I made a boardgame when I was bored. How do I get it published

Sharkhouse

Sharkhouse

Sharkhouse

Associate
Joined
19 Aug 2020
Posts
134
Location
Bristol
Hello wise guys,

Over lockdown I made a boardgame for one of my classes, turns out its more fun than educational. No idea how to go about getting it published though, more for the pub credit than the money. Any ideas how to get this done?
 
Step 1 is to create an entry for your game on BoardGameGeek and publish the rulebook in the Files section.

Step 2: add a print-and-play version to the site as well, and create a TTS module for it if possible so people can play it online. There are Geeklists for games available in those formats; add your game to them.

At this point you have technically published the game. If your end goal is to get it professionally published, then you'll need to do more extensive playtesting and use the resources Bazza linked to.
 
bazzabear said:
I would suggest the site BoardGameGeeks probably has good resources for you - within the forum especially.

On a quick search, I found this forum post:
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/933849/designers-resources-list

In his list of resources, there's a list of manufacturers.
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JeditOjanen said:
Step 1 is to create an entry for your game on BoardGameGeek and publish the rulebook in the Files section.

Step 2: add a print-and-play version to the site as well, and create a TTS module for it if possible so people can play it online. There are Geeklists for games available in those formats; add your game to them.

At this point you have technically published the game. If your end goal is to get it professionally published, then you'll need to do more extensive playtesting and use the resources Bazza linked to.
Click to expand...

Thank you both. Much appreciated.
 
Russinating said:
@Sharkhouse How did you get on with this? I've come up and am starting to playtest an idea I had so interested to know if you did anything. I'm in Bristol too *waves*
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Hiya mate,

Nah, I've had a super busy month so haven't done much tbh.
Now we have a fresh lockdown I have more time to go for it so I'll finish my art for the game and then put it up on Board Game Geek.
Once I get feedback and make improvements I'll send the resources over to publishers.
I don't mind not making anything from it to be honest, I'm just excited about the idea of other people playing it.

I'll update here when I get on with doing things.
Let us know when you're successful with yours :D
 
Cool, let me know if you need a local playtester! Happy to print at home or return any parts to you if it needs more custom bits and pieces/cubes etc.

Of course I'll be asking for the favour to be returned as well ;)
 
Russinating said:
Cool, let me know if you need a local playtester! Happy to print at home or return any parts to you if it needs more custom bits and pieces/cubes etc.

Of course I'll be asking for the favour to be returned as well ;)
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I've just recently remembered Table Top Simulator exists so I'm going to buy and test building and playing it on that. Considering the isolation stuff occurring at the moment it's probably better than a physical copy for now.
Might be worth doing the same.
 
@Sharkhouse if you have facebook I would suggest joining the group, board game design lab. I am a member there and the amount of help and advice is amazing. There are published designers on there, graphics artist, publishers etc etc. A wealth of info on there. out of interest what is your game about? have you entered it on BGG yet, or a link to a design blog at all?

Edit: for what its worth I have about 6 designs on the go. Every one progressed with help from that group.
 
Droolinggimp said:
@Sharkhouse if you have facebook I would suggest joining the group, board game design lab. I am a member there and the amount of help and advice is amazing. There are published designers on there, graphics artist, publishers etc etc. A wealth of info on there. out of interest what is your game about? have you entered it on BGG yet, or a link to a design blog at all?

Edit: for what its worth I have about 6 designs on the go. Every one progressed with help from that group.
Click to expand...

That's super helpful thanks.

It's about settling and trading on a new planet.
I've not really shared it anywhere and there's no design blog. It's very much on the back burner at the moment as my work load has massively increased.
 
Sharkhouse said:
That's super helpful thanks.

It's about settling and trading on a new planet.
I've not really shared it anywhere and there's no design blog. It's very much on the back burner at the moment as my work load has massively increased.
Click to expand...

Sounds interesting, I suggest to post about it in that facebook group. For one you will then have it public of sorts so people will know it's your game/idea/design, so don't worry about your game being stolen. Get it tested, tested, tested, then blind playtested at least a hundred times if possible. Lots of things you will need to do depending on what route you take to get it out there. If you need help or questions answered just ask.:)
 
Sharkhouse said:
That's super helpful thanks.

It's about settling and trading on a new planet.
I've not really shared it anywhere and there's no design blog. It's very much on the back burner at the moment as my work load has massively increased.
Click to expand...

Interestingly mine is about being trapped in space! Again, on the back burner, mainly because I spent most of the weekend learning (!) and playing Terraforming Mars. Always more difficult to learn via the booklet than someone who's played before...
 
Russinating said:
Interestingly mine is about being trapped in space! Again, on the back burner, mainly because I spent most of the weekend learning (!) and playing Terraforming Mars. Always more difficult to learn via the booklet than someone who's played before...
Click to expand...

If you ever seen them before, watch it played chanel on youtube by rodney Smith.

Thank me later.( if you don't about him?)
 
Droolinggimp said:
If you ever seen them before, watch it played chanel on youtube by rodney Smith.

Thank me later.( if you don't about him?)
Click to expand...

I actually watched his 30 min video for TM, but I hadn't watched any before (or needed to for that matter). Searching Google for answers on BGK answered the rest of our card/action-specific questions!
 
Droolinggimp said:
If you ever seen them before, watch it played chanel on youtube by rodney Smith.

Thank me later.( if you don't about him?)
Click to expand...
Not seen this before, thanks. Only recently picked up board games again after a 20 year break as my boy is old enough to engage now and is pretty quick to pick things up. Good family stuff if we can stop the dog and cat playing with/eating the pieces.
 
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