4 Steps to Pitch Your Game to a Tabletop Publisher

hey this is Jamie at St Meer games and today I'm going to talk about topic that's a little bit different than some of my game design top 10 Style videos instead today I'm going to talk about the four steps to think about to consider and to execute um if you want to pitch your game to a publisher now I have a separate video about how to design a tabletop game it's like 10 steps to design a tabletop game watch that first if you're looking to be a game designer watch that video first I'll link it in the description below um and there's also the option for you to Simply self-publish the game for you to start a Publishing Company um to maybe crowdfund on Kickstarter or game found or game on tabletop to crowdfund the initial uh uh print run for that game totally viable that's a very different and very bigger much bigger task than what I'm going to describe to you today and you can check out the blog at STM games.com for a lot more information about how to do that today I'm going to focus specifically uh on how to pitch your game to a publisher from start to finish if that is the pursuit that you want to go so if you just want to focus on game design if that's your passion if you love game design tabletop game design and you want to pitch your game to a publisher and have them publish it and do all the other things that go along with it there are many many steps that follow the game design process this video is for you I'm going to use some of our games as an example and I should mention here that I'm talking to you about this from a publisher perspective I am a game publisher I have never actually submitted a game to to a publisher so I am lacking that expertise but I have 10 years now of being a publisher and most of those years we've been accepting submissions from other game designers so that is the context with which I'm approaching this video so the first category the first big step is preparation and there are some subcategories here that I'll mention below uh the first is to know the market uh by this I mean know what other games are out there there's so many times where and I've encountered this myself where I think of an idea for game and then I discover that that game already exists and usually I feel relief when that happens because I'm like okay this game already exists I can just go this game that I was excited about I can now just go play that game it already it's already published um but also knowing the market means knowing what games are are working are popular are people are talking about them right now and a great place to do that is on board game geek boardgamegeek.com that's the place to really see uh what people are talking about what people are excited about uh which games are are highly rated which games are are not as well received you can discover a lot of information there on Board Game Geek you can jump into into the discussions there I'd also recommend following at least a few reviewers uh written podcast and YouTube uh video reviewers I have a list I'll link to that in the description below uh where it's an article I wrote that's geared towards game reviewers but I have a long list of reviewers that you can discover on that list follow them I mean I I follow hundreds and hundreds of reviewers uh because I like to learn about other games both as a designer and so I know what other games are out there what games are people talking about they like What mechanisms do they like um just knowing the market and knowing uh more about what's already out there and how it's being received I think is critically important as you work on your game and as you work on your pitch itself and also of course this goes back to uh the design video too but play a lot of games um I think that's crucial like it it it I I don't think it behaves you to not play games if you are wanting to pitch your game to a publisher I think it significantly increases the chances that the publisher will come back to you and say oh th this game already exists or or this game already exists or something similar and it doesn't work like the market did not respond well to it so that's why knowing the market I think is really really important um part two of preparation is to actually fully design the game and that's where the other video that I mentioned comes in the 10 steps of design a game uh this does not mean just having an idea um it means actually having that idea making the first prototype play testing it realizing that it's Terri and doing it again and again and again uh by yourself and then with a local group and then sending it to other people who can tell you what's wrong with the game what's good about the game what what's fun what's imbalanced what's not intuitive all those things that go into the game design process actually prototyping iterating over and over again and play testing fully design the game and I use the word unique here fully design a unique game so make sure that it is a game that is that is different than what's already out there whether it's different theat ically different mechanically or has uh maybe it has the same the same theme of a game or games that are already out there and maybe some same mechanisms of games that are already out there but you put them together in a unique way that's unique to your specific game I think that's really really important there are already plenty of games that exist um and so if you're going to spend a lot of your time on a game make sure it's something new make sure it's something unique part three of preparation is to make yourself and the game known on both on online and at events uh especially when it's a lot safer to go to events hopefully post pandemic um this I I think is a huge way to get yourself out there and this is about more about you I think than the game but sometimes it can be about the game itself for example I I wanted to mention some of the games so we have five games right now that were designed by other people not not me um that we published at some our games and the first one was between two cities from Ben rosset and Matthew am Ali I had met Ben at a convention called geekway to the West in St Louis I play played some games with him I had a great time with Ben I could tell he was really sharp I like the way he talked about game design and I ran into him and his design partner Matthew at Gen Con I believe a few months later maybe a year later and I asked them if they were working on anything and they mentioned that they had this game with this cool new mechanisms where you you have cities on either side of you and kind of you're partnering with either player on either side of you but you're also competing to be the the sole winner um and I was like that sounds awesome do you have it here with you can I play it and this was at Gen Con on the spot I I asked them if if this game was available they weren't even pitching it to me they were just something they were working on I asked them what they were working on and we ended up publishing it we've sold tens of thousands of copies of this game um and uh a lot of this came because I just happened to meet Ben at a convention and we were hanging out I had a good time with him had a good impression of him um that's at a convention a lot of the time that I spend and that Publishers spend is online we we see we see comments on our website we see uh comments on social media we we see comments in different groups groups on social media where people are talking about games and game design I think it this isn't necessary if this isn't your thing but I think it really really helps to get your name out there get who you are out there um well in advance of pitching a game to a publisher so that when you do pitch a game to them um that they might recognize you that there there's a little bit of Hope there that they might say Okay I I remember that person I I played a game with them at a convention I saw them giving positive really constructive feedback to someone online being generous online um I've seen them in the comments of our website they clearly care about my company because they didn't just show up out of the blue to pitch a game they've been following this company for a while I know that from the comments um things like that make yourself and the game un known uh known online and at events and the other example I want to give there before I move on real quick is my little sidethe because my little scthe wasn't originally pitched to us um My Little sidethe was a game that Hobie and his daughter created and they uh they just created a really beautiful prototype and they shared that prototype in I believe the beside Facebook group and some other Facebook groups and on Board Game Geek um and people were just like Hobie was not pitching it to me at all he just made this thing for fun and shared it with a bunch of people and it got so much buzz and so so many people were excited about it that it got my attention and I wanted to try it as well and so by actually putting even your your actual game out there not just you but your game out there to share and talk about it um I think can make a huge difference in garnering the interest of publishers it can actually cut out a lot of the steps that I'm going to mention below if you have such a great game that people are buzzed about uh that uh because the publisher might actually just go to you you don't even have to pitch your game to the publisher uh part four preparation is to play test and write a great rule book I kind of combine these things together again it's part of the game design process but this is crucially important if you are preparing to pitch your game to a publisher the game has been play tested extensively um and that you have used those play test results to write a great rule book and that the basically I'm saying this because the the rule book is so key if you are going to share this game with a publisher and if they can't understand the game from the rulebook it's going to make it terrible first impression even if it's a fantastic game but the rulebook is terrible um they they just they're not going to have a good first impression of it and they're going to give up on it rather quickly uh I I need to stress here that it is not your job in the end to write the final version of the rule book but being able to express how the game works in the in in rules in writing is an important skill to hone and craft over time um I'm not going to go into how to do that here but it my quick tip here is read a bunch of other Rule books and when you sit down and write your rulebook for the game um model it after Rule books that have worked for you when you've learned a game and then go test that rule book give it to someone to play the game using the rule book alone without your guidance at all because they're going to give you a lot of feedback about things that you forgot that you didn't mention in that Ru book last under preparation make an attractive thematic final prototype um I think Milo side is another fantastic example of this Hobie made a really really beautiful prototype uh this might be I put it at the end here because um when you're pitching a game to Publishers you don't necessarily need that final prototype yet um you need to be ready to present it if the publisher asks for it but usually when you're pitching a game to a publisher um you're not actually get the first thing that you're doing is not handing them a prototype uh there are some other steps that you need to go through uh but having an attractive thematic final prototype is really helpful and the the I you're not expected to be a graphic designer you're not expected to go as as a as a designer as a game designer you're not expected to go get uh uh great great art for the game um that's the Publisher's responsibility but uh it needs to be it needs to look decent on the table it needs to be functional so like whatever early prototypes you had where you were just writing down things on scraps of paper that is not enough for a publisher a publisher needs to have something that looks half decent the the user interface has been thought out at least a little bit and it's functional for the play for the publisher to actually play the game and I think it helps to again you you should not go commission art as a designer submitting a game to a publisher but you could pull some sample images from online uh from the internet and show them to publisher just so they can get a feel for what the world is that you're trying to capture in the game so if there's a really sense of of place or World building to the game um if it's a game about say dragons that you have a few images of of the types of dragons that exist in this world and you can pull those images offline just credit the artist there you're not you're not making any money off this you're just sharing it with someone um yeah so that's that's my my last step for Preparation we prepared with a functional uh prototype that has a a little glimpse of of um the feel the Thematic feel of of the world and of the game The Next Step so that's preparation the next step is selection how you actually select the Publishers that you're going to submit to or that you're going to pitch to um the first thing that I recommend here is to select 10 Publishers that you love uh 10 Publishers that you really love or admire if you have a game collection um the best place that I think that you can start is to look at your collection and look at uh games or Publishers for which you have more than one game so that's a probably a clear indication that you admire this publisher if you've bought more than one game from that publisher um there also maybe you don't own every game from a publisher maybe you don't even own any games from a publisher that you really admire but they're probably hopefully if you've done your Market Research in in the first step the preparation step there are Publishers that you think are doing a great job um and so find 10 of them Pick 10 10 of those Publishers next look at each of those Publishers websites see a if they're accepting game submissions at all because they may not be and B to look at their submission guidelines every publisher publisher that is accepting game submissions has their own set of submission guidelines specific things that they are looking for and those guidelines may not meet what your game is a publisher might be looking for a game that only plays at two players and your game might be a game that plays up to four or five players that's okay that means that that game isn't for that publisher um don't try to force it in uh that publisher is not looking for that type of game and that's why you have nine other Publishers on this list so you can see what types of games they want there are thous thousand of Publishers out there so there are many many Publishers to choose from uh so yeah look carefully at those submission guidelines and if you have questions uh for a reason that I'll mentioned in a second do not contact the publisher privately instead post your questions publicly hopefully on their submissions page if they have comments open on that page or someplace else some other public appropriate Forum where it's appropriate for you to ask questions um because those questions are probably questions that the Publishers gotten before and they want to answer them in a way that uh can benefit other people who May might have the same questions do not email them privately the reason for that is the next uh step on the checklist which is that you need to make a strategically good first impression on this publisher and that might come at different times um that might come it might come from a comment that you post on their website just a random comment where you're talking about whatever the publisher is talking about on their website it might come later on when you actually pitch the game that might be your first Contact too that's okay too um but if whatever your first Contact is it might be a memorable one the publisher might remember that this is the first time you came to them and if it's you asking them for something private that you could have just asked publicly you're basically taking away the Publisher's time uh for for for yourself it's a i i it's a tough word to say out there but it's a little selfish uh for you to say okay publisher give me your private time right now even though um even though I haven't submitted a game to you yet that type of thing in the end it might be mutually beneficial you might submit an awesome game which is good for the publisher and they might accept the awesome game and a bunch of copies which is good for you but at this point in time uh it's crucial to think about what that first what first impression you want to make on that publisher do you want it to be about you do you want it to be a little selfish or do you want it to be uh not selfish or or or a part of your pitch or generous if you want to show the publisher online that you were generous with your time and information whatever it is just think about that first impression if you haven't already made contact with a publisher that first impression really really does matter and it it might be the difference between a great pitch and a very poor pitch last very importantly during the selection process um once you have a few Publishers that you've decided to submit to select one game that you were going to publish to each publisher I mentioned this I mean there it might be the case where you only have one game and then this isn't part of the process but there have been way too many times for in my experience that a a a game designer has showed up at a pitch meeting at a convention or um they're presenting a pitch in some other way maybe online maybe through email and they offer me a portfolio of games to choose from and that is not what a publisher wants to see a publisher wants to see that uh that you have one specific game that you think is just perfect for that publisher uh you you you've spent a lot of time and effort on this one specific game and you've spent time and effort choosing this one publisher that you think is the perfect match for that game that that that makes such a better first impression than going to a publisher and saying hey like pick one of these three any of these three games could work um I like all three of these because a it shows that you divided your time from between a lot of different games which is okay it's okay for you to do that but it's not a great part of the pitch the publisher a publisher I like me I I am much more enamored by a designer who has put a lot of their time and attention and focus on one specific game and made that as great as possible rather than just try to make as many different possible games um and the part the other part of it is that they have selected you specifically for this game uh it feels good as a publisher just as as a person like we are Publishers are people feels good that you chose something specifically for us to pitch to us that feels much better than saying like here's a basket of games choose one of these games so pick one game if you have multiple games pick one game and public and pitch that to each different publisher last not last third I had the submission step so how you actually submit the game to a publisher and the overarching answer to this uh the the real key is to Simply follow that Publisher's submission guidelines every publisher will have slightly different submission guidelines on their website if they are open to submissions right now follow those guidelines follow those instructions they're there for a reason don't think of yourself as the exception where you should do something different um so if those like for example on our website we have a form that you fill out and the form goes through it asks you some questions it says hey does your game actually play from from two to five players at least um does your game actually play in this playing time have you actually play tested your game uh it's a form that you fill out and then you submit it and uh and and we review that form however every now and then I get a designer who approaches me in some different way uh and it doesn't work as well because I we've put this time and effort into creating this form because this is what we've determined as the best way for us to receive game submissions and if you were doing some other way then right out of the gate again it comes back to that first impression it's almost like you're saying you know all the other public all other all the other designers can use that form I'm special I want to do this my way don't do that it doesn't make a good first impression um the the one small exception to this is if you have already established a relationship with that publisher through social media through commenting on their website through volunteering for that publisher whatever your relationship is after you follow their official submission guidelines say it's a form like ours then I think it is okay for you to also send that publisher a short email or send that contact or contact at that publisher a quick email that says hey just want to give you a heads up um I finally submitted my game my game is is in your submission process thanks for whatever um just wanted to let you know it's there nothing else other than that don't don't put them don't put pressure on them to go check it out like if they're interested they'll check it out but I think that's a little helpful because for example at still my games the person who reviews those form submissions is Allan it is not me my my co-founder Allen uh uh whereas I'm the one that's out there on social media on this YouTube channel and whatnot uh you may have had contact with me you probably have not had Direct contact with Allan and so if you ever submit a game to Stow me games and you already have some form of relationship with me um it's it's it's actually helpful for for me after you submit the game to send me a just a quick note to say I submitted the game to you um and that's it just leave it at that that way I know if I want to act on it I can um if not that's okay too but at least then I know U that that you've submitted it uh within that so that's the biggest thing in the submission category that that's everything right there follow the Publishers submission guidelines but there are a few other little Little Steps here to think about one way if you are pitching your game to a publisher to help them uh anchor what the game is without them knowing much about it is to compare it to two other games but with a Twist you may have seen this with like movie pitches where like someone might say okay this this movie is Jurassic Park meets speed I don't know what that would look like I kind of want to watch that movie now that I said that off the cuff but uh so you're kind of pitching those two things together with a with a game you might say okay this is this is uh architects of the West Kingdom meets a Zool um and and then add a Twist to it and say and and the twist to it is this thing and that right away anchors my my first that's a it goes back to the first impression anchors like what what the general concept of the game is without me needing to know anything more and one little trick to this if you want to know the trick is um know what that what know what types of games that publisher likes if that publisher like I just mentioned two games that I like I I really like architects of the west west Kingdom I really like AOL if you know that um then using those games as examples when you're trying to use this approach this technique to pitching a game can be very effective it doesn't have to be um there might be plenty of Publishers out there that don't put out their favorite game list and then you're just going to pick two games for this uh for this purpose that that do truly match the theme mechanisms of your game but if you do happen to know that that is a big uh a big win in your pocket there to pick two games that you happen to know that the publisher already enjoys uh also a key part of the pitch process is to highlight the hooks in the game so the hook the hook of a game there are many different hooks in a game uh I talk about this in terms of like it's great if a game has a thematic hook so something that's a little unique about the theme so maybe it's Jurassic Park but it's in the future so a little twist on on on a a theme that we already know um there can be a component hook having a component Hook is really helpful so you have this game and you have this also this really cool component that is used in a unique way uh or maybe it's maybe it has been used in a game before but it is at least a a component that you think players will be excited about because if they are the Publishers is probably going to be excited about that too and also mentioned a mechanical hook what is the the one really really cool mechanism that you haven't really seen in other games that you think is really really cool uh I think that's worth mentioning mention those hooks and mentioned three of them i' pick three I think more than that is too many too few is isn't going to hook the the publisher but but pick three hooks and mention them to the Publishers the three things that you think that uh that you really excited about and that you might think that they're going to be excited about too because that way the publisher can already think about how they're going to Market this game the reasons that the game is more marketable than game without a great hook um and this goes into two other little subtop subtopics real quick one is uh consider the budget a little bit when you're pitching that so if you do have a component hook but uh but that it might cost a lot of money then you might say okay here's a my my big budget version of this component and here's an alternative version of it that's still a nice component hook but I don't think will cost as much for you to make and also the cell sheet a lot of uh game designers create a nice cell sheet for a game um that that outlines kind of the different highlights of the game shows what the Prototype looks like things like that that is very helpful in one circumstance that I can think of and that is conventions it's really helpful to have a cell sheet at conventions you can leave that with a publisher at a convention if you've just finished pitch pitching a game to a publisher you can leave them with that cell sheet for them to have in hand to remember what the game is all about um even just the act of creating a sell sheet might be helpful for you as you're going through your pitch you're as you're preparing for your pitch but I don't think it's really necessary for many Publishers uh yeah so think about that last the final step for submission is to sell yourself a little bit uh you are part of this you are someone that the publisher is going to work with for quite some time on this game and I think it's worth selling yourself and selling who you are you might mention your design experience it's okay if you have none that's okay first-time designer that's a that's a sell right there that you're first- time designer but also if you if you published 10 games that's a that's a that's a sell too if there's something unique about you that you think is important for the publisher to know as they are already starting to think about marketing this game mention it it's okay to mention those things uh whether it's an element of diversity uh if you're really old or really young if you're an ethnicity that is underrepresented in uh in the game industry uh if uh same with with gender or sexuality anything that is that is different that highlights you that makes you special and unique um mention it here that's this is the place to to sell yourself and last uh have uh sell your commitment to play testing I think this is crucially important because if a if a publisher accepts your game that is really the start of the process that is not your end of the process for most Publishers you will then embark on a journey of improving the game with the publisher to make it as good as possible and not all Publishers work this way but I think more and more Publishers do work that way where they actively work with the designer for an extended period of time and your commitment to play testing uh is really helpful it really really helpful so I think that's a nice selling point if you are willing to put that out there um yeah all right we're finally on to step four which is the conclusion what happens next this is probably the shortest step because you've done the pitch now You' you finished the pitch you've submitted your game now you just kind of have to wait patiently and I do want to stress that please wait patiently because if you've submitted a game to a publisher It is Well I going to say this in the best way possible because games are the lifeblood of Publishers we need to publish games to to uh to to survive and thrive they're really really important but at the moment of submission of the game submission the game pitch uh your game is probably the least the the lowest on that Publishers priority list of the many many things that they are doing to run their business so please keep that in mind and wait patiently if possible but do so with respect to yourself your time is is valuable too um in a different way than the publisher publisher has different priorities you have your own priorities you are your own priority and that's great that's important and so it's okay for you to submit your game to submit your game to multiple Publishers or if you've waited a few weeks and you haven't heard anything from a publisher uh then you could submit your game to other Publishers that's okay be transparent about it if you are submitting your game to multiple Publishers but it is okay for you to do that um the the the one big thing here is though don't Badger a publisher to get back to you if they are interested in your game they will get back to you um it's it's kind of uh go goes to the rule of relationships if you go on a a date with someone and they are interested in you you will probably hear from them you'll hear back from them the same goes with the publisher uh if you pitched them again that they're really interested in following up on when they can when they are available they will follow up with you on that game uh and in the meantime again also respect yourself if you don't hear back from a publisher in a while uh move on move on to a different publisher focus on different Publishers uh you have every right to do that that is well within your rights to do that and I hope you respect yourselves by doing that uh part two of this is to prepare for the next steps so if if things go well if the publisher is intrigued but they maybe need some more information as they probably will uh prepare for those steps so you might create a video overview of of the game so showing a like a five or 10 minute video showing a publisher what the game is all about that might be helpful for a publisher for the next steps um get ready for constructive criticism so be emotionally healthy and mentally healthy be ready for a publisher to come back to you and say hey here's uh here's here's some some criticism for this game so that you can show that you are open to it and that you can reply in a healthy way to that criticism and also prepare that really nice fancy Proto if you haven't already done that now is the time to really get that nice prototype ready in case the publisher says that they want you to send them the Prototype uh this might be uh a tabletop version of a cardboard version of it it also might be a digital version of it on tabletopia so you might you might want to have both ready uh in case the publisher prefers one over the other that might be in their submission guidelines but be ready to submit a prototype for that publisher if they are interested in learning more now there are two things that will then arise your game will either be rejected or it will be accepted CED if it is rejected um I highly recommend even though it stings it hurts uh I I highly recommend that you accept that rejection with grace and the reason why I think this is so important if it's not obvious is that the publisher might not want this game of yours but they might want a future game of yours or you might have a future game of yours that you want this publisher to consider and if you leave a really bad impression if you slam the door behind you as as you go They're not going to consider you anymore that is not a great exit strategy uh for for accepting rejection so please accept it with Grace um what we have found is that many designers are curious why we did not accept their game and I think it's important to keep in mind that it is not the Publishers job to give you constructive feedback uh that is your play testers job that is not the Publishers job uh so and also I think oftentimes what I've seen is that designer doesn't actually want feedback um they like in the in the instances over the years a couple dozen instances where I have offered the designer constructive feedback uh it I think it's it's gone well like once and this is with a rejection with us saying we're not interested in your game but for whatever reason at that time I decided to offer some constructive criticism um but it has very very rarely gone well usually as it turns out the designer wasn't looking for feedback they were looking for affirmation and that's okay it's okay to be to to do that but don't ask for constructive criticism if you are not in a place where you actually want that constructive criticism and part of that means that if the designer somehow takes the time to give you constructive criticism that you respond properly uh that you don't respond with more questions but you respond with more than just like oh okay thanks like that's pretty much every email that I've ever gotten to a detailed constructive criticism email um instead it would be really nice if again it goes back to that impression this is almost your final impression if if a publisher does somehow take the time to give you some constructive criticism write them back and show them that you do some active listening in an email to show them that you'll listen to their feedback and that you will act on it or that you will think about it at least that goes so much farther than a quick email saying like oh okay all right see you uh goes so much farther than that but um also probably don't ask for feedback again that isn't the Publisher's job to offer you feedback if you want to ask anything um I I would say make it very very specific so either ask a very specific question about your game or uh ask for one thing say what is one thing I could do to improve my game I think that's a fair question to ask and then respect the publisher if they choose not to answer because again it still is not their job and also one other question that I get during rejections is would you recommend some other so this is the designer asking me would you recommend some other Publishers for me to submit this game to and this is again not a good first impression because you were asking a publisher to or at you're asking another person really to do your work for you instead go back up to this selection step that I mentioned in this video it is your job to select Publishers that you think are a good fit it is your job to know those Publishers to know the market to do your research it is not the Publisher's job especially not the publisher who is rejecting your game it is not their job to matchmake for you that's not their job so I'm saying this for your B I'm not saying this to rant at all really I'm saying this for your benefit as a designer if you want to make a final good impression after a rejection don't ask the publisher to do work for you it's not their job um just don't do that and you will end in a much better tone and significantly increase your chances of going back to that publisher with a different game in the future finally the good news what if you get good news what if the publisher is interested and you're ready for those next steps and they accept the game uh I'm not going to go into it too detailed here but this is where you need to know your rights as as a designer and what a game design contract looks like I've included a link in the description below of a an article that I've written that shows what a still my games designer contract looks like uh use that I think I think it's a it's a fair solid foundation for contract and so have that in mind when you're talking to designer about what the next or to a publisher about what the next steps are and what uh what your contract with them might look like um oh man I I meant to highlight more games in this video because we have more games so between two Castle here I'll tell a few stories here at the end because that's the final part of the conclusion so between two castles actually came from the same designers of between two cities uh because they followed up with me after between cities was a success and they said is there something else that we could design maybe in this world with this mechanism I think I mentioned castles to them offand as a theme that I liked the idea of building two castles and they ran with it and designed this game so that's an example of Publishers who already have their foot in the door or designers who already have the foot in their door the foot in the door of a publisher following up and wanting to do more with that publisher uh for wingspan just some quick stories about wingspan so wingspan was a game that Elizabeth submitted to us um back in 2016 I believe 2016 is the right year and we met with her I met with Elizabeth at Gen Con of that year and had a quick 30-minute pitch and one of the things that that I I I loved about Elizabeth right off the bat and and about the game is or two things really that she really demonstrated her ability to design tons of unique thematic mechanically unique uh cards that I think is a tough design skill to have and she demonstrated it from the start and I loved how Elizabeth was open to constructive criticism right off the bat if you ever an in inperson Pitch at the convention uh you've got to be on your game for constructive criticism because the publisher is testing you they're trying to see if you are open to constructive criticism and Elizabeth was the perfect mix between hearing that constructive criticism considering it writing it down but also at the right time pushing back a little bit and saying um I tried that it didn't work in it didn't work when I tried it um but but thank you for the feedback because that's true too we Publishers don't want designers that are just going to say yes to everything because you know the game much better than the publisher Elizabeth was great for that also after a after that initial pitch um we didn't accept wingspan right away we kind of uh went through a process with Elizabeth where she took some of our feedback and worked on the game a little bit more honed it a little bit and then I think it was like one or two times back and forth where she sent us a submission a revised version of the game and we offered some feedback so from the start I knew there was something there I just didn't think it was right at the uh at the place where we were ready to forge ahead with the the publishing process process and Elizabeth was great to work with during that time until we officially signed the game U so yeah that's a little bit of of wingspan and finally the other game that we have so far is pendulum and pendulum was an example where the designer Travis Jones showed up at Stow games design day so we host a game design event every year where designers come and just kind of play test their gamees some of them are looking for Publishers some of them are not they're just looking to play test their games and Travis happened to be looking for a publisher and but he wasn't he didn't pitch the game to us at at the event rather he just showed up with a game that he had spent a lot of time on and it went over really well with attendees at this event where he knew that we were going to be there and went over really well and that caught our eye when we saw that people were really highly rating this game and so that's why we pursued the game so uh this goes back to the idea of making your yourself and your presence and your game known at whether it's online or at events where you know the publisher or Publishers are going to be there where the Publishers are paying attention that can make a big difference and can make your job your job to pitch the game a lot easier in the end I know that's a lot to cover I said four steps but it took 35 minutes here but thank you for bearing with me hopefully this was helpful for you in learning how to better pitch your game to Publishers and I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below whether you have experience pitching games to Publishers and you have some tips that you'd like to offer to other designers or if you are a publisher who has been pitched and has some advice that you'd like to offer to people as well and you can also share your stories below ideally we keep them constructive I I I know it can be um there there's a negative side to this for sure but hopefully you can keep this constructive and and uh frame your comment in a way that you think will help other game designers and you can also ask any questions you want in the comments below I'm happy to answer any questions thanks

Channel: Stonemaier Games

Views: 15,046

Keywords: game design, board games, tabletop games

Id: kAR14UNIMHs

Length: 36min 24sec (2184 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 13 2022