How to Pitch a Game to Publishers at Gen Con

If you plan to pitch a game at Gen Con, the most important work happens in June, not August. Publishers who take pitches fill their meeting slots before the show, decide in the first two minutes of a meeting whether a game fits their line, and remember the designers who made the meeting easy. This guide covers how to get the meeting, what to bring, how to run the ten minutes you get, and what happens after.

None of this guarantees a signing. It does raise the odds that a publisher remembers your name the next time you email.

Should you pitch at Gen Con at all?

Gen Con is the biggest tabletop show in North America, which cuts both ways. Every publisher you want to reach is in Indianapolis that week. So is every other designer.

Pitch at Gen Con if:

• Your prototype has been played by people who are not your friends, more than a dozen times, and you have changed it because of what they said.
• You can explain the game in two sentences and teach a turn in two minutes.
• You have a specific list of publishers whose catalog your game fits.

Wait a year if your game has only been played at your kitchen table, or if you cannot name three published games it sits beside on a shelf. Smaller shows, especially the Protospiel-style designer events and the regional conventions, are better places for a first round of feedback, and we list several in board game conventions in the Midwest.

How do you get a meeting?

Publishers handle pitches three ways at Gen Con, and you should try all three.

1. Scheduled meetings. Many publishers open a pitch request form in late spring. Watch their websites and social accounts from May onward. Some ask for a sell sheet and a short video up front and only book the games that pass. Apply early and apply to publishers whose line matches your game.

2. Speed-pitch or publisher-designer events. A designer-publisher speed-dating session has run at Gen Con since 2013, most recently organized by the Indie Game Alliance: ten to twenty designers each get about five minutes per publisher before the publishers rotate. Organizers and formats shift from year to year, so check the current event catalog and designer community boards each spring.

3. The booth ask. Walk up to a booth at a quiet hour, usually Thursday morning or late Sunday, and ask whether anyone is taking pitches this show. Many will say no. Some will say “come back at four.” Be polite, be brief, and take the first answer.

Do not pitch a publisher who is mid-demo with a customer. Do not pitch in the restroom, the food line, or the hotel bar unless invited. The industry is small and memories are long.

What does a publisher need to see in the first minute?

A publisher at Gen Con sees dozens of prototypes in four days. They are not evaluating fun yet. They are sorting: does this fit, can we sell it, is this designer workable?

In the first minute, they want to know:

• The one-line concept. “A 30-minute set collection game about running a flower shop, for 2 to 4 players.”
• The comparable. “It sits next to Azul and Splendor in weight and length, with a market mechanic closer to Century: Spice Road.”
• The hook. The one thing your game does that those games do not.
• Player count, play time, target age. Real numbers from real playtests.
• Status. “Playtested 40 times, blind tested 6 times, no art commitments.”

Practice saying all of that in under a minute without a card. Then stop talking and let them ask.

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What should the prototype look like?

Clean, not pretty. A publisher is going to replace every piece of art anyway. They want to see that the game works and that the design is legible.

Bring two copies. One to leave, if asked, and one to keep for the next meeting. Label everything with your name and email. Prototypes get separated from their designers in hotel rooms every year.

How do you run the ten minutes?

Most pitch slots are ten to fifteen minutes. Treat it like a demo at a booth, which we covered in how to demo a board game at a convention, with one change: the publisher wants to understand the system, not to be entertained.

A structure that respects the clock:

1. One minute: the pitch above.
2. Two minutes: the turn structure and the end condition, shown with components already set to a mid-game state.
3. Four to six minutes: play two or three turns together, narrating the decisions, not the rules. “Here’s where it gets tense: you want the red tile but taking it hands me the bonus.”
4. One minute: the status, the business facts, and the ask. “I’d like to leave a copy with you. What’s your usual timeline for a response?”
5. Stop on time. If they want more, they will say so. Ending early is a gift.

Bring a sell sheet: one page, front only, with the title, the one-liner, the key numbers, two or three images, and your contact details. Hand it over at the end, not the start, so they look at you and the table instead of the paper.

What are the mistakes that end meetings early?

Publishers tell versions of the same stories every year.

• Explaining the theme for five minutes. They care about the system first.
• Defending the game. When a publisher says “this feels long,” the right answer is “tell me more,” not “you’d see if you played the whole thing.”
• No comparables, or the wrong ones. “It’s like nothing else” is a red flag. “It’s the next Catan” is a bigger one.
• Pitching a game that does not fit the publisher. A party game to a heavy euro house wastes both sides’ time.
• Asking about money in the first meeting. Royalty terms come after interest, not before.
• Not knowing the publisher’s current catalog. Spend ten minutes on their site the night before.

The other quiet killer is the prototype that takes six minutes to set up. Arrive with it set.

What happens after Gen Con?

Usually nothing for a while. Publishers return home to a backlog, and prototypes sit in a queue for weeks or months. Expect:

• A thank-you email from you within a week, short, with the sell sheet attached and a link to a rules video if you have one.
• A polite follow-up at six to eight weeks if you have heard nothing.
• A decision, often a pass, in one to six months. Passes are normal. Ask one question: “Is there anything that would change your mind?”

Keep a simple log: publisher, date, contact, status, notes. Over a few years, that log becomes the most valuable thing you own as a designer. The people who sign games are, almost always, the people who kept showing up with better prototypes and good manners.

The game is the reason. The people are the point. A publisher is a person who has to live with your design for two years. Make that an easy decision.

FAQ

Do publishers take pitches at Gen Con?

Many do, usually by appointment booked in the spring, sometimes at the designer-publisher speed-pitching session, and occasionally at the booth during slow hours. Check each publisher’s site from May onward.

Does my prototype need professional art?

No. Publishers replace art. A clean, readable, consistent prototype with standard components is what they expect.

How long is a typical publisher pitch meeting?

Ten to fifteen minutes is common. Plan to set up in under a minute, pitch in one, and play two or three turns.

Should I ask about royalties in the first meeting?

Not unless the publisher raises it. The first meeting is about fit and interest; terms come later.

Designers, this one’s for you

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