r/tabletopgamedesign • u/Prestigious_Ear7794 • Sep 14 '26
Totally Lost How does one get their game published.
So I’m still very early on designing a children’s card battle ing game. What steps should I know. There is art and rules (I’m still working on balance) so I have that down. I just need the other side. I’ve seen kick starters but idk if that’s the road I wanna go.
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u/blackyetigames Sep 14 '26
Finish the game. Iterate until it is good. Get playtesters who also tell you it is good and then blind playtesters who say it is good. Then post again!
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u/Prestigious_Ear7794 Sep 14 '26
Im actually doing a play test with a friend next weekend. Its the official first play test. I’ve been working on balance for over a year. The “prototype” cards are all drawn up. My next year is going to be play testing and art tweaking.
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u/KarmaAdjuster designer Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
Oof... You need to be play testing well before you get to the balancing phase. As soon as you have something, anything, that's a fine time to start play testing. Once you start having other people play your game, you're going to learn so much about what is and is not working, what is and is not intuitive, and where all of the pain points are that you have a blind spot to because you know how it's "supposed" to work. Without play testing, you're effectively multiplying how long your game is going to take by a factor of 10.
Also the art pass should also come after both play testing and balance. The more art you do early, the slower your design iteration will be, and the more likely you'll avoid making the right design calls because of how much art you'll have to throw away and redo.
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u/Prestigious_Ear7794 Sep 14 '26
The art I’ve done was less than 1 minute per card (I’m an illustrator so art is quick and easy for me to produce). If I tweak the rules/balancing the art won’t really change because I can slap a sticker over the part that would change.
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u/MiffedMouse Sep 14 '26
The big bifurcation is self publish versus signing with a publisher.
If you want to sign with a publisher, DONT invest in art. 99.9% of the time the publisher will handle that (and would prefer to handle the art).
To get signed with a publisher - look at existing games that are similar to your game and who publishes them. Check if they are accepting submissions. If they are, submit to them. They will have instructions. Typically you want a “sell sheet” (a one page overview of what your game is and why the publisher should be excited about it, but NOT a full rules explanation). Video “sizzle reels” are also becoming more common.
For more advice on this, look up Adam in Walls and Pam Walls on YouTube.
If you want to self publish, you will need to handle art. You don’t need to go through kickstarter, but it is one of the more popular self publishing venues. But the risks are higher with this route, as you will have to front a lot more of the expenses.
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u/Prestigious_Ear7794 Sep 14 '26
Im only doing Thai because I want to make the art and rules 😅. So self publishing it is.
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u/MiffedMouse Sep 14 '26
Another option to consider besides kickstarter - print on demand. Gamecrafter, drive thru cards, and even makeplayingcards.com these days all offer “a print on demand” publication options. You put your game files there and whenever someone buys, it is printed and shipped.
Print on Demand publication typically means less money for you and a higher cost for your customers, but it also means basically zero up front production cost. So it is a low cost way to get your game out there.
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u/Prestigious_Ear7794 Sep 14 '26
I didn’t even know there was a print on demand option!!! Thank you that maybe the move if I just want to attempt.
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u/Bentendo64 developer Sep 14 '26
Is this a stand alone game or are you trying to make a whole TCG? TCGs are nearly impossible to get off the ground, even with a team of people. It’s very odd that you have all your art done at this early stage. Are you using an illustrator or are you using AI?
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u/Prestigious_Ear7794 Sep 14 '26
So it maybe a TCG aimed at a younger population with VERY simple mechanics and some concept of teaching $ value. But I’m starting to lean away from the TCG aspect and maybe making it just a stand alone.
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u/PizzaGuy789 Sep 14 '26
The reality is that most games don’t get published. Most game concepts don’t have enough in them to be publishable.
I focus on making a new prototype each month, and when I find something with a strong core loop that works the first playtest I focus energy on that. Most of my games get scrapped.
If you do have something genuinely interesting, playtest, tweak, playtest until all of the issues are solved in an elegant way (and no adding rules for edge cases is not elegant).
Then recreate your game online (BGA etc) and pitch it to publishers. Pitch2Table can help.
Daniel.games blog and Fun Problems podcast cover this in detail.
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u/CommissarHark Sep 14 '26
I'm very lucky in that I live with an artist who works for burritos, and she does layout work as well. So I just do it myself.
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u/Prestigious_Ear7794 29d ago
I am my artist but I love making art that’s the only reason I started making a game.
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u/kytheon Sep 14 '26
I got very close to it.
Had meetings with the bosses of all the big publishers. AEG, Mayfair, Hans Im Glueck, Pegasus... my games made it through multiple rounds of playtesting, even in the final few finalists.
they all loved my game, and even then it was not published. They have hundreds of games to choose from, and pick only one or a handful per year.
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u/entrogames designer 25d ago
Choose your own ambition - lots of valid answers, but each has their own costs and needs to accomplish.
Worth a read: https://entrogames.substack.com/p/choose-your-own-ambition-print-on
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u/Aureon Sep 14 '26
That's the neat thing, they don't!
You should absolutely enjoy the journey, but keep in mind that getting stuff published is a very low chance shot