Game Design 101 - Self-Publishing & Where to do it

So, your game is playtested, its art is final, and you think you’d like to self-publish! 

There is A LOT of work that goes into self-publishing. From advertising, crowdfunding, manufacturing, fulfillment, warehousing, and more - the journey to self-publishing is not for the faint of heart. I do not plan to go into all those details in this guide as there is a wealth of information online that goes into those details better than I ever could. That said, there are options available for self-publishing that take some of the load off your shoulders.

If you:

• Enjoy designing games

• Do not want to manage the business behind production and distribution

• Would like your game to be available for purchase, without handling the logistics

I recommend checking out the options below! 

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The Game Crafter

I previously called TGC the authority on game design - and this is why! You can self-publish your games to the online shop on TGC and they will handle all the leg-work for you. The Game Crafter is the only company (to my knowledge) that will handle manufacturing and all logistics for you. If your game needs and uses a variety of physical components (such as a board, cards, cubes, or other tokens), then the Game Crafter is what you are looking for.

If someone purchases your game from their shop, they will:

• Take the customer’s information (shipping address, payment info, etc.)

• Manufacture and assemble the game

• Ship it to the customer

• Handle any concerns (missing parts, damages, etc.)

• Send your royalties to you!

This is the premier option for self-publishing if you would like a company to handle the logistics for you. You create your game’s shop page, direct customers to it via advertising, your own website, or other social media platforms, and TGC handles the rest.

By using TGC, you are limited to the products, pieces, and components in their catalog - so make sure anything you design can be found on their website! The profit you receive from individual sales via TGC is small (as they handle most of the logistics and labor), but there are many games and designers on TGC that are highly successful, with hundreds, even thousands, of copies sold. 

Itch.io - PNP Arcade - DriveThruRPG

When it comes to other self-publishing websites, we begin to enter into the realm of print & play games. A print & play game is a game in which most (if not all) of its components can be accessed online and printed using a standard printer. There are a few options for publishing print & play games for folks to find and buy. This is an excellent option if your game is printer friendly.

To publish a P&P game, it is recommended that most of the components be printable. That said, it is very common for P&P games to require players to use their own tokens and/or dice for gameplay. You probably won’t want to ask players to need anything too crazy (like 50 cubes in different colors or 20 different dice - if that’s the case, maybe TGC is a better option). However, if the main components are printable (such as cards or even small boards/player boards) you’ll be in good shape.

Having a print-friendly version of your game opens up a massive world of buyers because of how accessible P&P games are. You may have seen successful Kickstarters or other fully published games offering print-friendly versions of the physical game. There have also been tons of massively successful P&P games “funded” on Kickstarter before moving to one of these websites for later publication. I cannot recommend this path enough for games that meet the print-friendly criteria.