Podcast Archives - Board Game Design Lab · Gabe Barrett

6 Takeaways from the game that took 10 years to make

·22 min·2 clips

Gil Hova's feedback made me realize my football game could actually be something special.

Ten years sits at the center. The host frames Football U as a full-circle project, a football-themed game that stayed with him from the podcast's beginning to a current Kickstarter. It is personal, but he does not sand it into a victory lap. The long timeline becomes the point: creative work can crawl for years before anyone else sees the finished thing. The advice turns practical quickly. First, know when to pitch. Timing matters when a design is still figuring out what it wants to be. Fit matters too. A pitch works better when it is clear, specific, and makes sense for that company. He wants designers to do their homework: make an overview video, explain plainly how the game plays, and say why this publisher is the right match. Then the tougher part lands. The host says no is the default, especially before a designer has a body of work or a recognized name. That is the part people do not love hearing. Going from zero to one can feel nearly impossible, whether that means a first customer or a first publishing contract. He does not sweeten it. Creative work is hard to make, hard to sell, and hard to turn into money. The Origins meeting gives the story some grit. Around 2017, he had a long, warm pitch demo, and even that did not make the deal move fast. The takeaway stays grounded: keep looking for fit, keep absorbing rejection, and expect the table-ready version to take longer than planned.

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