When selecting board games for Fastaval, we strive to include a wide selection of good games so that there is something for every Fastaval participant’s taste. To do this, we need to know what the games pitched to us will be like to play.
In other words: We really want to understand your game. What’s cool about it, how does it fit in with Fastaval’s participants, how far along are you in the process, what experience do you want to give the players, and how do you plan to do that?
Here is some general advice:
- Pictures, pictures, pictures!
- Drop the component list
- What is the goal and the mechanics?
- How far are you?
- Get it read through
1. Pictures, pictures, pictures!
If you have tried to create a sell sheet to convince a publisher to publish your game, you may be used to limiting yourself to one page with as few words as possible. You don’t have to do that with us. In fact, you can send as many pages as you want… as long as most of them are pictures ☺
We don’t want to read three pages of pure text, but we would really like to see informative images that show what your game looks like. Close-ups of components, a picture of the game board, a game situation halfway through, complete card overviews if you have them… Make sure the pictures are clear and large enough to see what is going on, and write a short explanatory text to accompany them. A picture can take up half a page.
2. Drop the component list
A list of all necessary components is only important if you are pitching to a publisher. We have no interest in it, and if it is included, it gives us the impression that you have simply taken a sell sheet you had lying around and sent it to us without familiarising yourself with what Fastaval is.
3. What is the goal and the mechanics?
What experience do you want to give those who play your game? What feeling should they be left with? And then… how will you achieve that? What is it about your mechanics and tools that will get you there? Where are the dilemmas and interesting choices?
We cannot use general phrases such as ‘Easy to learn, difficult to master’ or ‘Fun and exciting game!’ to any great extent. Instead, describe what the player has to do and what it is about the game that makes it easy or fun, which systems/tasks they have to figure out, or how you will use this particular mechanic to give players a feeling of paranoia or a meditative mood.
It is beneficial to compare your game with other (well-known) games and explain how you use elements of their mechanics and how the way you combine them makes your game new and interesting.
4. How far are you?
We would actually prefer you not to be completely finished… the process of creating board games for Fastaval is also about building a community where you develop the games in the months between the deadline and Easter, and can bounce ideas off each other along the way and perhaps also stay in touch afterwards.
Tell us how far you have come, how much you have tested, and what you think you still need to do.
5. Get it read through
Ask someone who is unfamiliar with your game to read through the pitch and tell you whether what you have written can be understood by an outsider. Your description may seem obvious to you because you know the game, but others may need a little more explanation. If there is anything your reader is missing or does not understand, add it.
You can see some examples of good pitches from previous years here: https://www.fastaval.dk/eksempler-pitch
If you have any further questions, please feel free to write to us at gamedesign@fastaval.dk
We look forward to reading your pitch.
Yours sincerely
Fastaval board game organisers.
