ideas stolen?

An idea: You could give players a choice of rolling two six-sided dice and moving the highest or one twelve-sided die and only moving one space. If you're stuck on a 2, 3, 11, or 12, you may find the one-in-twelve odds of moving only one space with a dodecahedron a lot more appealing than the one- or two-in-36 odds of moving a random amount with a pair of cubes.

A couple points as I see them:

1. There is nothing new under the sun Horacio.

2. People are only interested in their own ideas usually.

3. If your game is unuique you don't have to worry about someone els stealing it because they will not know what to do with it. They don't have your mind.

4.This is not a profitable idustry unless your puting out lots of hit games all the time.

5. Dig in this forum and you will find other material on this question.

It's true--worrying about your ideas getting stolen is the first warning sign from a publisher that your are an amateur. Because most ideas (even the one you mentioned) are derivatives of other games already "out there", it can even happen that some seemingly innovative mechanics are actually developed simultaneously by different designers, unbeknownst to each other. It really does happen.

And, as the others mentioned, the real work is not in the idea, but in the work in developing and playtesting. For example, you have one simple idea, but you'll need much more to get the game noticed in this increasingly crowded marketplace. What about theme? Could that add some additional layers to the initial idea? What is your target audience? What publishers do you respect, and want to pitch the game to?

And even if you get a contract, the money you earn won't be worth the time and money spent in developing your idea. Most likely not, any way.

Hell, I wish I was in a position to steal ideas. I've got twenty half-finished games of my own, I don't need to any more ideas. Also, nobody ever got rich doing this, to my knowledge, so I'd say your ideas are pretty safe.

I can understand there is an initial feeling when beggining game design of wanting to protect your idea. I have to admit that I came to realise that 1. what board game has cured cancer? 2. So, the world can live without my games. Also the world can live without my art.

So it pays to not take your idea too seriously. I think it's really the ego and wanting to be recognized at the heart of it. Do what makes you happy. If that is board games, perfect, but I wouldn't do it for the money or thinking that your game is going to turn the earth upside down and the ocians into gold. I think what we have here is a long line of designers who came in thinking this way and had a reality check.

Be passionate about this, but don't think you have to protect it. Chances are, you are the only one who would feel that way about your game. I can't think of anygame I have ever seen that if I could steal it I would. It is not the nature of a creator to steal. No one wants your idea. We wish you t he best with it though.

And I have to agree with the idea that it is all about persistance.

What was that ausom thing Dralius said about games and flys on a windshield?

the game designer's adage (ala Henny Youngman):

"Take my game, please!"

I think that would require a cohesive group to work. Not every one on here thinks alike or close enough to work together. Or has the same tasts. We don't all like the same kinds of games. I could see small groups working together.

As mentioned, it's hard to make a big group of people work well together. But there are lots of BGDFers who have worked together on some games: Jeff Warrender and Steve Sisk have an Indiana Jones game, Doho123 and Sedjtroll have a trains/word game, Zzzzz and myself joined forces for a GDS entry once, and many of us have helped each other on games to the point where it's reasonable to consider the team as a designer and developer team (Sedjtroll comes to my mind again, as he helped me a lot with my tennis card game and so did I with his 9-ball card game).

The key for these teams to work, IMHO, is a similar vision for the game and a good degree of friendship among the designers. I love collaborative work, but wouldn't even try to develop a game with someone else unless I was sure I can freely criticize his ideas without hurting any feelings, and accept his suggestions and critiques in the best possible way. If you find someone like that to work with, it is a great experience.

I have had this idea and have made some developments with it, of designing a style of mechanics that work similar to some card tricks. Not as card tricks themselves, like a long system for predicting a card or creating some dorky illusion, but an interesting way of causeing interesting things to happen in a game. I always thought this could be an interesting aproach. And this kind of was sparked when I saw how some game use lots of cards and how there are decks of card around the board, and how a game I was playing had "mystery" cards that were placed under character cards. Then I remembered some card tricks I had seen and how there was a system of dealing them out.

I'm still contemplating about doing this not only with cards but spaces on a board and how you move, and tiles or tokens places on that board. I beleave you can take principles from these card tricks and apply them in further unkown ways. Anything can be a card. What interesting creative ways can I apply these solid mathematical principles and formulas?

I still want to work with interested designers on ideas like this. I have a limited passion and energy to put in my games and therfore my games do not gain the momentum that would be necessary to where I want them to be or will take some period of time. I don't know how long. Hay if anyone wants to colaborate on Beyond the Wheel, it's on. Just talk to me. If anyone has anything similar or wants to colaborate on this stuff, let me know.

1. Start a game company

Everyone here wants to be the company designer but there are many other hats that must be worn which will take away from the time you have to design your games. Deciding who will design the games and who will give up their free time to promote, sell, and otherwise run the business so another person’s game can get published is a sticking point. Running any business is hard work and working hard to get another person’s game published is not what most of up here are looking for. I have not heard a proposal for a balanced system that would allow all participants to have a fair chance of getting their game published. If you could come up with that then you have a starting point and may get some takers.

2. Design teams

It’s great to work with other designers as long as they are compatible. I worked with Mike Petty on World Gauntlet federation which I published as a PDF game. It was his design and I help him polish it but I think my additions bettered the game as a whole. I am also working with Clark Rodeffer on Weird Heraldry which we will be testing at Protospiel this year. The upside of working with a partner is that they keep your energy level up. When you are burned out or at an impasse they may not be and can keep the process moving. They will also approach the project with a different perspective and as long as you’re flexible and willing to try their crazy ideas it often pays off by creating solutions you would not have thought of. In the end whether you design alone or in a team you’ll still need to find a publisher.