MCF ensures Very Special Games can delight its customers with reliable delivery promises. The company’s Kickstarter backers are the backbone of its business, so it was important for Very Special Games to maintain customer trust.

“MCF is the perfect 3PL for our business. Using our Amazon inventory for other channels streamlines our operations, and unlike other 3PLs we’ve tried, MCF uses a flat fulfillment fee. We don’t have to worry about the additional cost calculation and hassle of shipping zones. I simply send my inventory to an Amazon Fulfillment Center and they handle the rest, making sure my products are as close to my customers as possible,” said Roberts.

Very Special Games connected their Shopify website to MCF using ByteStand, which automatically sends Shopify orders to MCF for fulfillment in real-time. Once MCF ships an order, ByteStand alerts Shopify and tracking and confirmation emails are sent to the customer. The company also leverages ByteStand’s virtual bundle feature to offer games with their expansion pack as a package deal for customers.

Katz said, “The integration works seamlessly and was exceptionally easy to set up. We only had to install the app and input our developer keys. Now, we’re able to match our Shopify and Amazon SKUs and set MCF as our fulfillment provider for Shopify.”

¹_{Based on all orders placed and delivered between October 2024 and September 2025 in the US, and measuring the percentage of orders that were delivered on or before the estimated delivery date generated upon order confirmation.}
²_{Based on claims data from small- and medium-sized businesses}

The results

Efficient and rapid growth fueled by cost savings

MCF is a game changer for our business. It’s easy to use and has had a substantial impact on our bottom-line. We’re constantly recommending MCF to other Kickstarter businesses, especially other game makers. MCF makes a world of a difference for a small business like us and we really appreciate all MCF does for us.

Josh Roberts Co-founder

From helping Very Special Games get started with its first Kickstarter orders, to supporting fulfillment across all its sales channels, Amazon has enabled the game retailer to achieve numerous benefits, such as:

• Best-in-class delivery: Using MCF, Very Special Games delights customers with the seamless Amazon fulfillment experience, in addition to providing free standard shipping for US orders. The company was able to improve its customer experience with deliveries made 7 days a week, rain or shine.
• Increased growth: Very Special Games saw significant growth, with sales totaling 260K units in 2022 and revenue reaching $10M that same year. With Amazon handling fulfillment (including the picking, packing, and shipping of all their orders), Roberts and Katz could focus on creating exciting new products.
• Reduced operating costs: MCF helped Very Special Games significantly improve its bottom line by optimizing their inventory management and decreasing fulfillment costs by up to 40%, with savings totaling about $1M in one year.
• Integrated fulfillment operations: Very Special Games automated its entire order fulfillment process by connecting its back-end systems using the ByteStand integration. Now, Roberts and Katz save time while reducing the risk of manual error when fulfilling their Shopify orders with MCF.

In the future, Roberts and Katz plan to continue having fun creating new games for their growing fanbase with the support of MCF—and hope to expand internationally one day.

“MCF is a game changer for our business. It’s easy to use and has had a substantial impact on our bottom line. We’re constantly recommending MCF to other Kickstarter businesses, especially other game makers. MCF makes a world of difference for a small business like us, and we really appreciate all MCF does for us.” – Josh Roberts, Co-founder