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Before I get too far, let me first say if you are trying to get rich designing games, you may want to go back and re-think your methods. I could make more money recycling cans I find on the side of the road then you can do with game designs. Secondly, I am a strong believer that you should design games because you can not help yourself and feel compelled to do it; even if you do not need to!

With those two caveats out of the way, let's talk about how you can make a bit of scratch to help self-fund your hobby efforts. So far, I am familiar with a handful of ways which I will try to cover here. I do not think this is an exhaustive list, so if there are others or you have additional context please add on to this post.

1. Get Published by a Publishing Company- This is the most "conventional" method. Typically, you submit a pitch to the publisher via their submission process and they accept it. They send you a contract and you deliver the game and get paid based on the guidelines of the contract. This could include an advance, commission on sales, flat rates, etc. The key component is that you have a professional publisher with a known distribution channel.

2. Self-Publish- In today's day and age, you do not need an established publisher to push product. The Internet allows all sorts of opportunity to self-publish. This can be print-to-order books, PDFs, or other modes. Probably the most well-known version is Wargame Vault, but you can also go traditional self-publishing and print out a bunch of books on your own dime and take them from place to place to sell too. The downside is that you need to create your own distribution channels and path to the marketplace.

3. Donation Services- Again, the magic of the internet. Essentially, people who like what you do can voluntarily choose to donate to you via Patreon, PayPal, or other similar services. There is no expectation for a return on goods or services, it is a free-will donation. They give you money to help support you making games. The downside is that you probably need to create and audience in the first place.

4. Kickstarter/Go Fund Me/etc- Typically, you pitch a product and people choose to give you money or not. This is different from donation as the backers usually expect something in return for their money. They want a product. I have not seen many "Rules Only" projects from these venues, but I do not keep an eye on these venues. This suffers many of the same challenges as Self-Publishing.

Indeed, many of these options can be combined into a full-spectrum strategy. For example, I have used Option 1 and 2 combined together. I could see in the future trying to expand into option 3 as well. The more content and distribution channels you can support, the more potential money you can make. However, the more channels you support the more you have to "work" at your hobby.

This is just a brief and high-level overview of ways to try to self-fund your hobby of wargame design. I am sure I missed something so feel free to add on. If you want to talk about something in more detail, I encourage it as there is a lot I need to learn about this subject. I look forward to sharing knowledge and learning.

I'm not sure that there's any money to be made by an amateur game designer beyond covering one's costs. If you want to go big, it takes *real* money up front, mid 5-figures from what I can tell.

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
I'm not sure that there's any money to be made by an amateur game designer beyond covering one's costs. If you want to go big, it takes *real* money up front, mid 5-figures from what I can tell.

Completely agree. It is more about breaking even, building a portfolio, and working for a big break for us small timers.

Great topic, Easy E.

I am currently working on a project and looking at Option 2 as the primary means of publishing, and since you have experience in that area, what programs do you recommend for layout? I was eyeing Xara Page & Layout designer, but have zero experience in this area so I don't know if that is a decent program.


Regarding the other options, it seems like Kickstarter, despite its ubiquity and ease of use, can easily become a mire for small operations - especially if the campaign is more successful than anticipated. Particularly of concern are the inflated expectations of backers due to mega Kickstarter campaigns from companies like CMON that cram a ton of "freebies" into the main pledge, which is often something a small start up or garage operations just can't compete with. It seems, at least based on some of the reactions here on Dakka, if a campaign isn't dripping with free add-ons and other incentives then the campaign is deemed a failure. Kickstarter just seems like a bad idea these days since small game makers get easily drowned out by the latest flashy campaign.

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:
Great topic, Easy E.

I am currently working on a project and looking at Option 2 as the primary means of publishing, and since you have experience in that area, what programs do you recommend for layout? I was eyeing Xara Page & Layout designer, but have zero experience in this area so I don't know if that is a decent program.


Regarding the other options, it seems like Kickstarter, despite its ubiquity and ease of use, can easily become a mire for small operations - especially if the campaign is more successful than anticipated. Particularly of concern are the inflated expectations of backers due to mega Kickstarter campaigns from companies like CMON that cram a ton of "freebies" into the main pledge, which is often something a small start up or garage operations just can't compete with. It seems, at least based on some of the reactions here on Dakka, if a campaign isn't dripping with free add-ons and other incentives then the campaign is deemed a failure. Kickstarter just seems like a bad idea these days since small game makers get easily drowned out by the latest flashy campaign.

I completely agree with your Kickstarter comments.

For layout, any system you are comfortable with will do the job. I actually have used Microsoft PageMaker, Micorsoft Publisher, and PowerPoint for publishing. I actually find PowerPoint has all the tools I need to get a good PDF level product for people. I focus on selling PDFs and people who want PDFs typically want them to be usable on their tablets, and want less chimes and whistles for quicker load times.

If you look at the path Robey Jenkins (Precint Omega) used it is a pretty good template for getting yourself going in wargames design.

If you are going Print-on-Demand something a bit more robust may be a better choice. If you get involved with the book (like novels, poetry, fiction and non-fiction) self-publishing community, they have a lot of great resources and insights from software, lay-out discussion, to cover designs.

Ah, jeez. Lost track of this thread. Sorry for the late response.

 Easy E wrote:

I completely agree with your Kickstarter comments.

For layout, any system you are comfortable with will do the job. I actually have used Microsoft PageMaker, Micorsoft Publisher, and PowerPoint for publishing. I actually find PowerPoint has all the tools I need to get a good PDF level product for people. I focus on selling PDFs and people who want PDFs typically want them to be usable on their tablets, and want less chimes and whistles for quicker load times.

If you look at the path Robey Jenkins (Precint Omega) used it is a pretty good template for getting yourself going in wargames design.

If you are going Print-on-Demand something a bit more robust may be a better choice. If you get involved with the book (like novels, poetry, fiction and non-fiction) self-publishing community, they have a lot of great resources and insights from software, lay-out discussion, to cover designs.

Really appreciated this response, and I'll check out Precinct Omega's posts.

I think I am going to pull the trigger on Xara and see how it goes.

I decided a w hile back that trying to make a tabletop game ruleset is futile if I want to make money. The market is simply way too saturated and the GW yoke is just simply too powerful unless you have a lot of money to fork upfront.

That being said, I am a video game designer and have worked in the games industry for many years, and have some projects on the burner of my own. They do require a lot of money upfront still though. Roughly $60,000 in art assets and model designs.

However I have no logistics to worry about in terms of having them made, stored in a warehouse, and then not selling and leaving me stuck with product I can never move. Its all digital.

Isn't the goal in video games to make a freemium phone game that blows up?

I don't know if thats a goal, but its certainly not my goal.

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:
Great topic, Easy E.

I am currently working on a project and looking at Option 2 as the primary means of publishing, and since you have experience in that area, what programs do you recommend for layout? I was eyeing Xara Page & Layout designer, but have zero experience in this area so I don't know if that is a decent program.


Regarding the other options, it seems like Kickstarter, despite its ubiquity and ease of use, can easily become a mire for small operations - especially if the campaign is more successful than anticipated. Particularly of concern are the inflated expectations of backers due to mega Kickstarter campaigns from companies like CMON that cram a ton of "freebies" into the main pledge, which is often something a small start up or garage operations just can't compete with. It seems, at least based on some of the reactions here on Dakka, if a campaign isn't dripping with free add-ons and other incentives then the campaign is deemed a failure. Kickstarter just seems like a bad idea these days since small game makers get easily drowned out by the latest flashy campaign.

If you're a small indy operation, the last thing you should be worrying about is competing with the likes of CMON.
Not only will your product differ drastically from theirs, so will your audience and customers.
Don't try and be the next mass market sensation and you can be pretty successful. I know this first hand, as I just painted all the models for my buddy's second KS project.

If you don't try and compete with the big fish, you'll realize there's enough customers out there that the big fish don't capture.

I'm not a huge or popular Internet personality, but I have reached a point that my hobby pays for itself and leaves me a bit of money for bills. It's possible to make money within the industry. You only need to be open minded and creative to make what you love into a money making weapon.

Awesome. I also have the rules itch.

I won't recommend self publishing your game, if you couldn't find a publisher who wants to print it. The probability is very high that your game sucks ass if noone wants to publish it. There are very many bad games out there that found a publisher, so if you can't find one go back to your sketches and take every advice to make it more fun to play.

And of course you can make a living with game design... at least in the digital sector. You don't get rich, but it's enough and you can do what you love. Getting money for your hobby is awesome. And don't forget that GameDesigner is just a job title not a mythical being that lives from thin air and photosynthesis. We eat, too^^

 Ghool wrote:

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:
Great topic, Easy E.

I am currently working on a project and looking at Option 2 as the primary means of publishing, and since you have experience in that area, what programs do you recommend for layout? I was eyeing Xara Page & Layout designer, but have zero experience in this area so I don't know if that is a decent program.


Regarding the other options, it seems like Kickstarter, despite its ubiquity and ease of use, can easily become a mire for small operations - especially if the campaign is more successful than anticipated. Particularly of concern are the inflated expectations of backers due to mega Kickstarter campaigns from companies like CMON that cram a ton of "freebies" into the main pledge, which is often something a small start up or garage operations just can't compete with. It seems, at least based on some of the reactions here on Dakka, if a campaign isn't dripping with free add-ons and other incentives then the campaign is deemed a failure. Kickstarter just seems like a bad idea these days since small game makers get easily drowned out by the latest flashy campaign.

If you're a small indy operation, the last thing you should be worrying about is competing with the likes of CMON.
Not only will your product differ drastically from theirs, so will your audience and customers.
Don't try and be the next mass market sensation and you can be pretty successful. I know this first hand, as I just painted all the models for my buddy's second KS project.

If you don't try and compete with the big fish, you'll realize there's enough customers out there that the big fish don't capture.

I'm not a huge or popular Internet personality, but I have reached a point that my hobby pays for itself and leaves me a bit of money for bills. It's possible to make money within the industry. You only need to be open minded and creative to make what you love into a money making weapon.

I'm curious about your friend's KS project now!

Everything in the wargame market is about the setting. GW's market dominance is pretty much proof of this. GW's rules have never been objectively good, deep, or balanced. Never. But if someone is going to spend hundreds of dollars and dozens of hours just to prepare to play a game, they have to form an emotional connection to the setting and the factions of the game.

So even if you're the Leonardo DaVinci of game design but can't write fiction to save your life, don't make wargames. You'll be far better off designing card or board games, which generally reward good game design (with buzz that leads to sales).