The Game Aisle: Game Reviews » Featured

Periodically I get an email, a comment, a Facebook or LinkedIn message asking me if I can help a someone get a meeting with Hasbro’s inventor relations department. Typically I say, “Sorry no, I would be seriously damaging my relationship with Hasbro if I did that” (which is the truth) and politely point them in the direction of the TIA’s (Toy Industry Association) website which talks about agents and other options.

What most beginning game inventors don’t realized is that there is a large group of professional inventors out there, commonly referred to as the “inventor community,” and it’s very difficult to break into. How did I get in? I worked for a well-know invention firm and I met the right people when I was there. So how then does a regular Joe (or Jane) become apart of this? Well they really can’t – at least not until they’ve had a successful item but even then it’s tough. So how can you get your product seen? One way is to get an agent. Do some research here – poke around on the interenet, ask for references. It’s industry standard for an agent to take 50% of any royalties you get. It sounds like a lot, but getting a game idea licensed is a big deal and takes a lot of hard work matching a game concept to a manufacturer. I asked Mike Hirtle, one the inventor relations guys at Hasbro, about how many items he sees a year from the “inventor community” (professional inventors) and of those how many actually make it to market in a typical year. Here’s what he said:

1600 Concepts reviewed from professional inventors (including agents) each year **

400 Brought in for further evaluation

30-40 Optioned or licensed

20-25 Make it to market

**Note that he also adds that for each concept presented to him, there are at least 10 ideas that the inventors have come up with and done at least some work on. That makes the first number closer to something like 16,000 ideas for the 20 products that make it to market.

Looks pretty bleak, right? Well that is why it’s important to have an industry veteran on your side – like an agent.

The other route is to self-publish/manufacture your game. Then organizations like Discover Games run by Mary Couzin can help you out. She will show your concept all over the country to buyers and inventor relations people with the hopes of either selling product or licensing the concept. With this method you pay a much smaller royalty (20%) but you still get Mary’s seasoned advice and expertise — and of course the advantage of her giant Rolodex of worldwide contacts.

Whichever route you choose to go, the best place to start is the Toy & Game Inventor Conference (T&G Con, fomerly TAGIE) in Chicago which is always held the Thursday and Friday before the Chicago Toy and Game Fair (ChiTAG) which is the weekend right before Thanksgiving. You’ll meet tons of industry experts including buyers, inventors (including me) and inventor relations people, like the Mikes from Hasbro — and it’s the only time they’re available to meet with people outside the “inventor community.”

The conference covers topics from how to get started, to how to publish your game, and what to do once you sell your idea. It’s an amazing resource and unbelievable that one event was able to get all of these experts and industry gurus in the same place at the same time. It’s run by Mary Couzin and I asked her what compelled her to start it. She said:

“I started T&G Con to help toy and game inventors. It is a natural extension of DiscoverGames.com, which is the largest co-op of Indie Board Game Inventors in the World. I wish it had been around when I started as a board game designer; it would have saved me a lot of time and money.”

Even if you want to go the agent route, Mary has put together a must-see event for any person who has a game idea and wants to grow it. Hope to see you all there!

More T&G Con information can be found at ToyAndGameInventors.com
For more information on Discover Games look here: DiscoverGames.com (check out “Inventor Help: Inventor Wannabes”)
For the TIA’s page on agents, look here: ToyAssociation.org

Welcome to The Game Aisle!

Kim Vandenbroucke — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:00:48 +0000

Ever notice how books, movies, video games, etc. are all reviewed — but you never see reviews on games you’d find in the game aisle? It’s a problem right? Most people now walk into their local Big Box store, Toys ‘R US, Barnes and Noble or small mom & pop toy store have to rely on cool box art or classic brands to pick a game. They know NOTHING about half the games in there. I find this sad.

So, since I am the type of person who will recommend games to total strangers if they look perplexed at my local Target, I thought I would do something about it.

The game plan is that I will review the good games, ignore the bad and sometimes talk about the ugly ones but only if they are fun to play. (see Pit review) I also feel compelled to share with you something about the inventor, because the stories about how these games came to be is often quite interesting. (And I’m an inventor and I think my fellow inventor friends deserve some credit. ha!)

Enjoy!