Cashing in On Your Board Game Designs
Congratulations!
You're here because you created a board or card game and you believe it has commercial value. Now you're wondering what it it'd be like for a publisher to handle the production, marketing, and distribution of your game while you sit back and cash the royalty checks...
Okay, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. There's a big gap between you designing a prototype and the game hitting the marketplace. Let's make sure you haven't skipped any big steps, shall we?
You're here because you created a board or card game and you believe it has commercial value. Now you're wondering what it it'd be like for a publisher to handle the production, marketing, and distribution of your game while you sit back and cash the royalty checks...
Okay, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. There's a big gap between you designing a prototype and the game hitting the marketplace. Let's make sure you haven't skipped any big steps, shall we?
Is Your Game Ready for Review?
First, make sure your prototype has been thoroughly play-tested and gameplay is tight and the rules are clear. Publishers aren't interested in conceptual ideas nor half-finished designs. Your game needs to play cleanly.
Second, your game needs to be clearly different than anything else out there. This will take some research and perhaps asking around, but this is an important step. Publishers are not looking for copycats! BoardGameGeek is a great resource, since it has a huge database of existing board games as well as a community of game fanatics that can provide you with valuable feedback.
Third, is your game fun? And I don't mean fun for you to play, or just your friends and family. The game needs to be fun for a target audience. Once you've identified that audience, you'll be looking for a publisher with a game line that matches it.
Second, your game needs to be clearly different than anything else out there. This will take some research and perhaps asking around, but this is an important step. Publishers are not looking for copycats! BoardGameGeek is a great resource, since it has a huge database of existing board games as well as a community of game fanatics that can provide you with valuable feedback.
Third, is your game fun? And I don't mean fun for you to play, or just your friends and family. The game needs to be fun for a target audience. Once you've identified that audience, you'll be looking for a publisher with a game line that matches it.
The Key: Be Ready to Pitch Your Product!
If you want to maximize the chance of getting your game accepted by a publisher, you'll want to understand their product line and what your game can add to it. Respect their game submission guidelines. View your submission the same way you would as if you're applying for a job at a company. You're trying to differentiate yourself from other applicants, demonstrate your value, and interest them enough to start a dialogue.
Lastly, be patient! Communication between you and a publisher takes time, as does playtesting and production if you get that far.
Best of luck to you!
Lastly, be patient! Communication between you and a publisher takes time, as does playtesting and production if you get that far.
Best of luck to you!
Board Game Publishers that Accept Submissions from Game Designers
- Hasbro
- Hasbro only tends to work with professional inventors and brokers for outside submissions, but securing a licensing deal with this company may be the equivalent of hitting the jackpot; there may not be another toy/game outfit that can match their reach, marketing, or distribution.
- Steve Jackson Games
- Favors simply, humorous, family games.
- Out of the Box Publishing
- Product line includes family games that are interactive and play fairly quickly.
- Wizards of the Coast
- Huge publisher in the hobby games market. Won't directly accept submissions directly from the public, and recommends contacting an agent, broker, or industry professional to get your game reviewed.
- University Games
- Focusing on family games that encourages imagination and interaction amongst the players. Note: the above submission guidelines is a direct link to a Word document, so you must have access to Microsoft Word on your computer to view. To access their home page, go to: universitygames.com/
- Reiver Games
- A small, independent publisher based out of the U.K., they're looking for modern board or card games with good themes. Submission guidelines are at the bottom of the page when you click on the above link.
- Z-Man Games
- Click on the "Submissions" link in the left hand navigation.
Z-Man Games is a small publisher that will consider any type (card, board, minis) of game as well as any style (Euro, wargame, light, heavy, etc.). Their main criteria is that it is "good, unique, and fun." - Cambridge Games Factory
- The kinds of games they're looking for include:
* Stand alone, non-collectible card or board games (expandable is fine)
* Simple components (e.g. chips, dice, pawns)--nothing electronic, no custom molding
* Not dependent upon licencing (e.g. specific book or TV character) - Super Duper Publications
- This company publishes fun and educational materials for kids, which includes games and cards.
- Winning Moves Games
- Specializes in classic and retro family-oriented tabletop games and puzzles. Does not accept unsolicited outside submissions, but may work with certain professional inventors.
- Smart Zone Games
- A small publisher with offices in the United States, New Zealand, and Israel. Looking for strategy, puzzle-oriented, and card games.
Books on Licensing Your Board Game Designs
These are best books I've found on the subject, and is far more comprehensive than I can be on this Squidoo lens.
The Game Inventor's Guidebook
Amazon Price: (as of 12/28/2009) 
The Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 12/28/2009)
If you find additional useful links, please let me know!
submit
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- bobsmith1952 bobsmith1952 Jun 14, 2009 @ 7:27 am
- Thanks for the information, it was enlightening.
Armis is the board game that we are promoting. Many see Armis as the new Chess; primarily because it kinda has the look of chess from a distance, and it requires a strategic mind to win. However, Armis has 17 unique pieces, water spaces ... best of all lasts about 30 minutes.
My associates researched 'board game brokers', we only found about 20 of them. 10% of those listed were out of business, 89.95% required a fee between $100 - $200 to look at the game, and only 1 company accepted and reviewed the submission without charging a fee.
When the designed received the submission results letter (which was 5 pages long), he was clearly very happy at the beginning, but as he read on he seemed confused/perplexed, then towards the end he was disappointed. Essentially, the game was accepted, but the broker required a retainer too large to move the project forward with them.
We will keep trying.
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- Armis Armis May 18, 2009 @ 3:35 pm
- Wow, thanks for the great information.
We are aggressively seeking an agent for Armis, we want to introduce the game to the online community as well as the physical world, hopefully we can find an agent that can facilitate those goals.
Here are a few parts of our marketing plan that may be of interest to your readers:
1) Place video of the game in play on YouTube and other vid sites
2) Give 10 flyers (email, business card, or letters) to different people every day about your game
3) Write an article at least once a month to submit to print media.
4) Have the game featured at a community event at least once a week.
5) Inform media via Press Release of all upcoming events so they could cover it or include your message in their publication
6) Sponsor a tournament around your game ...
Seems like I ran out of space, I'll supply more info to anyone on request.
Thanks again
Becky
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- vindubla vindubla Aug 31, 2008 @ 9:45 pm
- Thanks for the info. I've been finding ways to release my ideas in many ways and this is a new, exciting venue for me!
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- tderscheid tderscheid Jun 4, 2008 @ 9:27 pm
- Excellent introduction to a complex subject - your recent interview with Pope was excellent and I've added you to my feed reader. I'm developing a train game about Iowa at the moment, see http://www.squidoo.com/18IA for more. At the moment, I'm planning to self-publish, but depending on how my printing quotes shake out, I may decide to submit to Z-Man or JKLM, as they've printed similar games in the past.
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- jim jim Feb 26, 2008 @ 11:30 am
- Hi there , I like to say that you have done great work ! i like your website and it has been very helpfull ! Well i have found a Publisher that takes new inventions and its Hasbro.com who will send the inventors to they official broker .
Thanks
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