Hi Ian

Is there any thought to providing an area during Gencon where up and coming designers can exhibit their game design to guage its popularity? It would have to be strictly no selling at the show, but gives the designer a chance to see if their concept works or maybe be approached by a games company etc...

Gencon would be the excellent platform to test ideas and concepts before investing hard earned $'s in a product that could be a flop...

Your thoughts on Gencon supporting this kind of idea? Even if it was a "scheduled event" during the show where for a couple of hours they can show case their ideas! They would have to register for Gencon and complete a special registration form of course.

Quite frankly I LOVE the idea of Game Designers using Gen Con as that sort of platform.

I think the Board Game Bonanza Area would be the best option for this during the evening periods - but would need to be well advertised. I think it would be great for a Friday Night activity.

Of course the BEST way of demonstrating product is to take a Gallery Booth and have the whole weekend to test out the waters. Having said that a Speed Dating type deal where people have 15 to teach their game to a group of people would be kind of cool. Can you teach someone a new game in 15 minutes?

We would need a coordinator for that, so thinking caps on and we'll keep this idea in mind.

If I can help, let me know.

Actually, the booth idea is a good one but probably out of reach costwise for most people who will not be selling....

I think that the development would have to be to a playable level not just a concept. Also people who wish to try the ideas may be required to sign a non disclosure??

Anyway, if it was a Free event for those attending the show it may work as a break from serious gaming....

Glad you like the idea.

Aha, you are an enthusiastic and kindhearted person.

If you really want help as a new Aussie game designer, you should get in contact with the indie Games on Demand folks (of which I am one, but Andrew Smith and Nathan Russell are perhaps more active than I.)

As a collective, Andrew and Nathan started "The Stockade" at Gencon Oz last year, with the intention to launch a bunch of projects during this years event.

Check out their sites

Here is the Wordpress blog

Here is the Google Group

There is a bit of activity toward starting a good community of local game designers, if you'd like to join us, you're more than welcome.

Vulpinoid, how I add news items to Stockade? My Stockade project is dead, in the sense that it got to the point where I had the rough draft for a card game, then worked out that I don't actually want to create and market a card game, but one of my books is coming out in the US tomorrow according to Amazon.com,. and I can't see where to push on the stockade site to be able to say "Hey, gang! I finished this one!"

Hi,
This is a great idea. I'm Nathan Russell, one of the guys organising the Stockade. I have lots to say so let me take a breath...

@ Timothy - adding news to the Stockade site as a contributor is theoretically possible and there are a couple of ways to do this. Let me investigate further to see what is best.
@ Vulpinoid, thanks for the plug. How is your game design going?
@Truhlsrohk and Ian - wonderful ideas here. There is no one "best" idea and it totally depends on the participants (designers) and their needs. I don't have any immediate solution, but I do have a bunch of information on what is happening at GenCon Indy and our own GenCon Oz that is relevant;

At GenCon Indy groups of indie designers often group together to fund a booth and both promote and sell their games in the dealer hall. They run demos of their own and other's games at the booth, and sell, just like a number of companies did at GenCon Oz last year (Wednesday Night Games with "Dash In Dungeons" and another company with a card game spring instantly to mind). The advantage to grouping up is that you have a large number of people to run the booth and "sell" all the games. The disadvantage is the designer gives up the chance to run "full" games in the play area.
Often the games being sold are not "finished" games. The so-called "ashcan" is an almost finished game with a few bits and pieces that the designer explicitly points out as needing work. The designer wants feedback. It is SOLD to the consumer with this understanding. Paying for the product means a person is more likely to play it, increasing the chance that they will give genuine feedback to the designer. The downside is some people do not like the idea of charging for a beta-version of a game. Of course, they don't have to buy it.
This model of groups of designers selling finished and ashcan games has been very successful at GenCon Indy, and last year there were three or four booths doing this. These groups are also backed up by a large number of people organising play events for these and similar indipendently published games, in the play area.

Our community might not be that big! For example, we have about 13 people who have announced their participation in the Stockade Project this year, and I would be really happy if half of them have a product (ashcan at least) ready for GenCon Oz.
This year Andrew Smith is once again organising Indie Games On Demand where several GM's offer a large number of indie RPG's for play, in a "buffet" style where players choose what to play once they are seated at the table. It has worked amazingly the last two years and looks to be shaping up just as good this year. Many of the designers participating in the Stockade project have committed to running games at Indie Games on Demand. They will likely offer a variety of games as well as their own for play. It is a great chance for designers to show off their game, to people interested in this type of game. The downside is, committing to six or twelve hours of running games makes it impossible to run a booth in which to sell or market their product!
We are also doing a game design workshop (like last year) and an official "launch" for the Stockade games. As co-host of the Here Be Gamers! podcast I will also be covering the release of these new games and ashcans. Hopefully that will give a little boost to the designers too.
It is my personal hope that one day we will have enough designers and fans to run both a booth and Games on Demand, rotating people through both. In the meantime it would be great if there was some easy way for designer/GM's to get their games into people's hands.

Well, that's my info dump. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help with this excellent idea. Feel free to email me at MrNathanRussell AT gmail DOT com

- Nathan