Content creators want board game creators or publishers that fit their interests and goals on their shows, podcasts, and blogs. Board game creators are looking to spread word about their work.
So finding a good match is easy, right? Right???????
No. There is too much noise and too much unknowns that make it hard for content creators and board game creators to match up with each other.
For the content creators they have to sort through all the noise stemming from the thousands of board game releases each year. There is no way a single content creator can be aware of every new game that is coming out. Content creators have limited time and knowledge, preventing them from being omniscient about all the new releases.
But do not despair, there are ways content creators can make it easier for the right sort of boardgame creators to find you. The key is taking steps to make it easier for board game creators to get the knowledge they needed to figure out if they should be reaching out to you.
Just like content creators, boardgame creators face lots of noise to identify which content creators might legitimately be interested in the boardgame they are making. For boardgame creators, the challenge is that there is no reliable list of all content creators. Plus the sheer number of content creators make it unrealistic for a board game creator to listen to every show or read ever article to figure out which content creators are a good match.
So here is a quick list, with examples from my work spreading news about my game, Robotech: Reconstruction.
1. Thematic Match of Game
2. Game Style Match
3. Content Creators Format Match
4. Personal Interest of Content Creators
5. Content Creators Networks
Thematic Matches of Game
Thematic Matches are boardgame themes that match themes a content creator wants to regularly cover. Creating content with explicit titles about those themes makes it much easier for me to find you and reach out.
Because there is not a uniform list of all content creators, one of the ways I discover is a google or YouTube search where I search for the theme of my boardgame and then I add the word board game to the search.
For example, my game Robotech: Reconstruction is set in the Robotech Anmie. When I did a Google search for Robotech boardgame reviews, I came across this great video from DiasExMachina where he explores the history of Robotech boardgames.
DiasExMachina is clearly passionate about Robotech Boardgames. After I reached out to him we quickly arranged an opportunity for me to show him the game. And afterwards, he kindly decided to do a preview of Robotech: Reconstruction.
Game Style Match
Game Style Matches are finding board games that match the type (mechanically speaking) that interest the content creator. Similar to matching themes, the ability to match styles of games is easier when content creators create content with titles that highlight the style of game itself or cover multiple games with the same style.
My game Robotech Reconstruction's design is inspired by GMT'S #COIN system. So when I looked for content creators with an interest in COIN games, I came across The Player's Aid's video Ranking COIN Volumes 1-VIII
Bonus, when I watched the video I learned The Player's Aid were particularly interested in playing a Sci-Fi COIN style boardgame. Again, when I reached out they generously took a look at the game and covered it. Which is when I learned Grant is a big Robotech fan.
Content Creator's Format Match
Content Creator's Format Match is when something I do as a designer fits into the larger purpose of the creators content. Be it talking about game design on a design content or talking about teaching with boardgames on a content creator focus on education and boardgames.
Having a tile or a clear about me section on your webpage makes it much easier to identify you and reach out. Take the podcast Board Gaming with Education, the tile by itself makes it clear what is the podcast's focus. Or look at the tag line on the front page of the Who What Why podcast where it clearly states the podcast is "about topics in game design featuring the man people who come together to make games possible.
Since I already write a blog on advice for boardgame designers (duhh, you are reading it right now), it made sense to reach out to the Who What Why Podcast to discus my writing on Point Salad vs Point Journey. One, it fits the format of the show and two, it allows me to also talk about Robotech: Reconstruction since the game fits in my Point Salad vs Point Journey pardamine.
Personal Interest of Content Creators
Personal Interest of Content Creators is harder to identify. The interest may not be apparent from your content, especially when not the main topic of an episode. Show notes, even if just a minimum listing of things you talked about, alerts me to see if we are a good match.
Board Again Games had a show note that listed Liberty or Death in their Dr. Patrick Real Episode. I listened and discovered that one of the hosts enjoy playing COIN games even though they do not get to play them too often.
So when I reached out about my COIN inspired boardgame Robotech: Reconstruction they kindly welcomed me as a guest.
Show notes are helpful, but not the only place where you can stumble across a mutual interests. Public Social Media, Twitter for example, is searchable, and if a content creator takes the time to say, "I want to try out your game Robotech: Reconstruction" on social media, then there is a real possibility the publisher or designer will find you.
I’ve had my eye on Robotech Reconstruction because Robotech was my favorite show as a kid. But, it’s got a minimum player count of three, so probably not one I’d play often. Haven’t even really looked into the mechanisms.
Content Creators Network is a way content creators can help matchup designers to interested content creators. The idea is for a network of content creators to hang out in a single place where designers show up and someone can quickly let the designer know who to talk to
The network has to be large enough to cover a variety of things, but not so large that a single person is unable to direct you to who you should talk to. A great example is the discord for Geek to Geek Media . When I sought them out @CraftingRogue quickly answered my questions and introduced me to the content creators who were interested in Robotech.
The end result was getting to teach and play Robotech Reconstruction with the hosts of the Nerdberg Review, and one of their spouses who is a big Robotech fan. Afterwards they put together an episode describing their experience playing the game.
Help Me Help You
In essence these are things that you, content creators, can do to help me help you. I do not want to waste your time. I do not want to pester you. I want to identify who legitimately is interested in what I am cerating as a board game designer before I even reach out to you to limit the spam coming in your email boxes/twitter feeds/discord channels, etc.
Something I want to make clear is that things you write down are easier for me to find since I can use various search engines to find it. Show notes, even if the notes are just a list of board game covered in an episode, dramatically makes it easier for me to find you. Episodes with titles that include key words that reference to a larger trend, be it a mechanic, theme, or game, also are searchable, making it easier to find. Even having a written about section where you define what your project is all about is much easier for me to digest because I maynot be able to clearly identify the video or episode where you defined yourself.
And in the end, when it works out, we get to enjoy creating content together that you want to create that may not happen if I cannot find you.
