GTS 2009: Thursday - "Hi, I'm a game designer. Who should I contact to submit game proposals?"

Thursday, April 16th
(Writing @ 11:10 AM on Friday)

Don't remember what I ate for breakf... Oh, yes I do. I was really happy with the ham, egg, and cheese croissant at Nosh (at the base of the South tower), but I chose not to do that and went to the big common room outside GAMA registration to wait for the continental-style buffet to be set up. This was a good move for several reasons:

1) It's a decent breakfast, and it's free (or at least included in the price of the ticket).

2) It's a good place to see, be seen, meet new people, and reconnect with people you've been seeing. I met three retailers, one of whom kind of recognized me, so our time together just reinforced that further. I also got to touch base with other game designers and swap information.

Something I forgot to mention in my notes from Wednesday: Just before I bumped into Mike Hummel, I was stopped while walking into the main convention space. The guy manning the door asked me to wait there so he could show me to the other staff in the GAMA registration room. It turns out that I am the spitting image of a convention staff veteran who goes by the nickname of Cthulhu Bob. There was a big hubub with clever comments, laughter, and several funny pictures of the two of us taken. Cthulhu Bob is a good and friendly guy, so I'm pleased to be associated with him. The fact that the GAMA staff liked me by association was very nice and beneficial: While waiting for and eating breakfast, one or two GAMA staff stopped to say, "Hi," gave me tips for people to pitch to, or talked about how they had (or would) put nice words in for me with various others in the industry.

After breakfast, I went to Mike Stackpole's 10 AM lecture on freelancing. Again, I took notes that were as close to verbatim as I could make them. There were fewer attendees than at Andrew Looney's lecture, but I suppose that freelancing is a narrower topic than game design.

After that, I returned to the main convention hall. I didn't have any appointments lined up, so I hung out and walked about a bit. If there is anything I would go back and change, it would be this: I would have been even more outgoing with walking up to booth staff and introducing myself. I assumed that some companies would not take outside solicitations, just from what I know from their web site. I now know that this is not the case. It's okay to get rejected, right? That's far better than missing an opportunity. Also, I should have stopped by Asmodee's booth far earlier. That said...

I went to Atlas Games' booth to re-pitch Cthul-B-Que. As I introduced myself, the guy who was not Michelle perked up. He turned to me and said, "Doctor Necreaux?"

A digression: BGDF veterants may recognize the game title Escape from the Secret Volcanic Island Lair of the Diabolical Doctor Necreaux. I submitted it in a Game Design Challenge a while back (Although I should not have. It was not developed for the challenge, but just happened to fit its parameters. It didn't win that month, FWIW.). I submitted Dr. Necreaux to AEG late last year and they licensed it from me. It is the second game AEG licensed from me. I've been completely hush-hush about it because AEG hasn't said anything about it, and it's been killing me – especially at this show. So many times I had to say, "And I've licensed two games, but I can't say to whom or what they are or when they'll be released." I'm proud of the game, I like the job they did on it (art, layout, etc.), and I want to be able to talk about it. Now back to the story...

So you can imagine my surprise when I heard him say that. I wish I remembered what my reaction was. I imagine I was appropriately startled. I quickly discovered that John Zinser demoed Doctor Necraux the previous night at the PSI-hosted games night.

Another digression: It's a shame I was not there. If I'd been present, I would have met Zinser, seen the demo copy, meet people playing he game, and it would have been a fantastic networking opportunity. Back to the tale, again...

So, that was pretty awesome. I was recognized by someone who hadn't known me through anything other than my game. That made me happy. Unfortunately, their game didn't bring the tension that I'd hoped for. They lucked out and got a card that stands in for the Escape Shuttle, so they ended with 5 countdown tokens. Thinking about that now, I'm astonished. They must have reached The Scientists very, very early. I just hope that they had a good time and got a favorable impression of the game...

So, once I regained my focus, I showed off the art for Cthulinaria, addressed some of Michelle's questions, and she said that I should come back when they had one more person to relieve her. Unfortunately, that relief and I were never at the booth at the same time. With all of the other things going on, I left a message with John Nephew that I'll send a new prototype of Cthulinaria to them. This does mean that I need to make one with the new art, since sending a plain one with art samples really won't cut it.

On the advice of a GAMA staffer, I went to the Pulp Gamer booth. I told them about making one game a month since January 2000, and they seemed interested in setting up an interview. Talked with them a bit about their interests and such. Pleasant.

Wandered past the 3 Sages Games booth, got targeted with a very good and fast, "push mini-swag in your hands," pitch, and started talking to Dave Wainio. He's one of their core game designers, and I gained agreement to follow up with him with designs that fit their "bag game" format in about a week.

On a tip from Gameprinter, I introduced myself to Randall Bills, the Managing Developer at Catalyst Game Labs. I told him about my "buffet 'o games" and gained agreement from him to follow up with him in early June.

Feeling bolder, and desiring to make good use of my time, I went over to APE games and introduced myself to Kevin Brusky knowing full well that their site says that they do not take unsolicited submissions. I complimented him on their current popular lines (OotS and Duck, Duck) and we bonded a little over Order of the Stick. I gained permission from him to contact him in July. He expressed an interest in games that use components that can be purchased through the Oriental Trading Company.

Mike and I regrouped and went to the lunch buffet at Paris. It was a perfectly decent buffet for ~$17 per person. As usual, I didn't eat nearly that much food (I'm really not a buffet person). Like the previous buffet, it was the conversation that made it worth it. Mike and I did a lot of catching up, and it we had a very good time. Heck, I'm smiling just thinking about it. Aside from reminiscing, catching up, and talking about Las Vegas, we shared our thoughts on the industry, our future hopes, and arranged to meet when the show closed.

After lunch, we went back to the convention hall and split up. I tried the Upper Deck booth, but the contact I was seeking was not available, and the booth staffer thought that he may have left. I got a generic email address that I was told would channel through to my desired contact, thanked the staffer for his time, and went to take a seat and rest.

While seated, I watched an earnest medical student couple play 'n pitch a game to a youngish professionally-dressed guy. As I watched and listened, it became clear that the professional was another game designer who'd worked hard, had some good fortune, and now has an astonishingly awesome array of contacts in the toy, game, and hobby game industries. After they finished talking, I made a brief introduction to him and met Greg Zima. He had to go back to the booth he was manning (Family Games). Once the retailer left, I went over and we chatted a bit. Greg gave me a Family Games catalog and advised me to sift the few best fits from my array of games that are production-ready. He agreed to pass them on to the head of Family Games for evaluation.

I cruised by Out Of The Box's booth and talked to Max Osterhaus. He was a lot younger than I thought he'd be. While there, I discovered that they're putting out a game that's remarkably similar to Jam Doodle. The one-sentence pitch he used is word-for-word identical to what I use for Jam Doodle: "It's like Pictionary in reverse." This is unfortunate because I'm very proud of Jam Doodle, have been pitching it rather fervently, and actually have a company interested in seeing a prototype. That was rather demoralizing. However, sitting here in the airport waiting for my flight to Austin, I can see that Jam Doodle and Backseat Drawer, although very similar in mechanics, are still different. Specifically, Jam Doodle focuses on precise drawings of abstract doodles with specific geometric relationships and ratios, making it very appropriate for educational environments and topic-neutral training environments. Backseat Drawer really is more like Pictionary in reverse, in that its cards are words and topics instead of target drawings.

Feeling slightly dispirited, I meandered back past the Upper Deck booth and spotted an Upper Deck name tag with the same first name I was looking for. Seizing the opportunity, I pounced, only to find I'd hit the wrong prey. However, my target was in the booth, talking with someone else. I talked to my errant target for a bit, then introduced myself to Scott Gaeta. I explained that I've produced one game a month since January 2000 and have ~40 production-ready (just need art and layout) games ready. I gained agreement to contact him about three weeks from now. As I left, I dropped a teaser for one of my most secret of secret projects. Please forgive me for not describing my secret ninja-project said here. I'll say this: I dropped several buzzwords that resonate well at Upper Deck, including the word "toyetic" (as in, having a toy-like component). He responded by saying that he was curious now; his interest was piqued. That was probably my best professional move at the show.

I left the Upper Deck booth feeling super-prime and full of optimism. I went to tables in the rear left of the main showroom to sit and rest. While there, I caught up with Jay Cormier, another game designer working as Bamboozle Brothers. We'd met on the first day of the show, hit it off well, and had been touching base periodically throughout the show. As the hall closed and booths were disassembled, Jay and I spent some time sharing our successes, contacts, and such. Mike arrived, and I introduced him to Jay. At Jay's urging, I ran over to the Asmodee booth, interrupted their tear-down, and received permission to contact Cristophe in about a week.

Mike and I considered our options for the evening. We considered dinner with Aaron, Scotty (makers of the upcoming Shard RPG), and the Studio 2 group; getting invited to eat dinner with the Tasty Minstrel crew, or going out to see Penn & Teller. Mike chose Penn & Teller. I was certainly agreeable to it, having missed them the last two times I had the opportunity to see them. Sadly, this was not going to work out. Up in my room, I discovered that Penn & Teller have Thursday and Friday off. Spamalot, Mike's second choice, no longer plays in Las Vegas, and we'd both seen Blue Man Group. I called the concierge and asked for suggestions to replace Penn & Teller. "They're the only magical comedy show. You can have magic, or comedy, but you can't have both," she said. Recalling a billboard I'd seen, I said: "How about The Amazing Johnathan?" I got the ticket info, called, purchased tickets for two, and was told we had to claim the tickets by 8:00.

Oh... It's a long story, and it's not industry-relevant. I'll cut to the chase. I had to run ahead to the get tickets, leaving Mike behind. While waiting in line, not where we thought we'd have to go, I got pounced on by two "cougars" named Margaret and Deborah. Mike arrived quite a bit later, but in time for the show. The Amazing Johnathan was... Well, we expected more for the price. Mike and I dodged getting devoured by the cougars and went back to Bally's. Mike explained why he took so long to get to the Harmond Theater: While in Planet Hollywood, he was given incorrect directions to The Amazing Johnathan, went down the wrong corridor, and ended up in the entrance corridor for the Miss USA Pageant (which is at Planet Hollywood right now). Mike got greeted by 50 beautiful women in fancy dress and sashes. This chance encounter made the evening's entertainment worth it.

At Bally's we went to one of the bars that a bunch of GAMA attendees were hanging out at. It was near the annual GAMA Poker game. Mike introduced me to friends and professional acquaintances of his and we had a great time sharing funny stories and telling tales. It was a good evening. I bade Mike a fond good-bye, returned to my room, packed for the following day, and turned in.