At PAX Prime last year, there was a panel I was very disappointed I wouldn’t be able to see–“Designing and Publishing on a Ramen Budget.” Luckily for me, and for you too, Fire Opal Media posted the panel on their youtube Channel a few weeks ago. These panels are a great resource for aspiring game designers–and artists in general, I’ll discuss later–and it’s always great when they’re made available to people who can’t make the convention. Meguey Baker and Luke Crane are two of my favorite game designers, and the rest of the panelists are now on my radar as well. The best part of conventions like PAX is getting to pick the brains of your heroes, and those who have been there ahead of you.
[Video after the Jump]
Though the panelists offer great advice on game design specifically and the nature of mechanics, what I think is interesting about this video is how similar it is to general advice in the arts. In my Creative Writing MFA we learn a little bit about the business of writing as well as the art—and I always feel ahead of the game in those business discussions because of these PAX panels that I’ve attended. The business and marketing of games—especially indie and small press—is nearly identical to that of fiction, and the advice for the two is the same.
I don’t have grandeur designs of selling my games, though it would be something I’d love to do somewhere in the future. Regardless, this panel is of use to me because I do plan to sell my art—my fiction—eventually. And whether you’re selling your fiction on an indie scale, a small-press scale or a big-press scale, the art and necessity of marketing and publicity is the same, and I think that’s pretty cool.
Whatever your art is, I would suggest watching this panel. It is an hour-well spent of your time. Again, I’m incredibly thankful to Fire Opal Media for making this available online, and to all the panelists for offering their time an insight.
The 1330 Project 