To 'Geek' or not to 'Geek'?

I don't think it is a good idea to submit a game to the geek that isn't available to the public in some capacity.

Many of these games are available, at least in the form of rules or a pdf.

I guess I just don't like the idea of vaporware going up on the geek so to speak.

Not to suggest that your game is vaporware.

Carl,

Was your game "Dark Light"?

I doubt there's an official answer to your question, but I can take a guess as well as the next guy.

My first suggestion would be to make sure it's ok with the 'Geek. They do have an "unpublished prototype" entry but that's more for people to keep track of what games they've played. They may not mind if designers posted their unpublished games, and if they don't, it certainly wouldn't hurt to post it.

My guess is that it will neither help nor hurt your efforts to find a publisher. I can't imagine publishers scour the 'Geek looking for unpublished games to publish -- directly contacting a publisher will take you much farther. If you're trying to generate "buzz" for the game, I don't know if simply having a listing will really help that, but it probably won't hurt either.

I'm not sure how publishers feel about public disclosure of game information, and whether they'd be willing to publish a game that had previously had its rulebook publically posted. Maybe they wouldn't even ask about it in the first place.

This is the only point where I'd be careful. One thing the 'Geek community really seems to dislike is shills, because it can mess with the sancticty of The Ratings. I think it's generally considered ok for playtesters to rank a game, but if your game has 20 ratings of "10" and no other ratings, it's a pretty sure bet no one will take it very seriously. Other than that, it's probably ok.

So, my answer to your question is, for the most part, "your guess is as good as mine". What is your reason for wanting to post your game onto the 'Geek in the first place?

-Jeff