Things TO SAY when pitching to a publisher

My recent post, “Things NOT to say when pitching to a publisher,” has been very popular that past couple of weeks, having been linked to design forums from Boardgamegeek and even an Italien game design website (I couldn’t resist registering there to comment, even though I had to run everything through Googletranslate in order to understand the conversation).

At the prodding of several commenters, including those on Board Game Design Forum, I have now added a list of things you COULD and probably SHOULD say to publishers, when pitching your game to them.

Introductions to Games

As Christmas approaches, I will probably have several opportunities to play games with friends and family.  Most of these occasions will include people who do not normally play games, or people who only know a limited number of games.   In fact, these kinds of situations are not unusual for me, as the bi-monthly game night I host often attracts people who are there more for the social experience than to “learn every new Essen release.”  They could care less who the designer is or what kinds of game mechanics are used.  They simply want to have a good time with friends, both new and old.

That does not stop me, of course, from introducing new games to them, in an attempt to expose them to the wonderful wide world of our hobby.  My choices, however, tend to favor games with short rules and shorter playing times.   Following is a list of my favorite—and best-received—introductions to the hobby, my top “gateway games,” as they are often called.  I've organized them by type of game, as I have found that it is a good idea to have a few games of each type handy--something for everyone, if you will.

Birthday Games

December birthdays are often not celebrated as intensely as those that occur in the less eventful months between holidays.  My birthday was last week, and once again, I did not have the energy to throw a big party for myself and my friends, as there is a constant stream of them from November to January.  As Americans living in Berlin, we celebrate our own traditions and adopt many of the German ones.  This means that we invite our friends over for a Thanksgiving feast in November, then celebrate Advent in the traditional German manner with cookies and hot beverages.  We have also adopted the German tradition of Nikolaustag on December 6, when children place their shoes outside their door and Saint Nikolas places small gifts and chocolate in them while they sleep.  We eat a traditional Bratwurst and Sauerkraut dinner on Christmas Eve as our Berlin friends do, but we open our presents on Christmas Day, as is the tradition Stateside.

In any case, there is so much to do, and we already have so many guests for the other events, that I rarely have enough energy to plan yet another party for myself.  Instead, I usually opt for a quiet evening celebration with my wife and children.  Since my twin sons are now 5 years old and enjoy playing games, I decided to take the family to the Spielwiese gaming café this year for my birthday.