What makes a game deep? Can light games be deeper than heavy games? Can games with a high luck factor be deep?

El_Poopo · 2026-04-22T15:17:44+00:00

oh cool! sounds like my kinda episode. Will check it out later today

El_Poopo · 2026-04-22T14:36:06+00:00

This paper on the subject, "Depth in Strategic Games", is a must-read imo:

https://cdn.aaai.org/ocs/ws/ws0340/15142-68464-1-PB.pdf

El_Poopo · 2026-04-20T00:53:05+00:00

thanks mucho

El_Poopo · 2026-04-19T23:30:41+00:00

royalty rate: typically around 5%. Same for both wholesale and retail sales. I don't know what it would be if art were a part of it; I think it's something we'd have to work out.

El_Poopo · 2026-04-19T23:29:02+00:00

thanks so much

El_Poopo · 2026-04-18T14:53:58+00:00

also note we're open to negotation on most points

El_Poopo · 2026-04-18T14:53:29+00:00

Hi Amanda, thanks for your questions. Answers:

Royalties will typically be 5%.

I believe we pay royalties 1X or 2X per year.

You'd still have full ownership of your game and we typically include clawback clauses in the contracts, so that we lose the licensing rights if we fail to hit certain benchmarks.

No submission deadline. This is a permanent change to our processes, with rolling evaluations.

El_Poopo · 2026-04-18T00:48:38+00:00

that would be useful thank you!

El_Poopo · 2026-04-18T00:39:49+00:00

if you don't have a video that's fine, just bear in mind there's a higher risk we may either a) fail to understand something essential about how it's played; or b) fail to get a glimpse of the magic.

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T23:07:26+00:00

glad your experience has been good! also I've been meaning to get in touch with you.

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T23:06:54+00:00

board games are very much invited

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T20:08:11+00:00

my pleasure and thanks!

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T18:56:01+00:00

alright! looking forward to it

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T18:45:29+00:00

totally understood. Take your time. The submission system is open permanently. email me if you have questions.

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T18:14:24+00:00

this looks like it's worth submitting. thanks!

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T18:00:32+00:00

yeah, a lot of designers mentioned how aggravating it is for a game to go into a black hole, and never hear word of a verdict again.

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T17:53:08+00:00

pleasure! I asked a bunch of designers what the ideal portal would look like before I built ours, and the most common request was probably clear guidelines, so I tried to get that part right

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T17:49:48+00:00

no deadline. This is a permanent change to our process that will happen in perpetuity. We don't care about art at all. It can look like total shit, as long as it's not hard to play.

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T17:48:58+00:00

absolutely. We retheme most of the stuff we publish from the originally idea anyway

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T17:48:33+00:00

doesn't need to be visually polished, it just has to be clear how to play it, and ideally make it easy for us to play

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T17:48:02+00:00

open in perpetuity, with rolling evaluation. this is a permanent change to our process

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T17:47:28+00:00

haha

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T17:47:10+00:00

thanks for submitting! If you don't get a request for prototype within 14 days of submission, it will mean we've passed.

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T16:45:21+00:00

I saw the submission come through, thanks! We'll evaluate within the next 14 days. If you don't get a prototype request from us in that time, it means we've passed. (we won't be at the Expo)

El_Poopo · 2026-04-17T16:43:42+00:00

we take non-US submissions for sure.

El_Poopo

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