Hi there!
I am nearing the final stages of my board game and I am looking for information on how to distribute the Rules. Considering this has been over a year in progress, I'm very skeptic about just posting the rules. Can I get some feed back from others who have gotten play testers to review their work?
How did it go? Were you worried about copyright infringement? Are people generally interested in helping?
Thanks a lot!
Greetings!
The Search feature at the top right will be really helpful to you. I did a quick search using "copyright" and it came back with a whole bunch of threads that'll make excellent reading for you! :)
-CB-
I've had people proof-read my rules, and I've proof-read other people's rules.
No, I'm not concerned about proofreaders stealing my game.
Yes, I've found it relatively easy to find people willing to help.
You could write a one-paragraph synopsis of the game and ask people to PM you if they are interested in helping, and then you send them a copy. That way only a few people get it, rather than the whole world.
Regards,
kos
Hi, I'm happy to help out if you want - just let me know.
we can read your rules. Be prepared for severe comments, though - they ultimately strengthen your game, though.
I'm in the same situation. I just finished putting together prototypes for playtesting but i need some criticism on the rules before i send them out. I'd be happy to help. Just pm me if you need a reader...
I wouldn't worry too much about it. Put a copyright notice on it and sleep well.
In writing workshops, writers share their stories freely. Some put copyright notices on the stories, others don't and leave it implicit. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of such workshop every year in the country. Yet, plagiarism is so uncommon participants consider it a non-issue.
Don't worry is good advice, of course people might think: "wow, this is good mechanic, I'll use it in my own game" or "this subject is cool, mechanics are cool, so I could do something like this". But, I think complete plagiation of whole game is rare. My self, I usually check out some games that sound cool and clever, pick up some ideas or mechanics from them and use variation of those in my on games. I think this is common procedure (because otherwise world would ran out of boardgame-mechanics).
I'm also interested in rules reading.
FFS, I can't make heads or tails of the advice floating around this forum!
In one thread named "how different does my game has to be" a reply states:
...well that works both ways yet in this thread everyone seems to be on heroin, treating the whole thing like a none issue. So what am I missing? Do any of you really know what you're talking about or are you just guessing?
I read an article about Zynga awhile back and from what i read that seems to be an example of at least one major "developer" out there that has made a concept of stealing other peoples games.
Granted the chances of any of us creating a game worth stealing are slim, just as the chances of anyone I know writing a bestseller in a workshop are small. But that doesn't seem the same as saying the possibility of theft doesn't exist, at least to me; just that the risk increases the better the game is.
Agreed, it's not a non-issue. Then again, getting hit by a meteor is not a non-issue.
I view it in a cost-benefit way. The benefits of soliciting comments and criticism for your game or your rules far outweigh the risk of someone stealing your idea. That is why I compared with the writing community: the exact same holds true. If you are so scared your story idea will get stolen that you never share it, you will not improve your writing.
And, while I am no expert, I do know that even implicit copyright protection is pretty strong. However, copyright only protects outright copying, it does not protect structure, flow, etc.
only to the extent that designing a realy good game is as likely as being hit by a meteor (which in my case is a very suitable statistical likeness).
That made me smile :).
Today I thought of one drawback to sharing, so I must backpedal a bit. Here is one situation where you want to be careful about disclosing too much to too many. If you are planning to file a patent for your game, there are some issues with public disclosure. If an idea has been publicly disclosed, as the patent office defines it, it cannot be patented. Lawyers will err on the cautionary side and not recommend a patent application for something that has been shared with more than a couple of close associates (say, inside one company).
 | Dead Steam - Post Apocalyptic train building card game (32) by Tbone |
| Why a SpaceGame (part 2) (36) by X3M |
| Tabletop Game Jobs (0) by The Game Crafter |
| Protospiel Cleveland (0) by The Game Crafter |
| "Never Seven" - Playtest Rules - Suspended While the Game is Undergoing Modification (7) by Steve |
| New Board Game Pieces - Premium Mushroom & Premium Brown Mushroom (0) by The Game Crafter |
| Weight of sorting (4) by X3M |
| Placing cards (planets) in specific positions (orbits) (4) by Tbone |
| Designing from a personal pool of mechanism (36) by larienna |
| New Board Game Pieces - InFUNity Tiles (Hat Shape) (0) by The Game Crafter |
| New Auction: 1 Month of Advertising on FatherGeek.com (0) by The Game Crafter |
 | DuelBotz: Sample New Card (19) by questccg |
| Comparing 2 new dice replace mechanics (2) by X3M |
| Happy New Year!!! (1) by questccg |
| How to design and balance a Rock-Paper-Scissor like mechanism (44) by X3M |
| Monster Keep — Retiring this Design (0) by questccg |
| Build your own [insert game genre here] (13) by larienna |
| Finalists Selected for the VHS Case Challenge (5) by larienna |
| 2025 New Year Sale at The Game Crafter (0) by The Game Crafter |
| Merry Christmas 2024! (0) by questccg |
| Winner Announced for "That Cool Stock Part Challenge" (0) by The Game Crafter |
| End of Year Playtest Event at The Game Crafter (0) by The Game Crafter |
| New Board Game Pieces: 13mm Wood Cubes (0) by The Game Crafter |
| Board Game Blueprint - New Episode Every Wednesday (24) by The Game Crafter |
| Madison Game Design Cabal (0) by The Game Crafter |
Thank you for the responses.