I run both Weird Giraffe Games and Galactic Raptor Games. Sometimes I design games to publish, other times I find games to sign and publish. Most recently, I’ve also been finding designers to work with on ideas and codesigning games together.
When I’m evaluating a game to publish, whether I’ve designed it myself or not, I have to make sure it fits into my line of games: whether it has the potential to feel like a game from Weird Giraffe Games or Galactic Raptor Games it already feels like it belongs. I also want to be able to work with the designer well and have a good back and forth with them.
So, here are some stories about how I’ve found game designs and designers to work with!
Fire in the Library
Fire in the Library was the first game that I ever published. I didn’t even think of publishing a game I hadn’t designed until I played it a few times. I was friends with Tony Miller via Twitter and I met up with him during my first Gen Con. We became good friends, I playtested Fire in the Library, and met John Prather, his codesigner. We were even part of a slack community of designers! I ended up asking to publish Fire in the Library multiple times, as Tony didn’t understand what I was asking him the first. After all, I’d never expressed interest in publishing anyone else’s game before.
Fire in the Library was such a good game that I wanted to publish it myself! It deserved to be published, and I kept hearing the feedback that other publishers would give Tony: the game was great, but they already had a press your luck game. I wasn’t into press your luck games back then, but I really enjoyed Fire in the Library, so I figured that it could be a great fit for Weird Giraffe Games. It’s not like I was likely to design a press your luck game on my own.
I think, however, the most important reason I wanted to publish Fire in the Library was due to my friendship with Tony. He was one of my first friends online and he helped introduce me to people and find a home in the game design community while also getting over some of my shyness.
Dreams of Tomorrow
I originally playtested Dreams of Tomorrow at ProtoATL. I was still playtesting Fire in the Library and part of the reason I was at the convention was to get that game into better shape. When you’re at playtesting events, you end up playtesting other games more often than your own (it’s usually 3-4x playtesting others games vs your own if you’re a good participant!) and this is how I first encountered Dreams of Tomorrow. Back then it was called Totemic Rites, and I got to meet the designer, Falcon, and became friends with him. Totemic Rites was a dice game, and I gave some feedback on how to make the game better.
I later invited the designer to come to stay at my house and go to Rocket City Gamefest where I host an Unpub Mini. We became friends after playing lots of games at ProtoATL together and he only lived about 3 hours away, so it was a nice way to spend a weekend.
I played Totemic Rites again and loved the changes that had been made. I was thinking about the game the next day while we were having breakfast and Falcon joked that I should publish it. I agreed and I don’t think he expected that, but then I said I was serious and I ended up making a contract for it.
I signed the game because it was a fun game with positive player interactions, a unique theme, and a cool card-movement system. I also signed it because I was friends with the designer and I thought we could make a really great game together.
Big Easy Busking
I found Big Easy Busking at ProtoATL the next year that I went! (That’s going to be a theme with this, I think.) I didn’t know of the game, but I knew the designer, Josh Mills, from having played his game Rocky Road A La Mode and the fact that he was part of the North Carolina Board Game Designers group. I might have also played one of his games during an Unpub event. I wasn’t approached directly by Josh, but I was told by Dan of Letiman Games that I should go try Big Easy Busking, as it seemed to be a good fit for my line.
Now, if you don’t know how publishers work, you might think of this as odd that another publisher would play a game, decide not to sign it, but tell another publisher about it, but it happens quite often. This is a really friendly and helpful industry! Dan and I were both content creators with the Indie Game Report, so we knew each other online and knew about each others’ games.
I ended up playing Big Easy Busking. I really liked it, and Josh seemed like a good person to work with, so I ended up signing Big Easy Busking shortly after ProtoATL. Not only did Big Easy Busking have a great theme, but it also had interesting gameplay. It also helped that Josh had worked with other publishers before and was involved in a game design community, so I knew it’d be easier to get the game playtested.
Other Games
Since this post is getting a bit long, there will be at least a part 2, if not a part 3! I hope you’ve picked up on the fact that going to playtesting events, making friends, and being involved in the game design community is not only a great way to improve your game designs, but also to eventually get your game published!
Did you enjoy this entry? If you’ve gotten a game published, what factors do you think went into the design to sign the game? Please let me know! I’d love to hear what you think and what kind of things you’d like to see from this blog. Feel free to send me an email or comment with your thoughts!
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