Most of the games I work on take me years to complete. Usually around three years, in fact. This is still true if I design a game or if I sign a game. So much goes into the process of making a game, and I’m going to explain a bit about how a game comes to be, as well as what makes it take so long!
Stage 1a: Designing a game
So, this is the path I travel when I’m designing a game: it involves coming up with the game concept, making a prototype, playtesting, and then making the game as great as it can be. This process might take a few weeks or a few years. Sometimes a game just clicks and comes together almost immediately, other times I design with a very specific purpose in mind, and sometimes a game needs time to figure out what it is.
Once the game is good, I have to make a decision: is it a good fit for Weird Giraffe Games, Galactic Raptor Games, or another company.
Stage 1b: Finding and Signing a Game
Finding games can happen in a variety of ways:
- Designers can reach out and submit their designs, either via email or at conventions. Traditionally, I ask to see their sell sheet, then make a decision based on whether I would like to play their game.
- I playtest games at different game nights or playtesting events. I tend to go to a lot of Unpubs and Protospiels to get playtesting in as well as to experience other people’s designs. Occasionally, I’ve found a game I really liked and approached the designer about it!
- Another publisher reaches out with a game that was pitched to them that they think would be a good fit for my line. This actually happens quite a bit, as a game can be great, just not a great fit for that particular publisher at that particular time.
- Designer Publisher Speed Dating Events. These can happen online or at conventions and designers usually have 5-10 minutes to talk about their game and answer a publisher’s questions. The nice part about these events is that the publishers that go to these events are looking for games to publish and the designers are trying to get their games signed, so there’s less awkwardness and questions than just meeting someone at a playtesting event.
- A good amount of games that I’ve signed have simply come from having good relationships with designers. If I know that a designer is great to work with, that breaks down one of the barriers, and if I keep asking about their games, there should be one that fits my line eventually.
- Social media or websites. I’ve reached out to designers after seeing pictures of their game on social media or by just surfing the internet and coming across their website that had all their sell sheets on it. If you don’t have a website with the games you’ve worked on and the games you’re currently looking for a home for, you could be missing out on potential opportunities!
Signing a game typically takes some time, depending on the designer and status of the game. If the designer and publisher don’t know each other at all, the process can take longer than it otherwise would. Alternatively, if you know the publisher really well and you’re a known quantity, you can get a game signed in a few hours! (But don’t anticipate that happening, as the paperwork alone does take time to make)
If you’re starting at the sell sheet stage, it might take a publisher a few weeks to decide on whether to follow up on your design. From there, they might set up a pitch meeting, which typically runs anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. If they still like your game, they’ll probably want to play a full game of it, either taught by you at a convention or on Tabletop Simulator, or they’ll read the rules and learn the game themselves. Once they have time to play the game a few times, they might ask you to change something or develop in a certain direction before they’ll sign the game, if it’s not quite a fit yet. They might also take some time to develop the game before they make the final decision to sign it.
Hopefully, this process will only take weeks, but I’ve seen it happen over years, as well! It’s different for every publisher and every game, but publishers are generally fine with you asking questions about their process, and you should ask questions so that you know what you should be expecting…whether that’s an answer in days or months.
Stage 2: Game Development
Game development is another stage that can be very fast or not fast at all. All the games that I’ve published have taken at least months, if not years to develop into a very specific product, but not all publishers are like that.
Some publishers will handle the game development themselves or hire a team of developers to work on it and others have the game designer work on the development.
For Weird Giraffe Games, I really like working with the designer to create a game that fits with both of our visions for the game. I also take a really thorough look at every game I publish and go over every aspect to make sure it’s correct. Here are some of the aspects that I look at in games:
- How the game starts: this could be initial resources, starting positions, etc.
- How the game ends: does the game have a set number of rounds, are there equal turns, what is the game end trigger? Does the game length feel right?
- Components: do any components need to be changed? Are all the card sizes right? Is there any easy change to make the game cheaper but just as fun?
- Theme: is the theme a match to the mechanics? How can the game be more thematic? Is there anything that is against the theme?
- Intuitiveness: is the game intuitive? Do players guess the right answer or is there anything that needs to be changed to be the thing that players assume?
- Balance: is there any strategy that’s over- or under-powered? Are there multiple strategies? Does everything have the right amount of balance?
- Player Count: does the game have the right player count? Do all the player counts play well? What changes are needed to make every player count really fun? Can the game be extended to any other player count?
- Game feel: does the game escalate enough during the game? Is there any tension in the game? Does the game make players feel the intended feelings? Is there any way to add more of a feel to the game, whether that’s with scarcity, end-game triggers, special win conditions, or something else?
There are a ton of things that can go into the development of a game and it’s often difficult to know how long that development will take. You might think that a game is nearly done, but if you want to make it a bit more thematic, a part might be added or taken away. Then changes must be made to compensate for that, and those changes can easily get out of control. What seemed easy to fix can be an issue with the core mechanism that might need a large variety of changes or a complete teardown to fix.
Games that are published don’t have to be anything like the games that were originally signed. There might be a core to the game that stays the same while everything else changes or the game might stay true to its roots.
Part 2
There’s a ton that goes into creating a board game, and there will be a ton that will go into this series as well! I haven’t talked at all about Illustration, Graphic Design, Marketing, Manufacturing, or Retail and those are all pretty big subjects on their own, so expect at least another two or three parts to come.
Did you enjoy this entry? If you’ve gotten a game signed, how did you get it signed? 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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