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How Do You Get a Board Game Published?
cyclomedia asks: "I've been dedicating a little of my time to devising a strategy board game, pitched somewhere between Checkers and Chess but probably not as deceptively complex as Go. Without giving too much away I can tell you that there's a nerd factor within the game itself, possibly leaning the possibility of marketing towards the Games Workshop end of the spectrum, but without the 80-sided dice and Orcs. The next step in my plan is to see if I can actually create a prototype made of coins, stickers and cardboard, and then to attempt to teach the rules to my wife (she's a Trek fan, hence the marriage). If I get past that stage, presumably I can't just show up at Hasbro with my jerry rigged setup and expect an enthusiastic response. So, what do I do?"
The game publishing business seems very conservative. Many of the games that became classics over the last few decades were initially rejected by all of the major publishers: Mastermind, Monopoly, you name it. Even Sudoku took more than twenty years until it finally hit home.
A friend of mine developed the board game Friedrich, a strategy game about the Seven Years' War. It took him fifteen years to arrive at the final version, building very elaborate prototypes, and playing hundreds of games with friends who were acting as beta testers. The game was rejected by all major publishers he showed it to, mostly on the grounds that "it takes too long to play" (3-5 hours at least). After he'd mentioned that, every discussion was immediately over. My friend finally decided to publish the game himself, founding his own game publishing company. The game quickly achieved almost a cult following, both in Germany, where it was initially published, and in the US. I think some 4000 copies have been sold so far. It won the prize for the Best Historical Simulation by the American Games magazine in 2006.
So I'd say: Be prepared to go a long way, but it may well be worth it.
presumably I can't just show up at Hasbro with my jerry rigged setup and expect an enthusiastic response.
Stop being so presumptious. Write to Hasbro with a brief concept of your game and see what they say. Get the game finished and balanced first. No publisher is interested in a half designed game. But don't worry about production values. Graphic designers can be hired by the publisher. And find some other people to help playtest the game. You might want to try a few other publishers as well.
I'm pretty sure every game system currently published by Games Workshop uses only regular six sided dice. I think the last game using anyhting else was second edition 40K, but that went all-D6 with third edition.
Oh, and Blood Bowl uses some custom dice, but they're just D6s with pictures instead of numbers.
"I realise this is not a very popular opinion but it's the truth, and there for needs to be said" -Bill Hicks
...to ask the question would be the Board Game Designers' Forum - http://www.bgdf.com/
:)
You're almost certainly not going to be talking to Hasbro or GW - you're going to be talking (if you're lucky!) to people like Rio Grande, Uberplay, Kosmos, Mayfair, JKLM... If those names don't mean anything to you, get yourself over to http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ and start reading
I know there is a big gaming Con in Denver Colorado, and Columbus Ohio. But there are undoubtedly more.
They will ask you what other games you created.
They will want to see your prototype, docs, etc.
They will ask you for feedback from betaplayers.
They will want you to give up your rights on marchandising material.
They will ask you to pay to get published in gaming magazines under Hasbro's influence.
If you fit in their marketing scheme, then they will offer you a contract where you have to create games on a regular basis.
Maybe up to 1 to 3 games a year.
Choose a smaller game publisher or you will regret you ever released your game.
After creating several games that went well,go see a lawyer then go see a major game publisher.
If the major board game publishers jilt you, consider selling your idea to Cheapass Games, the creators of such works of subgenius like Kill Doctor Lucky and Give Me The Brain.
SJ Games may publish your game - if you have a good concept.. :)
Read the guidelines for submitting card- and boardgames..
Also check out the Author Guidelines for submitting other types of content.
(Unfortunately, they seem to be rather busy at the moment..)
Good luck!
File not found. Fake it(Y/N)? _
I sat in on several forums at gencon last year, which of course does not make me an expert of any sort, but I can pass along what actual game designers and publishers were willing to tell a bunch of nerds at 9am on a saturday -
The concensus was that getting your game published is generally an inside job. This is not to say that outsiders have no hope; rather, it is to say that the path to enlightenment (getting published) lies through opening dialogue with designers & publishers through established means - online forums, attending trade shows, etc. It's much more a face-to-face industry - people like to know who they're working with.
The single key element that was reinforced over and over was PLAYABLE PROTOTYPE. Common advice was not to spend money on production values for said prototype, but rather to spend that time and effort making the game playable and enjoyable, and to put tremendous effort into making the rules comprehensive and readily understandable. Apparently nothing irks publishers more than getting a gaudy prototype with an incomprehensible rules sheet and unexplained/missing parts, unless it's some guy waving his hands and insisting his game is 'so awesome' without producing a prototype of any sort at all.
I'm in Austin, so the reference to Steve Jackson Game might not be as convenient for you as it is for me, but the concept of getting with people who actually make/sell games isn't a bad thought. Also, an earlier response talked about making it "printer-ware", which my published friend indicates that she and her husband do....in fact, she indicates that she might be open to putting it on her site (instant traffic, just not sure of how much).
Good luck on your efforts, but don't hope for anything quick. Unless it's an awesome game, expect years of effort.
Layne
I've made several professional quality playing boards by printing them in tiles from jpeg's created in gimp/photoshop. Your local drugstore can print them for $0.20 or less each so your total cost may be somewher near $10 for a board + other graphics.
Helpful hints:
1. Work on PNG files until you are ready to get them printed. Repeatedly modifying and re-saving a Jpeg will add noise each time the file is saved
2. Make each jpeg have 8 megapixel photo dimensions 3,264 x 2,448 pixels
3. Make the printed area 15% less than the 8 megapixel size (to avoid having your graphics cropped)
3. Lines, edges, colored boxes, etc should be multiples of 16 pixels wide or high. This will help minimize JPEG compression noise
4. Save in jpeg format when you are ready to print them out
5. Carefully cut the printed photos on a gullitine cutter or a horizontal cutter (Kinkos or other photocopy shops usually have these available to use for free)
6. Mount the photos to a thin piece of MDF (medium density fiber board) available at a hardware store. Other options are to mount them to an existing gameboard (not recommended)
7. If so desired, you can glue the printed tiles together to a heavy sheet of paper and then laminate the paper (this works well when you have a multi-piece board with each piece being 8 inches x 8 inches.
Most trophy shops have a laser engraver which can be used to engrave/burn flat sheets of metal, plastic, wood and those could be used for gamepieces / playing board / etc if you want a fancier look. This will cost more and is significantly more time consuming since you will likely repeat the engraving cycle multiple times for debugging.
The Board game geek web site has some good home-made game boards if you are diligent in hunting the games down.
Lastly, don't overlook craft stores for thin bits of wood, paper punches, etc that can be used to make pieces. I've used the 1/8 inch thick foam pages to make 3d pieces (punch a bunch of them out and stick together with a sewing pin / small nail).