Our First Unpub Prime
Sunday, 9:00 am - We had just arrived in the ballroom. The night before, the room echoed wall-to-wall with the voices of game designers, creators and artists, and most importantly play testers. Today, we were the first ones (okay maybe second) to set up our board game. And this was no surprise, given that the previous night convention-goers had stayed up into the wee hours of the morning (I had heard as early as 3:00 am from one of the organizers.) Kathryn and I, on the other hand, had retired early, a respectable 11:30 pm, as the morning was important to us.
It was our last time to playtest Estate before heading out early for a flight back to Orlando. Others we had spoken with intended to stay through the afternoon, play testing the day away before taking their flights and long drives back home. This was Unpub Prime after all, and it only happens once a year. For Grod Games, our first year and a visit well worth it.
What is Unpub Prime?
A board game convention - a hotbed for prototypes of upcoming tabletop games and an early, ‘first-look’ for the gamers that like them. The first two days were jam-packed with back-to-back educational sessions covering topics like self-publishing or partnering with publishers, building and manufacturing prototypes, incorporating narrative, and more, from a diverse set of speakers working across the industry.
The second two days? Games, games, games.
We know committing to traveling somewhere for an event like this is a financial commitment. To that end, we wanted to share our experience so you can be better prepared and more informed about making the decision. TLDR: we recommend it, and here’s the drilldown as to why:
Feedback: A former colleague and friend once said, feedback is a gift, just not something you want on your birthday. If you bring a game to Unpub, you will receive a lot of it! We were thankful to receive a lot of validation for Estate, but also, a ton of unique critiques from other game creators that harnessed perspectives we had not considered. There’s nothing like sitting down with someone as they turn over every stone in your rulebook or give you a golden nugget of a question on one of your game mechanics. There is a huge added benefit over play testing online to see how players will physically interact with your game. Oh, and be prepared to share your own feedback on other’s games as well!
Learning: This is our first board game - some pitfalls and stepping into unexpected risk here or there is, well, expected. The sessions at Unpub Prime really helped to pull back the curtain on a lot of uncertainties, for both trying to self-publish and working with a publisher for your game. It was humbling to recognize where we had areas yet to improve and be worked on in order that our game and hobby business thrive.
Networking: Mayor Ben of Unpub said it best on day 1: “We are better together.” Unpub Prime brought together a lot of amazing creators. Through a nice mix of structured and unstructured networking, we came home with a wallet-full of contacts and Sunday night I found myself compelled to draft emails to other creators I had met to share more feedback on their games and reconnect post-conference. At Unpub you can expect to meet a lot of other game creators very passionate about tabletop games, you’ll also meet publishers, players, storytellers and more!
Outside of Unpub Prime, the Unpub organization conducts satellite events for play testing throughout the year at other board game conventions like Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH, and PAX Unplugged in Philadelphia, PA. This one in particular, is one of a kind for advancing board game prototypes and hats off to the organizers for a great event. We’ve never felt more confident about where we need to go with Estate (we’re launching a Kickstarter in June at Origins Game Fair!)
Ok, plug over - we hope you’ve learned something about Unpub and our experience and we look forward to next year.
