Prototype Artwork?

I use clip art or things I have drawn myself. (Note: I am only marginally talented)

I have a couple of published games and know several publishers personally, they don’t want finished art. Don’t spend money on art unless you are self publishing.

If you plan on submitting to publishers, clip art or no art is fine. We're more interested in the game's mechanics, rules, theme and such. If it gets picked up, the publisher generally takes care of the artwork.

Jason Pugh, President
DarkLyght Games, LLC
www.DarkLyght.com

Another possibility, since you are already producing the artwork, would be to have *samples* of what the finish product is going to look like: like packaging, some cards, manual, etc.

Those could be shown to the publishers and will give them a good idea what your product is going to look like. IT sort of sets up what you want your game to be like.

Although you cannot approach game reviewers until you have a finished product.

Well that could be a problem (using their own artists). I find that creating the artwork is part of the game's design. When I went to look for an artist for Quest Adventure Cards, I had no clue that I would be working with a former Marvel/DC Comics artist. The artwork we designed is pretty good: when I look at the cards, I can tell that they were designed well (http://www.questccg.com).

I since have had offers from other artists around the world wanting to work with our product. Hopefully we can negotiate something with one of them for our current product (http://www.oflegendsandlore.com).

BUT that is the difference between have a *game concept* (which can be good - interesting mechanics and game play) and an actual *game* (finished product with a professional look and game appeal).

The most difficult part of making a game worthy of publishing is getting the word out about the game's existence. Saddly most of us do not have marketing budgets that allow you to spread the word around (TV, Billboards on Buses, Ads in subway cars, etc.)

So we can only do the next better thing: use the Internet. Using the Internet involves dealing with people who are used to getting/playtesting/reviewing professionally designed games (from like WOTC or FFG). Your indie game badly needs a good review (maybe a couple). You need to market your game on forums such as BGDF and Game Board Geek. You need to entice people to try your game. If you are working with a prototype without art, the odds are your reviews will be lower (naturally since the product is not what people are expecting: they want to see and play a finished product). And to be honest, I'm not sure people in that role actually play test unfinished games (like no artwork)...

The comments that I have heard from other game designers is that people are looking for a finished product, not a game idea. It is my understanding that finished product includes artwork.

Do you know of anybody who has pitched a game that was not completed (unfinished - no artwork)? More specifically do you know of anybody who has pitched such a game and been published?

Because I find it hard enough to get publishers interested in fully developed games (with art).

A friend who is getting published made his game (art and all), sold it on The Game Crafter (TGC), hosted a TGC Con for his game (and sold 40 games in a weekend) and is getting published by a local company. Here is the deal: they are going to rename the name! Proof that even if you have a finished product, publishers may want to put their own touch...

Dralius could probably attest to having tried to get Nitro Dice published by people around the world. His game finally got picked up - but he had a finished product. But yet again, he had to work with the publisher in refining his game a little.

I've read the same advice about artwork and also talked to a publisher about art. Unless you are looking to publish yourself through whatever means, don't pay for your own artwork. The publisher, if they pick it up, will discard the art and use their own artists as it will be much cheaper for them to produce rather than having to spend large amounts of cash securing the rights to each piece of art.

they are after a game that has solid mechanics and is exciting to play. Art used with prototype should just give the publisher an idea of what the game could look like, not what it should look like. They have their own design teams to do that.

As has been mentioned, if you are looking to self produce, then you need your own artist and will have complete control over how the game with ultimately look. If, however, you are looking for a publisher, don't waste your money on paying for art. It won't get used, and ultimately, once you sign that contract, you will lose a lot of control over the design of the game. If you are still expecting to maintain a high level of creative control over the look of your game once you sign, then perhaps you have an unrealistic view of how the board game industry actually works.

I would add on to what Taz said (and it's good advice), but expand it a bit.

I have created all of the art for my game using Inkscape and GIMP (both free software). You can create decent artwork without the outlay for even limited commercial software.