by Jason Cordova
The indie TTRPG design scene can be really tough when it comes to getting your name out there or promoting your latest game. With the deaths of G+ and the Story Games forums, the indie scene is particularly fragmented right now, and it’s not entirely clear where a game designer should even go to get eyeballs on their work.
When it comes to choosing where to promote your stuff, you can definitely do a lot worse than The Gauntlet. Ours is a tiny community, but what we lack in numbers we make up for with intense passion. The tricky thing is figuring out how to get your game in front of Gauntleteers.
In this and a series of successive blog pots, I’m going to use my experience and position in The Gauntlet community to demystify the process a little bit for you. I’ll be looking at the different areas of our community, and giving advice on how best to approach each one when it comes to promoting your game.
We’re going to start with podcasts.
The most valuable real estate in The Gauntlet is our podcast network. Appearing on one of our shows, or having your game discussed by the hosts, is the best type of promotion you can get from us. Here are some ideas for how to approach each show (these notes assume you are already familiar with their respective formats).
The Gauntlet Podcast
We no longer do interviews on The Gauntlet Podcast, and so getting your work featured on our main show is not easy. There’s a chance one of the hosts decides to talk about your game because they played it recently, but that’s not something you really have control over. Your best bet with The Gauntlet Podcast is to try to get a guest spot, because the guests are given the second part of the show to discuss anything they want (recent guests have included Oli Jeffery and Cat Ramen, who used their guest spots to promote their then-upcoming Kickstarters, Quietus and Red Carnations on a Black Grave, respectively). In order to get a guest spot, you must: 1) regularly play games with us on Gauntlet Hangouts and then 2) get in touch with Lowell Francis about being on the show. So, obviously, if you’re not an active member of our community, this is not easy to achieve. But, this is our community-centric podcast, and so requirements like that come with the territory.
+1 Forward
Most episodes of this podcast feature guests coming on to talk about their latest game. Unlike The Gauntlet Podcast, you don’t need to be a member of our community to get on +1 Forward. The only requirements are 1) your game is Powered by the Apocalypse and 2) your game can’t be so early in development that there isn’t something available for folks to pledge to, purchase, or download. Rich and Rach obviously can’t have everyone on, but if you send us an email inquiry to [email protected], we’ll pass it along to them to see if they’re interested.
Fear of a Black Dragon
Tom and I don’t do interviews, nor do we have on guests. The best thing you can do is get your module, adventure, or setting book in front of one of us so that we are tempted to play it. Once one of us plays it, we will discuss it on the show… eventually. The best way to get your module in front of us? Just chat us up. I’m on Twitter @jasoncordova6 and email at [email protected]. Tom is on Twitter @coalhadaTM.
The Farrier’s Bellows
Like FoaBD, Diana and Zack don’t do interviews or have on guests. They play a game with their friends and then talk about it on the show. Right now, their focus is classic, Forge-era story games, and they have a big list of them they are working through. Still, they are committed to doing more recent games at some point, and so it doesn’t hurt to ping them on Twitter @FarriersBellows to see if they might be interested in giving yours a try.
Discern Realities
Our Dungeon World podcast isn’t in active production at the moment, but it will be revving back up soon. Getting your work featured on DR—or even being a guest on the show—is quite a bit easier than the other shows. We frequently feature Dungeon World products that catch our eye—even things we have yet to use in a game—and the show’s varied segments create a lot of space for us to do so. So, if you have a cool Dungeon World (or Dungeon World-adjacent) thing, definitely let us know about it at [email protected]
The indie TTRPG design scene can be really tough when it comes to getting your name out there or promoting your latest game. With the deaths of G+ and the Story Games forums, the indie scene is particularly fragmented right now, and it’s not entirely clear where a game designer should even go to get eyeballs on their work.
When it comes to choosing where to promote your stuff, you can definitely do a lot worse than The Gauntlet. Ours is a tiny community, but what we lack in numbers we make up for with intense passion. The tricky thing is figuring out how to get your game in front of Gauntleteers.
In this and a series of successive blog pots, I’m going to use my experience and position in The Gauntlet community to demystify the process a little bit for you. I’ll be looking at the different areas of our community, and giving advice on how best to approach each one when it comes to promoting your game.
We’re going to start with podcasts.
The most valuable real estate in The Gauntlet is our podcast network. Appearing on one of our shows, or having your game discussed by the hosts, is the best type of promotion you can get from us. Here are some ideas for how to approach each show (these notes assume you are already familiar with their respective formats).
The Gauntlet Podcast
We no longer do interviews on The Gauntlet Podcast, and so getting your work featured on our main show is not easy. There’s a chance one of the hosts decides to talk about your game because they played it recently, but that’s not something you really have control over. Your best bet with The Gauntlet Podcast is to try to get a guest spot, because the guests are given the second part of the show to discuss anything they want (recent guests have included Oli Jeffery and Cat Ramen, who used their guest spots to promote their then-upcoming Kickstarters, Quietus and Red Carnations on a Black Grave, respectively). In order to get a guest spot, you must: 1) regularly play games with us on Gauntlet Hangouts and then 2) get in touch with Lowell Francis about being on the show. So, obviously, if you’re not an active member of our community, this is not easy to achieve. But, this is our community-centric podcast, and so requirements like that come with the territory.
+1 Forward
Most episodes of this podcast feature guests coming on to talk about their latest game. Unlike The Gauntlet Podcast, you don’t need to be a member of our community to get on +1 Forward. The only requirements are 1) your game is Powered by the Apocalypse and 2) your game can’t be so early in development that there isn’t something available for folks to pledge to, purchase, or download. Rich and Rach obviously can’t have everyone on, but if you send us an email inquiry to [email protected], we’ll pass it along to them to see if they’re interested.
Fear of a Black Dragon
Tom and I don’t do interviews, nor do we have on guests. The best thing you can do is get your module, adventure, or setting book in front of one of us so that we are tempted to play it. Once one of us plays it, we will discuss it on the show… eventually. The best way to get your module in front of us? Just chat us up. I’m on Twitter @jasoncordova6 and email at [email protected]. Tom is on Twitter @coalhadaTM.
The Farrier’s Bellows
Like FoaBD, Diana and Zack don’t do interviews or have on guests. They play a game with their friends and then talk about it on the show. Right now, their focus is classic, Forge-era story games, and they have a big list of them they are working through. Still, they are committed to doing more recent games at some point, and so it doesn’t hurt to ping them on Twitter @FarriersBellows to see if they might be interested in giving yours a try.
Discern Realities
Our Dungeon World podcast isn’t in active production at the moment, but it will be revving back up soon. Getting your work featured on DR—or even being a guest on the show—is quite a bit easier than the other shows. We frequently feature Dungeon World products that catch our eye—even things we have yet to use in a game—and the show’s varied segments create a lot of space for us to do so. So, if you have a cool Dungeon World (or Dungeon World-adjacent) thing, definitely let us know about it at [email protected]
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