Thoughts: Game Publishing Octathalon

[benlehman]

Running Game Chef is making me think about game design contests. Here's one:
Design
Write
Playtest
Revise
Illustrate
Layout
Print
and Distribute (sell or otherwise spread)

a role-playing game within, say, a week.

That'd be fun.

Comments

[drivingblind.livejournal.com]

Possibly too grueling for one week -- the game chef notion of two weeks = 3 weekends might be better for it. Still, I like its urgency. Though the folks who complain about games not being finished enough before they go to publication might shriek about the "and Distribute" part. :)

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know. Part of me totally wants to make them shriek.

I would not encourage people to sell for over, say, $2, or over, say, 10 copies. The point is not to be like "this game is totally fine" but just to cram all parts of the production together and see what good stuff comes out. I'm worried with three weeks there'd be time to dwaddle and get mired down.

yrs--
--Ben

[drivingblind.livejournal.com]

Deliberately framing the last step as "you have an ashcan. distribute!" might do the trick. :)

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely, yeah.

The inspiration for this is my XXXXtreme luge game, for which I almost did all that within 24 hours, but lost some steam near the end and have yet to recover it.

yrs--
--Ben

[matt-rah.livejournal.com]

For the record, I would love to playtest the XXXXtreme Luge game!

Matt

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

Please do!

Do you want a laid-out version for printing?

yrs--
--Ben

[matt-rah.livejournal.com]

Yes!

BTW, I can't promise to playtest it super-soon, but soon-ish--say by the end of the summer.

Matt

[sirogit.livejournal.com]

I'd be totally down for this. Perhaps you should offer some distribution ideas, such as:

1) Putting in magazine piles in doctor offices/restrooms.

2) Putting inside pages of similarly themed books at libraries.

3) Running demos at game-stores, and selling copies there.