Podcast #188 - How Do You Pitch a Game?

Boardgames Shut Up and Sit Down
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2022-07-08T18:48:49Z

Ava: Well look at that! It’s an interview. Well something like that. I spent the evenings of the ‘United’ Kingdom’s Game Exposition chatting with my favourite podcaster-poet-editor-writer Tim Clare, then convinced him to get together to have a chat about a thing. We’re offering tips and thoughts on how to ‘pitch a game’, both at a convention, and in your very own home. Do we stay on topic? Occasionally! But hopefully it’s a fun listen.

Go find Tim on twitter or his very own website timclarepoet.co.uk. I genuinely think Death of a Thousand Cuts, and particularly the couch to 80k bootcamp/100 day writing challenge are the absolute best ways to get stuck into creative writing, and his first page critiques (the reason I thought he’d be a great person to speak to about this) are the absolute best writing advice you can get! Check him out, he’s lovely.

I’m hoping to put together a few more interviews and other ‘special’ podcasts over the coming months, so do let us know what you think. Opinions and suggestions welcome to ava@shutupandsitdown.com or on our website. If it doesn’t sound up your street, do feel free to skip it! It’ll probably be a normal pod with more familiar voices next time you visit!

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As an mostly introverted person I love working as a demo bod: there’s a context and a structure for the social interaction. (It’s part of why I enjoy boardgames in general.)

I’d say that “being a salesman” is essentially a mistake in almost every situation. Even if I found one of the rare gamers that the overbearing style worked on, I’m not on commission! I’m a lot happier if we chat for a few minutes and you go away saying “eh, probably not for me” than if I sell you a copy of the game that you’ll regret later.

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I’ve found the best salespersons are people who are genuinely enthusiastic and honest about a product.

I worked retail briefly, but in a setting where there were incentives for selling certain products (a boutique camera store). I tried a variety of things and found that I sold more cameras if:

A) I wore a tie
B) I was truthful (and naturally enthusiastic) about the cameras I liked and was honest about their shortcomings
C) I tried to avoid selling things that I thought were over-priced or not appropriate for the buyer’s needs

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