Nuts & Bolts – Best Practices for Convention Pitching

[Read our full Nuts & Bolts series]

On our drive back from Indianapolis (where we had an extremely successful Gen Con), Chelsea and I caught up on some podcasts, and enjoyed the dulcet tones of the Shut Up and Sit Down cast through much of Pennsylvania.

Our binge included episode #188 in which Ava discusses game pitches with guest Tim Clare (guests are rare, and maybe singular in the SUSD catalogue…). It is worth a listen.

We paused it frequently to discuss our recent experience with pitching games to con-goers, and talked through what we agreed with, and maybe a few instances where we disagree slightly.

Which brings us to our…

Best Practices for Convention Pitching

A pitch starts with visual presentation: Board games are visual and tactile experiences. People decide to learn more about a game based on both it’s visual impact, but also our visual impact as a booth, a welcoming space, and as put together human beings. We’re fortunate to have pretty incredible graphic elements for both Nut Hunt and Sigil.

Hooks can help but aren’t mandatory: It is important to communicate the heart of a game as quickly as possible. This allows interested con-goers to give you the time, and Con-goers who wouldn’t like your game to not waste their time or ours.

I’ve found that leading with the game genre “Do you like abstract strategy games”, or theme “How do you feel about squirrels, and a fox, and a little bit of chaos?” can draw in some con-goers.

But, I also found that simply asking something along the lines of “Are you interested in learning about Nut Hunt?” seemed to be similarly as effective.

As seen on a BGG thread

I think a lot of this is because our games are strong visually – so we can lean on the presentation as a hook.

Either way, it is important to break the ice, and to let passerbys opt into diving a little deeper.

Keep it positive: One of my favorite takeaways from Ava and Tim’s conversation was to keep it positive. Designers often pitch their games by calling out what they perceive as negatives in other games, “do you like euros, but just find them too long?”

This negative spin can be alienating, pulls the focus away from your awesome game, and what you are calling out a negative might be that person’s favorite part of a game or genre.

To steal Tim’s example, a positive spin like, “want to check out a euro that you can play in ten minutes?” is way more engaging and exciting than focusing on the negatives.

For our games, I often found myself comparing them to other games in a positive light:

• “If you like Ticket to Ride, and the chaos of a game like Quacks of Quedlinburg, then you’ll love Nut Hunt.”

• “If you like Hive, Onitama, Chess, or Magic Cards, then Sigil is right up your ally.”

Communicate the heart of the game: At the end of the day, a game needs to speak for itself. The goal of the pitch is to concisely teach the heart of your game, and then let our consumers decide if they want to delve a little deeper.

• “Sigil is Go, but with Magic. You place stones to try and surround your opponent’s pieces. But, there are nine random spells on the board – and when you fill one you can cast it for a powerful effect.”

• “In Nut Hunt you are trying to make connections by placing squirrels and building nests. But, there’s a fox which moves every turn, scattering squirrels, and causing general chaos. Of course, you can also use the fox to your advantage.”

We are also fortunate (by design), that our games only take about 6-7 minutes to teach (assuming you’re teaching a gamer). This means that we could quickly follow up with a teach if our audience wanted to go a little deeper.

It’s ok to leave things out: The point of a pitch isn’t to teach every element of the game. And, it isn’t to delve into the strategy and depth. Those are areas which gamers can and likely want to explore on their own. In hindsight, I think that from time to time I over-explained our games, giving brief examples of when you might want to hassle the fox (in Nut Hunt), or dash away stones (in Sigil).

I don’t think I was egregious or too over-indulgent, but it is an important lesson learned that I’ll be keeping in my back pocket for future conventions.

Gamers love these “aha!” moments. We want to set them up to have these moments on their own, and not rob them of the opportunity for discovery.

Get them playing: Board games are a tactile experience. The best pitches get participants interacting, thinking, and playing as fast as possible. This might mean rolling a die and scattering squirrels, or thinking through casting a spell.

You want people to experience your game.

We were also fortunate at Gen Con as we had plenty of space for actual gameplay. And since our games are relatively short (Sigil is ~20 minutes, Nut Hunt is ~30-45), we had hundreds of people cycle through and actually get to play full games of Nut Hunt and Sigil.

Let the game speak for itself: One of my highlights from the Con was when a woman came up to our booth, told us she had found Nut Hunt in the game library, played it, loved it, looked up our company, found our booth, and was looking to buy a copy.

Since we don’t actually have physical copies for sale yet, she had to settle on late pledging the campaign.

It was the first time that someone has purchased our game with no knowledge of who we are, no marketing, no interaction with us, our campaign page, anything. She found the box. Played the game. Loved it. And, needed a copy.

In the real world, a game needs to sell itself.

I should really invest in some professional shots of our production prototypes

We found that our games resonate the best when players can enjoy and explore them on their own. Sure, we’ll be around to answer questions. But, it is the gameplay that shines, and the gameplay that we are really proud of.

So, it’s important for us to give players space to explore the game in whatever capacity we can offer – whether it’s a short demo at a standing table, or a full play through.

A pitch is personal: I mean this in two ways. First, a pitch is about personally connecting with an individual. It’s about having room to help them explore your product and guiding them through it in an organic way.

But, a pitch is also personal for the person doing the pitching. Chelsea and I have very different approaches to pitching Nut Hunt. Both are successful (although hers are likely a little more so), and Andy and I have different tilts when we pitch Sigil.

A pitch isn’t about having one prescribed script. It’s about allowing yourself, and your co-pitchers the room to explore what is natural to them. To create their own approach that best allows them to connect with potential consumers.

Sure, there are best practices – that is what this article is about – but these best practices are guideposts which have a whole lot of room between them.

What stands out from the most successful pitches that you’ve seen?