How can I get a job in the board game industry?

[Edge of Dreams]

Title says it all, really. I've got a B.S. in Computer Science, but I actually think I'd have more fun working on board games and pen-and-paper RPGs than I would in the video game industry.

So, how does one get a job in that realm? I've heard freelance writing for magazines and such is one option, but I'm really not sure how a person gets started doing that.

Anyone here actually work for a board game or RPG company who could tell me more about what it's like and how to get my foot in the door?

[Anxe]

Well, for RPG companies they require that you have some experience before they hire you. None of them allows you to get that experience without having the experience first, so you must get it on your own. I'd assume its the same for the board game industry. The best way you can get around this seemingly circular logic is to make and release a board game yourself (or an expansion to one if that's allowed by copyright). Also, I'm sure that cronyism is present in the board game industry as it is for everything else. Trying to get to know the people who work at the company you want to work at couldn't hurt.

[Reluctance]

Freelancing for magazines means exactly what it sounds like. You write up an article, submit it to a magazine, and hope they like it enough to print it. The same works for general submissions to a company. Here are (http://wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/submissions) a couple (http://www.white-wolf.com/submissions) to give you an idea what's expected. As a word of advice, though, don't quit your day job until you've established yourself well.

Working on board games, I wouldn't know where to begin. I'd assume you'd have your best start by either making your own (the internet makes it a lot easier to sell just the rules without having to pay the overhead for a board and pieces and everything), or at the very least proposing a houserule for an existing game that catches on. You could always look for jobs with a company like Hasbro directly, but keep in mind that the bigger companies are more about selling already made products than developing new ones. You're probably more likely to land a computer job than a designer job even if you work for a big games company.

[Tyndmyr]

Title says it all, really. I've got a B.S. in Computer Science, but I actually think I'd have more fun working on board games and pen-and-paper RPGs than I would in the video game industry.

So, how does one get a job in that realm? I've heard freelance writing for magazines and such is one option, but I'm really not sure how a person gets started doing that.

Anyone here actually work for a board game or RPG company who could tell me more about what it's like and how to get my foot in the door?

As a fellow game enthusiast in the IT industry(code monkey), I can sympathize. I've checked out both areas quite thoroughly, and it looks like a LOT of people just start randomly making things until something catches on. Once you've got successes under your belt, it's a lot easier to get hired.

That said, it's surprisingly inexpensive to get things printed on demand these days, and with kickstarter available once you get the design sorted out, printing costs are no longer the hump they once were. I would recommend doing a little freelance stuff, or working with a small company on some basis that's in need of more product variety. It'll give you some experience to put down, and it'll let you see if you enjoy it enough to take the pay hit. Sadly...game designing doesn't pay terribly well.

I'm happily writing my own RPG now, though, and enjoying it rather a lot.

[Dr.Epic]

Send cover letters to gaming companies is the best guess. That or inquire with local game shops.

[Asthix]

Homebrew section of these forums is where you should start. Made a homebrew that people like? Got a growing fanbase with that homebrew? that's the time to get you're elevator pitch polished and make the right people notice you at the right time.

[Asta Kask]

SJGames tells it how it is. (http://www.sjgames.com/general/jobs.html)

From their website:



Breaking In

How do you break into the field, then? The short answer is: by writing magazine or blog articles on a freelance basis, and working up from there. It's not the only path, but it's a sure one, provided you have the ability at all! We'll be happy to see your submissions for Pyramid, and who knows what that can lead to?

Freelancing

We use lots of freelancers - writers, editors and artists. The Internet is wonderful. If you have reliable e-mail and FTP capability, we can work with you no matter where in the world you are. Anyone interested in freelancing must know everything in our Authors' Guidelines.

I bet the other gaming companies have similar pages.

[RndmNumGen]

Most places won't hire you unless you know how to make games. A good way to learn how to make games is just to start making them. Come up with an interesting mechanic(or, if you want something simpler, take an existing mechanic and improve on it). Flesh out the rules, and build a prototype. Then comes the most important part - playtesting.

Give the rules to your gaming friends and let them play through it. Don't explain anything to them - just let the read the rules and see if they can figure it out. Get feedback from them afterwards and, combining that information with your own observations, improve the game. After doing this a couple times, consider taking the game down to your local hobby game store and having people there playtesting it. Repeat this until you feel it's good enough to publish, then find somewhere to sell it - a lot of places let you sell Print-N-Play games for low cost, and there are some companies that will take your files and produce good quality prints you can sell. These can get expensive, but they have the advantage of being easier to assemble and distribute.

Once you have some experience making games, it should be much easier to find a job in the industry. I haven't worked in the industry yet, so take this advice with a grain of salt, but I have worked on my own games, and learned a TON from doing so, and most people in the industry I talk to say that knowledge is invaluable to an aspiring game developer.

One last thing - The biggest thing to remember when playtesting is to swallow your pride. Don't help the players out with anything; if they can't figure it out, it's a problem with your game/rules, not with the players. If you assist them, you only sweep the problem under the rug, and then it will still be there when you publish it, which will only hurt you in the long run.

[Lord Seth]

You could always just see what open positions various companies have and try applying for them. For example, here (http://jobs.hasbro.com/go/digital-media/306703/) is what Wizards of the Coast is currently hiring for.

[Balain]

I'm trying to do the same thing myself. Most companies won't accept game ideas or prototypes from anyone. Some will accept a working prototype though so you could design and make a game and talk to those companies.

You could also make the game and try to publish it yourself. If you live in the states you can try kick starters.

It also depends what type of games you are into. Monopoly type games I heard that companies
Ike Milton Bradley always accept game ideas from people and will even review them and give you feed back. Something like descent, Agricola, TwilghtImperium is a tougher game market to get into.

The best idea is get to know people in the industry,and keep making games until something is a smash hit.

Of course if you are rolling in money and sleep on a big pile of money you can start your own gaming company :smallsmile:

[Tyndmyr]

I'm trying to do the same thing myself. Most companies won't accept game ideas or prototypes from anyone. Some will accept a working prototype though so you could design and make a game and talk to those companies.

There's good reason for that...nobody wants to accept ideas, and then get an idea that's basically similar to something they're already developing. It looks bad no matter what you do at that point, and it's bound to happen eventually.

That and ideas are cheap. I have a million unfinished ideas floating around. Turning them into completed games is the hard bit.

[Mazeburn]

Well for one thing, if you're already on your way/in the videogames industry, I'd recommend doing that as a day job for now and trying to do traditional gaming stuff in your own time. They're similar areas, with lots of the lingo and ideas buzzing around without people knowing it - chat to the designers if you're a programmer, or try to get into game/level design yourself. The other day I overhead some people at my office talking about minmaxing and was like 'roleplayers? OH NO WAIT THEY'RE WORKING'. It'll look good on a CV for trad stuff too, and it's more stable (so you can fund working towards the job you actually want! I mean... eat and stuff.). :)

And yeah, same as other people have said, start a blog and get a name for yourself. Post your work online for free first, don't be selfish with it, show people that you've got talent. Make systems and games people can download. Then go to local games shops and conventions. Regardless of if you're shy or not, try to be a social butterfly and make as many contacts as you can. From what I can tell, traditional gaming jobs are usually word-of-mouth. Good luck. :D