I invented a board game, what do I do next? Where do I go to get it started?

Question

I've created and built the entire board game, played it with friends and family and they loved it. Now I don't know where to go next, to develope it and start selling it.

Answer 1

I'd start by getting a patent or copyright or whatever they put on games so nobody can steal your idea. Then I would contact gaming companies such as Hasbro and get them interested in the game.

Answer 2

You definitely need to establish ownership first.  Talk to a lawyer about copyright before you do anything and make sure that you are covered and protected.  Then proceed with caution.  In the end you will want to sell it to a big company to really make a  lot of money.  The two Canadian guys who invented Trivial Pursuit certainly did well, and I think Hasbro owns the rights to Trivial Pursuit now.

Answer 3

First of all, copyrighting your game would be a huge waste of time and money. Most game publishers do not accept unsolicited game prototypes anyway. The reason for this is that if they have spent 2 years working on a naval combat game with a pirate theme, then you send them a game that has pirates in it, then you can bet they'll get sued even though their game was already in the works before they ever saw yours.  

There are very few full-time game designers. True, a very few have gotten lucky and scored a huge hit the first time out, but over all you could make more money as a butcher than as a game designer.

You already have a prototype, and have playtested it with friends and family, now you need to playtest it with STRANGERS. Friends and family won't usually give you an honest opinion. You need people to sit down, read the rules themselves, and play while you watch and take notes. You will need to do a LOT of playtesting to be sure your game is well balanced.

Then you will need to find out which publishers publish the type of game you have. Is it a family game?  A strategy game? A party game?  Find the publishers who already know that market.

I suggest visiting boardgamegeek.com and learning about modern developments in boardgames. Things have come a long way since Monopoly, Risk, & Life.

I could go on, but you can find all the info you need at: http://www.bgdf.com/tiki-index.php

Good Luck.

Answer 4

Oh thats complicated.This is where a lawyers advice is good.There is ways to do it and wrong ways.Some people will take advantage of you if it can sell.You might be worth millions right now and not know it yet.Then someone will sell it for you and make millions and you get nothing.First research this.I think you have to get a patent and copyright first.These can cost a few grand for sure.Then you can do it yourself or sell it out.The best way is to look into this and try and sell it yourself.Always watch out for your PRODUCT.Protect it I am serious to many can take advantageof it.Like I said you could be worth millions or it could be a flop.Keep chasing your dream dont give up.

Answer 5

I have no idea. You might want to send it to a board game place. I have no idea, I know it is a waste of an answer but it is all I've got.

Answer 6

First you'll want to find a way to protect your investment. Game companies are not above stealing your design, especially if there is no paperwork to protect it. You could simply build 2 or 3 games and let a local game shop sell them. If there is demand that will give you reason to mass produce. But i would suggest finding a lawyer and copywriting and protecting all material related to the game.

Answer 7

I would Sell it to a Major company such as Hasbro

Answer 8

First, the whole bit about securing copyright and patent is a bit off-base.  You already hold copyright to everything that you produce -- that's why if someone else takes your writings and publishes them as their own it is plagiarism.  Registration of your copyright is a time-consuming and expensive process, especially for something about which you are unsure of future profitability.  The same goes for any notion of patenting your game -- more expensive and consuming than it is worth.  More on why these steps are likely unnecessary in marketing your product later.

Now, on to your actual question about designing and marketing a game. First, there is a burgeoning web community for persons just like yourself who design games and seek to get them published. There is a wealth of material for you over at the Board Games Designer's Forum http://www.bgdf.com/. They can help you with information about how to go about marketing and publishing your game.  This will be your biggest help about getting your game designed and marketed, even if that means self-publishing and personal marketing.

Before you head over there though, you may want to do some research about games like yours and whether there is a product on the market already that is remarkably similar to yours. It's tough to re-invent the wheel only to find that someone has aready developed the automobile (<-- terrible metaphor). There is a great board game community with lots of information on games over at Board Game Geek.com http://www.boardgamegeek.com/.

In addition, I would recommend having a look at Brian Tinsman's The Game Inventor's Guidebook. It's a good resource for information about the game industry, profiles of prominent designers, and some industry contact information.

http://www.amazon.com/Game-Inventors-Gui...

Now, when it comes to big game producers like Hasbro, Mattel, Ravensburger, et al., most of these publishers will not take unsolicited submissions of games.  This is a method for them to cover themselves in situations of being accused of "stealing" ideas (e.g. a designer makes a game based on a popular children's fad and sends the unsolicited submission off to a game publisher; a month later the game publisher releases a game based on the same fad (which they had been developing over the course of the previous year, and they never looked at the unsolicited submission), but to the designer it appears that the game publisher "stole" his idea for the game).

It's worthwhile to note that while some answerers are going on about "million dollar ideas" the truth is that there are very very few board game designers who make a living doing so, and generally they can only do so because they have spent years building up their published games.  Much like writers, one must publish and produce a lot of materials before enough residual money comes in to "go pro".  Few of the designers who produce prolific games make a significant income at it, and the board game industry is one where sales of a few hundred copies is considered a "success", because that's the point where the game publisher can break even.