Podcast Archives - Board Game Design Lab · Gabe Barrett

How to Make Money from Your Game Design Hobby with Joe Slack

·1 hr 1 min·4 clips

Joe Slack says he went from a six-figure salary to zero because happiness mattered more than money.

Making games is only part of the job. Gabe starts with the plain reality that pitching designs by itself can be a rough path to full time income, especially when kids, a spouse, hobbies, and a mortgage are part of life. So the conversation widens. Joe Slack becomes the example of a more mixed board game career, with design alongside publishing, consulting, development, books, courses, and crowdfunding. The tone stays practical. A passion project can still matter. But once the goal is professional income, the project also has to act like an investment. It needs a return. That changes the filter fast. The designer has to ask who will buy the game, whether that audience can be reached, and whether the product makes financial sense for that demographic. Sometimes the answer stings. A game can have smart mechanics and a theme the designer loves, but still point at an audience too small to justify the work right now. Joe and Gabe keep circling that uncomfortable discipline: some designs may need to wait because another game has a wider reach and a better shot. The hobby brain says chase the spark. The professional brain asks whether the work can become something people buy on shelves, Kickstarter, or whatnot. That does not flatten creativity. It gives it a sharper lane, so the designer can choose the project most likely to support the bigger path. The ending gets concrete again. Joe describes Mayan Curse as a race with press-your-luck tension, puzzly choices, and boulders that can block a win. The business talk matters, but the game still has to give players decisions they care about.

As heard by us

A clear-eyed look at making board game work pay.

This episode takes a practical look at earning a living in board games and treating design as part of a larger business. The host and Joe Slack move through the less polished realities of going pro: market size, product fit, consulting, publishing, crowdfunding, writing, and the…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you want your game hobby to cover more than hope, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Podcast Archives - Board Game Design Lab