I recently got this email from one of our followers in the UK:
Hey guys,
I was just watching your review for “Dominion” and decided to come over to your website. I was wondering if you could help me out, I’m at University in Lancaster in the UK and I recently created a 2 player card game called “Convicts”; I was inspired by “Lost Cities”.
All the people who have played it have really enjoyed it and I was wondering what would be the best next step? I can’t find any games conventions that happen in England but then again, I don’t really know where to look. Can you help me out?
Thanks, James
Having gone through the rigamarol ourselves in the past here was our advise to James:
Hi James,
Great job creating your own game. Is the basis of the game based off the “Prisoner’s Dilemma?” We do love “Lost Cities,” so it definitely sounds like something we’d like to get our hands on.
About publishing, you do have a few options there. You can use a service like The Game Crafter which we covered before to self-publish. This would require you to self-promote as well. Having recently completed my degree I know how much time a University student has so that may not be a viable option for you.
You could try contacting a big publisher, like Hasbro, to see if they have any interest. One thing to note with these guys is that they make most of their money off of their standardized games (Monopoly and such) and aren’t very willing to look into new games unless you really pitch well.
Your third option is to find a smaller publisher, like Rio Grande, Mayfair, or North Star, and pitch your game to them. Most have a way to contact them through their websites, and they might be willing to fly you out to pitch it to them (if not, try Go To Meeting to do it online.) Better yet, find a publisher locally. I’m not aware, offhand, of any publishers in Lancaster, but there has to be at least one.
Whatever you choose to do, let us know. I’d love to do a story on you and how you worked through creating and eventually publishing a game. On that note, how did you come up with the game?
Hope that helps, and please feel free to ask for any additional help. I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a copy of the game, once published, to do a review on myself.
Good Luck and Thanks for Watching,
Mark Miller
Marketing Director — Games Overboard
But we know there may be some other options out there for James to follow. We have a lot of watchers here, and we know that some of you have published your own games. Some of you may even be interested in helping James publish his game.
So do you have any additional advice for James? Can you help our fellow board gamer out? Please leave a comment below or contact us here and we’ll follow up with James.
Thanks to everyone.
