0085 - Publishing Boardgames with Robin David

Welcome to the Game Chats edition of Design Talk

We are delighted to welcome Robin David today.

Robin is a multi-published multi-award-winning game designer, with a portfolio of games across a number of genres; narrative, interactive fiction, puzzle solving, word games, and RPGs.

Robin, could first tell us a little about yourself and your path to game design?

[Hugh and Allen will chip in comments questions as/when timely/appropriate]

When you reflect upon your personal design process, from conception to completion, would you say you have hit upon a repeatable process?

I have been impressed by your commitment to feedback, using print and play, downloadable versions and opening your designs to playtesters...

Having successfully released at least 13 titles over the last six or so years, (perhaps more) and assuming you have many other ideas at various stages of completion, encompassing interactive fiction, games and game expansions. Are you now designing at an optimal pace or are you finding yourself increasing the rhythm at which you develop and publish new games?

We have seen steady quiet growth in boardgames and tabletop over the last decades, in parallel, even symbiotically with the video games industry… is it co-equal coexistence; is it either-or, or yes-and; is there a shift with people preferring being together in-person…)?

Some think that achieving the goals of a Kickstarter funding campaign is the end goal, but the truth is that in many ways it is just the start of the work isn’t it. 

Reaching your first Kickstarter goal was just the end of the first phase, the beginning of the second part of the story…

What for you are the benefits/pitfalls of using a crowd funding platform to support your publishing goals?

Why would a designer go the free-to-download print-and-play route?

Is, having released print-and-play, a disincentive to signing a publisher later on?

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/81485/robin-david

Acknowledgements

Music 

Title: Juno her 

Artist: Uncle Milk

Source: https://bit.ly/2Ox3uML

License: CC BY 4.0

Cover Art 

Title: “Reusable Type” + Algerian + Engravers MT

Artist: Allen Higgins

Source: GameChat_RobinDavid_InstaSQR.jpg

Composite image credits: Tiffany Moon + British Library (https://flic.kr/s/aHsjP5Gnq9 as Public Domain https://bit.ly/3mr6IAO)

License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Podcast license:

The `Design Talk (dot IE)’ podcasts are released under the “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike version 4.0 creative commons license

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