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Brief introduction from Ken Washer (KWASHER GAMES)

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kwasher
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Joined: 10/07/2016

Hello. My name is Ken Washer (KWASHER GAMES). I have designed a few games over the years, but never thought to publish any.

Recently I built a prototype of my most popular game (using thegamecrafter and other resources), read Jamey Stegmaiers' Crowdfunding book... and learned I'm not quite ready for crowdfunding.

I've been pouring over the BDGF forum. I am here to learn, possibly help out where I can, and also ask about something else I read in Jameys book, but will do that in a separate thread.

Thanks in advance, I already appreciate the great insight offered by you folks!

The Professor
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Greetings!

Ken,

Welcome to BGDF! I've been out here for awhile and have thoroughly enjoyed the company of many other designers and developers. You definitely have the right approach as I've seen, albeit temporarily, quite a few folks who introduce themselves only to pitch their latest game. Here at BGDF, you need to give long before you receive.

As I'm both a Stonemaier Ambassador, a play-tester for Jamey's games, and someone who has executed a successful Kickstarter based on many of his principles outlined in his blog and book, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on Jamey's book.

Cheers,
Joe

Gabe
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Joined: 09/11/2014
Welcome! I read Jamey's book

Welcome!

I read Jamey's book a while back and really enjoyed it.

Well done in realizing you weren't quite ready to tackle crowdfunding. Many people charge forward and end up losing a lot of time and money.

Glad you're here.

kwasher
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Thank you. At first, I just

Thank you. At first, I just stared at my best game for a few months, thinking "maybe I can raise the money to produce this"... id just explain the game and bam, people help, and I'm off and running.

Jameys book opened my eyes, as there is so much more than that to do. It's even a bit overwhelming ie."' stretch goals? Never heard of that term" .

It also gave me my first insight on the standard newbie worry "if I tell anyone about my game, it'll get stolen". I've since devoured info here and boardgamegeek regarding copyright, trademark, and patents. So I've passed that stage...

Now I'm figuring out what's next. People here have AMAZING art, I'm blown away. And there seems to be so much depth to their games (mine is so simple, you probably wouldn't need the Rules if you had the board and cards. Not fancy or "deep".)

It's weird to expose your baby to the world (what if your baby is actually ugly!). I'm searching for threads/discussions of people's first exposure of their game, so I can see if there is a typical format to use, and people's responses.

Gabe
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Joined: 09/11/2014
I don't know if there's a

I don't know if there's a "typical" format.

Many people post their rules, mechanics, art, game idea, etc and others just offer their advice, experience, and constructive criticism. It helps if you ask specific questions on what you're needing help with. Being specific gains far more results than "here's my game."

The only advice I would have is to not take anything personally here. This community is full of some very experienced designers who have published and kickstarted many games. If they tell you an idea won't work or needs to be redone, don't get offended. I assure you they are only trying to help.

I've found out more than once that my baby was ugly, haha. But through this site, I've been able to grow by leaps and bounds as a designer. I'm sure you'll do the same!

Stormyknight1976
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Joined: 04/08/2012
Welcome

Welcome KWasher to BGDF.

Tons of neat stuff going on in this part of the web.
Take a seat , sit a spell and pour over all of the neat conversations that go on here. Hope to hear from you some time.

P.S.

Designing games and then showing them to the world is a like gambling.
We all scrounged through forums and files and websites about the cause and effect of "Someone might steal my game".

I sat on the private button for two years before going public on this site and several other social media sites. Once you get over that small hurdle, you will be fine. Take a deep breath and go with the flow. Game designers actually have each others back. Even if someone does try to steal your game, the gaming community will pretty much pounce on the theft. In hind sight, game designers have so many other ideas on the back burner or on their book shelves that they have no time to steal other game designers ideas any ways. The theft may have the same name to the game but the game mechanic may be totally different from yours.

Hope this helps you out in some small way.
Stormy

kwasher
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Joined: 10/07/2016
Thanks for the welcome and

Thanks for the welcome and the insights, I'm excited to be here.

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